Full Pint Brewing Company - Pittsburgh Dad's 3-2-1 Win

I really wanted this one to be good! If you don't know who Pittsburgh Dad is check out a youtube example here.

This is another beer made by Full Pint outside of Pittsburgh, and you can check out some info on them in another review here.

Personally I think the videos are awesome and relate to more than just Pittsburgh, so check em out. They seem like really good guys and always are on local radio shows and do appearances around town.

Any who, this is Pittsburgh Dad's 3-2-1 Win Beer. It's named after Pittsburgh Dad's quote to when watching a the Pens or Steelers to countdown the last seconds of a game. Although he uses it for Pens more than Steelers. Sad to say I was pretty disappointed.

It's a pilsner and super clear and crisp, but that about all. Just kinda tastes like beer, which isn't bad, beer is great, but I was hoping for something a little more flavorful. But hey if its marketed to the local clientele this one flies off the shelves.

The pour is nice, small frothy head, and a grassy smell which lends the style. And drinkable, so I don't wanna be too harsh, its a pilsner and tastes like a pilsner.

I paid like 3 bucks for it, so its not breaking the bank, and I kick myself for not saving the bottle.

Drinkability: 6/10
Taste: 5/10
Value: 8/10
Curb Appeal: 8/10

Overall: 6.75/10

Tallgrass Brewing Company's 8-Bit Pale Ale

Crank it and drank it kids!

I'll be the first to say I can appreciate any beer that combines some of my favorite things, such as 8-bit gaming and pale ales. Throw in the fact that I came across this beer in a game of chance (left over from a BBQ) and didn't cost me a thing? Well, that's a hat trick my friend.

Tallgrass was founded in 2007 by Jeff and Tricia Gill. Jeff was a homebrewer looking to start up a microbrew and did so in Manhattan, Kansas. They currently have about 7 regulars in line-up with a few seasonals sprinkled out across the year. The interesting thing about Tallgrass is that all their beers are in cans. This is for environmental, cost savings, and beer quality reasons.

This is their 8-bit pale ale (also known as their only "non-indian" pale ale). It's got an IBU of 40 and an ABV of 5.2%. If you multiply that together you get 208! And if that doesn't tell you something then your a total dumbo! They use galaxy hops along with other Cascades and Goldings hops used in pale ales. That gives it a little more citrus and passion fruit undertones. And you fruits know how much passion I got.

Well let's talk about it, right? Little cloudy, not gonna lie. Did not expect that. There is also a lot of head on this beer and have a cream color to it.

It has a citrus scent, like most pale ales. Pretty mild scent given the full flavor this baby packs.  It has a thick, malty taste with a bitter, dry finish. I feel this is a good beer for tossing around a football to. It's heavy, malty; makes a man feel like a man. Leave a lasting, bitter flavor in your mouth. And maybe you'll just cook up a few sausages on the grill with the guys afterwards. You can wax intellectually about mustards. Oh, yeah. And you can talk about mustard a lot, can't you?

This is a great pale ale. Can't really slam them but it's got a tasty, long finish that can carry you through a long afternoon of sports. Pair this up with some Tecmo Bowl and some sausage and you got a nice little weekend there, don't ya? For 9 bones you can score 4 pounders. Which is better than being called a loser buy a 10 year old. I'd pick this up if I saw 'er in a store. Don't go down as clean as some pale ales; but this one is worth savoring.

Drinkability: 6/10
Taste: 8/10
Value: 6/10
Curb Appeal: 8/10

Overall: 7.0/10

Bass Brewing Company's Pale Ale

So this is Bass Pale Ale. Bass started up in 1777 by Billy Bass in Trent, England. Shit used to be the highest selling beer in the UK once upon a time. InBev bought them in 2000 and, like all things that got bought by InBev, went right down the shitter.

Bass is known for it red triangle. True story; England's first registered trademark. Bet you didn't know that you dirty liar! It's so gd popular its been used in Picasso stuff and Manet. It's no Monet but, hey, it's something.

Let's talk about black and tans, shall we? We shall. I like Bass on it own, however, where it really stands out is when it's used in black and tans. I find those to be excellent. I try and order them when bars generally have bad selections of beers. A little treat if you will. I used to work with Irish and English guys and it's been embedded in my mind that England on the bottom. That's how I remember which order to go in. Then the stout goes on top, obviously. Don't be a bum about it because you don't want these mixing too much when you pour, ya amateur.

So let's talk about this beer for a change. It's an abnormally smooth pale ale first of all. You could almost mistake it for a amble ale. It's sweet and not bitter at all. It's got a smooth, malty finish and leaves a somewhat dry aftertaste.  The look is cleaner than Columbian cocaine and doesn't leave you all paranoid after an all night rave.

I've always appreciated the old school, non-flashy label of Bass. In a world of 4G phones and flashy pinball machines, I can appreciate the subtlety of this bastardman. It's saying something like "Yeah, I'm cool, ya know?" and you can still get sloppy drunk off of 'em. I like America because we crank the size of our meals and the alcohol in our booze. In England its like 4.0% alcohol but, in typical American fashion, we crank it to 5%. Hey, if Bass wants to compete with PBR it's gotta step its game up son.

Like I said, this is a decent beer on it's own. It's not a head turner but any means, but it;s a fine reliable standby. When mixed with a stout it's fantastic, especially for a dessert. It run about $9 for a sixer, which is a decent deal. I might get bored after 5.5 of them. I'd say...if I was drinking at Chili's or Applebee's or something, I'd order this. I'd probably buy a six pack of this if I was at a 7-11 at like 1:30 in the morning as well.

Drinkability: 8/10
Taste: 6/10
Value: 5/10
Curb Appeal: 7/10

Overall: 6.5/10

Ayinger - Bräu Weisse

So first let me start out that if you look at my profile I’m about as much of a hefeweizen fan as I am a fan of DQ's Peanut Buster Parfait, and I HATE the parfait. Sounds crazy I know, but it makes me sick and peanuts are a worthless nuts unless taken from the shell. But, I decided if my reviews are gonna be worth the screen they're written on then I need to dabble in to all styles. I've been sluggin hefe's the past few weeks so here goes.

If you wanna check out some info on Ayinger check out a past review here.

This was Ayinger Bräu Weisse. I'll start by saying the label and cap really make me feel warm inside. I like when a company puts some effort in the cap rather than the standard cap for all their brews, so points for that. Now the beer poured a nice farmy straw color which matches the artwork, with a nice frothy head. I've read that this beer on tap doesn't have the same effect, so for all those Ayinger reps reading this, might wanna educate your customers of proper serving psi. The smell is of citrus and slight banana, and the taste is the same with an addition of vanilla and some mild spice. As most hefe's this has that velvety mouth feel that relates to the style.

This went down fast and I could probably drink a dozen in a row. Really good summer beer, and would be quite refreshing after doing some lawn work.

The ABV is 5.1% and price was free for me from a beer trade at work. I traded some Magic Hats and a couple Yueng's, so I definitely made out on the deal, but I'm assuming 5-6 bones a bottle. Decent deal on a session-able hefe.

Drinkability: 8/10
Taste: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Curb Appeal: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

König Ludwig Weiss Beer

Crank it brah.

This is a beer review of König Ludwig Weiss Beer, the first review of this German brewer.

This beer, like most European breweries, is older than dirt. This particular brewery kicked off in 1260. This date is most notable for when Genghis Khan's grandson conquered Damascus (729 years before Genghis, himself, conquered Oshman's Sporting Goods). The brewery is located in Fürstenfeldbruck and in 1292, this dude, Herzog Rudolf, built up this badass castle there which is still part of the brewery today, though that didn't actually take place there until 1870. It was pretty much just a boring castle for the first 500 years. It got destroyed a handful of time during wars and shit, but rebuilt, destroyed, rebuilt...you get the idea.

The slogan for this beer is "Bier von königlicher Hoheit". At a glance any nerd can tell you this translates to "Beer for Hobbits", but apparently is actually translates to "Beer of the Royal Highness"; though I always thought that was Miller High Life. You learn something new every day.

So these characters brew a handful of libations. Most notably, their Dunkel, Hefeweissen, and Light. I should also mention, whenever you drink "hell" beer; that's German for light. I still would refrain from ordering it in front of your family though so they don't hear all your swears. But this is a review of the Hefeweissen.

So the appearance is pretty self explanatory if you look at the dang picture above. Its relatively clear for a wheat beer. It's got a decent, clean head and about three quarters head on it's shoulders.

The taste is wheaty and dry with a bitter after taste. It's dryness doesn't really leave your mouth for a while and I feel I could really whistle after polishing off a few of these bad boys. The babe behind the counter tossed a lemon in there which I found to be delightful. I should mention that I rode my bike a few miles to this place and I really needed to wet my whistle. This stuff went down real easy and was real light and hit the spot like I can't even explain.

It wasn't the cheapest beer in the world, go figure, and cost $7 for half a liter, but you can get a 6-pack of 11.2ozers for $9. Would I spend $7 for another, probably not. But I would definitely pick up a sixer on the run. The label is old school and regal as shit; so people would know you're legit when you roll up with some of this stuff. It's got a 5.5% ABV and is so easy to crush you'll probably get hellawasted off of 12 beers in 10 minutes; especially if it's hot out.

Drinkability: 9.0/10
Taste: 9.0/10
Value: 4.0/10
Curb Appeal: 7.0/10

Overall: 7.25

Blatant Brewery's Blatant IPA

Crank the crap outta this mother!

This is the first review of a beer brewed from Blatant Brewery. This brewery is currently located in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. It was founded by Matthew Steinberg 2010 after 15 of so extensive years of brewing beers at other micros in the tri-state area. The brewery itself prides itself of it artisan values and samples each of their ingredients before brewing. This is probably pretty easy since they only have 2 major beers, the Blatant IPA and their Session Blonde Ale.  They'll come out with other stuff here and there such as their double imperial IPA but is few and far between. The double was a result of their one-year anniversary and is harder to come across than a sailor coming across the clap when he ports.

First thing you will notice about this beer is that it's cloudier than shit; thick as pea soup! It's got a half inch white head to it. Contrary to the sight, this is a surprisingly smooth taste. Not a gritty, sediment consistency. There is a heavy hop to it but it's a IPA you turkey, of course it'll be hoppy. It hits the charts at 65 IBUs which is deceiving because it tastes like it'd be higher.  It has a pretty dry finish to it and a sour aftertaste. The bottle itself has some nice curb appeal to it, simple and subtle. If you are drinking this under a bridge, all of the other bums will be like "Who's this classy-ass bum with his fancy swill?" and you will inevitably get knifed in your sleep because they will think you got some killer-ass shit in your shopping cart. I actually got this on draft to avoid that complication and it ran me $6 but everything else at the bar was within a dollar of that so the entire place was a little pricey. It's got a ABV of 6.5% so it isn't the weakest girl at scout camp.

Overall this is a great IPA. It goes down pretty smooth and is great for a hot day. It's not nearly as heavy as it looks but is so bitter that you might have issues downing a sixer. It would be good to try out a double deuce or split a sixer with a pal, if you have any pals.

Drinkability: 7.0/10
Taste: 7.0/10
Value: 4.0/10
Curb Appeal: 7.0/10

Overall: 6.25

Left Hand Brewery's Good Juju Ginger Ale

I said Ginger Ale; but this isn't "Ginger Ale" if you know what I mean. Maybe it'll all make sense after cranking this shit up to the max.

So this is another review from our pals at Left Hand. You might remember our initial review right here. Then again, you might not. But if you wanna know some jack about em, click on that link and it'll give ya the low down. I should add, the same turkey who designed Sawtooth designed this label.

Who like ginger? I'll tell you know doesn't; me. So I will try and give my unbiased opinion on this; ginger aside. I mean if you like ginger, this is probably for you, though I couldn't imagine that people are like "bro, gimme something that gets me drunk...but can you make it taste like ginger for shuck's sake?"

"That stuff...makes pure mescaline seem like...ginger beer, man" loops in my head as I drink this I should also mention.

So let's start with the label, shall we? I've seen worse.  It's very Ed Hardy-ish which is a big negative. If no one else makes that correlate you don't have to feel self conscious about holding it. If you are like me, you'll prefer it in a glass. Skullish with lizards and salamanders in the eye sockets. I dunno. It's not my steeze. Dead fish and bats? I mean, as a growned up, I like a simpler, subtle label. So they aren't winning me over there.

It's as clean as the driven snow in looks and taste. It's crisp and refreshing, so it's a good lawnmowing beer. It's not decent bubble action throughout and like a white head when pouring which vanishes after about 10 seconds after pouring (see picture above). What I like about this is, it's so light that you can easily crush a ton of these at a sitting and make a royal ass out of yourself from anywhere from funerals to a classy wedding brunch. But at a ABV of 4.5% you'll need to crush the healthier portion of a 12 pack to get your gnar on.

The scent is way more ginger than the flavor, so don't be too deterred at first sniff. Malty would be the biggest over exaggeration in beer history. This stuff has less malt than an empty box of Whoppers. Do they still come in those milk cartons? I'd destroy one of those bastards.

Would I ever get this again? Hells No. If it was part of a variety pack, would this be the last beer I grab? Hells Yes. Like I said earlier, I'm not a ginger guy. It's an interesting beer and if you like ginger I'd check out out. It's light and crisp and great for the summer. Left Hand makes great beers but I tend to lean towards their stouts rather than their light beers.

I wouldn't say "swing and a miss" but this is something better to order a pint at a bar and say "that's interesting" and move on your way in my opinion. At $11 a sixer, there are worse things to waste your money on.

Drinkability: 8.0/10
Taste: 4.0/10
Value: 5.0/10
Curb Appeal: 3.0/10

Overall: 5.0