Beer Review: Real Ale Devil's Backbone

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 8.1 percent

Appearance: This had a golden honey-colored body with a sharp haze to it. I think that the haze provided some thickness in appearance to this. If you look close enough you can see my reflection in/on the beer/glass. The head is a definite contrast to the body with it's fluffy white foam. The lacing was quite sticky and left a amazing amount sticking to the inside of that glass.

Smell: This came off as very clean in aroma. Very sweet and spicy as well. I also picked up a few fruity notes.

Taste: I got a little bit of honey and fruit flavor on the front of my tongue. For some reason that just tasted very natural. A taste that was far from artificial. Mid-way was a little dry, but with a sense of alcohol to balance it out. The finish was very clean as the smell of the beer was earlier, but I also noticed a fantastic bubbly texture on the finish that was kissed with some more booze flavor.

Overall Rating: 

This was a definite winner for me in the Belgian Tripel category. Blows the Golden Monkey, a beer I've had some bad run-ins with, away. Nice and sweet, thick and a perfect amount of alcohol to balance everything out. I wish I would have been able to fit the semi-road sign with the devil's tail on it, but the label winded quite a ways around the bottle. This was a great beer that was named for "a scenic ridge that runs between Blanco and Wimberley" Texas that is!

Beer Review: Victory Golden Monkey

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 9.5 percent

Appearance: If you follow me on Twitter, you might already know that I've had my struggles with this beer within the few times I've tried it. In this particular instance this beer came out of the bottle looking fabulous. It had a lovely golden body just as the beer's name describes. There was also plenty of that Belgian-style carbonation in which the bubbles follow each other in miniature bubble trains. The head was towering above the rest of the beer. It was thick, frothy and perfectly found the rim of the glass before settling down.

Smell: This brew smelled mainly grassy and peppery. I was also able to pick out something that was a little sweet and sugary, but I couldn't figure out what it was exactly. Also, with such a high ABV I wasn't surprised that some alcohol announced its presence.

Taste: Bear with me on this one. Everything usually goes great with this beer until I actually have to drink it. I had this on draft once and it was quite watery for whatever reason. This time it was very yeasty and even more boozy. It was rough. I almost wanted to have a side glass of water to ease it down. There was plenty of the fluffy head remaining to provide a thin layer of creaminess, but this beer is really strong on my tongue.

Overall Rating: 

I'm sure this is a popular one with many fellow beer geeks out there. I usually can only give beers that I struggle through like this a one or two rating, but this can be an an exception. This is obviously a good product as evident by the way it looks and acts. It's a fabulous looking brew. I'm still developing my taste for the Belgian styles. Maybe I'm just not ready for this one yet?

Beer Review: New Holland Beerhive Tripel

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 8.47 percent

Appearance: New Holland Beerhive Tripel pours a vivid shade of amber. It can even be classified as a copper if you so prefer it. The body is dark enough so that you can't see anything through it, which is a plus. The head and the apparent lack of carbonation was a bit disappointing, though. The head was white, but fairly weak and didn't leave any retention at all down the inside of the glass.

Smell: This beer initially smells spicy. Thankfully, it's not overwhelming. Some mellow hints of both honey and ginger also dance around in your nose. The honey gives off an essence of sugar and sweetness while the ginger provides just an ounce of warmth! Very inviting!

Taste: The honey and ginger do the same as they do in the aroma department by giving a sweet and spicy essence. There was a yeast character to this beer that added some extra zing to the taste and made this an enjoyable drink. My tongue had a tingling sensation after each sip and something tells me it just wasn't from the higher ABV.

Overall Rating: 

I really enjoyed this drink, as I usually do enjoy beers that have honey incorporated into them somehow. I feel that honey just belongs in some beer styles as it is a true natural ingredient. I don't hunt down a ton of brews with higher ABV's, but this one was well-balanced due to the sweet and spicy factor. The only downside with this one for me was the lack of texture I noticed once I poured it.

Beer Review: Kenai River Gummi Bear Beer

Serving Type: Free sample sent from the brewer. Was a draft-only release and was canned for shipping.

ABV: 9.2 percent

Appearance: The highly anticipated Gummi Bear Beer had a deep gold tone to its body. It also had a tad of a hazy character to it, due to the yeast content. After all, it is a Belgian Tripel. It also features a slightly fizzy and white head. The can it came in was a classic, as its title was simply written in permanent marker.

Smell: I got two key things from smelling this beer. A strong aroma of boozy alcohol and something that was almost buttery. It's almost like this brew fermented in the can during shipping, which wouldn't be a surprise since there was a lot of sugar put into this. A very interesting balance.

Taste: For the most part, the beer's taste featured the alcohol and the butter I sensed in the smell. There was also a strong helping of sugary sweetness. As there was plenty of Gummi Bears put into the brewing process, there wasn't a distinctive fruit flavor for any particular Gummi Bear. The alcohol and the intense sweetness might be unbearable if not for the taste of butter and yeast being there to balance things out. With the butter  and yeast flavors, this beer's flavor seems extremely adventurous.

Overall Rating: 

I waited a good while for this beer to finally get to me. I was very excited to finally try a beer with actual Gummi Bears brewed into it. I loved the use of drastic, but still balanced flavors in this beer. Keep in mind that this isn't the most sessionable of beers, given its ABV, but is a fun drink for one or two glasses. This was a limited-release by Kenai River Brewing and was draft-only.