Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Dogfish Head Festina Peche is a new style of beer for me.  It's considered a Berliner Weisse.   The definition of a Berliner Weissbier (thanks to www.beeradvocate.com) is a top-fermented, bottle conditioned wheat beer made with both traditional warm-fermenting yeasts and lactobacillus culture. They have a rapidly vanishing head and a clear, pale golden straw-coloured appearance. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemony-citric fruit sharpness and almost no hop bitterness.  Festina Peche is fermented with peaches and has a 4.5% ABV.  IBU stands at 8.

A: Pours a golden yellow color with absolutely no head.  Very little lacing is present also.   Very cloudy appearance.

S: As soon as I opened the bottle and started to pour the beer I noticed a huge present of peach.   More of a sour peach scent than sweet, which seems rather odd.  Citrus scents are also present.

T: Very tart and sour taste.   I don't ever recall tasting a beer quite like this.   I don't taste as much peach as I thought I would based on the heavy presence in the scent.  Very yeasty finish.

M/D: Light bodied with mild carbonation.   Leaves a sour taste on the tongue, although it's quite crisp and refreshing.   It's very easy to drink.

Grade:  This beer is a little bit of a disappointment in my opinion.   It's not awful but it's a little bit too sour.   Doesn't seem to have a good balance.   I probably wouldn't revisit this beer willingly, although I wouldn't keep someone else from trying it.   I'm sure some people will find this beer rather pleasant.

Chimay Tripel (White)

Chimay is an authentic Trappist beer that is brewed within a Trappist monastery, under the control and responsibility of the monastic community. Only 6 beers in Belgium can carry the appellation "Trappist": Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren and Achel.  I haven't had very many Tripels, so the style is still something new to me.   The only beers of the style that I have had are Victory Golden Monkey and La Fin Du Monde, so due to that, I don't have a heck of a lot to compare this beer to.  I've been looking forward to trying this beer for quite sometime.

Tripels generally range from 8% to 12% ABV so although Chimay White is rather high in alcohol (8.0%) it's on the low end for a Tripel.  The IBU is 36.
The glassware recommended for this tasting is a snifter or goblet.  I have neither and feel foolish for using it, but, oversized round wine glass is going to have to do.

A:  Hazy amber color with an off white head.  Pours a one finger off white head that disippates to a slight wisp rather quickly.   Very good sticky lacing on the glass is present.

S:  Tons of yeast is present up front in the scent along with spicy hops.  Banana is also present in the scent with helps offset the onslaught of spices and yeast.

T:  More banana is present on the taste than the smell.   Banana is present up front which gives way to a bready yeasty flavor.   The beer has a rather dry and bitter hops finish to it. There's also a little bit of an alcohol induced warming sensation on the back end of the taste. There's hardly any aftertaste present besides the hops.   It's got a very well balanced overall taste to it.

M:  Medium bodied yet heavy on the carbonation which makes it rather difficult to drink quickly, which is a good thing due to that 8.0% ABV.

D:  It's a tasty beer and the 8.0% doesn't jump out at you in the taste at all.   It makes it a drinkable beer.   Obviously it's not a beer you want to session, but it goes down fairly easy.

Grade:  This isn't the best beer I've ever had, but I see no reason to not give it two thumbs up.  It's well rounded and tasty.   You can't ask for much more.

Big Flats 1901

There's not a whole heck of a lot of information out there about Big Flats 1901.   It's a fairly new beer that's the private label beer of the store Walgreens.   Interesting enough just for those reasons, it's also cheap enough that it could rival PBR & MHL as far as drinkable cheap beers go.   Big Flats 1901 will cost you $2.99 for a 6 pack.   You can't beat that which is why I rushed to try it..  mostly just for giggles.   The way I feel is this beer can't be any worse than Bud, Miller, or Coors so it's totally worth a chance, and I'm sure most people are going to feel the same.

There's very little actual information about this beer circling the internet at this point.   All I really have to offer is that is it an American Adjunct Lager (obviously) and it has a 4.5% ABV.   Also it's brewed by Genesee Brewing Company, which is better known for Genesee Cream Ale.

The can made me laugh..  "Brewed from only the choicest hops."   "Genuine Brew"  "It's the water that makes it."
Pretty nifty looking can though, in my opinion.

A:   Light straw color with two fingers of white head.  Pours a clear, thinly-hued, light straw body.   A 2 to 3 finger puffy and bubbly white head initially sits on top of the beer but reduces to just a small ring around the glass.

S:  Standard grain and corn is about it.  Faint (understatement) spicy and earthy hops.

T:  Very light and mild taste.   Not a whole heck of a lot to it.   Grains, corn, and spicy hops sum up the flavor very well in my opinion.  Very watery/dry finish to this beer with a hint of bitterness.

M: Low bodied with medium carbonation.   It's crisp and refreshing.

D:  I didn't have a problem putting one down within a minute or too.   The lack of a taste makes it really easy to drink.   I'd challenge someone who doesn't like beer to drink one of these because I don't think they'd be able to say it's disgusting.   I could see stashing a few of these away in the fridge for a warm summer day.

Grade:  One thumb up.   It's not a bad beer by any means.   It's not something you'd seek out, but if you were at Walgreens or in the general area, why not pick it up?   You won't be disappointed.    I'd drink this over Bud, Miller, or Coors.

Left Hand Milk Stout

Dark and delicious, America's great milk stout will change your perception about what a stout can be. Preconceived notions are the blinders on the road to enlightenment. 'Udderly' delightful.   I haven't had a Milk Stout before so I'm pretty excited to try this one.   Still getting a bit used to the darker beers, so my hopes aren't too high on this one.   Low expectations going in might mean a high reward.  Far more malts are present in this beer than hops so it shouldn't be very bitter.   IBUs sit at 25 and the ABV sits at 6%.  I feel a 6% ABV is rather low for a stout.  Left Hand Milk Stout has one quite a few awards at various beer festivals and a lot of those awards have been golds.   So it's widely considered a very good brew.


On with the show.

A:  Pours with very black body an off white head.. Not completely black as there is a bit of red hue present along the edges..    The head disappeared completely on me within seconds.  A quick swirl reveals that the beer does leave quite a bit of lacing on the glass, although that too slides down back into the beer fairly quickly.  Just based on the appearance it seems a little bit more watery than I would thought.


S:  Heavy uo front on the roasted malt scent..  I'm having a hard time smelling the chocolate or coffee that some claim to find in this brew.   A tinge of sweetness follows the roasted malts..   A sweet milk like scent.  I guess the proper terminology would be "lactic notes."  That milk scent isn't powerful by any means, but it is there. 


T:  Definite roasted malts up front on the taste although not as heavy as the scent would indicate.  It's actually much more well balanced than I would have though based on the scent.  The roasted malts quickly give away to a mild sweet cream flavor.   There's also a bit of a fig taste to the beer that seems to be mixed in with the cream flavor.   They seem to hit you at about the same time.  The finish on the beer is kind of hard for me to put my finger on.   A get this slight twinge of sourness, almost like spoiled milk, but it quickly goes away and leaves the roasted malt flavor.


M:  Low to medium bodied with little to no carbonation present.   I expected this beer to be much more full bodied even after I claimed that I felt the appearance did seem a bit watery.


D:  Definitely a very drinkable beer.  I wouldn't call it sessionable though due to the sweetness.   Seems like after 2 of these I wouldn't want anymore.


Grade:  One thumb up.   It's a good beer, not a great beer.   The awkward spoiled milk like taste was a bit of a turn off although not enough to ruin the experience of the beer. 

Widmer Hefeweizen

I love myself a good hefeweizen, but unfortunately contrary to the name, this beer is classified an American Pale Wheat Ale. I also enjoy that style, so this is a win/win for me. I've only had one other beer from Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, which was, Drifter Pale Ale. I really enjoyed that beer so I'm hoping the Hefeweizen can be just as good. The Widmer Hefeweizen is the flagship beer of the brewery. They classify it as "a golden unfiltered wheat beer that is truly cloudy and clearly superb."
1998 and 2006 GABF Gold Medal Award Winner
2004 and 2008 Gold Medal Beer Cup

4.9% ABV which makes it a sessionable brew.
30 IBU which means it should't have really any bitterness to it at all.

Seems like a fairly straightforward "hefeweizen." Let's get to the review.

A: Pours a cloudy straw color. Little to no head and very minimal lacing is present. What is present though are tons of bubbles. Seems like a super carbonated beer.

S: The scent is primarily yeast, almost biscuit-like.. if that's even a word. There's also mild citrus present mixed with a little bit of clove. Overall, it's a fairly weak scent. Albeit it's a weak taste, I'm pretty excited to try it for some reason.

T: Taste is actually pretty bland. There aren't really too many defining characteristics. It seems to have a bit of a watery taste. There is definitely wheat present and a very banana/clove finish and aftertaste, but that's about it. Not a bad taste, but much like the scent, weak.

M: Light bodied with high carbonation. Seems really counterproductive and odd.

D: It's still a drinkable beer. The ABV is relatively low. The taste and mouthfeel, though not outstanding, are not offensive to the point that they are a turnoff.

Grade: It's a one thumb down beer. I'm pretty disappointed in it. Although not bad, I wouldn't seek it out again.
On the bright side though.. not sure if you can see it in the picture, but I like the cap and will definitely be adding it to my collection.