June 2008
5 posts
The Vice Blog HAS MOVED!!!!!
Check out the new and improved VB at:
www.theviceblog.com
Or
www.theviceblog.wordpress.com
Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale
11.26% ABV from a bomber (“limited early 2008 release”)
Any one who becomes known as a beer connoisseur—or a suppose a connoisseur of anything for that matter—will most frequently be asked to list their favorite(s) of whatever it is they lord a connoisseurship over. So the strip club connoisseur (read: your one asocial, sleazy, and most importantly lazy friend) gets...
Great Divide Titan IPA
6.8% ABV Had this one in the fridge for a while and had been wanting to save it for a special occasion as I suspected it could be an all-time great. Since I have no plans to give birth any time soon—and probably wouldn’t drink a beer during that event—I decided to pop this one for the season 4 finale of “Lost.” My thinking proved fairly accurate. The Titan IPA has...
Sam Adams Summer Ale
5.2% ABV on draught I’ve made clear my disdain for “summer” beers several times in the past, continually claiming I will never drink one again. Alas, I found myself out of town and at a Philadelphia Phillies game last weekend, shocked to see the nice, new stadium had the most meager of beer selection. In fact, Sam Adams Summer was the only craft beer on tap in the entire joint...
Tecate
4.5% ABV from a can My earlier lambasting of Corona resulted in me getting a flurry of angry e-mails, texts, and carrier pigeon missives. I always knew there was no way that Corona was the official beer of Mexico, but who know that swill was the official beer of American douchebags and pre-pubescents? (“d00d how can u hate on korona??!”) Most people simply wanted to know if not...
May 2008
34 posts
Victory Storm King Stout
9.1% ABV bottle Nothing worse than drinking a great beer at the wrong time. But much like golf in Scotland, sometimes imbibing has to occur under inclement conditions. If you only golfed when it was 65 degrees and calm and only drank while relaxing on your sofa then you would miss out on lots of good opportunities. Better to try a great beer under less than optimal circumstance than to just...
Arcadia IPA
5.9% ABV on draught This beer upsets me less for what it is than for what it isn’t. I popped into a new, out-of-the-way bar for a single drink and amongst their plain Jane collection of taps there were actually, surprisingly three beers I didn’t know anything about. I was intrigued and tried to get any info on the three beers from the bartender. Her expertise seem to lie more in...
Peroni
4.7% ABV on draught This beer isn’t great. The Italian Budweiser. I wouldn’t typically drink it. Yet it was only $2 per pint at a Little Italy dive over the weekend. Handed the ditzy waitress an Andrew Jackson and told her to keep ‘em coming. Thus, I drank plenty and got drunk, quod erat demonstrandum. C-/D+
Blue Point Blueberry
(Gotta drink the blueberry beer in a opium den-like pitch-black bar so as no one sees ya’!) 4.6% ABV I flat out love this beer, and I’m manly enough to admit that. Heck, I even called it “sublime” once before. And, I’m always—more so than most beers—trying to get my friends to try the wonder of this brew. Perhaps just so I’ll have some more...
Schneider Weiss Hopfen Weiss (Schneider &...
8.2% ABV from a bomber This brew is the result of the long friendship of Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver and Schneider brewmaster Hans-Peter Drexler. Garrett had always admired the delicate balance of flavors in Schneider Weisse, while Hans-Peter had long enjoyed the effusive hop character of Brooklyn East India Pale Ale and BLAST! Garrett’s concept for the collaboration was that each...
Dogfish Head Festina Peche
4.5% ABV on draught I fellated Dogfish Head’s flagship brew so heartily in my previous review because I knew what I had to do next: absolutely trash their Festina Peche offering. I needed to make it abundantly clear that I adore DFH—it’s close to my favorite brewery—before laying into one of their brews. You know how when your favorite filmmaker makes the rare dud of a...
Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
6% ABV on draught Simply put: I love Dogfish Head 60 Minute. If I am at a bar with it on tap, it is all I can do to not simply sit and drink pint after pint after pint of it all night long, to the detriment of my further explorations of beers I haven’t had before. Were I a beer nerd, I would say this is my absolute favorite “session” beer. Not a lot of macro-swilling folks...
Stella Artois
5.2% ABV on draught You signal to get the aloof bartender’s attention. You quickly scan the taps and order a beer. The bartender grabs a wet but clean pint glass and tugs you a draught. You blow the foam off and take a sip. The fluid hits your tongue and you taste the flavors, the beer slaloming down your throat and into your stomach, quickly entering your blood stream and liver. The...
Blue Moon Belgian White
5.4% ABV on draught (with a feeble orange slice included. And not even a pure Florida orange. This orange was from like Trenton or somewhere.) After some plans I had were canceled I wasn’t in such a great mood so I decided to inflict on myself the ultimate form of self-flagellation: going to the most wannabe “hot shot” financeguy pub possible and subjecting myself to the kind...
Victory Hop Wallop
8.5% ABV (Double IPA) Bought this one on a semi-whim. Victory products have always done me good. This one smells fantastic. Very orangey and floral. It’s extraordinarily hoppy which of course is no surprise. Maybe too hoppy for my liking, though I do love me some hops. A lot of bite, very spicy. The burps this beer produces are phenomenal, I’m not gonna lie. Not sure I love...
Guinness Draught
4.2% ABV on draught Needed a midday quaff to still (steel?) my nerves and an $8 (!) Guinness pint from an overpriced and empty corporate midtown NYC pub seemed like the perfect choice. I used to drink Guinness a lot when I was a younger lad but now not so much. Maybe it’s cause I don’t have as many Irish friends as I used to. Thick and milky but not as potent and heavy as I recall....
Charles Wells Banana Bread Beer
5.2% ABV from a bomber Without doubt, my most whimsical beer purchase ever. I’m usually incredibly methodical with the beers I purchase for “snobby” drinking. I spend hours researching brews to drink, I compile lists and bring them to the store, I flat out nerd it up when making beer purchases. Even when I see intriguing beers at the store, I rarely make an impulse purchase....
Sapporo Original Rice Lager
5% ABV in one badass can Sapporo is not a particularly good beer, yet I drink it quite a bit, and I’m not sure why. Correction: I’m too embarrassed to admit why, something I’ll finally do by the end of this review. The big “schtick” with Sapporo—and I’m sure other Asian beers—is that they are made from rice. Ooooh, us Americans are impressed. ...
Sunday afternoon drinking at 123burgershotbeer
This bar sprung up seemingly overnight just down the street from me. Here’s their conceit: That absolutely blew my mind and I refused to believe it. Nevertheless, I trekked back over for some day drinking. The enterior of the bar is pretty damn classy. Almost like a furniture showroom. You can still smell the fresh lacquer on the floor. The waitresses are cute and inexplicably...
Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat
4.7%, IBU 12 “Good people drink good beer.” HST I’ve had several Flying Dogs and I’ve pretty much liked them all, but the only one I’ve truly loved is the Gonzo Porter. Whole Foods had some sort of “summer sippin’” promotion which roped me into buying this brew. I’m a sucker for thematic promotions that’s for sure. I love the smell...
Collaboration Not Litigation Ale
8.72% from a bomber, Batch #2 (from Avery Brewing Company/Russian River Brewing Company)* A few years ago I tried several of the major Avery releases. I recall liking them all, but not really loving any and thus I had pretty much ignored the brewery ever since then. That all changed when one of my favorite beer blogs, Fermentedly Challenged, mentioned how much he had loved this brew. His...
Maker's Mark bourbon whisk(e)y
45% ABV neat Maker’s Mark is the bourbon that made me fall in love with bourbon. And it was a Tennessee—not a Kentucky—boy that taught me how to drink it. His wife had somehow talked him into hosting a snooty engagement party for my best friend and his wife. A party predominated by DC quasi-movers and pseudo-shakers. The kind of folks that don’t go to parties to engage...
Coors (yes, plain old regular-ass Coors)
5% ABV I’m not sure I’ve ever had this one. Seriously. Sure, I’ve had literally thousands upon thousands of Coors Lights in every sort of drinking vessel possible—from a bottle, fo’ty, can, keg, pitcher, stripper’s crack—but I don’t think I’ve ever had just a plain ol’ Coors. Nowadays, people pretty much only drink light beers. ...
Brooklyn Pilsner
5.1% ABV As mentioned before, I am a huge fan of the Brooklyn Brewery—my “home” brewer—and most of its line. Yet today when I was at the store, I glanced at the Brooklyn Pilsner and I realized that I absolutely never drink it. Hell, I’m not sure I have EVER had it. And that’s weird cause I do like pilsners a whole lot. I think it must have to do with the...
Arrogant Bastard Ale
7.2% ABV from a bomber I’m pretty sure this is the first craft beer I ever had. I tried it when I was 23 or 24 at arguably the best beer bar in Manhattan, the Ginger Man. The huge place is usually packed during happy hour and on evenings, but on that particular Saturday afternoon—perhaps on ALL Saturday afternoons—it was completely empty. Me and my date were the only...
Blue Point Summer Ale
4.4% ABV There are lot of Blue Point beers I like (I know it sounds gay, but their blueberry beer in particular is sublime. OK, using the word “sublime” sounded gay. But really, there is no other way to describe the wonder of Blue Point Blueberry). Any who, I was pretty excited to see this Blue Point Summer Ale fresh on the shelf at my local supermarket, rushing home to try it. I...
Dogfish Head India Brown Ale
7.2% ABV from a bottle I pretty much like every beer from Dogfish Head and this one is no exception. I’m a big fan of brown ales and this probably surpasses my previous favorite, Brooklyn Brown. This beer pours dark and frothy like a can of Welch’s grape soda. It’s very alcoholic for a brown, those doesn’t exactly taste so. Quite frankly, it almost tastes like a...
Corona Extra
4.6% ABV “Extra” what? Extra shitty is what I’ll assume. Corona has to be the only beer you can literally watch TV through. It’s so goddamn thin. A pungent smell, yet borderline tasteless. Figure out that paradox. So gross. “What if you put a lime in it?” the ladyfriend asked. Christ. Like a little citrus fruit could improve this filth. The only thing...
Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
8.3% ABV from a bomber I’m pretty sure I’m not an alcoholic, or any sort of -oholic for that matter, but if I were, these would be my biggest addictions, from the greatest to least: 1. Coffee/caffeine (the only “addiction” that I have withdrawal symptoms from) 2. Alcohol 3. The internet and information consumption 4. Sex (or masturbation) 5. Television/movies 6. ...
Franziskaner Weissbeir
5% ABV I’d seen this beer on the shelves and at bars a zillion times but something about it just bored me. A pure case of judging a book by it’s ho-hum cover. My gut instinct proved right as I liked this beer fine but didn’t love it, and will probably have forgotten about it soon enough. I had this immediately after drinking the Leffe Blonde. It smells similar but is...
Leffe Blonde
6.6% ABV Leffe Blonde was one of the first “good” beers I’d ever had. I used to not be much of a beer drinker, preferring whiskey or vodka in college. This was mainly cause I didn’t know how complex and tasty a quality beer could be. This all changed after school when one of my more worldly friends introduced me to Belgian beers. While our other friends hit...
Brooklyn Lager
5.2% ABV on draught When I go out drinking, I rarely consume so-called “fancy” beers for reasons fourfold: 1. Fancy beers are often exorbitantly priced at bars. 2. Fancy beers usually have high ABVs and thus are not ideal for marathon drinking sessions. 3. I am often wasted and schmoozing with friends while at bars and thus can not give the necessary attention toward a complex...
Sparks Light malt liquor
6% ABV from a 16 ounce can Need any more proof that I am most decidedly NOT a beer snob?—I drink and ENJOY a low calorie energy malt liquor meant to taste like some ghetto Red Bull & vodka concoction. I first started drinking these as a poor 22-year-old. They were my go-to “pregaming” libation as $1.50 for each 16 oz. 6% can was an incredibly cheap way to start the...
Heineken Lager
5% ABV This beer doesn’t even merit being poured into a glass. It probably doesn’t even merit coming in a glass bottle. It should come in a cheap plastic one like they give you at Yankee Stadium so when you get drunk you don’t start hurling dangerous projectiles at Jason Giambi after yet another golden sombrero. My ladyfriend’s...
Bud Light Lime
4.2% ABV People often call me a beer snob but I find that label completely inappropriate. I often (and without complaint) polish off pitcher after pitcher of Coors Light with my buddies while watching my favorite college basketball team lose games. Throw back can after can of Pabst while participating in bar trivia. I don’t love those beers or anything, but sometimes you got to drink...
Green Flash barley wine
(Vista, California) 10% ABV in a bomber. Another beer from my recent Bowery Beer Room haul. My guy there, JT, unequivocally did not recommend it. I usually trust JT. You wouldn’t know it if you saw him—he’s a lithe, bookish fella that looks more like he should be working at a Barnes & Noble or in an university engineering department—but JT knows more about beer than...
Orlio Organic Seasonal IPA
Magic Hat Brewery (South Burlington, VT) 5.4% ABV from a sixer Drank after finishing the Backburner bomber. My first ever organic beer. Bought this one after trying a free sample of it at a Magic Hat tasting booth at the Bowery Beer room. I’d tried all the other Magic Hat samples and, though I’d seen it on shelves, didn’t know that Orlio was a MH offering. Being a hater of...
Southern Tier Backburner Barley wine
(Lakewood, NY) 10% ABV from a bomber After an Oliva cigar, a light Italian dinner, and two Peronis, I stumbled over to the Bowery Beer Room, New York’s Valhalla for beer drinkers. There, I picked up two big sacks worth of brews. Suffice to say, my “ladyfriend” was not thrilled when I arrived at her UWS pad stinking like a cigar and carrying enough beer to give five beer nerds...
An Example
Here is an example of a beer review I found on BeerAdvocate.com: It pours a clear and fairly carbonated ruddy coppery amber. A finger of pithy beige head sinks to rounded hillocks of froth. Rolls of lacing coast along the inside of the glass. In the aroma, toasted malt is sugar sweet with caramel and dried fruit. Toffee and vanilla join a muted citrus hop note. A mild swirl of dough is warmed by...