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| Ace Pear Cider |
Sebastopol, California,
USA |
| Hard Cider |
The California
Cider Company |
Ace Pear Cider is a new premium fermented cider produced by
The California Cider Company (CCC) in the Heart of Sonoma's
Apple Country. It is not only California's first commercially
produced and distributed pear cider, but, by all reports,
the first made in the USA.
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| Amstel Light |
Netherlands |
| Lager |
Amstel Brouwerij
B. V. |
Pale straw in color with a minimal white lace. Light bodied
with a thin malt pallette. Crisp and grainy with husk flavors.
A little astringent grain in the middle. Hops are evident
with a slight bite of bitterness. After taste is clean and
seems to be the best part of the brew all together. |
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| Bass Ale |
England |
| Pale Ale |
Bass Brewers
Ltd. |
This beer pours as a rich, bright amber liquid with a rocky,
bubbly, white foam head. The head stays for a long time, and
tracks down the side of the pint glass. Fragrant aroma of
floral and herbal Noble hops with a gentle malt sweetness.
Rich, smooth, creamy mouth-feel with an even, firm body. Upfront
is the distinctive taste of minerals that come from brewing
with Burton-On-Trent water; a complex taste of metals and
a hard water feel. The actual malt is light, a bit sweet and
dextrin at that. Hops lend a rawness to the brew, with notes
of herbal leaf and oils. There's a soft underlying flavor
much like grape that rides along the overall bitterness of
the brew, which is borderline astringent and peaks with a
slight puckering twang sting. Finishes with hop residuals
on the palate, faintly dry. |
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| Belhaven |
Scotland |
| Scottish-style Export
Ale |
Belhaven
Brewery Company Ltd. |
A dark red liquid with perfect clarity and a huge rocky head
that retains for a long time. Aroma of fresh baked bread,
touch of delicate floral hop. Yeast by-products are noticeable
and include a vague buttery diacetyl and very mild ester.
Smooth with a slight grainy crispness. Moderate body with
a touch of slickness in the mouth feel. Lots of malt character
with an underlying smokiness -- probably from kilning the
malts by a peat or wood fire. Trace of buttery diacetyl and
subdued fruitiness. Hops balance with a tight and focused
bitterness. Grainy sweet throughout with mild husky undertones
and a residual and ghost-like smokiness. |
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| Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA |
Scotland |
| English India Pale Ale (IPA) |
Belhaven Brewery Company Ltd. |
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| Boddington's Pub Ale |
England |
| Pale Ale |
Strangeways
Brewery |
Extremely tight creamy head of ivory foam much like the color
of French vanilla ice cream. Rich golden-straw color. Fine
foam lacing of the sides of the glass to the end. Light malt
and wet grains in the nose. Malt leads the way here, but hop
bitterness follows sharply on the heels, though its not overbearing.
Mouth-feel of this medium bodied ale is of a rich creamy texture
that envelops the senses. The malt and hop finish is of a
medium length. Very creamy from the draught flow widget that
serves up a cream-flow beer. |
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| Coors Light |
Colorado, USA |
| Light Lager |
Coors Brewing Company |
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| Dos Equis Special Lager |
Mexico |
| Pilsner |
Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, S.A. de C.V. |
A very pale yellow, bright beer with large carbonation bubbles. Heads pours a thin white bubbly lace. Spicy hop and a bit of unique European lager aroma. Crisp and refreshing up-front. Body is light. Malt sweetness is dextriny with lots of sweet corn flavor. Hop bitterness is semi-spicy and herbal with a quick tangy snap that fades into a sweet tea-like flavor. Finish is clean with some light residual dextrins on the palate. |
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| Fat Tire |
Fort Collins, Colorado,
USA |
| American-Style Amber
/ Red Ale |
New Belgium Brewing
Inc. |
Deep golden amber with a patchy white lace. Mildy fruity with a
malty nose of toasted and biscuity aromas. Crisp and medium in
body, big malty pallette with a restrained hop bitterness that
seems to only balance the brew. Toasted malt with a bread crust
flavor is the theme, good amount of grain in the finish also.
Hint of fruit and yeast adds to the complex flavor.
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| Foster's Lager |
Canada |
| Golden Lager |
Molson Breweries
Ltd. |
This famous "Aussie" beer now brewed under licence has
a polished dark golden coloured liquid, having a white foam of
a mixed sized bubble. Trace elements of malt. Higher end of lightness
in body. Mouthfeel is creamy malt. Trace of hop bitterness sandwiched
between layers of malt sweetness. A clean finish is not overly
extended with malt clearly the centre of attention, with a touch
of malt dryness. |
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| Full Sail Pale Ale |
Portland, Oregon, USA |
| Pale Ale |
Full Sail Brewing
Company |
Copper hued gold with a very sticky and bubbly white lace. Sweet
floral and fruity hops with hints of malted grain. Smooth with
a quick punch of drying bitterness in this medium bodied brew.
Slight creamy malt floats under a soft yet substantial hop character.
Pinch of pale malt on the palate. Citric and hop oil floral bitterness
and flavour dominate with a underlying grain flavour. A touch
of residual sweetness and an everlasting hop flavour faded very
slowly into the finish. |
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| Fuller's ESB |
United Kingdom |
| Extra Special / Strong Bitter |
Fuller Smith & Turner PLC |
First brewed in 1971, ESB is unrivalled in terms of its flavour
and balance. A powerful 5.5% a.b.v. in cask (5.9% a.b.v. in
bottles and kegs), it is brewed from Pale Ale and Crystal
malts, and from Target, Challenger, Northdown and Goldings
hops. Andrew Jefford, the respected UK drinks critic, sums
up ESB's flavour thus: ''an ample, grainy-nutty aroma and
a broad, authoritative flavour, with lashings of dry marmalade-like
bitters'', whilst 'Beer Supremo' Roger Protz describes ''an
enormous attack of rich malt, tangy fruit and spicy hops in
the mouth, with a profound Goldings peppery note in the long
finish and hints of orange, lemon and gooseberry fruit''. |
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The Story of Beer
Its History and Evolution
Article reposted with permission of History-of-Beer.com
Beer is one of the oldest products of civilization, and may even
have been a stepping stone to the invention of leavened bread.
Beer's Beginnings
Historians believe that the ancient Mesopotamians and
Sumerians were brewing as early as 10,000 BC.
Although the product would have been somewhat different from
today's bottled varieties, it would be recognizable.
The ancient Egyptians and Chinese brewed beer, as did pre-Columbian
civilizations in the Americas, who used corn instead of barley.
In the middle ages, European monks were the guardians of literature
and science, as well as the art of beer making. They refined the
process to near perfection and institutionalized the use of hops
as a flavoring and preservative. However, it wasn't until Louis
Pasteur came along that a final, important development was made.
Until that time, brewers had to depend on wild, airborne yeast
for fermentation. By establishing that yeast is a living microorganism,
Pasteur opened the gates for accurately controlling the conversion
of sugar to alcohol.
While grapes grow well in warm climates, barley grows better
in cooler climes. This is how the northern countries of Germany
and England became famous for their beers. This production was
taken very seriously, as it was in the New World, where beer was
a major component of the Pilgrim's diet.
Beer in America
Beer was of major concern for revolutionary thinkers
like Thomas Jefferson, who quickly passed legislation to create
a healthy beer industry in the new United States.
Everything went swimmingly until the dark day in 1920 when Prohibition
took effect. Many breweries went out of business or switched to
the production of soda pop. Of course, not everyone stopped drinking,
but gangster-controlled operations were not known for high-quality
products.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, he quickly repealed
the now-unpopular law—thank you, FDR! However, the new breeds
of American beer that came after World War II were generally mass-produced
and very bland. Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing, ushering
in the age of microbreweries, beer hobbyists, and beer snobs. |
