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3f Schaerbeeske Kriek, lambic, Acidic Cherry Gastritis 6% abv

Face Melting Grenadine

3f Schaerbeeske Kriek, lambic, fruit, 6% abv

Appearance: This beer looks like grenadine on steroids. It projects this vibrant red and foamy pink pallor that is both inviting and a sign of toxins, acquired from the wild. The lacing is pink and sticky with incredibly tiny bubbles. It’s like Rose` for hard drug users.

Smell: There is a musky mossy cardboard finish to the nose of this beer. The cherry and strawberry notes are present and smell delicious and almost too archetypical to be real, like this is a type of lambic bubble bath. The smell makes me think that this will melt my face like Christopher Lloyd in who Framed Roger Rabbit. Toontown up in this bitch.

Taste: There is an super drying tart cherry taste to it that just tears the enamel off of your teeth. Your taste buds run for cover, but there will be no shelter provided under this oppressive regime. The drying nature combined with the cherry skins just wipes out the inside top layer of skin in your mouth. If cherries had a chemical warfare program, this would be their dirty bomb. It is delicious and caustic at the same time, like a well balanced Taylor Swift album. AND JUST AS BITTERING.

Mouthfeel: Well, the mouthfeel is, thin, sharp, and painful. I have no other way to describe it. Perhaps if this had a couple years to think about its past transgressions, it might be nicer outside the bottle but it is a rampaging asshole through and though. You just get this sweet tart needling like brambles rolling over your tongue. Somehow, it is all worth it, I cannot explain how or why. It is similar to eating an Atomic Warhead when you were a little kid, the sweet part makes the tortuous coating worthwhile. You wake up with cankersores and check webMD to realize that herpes are the OUTSIDE mouth kinds of sores and breathe a sigh of relief.

Drinkability: The huge price tag, violent mouthfeel, and incredible tartness make it tough to justify this asshole. I feel like a battered wife sticking up for it, but I suppose that it does have some redeeming factors. It is incredibly delicious and I am sure a vintage of this would be amazing. I just don’t know any average person that you could pop this open with at a ski lodge or, on a Grayhound bus to meet your baby’s momma. No pedestrian endeavors here, just cherry violence and infidelity.

Narrative: It took years of failed testing, losses, and emotional turmoil but Xenidyne Tech had finally completed its magnum opus, Grenidation Chericite, the most powerful cherry substance known to man. It was the cherry equivalent of a neutron star with billions of orchards compacted into its tiny buzzing core. The bright red orb rotated at whizzing speeds within the class translucent containment unit emitting red bolts of power with enough cherry to kill a man. “If we could only, remove the pits, we could harness even more cherry power into its core!” Professor Bergstrom ruminated, while drawing hackneyed scientific symbols on a white board. “BUT SIR! That’s too much cherry for one…FOR ANYONE!” Professor Bergstom turned quickly and gripped his notepad, “YOU TELL THAT TO MY DAUGHTER, the one who died because her Shirley Temple didn’t have enough cherry in it, the one who cried and ran out of that Red Robin and was hit by a car, YOU TELL HER THAT SHE DOESN’T DESERVE ANY MORE CHERRY!” The assistant lowered his head solemnly “I’m sorry, I had no idea.” “If I can’t bring her back, then I can allow her legacy to live on, IN TARTNESS!” he turned a large hackneyed dial that amped up the chericites, a unit of measure used to the intensity of cherriness in any given substance. “THE CHERRICITE CORE IS GOING TO BLO-” The fuschia mushroom cloud sent a massive turbid layer of fandango into the valley. The papers would unabashedly utilize the phrase “Cherry Bomb” in a tasteless fashion.

1

Abbaey De St. Bon Chien, 2006 and 2009 Reviews 11% abv (REEEEEMIXX)

Your mom is a bon chien

The Bonnest of Chiens

2006 and 2009 BFM Brassiere Bon Chien

A: This beer has a tame gueuzey approach to life that crackles with some limited bubbles. There is no lacing and this beer doesn’t give a shit. You dont like it? Well guess what, find some other things to do, this beer spent the last 5 years all cooped up and it’s not in the mood for your sassmouth.

S: This is where this beer turns it into overdrive. Wow, the smell is like carmelized skittles burnt in a pan, nice crispy sugar, grape skins, smashed up sour patch kids and sour ropes. But, refined. Like when Willliam H Macy gets all super serio. You have a sincere reverence for it.

T: The taste is like the smell but it adorns a monocle. It has mellow sour notes with raspberries and blackberry tones throughout. I want to deny that the age has a factor but wow, this is exceptional top to bottom. It dries out the gumline but in a gentle way like the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer all tactful and shit. More skittles please? Oh ok, there they are.

M: The mouthfeel just crackles with energy and snaps with bubbles that seek to punish after a lengthy slumber. Each one bursts with a refined jolly rancher note. Great acidity that has muted over time and it feels like it hit its peak at just the right time. I wish I had more money and time to seek these bottles out, this is like a vintage VHS tape of Step by Step, you only want more.

D: This is an easy answer because of the style: more and now. This has such a great lambic/gueuze feel to it and just tastes refreshing. This Oude Bruin comes off healthy, crisp, and I can feel like I ate a slew of produce, WHEN I DID NOT. But seriously, this is just an amazing crisp offering that is like a series of bites into pear and granny smith apples that you spit out immediately, without reprecussion.

Narrative: “Please just stay” he whispered to himself, waiting for the box of fresh acidic produce that would arrive at anytime. “Aiden, I really have to sleep” Maybe it was the lack of protein in her bloodstream, but she needed natural c6h12o6 hotness or this deal would never be sealed. “Wait wait Jackie, lets just watch Planet Earth on Blueray” Michael pleaded. Jackie felt her blood sugar drop steadily and wondered “did he plan this? I feel so eslaypeee.” No one ever said courting a vegan woudl be easy. Did he know that her stoic diet would disallow any form of long-term drinking? “Oh EM GEE! Did you see those Bolivian tree frogs? So crazy!” He began to cradle her head in his arms “OH GOD PLEASE JUST SEND THAT ORGANIC FRUIT BOX ALREADY!” The two of them looked deeply into dilated pupils. ::BING BONG::: Saccharrine fresh fruit goodness had arrived. The two tore the crate open voraciously and each stared into each other’s eyes as they respectively sucked tangelos clean under the dulcent tones of David Attenborough’s narration.

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Bad Penny, Big Boss Brewing Company, Brown Ale, 5.2%

Horrible Penelope

Bad Penny, More Like Ass Pennies

As a special weekend treat, I have provided you with a review of a horrible beer. For your weekend enjoyment, I give to you: Bad Penny.

Big Boss Brewing Company, Bad Penny Brown Ale, 5.2% abv

A: You ever just glance across the room at someone and know that they are going to have an irritating laugh? Maybe an old chestnut about an ex-wife or spin some yarns about a recent foreclosure? That’s how I feel when I open this underwhelming beer. It is Brown, sorta, like a penny left carelessly near the tracks, but not interesting enough to have been run over. The carbonation is as mediocre as the second season of My So Called Life (read: extremely) and it just feels like a chore to look at, like I should be accruing paid time off just contemplating this beverage.

S: There is some roasted malt, biscuity character, and some brown sugar. Like the amount you would find in a stoic convent, the grains are discrete and hardly numerable. It’s tough to come up with more to say about such a lackluster brujaha. It’s like finding a penny that was left in the wash, that happened to leave nice copper stains on your favorite shirt.

T: How fitting that a beer, called bad penny has such a metallic taste to it. This is like what would happen if Newcastle got into a car crash and a team of Samoan scientists had to rebuild him using only scrap parts. There isn’t that creamy taste or delicious nuttiness. It puts its best foot forward and introduces itself with a hoppy, coffee-like body, that at the same time reminds me of the taste of iron. There is a tiny bit of sweet maltiness at the end, as a sort of a consolation prize, but you end up feeling perplexed as to how such a simple beer could mistreat your daughter and pets so savagely.

M: No Updike treatises here, just a quick deposit at the old coinstar, aka, my mouth, and it is on its way. I am the one left bereft of 10%.

D: This is crisp, clean, and tastes like a Johnny Five’s taint, so I guess if you like knocking back some low abv metallic nectar, have I got a beer for you. Actually, I don’t, because I got this one as an extra and would never pay for this again but, there’s always next Prom, I’m sure Bad Penny will ask you then. The theme of disappointment should be underscored. Bad Penny tastes more like ass pennies, a statement you can take to the bank.

Narrative: The smoldering wreckage was a sight to be seen on the Five O’Clock news. Everywhere paramedics and emergency officials were attempting to pull bodies from the mangled debris of what used to be a train. “Please, Penelope Ferrus, tell us how this entire thing occurred, any statement would be appreciated….FOR THE VICTIMS PLEASE!” the reporter called to Penelope, aka Bad Penny, local rabble rouser and all around charlatan. “Yah see, me and some of the goils was horsing around near the tracks, Edna was jonesin for something refreshing and I says to her, ‘I bet by a country mile you aint got the whatwithya to run out and touch them there tracks, and I indicated to-’” Bad Penny was not only a bad person, but also a horrible orator, her statement could not be cut to less than 4 minutes of pure dialogue until finally she concluded: “so then I tells Edna to ‘Ah go sit on it!’ and we watch as the steam carriage just went and rolls right over the penny, same one from before, the one Edna got in Versailles, the one from those dames who had all that ferrium nitrate, anyway that one we went and left on the tracks, that same one, funniest thing, locamotive clips it and spins like a Louisville top in the midair, what with ejecting all the people and-” The jury watched this statement over and over after it was submitted into evidence and couldn’t believe the whimsical account that Bad Penelope provided. The jury examined the penny itself as exhibit 46 from the prosecution, just before Penelope flipped it into the jury box and made a distasteful Harvey Dent reference.

1

Victory Storm King, 9.1% abv; Crown King Nothing

The King of Drizzles

King is Loose Term for Storms

Victory Storm King Stout, Imperial Stout 9.1% abv

A: This has a slightly watery deep blackness to it, like the thin ink of a Pentel pen. The carbonation is outrageous. I mean that in the classic sense, inclining one towards outrage. It creates a huge 5” head that just maintains like mocha whipped cream. The lacing looks like a perverse Rorschart painting. It is a very attractive stout, for those so inclined.

 

S: The nose is a bit thin and doesn’t present much beyond a sweetness and a candied malt. I get a bit of a burnt vanilla and….that’s about it. T: There’s a bit of chocolate at the outset that gets very herbal very quickly. This feels far more like the Black DIPAs coming into vogue than the traditional stouts that I have come to grow and love. The taste finishes with a deep piney bitterness that is more like Hopsicle but with chocolate malts. I don’t know how this was classified as an imperial stout, but, variety is the spice of life, so says my Home Ec…er…”Teen Living” teacher.

 

M: Again, this doesn’t coat like a stout, nor does it present a big frothiness. It has a thin mouthfeel with a big hop body to it, if I didn’t know better, I would say that this tastes like a messed up DIPA that has a ton of high alpha acid hops. But, I guess I would welcome innovation over and above the same damn dancer/boxer/football team movie year in and year out. At least I have something to tell my children with this one, a good old epic tale about the old Imperial Stout/IPA that I enjoyed on a weeknight. Ah, memories.

 

D: This isn’t exceptionally drinkable. It is too bitter and doesn’t present all those Preggo delights that I enjoy: where’s my chocolate and deep smoky malts. To be clear, only negligent expecting mothers should drink this, if at all. Wait, ok, to be clear, this is a confusing malty hoppy bomb that belongs in that confusing penumbra category of Black IPA madness. Notwithstanding, it is welcome in my mouth. It’s hard to end on that but, oh well.

 

Narrative: “I need to get my Wiz Khalifa on, aint tryna be coding .DLLs all up in this shit,” Walter Lee protested voraciously from his cubicle. “They always posting on me tryna front on some spaghetti code ass bullshit, acting like I haven’t seen a debugged kernel up in this bitch.” His supervisor shook his head at the recalcitrant associate and tapped his red pen lightly against his clip board. This wasn’t the first computer coding job that Walter had been fired from. Admittedly, it was Neoscript’s own fault for hiring on a latent racist basis assuming that Walter Lee would be a successful coder. “I see dems, they post all up on this cubicle like they OWN ME. I post up on my set, peep this OH WHO JUST SET UP A BEOWOLF CLUSTER? Oh shit, that’s right, Walter. Ha haaaay!” the resonant call not unlike Jadakiss’s patent sound clipped against the aluminum ceilings. This was a clear case of a mismatch. This was someone who was ill-equipped to fight in the market in which he was competing, despite his inherent merit. “watch, watch, someone gonna write about this situation and be STRAIGHT RACIST!” Walter uttered from his Ukranian lips.

2

Lindeman’s Framboise, 6% abv, Raspberry Massacre

Raspberry Trainwreck

Framboise lambic lindemans

A: There is a deep ruby red purple color with a fuchsia head with no lacing, it just sits there, nonplussed.

S: There is a huge raspberry and skittles nose with juicy berries and roses. Far more juice and sweetness than maltiness and beer. This seems to be a flaw as the nose is just sweet with nothing else to offer.

T: There is a huge juicy presence with no alcohol waft just complete wine profile with no oak just juicy juice that is kinda cloying after a bit. I wonder if this would be better as a cuvee or maybe just not ordered at all. It is difficult to say.

M The mouthfeel is thin with no hops, the only thing that I notice is a sticky coating with weak tannins. This is that birthday party for beer elements where if a real beer showed up, it would feel all awkward because 11 year old dudes were playing Mall Madness.

D The profile is not meant for long sessions. Even my 12oz romp was enough for me. This “beer” was weak and far too sweet. I know I am supposed to judge on style but this is just nonsense, don’t drink this. Go drink a cup of juice and save your liver the paperwork.

Narrative: Eliza’s 6th grade science project seemed to be going to well. She had an impeccable tristand board with exhibits and visuals and graphs. The hypothesis seemed well ordered and- what the, “WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF PINOT NOIR ON AN 11 YEAR OLD?” Ok, that is when things maybe took a downtown. Eliza showed up visibly drunk, not unlike a Portugese schoolgirl. Her teeth were stained blackberry purple and she kept leaning on the judges, physically not figuratively. While her study was technically sound, her parents shook their heads in disbelief when she began crying and attempting to go through her phone. Notwithstanding, she confirmed that Pinot Grigio made girls of all ages and dispositions emotional wrecks. She took second place to a Vietnamese child whose water acidity exhibit was clearly put together by his parents. Also, they were not drunk.

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Russian River Blind Pig IPA, 6.1% abv

Disable Pigs

Disabled Swine and OSHA Rules

Blind Pig IPA, 6.1% IPA

A: Thin yellow gold color similar to a watered down apple juice with awesome
lacing and carbonation, transparent with no middle carbonation. It’s a solid set of
Tim Allen stand-up that you grow to love.

S: Huge bouquet upon opening the bottle, great pine and grassy notes, not as
much citrus as the Pliny brethren, but smoother and less aggressive. The gentle, back massage
sort of game you expect from Bay Area kids.

T: The taste is crisp and light with a swift hop body the imparts its flavor, finishes
with a mild bittering and washes away clean. Great session beer and the ABV is a bonus.
There are some mild melon and lemon notes but predominately floral and grassy hops. A mint is left on your pillow lovingly by this pig.

M: Very light and crisp with a clean finish. It feels like the swift nimble ninja of IPAs.
It doesn’t impart a huge malty body but the bottle disappears staggeringly fast. The hops and
coating doesn’t linger or resonate for a long period of time but it is still satifying.

D: This beer is probably the most drinkable IPA that I have ever had. A great session beer
to be sure and the body and light malts make it refreshingly addictive. The fact that they
do not sell these in 6 and 12 packs is almost intentional malfeasance. I can’t really see
myself only buying one bottle of these given the price and drink ability of the bottle. The
16.9oz bottle is another strangely enticing aspect. All in all, I would with hubris and the
utmost respect play deferential beer pong with this beer due to its incredibly versatile light
character.

Narrative: “Ah not another stupid Kevin James movie!” the children bemoaned in unison.
To be fair, 11 years old is far too along in years to enjoy a three act train wreck of that
magnitude. The babysitter chortled and guffawed a bit in protest, shaking his sleekly shaven
face. “If Mall Cop is not the movie you start, what is it your disdain for this Paul Blart?”
The kids perked up at the dapper disabled pig addressing them so casuistically. “Perhaps you
harbor dislike from seeing Bewitched, well enjoy Will Smith and this movie Hitch” the dvd
slid across the coffee table and Mr. Pig adroitly knocked it into the tray. He appeared
overdressed at each of his assignments and, being blind, was hardly the pig for the job,
yet somehow his panache and particular sense of aplomb put parents at ease. “I know you
tire of little kid stuff, here’s flatulence jokes in this movie Grown Ups!” The children
two stepped in syncopation loving their blind caretaker and tugging at the tails of his
tuxedo lovingly