A beer that has a dominant malty taste. This beer’s origins in a monk’s recipe are reflected in its heartiness. The Pope of Beers, Conrad Seidl, describes it as: “Almost black with a very slight red tone, a sensational, festive foam and truly extraordinary fragrance that at first summons up visions of greaves lard. The first taste is of mild fullness with an accompanying coffee tone, which becomes more dominant with the aftertaste. There is very little of the sweetness that is frequently to be tasted with doppelbock beer.” The Ayinger Celebrator has been ranked among the best beers of the world by the Chicago Testing Institute several times and has won numerous platinum medallions.
From my notes:
Smells like caramel, malty almost like bread. This beer is a rich brown color with thick tan head that sticks around. Tastes of chocolate and again breads, dark ones (rye, etc…) finishes with a gentle, lingering roasted bitterness. This is a smooth, full bodied beer with low carbonation. Good!
Rich, nutty brown color with a creamy, head that laces the glass
I’ve only ever seen this beer at high end groceries and beer shops but it’s well worth going out of your way for if you appreciate bock (and double bock) style beers. Highly recommended!
Brewed strictly according to traditional brewing methods, using only natural ingredients — water, malted barley, fresh whole hops, and yeast. Old Foghorn is based on traditional English barley wines. Old Foghorn is highly hopped, using only Cascade hops. It is fermented with a true top-fermenting ale yeast. Carbonation is produced by an entirely natural process called “bunging,” which produces champagne-like bubbles. Our “barleywine ale” is dry-hopped with additional Cascade hops while it ages in our cellars.
From my notes:
deep, rich, red color. Thick, darkish, head that quickly evaporates. This beer smells of fruit: citrus and maybe plums. Taste starts sweet and malty, then mellows into bitter. Would be excellent except for the subtle medicine/metallic tastes that this barley wine has.
I haven’t drank a lot of barley wines and I felt safe trying Anchor Brewery’s take on them for a first try. This was a decent beer with a nice mix of malt and hops. I’d being recommending it to you right now if it wasn’t for that medicine taste. The last thing anyone wants to taste when their downing a brew is Robitussin! Despite all this beer had going for it that ruined it. Maybe I got a bad batch, maybe there are other good barley wines out there? I just don’t know… If you happen to know of a good one though please recommend it below!
An amber lager crafted with a blend of five specialty malts and the finest Bavarian hops. Rich, robust malt character and a long lingering finish. Reminiscent of beers produced by Munich’s breweries for annual Oktoberfest celebrations.
From my notes:
This is a beautiful dark amber colored beer with a nice amount of head. Feels light in the mouth with medium carbonation. Smells malty with a hint of fruit. Has a nice roasted (not burnt) mellow malt taste, with flavors of nut, spice, and caramel. Has a slightly bitter aftertaste, doesn’t linger.
A perfectly good Märzen great to have around Oktoberfest. Märzen is the official beer of Oktoberfest and this is a fine example of it. Nothing shouts out that this is an amazing beer, but you wouldn’t have nay problems knocking back a couple of glasses. Sudwerk’s is my town’s local microbrewery so you might have a hard time getting a hold of this beer. There is now a Sudwerk’s in Fulsom, CA for those located in southern California. I don’t think this is a beer worth seeking out but if you see it on the shelves it’s worth picking up a six-pack.
This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory — maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.
Too many strive towards complacency as a goal. We grow up thinking that the ability to become complacent is the equivalence of success in life. True Arrogant Bastards know that this could not be further from the truth. The real beauty, richness and depth in life can only be found if the journey through life itself is looked upon as a constant chance to learn, live and find life’s passion. Passion threatens the complacent, and fills them with fear. Fear of the new, the deep and the different. We, on the other hand, seek it out. Endlessly, joyously…and aggressively. To this end we bring you the “OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale.” Another reward for those seeking new sources of passion, and another point of dissension for those who are not.
Yes, all of that text is on the back of the bottle, the crammed in everything else to make room for their hipster, “cooler than you” manifesto to bitter beers. I have a problem with people who let products they purchase define them as a person, as if consumption is a viable alternative to living (Privateer Press’ Page five is another example of such.) This is further compounded by the implication that taste is an objective measurement and that the only enjoyable beer is a very hoppy one.
Deep amber body with a quickly dissipating medium head
Okay, maybe that is just an aggressive marketing campaign, and maybe it appeals to someone, I don’t know who, but someone. It doesn’t tell us anything about the beer. Okay, let’s talk about it’s the beer. Right off I’m going to tell you that this is the hoppiest beer I’ve ever had. I don’t know if Stone Brewing knows makes anything other than hop beers… but, if you don’t like them then don’t bother with this week’s beer. The beer smells toasted, almost burnt with hints of wood and citrus. At first taste the hops hit you hard: bitter, bitter, bitter. Letting the beer rest on your tongue you can get hints of the oak and coffee and then the bitterness returns and that is what sticks with you.
I don’t like hoppy beers, so you can guess, I wasn’t too fond of this beer. People told me that my palate wasn’t developed enough to taste all the subtleties in this beer and that might be true. I know what I like though and what I don’t like. I don’t like hoppy beers, it doesn’t get much hoppier than Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale.
