5 posts tagged “beer”
This is another of the Alive beers from Shmaltz Brewing Co., for lager freaks and beer geeks everywhere. This was just a solid brew. One of my favorite things in life, malt, is in abundance in this malty masterpiece. This is a well-liked lager, and I suspect that it is Shmaltz's best seller. This beer has little to no aftertaste, and every drop pleases the taste buds. Perhaps this is due to my love of the 8 different malts, the slightly underlying 6 types of hops, and Czech Pilsner yeast. On the label it says "conjoined with beguiling new world flavor".
This is a very full lager, so if you like your lagers very lager-y, then this might be a little bit misleading. This stuff tastes very robust for a lager, as you might guess.
Beer Advocate has this listed as 5.5% ABV, but I didn't notice this listed on the label.
The label is actually quite terrifying, everyone that sees the face on the label is at least a little disturbed I think. A totally freaky carnie type of character stares out at the unknowing world with some sort of possessed grin. I think this put me off on trying this stuff for a while, but I think it's well worth your time, as it is a very tasty, yet smooth and mellow brew with no aftertaste (other than goodness). This is nearly as good as Albino Python, but not quite as unique. It's more of a any day of the week pour, perhaps to take the edge off a busy Monday. I know I will be drinking this more in the future, although it's been only a few times I've tried this over the last few months, there's just so many different good craft beers. Right now, I'd have to say that Shmaltz Coney Island beers and of course, Lagunitas, are my two favorite breweries.
I was sort of disappointed that I could not taste more of the rye, since it's not the most common beer or ale flavor. To be clear, the initial taste is pretty well balanced, not overpowering. But the aftertaste is pretty overwhelming.
Perhaps I was forewarned by some of the label descriptions: it's described as a monster ale, turbo charged alcohol burnin' dual hop injection dragster. It backs this up with being called "hop rod" and it even has a hot rod on the label. To be honest, this stuff reminds me of a better version of Sierra Nevada, so if you like that, you'll probably like this even more.
To sum up: what I like about this ale is that it packs a lot of wallop. For $5 you get a brew that is 8% alcohol, and the alcohol is totally overshadowed by the different flavors this hop rodder has going on. Also, it has a pretty unique taste. What I don't like is that this beer has an overpowering aftertaste, and tastes rather bitter. Here's an alternative viewpoint.
I would even go so far to say that this is delicious. First of all, the bottle has printed in small print "life is uncertain. don't sip". Not sipping actually changes the flavor somewhat, making it even more smooth and rich. Sipping gives a slightly different taste, and I think this shows the subtlety of this ale. The bottom of the bottle is decorated with pictures of hops, but it's not too hoppy. Instead, we get a nice, caramel malt flavor extravaganza. To put it simply, Censored Copper is slightly sweet, slightly bitter, but not too bittersweet. This stuff is sort of a paradox, because it is smooth but is full of flavors. Honestly, this is my current favorite beer.
Oddly enough, there's a weird little face on the bottle near the right hop illustration at the bottom of the label. Again, I'd say this has a pretty subtle taste... the first one really hits the spot, perhaps this stuff is just too easy to drink (couple beers later). I say try it! Contains malt, hops, yeast, and water + 5.9% alcohol. Mmm, I like malt.
P.S. the night I got the free beer the guy from Lagunitas was playing guitar at Kuma's Corner... that guy is a good guitarist and a generous man.
