Pictures: Beer 101

An extensive guide to 60 styles of beer from barleywines to blondes, weizenbocks to winter warmers.

Reviews from First Friday August 2010

Thanks to everyone who came out for the 22nd "First Friday."

For those who couldn't make it, there's always next month on Sept. 3 @ 9:30 p.m. (Note the later post Street Fair start time.)

A run-down of our favorite (and not so favorite) beers from August 2010:

Allagash White
Great flavor, clove taste, crispy
Very good!
Love it -- Want to try it with orange
The Best

Dog Fish Head Red & White
Different, but really good
Yummy -- loads of flavor
Wrong, just wrong

O'Dell Brewing 90 Shilling Ale
Delicious!

Karl Strauss Zinfandel
Sweet, rich, wine notes
I like a * at the end of the night
Not a fan

Sunset Wheat
Yum: Blueberries!
Great

Red Hook Long Hammer
Tasty

Tangerine Wheat
Bitter
Lite and citrusy

Fullers Porter
Great coffee aftertaste

White Rascal
Great Ale with spicy finish

Bitch Creek ESB
Strong

Kona Wailua
Lite hint of passion!

Kona Fire Rock
Da-Kine Stay Ono!!
Broke da mout!

Guinness Draught
Yum!

Harp Lager
Solid, as always

Bass
Great!

Young's Double Chocolate Stout
Decent
Not bad, not great

Bootleggers Knuckle Sandwich
Tastes like basil

Orange Blossom Ale
Terrible

Czechvar
Awful

Dixie Blackened Voodoo
Not a fan
Not so much
Not a favorite

Samuel Adams Chery Wheat
Cough syrup
Yuck!

OMG: Bruery opening shop & micro-bar in Old Towne Orange

Award-winning craft beer maker, The Bruery, plans to open its first retail outlet in Old Towne Orange.

The Bruery Provisions shop, which will sell beer and offer "samples," replaces the old Frog's Breath cheese and wine store.

Read more at the Fast Food Maven.

Reviews from First Friday May 2010

Thanks to everyone who came out for the 19th "First Friday."

For those who couldn't make it, there's always next month (June 4 @ 8 p.m.).

A run-down of our favorite (and not so favorite) beers from May 2010:

Hangar 24 IPA (Growler)
Probably my favorite beer of the night
Fresh -- First sip was tasty, but then it went harsh
Bitter! Stuck to the top of my mouth - Nice bottle

Hangar 24 Orange Wheat
Delish -- light and refreshing without being boring.
Good

Shipyard Export
Full bodied and solid
Arrgh -- Ahoy matey, a mighty good grog
Harsh at the end

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen
Yum! Yum!

Bayhawk Chocolate Porter
Great with the hot salsa
Smells and tastes weird.
Not for me

Birra Moretti La Rossa
Tastes like bananas foster
Yuck! :(

Grand Canyon Horseshoe Bend Pale Ale
I think they used water from the Grand Canyon
Harsh

Breweries vie to create world's strongest beer

Enterprising brewers are ratcheting up the stakes with alcohol content that rivals that of whiskey.

When Scottish brewers Martin Dickie and James Watt came up with the cheeky idea to make a beer as potent as whiskey, they couldn't wait to share it with the world.

They didn't know they would trigger an arms race.

But that's what ensued when their brewery, BrewDog, released the first limited-edition bottles of "Tactical Nuclear Penguin," a stout that measures 32% alcohol and was quickly crowned "strongest beer in the world" — for less than a month.

Then the buildup began.

Full story at LAT

Reviews from First Friday April 2010

Thanks to everyone who came out for the 18th "First Friday."

For those who couldn't make it, there's always next month (May 7 @ 8 p.m.).

A run-down of our favorite (and not so favorite) beers from April 2010:

Allagash Tripel Ale
This is really good. A whole lotta flavor
Smooth!
A full meal
It's doable
Delicious. I started with this brew and I'm happy I did.
Bitter

Ayinger Ur-Weisse Bavarian Dunkel Weizen
Trace's favorite beer in the whole world
A little too sour for me
Very good -- Sweet taste at the end
Bananarama-ish

Moe's Backroom Ale
(Tap Room #21 Brewing Co.)
Very good ambler ale

Chambly Noire
Yum!

New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale
Yum!
Too toasty for me

Belhaven Scottish Ale
Very good!
Fizzy warm

Allagash Tripel Reserve
OK, but not great

Carmel Wheat Beer
It's like a story with no ending. Meh.

P.J. King Wingwalker Winter Brew
Not great

Bitburger
Oh yeah, I love me some ground up liquid beef in my beer... NOT!

Simpler Times Lager
Too 2 Buck Chuck for me
Yuck!

Video: First Friday April 2010