Session Lager

Easy drinking, but never at the expense of character is the tag line for Session Lager.   Obviously with the name and the tag line they are pushing the fa ct that anyone can drink this beer and drink a lot of it.   Without even tasting or smelling this beer I can tell you it's going to be very similar to your average American Adjunct Lager.  Although it is actually classified as an American Pale Lager.

A little boring info from the website.

Original Session, with the bright red label, is a classic all-malt pre-Prohibition style lager that reminds us of what American lagers used to taste like. It's flavorful, refreshing, and has a touch of that import-style taste. (Which, once upon a time, you didn't have to buy an "import" to get.) Oh, and it comes in a stubby, 11-oz bottle like your grandpa used to buy. So after your next session (surf, jam, gab, whatever), crack open a Session and drink to the good old new days.

Named World's Best Premium Lager at the World Beer Awards and winner of a slew of other shiny trophies, Session has truly earned itself a place at the bar. Not to mention the barbeque.
ABV: 5.1% IBU: 18

With all of their talk, I can't wait to try this beer.  It seems like it's going to be the easiest beer to drink, ever.
As I've already referenced, it comes in a small 11oz bottle.  Reminds me of Red Stripe.  Hopefully this is more stomach-able. 
Hold the phones, it's a twister also.  Albeit a difficult twister.  Yikes.

A - Looks like your everyday adjunct lager with absolutely no head at all.  Also no lacing to speak of. Body is very pale straw and crystal clear with no bubbles at all.   It looks like colored water.  It does surprisingly leave lacing on the glass during consumption somehow.

S - Lots of grain up front with the initial smell.  A small dose of hops is present.  Not much going on here.

T - A small hop bite up front that is fruity and earthy,  followed by a very grainy malt taste. It's pretty simple and straightforward.  Very minimal aftertaste.  Although it's not complex at all, I feel myself wanting more of the taste instantly.

M -Full enough to not be watery, but not a heavy beer by any standards.  Light to medium bodied, and it sways towards the light side of things.   Heavier carbonation than I originally thought it would be which allowed it to have a lively characteristic.

D -  I don't know if I'm just buying into the hype of the name, but the drinkability is high.  It's highly refreshing and thirst quenching.  Totally living up to the name.  Session Lager is a session beer.

Grade - One thumb up.  It's not a great beer, but it's certainly not bad.   After seeing the beer and smelling it I feared the worst.   It bounced back with a decent taste which after all, is the most important thing.  I was pleasantly surprised.   I'd have Session Lager again.

Also here's a bonus picture.  It's the bottom of the cap.   Pretty sweet.

Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen

This is the last of the beers left to review that I had at the 2010 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival.  Sorry for the delay on it, but I actually forgot to review it.   I'm not sure how, but it got put off the side and I just now found my notes for it.  Sorry for a total lack of information on this one also.  EPCOT didn't have too much information on it at all and if they did, I don't remember anything they said about it.   I can't find out too much about it on their website either, I'm not exactly fluent in German.  The information I can offer though is that it's a hefeweizen (obviously) and it's 5% ABV.

A: , Extremely golden color.  Haven't seen any beers as bright as this one.   Murky and cloudy with little to no head.

S: The smell is of light banana, some clove, and some slight spice.

T:  Flavors of banana, bubble gum and wheat along with some hints of clove are about all you find in this brew.

M: It feels light to medium bodied with high carbonation.  Rather smooth though.

D: Thirst quenching and refreshing, as are most hefes in my opinion.

Grade -It's a one thumb up beer, I wouldn't kill someone to get my hands on it again, but I'm glad I tried it and would have it again.

Heineken Lager

Heineken is brewed by 40 breweries in 39 countries around the world. 250 million litres of Heineken are produced every year.   Numbers don't lie, right?  Heineken went wrong right from the start with the green bottle.  I have no clue why brewers use green bottles when they are trying to produce a quality beer.   The clearer the bottle, the skunkier the beer will be, which is why it's recommended you drink it as cold as possible.   The warmer a skunky beer gets, the worse it's going to taste.   Drink Heineken cold.. and quick.   Sounds easy enough, right guys?  Although that aside, I really do like their labeling.  I also like the Heineken cap.  Well, let's cut the banter and get to the reviewing.

A - A bright straw straw color, with a spongy looking 2 finger head.  Leaves behind thin lacing on the glass throughout consumption.

S - The beer smells awful.  There's no way around it.   The skunkiness is pungent and harsh.  Although once you get past the initial whiff you can smell faint malts and wet grass.   Slight hops are present also.

T - If you actually give the taste a legitimate honest shot, it's not awful.  I've had much worse beers.  I'm not calling it "good" but it's not as horrible as some people rush to say.    The initial taste is grassy and metallic.  There are some grains present but there's also a bit of a skunky taste.  I'm not a huge fan of the skunky aftertaste that sits on your tongue and in your mouth long after drinking.

M - Light bodied with a high bubbly carbonation.  It's crisp.

D -  It is what it is.  A relatively drinkable beer.   It's light and refreshing, especially on a hot day.

Grade -  This video sums up how I feel about Heineken very well.   ... and also how I feel about Pabst Blue Ribbon

- - One thumb down.   I wouldn't be drinking this unless it was free, but I wouldn't avoid it at all costs.   If someone is buying, I'll drink it.   I'd never actually buy Heineken myself because there's always better beer available no matter where you are.  But for some reason my Dad loves Heineken whenever he goes on vacation and decided to leave me a twelve pack after visiting.   Thanks Dad...

Labatt Blue

Another trip into the world of American Adjunct Lagers brings us a Buffalo, NY staple, Labatt Blue.   I'll admit I'm not a huge Blue/Blue Light fan for whatever reason.   I'd drink it if it was there, but I never really went out of my way.   Well, I've been down in Orlando for about 4 months now and I have jumped at the opportunity to once again try Blue.   Labatt pushes Blue Light far more and far harder than Blue, and I actually think I may be more partial to Blue which is why I'm doing this review.  Although I'll eventually get around to reviewing the Light variation also.   The only difference between the US version of Blue and the Canadian version is the ABV.   4.7% and 5% respectively.

A:  There's nothing special about the way this beer looks.   It's clear yellow, and there's absolutely no head nor lacing.   Very very little carbonation is present.   It pretty much looks like colored water.

S: Blue has a good smell for an adjunct lager.   It's got slight hop presence and a little bit of corn.   There's also a hint of apple mixed in there.  

T:   Corn and a heavy metallic taste up front.  A bit of sour apple on the finish.  It's a pretty straight forward simple taste.  Extremely average.

M:  Light bodied with slight carbonation to give it some substance so it doesn't feel like water.   Smooth finish.

D:  Blue is a good beer to sit around and drink and drink and drink and drink if that's your thing.  It's easily drinkable and the taste isn't awful.

Grade: One thumb down.   I don't hate Blue, but let's get serious here.   It's not a "good" beer.   It's cheap and easily accessible, especially back in Buffalo.   That's it's savior.   I'm not saying I wouldn't ever drink it.  It's the easy safe choice if you can't decide what to get.   It just won't ever wow you.   It's a good beer to drink if you just want to drink a beer.

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Generally Sam Adams brews are very hit or miss for me.   Some people love every single thing Sam Adams produces, but not me.   I'm very opinionated when it comes to them.   I wrote off Winter Lager before I even tried it simply because I generally don't enjoy dark warming "winter" beers.    I saw the commercial and saw that it was described with citrus and cinnamon which intrigued me.   I thought cinnamon in a beer would be pretty interesting and I love citrus, so I figured why not take a shot on this beer.   My roommate and I were out and about at Downtown Disney and we were talking beer.  He too was interested in trying this brew.   We were finally able to find it after searching for about 30 minutes.   Here's a picture of it, sorry for a poor shot.



A -  Dark amber, almost brown color.  Off-White creamy head that dissipates rather quickly leaving watery lacing on the glass.

S - A faint sweet caramel malt with a little bit of cinnamon.  Not much of a true scent really present with this one.

T - Caramel and spicy up front which gives way to a dominate earthy hop taste.  There's also cinnamon and ginger present towards the finish of the beer, but the true finish has a citrus flavor which becomes more noticeable as the beer begins to warm up.

M -   Light to medium bodied with slight carbonation.

D -  Pretty drinkable beer with only a 5.6% ABV.   Although it does have a nice flavor, and the ABV isn't high.   Due to the complexity of the flavor, I couldn't see myself drinking more than 2-3 of these in a sitting before I became sick of it.

Grade - Two thumbs up.   This is a good beer.    I have a hard time saying that consistently when it comes to Sam Adams, but this is definitely a good beer.  The downside is it's seasonal from November to January.   If you want it, don't hesitate.  Hurry.

Purple Haze

Any beer with a reference to Jimmy Hendrix is a winner in my book. I'm going to turn on Hendrix as I'm writing this review just for an added blast of nerdiness. This is actually a beer I had bought right before I left Buffalo and I didn't get an opportunity to taste and review it before I had to leave for Orlando. I was disappointed and hadn't seen it down here, so naturally when I saw it on tap at the Food & Wine festival I felt the need to get it. Purple Haze is had a relatively low ABV, barely over 4%. Officially it's listed as 4.2%. Just based on that information, it should be thought of as a highly probably session brew.




A - Cloudy.. no wait HAZY (ha..ha..) yellow color. Small head but with tons of lacing.

S - This beer is listed as a raspberry wheat beer, so huge shocker here that it reeks of raspberries. With first smell, it's raspberries. On second smell, it's raspberries. Need I continue? There's a bit of malt and wheat somewhere hidden in between the raspberry sandwich.

T - Based on the smell I was thinking it would be an overwhelming raspberry taste similar to how Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is when it comes to the cherry taste. Surprisingly, the front of the beer is sweet and malty. But.. shortly after that it gives way to a raspberry taste that absolutely dominates your palate. It's a pleasant raspberry taste though that fulls up your mouth and lingers on your tongue in the aftertaste.

M - Light bodied with medium to high carbonation. Despite the raspberry aftertaste, it's actually a smooth finish.

D - It's a very drinkable beer. If my girlfriend who hates beer thought that, "it's not bad" that should tell you a thing or two. It goes down very easy and it's definitely a beer I would like to have, and enjoy again.

Grade - Two thumbs up. I could kick myself in the ass for not having this beer before I left Buffalo. I can't wait to have it again.

Drifter Pale Ale

I normally don't like pale ales and I try to stay away from them because I fear the "normal" pine hop bite they have. I guess, to be honest, the only reason I grabbed this beer was because I have Widmer Hefeweizen stashed away in my fridge right now. It was a friendly sounding beer because the name was familiar. That's pretty much about it. Drifter Pale Ale sits in at a 5.7% ABV with 32 IBUs. The Widmer Brothers Brewing Company calls Drifter Pale Ale truly an original. Due to it being brewed with generous amounts of Summit hops, a variety known for their intense citrus flavors and aromas, Drifter has a taste unique to the Pale Ale category. True to style, the bittering hops are perceptible enough to give the beer a crisp, clean, quenching finish, yet also soft enough to keep the beer smooth and balanced.




A - Pours an orange-amber color with a frothy white cap. There was pretty good head retention throughout the tasting with decent lacing from a nice ring and cloud that stayed on the top of the beer.

S - Huge aroma of hoppiness and light caramel malts with traces of some pine.

T - A different taste based on the scent. Surpising. Citrus hops are present in the taste which I didn't find at all in the scent, even after I was tasting the beer. The finish is made up totally of bready and caramel malts. It's a great tasting beer, very flavorful, something I wasn't expecting at all.

M - Low bodied and slightly thin. Low carbonation also. Interesting how there's barely any aftertaste, it just rolls right off the tongue.

D - It's refreshing and sessionable. It's crisp and smooth to drink. Although it's a pale ale, it really has no true bitterness substance to it.


Grade - Two thumbs up! I'm not really sure it deserves the pale ale title, but it is what it is I guess. It's not a true pale ale, but a great beer regardless of what it is. I'd definitely recommend this beer to others. It's just a shame it's all the way across the country from me in Oregon.

Key West Sunset Ale

I hadn't had a beer from the local Florida Beer Company up until this point, so when I saw that they were being represented with this beer at EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival, I jumped all over the opportunity. I wasn't really expecting anything spectacular besides your average local beer. Sunset Ale is classified as an American Amber Ale with a tropical twist. Florida Beer Company brews it with pale and caramel malts. They also blend it with hops to create a crisp satisfying taste. FBC describes the beer as "more dark than light" and "more malty than hoppy." I can't find the ABV anywhere, so I have no idea the %.




A - Reddish amber in color, Key West Sunset Ale is easy to see through, as it lacks any type of cloudiness. A small white head and ring form upon pour but dissipate rather quickly and leave no trace.

S - Upon first smell you get a good whiff of citrus and caramel malts. After deciphering the scent more there's a slight presence of grainy malt hidden.

T - The taste actually follows the scent pretty well. The first response to the taste is grapefruit which gives way quickly to what seem like out of place caramel malts. The finish is full of floral hops and grain. In my opinion it's a truly odd pairing of tastes, but it's not bad. (I didn't say it was great either.) It's just unique.

M - Low to medium bodied with low to medium carbonation. It's got a smooth texture to it. Easy on the palate.

D - It's a drinkable beer, definitely. Seems like a good beer to be out on a hot day, which is when I was able to taste this. It's not something I'd want very often. Heck, it's not a bad beer but I'll probably never have it again. It's not extremely appealing to me.

Grade - One Thumb Down.. I guess it's a bit unfair of me to label this as a one thumb down beer, but based on me not wanting to drink it again, albeit it's not a bad beer, it has to have some type of negative grade.

Samuel Adams Cream Stout

I normally stay away from stouts.  Heck, I stay away from dark beers in general.  I have no idea what persuaded me to try this beer.  Maybe it was the cream title that was attached to it, who knows?  Sam Adams says, "The cappuccino of beers. Roasty, smooth and sweet.  Samuel Adams® Cream Stout is a true cream stout, balancing body and sweetness, with the natural spiciness of grain and hand selected English hops. Our brewers use generous portions of roasted chocolate and caramel malts as well as roasted unmalted barley to impart a fullness of body, a roasty malt character and rich, creamy head. Its dark, mahogany color makes it almost as easy on the eyes as it is on the palate."   It's totally something under normal circumstances that is complete turn off to me.  Even when the girl poured it, I laughed.  I had no clue what I was getting myself into.



A -  It was like looking into the night sky.  Black like water in the Gulf of Mexico.  Frothy and fluffy tan head with tons of lacing.  Based on first look, it seems like a BIG beer that is going to be very filling.   I was shocked it find out this was only 4.9% ABV based on the look. 

S - Roasted coffee is the dominant scent in this brew.  There's also hints of chocolate and caramel stuffed in here as well.

T - A chocolatey coffee taste hits the tongue on first taste.  It's a pretty bold taste, but what surprised me is the sweet vanilla finish which I was a huge fan of.   The sweet vanilla in the finish also gives way to a sweet milky taste.

M - Full bodied and creamy.   Very little carbonation if any at all.

D -   If you like the taste, it's a very easy beer to drink.  Goes down without a fight.  Due to the full taste and feel of the beer, I'm not sure you could drink a whole bunch of these.  It's more of a dessert.  One or two of these and you'll be full and satisfied.

Grade -  I'll give it a thumb up.   I don't know if this is a ridiculously good stout or if my palate is finally accepting dark beers.     I'm just glad I went away from the ordinary and actually tried this beer.  I was rewarded nicely.

Leffe Blonde

Let's get this straight.   I've pretty much disliked every Pale Ale I've ever had.   I didn't even realize Leffe Blonde was a pale ale until I looked up a little information about it a few minutes ago.   The website says the following,  "Abbey of Leffe blonde beer is a highly fermented beer to be savoured. The ingredients are light malt, corn, water, hops and yeast, which give it a bright golden colour with dazzling reflections. The alcohol content is 6.6 %, the ideal serving temperature 5° to 6 °C. As a bottled beer, it is to be savoured with pleasure, as a draft beer it is thirst quenching. The taste is full, sweet and fruity (with a hint of bitter orange), and the after-taste is powerful and surprising."   Maybe I've had an incorrect understanding of what a pale ale is, but I've always thought a pale ale had the sharp pine tasting hops.   Maybe this is different due to it being a belgian pale ale.   Well, onto the review to find out if I liked it or not..




A -  I'm not sure why, but I've always thought Leffe was a witbier.   I was wrong obviously, and boy was I shocked when the girl poured it and it was a golden amber color.   It had a nice fluffy finger head that stuck around for a minute or two.   The beer was "sticky" as it had some great lacing on the cup as I was drinking it.

S -  It started off with a sweet scent which surprised me due to it having a darker color than what I was expecting.   The sweet scent gave away quickly to a spicy, pepper-like scent which was much more of what I was expecting.

T - Tastes different from the smell definitely.  There's an initial clove taste on the tongue.   Afterwards it's followed up with some grapefruit and banana.  The finish is spicy with a slight hop bitterness.

M -  Light bodied with high carbonation.   It's really bubbly upon first taste but the finish is more smooth.

D - Light flavored but complex at the same time.   The ABV is hidden quite well which makes it a pretty drinkable beer.  I'd definitely drink it again.

Grade - Two thumbs up.  I hate pale ales for the most part, and can't believe that I stomached this one, let alone enjoyed it thoroughly.

Radeberger Pilsner

As most of you already know I'm doing an internship with Walt Disney World right now which has drastically cut into my beer reviewing lately.  I just don't get the time to sit down for an hour, enjoy a beer and then give my thoughts.    Yesterday though, I got the opportunity to attend Disney's Food & Wine festival at EPCOT which also has quite a bit of beer.   I had the mindset going in that I wanted to try a handful or two of different beers so I could treat you guys to multiple reviews as an apology.  I succeeded.   The next few reviews will all be from beers that I had yesterday.  Some were better than others.

Radeberger Pilsner

I neglicted to get a picture of the Radeberger Pilsner so I'll just include a stock photo of it.  I aplogize.

Radeberger Pilsner is a German Pilsner, brewed by Radeberger Exportbierbrauerei (yeah a complete mouthful), and it has a 4.8% ABV.   Radeberger suggests that it's ingredients are pale malt, aromatic anad bitter hops, with soft water and yeast.    Radeberger really stresses that they are state of the art when it comes to their beer and put a lot of time and effort into making quality "perfect" beers, with their pilsner being no exception.


A -  Pours a clear yellow color similar to corn.  A one finger soapy style head that dissipates rather quickly and leaves minimal lacing.

S - Bready malts with sugary citrus.   There's also a hint of yeast and some bitter hops.

T - Bitter front that gives way to sweet citrus and sweet malts.   The finish is dry and grainy.

M -  Light bodied beer with medium carbonation, which is ideally how a pilsner should be.

D -  It's an average tasting beer, but when you combine that with it being light bodied and a <5% ABV it leaves it pretty drinkable.  I'd find it more desirable if it didn't have a grainy finish/aftertaste.

Grade -  One thumb up.   It wasn't a good/great beer.   It was okay.   The only thing I didn't like about the beer was the finish taste of the beer.