Beer Review: Stoudt's Pils

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.4 percent

Appearance: This brew boasted a bright yellow color. It sort of glistened in the light with it's golden hues. Up towards the fluffy, white and bubbly head was a few layers of hazy fog. It looked as if this aspect sort of dissipated as my eyes went down to the lower portions of the glass. The bubbles in the head helped to leave some thick and ample lacing. I also noticed a few solid columns of carbonation bubbles in the middle of the body that danced slowly upwards.

Smell: I got decent portions of bread and grass aromas. That was pretty much it. In a good way it was clean and simple for the aroma department.

Taste: Despite the lower portions of the brew appearing transparent and watery, that wasn't the case once I began to drink this. On the front of my tongue I got a helping of bread and cracker flavor along with a touch of sweetness. I even got a bit of citrus, most likely lemon albeit very faint. There also was a nice hop bite on the back. Still, I must admit that it was fairly strong for my taste.

Overall Rating: 

I enjoyed this as part of the Stoudt's sampler I purchased a good while ago. I measure German Pilseners based on comparisons to Troegs Sunshine Pils. This was surprisingly close. The cracker flavor was close to the typical biscuit I enjoy in this style of beer. To some, biscuit and cracker might be considered the same taste. I don't toss them in the same basket. Maybe that's why I'm a snob? Who knows. Not on par with Sunshien, but still an enjoyable drink.

Beer Review: Flying Dog Atlantic Lager

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 4.7 percent

Appearance: Under Dog Atlantic Lager pours a lighter shade of brown. It highly resembled something close to a glass of iced tea. IF you want it to be something more filling, it also has a color that resembles the crust of freshly-baked break. There are also a few sectors of the body that are a shiny gold as well. This brew featured those beady carbonation bubbles that rose upwards in streaky trails. It also had a slight haze with a thin, but bright white head that faded away after about a minute and a half. To my dismay, there wasn't any lacing to be found once the head of the beer went away!

Smell: Very bready and crackery. A little grassy and a low hop profile. Overall, this was a very moderate aroma. There was also a bit of fruit that peaked through. I sensed it was something close to an apple, but everything else seemed to distort it. I couldn't quite tell.

Taste: This was kind of weak in the first portions of the tasting for me. The apple flavor was very light and hard to detect on the front of my tongue. The bread and cracker profile kicked in after the apple and was thankfully quite stronger. The bread/cracker sensation took a foothold and combined for a tasty finish with the mild hop bitterness. A definite plus for me was the plethora of carbonation adding to the texture of the beer.

Overall Rating: 

This is a quality lager. The lack of head retention was a little on the downside for me as was the weakness of the fruit presence. I actually felt a little stressed trying to figure out what it was. Before I knew it, a third of my beer was consumed! The bread effect and the mild hop notes work very well with this, though.

Beer Review: Brooklyn Lager

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.2 percent

Appearance: Brooklyn lager pours an amber color with a plethora of reddish hues.  There wasn't an abundance of carbonation bubbles in this brew, but there was an inch and a half of ivory colored head. There was average lacing left. The head did end up collapsing in on itself after a sip or two. There wasn't much of that creamy layer I like to have most of the way down the glass.

Smell: This beer smelled like its malt was very grainy and toasty. In general very bready. I was intrigued to pick up a little bit of each caramel and lemon.

Taste: A lot of the aromas I picked up earlier didn't translate as well as I had predicted once I tasted this beer. The graininess and bread I noticed was very dominant on the tongue. The finish was a little hoppy. The citrus and caramel weren't noticeable at all. That was a bit of a letdown for me.

Overall Rating: 

This one was a bit of a roller coaster ride. Interesting appearance, very intriguing smell, but the taste wasn't anywhere near what I was lead to believe when I caught a few of this brew's aromas. I wasn't deeply saddened, but I wasn't exactly blown away either.