Last night, I was wandering around the local konbenie (convenience store) more or less sight-seeing. I got over to the beer section and was browsing when a green and white can caught my eye. Being born and raised in Buffalo, NY, my first thought was of Genesee Cream Ale (aka Genny Screamers) and my family with their garage fridges full of Genny stubby bottles.  I just about broke out in a cold sweat, even though it’s been some 20 years since I had a run-in (or more honestly, the runs) with Genny. Then I noticed the pretty gold script on the can, elegantly declaring “Ginger Draft.” I got all excited, gave my poor spouse a loud lecture on Genny Screamers, made the store staff nervous, eventually purchased the 350ml can and went home to give it a taste test.

I like ginger. Ginger snaps, ginger ale, ginger bread, ginger beer soda, ginger in my food, Ginger rather than Mary Ann. I am crazy for the stuff. Here’s a neat hint: to peel ginger roots, use a spoon, scraping along the knobby root, in firm pulls.  It ’s much easier than using a knife and wastes less of the ginger, too.

So here we go with my review of Asahi Brewery’s Ginger Draft. Technically speaking, it’s not a beer but rather something called Happoshu, which contains  less malt than beer.  Happoshu was a way for Japanese Breweries to get around the taxes imposed on beer. However, Happoshu proved to be so popular that the J-Government turned around and created new taxes to be levied on the stuff.

The pour was had a light, foamy head that wasn’t long lasting, floating on  clear, light yellow brew.  The drink was bubbling, but not overly vigorously. I would say it was active without being fizzy. There was some slight lacing as the head  settled.  The bouquet was thin and light with a whiff of hops and a disappointingly light hint of ginger and something I swear was a bit “slighty worn socks” – not offensive, but not clean either.

The initial mouthful had a nice, appropriate level of carbonation with a very thin mouthfeel and an interesting, cooling sensation in the mouth. If you have ever had eucalyptus cough drops or gum containing Xylitol, you know the feeling.  My mouthful was not too sweet, not too dry and unfortunately, not too gingery.

The ginger taste shows up towards the middle of the swallow but doesn’t crash the party.  Instead of being the wild and crazy gal with the lampshade on her head, it’s the retiring wallflower who won’t look directly at anyone. It’s a suggestion of ginger, with a tiny bit of dirt taste.  I probably should say “earthy” instead of dirt, but I already mentioned dirty socks, so why be delicate now?

Being new to all this, I forgot to take a reading of the beer’s temperature right when I intially poured, but I promise to do better next time. I’ll tell you that it tasted better colder, even though I recently learned that most people drink their beer too damn cold. When the beer hit the 52 degree mark, there was a bit more of the ginger present but also more earthiness. Earthiness has its place but it wasn’t in this brew.

If it wasn’t for the weird, weak ginger-dirt thing going on, you could mindlessly drink quite a bit of it.  Mostly, I was disappointed with the lack of ginger.  I wanted the bright, piquant zing that I adore in various food and drink.  Ginger Draft didn’t deliver a flash or even a trouser drop.  “Meh” would be a good word, even if it isn’t terribly articulate.

So while I didn’t like this beer, it wasn’t poorly made as far as craftmanship goes, but I have a sneaking suspicion the Asahi marketing department had more to do with this beer  as an attempt to attract the flavored alcohol/alco-pops/mixed drinks under-30 crowd than a brewmaster did.

Kampai!

Brooklyn Ale / Pennant Ale ‘55: Rating: B
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout: Rating: A-

An American, living in Japan, drinking a beer from a traditional African recipe that’s commercially brewed in Belgium. Isn’t globalization terrific?

I’m new to reviewing. I welcome constructive criticism, tasting suggestions, and my thanks for the opportunity to drag you all along on my tasting adventures.

I’ve been jealously reading the winter/holiday beer reviews since I can’t get the seasonal stuff where I am. I chose Mongozo Banana Beer for my first Belching Monkey review. Banana? Monkey? Get it?

A lot of beers have interesting bottles or labels. Sometimes, I will buy an untried beer, wine or other spirit because of interesting packaging and sometimes this strategy lets me discover a gem!    Mongozo’s packaging is plain but it does its job: BANANA. BEER. 4.8% ABV. Did I get a gem? Read on.

Pouring the beer, there was a big cloud of creamy BANANA! and vanilla fragrance that smelled good if very sweet and not very subtle.  Also present  in the fragrance there was whiff of yogur and a  hint of taffy.  No scent of anything artificial, chemical or phenolic. Still, not a complex or interesting bouquet.

According to the creator of  Mongozo, the traditional “glass” is a calabash (gourd). Even with global trade, I didn’t have a calabash handy, so I used a regular glass. You can find Mongozo-branded beer glasses that mimic the calabash shape. The beer in my glass was  slightly hazy yellow ale with a  small, white, creamy and dense head which didn’t stick around long. No real lacing, which isn’t suprising, since I don’t believe there are hops in the beer.   If there are, I missed them completely.

Despite its smell, I was expecting Mongozo to be sour and was surprised by the candy-like sweetness of my first taste. The sweetness  didn’t put me off the beer entirely but it gave me pause.  As the beer warmed up – I may have served it too cold – a bit more of a sour note came up, but not enough provide contast or balance. I had a hard time finishing the beer because of the sweetness. Mongozo has a soft mouthfeel that veers dangerously towards flabby. I prefer a brew with spine. I decided the banana beer was a one-trick pony as there wasn’t much going on other than BANANA!  Mongozo seems competently produced;  there’s just not much there with which to work.

Foodwise,  I would pair with spicy dishes.  Mongozo Banana might work as a dessert beer, although I suspect there are better choices.  Mongozo could be a fun one-off “Hey, let’s try this!”

I wasn’t crazy about Mongozo Banana Beer, but not having had African-style beer before, it’s only fair to to plan on revisiting the style, if not this particular beer. It also made me feel to good to know that Mongozo is a  fair trade product. If you have friends who are allergic to gluten, they can have this wheat-free brew.

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Kampai!

It’s getting to be the time of year when “Winter Ales” and “Seasonal Brews” become popular.  I’m not a big fan of the typical Microbrew Christmas Ale which has a tendency to reek of gingerbread cookies and cloves.  This beer, which I enjoyed on a recent brisk night in Shanghai, at the awesome Kaiba on Kanding Lu,  was an interesting beer which I quite enjoyed.  Very Belgian, Not Particularly Christmassy, Quite Tasty and Quite Potent.

Brouwerij Huyghe is reportedly one of the oldest continuing operating breweries in Belgium, and you will quickly pick out their Delerium line of Bieres from the distinctive Faux Ceramic white bottles and the trippy pink elephant which graces each bottle.

Upon pouring this beer, you will see a unique cloudy reddish brown ale.  The head rose up a solid 2 cm, brown & tannish, but quickly relaxed back into the brew, leaving nice lacing on the glass, and opening the bouquet up to the nose.  The initial nose is pretty sweet but hard to pin down —  is it raisins? Honey? Maple?  You will also see a fair amount of yeast, typical for a Belgian ale.

Taste is complex as one might expect, with interwoven fruit right up front.  I picked up cherry and maybe esters of an orange peel, but neither were overpowering.  Thankfully for me, Grandma’s cookie mix was way back in the mix and any spice or coriander was very very subdued.  You also get a softer caramel flavor, and all of this is held down and held together by a pretty nice and comfy warm roasted malt blanket.

It’s got reasonably stiff carbonation and I found it surprisingly easy to drink, given the 10% ABV.  I actually enjoyed it quite a bit more as it warmed up closer to room temperature and the flavors opened up.  My main disappointment with this beer was that the feel was slightly thin and it wasn’t as thick or creamy in the mouth as I would have expected.  The flavor is quite balanced and you would never suspect that it was a 10% ABV if you didn’t know.

This isn’t a beer that I would session on a regular basis, but I found it to be a high quality , complex and enjoyable beer that I would love to try again on a nice cool evening.

@JeffreyJDavis

Gritty McDuff’s Brewery in beautiful, independant, Porland, ME Christmas Ale pours a deep copper color. The pour is rich and hearty and the head was at first thick, but dissipated within 30 seconds.  The beer is brewed with 4 different kinds of hops: Cluster, Styrian Goldings,
Saaz, Yakima Goldings, none of which I found to be particularly strong. There is a deep, malty flavor that leans a rich espresso or dark chocolate finish. The hops come through near your throat and back teeth, but only after swallowing the beer and proceeding to blog for a minute or so.

One thing I have learned about seasonal beers, particularly with the winters or Christmases, is that the winter moniker is a marketing ploy to get more beer sold. Winter Ale is not really a genre (Harpoon and Great Lakes, please feel free to disagree… you have a case), it’s a tactic designed to get people to try beers they would not normally be interested in. For instance: Gritty McDuff’s Christmas Ale is an extra special bitter (ESB). Like spices? This is not the brew for you. Like coffee? Yes! This is your winter beer. The color is gorgeous, particularly when you examine the red under the fluorescent light. The malt flavor is toasty and the hops come later. This is a well crafted beer, but I was disappointed that they didn’t add a touch of holiday spice.

The sights and smells of Christmas: cinnamon and holly, nutmeg, pine and gingerbread. The brewmasters of Harpoon Brewery clearly love this time of year and want their customers to experience a taste of pure Christmas bacchanalia in every single sip of Harpoon Winter Warmer.  Harpoon, it is totally obvious that this is not your mainstream winter ale. It could have easily been called Harpoon Christmas-in-a-Bottle Ale.

Where many brewers kick up the hops to the extreme and give you a mere hint of spice, Harpoon seemingly believes that every sip should be an intense taste of the season. When you open the beer, you will immediately experience a powerful smell of cinnamon, pine and ginger. There is no mistaking this beer for another. Harpoon clearly feels that it is important to represent the winter ale category with a unique entry that will strike the imbiber with an unmistakable overall experience.  Herein (also) lies the problem with the beer. People love this beer or they do not. There is no in between.

I sternly warn those of you who do not like spices, could use a visit from three spirits or have hearts that are three sizes too small not to sample this extraordinarily delicious brew. This beer is way off balance. Spices prevail, and I like it for a winter change of pace.  I typically drink a 12 pack myself during the season.  The underlying flavor is quite delicious. It is smooth and medium bodied. I give this brew extremely high marks, but would rate it much lower if I did not appreciate the kind of ingenuity, creativity and flat out balls it took Harpoon to market this beer.  Thanks Harpoon. This beer is one of my 2 favorite winter seasonals.

This is my first post as a Belching Monkey correspondent. As such, I want to preface my review with a brief intro. I am something of a “food dude”, an espresso freak and a beer imbiber… not necessarily in that order. Now, as a morning person, I hold a special fondness for espresso. It might even be said I adore it. How the bean is chosen, picked, blended, roasted, aged after roasting, the grind, the brewing pressure/temperature/time…you get the picture, all important. Not a lot of ‘dunkin d’s for me. I also love beer! The chill, the tingle, the sound, the variety – a beer for every occasion, every mood. Nothing warms my heart like a “…cold beer on a hot Christmas morning” (Homer Simpson) So, very appropriate that my start as a BM correspondent is a review of a local brew here in Calgary, the Big Rock Espresso Stout. Beer and espresso – what could be better?

Upon opening, the initial waft of smell was amazingly underwhelming. I expected a stronger, heavy malt smell. What I got was a sweet, toasted barley odor, but very subtle. The pour was very reminiscent of a perfect espresso pull – dark, almost black with a thick, dense, crema like head. 

The first sip was a fantastic surprise – almost carbonated on the tongue, a bit of gingerbread, lightly sweet yet very flavorful, a strong roasted barley flavor without a hint of bitterness. On the tail end of the swallow, there it was – the espresso. Not the bitterness normally attributed to espresso, but the sweet, almost oily slide of a perfect crema on a perfect espresso shot. As a way of explanation, only a very few espresso shots achieve the venerable “sweet” nomer. A perfect pull will extract only the most complete flavour attributes leaving all bitterness behind. The resulting taste, rather than being the normal “kick in the head” bitterness we are all accustomed to, is actually sweet and very thick and syrupy in consistency. What Big Rock has done, amazingly, is achieve that with their blend here.  And no aftertaste, no bitterness whatsoever. 

Interestingly enough, as the stout increased in temperature, the complexity of flavour increased as well. There was more caramel and chocolate coming across. So much so that since I was baking chocolate cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday while tasting, I decided to sample one at the tail end of my glass. Fantastic! Truly one of the only beers I have ever known that not only holds up against something as sweet as a cupcake, but actually added to the experience. The cupcake, bitten after the stout, achieved an almost smoky chocolate taste. And the espresso of the stout deepened and became even bolder, yet still without a hint of bitter.

Summary? A very sessionable stout that goes extremely well on its own but could shine as a dessert beer too. I will be keeping a case of this in my fridge to drink responsibly all through this holiday season.

Ipswich. A gorgeous, north shore town on beautiful Cape Ann (the other Cape) in Massachusetts. Ipswich is a town that is known for clams, but it could also be known for its delicious Ipswich craft beers produced by the Mercury Brewing Company. Yes marketing geeks, the branding is confusing. The Ipswich Brewing Company was purchased in 1999. The beers are bottled under the Ipswich brand. Mercury is a line of micro-brewed sodas (which, you bet we will be exploring Q1 of next year when we expand into sodas and teas).

Back to the beer. Ipswich Winter Ale pours a deep, dark red berry color (maroon?) with almost a purple tone. The head is substantial and the taste is thick like an English muffin or a piece of pound cake that instantly melts away. The dried berry smell threw me, but made sense even though I did not find the beer to be all that fruity or spicy. I give this effort high marks for its taste, but the balance is a little off. I would have liked some of the scents to come through in the flavor. I do, however envision myself drinking this again before the winter is over. I had Ipswich last season and I think this season is improved. Get your hands on some if you can this season.

Ipswich Winter Ale: Rating: B+
Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome: Rating: B+
Harpoon Winter Warmer: Rating: A- BUT BEWARE!! UBER SPICE ALERT!!!

Samuel Smith’s beers hold a special place in my heart. Not because they are the only remaining independant brewery in Yorkshire, but because of the way that I discovered them with Dave and Brian in the mid 1990s.  We would sit at the kitchen table or around the fire place and crack one open and savor the smell, the flavor and the color of these extraordinary beers.  The craft beer boom brought me closer to a lot of people and opened me up to a whole world of drinking beer because I enjoyed drinking beer, not because I wanted to get loaded. In college I used to think that Miller Genuine Draft was the nectar of the gods.  Foolish mortal. Limited resources and limited choices severely limited our selection and the day in 1992 that I tried Budweiser Reserve was the day that I swore that I would be more discerning with my beer drinking. Tolerance be damned! Liver be saved!

When you take off the cap of a Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome you will be treated to a berry scent. It might be boysenberries. I’ve had boysenberry jam before, but I would have to google boysenberry to remember what one looks like.  This beer is light for a winter ale. It is NOT a light beer, but the color is lighter, orange.  There is a certain field smell and a smell that I cannot pick up. I feel like a noob.  There is a nice balance of hops and malt and the head is fairly thick and substantial.

That kicker is that this is not one of the better beers to come out of Samuel Smith’s brewery.  If nearly any other brewery were to put this beer out, you would say it was one of their top!  Samuel Smith’s has raised the bar with its Nut Brown Ale, it’s India Pale Ale and, perhaps one of the greatest beers of all time, Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. If you are looking for spices, you will not find them, but you will enjoy the beer regardless.