21/100) Dia de los Muertos

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Pay the Ferryman, Immortal Beloved, Death Becomes You,
Queen of the Night, Hop on or Die, Death Rides a Pale Horse

Welcome to the night of nightmares, costumes and all manner of candy. However you celebrate it, or don't, All Hallow's eve has come again. What is more fitting than to celebrate with beers thematically appropriate? This week I tried all six Cervezas de Los Muertos (Beers of the Dead).

Yes there are just six in America. Determining how many existed was a bit of a challenge. The internet is rampant with confusion about them. Many websites erroneously classified these beers as produced by Los Muertos Brewing Co. They are not. Instead, Cerveceria Mexicana in Tecate, Mexico brewed them. The easiest way to actually find out more about these beers is to search for "the beers of the dead."

To the undiscerning eye, I understand how these two companies can be confused. Los Muertos' "Agave Maria" smacks of the same fun naming style of these beers. A shorthand way to remember the difference is to note that Cerveceria's beers are themed around the Day of the Dead art style while Los Muertos beers focus on inserting skeletons into their art. Onto the beers!

Pay the Ferryman) This porter is one degree from coffee. I can only presume that Styx's main turnpike guard must take his coffee like this porter, black with just a touch of sugar. A rather solid roasted coffee porter. I tend to prefer mine to have less coffee flavor, but I did enjoy this one. ☆☆☆

Immortal Beloved) This hefeweizen is light and citrusy, but not enough to come across as sour or tart. The good smooth mouthfeel and the refreshing finish both entice you to drink more. Unexpectedly, it had more flavor than the smell revealed. ☆☆☆☆

Death Becomes You) Aside from having a title that sounds like a zombie pick-up line, this amber ale finished a bit bitter. Before that part though, this semi-malty ale did have a nice sweet and roasted middle. Not my favorite of the bunch, but good. ☆☆☆

Queen of the Night) This pale ale spares you from a strong bitter finish. Instead it has tantalizing mix of robust flavors mixed with just the right kind of bitterness. In short, this Queen has all the pluses of a pale ale without any of what I see as drawbacks. ☆☆☆☆

Hop on or Die) This IPA sadly seems to encourage some sort of Day of the Dead driving antics. Or I suppose it could imply that you should get on the bandwagon with hops. Either are hard for me to endorse. Like most IPAs this one has a smooth clean initial. Then the pine hops hit followed by a small burst of bitter on the finish. Not sure I really want to have again, but it's a decent IPA. ☆☆

Death Rides a Pale Horse) I never really thought of death riding a horse. Perhaps he's actually a dullahan which is a sort of Irish headless horseman harbinger of doom. Anyway, this blonde ale was malty. The flavor depth to this step-above-a-lager beer caught me pleasantly off guard. ☆☆☆

Honestly, I was surprised. I was afraid these beers would be mostly marketing and only partially flavor. However, you can't go wrong with any of these six. They are solid baselines for the type of beer that they are. There isn't too much adventure or craziness with them. They are stably solid, and that can go a long way in making a beer a staple.

20/100) Weyerbacher 2

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Merry Monks, Insanity, Nineteen

The Merry Monks are keeping secrets to their happiness, and their experiment XIX requires a dose of insanity to really understand. After night falls and the jingle of the clown bells fade away, will the darkness consume you? Or will you stick around for Halloween

Merry Monks) While quadrupels are great to me, tripels might not be my thing. There was a sour touch to the fruit backdrop in this beer. That taste was prohibitive to my taste buds and made it hard to drink. I know other people who liked it though, so I'll probably give it a second chance in the future. ☆☆

Insanity) Right after a a light initial, this ale quickly let me know that it had matured in oak barrels. The backdrop had a robustness that smacked of the high alcohol content. The flavor profile though was confusing. It had that sort of sweet complexity in the middle that reminded me of a barley wine, yet in that crazy mix, the ale flavors came through as well. Much to my delight the lack of bitter hops made this beer a smooth experience from start to finish. ☆☆☆

Nineteen - XIX - ) The mango wasn't overt, but I could tell something fruit-like was in it just from the the sweet smell. I felt like this wheat beer was to mangoes what cider is to apples. In other words, I would guess that they used a mango puree in the brewing process instead of adding in the mango flavors late in the game. I enjoyed the uniqueness, but I really couldn't see myself drinking this one again. ☆☆

19/100) Weyerbacher

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Heresy. Blithering Idiot, Quad

I meant to make a joke about a heretical blithering idiot enjoying a quad over his meal of hearty bread and cheese, but I couldn't come up with anything that didn't feel forced. Instead, I will enlighten you, or endarken you, as to why I chose Weyerbacher for these weeks in October. Their dark imagery complete with a terrifying clown and rich medieval themes simple scream for a connection to the Halloween season.

Heresy) This imperial stout barely let me know that it was aged in whiskey barrels as it didn't hit me with as strong alcohol punch I had expected. The middle and finish were flooded with a strong flavor profile full of coffee, malt, molasses and even a bit of a caramel. The mouth feel was thick so I suggest being prepared to practically have to chew if you try it.  ☆☆☆☆

Blithering Idiot) Had that lovely complexity of a barley wine The initial was characterized by a clear semisweet taste. Then when the finish hit a wave of flavor spread through my mouth mounting a crescendo of almond accented by vanilla and molasses. Yum!☆☆☆☆

Quad) Very smooth. This Quad had that blossoming alcohol flavor that made me recall the vague aftertaste you can get from a decent whiskey. From the initial to finish, the flavors were really kept clean and comprehensible. Admittedly that was a bit unusual for a quad because I like to think of them as complex. That didn't stop me from enjoying this one though. ☆☆☆☆

18/100) Brew Dog

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Punk IPA, 5 AM Saint, Libertine Black Ale

Brew Dogs is a Scotland based brewery with some amazing beer names. Each comes with a lengthy description too. Though they don't describe the beer type or flavor, they do give you an interesting framework to understand the beer. Hop over to their website and take a look.

Punk IPA) is a very drinkable IPA for me. Can you believe that? They're not usually my thing. Smelled of bitter hops, but the taste really didn't have anywhere near my predicted bitterness level. The finish was smooth and subtle. There isn't even a sharp bomb of bitterness at the end. This punk's for me. ☆☆☆☆

5 AM Saint) Smell had a nice pine hop touch to it. The color was a lovely burnished amber. The middle held a bit of a mild sweetness as the smell followed through with a nice pine flavor. The finish was clean and refreshing. The drink is slightly cloudy, and the more of that cloudiness that got into my glass the better it tasted. ☆☆☆☆

Libertine Black Ale) A watery initial and mouth feel announced this Ale's presence. The deep dark pour pooled in my glass like an abyss. Light could not pass through it was so pitch. The middle was pretty malty and passed into a finicky bitter finish. Unfortunately for me, the bitter at the end built and lingered too much, but it was still interesting. ☆☆☆

17/100) Boulevard Smokestack Series

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Long Strange, Double-Wide, Sixth Glass, Dark Truth Stout

Boulevard's approach to bottling doesn't disappoint where smoothness is concerned. Because they bottle condition their beers, each continues to ferment until you pop the cap and consume it. The smokestack series is no exception, and all four of these beers are characterized by that smooth finish that I've come to expect from Boulevard.

Long Strange Tripel) There was a strange nutty, fruit-like sweet/sour to this beer. It finished with a light touch of bitterness. All I can tell you is that it was okay. I've learned that I need to find a prototypical Tripel so that I know what I should be looking for in them. Tripels, like IPAs, may be a type of beer that's just not for me. ☆☆

Double-Wide) Despite IPAs not being my strong point, I rather enjoyed this one. The pour brought out a nice thick foam. The aroma was primarily a hop borne pine, but I could smell something else that changed from citrus to peach as I grew accustomed to the taste of the beer. Bitterness was present on the finish, as ought to be expected from an IPA, but it was accented by a touch of malt. A very unusual IPA, and one I rather enjoyed. ☆☆☆

Sixth Glass) This beer danced like a little devil on my tongue, even though I didn't make it my sixth glass for the evening. The strength of the alcohol in this Quadrupel comes through in the background, but the initial was nice and light. No bitterness in this beer, but nor was there a lot of complexity to the flavor. Instead it was simple and straightforward. Not my favorite Quad, but a very easy to drink Quad. ☆☆☆☆

Dark Truth Stout) The smooth light initial of this stout lead into a rich finish that moved from a deep malt to a wave of roasted caramel. The hidden dark truth of this beer was that your linger built up some bitterness. Not enough bitterness to paralyze, but instead, just enough to make you want to drink more. ☆☆☆☆


Bonus!
Ole the Tower Keeper is the Hans Christian Anderson Tale where the name Sixth Glass originated.
You can read the story here: http://hca.gilead.org.il/towerkee.html, but here's the portion directly related to the drink.

"The sixth glass! Yes, in that glass sits a demon, in the form of a little, well dressed, attractive and very fascinating man, who thoroughly understands you, agrees with you in everything, and becomes quite a second self to you. He has a lantern with him, to give you light as he accompanies you home. There is an old legend about a saint who was allowed to choose one of the seven deadly sins, and who accordingly chose drunkenness, which appeared to him the least, but which led him to commit all the other six. The man’s blood is mingled with that of the demon. It is the sixth glass, and with that the germ of all evil shoots up within us; and each one grows up with a strength like that of the grains of mustard-seed, and shoots up into a tree, and spreads over the whole world: and most people have no choice but to go into the oven, to be re-cast in a new form."