One of 3 winners of the Samuel Adams Longshot contest. I paired it with Flaming Lips “Sound of Failure”, even though this beer was a success.

My brother saved a couple of Great Lakes Brewing Company’s finest! They were a little flat, took on some iced tea flavors, but still reviewable and worthy of a 90 rating. Featured track is a kick ass band called the Magnetic Fields, appropriately named “Too Drunk to Dream”.

On a recent trip to Buffalo, I visited Wegmans. They had such a fantastic beer selection, I needed to shoot on location!

Greg the Frozen Food Master wanted to know why I called a “top of the line” stout an 85 and how that could be better than a 90? I don’t think I was very clear with my explanation on the show, but here it is:

As you go up the scale, the ability to drink the beer goes down. Some people like to drink Budweiser for a reason. It’s easy drinking. There isn’t much complexity about it from a taste perspective. The way I rate beer is like this: If a beer has 2 or 3 of the following ingredients: it is highly complex, made with special ingredients, is expensive and/or ridiculously potent, then chances are it’s going to be in the 90-100 range (if they succeed in making it taste good or at least I think it could taste good). There’s a reason they can charge a premium for the beer and there is usually a reason that you cannot drink many of them in a row (aka session them). Some of these rules may not apply to guys with more money than Ted Turner.

Portsmouth Brewery has that classic New England brew-pub atmosphere, incredibly smart beers, great swag and unbelievable mussels. You can’t go wrong.

This is not a brown ale. Watch the video to find out what it really is.

Hadley Stern from applematters.com and iPhone Matters and I review a new beverage called Diet Sierra Mist Ruby Splash courtesy of Pepsi at SXSW! It’s not even out yet, but keep your bananas peeled for it! See what I did there? Monkey… bananas….

The good people of Pepsi provide us with some swag and some product to try! Mrs. Belching Monkey guest stars and we do our very best to barely entertain you.

This is the episode we’ve all been waiting for! One of the most polarizing beers of our time. People love this or they hate it. Watch and find out what I think and why.

cur·mud·geon Pronunciation: \kər-ˈmə-jən\ Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1568 1. archaic : miser2: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man.

This Curmudgeon may as well be Poseidon himself because this potent brew brings the full wrath of the seven seas in each and every sip. It starts with a powerful, malty smell that reminds me of 10 year old Balvenie with a hint of strong sea air. Some say bourbon, but it might depend on which you drink. It pours a deep, translucent red with nearly no head. The first taste was an eye opener. Again, I got a taste that reminded me of a salty-sweet, seaworthy, scotch with a stern, burning in the back of my throat. At 9.3% ABV it is no wonder. There is a sweet, dried date flavor that is delicious. This is a scotch drinker’s ale and a good one at that. This is serious ale for serious drinkers. Check out our video review of Founder’s Old Curmudgeon Ale.