January 2011
8 posts
5 tags
Negra Modelo
Name: Negra Modelo
Brewer: Grupo Modelo, SA, Mexico City, Mexico
By the numbers: 170 calories per 12 oz.; 5.4 percent alcohol by volume
Notes: This is probably the best Mexican beer I’ve had to date. Ryan tried a few Mexican craft beers, but this one is brewed by Mexico’s largest brewer: The same folks who brew Corona. Anyway, Negra Modelo actually has quite a bit of color and...
3 tags
Mocha Porter
Name: Mocha Porter
Brewer: Rogue Ales, Newport, Ore.
By the numbers: About 175 calories per 12 oz.; 5.3 percent alcohol by volume
Notes: I have to admit I expected more out of this beer. Again, I think I’ve bought into the mystique of Rogue based on their first-class lineup of craft styles, their boutique prices and the raves they get from most critics. Maybe I expect too much. Maybe...
4 tags
Old School Pilsener
Name: Old School Pilsener
Brewer: Crown Valley Brewing, Ste. Genevieve, Mo.
By the numbers: About 175 calories per 12 oz.; 5.6 percent alcohol by volume
Notes: So I still haven’t decided how much I want to write about beer in 2011, but it appears from our Google Analytics stats that we still have a following, so here’s another. The first beer I had from Crown Valley was a miss,...
3 tags
Big Flats 1901
Name: Big Flats 1901
Brewer: Brewmaster’s Choice, Rochester, N.Y. (Genesee Brewery)
By the numbers: About 130 calories per 12 oz.; 4.6 percent alcohol
Notes: I said I might be back on the Year in Beer if I had something new to write about. I never thought it would be an ultra-cheap macro-style adjunct lager. This, my friends, is the famous (or infamous) Walgreen’s beer. Big Flats...
1 tag
Ryan's Final Top 12
Ryan’s Final Top 12
1. Ranger IPA, New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo.: After 170 beers, I couldn’t get this one out of my head. I reviewed this one way back in April, but just recently ordered a Ranger at a bar. It was just as good. There’s so much well-executed taste here that it had to be my No. 1. Here’s how I described it back in April: “It’s a pine-like flavor, very herbal,...
2 tags
Mike's Final Top 12
Mike’s Final Top 12
1. Alaskan Amber, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, Alaska: This Top 12 either shows that I only like what I can’t have or that brewers focus their efforts when making specialty or seasonal beers. In fact, seven of my Top 12 beers are just that. Alaskan Amber is not a seasonal, it’s Alaskan Brewing’s flagship beer, but I can’t get it where I live, so it’s a special treat...
YIB: Facts and what have you
Closing thoughts, Part One
The Year in Beer started as a joke. An off-handed comment about wanting “to do something great in 2010, but probably just drinking a lot of beer,” was rephrased as a challenge: “Why not do both?” So, 367 beers later, here we are.
We plan to do a couple of wrap-up entries. This one is a look at the numbers, drawn from a spreadsheet tracking the individual beers’...
3 tags
Infinium
Name: Infinium
Brewer: Boston Beer Co., Boston, Mass., and Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany
By the numbers: 10.3 percent alcohol by volume; 257 calories per 12 oz.
Notes: What a way to end the Year in Beer. This brand-new, limited-release joint offering from Sam and Weihenstephan was enjoyed late New Year’s Eve, a day usually reserved for champagne. Unlike Mike’s NYE offering, however, this one...