Monk's Blood - 21st Amendment Brewery

I found another Giant Eagle treasure, and it didn't come from the bakery section.  It's called Monk's Blood.  It sounded like a strange, religious, horror movie in a drink so I figured it was worth a try.  It's a "Belgian style dark ale brewed with cinnamon, vanilla, oak chips and dried figs."  I couldn't get home fast enough to try it.

It was a very different taste, but for $9 for 4 cans I expected a bit more.  Harvesting a monk's blood must be difficult work, because that's the only explanation I can think of to justify that price.  It's not like it came in bottles or anything fancy. 

It poured sort of a dark "blood red" color which was pretty cool.  It was hard to see that though without holding it up to the light, which is why we chose to take the picture outside.  It was still sort of hard to see its true blood color in the picture, so we made an effort to get the American flag in the background.  The bitter, malty taste was similar to the Dragon's Milk, but not quite as enjoyable.  It was also quite earthy, like you could almost taste the oak chips and dried figs.  Mixed with the blood color and dark ale taste it was like a bloody forest potpourri beer.

There were some things I enjoyed about this besides the marketing.  For instance, its 8.3% ABV was something else.  It also tasted fine, I just don't see myself paying that price for 4 cans again.  I didn't like, however, that it changed my spit to an alarmingly dark khaki color.

Always thirsty,

-Thirsteve

Shopping Cart

When the Brews Brothers get beer, we don't play around. And we always remember our orange juice for Vitamin C.

Beer Gelato--The Sweet Spot

This one isn’t exactly a beer review, but it is close enough. If you are as un-cultured as I am, you probably don’t know what gelato is, so let me break it down for you. Gelato, or gelati is the Italian word for ice cream (thank you Wikipedia). In reality, gelato is not ice cream, it’s fancy ice cream—less creamy, more sweet and icy, but still delicious. You may be wondering, other than the fact that gelato is a tasty treat, why are you reading about it on a beer blog? Well, because you can get it beer flavored.

In Lakewood, Ohio The Sweet Spot offers a range of different gelati, all made with ingredients that would make an organic loving hippie drop their peace flag and hop in the VW bus to get some gelato. Not to mention the vegan sorbets for those who don’t appreciate a good animal by-product. Personally, I didn’t care about all that and was on a mission to sample the beer flavored varieties.

The Sweet Spot is always changing their flavors, so you don’t know what you will find when you get there. Thankfully, I was able to get a double scoop of their Beeramisu and Cheesecake IPA. From what I understand they also have a lager-based gelato which is supposed to be excellent and a tasty white ale gelato which I was able to sample.

The Beeramisu was excellent, a combination of beer and tiramisu. This gelato was sweet, but subtle with an after taste that lingered of the porter-style beer used in the recipe. The Cheesecake IPA was the most genius combination. Cheesecake is a distinctive dessert flavor, combined with one of the most loved and hated of craft beers, the IPA. The Sweet Spot did a good job of balancing the two extreme flavors, however, I hope they get a liquor license so I can get a scoop of this with a pint of Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA.

Now to the question you are all wondering, can you get a buzz off of this sweet treat? Probably not, but if you like it as much as I did, you’ll want to eat enough of it to find out. Check out The Sweet Spot.

Stay Classy,

--Captain Z

 

http://www.thesweetspotcleveland.com/

Railbender Ale--Erie Brewing Company

Erie Brewing Company

 Railbender Ale (AKA the "Train Beer") is a Scottish Ale from Erie Pennsylvania. 

It poured a rich orange/red/amber color.  It had a pleasantly light, earthy, nutty smell.  The head was unique: white, looked thick, but tasted thin.

Choo Choo

This was a solid choice, something a little different.  Railbender Ale has a smooth, crisp taste.  It was like biting into a freshly picked beerfruit.  I would describe it as a nice breakfast beer. 

It's a real beer at 6.8% ABV. 

Be warned, it was pretty carbonated.  I let the train beer sit in my mouth a few seconds and it almost burnt my tongue.  Its taste was enjoyable, but not amazing, and was like a mix between Molson XXX and Leffe Blonde.

Some Scottish Ale pairings are roasted meats, sausages, or Mexican dishes.  I can make peanut butter toast.  So I made peanut butter toast on wheat bread.  It went well with the Railbender Ale's fruity taste. 

Don't seriously have beer for breakfast though.

Stay Thirsty,

-Thirsteve

Red Oak Amber Lager--Red Oak Brewery

Smooth. Everyone told me this beer would be smooth. From personal experience let me say, if someone tells you a beer is smooth, they are probably referring to how easy it is to drink—a lack of any bite, bitterness, sweetness or other overwhelming flavor that may slow your consumption down. When they tell you a beer is smooth that does not mean it makes a good lubricant or facial lotion. I am glad we have cleared that up, because putting this beer on your face will make you break out in acne.

Now I can say with no risk of misunderstanding: this beer is smooth! It comes from a little brewery in Greensboro, North Carolina that takes pride in this brew and how smooth it is. If you find yourself in that part of the country, check it out! This Amber Lager is crisp and refreshing. Not overly carbonated, the subtle earthy flavors make this beer an excellent beer for after (or while) mowing the lawn.

Two things should be noted about this beer:

1.       It is not life changing. This beer is good, but I would not go out of my way to get it. Think of this lager like an advanced Yuengling Lager. Clearly a higher quality, craft-brewed beer, but Red Oak is not trying to change the world here, just making a yummy lager.

2.       Don’t wait to drink this beer. I had a few bottles of the Amber Lager special delivered for me. I drank one right away and saved the others for another day. Don’t. Drink all your bottles within a week of getting them. Because Red Oak Brewery strives to follow the law of purity, they aren’t adding anything to give it a longer shelf-life so if you wait too long, this beer tastes like a rotten grape. I don’t know anybody that likes rotten grapes, but if you do, you are a sick, sick person.

If you are in North Carolina, buy this beer. Then drink it, quickly, and don’t use it as lotion (no matter how smooth people tell you it is).

Stay Classy,

-Captain Z

Oberon - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

We recently had a brief change in weather here in Northeastern Ohio, giving us just a taste of summer.  But thanks to our bipolar weather, who knows how long it will be until it officially feels like summer. 

That means it's getting to be summer ale season.  Bell's Brewery brings us their Oberon Ale, "an American wheat ale with the color and scent of a summer afternoon."

You cannot judge a beer by its bottle.  Oberon may look like it was designed for hippies, but the taste is worth the seasonal wait.   

It has a refreshing citrus-like smell that is complemented by its perfectly balanced taste.  There is nothing particularly overpowering about this beer, making it a very refreshing, enjoyable summer ale.  The cloudy orange color comes from being a wheat beer, so don't let that alarm you.

Definitely try this one.  Preferably when it is warm outside.  Consuming this summer ale before official summer weather arrives may put your body in a state of confusion.  It has been scientifically proven that the typical human body, like most other bodies, can tell when it is warm or cold outside.  Your body naturally sync's with the Earth as it changes seasons, much like your phone syncs to other electronic devices via Bluetooth.  The Earth sends signals to your season-receptors, causing very specific chemical reactions involving hormones and such. 

This process starts at the time of puberty.  Before puberty, you most likely enjoyed playing in the snow as a child.  But post-puberty, as an adult, your body develops a hatred for shoveling snow and causes seasonal grumpiness.  Enjoying a summertime drink in non-summertime weather can be dangerous, sending false signals to your season-receptors.  It's like brewing coffee using Red Bull instead of water.  Yeah you might want to see what would happen, but you don't do it because you are a responsible adult.

I tried Oberon one brief summer-feeling weekend.  It wasn't really summer yet, leading to lasting, confusing effects.  The next day I shoveled the driveway in a winter jacket when it was 80°F outside. 

I am not a weather doctor, nor a human-alcohol-consumption doctor, but you can trust my professional opinion in the sense that this is best enjoyed under the sun.

Drink responsibly and stay thirsty,

-Thirsteve

Follow us on Twitter

Like the Beer Review? Follow us on Twitter @4brewsbrothers

We'll tweet any time we post a new review. Afterall, we do provide the most entertaining beer reviews on the internet.