233. Sonoma Crowbar Habanero Lime

"The Crowbar Commandments:  #1: Sweet ciders are meh.  #2: The apple shall not be confined to cold weather months. #3: Friends don't let friends pronounce habanero with a tilde." 

I decided to consume this cider to go with a dinner of roasted pork loin and a vegetable salad.  

The beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  It has a yellow-gold color with a bunch of sediment within.  Not sure if it is pieces of habanero or something else.  Of course, no head or lacing to go with a cider.  Aromas of lime, apple, and maybe the slightest bit of pepper.  

The taste is of lime, dry apples, and habanero, exactly as advertised.  I didn't expect the habanero to be so pronounced in the beer.  I've had pepper beers before but the pepper was just a complement and virtually non-existent from a heat standpoint.  I actually had to drink this periodically because the spice in my mouth would bring the heat.  The cider is light bodied, a little on the slick side, and has low carbonation.

I wasn't big with the lime and apple combination.  This is more of a gimmicky cider than one that I would recommend for regular consumption.  Interesting to try, but not worth drinking the whole thing.

Grade: D+

Price Paid: $2.99 (12 oz can)

232. Devil's Backbone Stringduster Ale

This is the other beer from my fantasy football draft.  Apparently the description behind this beer is that it is a combination of barley, wheat, and corn.  

It poured a hazy golden color with orange highlights into a stemless snifter glass.  One finger of off-white head.  Low retention.  Seems like a lot of the Devil's Backbone line has low retention head.  No lacing on the glass.  I get aromas of apple, honey, caramel, toast, and grassy notes.  

Tastes of toffee, caramel, apple, grass, and a touch of bitter hops.  Light bodied, with light carbonation, coupled with the < 5% ABV makes this a very sessionable beer.  

My expectations for an APA is something that's pretty hop forward and not too dissimilar from an IPA.  In the case of this beer, I didn't find a lot of discerning qualities that would be related to an IPA.  It's a pleasant surprise.  To that point, I think it tastes more like an English APA as that particular style tends to be more muted with the hoppy flavor.  Still, I'm not going to complain as it made for a very good beer that's easy to drink.  I could easily have this again.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $6.99 (32 oz growler)

231. Devil's Backbone Vienna Lager

I bought this beer for my buddies that were attending a fantasy football draft.  Of course I was going to sample some of the goods that I purchased!  The contents were emptied into a stemless snifter.  It's got a dark amber color, one finger of off-white head with low retention and low amounts of lacing.  I can pick up aromas of toast, malt, and brown sugar.

I can taste toasted malt, sourdough, and caramel.  Very simplistic in nature, but not beer styles need to be complex.  Medium bodied with medium carbonation.  Smooth drinkability.  

It's a very clean tasting beer, inoffensive to the taste buds.  If someone wanted to get introduced to the world of craft beer, I think this would be one of those beers that would be helpful for the transition.  Very good beer.

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $1.66 (12 oz bottle)

Haul for 8/22

For this particular haul, I was looking to score some beer for a fantasy football draft party that I was hosting.  I headed down to Lowes Foods with the idea of procuring a 12 pk of Red Oak.  It was to my utter disappointment that they don't carry Red Oak there.  At least, not right now.

So in a previous post, I mentioned the goodness that is the Beer Den within Lowes Foods.  They had a tap takeover on Saturday featuring Devil's Backbone out of Virginia.  I was on the hunt for simple beer.  I know my buddies and they're not about IPAs and stouts.  I'd have to focus on lagers and other types that are not as adventurous on the taste buds.  So what did I end up getting?  Here's the haul:

• Devil's Backbone Vienna Lager - I wanted to primarily get my hands on bottles since they're easier to work with.  The only type of beer featuring Devil's Backbone and bottles were the Vienna Lager.  Yeah, I could have gotten some other type of beer, but I was feeling generous to support the brewery since they did the takeover.  Price paid: $9.99
• Devil's Backbone Stringduster - I felt compelled to pick up something on tap.  While there were plenty of solid selections (I almost sprung for the Not Your Father's Root Beer), it was Devil's Backbone that was doing the tap takeover.  I was going to go with the Golf Leaf Lager, but of the folks working in the Beer Den told me to try the Stringduster as a sample.  Even though it's an APA, it was very mild and wasn't too hoppy for my friends.  I found myself a winner.  Price paid: $6.99.

230. Unknown Brewing Escorpion En Fuego

""La Jordana del Escorpion en Fuego hacia la casa del Chupacabra muerto" translates to "The path of the fiery scorpion through the house of the dead Chupacabra".  Aged on tequila oak staves, brewed with agave nectar, serrano peppers & ninety nine scorpions."

Alright, so my birthday came a few days ago.  Turned the big 31.  I can hardly believe that it's been legal for me to drink for 10 years now.  I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do..!  Anyway, since it was my birthday, I wanted to drink one of my more special (rough translation: one of my pricier) beers.  I remembered that I had this one and the bottle said to "drink fresh", which I failed to do.  Better now than later.  

The beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  It has a burnt orange color to it with a finger of beige head.  Don't know if it is particulates or some of the head that floated to the top but it has a cloudiness about it.  Solid retention.  Didn't leave much lacing around the glass.  Aromas of sweet malt, agave, oak, plums, and candy corn.  

The taste is pretty interesting.  It reminds me a little bit of a dubbel.  Very sweet on the front end.  More tastes of the sweet malt, oak, dark fruit, and a very small trace of tequila.  Has a peppery finish that lingers a little bit.  Slight amount of bitterness.  Can't taste the scorpion, but I'd have no idea what the scorpion is supposed to bring to the table anyway.  If I could taste scorpion, I might not like this beer as much.  Full bodied with mild carbonation, it also leaves a slight boozy feeling to it.  It comes in at 10.1%.  

This is a very courageous attempt to be different.  Certainly it will stand out amongst other beers for being brewed with scorpions.  It is certainly a selling point and will pique the curiosity of many.  It did mine.  That said, the beer you get is pretty good.  It isn't fantastic, doesn't leave me wanting more, but it is interesting.  I probably wouldn't buy this beer again, but I'm glad to say that I was able to try this one!

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $16.00 (22 oz bomber)

229. Anchor Steam Beer

"Anchor Steam brand beer derives its unusual name from the 19th century when "steam" seems to have been a nickname for beer brewed on the West Coast of America under primitive conditions and without ice.  The word "Steam" may have referred to the pressure of natural carbonation developing in the beers.  Today the brewing methods of those days are a mystery, and for many decades Anchor alone has used the quaint name "steam" for its unique beer."

My wife needed a particular shaped bottle for table decorations and the only bottle that had the shape she wanted came from Anchor.  When I brought the six-pack home, I was expected to consume one quickly so she could use the bottle for an upcoming dinner party.  Since then, I've had another 2 or 3 of this goodness and am finally getting around to reviewing it.

Contents were emptied into a pilsner glass.  It has nice amber color with dark orange highlights. Two fingers of a light tan colored head.  Light retention, leaving a decent amount of lacing on the glass along with a thin cap of head.  Aromas of biscuit, caramel, and other sweet malts.

When I first tasted this beer, it reminded me of a cross between an amber lager and an ESB.  There's a lot of different things going on.  There's the familiar taste of caramel malts, but it also has a metallic component to it to go with a sour component.  Imagine an amber lager mixed with sea salt.  It has a slight bitter finish that'll linger for a bit.  Lightly carbonated and light bodied, it has a sessionable feel to it, providing that the different components doesn't lead to palate overload.

Surprisingly complex for something labeled as a "California Common", its uniqueness is something that I can definitely appreciate.  I'd be very interested in trying other representations of the style.  I'd definitely buy and enjoy again.

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $1.66 (12 oz bottle)

228. Motorworks V-Twin Vienna Style Lager

The last of the 4 beers I sampled while on my Florida trip.  Like the Anderson Valley gose, I picked this up at the Locale Market and brought it back to my hotel room to enjoy.  

Like the other beers, I drank straight out of the can.  Aromas of caramel, toast, and grass.  

I found this beer to be hoppier than I expected for a lager.  It had some initial caramel sweetness to it, but it also had a bitter taste that liked to linger for a while.  It reminded me of some of the amber ales I've had in recent memory.  Along with the caramel and the grassy notes, I could also taste sourdough and lemon peel.  Light bodied with light carbonation.

Overall, I'm not entirely convinced that this is representative of the style.  Granted, I've only had one other beer that was in this style, but this felt so much more like an amber ale to me.  I wasn't big on the lingering bitterness.  While I don't mind bitter, I don't like it where it is not expected and I didn't expect it here.  I'll likely try other beers from this brewery, but I likely won't venture to sample this one again.

Grade: C

Price Paid: $2.99 (12 oz can)