Delirium Noel - Pink Elephants Anyone?

Delirium Noel comes from the great Huyghe Brewery. I am a big fan of their Delirium Tremens beer. So how does their Christmas beer compare? Delirium Noel comes in at a whopping 10% ABV. The head for this beer is small. The beer pours a dark brown color. The aroma is of malt and dark fruit. Taste wise I can pick out the slightly roasted malt flavor, along with dark fruits. The carbonation level is medium. Altogether it is a nice tasting beer, but coming from a great brewery it is a bit of a disappointment. I would expect better from this brewery. Each drink I took I thought to myself, "This could be better". Not that it is a bad beer at all. If you enjoy lightly roasted, high alcohol, Belgian style ale, then this beer is a good choice. I would share it with a friend. I would also buy it occasionally. I grade this beer a B.

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Sierra Nevada - Kellerweis Hefeweizen

Let me start by stating I am NOT a big fan of Sierra Nevada. I HAVE tried several times to appreciate the beers made by this brewery. Even my wife, who knows very little about beer, asked why I was trying Kellerweis Hefeweizen. It's simple, you have to sample the beer if you are going to write about it. I tried my best to grade it no matter who the brewed this beer. Let me share my notes about this beer. The odor is that of malt with citrus. Okay, not a bad start. The color is a hazy brown and pours with a small head. The mouthfeel is light. And now the problems begin. I do not detect alot of flavors in this beer. I picked out the malt and the citrus, but thats about it. And even these flavors do not stand out. Kellerweis Hefeweizen came across as a very average beer. Hey Sierra Nevada, do something with this beer. Go somewhere with the flavor. Give me a reason to buy this beer. Make an effort. Maybe I had an off bottle, but if this is it, I wouldn't recommend it. This beer is not bad, it just doesn't stand out in the slightest. I grade this beer a C.

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Blanche De Chambly - Oh Unibroue

Wow. I didn't realize this was a Unibroue beer until after the fact. I am a big fan of Unibroue. First off, the aroma is of sweet malt, with spices. The head is small. The mouthfeel is light. Blanche De Chambly has a malt taste, slightly bitter, with your typical witbier flavors. Blanche De Chambly is well balanced. I can't really fault this beer in many categories, although since its made by Unibroue, I wish it were a slight bit better. Since this brewery makes great beers, you would expect all Unibroue beers to be excellent. Blanche De Chambly is not a great beer, but it is good. I would buy a 4 pack. And I would share it with others. All said, Blanche De Chambly is a nice beer. Try one for yourself. I grade this beer a B.

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Wells Banana Bread Beer

Tried this beer out on a lark. When I purchased this beer, there was no price on the shelf. At the counter the clerk couldn't find it in the computer, so it was FREE! Score. There is not alot of information about this beer on the brewery website http://www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk/. To start, this beer really does smell of banana bread. Good start. There is not alot of head on this beer. The color is golden. The nice thing about this beer is that it does not have that extract banana bread flavoring taste. The flavor is exactly what the label says "banana bread". I give the brewery points for that. There is a taste of clove in it as well. The mouthfeel though is medium. With this flavor, I would imagine that the mouthfeel would have been better if it were lighter. Also, if it were a creamier it would have been better. There is also an after taste that is a bit odd and out of place. The idea for this beer is a good one, I just wished it was brewed better. It is not a bad beer, but not a great one either. I would buy this beer as a single just to try it out, but wouldn't buy a four pack. I grade this beer a C+.

Flensburger Weizen - Citizen Beer

First off, Flensburger Brewery was founded by five citizens of Flensburg, Germany in 1888. Brewing beer for over one hundred and twenty years should say something good about a brewery. The brewery uses well water from the brewery property to produce this beer. The ABV for Flensburger Weizen is 5.10%. The color of this beer when poured is golden colored with a white head. It is also a bit hazy. The aroma is that of a sweet wheat beer. The mouthfeel is soft. When it comes to the flavor of this beer, it is a typical wheat beer flavor. It must be noted there is more of a malt flavor up front than most other wheat beers. The finish is slightly dry. I would say this is an average wheat beer in most regards. There does not seem to be a lot of depth to the flavor. It is not a bad beer, but not a great one either. Slightly below average would sum it up for flavor. If I could change anything about this beer, I would take out the dryness at the finish and take out some of the malt as well. Trying Flensburger Weizen out as a single is okay. Would I buy multiple bottles? Probably not. I grade this beer a C+.

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Baltika Wheat Ale - Beer From Behind the Iron Curtain

This is one of my first beers from Russia. I was surprised to find a wheat beer made in Russia, since Russia is known for their production of Vodka. As for the website promoting the brand,

(http://www.baltikabeer.com/) I'm not sure I get it. The website seems to be promoting a "look, we are on a cruise ship and now we found a tropical island in eastern Europe with young people having a great time" theme. The brewery website looks more like a software company website. It provides a little information about the beer itself (http://eng.baltika.ru/plant/).

Fast forward to the beer. The ABV for this beer is 5.00%. The aroma from Baltika Wheat Ale is very typical of a wheat beer. I have to give Baltika credit for the aroma. It is spot on. The color is a straw color that is hazy. So far so good. The head is nice and white. The mouthfeel is light, which is good and the carbonation is low. Now for the taste. The flavor is okay. It does taste like an average wheat beer. Again I have to give the brewery credit. What it lacks is a couple of things. The flavor is a bit bitter at first, then you taste the traditional wheat beer flavor, but it is a shallow wheat beer flavor. There is no depth to the flavor at all. The other problem is that there really isn't a finishing flavor. The taste seems to dissipate. When drinking this beer, the thing that really struck me was, "where is the flavor?". The flavor is there in a basic form, but doesn't go any further than that. This is not a bad beer. Nor is it a great beer. I give the brewery some credit for the aroma and color, now please work on the flavor. This beer is okay as a single beer, but I wouldn't buy several bottles. I grade this beer as a C+.

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Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale - Sweet

Audacious Apricot Ale won a gold medal at GABF. Pyramids website (http://www.pyramidbrew.com/our-brews/audacious) goes on to give some ingredient information and what foods to pair with Apricot Ale. Strangely enough the bottle label doesn't seem the least bit interesting. But then again, you can't judge a beer by its bottle. The ABV for Audacious Apricot Ale is 5.10%. When the bottle is first opened, there is a HUGE apricot odor. The color of this beer is orange. The carbonation level is high. Yes, the apricot flavor is definitely very bold. My main strike against the apricot flavor though is "the artificial fruit sweetness" I am tasting. The consistency is not that of syrup, but I can just picture a bucket of artificial apricot sweetener being added to the boil. I would rather this beer have a fresh fruit taste, not an artificial taste. It would seem that Pyramid is trying to hard with this beer. If you are going to create an apricot bomb, do not go the artificial flavor route. Would I buy another one? Maybe on a rare occasion. It is not a bad beer, but not great either. I grade this beer a C+.

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