Paulaner Hefe-Weizen: 23

Visual: 5 Aroma: 3 Taste: 7 Finish: 8
Total: 23

Paulaner is a classic German brew dating back to 1634. It was started by monks. Paulaner makes several brews that are all excellent. I decided to try their Hefe-Weizen Natural Wheat beer first.

It pours with a very thick and high head. The beer is a cloudy light gold and amber. It has a very mild aroma, slightly sweet.

It has a very light upfront taste. Slightly sweet. A bit of lemon and citrus. I've seen this mostly served with a slice of lemon. It doesn't need it. But some find it lightens it up a bit and "cleans" up the flavor a bit. Your choice but I like it neat. It finally finishes with a nice creamy, yeast, bread flavor. It leaves a very slight sweet aftertaste on the tongue. This is a hot summer's day after mowing the lawn beer. You could probably down 2 or 3 after that! It is very refreshing. It's more of a subtle beer. But it certainly is a quality beer.

Overall I would say it's an excellent mass produced beer. There are certainly better craft beers out there. But considering Paulaner could be considered the equivalent to Bud in America, then the Germans definitely got the better deal.

Samuel Smith Pure Brewed Lager: 14

Visual: 3 Aroma: 2 Taste: 4 Finish: 5
Total: 14

I decided to go back to Samuel Smith to see if they could recreate their magic with Pure Brewed Lager. Given it's characteristics and flavor, I would say it's a pilsner. But that's not identified anywhere on the bottle or on the website.

The color is a pale golden with a moderate foamy head. It looks like a typical American-style pilsner. It has a very faint aroma of hops. Overall it's totally unimpressive.

Shockingly it is a very fizzy beer in the mouth. It is a very fresh taste. And, I mean fresh in a bad way. Kind of like it needed another few days fermenting. Next is a bright, acidic taste. Finally a very small amount of hops at the end. I couldn't discern any actual flavor. It finishes cleanly with very little aftertaste. In a blind taste test you could probably mistake this for Coors but with a bit more flavor. Seriously, there is nothing to this beer which is extremely shocking given Samuel Smith makes the vastly superb Nut Brown Ale. On a hot day, stick with Coors and pass on Pure Brewed Lager.

St. Peter's Cream Stout: 27

Visual: 5 Aroma: 5 Taste: 8 Finish: 9
Total: 27

St. Peter's is a new small, craft brewery Suffolk, England. It was started in 1996. What caught my eye and made me buy it was the bottle. The bottle is beautiful. It's roughly a pint and flat more like a flask. It makes you want to find out what's inside. First the pour. The beer is black. I held it up to the light. Nothing. The head was a bit thin but creamy. I think this is by design as they say they make their brews with less carbonation for a smoother finish. A quick whiff and it smells very sweet and maybe a hint of toasted sesame seeds. Actually, more like Asian sesame oil. Very intriguing.

It has a nice acidic tang at the front. A sweetness of malt washes over the tongue followed by a mild hoppiness and some nut undertones. Then it turns to cream and dark chocolate. Finally a silky finish with just a touch of hop and chocolate aftertaste. I'm not a big stout drinker, let alone cream stouts, but this is very very good. I haven't drank Mackenson's in a long time but this is probably a step above that. The downside is the price. I paid $4 for a pint at the store. So, you're basically paying bar prices for home beer. Ouch. Otherwise, a top notch cream stout.

Jim Beam Black: 21

Taste: 7 Finish: 8 Color: 3 Aroma: 3
Total: 21

Jim Beam White has always been a middling and harsh whiskey. So, when I saw Jim Beam Black at the same price point as Jack, I figured I'd give it a try. Black has been aged an extra year and the proof has been raised from 80 to 86. It certainly made a difference!

The color is a golden amber. Could use a bit more depth but still nice. Aroma is musky with a whiff of alcohol. Nice but nothing special. Upon first sip, that's when it hits you. This stuff is full of flavor. Bold. Powerful. Certainly not refined. This is not a hint of fruit and a dash of spice type of flavor. This is big earth and wood. So, next I think, boy this is good but with this much punch up front it's going to burn going down. Wrong! Smoooth! I was shocked. A nice warm trail down the throat. So, if you're looking for a sippin' by the fire eating cheese kind of whiskey, this ain't it. But, if you're looking for a bold "saloon" type of whiskey that won't leave you gasping for air, then Black is your man.

Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale: 28

Visual: 5 Aroma: 4 Taste: 10 Finish: 9
Total: 28

Dogfish Head started as a small brewery in Delaware and a restaurant at Rehoboth Beach. Over 10 years it has blossomed to be the fastest growing brewery in the country. They are well known for the 60 Minute IPA. Although that is a very good beer, for me their best starts with Shelter Pale Ale. Unfortunately, they do not distribute it nation wide and it only resides in Delaware and surrounding states. Hopefully they will increase this distribution. And here's why.

The pour is perfect. The color is a beautiful medium amber. The head is full. It smells sweet and musky of hops and malt. You get a wonderful first acidic bite as it transitions to a strong hop on the back of the tongue. It has a toasted nut undertone. It finishes full of flavor that lingers without over powering. It does not wear on you. This is probably not a hot summer day by the pool beer. It is more of night time brew with a hearty meal and then will keep you warm all night. On tap it finishes even cleaner which would give it a perfect 10 and a near perfect 29 total. To me it is the finest beer available. If I could only drink one beer for the rest of my life this would be my first choice. Now, Shelter is not their most popular brew. But, I find it to be their best.

Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale: 28

Visual: 5 Aroma: 5 Taste: 8 Finish: 10
Total: 28
Samuel Smith is not an often beer. It's one you probably will never find in a friend's fridge. It's a beer you may have on very rare occasion at a bar or with a good meal. I have never seen it on draft. Those in the know will order one and smile. Is this beer worth such reserved company? Or should we visit him more often?

First, it pours with a beautiful thick head. The color is a very deep brown. Just looking at it you want to drink this beer. The aroma is of medium malt and hops. It smells smooth and crisp. You want to drink this beer. It hits the tongue very cleanly with a slight nuttiness. Mr. Smith says it's hazelnut, but I couldn't tell. There is a very mild malt on the front. It finishes with a mild hop flavor that lingers on the tongue nicely. You get a very nice "ahh" upon exhale. It kind of leaves you with that dry walnut feeling. This is a clean beer that is full of flavor. It is a very hard thing to achieve. Mr. Smith deserves more frequent visits at home and about. You will drink this beer. And it will be superb.

Magic Hat No. 9: 23

Aroma: 4 Visual: 3 Taste: 7 Finish: 9
Total: 23

Magic Hat is a very good micro brewery out of Vermont. They seem to be putting out a large amount of good quality craft beer. My first and best affair with Magic Hat is with their Number 9. Not knowing what to expect, I was blown away the first time when I had it on tap. But that was a night of good friends and food. So, here is a more objective review.

Number 9 is a pale ale. It has a very light malty aroma with a hint of sweetness. It pours with a full head. The color is a light amber and slightly cloudy. It has a nice tang when it hits the tongue. Then hits a mild hoppiness. Nothing overpowering. Finally you get some sweetness at the back of the tongue. It goes down smooth and finishes pretty cleanly. A nice linger of hops and some fruit. New web site says the beer is cloaked in mystery. Not long ago they used to tell you what the mystery is. They use a bit of apricot in the beer. This is what adds its sweetness. If you concentrate very hard you can sort of taste it. But otherwise you would never know. This is no fruit beer. It is a very refreshing brew good for a hot day. Though my love affair with Number 9 was hot at first, it survived the test of time with a very respectable 23 overall. I wish it weren't so cloudy and went either lighter in color or a more deep amber. It's medium amber isn't terribly appealing. It could also use a bit more bite up front but it finishes so smoothly and cleanly. It's a great beer to appreciate just one or for a more extended session. Excellent.

Jack Daniels Old Number 7: 22

Taste: 7 Finish: 7 Color: 4 Aroma: 4
Total: 22
I start my whiskey reviews with my old friend, Jack Daniels. I will always remember the classic line from "A Scent of a Woman" where Al Pacino says, "When you've known him as long as I have you call him John." We've been close friends since 1990.

Jack is not a bourbon due to it's distilling process. More specifically it's filtering process. Jack is double charcoal filtered. Once at the beginning and then again at the end. A true bourbon is filtered only once at the start. Otherwise Jack is extremely similar to other bourbons and have the same flavor characteristics. Jack claims the double filtering makes it smoother.

The aroma is of traditional American whiskey. There is a small whiff of alcohol but nothing offensive. The color is a rich amber. I prefer my whiskey over ice. Warm and straight up to me is not that appealing. A splash of cold water on rare occasion. On ice, Jack has a nice smokey flavor with caramel undertones giving it a hint of sweetness. It glides over the tongue. There is a mild bite in the back of the throat and a medium burn on the way down. It's a smooth burn, not harsh like in cheap liquor. Moving up in whiskey quality almost always reduces this burn but at the expense of forward taste. I find Jack to be a very good balance between flavor and finish. Just rough enough to know you're drinking whiskey but not harsh to make you cough after it goes down.

To close, for an "every day" whiskey, Jack is a great friend. You may find more exciting and expensive whiskeys out there but John will never let you down.

Rogue Dead Guy Ale: 20

Taste: 6 Finish: 8 Visual: 3 Aroma: 3
Total: 20

Rogue Dead Guy Ale is a craft beer from Oregon. It is brewed as a German-Style Maibock. Dead Guy Ale has a nice amber color but it’s cloudy which was unexpected. The head was small and thin and dissipated quickly. A very subtle aroma of malt. It starts with a sweetness like a touch of honey mixed with the malt. Next is a medium hoppiness. Finally it has a nice hop and sweet aftertaste that dissipates quickly finishing cleanly. For a beer that claims it is “microcrafted” I would say it’s a good effort but not great. A nice beer that’s a bit too expensive for the quality you get.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager: 24

Taste: 8 Finish: 7 Visual: 5 Aroma: 4
Total: 24

As the beer reviews become reborn, I start with the benchmark of beer, Sam Adams Boston Lager. It separates the good from the great. Since all reviews are subjective and not absolute, I use this beer as the baseline to compare all others against. At a rating of 24 out of 30, it leaves just enough room for improvement for a truly great beer.

To start, the color is a perfect deep amber with no artificial overtones. The head is foamy with no brittleness. A nice hoppy aroma is present. The taste as it rolls over the tongue is of strong hops and malt barley without being overpowering. It is a bit dry with a little sweetness. It finishes a bit strong leaving a lingering hop aftertaste. This is its weakest trait. In bottles, the aftertaste can wear on you a bit. As with most beers, on tap it has a slightly smoother finish. It’s a beer you can enjoy on the couch or with a steak at a nice restaurant. To summarize it is bold without being overpowering.