Good Beer, Disappointing Beer

It's been a mixed bag of beer this past week or so. While I'm always excited to try new breweries, after trying two mediocre brews from Uncommon Brewers, I can't say I'm looking forward to the third in my fridge. I'm sure I'll get to it soon enough, you know, in the name of science. Or thirst.

The Good:

Pacemaker Porter
Flyers Restaurant And Brewery
American Porter | 5.50% ABV

A- / 4.05
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to Dave for the bomber. This porter opens with a big dark chocolate (lighter, like 35% cacao) character with a dry citrus pepper finish. As it warms, the hops build for sort of a chocolate orange rind character. This is an interesting porter, and that's tough to find. Give this a try.


Summer Of Lager
Cisco Brewers Inc
Munich Helles Lager | 6.25% ABV

B+ / 3.95
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had a pint at Liberty St Tavern. I assumed this was a pilsner, based on the strong, spicy hop character. It's not overpowering, but provide a tasty balance to the mild toasty grains. The beer didn't have soft bready feel of a classic helles, but that doesn't really matter, this is a fine lager worth enjoying over the summer.


The Disappointing, Should Be Better. Man I Was Hoping It'd Be Good:

Siamese Twin Ale
Uncommon Brewers
Dubbel | 8.50% ABV

C- / 2.73
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Picked up a 16 oz. can for $2.75, no canning date on the bottom. I wasn't terribly impressed by their Golden State Ale, but this is worse. Frankly it reminds me of failed homebrew.

I dont know, maybe this beer was kept in a hot warehouse for a month, or something went wrong between Santa Cruz and Pennsylvania, but I don't enjoy it. There's an odd grassy (not like hops) caramel taste. There's a hint of the kaffir lime that's added I can pull out of the aftertaste, but that's one of the few bright spots. Frankly this smells a bit like an Indian buffet with the coriander and lemongrass additions. I'm not sure what to make of this beer, but I don't want another can.


Sneaky Pete Imperial IPA
Laughing Dog Brewing
American Double / Imperial IPA | 10.00% ABV

C+ / 3.15
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had a bottle for $8 at the Trapp Door (formerly Tap & Table). The beer was a bit disappointing. It might just need a little time to mellow, but there was a sharp alcohol note with resiny oil without enough hops flavor. There was some nice, floral fruit punch, but the good stuff was too light.

My score might look harsh for a beer that isn't too bad, but there are so many great examples of the style, it'd be a shame to get stuck on this one.

Drinking Minnesota Again

As summer rolls on, it's getting harder to keep track of all the great beer we're surrounded by - or at least write at length about it. So to keep things concise, here's what's up: I'm back in MN for a couple weeks enjoying the fine weather, bike lanes, new Twins stadium, and lovely local beers. Here's a bit of what I've been sipping lately.


Saaz Pilsner
Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery
Czech Pilsener | 5.70% ABV

B+ / 3.95
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4.5

Had a pint at the brewpub. I'm a fan of pilsners and single-hop beers, so this was exciting to find on the seasonals menu. This has the look and body of a classic Czech pils, but the hops dominated the beer. Aside from a hint of grainy, biscuit malt, richly floral and spicy hops that are a touch fruity without being sweet. The bitter finish is a bit soft, but still sizeable. This is tasty, but fairly drinkable beer. Check is out if you can.

Lonely Blonde
Fulton Beer
American Blonde Ale | 4.80% ABV

C+ / 3.15
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | drink: 3.5

On-tap at Acadia Cafe. I'd enjoyed Fulton's Child of Vine and hoped this would prove tasty as well. But frankly I was let down with Lonely Blonde. It's just another clean, grainy blonde ale. I already know what 2-row barley tastes like and there's nothing new here. Plenty of other breweries have made this same beer for years, there isn't much reason to single this one out.


MN Tan
Lift Bridge Brewery
Tripel | 8.50% ABV

B / 3.7
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

I heard this was supposed to be more red or pinkish, but it was just a clear amber. The lingonberries impart a pleasant tart tang, but overall, this beer could use a little more Belgian character - it's a bit too clean. I'd say the same of Lift Bridge's Farm Girl (not enough yeast character), but this is still a respectable Belgian with a earthy and lightly fruity character. Worth checking out for something different.

Comic Relief: The Oatmeal

I have to thank Alisa over at Project Happily Ever After (a blog that's not about how beer makes you happy) for this one. It's not the first comic to cover good beer, but it's certainly the most inventive. Anyone unfamiliar with The Oatmeal should know than addition to making a damn funny infographic about beer, it's also published 'toons like "6 Reasons Bacon is Better Than True Love," "7 Reasons to Keep Your Tyrannosaur Off Crack Cocaine," and "Things Bears Love."

And while I'm plugging other people's work, I also recommend checking out BearsAreGreat. Rawr.

The Problem With Big Beer

Over the weekend I tried and discussed a number of big (8%+ abv) beers. It's been a growing trend for a while to brew massive beers and sometimes age them in bourbon or some other sort of barrel. There are some fine world class big beers, like Westvleteren 12 and Russian River's Pliny the Younger, but I take issue with a lot of these brews because whether or not they taste good, they're often too damn thick to actually enjoy. Finish a bomber of some and sure, you'll be drunk, but you'll also feel like you just finished a turkey dinner.

From my homebrewing experience, I know that the more ingredients you throw at a beer and the more sugar you leave in (this sweetens and thickens), the easier it is to make a tasty beer. Drinkability be damned. Who needs a sessionable beer when beer geeks respond to sludge? Twenty-one of BeerAdvocate's top 25 beers are at least 8% abv, after all. Yeah there are some great beers on that list, most just wouldn't make it into my person top 25 brews.

Ranting aside, there's a right way and wrong way to make strong beers. Here's a recent barleywine I thought nailed the style, and a couple local Pennsylvania ales that succumbed to the trend toward being unnecessarily thick and strong.

Landmark Barleywine
Landmark Beer Company
English Barleywine | 9.00% ABV

A- / 4.05
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4

On-tap at Clarks Ale House in Syracuse for $6/pint. The light is a little low in here, but it appears a clear orange-red with with a short off-white head leaving lacing. For 9&, as the bartender tells me, this is a very drinkable barleywine - I like that. So many strong beer are too thick and sweet to really enjoy beyond a small pour. The aroma has a sweet caramel candy apple character.The flavor and feel are very smooth with chocolate biscuit and cookie malt undertones behind bittersweet orange peel hops. I'm reminded of a Terry's Chocolate Orange for the delicate mix of hops and mild grains. After some time to ponder the beer, I'm also finding toffee, grapefruit, and dried cherry notes. This is my favorite Landmark beer I've had, a real winner. Cheers to Kiernan!


Hop'solutely
Allentown Brew Works
American Double / Imperial IPA | 11.50% ABV

B / 3.65
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | drink: 3.5

Split a 750ml bottle with friends at the Steelgaarden. Like most 11%+ IPAs, there's a lot of malty sweetness that takes away from the hops and makes it thicker than it needs to be. It drinks a bit like DFH 90 Minute in relation to the sticky sweetness. The hops are still pretty tasty with the chinook and centennial hops standing out at first with bitter grapefruit and pine, smooth flowery hops kick in and the finish is a mix of light caramel and citrus rind.


Blasphemy
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Quadrupel (Quad) | 11.80% ABV

C+ / 3.25
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | drink: 3.5

Picked up a single in a mixed case from the brewery.

Whoa, put this one back, it ain't ready yet. I'm not saying it's a bad beer, but it feels like it needs some time. The nose has some great vanilla and oak notes, but they're overwhelmed by alcohol there and in the flavor. There's a background sweetness in the taste, but again the booze prevails. I recommend this beer because it seems like there's some great stuff going on, but let it sit for at least 6 months before consuming.

Fruit and Spice Beer: The thin line between delicious and disgusting

Pumpkin beer is sadly coming to close before we actually hit Halloween, so be warned. Go out and get some before it's all gone. In the style of Fruit and Spice Beers, it's not the best thing you can add to beer, but I'll never turn a good pumpkin beer down.

Some types of fruit beers don't fair so well. Last weekend I had the honor of trying an Austrian Radler (which has nothing to do with snakes). Radler is a half-beer half-lemonade mixture popularized in Germany and Austria by thirsty cyclists apparently more concerned about hydration than most of the ones I know.

Typically, this sort of drink is mixed at a bar, but Austrian brewery Stiegl, who generally makes respectable beer, released a bottled radler. If there was any lemonade - or even a lemon derivative - used in this beer, it'd be news to me. It's the product of light beer and lemon-flavored syrup. I've really only tried one other Radler, which I've pasted my review in below, but lemons and beer are a dubious at best combination.

Stiegl Gaudi Radler Shandy (Lemon)
Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH
Fruit Beer | 2.50% ABV

C+ / 3.05
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | drink: 3
rDev: +2%

Thanks to Sue and Meg for sharing their case of Shandy. This is an old sub-style (lemonade+beer) I've wanted to try for a while. This one however, is more just an ultra-light lager with lemon syrup added. Instead of juice, the lemon tastes more like Lemon Drops and candy. The light lager is pleasant and clean, but this beer is too sweet. However, if you dig the thicker, sweeter fruit lambics, this might be up your alley.


Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Fruit Beer | 4.20% ABV

C+ / 3.2
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5

I think this one should be filed under fruit beer. There's a big, tart lemonade flavor up front with a bit of wheat flavor following. The aroma has a bit of lemon. It's kind of like they took a very pale wheat beer and dumped Country Time lemonade mix into it. If you love lemons and NEED them in beer, go for this otherwise, its not much more than lawnmower beer.

Light beers don't have to suck, but Keystone Light does.

I can deal with hot summer days, but the hot summer nights lead me to do crazy things like drink awful, awful beer (provided it's real cold). A couple Fridays ago, the always-generous Kuklickx was hosting a party with free beer. I can't knock him for serving Keystone, because hey, I'm not paying for it. In fact, I'm greatful to Kuklickx for providing me with some drink-for-thought. Only by trying to worst beers, can we understand the best. Also, once my six-pack of Kellerweis was empty, I was at the mercy of his kegerator. So Kuklickx, this post is dedicated to you. Assuming you ever read it.

Now the interesting thing about light beer is that while most suck, they don't have to. Over the last week, I tried a great beer at Emmaus's Tap and Table that was far lighter than Keystone (only 2.8%), but still tasted like good beer. Anyways, here the reviews to compare and contrast two vastly different light, low-alcohol brews.

Keystone Light
Coors Brewing Company
Light Lager | 4.20% ABV

D / 2.1 (this is an above-average score)
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | drink: 2.5

A friend had this on-tap in his kegerator and I couldn't resist giving this a try. I was also out of Kellerweise. Last time I drank this it was in an unfinished basement in college. This experience, frankly (and thanks to Kuklickx), wasn't terribly different. I found the key to this beer was to taste it as little as possible. Letting sit on my tongue for a split second before gulping left just a cream soda and white bread taste. When I let it linger, it tasted like a chemical spill. It was sharp and acrid with a dirty water background. Stick to chugging, you don't want to taste this.



Mirage
General Lafayette Inn & Brewery
Belgian Pale Ale | 2.70% ABV

B / 3.6
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

On-tap at Tap and Table in Emmaus, PA for $3/pint. An impressive beer for the strength. Good job General Lafayette. It drinks like a typical session beer of greater strength and reminds me of a milder Squatters Full Suspension. The malt is mellow with a little toasted barley followed by kicks of apricot and lemon peel hops, very tasty. Give this beer a try if you're into session beers.

Not all Belgian Beer is Awesome: Tripel Abdijbier Dendermonde

I usually look up most new-to-me beers before I buy, but every once in a while I throw caution to the wind. Sometimes I'm delightfully surprised, but most of the time - like this time - I just get a mediocre beer. Dendermonde is further proof that research pays off and that Belgian beer is far from infallible.

In hindsight, this low-scoring brew is no surprise. The De Block brewery makes Satan, a Duvel-knockoff that pales in comparison to the original, and little else worth noting.

Tripel Abdijbier Dendermonde
Brouwerij De Block bvba
Tripel

C+ / 3.2
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5

Picked up a single at Abe's Cold Beer for $3.25. I figured that was a fair price for a random triple. This beer however, wasn't terribly impressive. Sure, it was smooth and drinkable, but the flavor fell flat. There was a sweet bready malt profile with a hit of vanilla spice, but that's really it. No spicy hops or significant fruit. Not really worth trying for the price.

Stupid ideas and beer: The 24 Hour Cyclocross Race

This has been a big fall. I've gone through with not one, but two really stupid athletic feats and lived report back on how stupid it was. Last Thursday and Friday I rode around in circles on a friend's backyard cyclocross course with 15 other oddballs. Thanks to recent rain, most the course was simply a long 2-inch-deep track of sticky peanut butter mud.

No, the mud wasn't nutritious and delicious. It felt like peanut butter that's just been pulled from a fridge. It's both incredibly had to move while still sticking to everything. I had a nice system down when ever time I carried my bike I'd rip the gobs of mud and leaves out from behind the brakes. Yes, this was fun.

Dan K was kind enough to put together a video of the event. You can check it out on his blog. All in all, this was actually a lot more fun that my 6-hour half-walking marathon that went off under blue skies and far more comfortable level. Maybe it's because riding along side friends at an unsanctioned backyard 24-hour race is simply a lot more fun that being lost in a crowd of 10,000 rando's.

I ended up 3rd on the day and figure I probably spent somewhere between 14 and 16 hours on the course. Only 8 of the 16 competitors made it to the end and among the non-finishers were an Olympic track racer, national masters mountain bike champ, and one of the top 10 24-hour racers in the country. Maybe they just had too much sense to continue. When I look at the finishers, we've got a couple guys that drank more than a case of beer a piece (one beer per lap), an Army vet that rolled cigarettes between laps, and a guy that tends to pee himself when he's having a good time. You tell me who the winners are.

See more of Douglas Benedict's race photo's here.

Beer Reviews: Beer Gone Bad - Probably

Some beers are born bad, others become bad from mishandling and infection. Last night I opened a bottle of Tilted Kilt and found a beer that could have been either. On one hand I'd found the same fowl elements in a similar beer once, McEwen's Scotch Ale. Then again, I'd be surprised if anyone truly wanted to make a beer this nasty.

Tilted Kilt Scottish Ale
Stone Cellar Brewery
Scottish Ale

D- / 1.9
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | drink: 1.5

Picked up a single at the Party Source in Syracuse, NY. How this beer got there, I have no idea. Poured into a pint glass, it's a slightly hazy dark amber with a tall off-white head that slowly fades.

Something is wrong here, this beer smells like feet. There are caramel malt elements to the aroma, but if it smells like one thing, it's feet. Sweaty, caramel-covered feet.

The taste? Guess what - more feet, but with sour lemon, indicating there's probably something rotten here. If I find another bottle I'll try it again and re-review, but as this stands, nearly everything has gone wrong.

Beer Reviews: More Good, More Bad, De Proef Reserve Signature Ale, and Shiner Spezial Leicht

Let's start on the bad foot, then hop to the good.

Shiner Spezial Leicht
Spoetzl Brewery
American Macro Lager

D / 2.2
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | drink: 2

Picked up a single bottle from the Central Market in Dallas. Appears pale, clear yelow with a white head and lacing.

"Brewed for that light, happy flavor."

Yeah, about that. There's nothing happy about this beer except the ensuing buzz if you can manage to slug this fast enough. The Shiner brand is a respectable line of beers, but this beer is nothing more than a upscale Coors Light. For an macro light beer, its disturbingly on-style for a brewery that should know better. The aroma has a dusty element along with very plain grains and sourdough. The flavor follows up with a hint of corn (DMS) and light fruitiness that's quickly burried under acrid, dry yeast character finish that's a drop of lemon with a lot of wet grain husk. No bueno. Avoid this one. Not even close to on par with the craft light beer. File this away with the frat house-party crap.


Something completely different:

De Proef Reserve Signature Ale
De Proefbrouwerij
Belgian Strong Pale Ale

A- / 4.1
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

Picked up a big bottle at New Beer in the Bowery. Pours a hazy dark amber in my tulip.

The aroma is grassy with apricots and perfume. The flavor beings with white pepper, wet farmhouse, and sweet apple (like in pie) and then finishes with a bitter lemon rind note that lasts and lasts with an earth element. Overall there's a little funk, a little fruit, and then a big hoppy finish. Damn this is good.

Beer Reviews: Taking the good with the very bad

Life has good days and bad days just like it has good beers and awful crap in a can. Here are a couple recent tastings that showcase the duality of beer.

Union Jack IPA
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
American IPA

A- / 4.2
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

The immediate grapefruit and pineapple fruit flavors leave few doubts about the American origin of this brew, but the spicy finish gives a nod to the British past of the style. The malts are fairly light with just a hint of dry biscuit barley under the citrus. The appearance is a deep gold-orange with a tall white head a thick lacing. The body is also as light as any pale ale, making this almost too drinkable for the 7.5% strength. Overall this IPA is rich in flavor with strong bitterness, while still maintaining drinkability. I'd say this is the best IPA I've had in some time. It doesn't hit you over the head with hops yet is complex and interesting.

UPDATE: Union Jack IPA just won the gold for American IPA at the GABF (Great American Beer Festival).

Labatt Ice
Labatt Brewing Co.
American Macro Lager

D+ / 2.35
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | drink: 2

Poured from a black can. Surprisingly for a macro, this one keeps a short head leaves lacing.

Yeah, this beer could be worse, but it still isn't any treat to drink. The aroma is fowl with dusty-smelling malts and acrid lager character. The flavor actually tastes decent at first, with the big, sweet bready malts of an export lager, but then a big sour milk and citrus tang comes through to ruin it all. What a waste of water.

Crimes Against Beer: St. Pauli Girl

Fun-loving beer my ass.

I'll be blunt, St. Pauli Girl Lager sucks as far as German beers are concerned. Sure, it can hang with the worst of the American macro lagers. I might even take it over an Old Milwaukee, if I was desperate for a drink.

The marketing folks at St. Pauli Girl, an InBev (those Belgians that bought Anheuser-Busch) brand, sure do like to make things up:
If you like a Girl that has a deep golden color, distinctive full-bodied taste and "hoppy" aroma, then the Lager is for you. This Girl has been a Gold Medal winner for the American Tasting Institute Best Full Calorie German Lager.

No, not so much.

St. Pauli Girl Lager
InBev
German Pilsener

D+ / 2.3
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | drink: 2.5

Why did I order this beer? Well I wasn't paying for it and I'd never tried it - win/win, right?

I though once the light-struck skunky flavor (thanks to the green bottle) cleared out of the aroma and taste, there might be something worth writing about, but I was mistaken. What was left after the most offensive, yet richest flavor vacated was a nasty sour fruit tang and only a hint of actual German lager flavor. Yes, it was there hiding in the back, light bready malts with a bit of sweetness. But for the most part I just tasted the big off-flavor that I assume St. Pauli Girl considers their trademark taste. Move along, nothing to drink here. Pass.

Beer Reviews: Bad Beer and Going Against the Grain

This morning I was asked my thoughts on PBR, or Peeber as it's affectionately called around here. I replied that for what it is, a mass-produced macro lager, it's relatively good. I mean really, for that category, all it has to do is resemble good beer and be inoffensive.

This got me thinking to a recent addition to BeerAdvocate, where you can see how your review of a beer deviates from the average. Low and behold my top 3 beers that I rated over their average were either light macro lagers, or macro lagers - because hey, for the style they're not that bad.

Some people may not take a brew's style into consideration while reviewing, but a trained judge such as myself (a "recognized judge" by the Beer Judge Certification Program) knows that some styles suck pretty hard and it's unfair to the beer to just say it all blows. Sure it may be splitting hairs when the flavor profiles are so bland, but hey, somebody's got to do it.

Bud Light
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Light Lager

Average score from 666 reviews to date: D- / 1.87
My Score:http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif C- / 2.6
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | drink: 3
rDev: +28.1%

Looking at Bud Light as pure beer, as an art removed from the social implications of drinking, it is both uninspiring and disappointing. To begin with, there isn't much to look at. It sits flatly in a glass like a urine sample. The aroma is weak with only hints of fresh barley. The flavor is a touch sour and grainy with a slight sweetness and faint bitterness. An easily ignorable but unpleasant and unnatural tasting flavor lingers after each cold gulch.

All in all, when it comes to the flavor department, Bud Light is severely lacking. What is so impressive about Bud Light, however, is the beer craftsmanship of Anheuser-Busch. In the world of brewing, a finely-tuned light lager is the most difficult product to create. Errors or flavor imperfections are readily evident, with nothing to mask the flavor. Then consider the flavor consistency for the millions of barrels of Bud Light, and you have one of the best-made beers in the world.



Amstel Light
Amstel Brouwerij B. V.
Light Lager

Average score from 276 reviews to date: D+ / 2.47
My score: B- / 3.4
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5
rDev: +27.4%

Wow, the best light beer I've had. But maybe I'm just easily impressed by hops in a light lager. The pale malt was weak, but there was an actual hops profile of spicy European hops. The aroma was actually quite big for a light beer, and while it hinted at it's light lager style with adjuncts, the pale malt and hops still showed through. Really, this has to be one of the only light lagers that actually leaves some bitterness in your mouth. Still, this beer is only good for the style.



Busch Beer
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
American Macro Lager

Average score from 221 reviews to date: D / 2.04
My score: C- / 2.6
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | drink: 2.5
rDev: +21.5%

Poured from a 16 oz. tallboy into a weizen glass

Pale yellow (some would call it piss-colored) with a bit of suds Smells like DMS, lots of cooked vegetable with a little bready pale malt in the background. The flavor, while bland, isn't offensive, which is alway the threshold of bad beer. Instead this lends a light toast taste with a bit of lager tang which is almost fruity - sort of like an artificial fruit flavor. The carbonation is appropriate, not too sharp, not too flat, and while this beer isn't out and out offensive, I don't see myself drinking another. Still, considering the style, this could be a lot worse.

Beer, Bikes, Etc: Things I like this week

1) Christian VandeVelde


Taking on the world's best in the Tour de France.

2) Mighty Muffins


The perfect 10:30AM snack.

3) Squatter's Full Suspension Pale Ale


B+ / 3.9
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

On-tap at the Porcupine outside SLC. Served in a pint glass.

Aside from a hazy appearance, there's nothing really off on this beer. In fact, my hat is off to Squatters on this one. They're pushing the limits of what Utah beer can be and it reminds me of a less subtle Surly Bitter Brewer. Juicy citrus hops dominate this beer with fresh, dry-hop subtley that reminds me of sniffing hops pellets at my homebrew shop. Yum. There's a slight malt background for balance and a moderately strong bitterness. Worth trying just to see what there's guys can do with only 4.0% abv.

Beer Review: I.C. Light - Not as bad as you'd think

It takes a lot for a good beer to surprise me. I set the bar pretty high for craft beer, so for me to really take notice, something basically has to be like a party in my mouth with everyone invited.

For corporate beers from the likes of Anheuser-Busch or Coors, however, I typically expect the worst. So when I tried a can of Pittsburgh's I.C. Light out of curiosity last night, I was pleasantly astonished when it didn't suck.

Here's what I thought of I.C. Light:

I.C. Light
Iron City Brewing Co. (Pittsburgh Brewing Co.)

C+ / 3.1
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5

I expected to be disgusted by some typical macro lager DMS (a chemical flaw that gives a cooked vegetable aroma and flavor)-riden mess, but this was a decent macro light beer, all things considered. Yeah, it was pretty watery, but the mouthfeel wasn't unpleasantly dry, bitter, or astringent light most other light beers. Instead this matched a slight lemon flavor with mild bready malts. Not a lot going on, but it's a light beer, what more do you?