(Summer) Fest - Capital Brewery

Vitals:

Name: Fest

Style: Marzen/Oktoberfest

IBU: ??

ABV: 5.6%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a nice, clear orange and looks to be highly carbonated. 2 fingers of head with fantastic retention and cap; the cap stayed at about a finger's worth, which is just incredible. The head was just very slightly off-white.

Smell: Smells very bready to me as far as malts go, like a grainy loaf of bread. You get some light hops smell (maybe grassy hops?) and some mild sweetness of the malts coming through. Simple but pleasant nose.

Taste: Very bread, with sweet malts up front. Lemon flavor as well as citrus and earthy hops hold the middle of the beer and a spiciness builds as the tastes roll to the back of your tongue. This sort of tastes like a much better and more complex European lager. There are also some grassy hops in there for sure.

Mouthfeel: I'd say this is on the light side of medium-bodied; very crisp on the palate and leaves you a little bit dried out. No big detractors.

Overall Grade: B

Comments: This is a pretty solid offering, which is just what Capital seems to do...they seem to make typical styles (a lot of German-influence in there) and they're all just OK. I don't think Capital really has a beer that I'd special request or ever have a craving for, but most of them are pretty drinkable. I will admit that I don't have much experience with this style, but this is worth a try if you're into Marzens/Oktoberfests. Probably a bit out of season by now but you might be able to pick up a little of the remaining from the summer brewing.

Cheers,

Hurls

Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale - Lagunitas

Vitals:

Name: Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

IBU: 64.2

ABV: 7.5%

Gravity: 1.076 OG

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a golden honey color with 2 fingers of off-white head. Solid retention, thin cap, amazing lacing, sporadic carbonation bubbles, but ultimately doesn't look like anything special.

Smell: This beer smells amazing - it smells sweet but it's not a very malty smell. You definitely get some grapefruit and lemon, along with orange and/or tangerine. You get grassy and citrus hops as well to complement the other citrus smells. I honestly can't overstate how awesome this beer smells.

Taste: This beer hides its high ABV completely, wow. You get all of the fruits from the nose and you get the citrus hops right up front and center. It's interesting because the hops are almost all flavor with only a little bitterness. However, the wheat flavor imparts some bitterness, which is interesting. This is a great flavor overall and doesn't stick with you too long after the drink, which fits just fine with this one.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with adequate carbonation and a bit of a dry finish. Not much else of note here, but definitely solid.

Overall Grade: A-

Comments: This beer drinks much lighter than the flavor would suggest, which is awesome. It could honestly be an IPA with the ABV that it boasts, but it drinks like a pale wheat (which it is) and tastes like a strong pale ale. Very interesting combination and this is definitely something worth checking out. Little Sumpin' Wild is even better (I had it at Quivey's Grove Beerfest, but didn't have time to review it in depth)! Enjoy!

Cheers,

Hurls

Summer Love - Victory Brewing Company

Vitals:

Name: Summer Love

Style: American Blonde Ale

IBU: ??

ABV: 5.2%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Riley's Wines of the World

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a gorgeous blondish-golden yellow with a huge, fluffy 2.5 fingers of head. VERY good retention and a lot of carbonation on this one. The brew is crystal clear with great lacing and a very respectable cap...overall gorgeous beer.

Smell: Quite a bit going on here...a floral hop aroma is the big one up front. You also get a bit of graininess, honey, lemon, and/or citrus hops. It's a great smelling beer, but there is just a ton going on (not a detractor, though).

Taste: Up front you get some grassy and citrus hops with a bit of lemon. This mixes in with a bread aspect (the grains) and the honey I was smelling to help balance out the beer. You get a floral hop finish with a little tiny bit of a bite and some lingering bitterness. You almost get piney hops, but I'm not sure if that's what I'm tasting at the tail end or not. Very good taste that hangs with you a little while.

Mouthfeel: Very light and drinkable, crisp and clean with a little bit of a dry finish that fits well with the beer. The mouthfeel reveals less carbonation than I thought the beer had just from looking at it.

Overall Grade: A

Comments: What a fantastic summer seasonal! This is almost as close as you'll get to an extremely tasty summer session able brew. Go get some (if it's still available)...you may have to wait until next summer to enjoy it though. The bottom line is that you can pretty much rely on everything that Victory puts out to be extremely good. If you can't get Summer Love, try another of their beers!

Cheers,

Hurls

Harp Lager - Guinness Ltd.

Vitals:

Name: Harp Lager

Style: European Pale Lager

IBU: ??

ABV: 5.0%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a pale gold or light yellow. Lots of visible carbonation and lots of head (1.5 fingers worth). The cap was very weak but, very surprisingly, the lacing was absolutely awesome. Very unexpected indeed.

Smell: Not much here, really. You get some sweet malt and a little bit of grassy hops maybe? BORING!

Taste: You get this weird skunky taste from the outset with a tiny bit of sweet/grainy malt. Finishes with a strong and lasting blast of citrus (lemon, specifically) taste that isn't a detractor, but doesn't improve the beer either. Nothing about this sticks out as being great, or even good. This is a very boring beer.

Mouthfeel: Very very very light bodied; you could drink this all day if the taste appeals to you. This beer actually leaves a bit of a lingering feeling on your mouth. It's adequately carbonated, even excessively bubbly to an extent.

Overall Grade: D+

Comments: For my money I'd rather have a Bud Light or Miller Lite over this (not Coors Light, though). Doesn't leave me with any good impressions; just a boring macrobrew owned by Guinness. I would definitely avoid this one. If you're looking for drinkability and don't care about taste, get one of the aforementioned light beers. If you want something that's tasty (if I am going to drink a beer that is 5% ABV as opposed to a 4.2%ish of a light beer I am going to want something that's tastier) then you should look elsewhere.

Cheers,

Hurls