Beer Reviews by HANTRAN

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# Beer Origin Style Score Date
526 Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale United States Strong Ale 4.2

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 9

Classic hop nose of pine and lemon (yes I get thirsty whenever I use Pledge or Pinesol), is balanced with some malty notes ( I get maple syrup, your milage may vary. Dark copper body with hints of red topped by an offwhite foamy head with excellent lace. Mouth is nicely slick, full bodied, and carbonation level is excellent. This hoppy strong ale avoids being simply a mouth full of grapefruit, its much more piney/herbal with very big bittering that is nicely balanced with a midtaste of caramel malts, big malt profile hidden away here. The finish is ever so slightly sour and the alcohol is present. Some prunes and figs in this one. Lovely.

Sep 30, 2012
12:00:00 PM
527 Berkshire Cabin Fever Ale United States Strong Ale 2.2

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 4

This suddenly showed on on the tap at one of my locals and being a fan, generally, of BBC... Nose is pale, not a lot there, some malt. Pours a medium copper body with minimal head and no lace. Mouth is medium to think, carbonation underdone. Tastes a lot like a beer i had in St. Petersburg (Russia) a dozen years ago. Alcohol dominates the flavor, with OK middle of the road malt and very little hops. Unbelievable that at only 6.3% this is a strong ale and that alcohol is almost all you can taste! Not A Good Beer!

Nov 19, 2013
12:00:00 PM
528 Royal Standard Wee Heavy Ale United States Strong Ale 2.8

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Remarkably undetectable nose. Hazy copper body with a head that disappears almost instantly and leaves no lace no skim coat. Mouth is thin the decent tingle perhaps slightly under carbonated. Flavor is sweetish moderately toasted malt. Alcohol will masked, not complex, it's actually pretty tasty.

Jan 6, 2023
08:35:08 PM
529 Clown Shoes Swagger United States Vienna / Amber Lager 3.9

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Rye and floral hops in the nose it's a really nice noise. Dark copper clear body topped with an off-white head with decent retention and good lace. Full body then slightly creamy on the mouth with decent carbonation. Flavor is straightforward one-dimensional but tasty definitely quaffable. Super clean finish. Starts a little bit sweet the malt kicks in finishes just a hair bitter and drying.

Feb 2, 2023
01:05:15 AM
530 Yuengling Traditional Lager United States Vienna / Amber Lager 2.9

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

aroma is minimal but OK,smells like macro when first poured but that goes away and leaves a hint of hops. Pours a fairly clear light copper color with a decent head that looks like yeast and is pale carmel in color. Moderate lasting head with poor lace. Mouth feel is lightly carbonated water (I thinkthis lager could use a bit more carbonation). Flavor is also minimal.There is a hint of hoppy spicyness and a small hint of skunk, the sweet and tart are balanced pretty nicely, leaves no aftertaste. I have graded this pretty low but on a hot day when you want to drink a LOT of beer this is a decent choice. Whenever I am having a massive cookout I make sure to have Yuengling around for those friends who only want American mass-produced beer.

Jul 7, 2006
09:27:07 PM
531 Saranac Adirondack Amber United States Vienna / Amber Lager 3.6

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Looks like the hopheads got after this lager, score seems a bit low after first tasting. I'm mostly used to Saranac IPA so I guess I can understand it to some degree. Ok, on to review. Decent nose a bit of grass, vanilla, and a carmel note. Nice light copper body with a good foamy head decent lacing. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with well done carbonation, a bit slippery which is OK with me. Flavor....not a lot of it. Starts quite neutral maybe a hint of grass and a hint of honey, the hops finish but its a bit odd, almost chemically. I am beginning to see the ratings now and take back the hophead comment. This is close to a good lager, put a little more taste up front and clean up the aftertaste and it would be a real solid entry, alas its not. I won't be looking for this one again. ReRate 1/13/13 I was a bit harsh, I like the lager nose on this one and it has staying power; grassy and malts (crystal?) Flavor is subtle but nicely balanced for a sweetish lager. Has a bit of sour to it. Major session brew methinks.

Mar 29, 2008
01:42:29 AM
532 Troutbrook Thomas Hooker NorEaster Winter Lager United States Vienna / Amber Lager 1.5

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 2 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

I have added this beer. Hard to name the style because its a spiced lager and that is NOT an available style here. I don't know what to say, I have had three hooker beers on draft at my local and they all suck big time yet they get good reviews at most sites; it might be a problem with my local. However here goes. Sweet nose, not of malt and not of fruit. Medium amber body with thin head that provides no lace. Thin mouthfeel, almost watery. Bad flavor, mostly annice or licorice and putrified malt. Disgusting beer, perhaps because my local has a dirty tap?

Dec 16, 2008
07:15:16 PM
533 Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager United States Vienna / Amber Lager 4.0

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

What a wonderful surprsise. One of the tastiest lagers I have encountered. A great deal of lightly toasted malt in the nose and subtle spicy hop notes, peppers and earthy nutmeg-like notes. Pours a surprising middle amber color that is clear and with a glorious head and excellent lacing. Mouth is very full for a lager in a very nice way. Almost chewy and works the whole mouth. I loved the flavor (OK I like hop-head IPA's but I like otehr things TOO!), killer malt backbone with a touch of sweet carmel notes that finishes with subtle fruity hop notes and just a hint of bitter. A wonderful sense of balance and proportion with a depth of flavor that is rare in a lager. On top of all that this would be a killer session brew. Great job Smuttynose, hats off!

Jan 12, 2009
12:47:12 PM
534 Schneider Weisse Tap 6: Aventinus Weizen Doppelbock Germany Weizenbock 4.4

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Fantastic head, complex and highly appealing aroma full of fruit and spice, easy on the mouth and incredibly soft for this strong a brew. Tastes as good 30 seconds after you swallow as it does when it first enters your mouth; just a wonderfully clean after-taste. This is that rare beer that sips just as good as it guzzles. The only way I have been able to "nurse" one is by pouring it a third at a time into my glass. And its worth savoring, you get the great head on all three pours and the flavor evolves as it is allowed to breathe a bit. Just an truely fantasic brew...absolutely top 5!

Jan 23, 2006
04:10:23 AM
535 Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse United States Weizenbock 3.5

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Surprisingly light nose.... Floral and sour fermented pear. Some baking spice. Clouded copper / Amber body leaves a skim coat but not much lace. Creamy mouth full-bodied perhaps slightly under carbonated. Flavor is basically hefeweizen... Clove maybe some cardamom. Hops are tart perhaps slightly piney. Fairly low on the banana / bubble gum esters. Obviously wheat and in a good way. Drinkable but perhaps a little intense.

Jan 1, 2023
08:17:41 PM
536 Weihenstephaner Vitus Germany Weizenbock 3.4

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Nose: pea, bubble gum and a little hint of white pepper. Pours a hazed medium gold body, minimal Head has poor retention. Nice mouth tingly clean. Flavor is all banana at first... Fouls was slight clove flavors which are understated which I appreciate. The bubble gum is definitely there. Just a hint of pepper in the end and I'm going white pepper here. Like a mild hefe which I suppose is appropriate.

Nov 5, 2023
08:20:08 PM
537 Victory Sour Monkey United States Wild Ale 3.6

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Nice nose, sweet tarts! Floral...no malt. Clear medium gold body topped with a white head that quickly leaves a skim coat and a touch of sudsy lace. mouth is thin and VERY tingly. Flavor is again all Sweet Tarts! Alcohol totally masked which is a bit scary. No complexity...this is a one note brew. Would be a 6 but kicking it up for masking that very high abv.

Jan 22, 2023
08:49:57 PM
538 Lagunitas Aunt Sally United States Wild Ale 3.8

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Let it be said, I don't quite know what to make of this. Nose is mild with hints of sweet tarts (are you old enough for that reference?), hint of pine and of pineapple. Pours a very clear pale yellow with a dead white head that is frothy and has good retention and very good lace. The mouth is clean but lite bodied, carbonation well done. Flavor is , well, odd. Initially (and shortly) the malt presents itself but it quickly goes to , what can I say, mild sweet tarts. Its quirky, its well done, its not complex, it finishes sour and then sweet.Its unusual and its balls for Lagunitas to mass market this and I kind of like it!

Jul 1, 2016
12:00:00 PM
539 Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat United States Witbier 1.8

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 2

This is one odd duck! The nose is really strong, a bit of pine, a lot of suspect fruit/floral, a lot of lemmon and corriander. My first thought was really that this smells like a toilet freshener! The head is big but perhaps not as long-lasting as the style would wish. Sits on a very cloudy pale apricot colored body. The lacing is really more like foaming. I find the color and the nose both off-putting. Mouth feel is both thin and foamy. The flavor is corriander and for me apple with a touch of lemon. Almost tastes like an off hard cider that had been watered down. I also get a touch of apricot in the flavor, like a weak Magic Hat #9 with odd spicing added to it. Maybe some other odd berry as well...bluebery? Its more spicey than sweet and finishes fairly clean with just a hint of hops in the finish. I really don't care for it. When I first smelled it I thought God, what is in this thing, it smells like artificail fruit flavoring. It tastes the same to me. I am willing to bet that this beer has artificial fruit flavoring in it. I rarely say this but I don't think I can finish it, half way through I already feel a hangover coming on. BAD BEER!

Jul 20, 2007
03:37:20 AM
540 Blue Moon Belgian White / Belgian Moon United States Witbier 3.5

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

REviewing the bottle, but I like the draft better. Not much nose and what is there is orange and citrus. Ok appearance, decent head over a nice foggy dark gold body with nice effervesance. Poor lacing. Mouth feel is well done, smooth medium full, foamy. Flavor in the bottle not nearly as strong as the draught. Its deinately a bit insipid. Hits dry, goes sweet with some orange , slightly carmelized, corriander, tart finish, perhaps a bit more hops than one would expect. Drinkable but nothing to write home about, I am kicking it up to a 7 here because the draught flavor is MUCH better. Funny for a beer I drink often this one is getting fairly low marks!

Aug 12, 2007
03:12:12 AM
541 Southampton Double White Ale United States Witbier 4.0

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Ok, reviewing from memory after an afternoon on the Hudson starting with Brown Sugga, followed by Hampton Double White, and ending with DogFishHead 120 minute, amazing I can still type! man this is a great witbier! Nice forthy head on a deep gold body, nose of malt and fruit and a bit f citrus. Good mouthfeel, fairly thick and full for the type and silky at the same time. Great flavor, really well balanced and not overly spiced. Sweet notes hinted at but a nice tartness prevails. Very similar to a heffe. Good wheat flover in there too with a clean finish, another great beer!

Aug 13, 2007
01:46:13 AM
542 Hoegaarden Original White Ale Belgium Witbier 4.0

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Nose is very floral, lots of esters, vanilla, clove, honey. A wonderful nose. Beautiful and fairly unique appearance; a foggy glass of pale sun; lemony yellow with a nice white head that looks like partially whipped egg yokes. Not great retention or lace but the skim coat remains and is lovely. Medium bodied in the mouth, slick and clean. Typical witbier flavor matches the nose, hits spicy of corriander and clove, goes very nicely bitter and leaves a slight clove aftertaste, really good balance of bitter and sweet. Gets a little soapy as it warms.

Jul 9, 2008
08:15:09 PM
543 Wittekerke Belgium Witbier 3.5

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Strong nose on this beer,lemon and something I can't quite identify sort of a spicy lavender, almost pez-like but in an OK sort of way. Nice long lasting head with zero lace and very white sits over a foggy foggy pale yellow body. Mouth is a bit to watery, not much there, the carbonation is nice but lacking in slipperyness which I expect in the style. Flavor is mild, too mild. I get some lemon, some applea little pepper and a slightly disagreeable chemical hit. The beer finishes very dry which is kind of interesting. Aftertaste of apple without the sweetness. Not the best.

Sep 14, 2009
12:55:14 PM
544 Allagash White United States Witbier 2.4

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 5

Minimal nose too heavy on the spice. Thin white head over light golden body, slightly fogged; head dissipates fast but has decent lace. Thin mouth is so so for style. Flavor starts OK, mostly orange peel and coriander, not complex or well balanced like a Hitachimi, then goes down hill, with bitter burnt spice taste and ends chemical, like one might imagine a mouthful of faded toilet disinfectant would taste, artifically fruity and astringent. 7/10 Somewhat better on draft but still not a very good effort.

Sep 14, 2009
01:28:14 AM
545 Long Trail Brewing Belgian White Ale United States Witbier 2.9

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Nose of citrus, predominately orange, and honey, cloudy (but could be more cloudy) body of pale gold is topped by a disappointingly smallish white head that leaves no lace. Mouth is not as slick and not as tingly as it should be for this style and is a touch too thin. Flavor is mostly citrus with some nice wheat, some nice sourness in mid taste, generally a sweet overall taste that finishes clean and fairly dry. Its missing some coriander and mostly it is missing yeast, yeast that is not prevalent in the appearance or the flavor and is missing some sourness. Not a bad effort but not outstanding in any way (and I also think it wouldn't hurt to kick the abv up a bit)

Jun 1, 2010
12:00:00 PM
546 Hitachino Nest White Ale Japan Witbier 4.0

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Lots of clean earth and grass in the nose along with lemon peel. Pours a gorgeous cloudy lemon-colored body with a moderate egg white tightly bubbled head. A very pretty beer. Mouth is very slippery with moderate tingle from well done carbonation. Flavor is a bit complex for a witbier, starts with a nice bitter hops, turns a bit sweet and tart with a big burst of lemon peel flavor, then goes a bit bitter again with some coriander coming through, and finishes nicely quite dry. This is really a pretty spectacular wit! Incredible balance and finesse, flavors playing off one another throughout.

Jul 26, 2010
12:00:00 PM
547 Monday Night Brewing Fu ManBrew United States Witbier 2.8

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

the nose is almost nonexistent. light straw colored body, minimal head and little lace. Mouth is medium to watery. flavor is actually some typical for style spice the ginger adds a hint of pepper. OK brew but not at airport prices.

Feb 21, 2014
12:00:00 PM
548 Bird Post United States Witbier 3.6

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Mild nose: pepper, cream cycle, tangerine. Fogged, VERY pale lemon-colored body, not a lot of head, no lace. Mouth is light but not watery, very nice carbonation, slightly slick. Flavor is growing on me.; Tart, lemon, bitter greens, sour finish, not your usual APA but tasty!

Oct 29, 2020
06:35:53 PM
549 Neversink Wheat United States Witbier 4.5

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 10

Tobacco and juniper and orange in the subtle nose. (They call this a botanical wheat and its got spent botanicals from their gin producing partner.) Medium sunny gold fully fogged body topped with a lasting white head that leaves a nice skim coat and a hint of lace. I like this mouth, its a bit foamy, hints at creamy, slightly slick and clean. I do feel like the hummingbird sucking from a flower on the label of the can. This is floral and mellow and dryish. At the end there more than a hint of bitters from the botanicals and just a hint of floral sweetness but the finish is quite clean. I am really enjoying this one from my little known and relatively local brewers. On a hot summer day this is lovely!

Jul 18, 2021
07:03:32 PM
550 LOTS United States Witbier 3.8

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Powerful nose...tangerine, pineapple, violets, caramelized sugar. Hazy pale gold with minimal head and no lace (a look I seem to find in most Kent Falls IPA's) Nice in the mouth, mild carbonation, slippery, medium in body. Tasty, slightly bitter, orange/tangerine pith and zesty oils, smashable with alcohol well masked, short finish is clean and ever so slightly astringent.

Dec 5, 2021
10:20:17 PM