147. Gordon Biersch Maibock

I'm leaving on a jetplane, I don't know when I'll get back again.. Okay, so maybe I know when I'm getting back, but considering the circumstances, I don't know anymore.  I had the opportunity to go to a conference for work, and the conference is in Canada.  Winnipeg if you want to be specific.  Anyway, I got to the airport and figured I'd have a beer before the flight.  Why not, right?  At RDU, they have a Gordon Biersch Brewery restaurant.  I was really only interested in the beer, but I had a really light lunch, so I figured I'd get some soup too.

I've had Gordon Biersch before, it was a twelve pack variety pack before I had an appreciation for beer.  Had a hard time drinking them at the time.  I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem now.  I ended up going for the seasonal, which happened to be the Maibock.  It was presented in a good looking pilsner glass, with a finger of fluffy egg-white head, the body a cross being amber and siena.  Based on the comments from the waitress, it was going to be something like an amber.  I like those!  I picked up aromas of malt.

I could pick up caramel malts and a heavy metallic taste.  I like the heavy metallic taste, but even this was too much. Didn't leave a great taste in my mouth.  Still, the moderate to high carbonation gave it a nice spicy finish and I felt the need to drink more, I was just wishing it was something else.  It was a light bodied brew, easy to drink, but I had to drink it pretty quickly and I felt like it had an impact on me, albeit a very slight one.  I feel like if they could tone down that metallic bite, this one could be a winner.  Until then, however, there are a lot of other amber ales I would have to recommend.  

Grade: C

Price Paid: $8.29 (20 oz pilsner) (Yeah..you know you're paying a premium at an airport..)

27. Carolina Brewing Spring Bock

Yeah, that's a pretty bad picture, but bear with me.  Little to go with.  #2 of the 4 beers I sampled during my inaugural brewery tour was the Carolina Brewing Spring Bock.  This was their spring seasonal offering, and I was geared towards their offerings that I couldn't normally get in the grocery store.  

The spring bock, at 6.5% ABV, can pack a punch if you drink too quickly.  After my stint at the brewery, I definitely drank a little too quickly.  Took a couple hours to get back into a good state of mind.  Anyway, the taste.  I thought the beer was on the sweet side.  It was a light colored beer, a little thin tasting.  For a Maibock, it seemed a little different, but as a person just getting into this, it's very likely that I don't know what I'm talking about.  At all.  

Grade: C
Price Paid: Free (Draught pint)

15. Abita Andygator

On the same trip to Asheville when I picked up the Ninja Porter (See #14), I also picked up a bomber sized Abita Andygator from a local Ingles.  Abita (http://www.abita.com) is a brewery based out of Louisiana, a little north of Nawlins.  This brew is classified as a maibock or helles dopplebock, all of which is foreign to me, but I did look forward to drinking.

At 8% ABV, it packs a decent sized punch.  Looking back at my notes, the biggest note was that I couldn't finish it all.  I wasn't sure if it was because I tried to drink the Porter and the Andygator back-to-back, which would have left me hurting just a tad (I'm liking this experience of drinking beer, but I'm continuing to maintain a low tolerance).  The other fact could have been that I just didn't like the beer all that much.  It's very rare for me to not finish a beer.  Aside from that, there was nothing really memorable about this beer.

Grade: D+

Price Paid: $4.50 (22 oz bottle)