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.