Easy Irish

Instead of a review, this is a recipe.

Put one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Pour in Irish Whiskey to cover. Top that with a slash of Amaretto Liqueur.

Different Irish Whiskeys will give this drink various characters. A really amazing combination is the 12-yr aged Jameson with Disaronno Originale.

I call it the "Easy Irish" because the main ingredient is Irish Whiskey, it is real easy to drink, and of course like any good cocktail name, the phrase "Easy Irish" is subtle and open to various interpretations.

Saranac Black Forest

Saranac doesn't disappoint. This is a mild black beer without much "stout" to the body. It's smooth and drinkable, with a nice dry coffee aftertaste. I'm not sure what the official classification is, so I'm going to call it a porter.

Three Stars.

Gazela Vinho Verde

My taste in white wines is pretty basic. This one is sweet and cheap.

Four dollars.

Four stars.

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat

This is a nice wheat ale with appropriate flavors of spice, fruit, and sour notes. The overriding taste is an orangey apricot flavor.

Two Stars.

Stone Russian Imperial Stout

At 22 fluid ounces and 10.5% alcohol, one of these is the equivalent of 3.85 normal beers. Malty, thick, this it is the delicious beer equivalent of dirty used motor oil.

This beer will slap you in your bitch ass face.

Four Stars.

Long Trail Pale Ale

Man, do pale ales all taste the same or what?

Hey, its a great taste. Easy to make. Why mess with it?

Two stars.

Dogfish Head Raison d'etre

A curious beer brewed with "Belgian beet sugars" and white raisins. Very very malty, so if that is your thing, it is probably a great beer for you. Tastes well balanced and all that. Very very malty is not my thing, though.

Two stars.

Saranac Helles Lager

A very "old school" lager, without the adulterations of American macrobrews. Very German in taste, advertising "noble hops" and "bavarian yeast". If you like yellow lagers with dry aftertastes, this is your beer.

Two Stars.

Saranac Summer Ale

A very nice example of the style: wheat (but not too much), lemon zest, and "spices" make a "Summer Ale". Similar to the Sam Adams Summer Ale, which a lot more people are familiar with. Without tasting them side-by-side, I would guesstimate that this one has a little less of those extra flavors, a half-step in the direction of generic ale, which is fine by me and pleasing to drink.

Two Stars.

Saranac Pomegranate Wheat

This is, surprisingly, a nice tasting beer. It is extremely smooth and has a dry aftertaste reminiscent of cranberry juice. The usual sourness of wheat beer blends well with the fruit flavor.

Three Stars.

Saranac Pale Pale Ale

From the Summer Sampler. It is a pretty light bodied ale, although you won't detect any trace of adjunct sugars to ruin it. It is a lot hoppier than I would have expected from the name. It almost reminds me of Stone Levitation Ale in that way, but with a very different kind of hops taste: very citrusy and not too bitter at all.

Two stars.

2005 Chateau du Barry

A nice example of the style, for the price ($10). It's a Bordeaux red, not much else to say about it. Nothing wrong with it.

Three stars

Smithwicks

An "Irish Ale", pronounced like "smitticks".

Hard to describe the color: swampy? Maybe that's a biased description. This is a biased blog.

If you want a stout, drink Irish. If you want an ale, for heavens sake drink something British.

One Star.

2006 Catena Malbec

Do not buy this.

One Star.

Smuttynose Robust Porter

This is a porter with a really great flavor. I was busy talking to family members when I drank it, so it didn't have my full attention, but I mean to try some more as soon as I get the opportunity. Depending on how I like it the next time, it could easily be elevated to four stars. We shall see.

For now, Three Stars.

Pilsner Urquell

This is somewhat outside of my usual preferences, but Pilsner Urquell is a nice beer. It has a real good pilsner flavor, not too dry and sudsy like some lagers, not too sweet either.

Three Stars

Stone Levitation Ale

A new ale from one of my favorite breweries, and a gold medalist in the 2007 Great American Beer Festival.

It is Red/Amber in color, but the feel of it is very light, not too malty or sweet. It is very hoppy, and the hops used have that particular taste that is characteristic of their IPA. Very grassy and crisp.

Two Stars.

Acronyms

ESB = Extra Special Bitter
IPA = India Pale Ale
BMC = Bud, Miller, Coors, i.e. nasty macro-brewed American beer

Leinenkugel's Classic Amber

Most amber beers that I'm aware of are ales, but this one is a lager. It is a bit on the light side, with a German-American hop profile. With a 100% barley sugar content, its not in BMC territory, but I still don't care for it.

One Star.

Flying Fish ESB Amber Ale

This is a nice little beer. It is smooth and well balanced. It has a likable amber malt taste, with just enough hops that it isn't too bland.

Three stars.