18 New Beers! : A Newbie's Adventure

Alright, so I've been wanting to expand my beer knowledge, and I finally had the ability to purchase a few beers that I've never tried before. The intent is to do a review on each of the following 18 beers to see what I can taste, and what I prefer. This is going to be a huge learning experience, and I undoubtedly will add beers to the list as I continue to find them.

The following beers were purchased today (3/17/09) from World Market via the "Create your own Sixpack Sampler"



Left to Right:

1) St. Pauli Girl Special Dark (Munich Dunkel Lager)
2) Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (Fruit/Vegetable Beer)
3) Stella Artois Leuven (Belgium Imported Light Lager)
4) Leinkenkugels Sunset Wheat (Witbier)
5) Leinkenkugels Honey Weiss (American Pale Wheat Ale)
6) Shiner Commemorator (Dopplebock)
7) Brooklyn Brown Ale (American Brown Ale)
8) Vicotry Hop Devil Ale (American IPA)
9) Anchor Steam Beer (California Common/Steam Beer)
10) Victory Storm King Stout (Russian Imperial Stout)
11) Paulaner Salvator Double Bock (Dopplebock)
12) Guiness Extra Stout (Irish Dry Stout)
13) Rahr & Sons Rarh's Red Amber Lager (American Amber/Red Lager)
14) Stone Mill Pale Ale (English Pale Ale)
15) Chang Beer (Thailand - American Adjunct Lager)
16) Sierra Nevada Stout
17) Ahita Jockland IPA (IPA)
18) Fire Rock Pale Ale (American Pale Ale)
19) Samuel Adams Imperial Stout (American Double/Imperial Stout) (TY MAS_Puros! :thumbs
20) Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (American Barleywine) (TY MAS_Puros! :thumbs

I will start the reviews on Thursday of this week and go down the list as time permits. I am very excited about this adventure and cannot wait to see what the world of beer has to offer! :thumbs:


Edit: I realize I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. I need someone's advice who is somewhat relatively familiar with beer. As I drink and review each beer I am going to want/need somewhat of a rating system familiar to that of a cigar rating system. Being so new to beer I am not sure what to look out for, so if any of you FOGs have advice on a good way to keep this organized and clean it would be greatly appreciated!

NICE beer lineup! I see some old favorites of mine on there!

~Boar

Thanks Boar!

I suppose I should say that the "measuring stick" to these brews will be Shiner Bock. This and Coors Light (my first ever beer) are the only beers that I've had enough to use them as somewhat a constant. I can only assume that I will find many different styles, and many different tastes through this little adventure.

This being said I will be looking for suggestions on beers to try once I get through these first 18. I will update the list as I am able to find said (suggested) beers, and will continue to pick up brews I haven't tried as I frequent the local liquor store.

My plan is to have as many constants as possible to ensure that each brew gets a fair review. Same glass, same pour, same time/amount in stomach. Man, I'm getting even more excited the more I think about this!

Any other suggestions to the process would be greatly appreciated (for example: a good way to rate each beer) as I want to ensure that I take out everything that this experience will offer.

Thanks gents! :thumbs:

I'd possibly put them into categories of beer,

Stouts, IPA's, etc so that you can compare, review them together. The Victory Hop Devil will fade with time (as do all hoppy beers) so you may want to review then first.

tkoepp said:

I'd possibly put them into categories of beer,

Stouts, IPA's, etc so that you can compare, review them together. The Victory Hop Devil will fade with time (as do all hoppy beers) so you may want to review then first.

Click to expand...

Fantastic advice, exactly what I was looking for! :thumbs: As ashamed as I am to say it though, I am unsure if I'd be able to categorize these beers. :blush: If anyone can help me do that I would greatly appreciate it, either through PM, or on here :thumbs:

That being said, I welcome any other and all advice to this process because as excited as I am, I am sure to screw it up! :laugh:

Alright gents/ladies, first up is the St. Pauli Girl Special Dark

(Stock Picture)

Aroma - Popped open the bottle and the initial smell was of alcohol with slight hints of caramel. Poured it into a 12 oz. mug and the aroma really opened up. The caramel came out more as well as hints of coffee, slight nuttyness, and cocoa.

Appearance - Upon pouring the beer a fairly prevalent head began to appear (which was off-white in color), so much so that I had to slow down the pour. This beer is a bit darker than Shiner Bock but I wouldn't consider it to be an extremely dark beer. As I let the head settle it completely dissipated which leads me to believe that my initial pour was too fast.

First Sip - With the initial aroma of the beer I was really expecting to get a very flavorful experience but was a little let down with this first sip. I got some slight hints of caramel, but not really much else.

As I continue on with the beer I'm not really getting as much out of it flavor wise as I had initially thought, which isn't to say that it's a bad beer. Slight hints of dark chocolate, and VERY slight hints of coffee while caramel is the most prevalent taste IMO. In my limited experience I would not say this is a "heavy" beer, but hey, what do I know?! In my final sips I noticed the coffee taste a bit more, with the caramel flavor staying all the way through.

Overall - Though the review does not indicate it, I enjoyed this beer very much. I was a bit let down with the aroma vs. taste but this is also the first time I've ever really smelled the aroma and paid this much attention to the taste. Compared to Shiner I'd have to say that it has a bit more complexity but is just as bit as smooth. I would definitely buy a six pack of this beer to keep in the fridge as IMO I thought it was pretty darn tasty.

I know this is fairly pointless without pictures but the wifey left the camera in her car :angry: I could either wait for her to get home, or drink the beer! I didn't want to wait anymore :laugh:

Aroma - 8/10
Appearance - 7/10
Complexity - 5/10 (<-- Just didn't seem like it had a lot of depth)
Finish - 7/10
Overall - 6.75/10


Edit for spelling and to add stock picture.

Welcome to the sickness! This is a great idea. Plenty of guys here to help you out as much or as little as you want. I suggest you take a look at BeerAdvocate's style classifications to get an idea of what you're drinking. I agree with Tim that breaking them up by styles will help you compare apples to apples. You definitely have a few winners in the group, so I personally look forward to what you think about them. If you want a rating system, try this link. Most of us use the following categories:

Appearance
Smell
Taste
Mouthfeel
Drinkability/Overall Impression

But that being said, just go with it and have fun! I'll be following!

Phlicker said:

Welcome to the sickness! This is a great idea. Plenty of guys here to help you out as much or as little as you want. I suggest you take a look at BeerAdvocate's style classifications to get an idea of what you're drinking. I agree with Tim that breaking them up by styles will help you compare apples to apples. You definitely have a few winners in the group, so I personally look forward to what you think about them. If you want a rating system, try this link. Most of us use the following categories:

Appearance
Smell
Taste
Mouthfeel
Drinkability/Overall Impression

But that being said, just go with it and have fun! I'll be following!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I'm doing this solely as a learning opportunity. I've found that if I drink a beer that's all I do, but if I have something to hold me accountable to seeing what I taste and what I prefer I'll eventually end up getting much more out of the experience. I welcome any and all advice anybody can throw at me, the sites you gave me are great and I learned a lot that will give me a much better idea of what to look out for in the next review. Thanks again! :thumbs:

smokintexas said:

Left to Right:

1) St. Pauli Girl Special Dark (dunkel)
2) Sam Adams Cherry Wheat
3) Stella Artois Leuven (Pale Lager)
4) Leinkenkugels Sunset Wheat
5) Leinkenkugels Honey Weiss (wheat)
6) Shiner Commemorator (doppelbock)
7) Brooklyn Brown Ale
8) Vicotry Hop Devil Ale (IPA)
9) Anchor Steam Beer
10) Victory Storm King Stout
11) Paulaner Salvator Double Bock
12) Guiness Extra Stout
13) Rahr & Sons Rarh's Red Amber Lager
14) Stone Mill Pale Ale
15) Chang Beer (Thailand) (pale lager)
16) Sierra Nevada Stout
17) Ahita Jockland IPA
18) Fire Rock Pale Ale

I will start the reviews on Thursday of this week and go down the list as time permits. I am very excited about this adventure and cannot wait to see what the world of beer has to offer! :thumbs:


Edit: I realize I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. I need someone's advice who is somewhat relatively familiar with beer. As I drink and review each beer I am going to want/need somewhat of a rating system familiar to that of a cigar rating system. Being so new to beer I am not sure what to look out for, so if any of you FOGs have advice on a good way to keep this organized and clean it would be greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

The rest of the types are in the names, haha

tmoney2007 said:

The rest of the types are in the names, haha

Click to expand...

I realize that, but there are a few that don't have them which is why I said I was unsure if I would be able to categorize all of the beers. Phlicker gave me a great website that gives me the ability to categorize the ones I am unsure of.

tmoney2007 said:

The rest of the types are in the names, haha

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Yes, Guinness and Victory both have "Stout" in the name, but Storm King is an RIS (Russian Imperial Stout), while Guinness is an Irish Dry Stout. Two VERY different animals. Comparing one to the other would be like comparing two Robustos of different strengths, country of origin, etc., just because they both happen to be Robustos. The site I pointed smokintexas to will not only tell him how beers are categorized, but also what to look for in each style.

Great Thread. I will be following along also.

Glad to hear you liked the St. Pauli Girl Dark. I've only had one six pack of it and really enjoyed it. The regular St. Pauli Girl is always an easy choice for me when I'm picking up some brews.

My opinion..

Throw these out before you regret it :laugh:
2) Sam Adams Cherry Wheat - Combines the two things that should never be in a beer... fruit and wheat...
4) Leinkenkugels Sunset Wheat
15) Chang Beer (Thailand)

Buy more of this... One of the best double bocks I've had.

11) Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

I'll agree that the Cherry Wheat is horrible but there's nothing wrong with Leinkenkugels. :sign:

calhounhusker said:

2) Sam Adams Cherry Wheat - Combines the two things that should never be in a beer... fruit and wheat...

Click to expand...

Plenty of good, world-class beers are made with wheat:

• Three Floyds Gumballhead
• Bells Oberon
• Southern Tier HopSun
• Troegs Dreamweaver
• Smuttynose Wheat Wine
• Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
• Aventinus Weizenbock

In addition, there are plenty of excellent beers made with fruit as well:

• Founders Blushing Monk
• Dogfish Head Fort
• Lindemans Framboise
• Cantillon Saint Lamvinus

SO, I think we should let our friend try what he bought and make up his own mind on the merits of each particular beer. I'm sure that many of the more seasoned malthead/hopheads who have been hanging around this corner of CP for awhile had their own opinions on a handful of the beers smokintexas selected when this thread started, but none of us have tried to dissuade him from trying any of them. We all have different tastes, so while you and Greg may not think highly of the Sam Adams beer, he may in fact like it, so don't tell him he shouldn't before he tries it. This exercise will also give him an opportunity to learn a little more about different styles, expand his palate a bit, and develop a better appreciation of beer in general.

Part of spreading the word about something you're passionate about (beer, in this case) involves touting what you like and explaining why you like it without disparaging that which you may not care for. Look at it this way; breweries are a business first and foremost. If EVERYONE thought a particular product was "horrible" and didn't buy it, said breweries would likely stop producing it. The fact that smokintexas was able to buy all 18 of these beers means SOMEONE enjoys them enough and in large enough quantities to make producing them profitable.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

Phlicker said:

calhounhusker said:

2) Sam Adams Cherry Wheat - Combines the two things that should never be in a beer... fruit and wheat...

Click to expand...

Plenty of good, world-class beers are made with wheat:

• Three Floyds Gumballhead
• Bells Oberon
• Southern Tier HopSun
• Troegs Dreamweaver
• Smuttynose Wheat Wine
• Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
• Aventinus Weizenbock

In addition, there are plenty of excellent beers made with fruit as well:

• Founders Blushing Monk
• Dogfish Head Fort
• Lindemans Framboise
• Cantillon Saint Lamvinus

SO, I think we should let our friend try what he bought and make up his own mind on the merits of each particular beer. I'm sure that many of the more seasoned malthead/hopheads who have been hanging around this corner of CP for awhile had their own opinions on a handful of the beers smokintexas selected when this thread started, but none of us have tried to dissuade him from trying any of them. We all have different tastes, so while you and Greg may not think highly of the Sam Adams beer, he may in fact like it, so don't tell him he shouldn't before he tries it. This exercise will also give him an opportunity to learn a little more about different styles, expand his palate a bit, and develop a better appreciation of beer in general.

Part of spreading the word about something you're passionate about (beer, in this case) involves touting what you like and explaining why you like it without disparaging that which you may not care for. Look at it this way; breweries are a business first and foremost. If EVERYONE thought a particular product was "horrible" and didn't buy it, said breweries would likely stop producing it. The fact that smokintexas was able to buy all 18 of these beers means SOMEONE enjoys them enough and in large enough quantities to make producing them profitable.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

Click to expand...

I don't often let folks opinions on things dissuade me from trying things. Part of the fun is figuring out what I like and dislike and even if I hate it then I know that I hate it and am not just taking someone else's word for it. I think part of learning anything new is trying the best, and trying the worst, that way you have a good range of where to rank things and what you expect/look forward to with new experiences. While I do appreciate Greg and Calhoun's opinion, I also understand that taste is subjective. Even if I do hate it, at least I'll know for myself you know?

All that being said once I finish straightening up the place I'm thinking about doing a review on the Victory Storm King Stout this evening :thumbs:

Good! Use a big wine glass or a brandy snifter if you have one, and let it get between fridge and room temp. You definitely are jumping in the deep end with your 2nd review!

My only concern with someone telling you that something is "horrible" before you try it is it may cloud your initial reaction...like you are expecting it to be bad or something like that because you just heard someone tell you so.

Great review! I have had all of those except for the Chang and you will enjoy them all. I am that loser at the Taco Mac (local chain) with the Passport club and my name on the wall as tried 400 beers around the world and counting.

Okay guys/gals, next up is the Victory Storm King Stout :thumbs: (Beer Advocate)

The excitement is rising as I pop open the bottle!





Aroma: Sweet, Malty, Roasted coffee , very dark chocolate, with what seemed to be a slight caramel hint. Didn’t smell the hops that I’ve read others have noted and it doesn’t smell nearly as complex as I thought it would going in.

Appearance: By far the darkest beer I’ve ever poured. I poured a bit slower than the last beer I reviewed which seemed to help with the head. Though I poured slower it still developed about a 2 finger thick caramel looking head.

First Sip/Taste: Woah buddy. This is about the polar opposite of the last beer I had reviewed. The first beer smelled complex and then tasted flat, this one smelled a bit flat, but the taste is ALMOST overwhelming. I can definitely taste what I believe to be the hops, but it is not overdone, IMO it’s just about perfect. The most obvious tastes at first are espresso and chocolate. I’ve read reviews where people thought this beer was harsh, or had a bite, but I’m not getting that impression at all.

Mouthfeel: This is the darkest “thickest” feeling beer I’ve had in my short experience with beers and I have to say that it feels very thick and creamy. I would say that this feels like a very well constructed beer and feels great in the mouth (that’s what she said :laugh: :sign: ).

Drinkability/Overall Impression: Good Lord Almighty, what have I been missing all this time?!?! This beer has been wonderful from start to finish and leaves a surprisingly pleasant aftertaste. I poured it straight out of the fridge and let it sit a bit to warm up a tad before I drank it, but I have to say that through drinking it the beer really opened up and I can only assume that is attributed to the slightly warmer temperatures. It is almost as if this beer hits you in waves. You take a sip and at first taste the espresso, then get hit with some chocolate, then get the malty goodness, and then it is topped off with a citrusy hopps that is fantastic, again, just very well constructed. This beer has the complexity I was hoping for from the first and I definitely have to say this is by far the best beer I believe I’ve ever had. I don’t think I’d be able to drink this as fast as I can drink Shiner, but I also don’t know if I’d want to because I think that’d be wasting the wonderful taste that I get from sipping this slowly. If you have yet to try this beer I strenuously suggest that you go out and find a bottle or two because this was just fantastic!

All in All:

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 8.5/10
Taste: 10/10
Mouthfeel: 9/10
Drinkability: 9.5/10

Overall: 8.6/10 (<-- The rating doesn't show it, but it got high scores where it matters most! :thumbs: )

A fantastic beer that I again will have to suggest for anyone to try.

This is getting fun guys! :thumbs: