Rarely updated. Poorly written. On the subject of beer.

Category: Blech

Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout. Coffee + Beer = Sink.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you poured cold coffee in beer? Well wonder no longer. Hitachino Nest has answered that question by brewing up their Espresso Stout. A “Japanese dark beer brewed with coffee beans”. A beer, best described as tasting like rancidity and sadness. Now, I’m no fan of [...]

Set adrift in nasty. Widmer Drifter Pale Ale.

An hour or so ago, I made a Twitter entry that proclaimed my intention to drink this, given that I had nothing else in the fridge. “In the land of the thirsty, the one starred beer is king” it proclaimed. Well, it turns out that the land of the thirsty is a lawless place. Not [...]

Blech … Jubelale 2008.

I’m not going to spend too much effort on this, other to say that the 2006 version of Jubelale was nasty. 2007 was gross as well. In this regard, the 2008 version does not disappoint. Just as cheek smashy, just as odd tasting, just as quickly down the sink. This year, even the wrapper was [...]

My life with Widmer, in a Brrr.

Widmer and I go way back. It began innocently enough with Hefeweizen. Pretty ubiquitous around the west coast, it taught me many years ago that there was beer that was actually good. Drop Top was decent for parties, and then came Snow Plow. When I first moved up to Beervana, I wish just giddy for [...]

Hibernation Ale: Like Bad Anesthesia

Ever had one of those beers where it feels like the flavor wraps around your teeth? Like its originating in your molars, wandering your bicuspids, then slowly slithering its way into that part of your pallete that makes you shudder. The kind where it’s a liquid, but you feel the urge to chew, and chew. [...]

Old Milwaukee

Old Milwaukee… just sounds delicious, doesn’t it? This beer dates back before they named brews after snakes. I’m not sure if this is technically malt liquor or merely cheap beer, but I drank it from a 40-ounce bottle shaped like a Saturn rocket booster, so I’ll refer to it as the malt variety. Once Frosty [...]

Trader Joe’s Bavarian Hefeweizen… ick.

I haven’t had this beer in a long time. And yet, it hasn’t been long enough. I can’t even describe the bad that was the taste of this beer. This beer, if you want to call it that, holds the distinction of being the only beer I would not and could not finish. I know [...]

Beers of Evil I: Belzebuth Blonde Ale

It was an indecisive day at the wall of beer. As I sat contemplating what to buy, my local beer pusher, Sally, remarked how many of the beers on the wall seemed to have a devil, evil, end of the world theme. Perhaps the brewers of America know something we don’t? I figured, well, if [...]

All that’s foreign is not gold: Koshikari Echigo Beer

I present his here to you as a cautionary tale. Grandpa Goodness was in town, and we shared some of the yummy Hitachino Nest, both coming away with what we thought was a new appreciation for Japanese beer. Sadly, one day while I was away at the salt mines, Grandpa, flush from the success of [...]

Widmer Snow Plow – “Longing for the way we were”

You know those moments where you remember something so fondly from when you were a kid,. You remember how amazing this one experience was. Then you try it later as an adult and find out it was lame, boring or horribly nasty (hello Nesquik “Strawberry” Milk). Sadly, this is exactly what Widmer Snow Plow did [...]