(Belgium Ale brewed with spices and cocoa powder 10.9 %)
Don’t taste the cocoa but taste the hops. Overall a good quad style beer.

Review Submitted By: Scott Watermasysk

Ah, sweet Golden Monkey. This is a fabulous tripel style beer and definitely in my Victory Beer top 5 (along with ST. Boisterous,  Prima Pils, Festbier, and  Moonglow).

My only real complaint is the amount of alcohol. Why it does not taste overly strong, at ~9.5% abv it can (and will) hit you rather quickly.

I highly recommend you give Golden Monkey a try, especially if you can grab it on tap somewhere.

4.2 out of 5.

Review Submitted By: Scott Watermasysk

I picked Sam Adams Latitude 48 for a couple of reasons:

The liquor store I stopped in didn’t have a great selection, but I do kind of wish I would have gone with my gut and picked up the Smutty Nose IPA (I was guessing that would be too hoppy for the misses).

Now this doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good beer. It goes down crisp and smooth and it certainly won’t hang in the fridge for long…but there just wasn’t much of a hook to it.

As for my wife, she liked it as well (especially compared to the Golden Monkey we had next) however, she still prefers the DogFish Head 60 minute IPA.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Review Submitted By: Scott Watermasysk

Sam Adams Boston Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale are the two beers most credited as being the stimulus for changing a beer drinkers perception of what beer should be. They are the “gateway” beers. In 1994 while stationed at Fort Lewis, WA, I tried a lot of local beers like Henry Weinhards, Rainier, and others along with Sam Adams Boston Lager. Later a friend introduced me to Guinness, Bass and Harps. And then one fateful day at an awesome little pizza place on Lake Washington I tried Red Hook ESB. From that point on I was hooked on good beer.

Boston Beer Company (brewer of Sam Adams) is the largest American-owned brewer. Yes, you read mat correctly. Both Anheuser-Busch InBev and Miller-Coors are now owned by foreign corporations. The good thing about being the largest craft brewer is that even bars and restaurants that don’t have a very good beer selection will still have Sam Adams.

Boston Lager is rich, malty, smooth, and pure delicious. Like a lot of craft beer drinkers I have moved on to big hoppy pale ales and super malty barleywines and other high alcohol content beers, but there is always room in my heart and my fridge for Sam Adams Boston Lager and their seasonals like Winter Lager.

Sam Adams is also great beer to offer to your friends and family who think they only like pale American-style lagers. I gave a family member one about a year ago and after tasting it he said it was too strong and bold for him. A couple of months ago I offered him another and he said “Sure, I’ll take a Sam Adams. I love it, I drink it all the time.” Another one converted.

Review Submitted By: Dan Hounshell

With a name like HopDevil you imagine the beer being a hop bomb that will punch you in the face upon first sip, but it’s actually very well-balanced. It might be very hoppy to someone new to the genre but experienced IPA drinkers might also find it a little lacking. It has a nice copper color and is very smooth, but it doesn’t have that “draw you in” hoppy aroma that a lot of IPAs have. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very, very good beer and it consistently gets A/A- ratings on Beer Advocate. I drink my fair share of this beer and I will continue to do so but I’ve also had a few better IPAs, too. It’s an excellent beer, give it a try yourself.

Review Submitted By: Dan Hounshell

 Dale’s is a craft brewery in Colorado who can their beers (so I’m told) to make it easier on the pack-it-in/pack-it-out outdoors crowd.

As for the beer, it’s got some citrus notes, and and is fairly hoppy, as is typical of a western style pale ale, and this beer is a good solid example.

Tonight, and frankly just about every night until the wife and I empty the quarter barrel in the kegerator, I enjoyed Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale.  In my opinion it’s really the perfect winter ale.  Dead Guy is hearty, sweet, and packs a decent punch with a good malt flavor.

Review Submitted By: Josh Ledgard

On the menu tonight is Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch.   A member of their Ancient Ales family, it pours a golden, almost brass pale.  I’d classify the flavor as predominately fruity, and the flavors of honey and grapes mean that this is not just a great ale, but one that can also be enjoyed by folks who may not traditionally prefer beer.