January - Fuller's ESB (ale)
February - 3 Philosophers (Ommegang) (Ale?)
March - Hitachino Nest Beer (?)
April - Wolaver's Organic (stout)
May - Baltika 8 Wheat Ale (ale)
June -
July
August -
September -
October -
November -
December
Fischer Alsace Amber Ale
-French Import-
What'd I expect it's a french ale, the french know very little about ale it seems because this ale tastes like a classy beer and has about the same character of the cement the eiffel tower is built on; None at all.
Beamish, Irish Stout
-Ireland-
This is a fine drinking stout that has a flavor resembling guinness light, but with a spicy-peppery after states the grips your tounge and lingers for a few seconds making Beamish pretty good, of ocurse you can slam it back as hard as Bass ale but you would be missing out, it's also not one you want to drink warm.
Smithwicks (from keg and bottle)
-Ireland-
Tis ale has a sort of metallic scent and flavor to it but it is ultimately refreshing and this rather good, however it's not exactly a flavor revolution, it's non challenging and refreshing albeit metallic flavor makes it pretty good.
McEwan's Scotch Ale
-Scotland-
The scent of this ale reminds one of whiskey of all things with a sort of butter scotch scent to it as well even so the flavor of this ale; as hard as it is to beleive is has a flavoring to match it's scents with a third flavor added to the mix, namely that of golden ale which is combined with butterscotch and whiskey to make a truely unique flavor experience worth trying time and again.
Skullsplitter Orkeny Ale
-Scotland-
This ale is a reasonable amber type that has a scent similar to Mcewans but instead the flavor leans more towards the whiskey side and less toawrds the butterscotch, it also has a slight bitterness present int he aftertaste. Ultamately very good.
Bass Ale
-Britain-
I think this is as close to beer as the ales get for british imports, it's a straight drinking (ie pour it down quick!) ale with a nice amber color and a reasonable taste however it smells and states a bit too much like beer for my taste, oddly enough it also has an faint hint of citrus to it and a raw aftertaste.
Guinness
-Britain-
Dark bitter and heavy Guiness like Arrogant bastard is a drink for those serious on ale, it's got a robust malted flavor that isn't for the weak palattes of the world.
New Castle Brown Ale
-Britain-
This one was my staple ales for a long time along side guinness and while it does have the fizz of beer with a similar scent it ultimately boils down to a high grade beer or a rather average ale.
Saint Peter's Cream Stout
-Britain-
This stout has a deffinate cream scent that is followed by a flavor that comes across as slightly bitter but rather smooth, with a heavy cream overtone and no after taste making this stout very refreshing.
Saint Peter's Old Style Porter
-Britain-
The scent of this porter is sweet; sort of like a fruity-cream aroma, while it's flavor is similar to the cream stout St Peter's produces, but with more of the expected porter flavorings and smooth aftertaste, ultimately this stout is very good.
Young's Double Chocolate Stout
-Britain-
The scent is truely chocolate, and I dont meane vaguely so, it's a strong scent, the flavor matches and the ale drinks absolutely smoothly with no bitterness and a perfectly velvety chcolate aftertaste, very good.
Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Draught
-Britain-
Something as good as youngs double chocolate shouldn't be messed with but the draught (or draft to americans) version of the bottled double chocolate is very much the same, however it has to be drank cold or it tastes funny not that the after taste dones't already ruin the stout. This draft version adds an unwanted bitterness that makes it self very well known in the after taste, and it lingers a bit to long sort of like the in-laws. Not one of my favorites.
Becks Dark Beer
-German-
if it smells like a beer and tastes like a beer it is nothing more then a beer even if funny colored, nice try becks but this is litterally your normal weak beer with darker coloring.
Wiesen Edel-Weisse
-German Import-
A lightly bitter sort of soapy taste, which makes it ideal for eating with cheeses and other dairy products it's neither too sweet nor too bitter but oddly enough this one's all organic too.
Scneider Weisse
-German Import -
A good hearty ale not to strong on after taste, good stuff in my book.
Aventinus Doppelbock
-German Import-
A moderately hoppy and slightly bitter dark german brew, it's got a vauge soapy flavor ultimately good but not the most enjoyable of the german beers.
Franziskaner Hefe-weisse
-German Import-
FHW is a pretty good one its got an odd milky color to it, whichis mostly because it's a wheat based ale as such it's got an aroma thats similar to wet bread, the flavor is even with no bitterness, beleive it or not this ale sort of has a sourdough flavor it's rather interesting to drink and pretty tasty.
Original Schlenkerla Smoke Beer
-German Import-
Smokey Hickory-charcoal flavor with a scent that sort of smells like a campfire, mildly bitter ahdn excellent with cheese for some odd reason.
Heineken, Dark Lager
-Holland-
Normally I'd shun heineken but when this one appeared ont he shelves I had to try it, and it makes up for all of normal heineken's short comings in full. Unlike the more well known version, this is the most tasty lager ont he market, it's got heavier taste to it in a solid flavor of chocolate which makes it smooth and minimizes the raw after tastes that are a signature trait of most Lagers. Very good and a must try for most folks who thought regular heineken was the last word in lager.
Grolsh
-Holland-
Grolsh is perhaps one of the few beers onthe market that comes in a recloseable bottle, granted it's a lager and you cant expect much from that it happens to be the best plain lager on the market. Unlike Heineken grolsh has a smooth refreshing start and minimal bitterness, it's one of the better lagers for hot summer days.
Grolsh, Amber Ale
-Holland-
While actually being a golden color, Grolsh amber ale has soemthing unique among ales, it's scent is plainly that of honey. The flavor istelf has a sweet tone to it, that doesn't linger too long on the tounge nor does it have a strong after taste. Very good, very enjoyable.
Abbey Abjij Affligem Dubbel, Belgian Abbey Ale
-Belgium-
The scent is akin to a freuit chocolate odor while the state is even and resembles a sort of bourbon-hazelnut combination, there is absolutely no aftertaste and this one one hell of a fine ale.
Cuvee Angelique
-Belgium-
Angeleique was the very first of Cuvee's products to arrive at the local store last year and it shouldn't be any surprise that an ale such as this even at seven dollars a bottle sold very well. In fact it's scent alone; a mix of bread and hops was enough to entice many out to buy it. The flavor of angelique is the same cold or at room temperature making it very drinkable and it's flavor which is slightly sweet with a nice crip edge and not too heavy was absolutely perfect for a good amber ale.
Cuvee Diabolique
-Belgium-
Diabolique also appeared a few months after angelique, and enjoyed the same popularity, and the same price, it's scent, mainly smelling of wheat and a little bit of charcoal is balanced finely with a flavor that is similar to a good blonde ale but with more of a hoppy sort of flavor to it. Fortunately diabolique isn't fruity and comes out comparable to german-made weisse.
Cuvee Mystique
-Belgium-
Mystique is a modest abbey style ale with a chocolate-spice aroma and no after taste, it's drinkable at room temperature and it's smooth taste which has a sort of brown ale-spice combo, with a little bit of an after taste is really good, it's a top notch ale thats well worth the 7.00 price tag per 750ml bottle.
Corsendonk, Abbey Brown Ale
-Belgium-
The scent of corsendonk is sort of a fruity-chocolate kind of smell that does not lean strongly to either scent, the flavor has some bitterness and the flavor you would expect from a abbey bron ale, it's a sort of chocolatey-nut flavor thats rich enough that again neither aspect stands out enough to make you take notice.
Orval, Trappist Ale
-Belgium-
Spicy scent thats remanicent of mulling spices, the flavor is slightly bitter and spicy, it's thick and bears an after taste that resembles that of nutmeg.
Ommegang
-Belgian/American-
Ommengang is a good ale with vaugely fruit-like odor...the flavor however does in fact have a strange hint of fruit backed by a robust flavor thats fairly bitter with supporting flavor that its expected of most amber ales. Ommegang is truely a straight burgundien ale.
Hennepin
-Belgian/American-
Hennepin is a blonde type ale with all the hoppy flavor indications that denotes, it's rich tasty and all around good especially if served cold.
Rare Vos
-Belgian/American-
Rare vos is a middle ground in flavor between ommegang and hennepin, while it posesses the same smoth flavor as hennepin and superior flavorings of Ommegang it also has a modest bitter edge backing that up as well as a flavor that makes it very drinkable at any temperature.
Baltika 6, Porter
-Russian-
Mild chocolate-nut flavor thats smooth especially when drank cold, this porter has no after taste as well and it's scent matches it's flavor for the most part. I do like this one, it's a porter I could drink on a regular basis.
Baltika 3, Classic Beer
-Russian-
In russian the beer drinks you, no seriously American mass-producers could learn a lot from the way this beer is made, it's everything major brands should be while not only being very satisfying it's very drinkable, in fact it blows most if not all american beer out of the water. Baltika 3 has no aftertaste and probably is more of an ale then a beer in the end thanks to it's fine taste.
Sapporo
-Japanese Import-
I really think the japanese ought to stick to sake, Saporo comes a cross as either to bland or not potent enough to be dinstinguishable from some mass-produced american beer such as coors. Saporo isn't impressive it's boring, in fact my tounge just went on strike for drinking a can of it.
Flying Fish Ale
-Uh...a pirate ship..-
Less bitter then guiness and it's got an odd nutty flavor...or was that the bar peanuts?
Arrogant Bastard Ale
-Brewed in California -
Super bitter ale, it's not as heavy as guiness but deffinately more powerful in flavor.
Stone IPA
-California-
Sweet and vaguely bitter flavor with a scent that resembles a fruity or hops odor which makes it reasonably good and taste similar to a typical blonde ale
Stone Smoked Porter
-California-
Very close in flavor to arrogant bastard, but half as bitter; the scent and flavor match with a combination if hickory and smoke flavor.
Dogfishhead
-who cares!-
Tastes like an acloholic fruit salad and smells like one too, not fond of it too fruity.
Rolling Rock
-Latrobe PA -
Well it's Blonde Ale over fermented to make beer, that makes it ok if you cant get real ale but horrible as a beer. If you dont beleive it's an ale drink it slowly and wait for the after taste to kick in it's a pale blonde in disguise.