Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier

Tonight's review is from a brewery everyone should be familiar with - Samuel Adams. I haven't reviewed a Sam Adams product on the blog before mainly because they're the "macro"-"micro" brewery. I'm ashamed to admit that, but it is what it is. They're kinda like that first job you get outta college... you have to go through them to learn, and once you move on, that's it. In reality though, they were one of the first big time craft brewers and have grown immensely. Unfortunately, they've paid the price from beer snobs. Well, no more I say! It's time to treat Sam with more respect! Not to mention the Patriots play in the Super Bowl on Sunday, and we're taking a trip to Boston in a couple months, which includes planning a trip to the brewery, I need to polish up on my Sam Adams repertoire.

The beer I'm drinking is from the Brewmasters Collection: Blackberry Witbier. From the bottle: "Only a specific blackberry could bring the subtle flavor that we wanted for this brew. These Marion blackberries from Oregon give a hint of blackberry in the aroma and taste and perfectly complement the refreshing and crisp flavors of the witbier. Cheers!" Basically what we're working with is a wheat beer infused with blackberries. Let's do this.

The BB pours the typical golden hue with a pretty decent head. Yeah, scent wise, you're blasted with blackberries. The first sip was kind of overwhelming, a bit cold medicine-ish. But after a few more sips, the  malt comes through and sort of calms down the berries. Interestingly enough, there is no after taste or bitterness in the end. All flavors end rather abruptly. The scent of blackberries continues throughout the drinking process, which continues to be light and crisp. Overall, this is a very drinkable beer, but one at a time as the blackberry has a solid presence throughout.

This is an alright beer. The overwhelming blackberry drowns out the rest of the drink, but without it I think it would lack any type of profile. I do recommend you try it though. As the originally craft brewery, we should continue to support their products just like we would any other craft brewery. Go America!

Oh by the way, 5.5% ABV. Get to drinkin'!

Great Divide Brewing Company - Samurai Rice Ale

Tonight I'm drinking Samurai Rice Ale from Great Divide Brewing Company based out of Denver, Colorado. Up until now, I've only reviewed one Great Divide product: Colette, early in 2011. I have, of course, had Great Divide brews that I haven't reviewed: Denver Pale Ale, Oak Aged Yeti, Hades, and Claymore Scotch Ale. Boy, after that list I feel like I owe you all an apology for not providing reviews! Well, I'll make it up to you. Not tonight though, let's stay with the Samurai.

The Samurai is a unique beer as not only is it brewed with rice, but it is also unfiltered. What that means is that during the brewing process, the yeast is left in suspension to add more flavor to the beer. The converse of this, a filtered beer, is one which has been filtered free of yeast. Many wheat beers are unfiltered, which is part of the reason you catch a lot of the fruitiness. One of the things Great Divide sells on this beer is that the rice adds crispy fruitiness. Well, I'm still try to figure that part out because I've never had fruit rice. Perhaps someone can fill me in on that one...

Clicky-Clicky

The Samurai pours a very thin, hazy straw yellow color. The head is decent, but fizzes relatively quickly. The floral scent is extremely light, as is the drink itself. The flavors are also very light, some light floral type flavors, but not much else. It drinks very light, almost a mix of a hefeweizen and a light lager.

This is an award winning beer, taking Best of the Rockies, U.S. Beer Tasting Championship, Summer 2007 and Tap Room Pick Summer 2008. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad beer, but it is light and very easy drinking. There is also a decent amount of carbonation. 5.1% ABV, NOT gluten free. Good for the summer, and a good replacement to the macro beers in the fridge. Also has a wicked pissah label.

Happy 2012

Greetings all, and happy 2012. This is the first post of gulp! for 2012, and it's a teaser of things to come. Not only that, it's almost the one year anniversary of the blog (t-minus 7 days), so I have some fun additions to the blog to talk about. Before we get there though, here's a quick showcase of some of the beers I'll be reviewing over the next few weeks.

Showcase (Showdown): As you can see, I've made a pretty decent score recently at Total Wine and More (the GO TO place for your craft beer needs). I have an interesting mixture of beers that I'll be writing about over the next few weeks that I think you'll find illuminating.... or maybe just slightly interesting. If you've been a reader since the early beginnings of gulp!, you may remember that I've already done a write up for the Banana Bread beer. That is correct, I did one in February. But, if you remember harder (good linguistics) I was at a bar when I drank it and I didn't really have a good write up. So, I'll be bringin' a 2012 edition of the review to a computer screen near you. You'll also see a Framboise in there... the one with the bright ass pink label. That's for my wife, so, we'll see how that goes. Not a huge fan of the 'boise. Anyway, good mix that I'm sure will illuminate - er - I hope you enjoy the write ups. 

New Additions: We live in a tech age these days folks. Hell, you can read my somewhat subjective reviews of alcoholic beverages from the comfort of your own couch and you don't have to listen to my annoying voice. How great is that? That said, many people have smart phones in which they connect with strangers they've never met via apps or social networks, and even share information about themselves with said nutjobs. So, if you have such a smart phone, there are two apps that I'd really suggest you download to follow another dimension of gulp! 

Instagram: Here's my "app caveat", I don't know if you need an iPhone to use Instagram, but if not, get it! If so, well, sorry. If you have, or can get, Instagram, hit me up. My user name is "gluparama". I typically just take hipster style photos of beer, which may or may not get reviewed. So it's a good combo of two cool things: beer and photography. And you don't have to worry about reading my pointless blather. 

Untappd: Untappd is an awesome social network where you "check in" to the beer you are drinking. They have an app that is available on iPhone and Android, so there should be no excuse on this one! Basically you can search for almost any beer out there, "check in", and share it with your followers. They have silly badges you can earn based on your check ins, and they also keep track of what you drink. It's a lot of fun, and good again for beers that may or may not be reviewed here. You can also see what's trending in your area. 

So, that's what up these days here at gulp! I appreciate you stopping by, and be sure to check out those apps and look me up! You know you want to be better pals anyway, so don't act like you don't want to. Oh, and don't forget to come back for the, you know, reviews.