Samuel Adams – Holiday Porter
So after much guitar hero and ex-girlfriend induced frustration, I decided to do some drinking. I reached into the fridge for another Old Fezziwig Ale, popped the top, and drank deeply of the dark sub par brew. There was something different about this one, however. Something sinister. And after digging shards of what was once a shot glass from my now non-functional garbage disposal (courtesy of my disaster prone ex), the last thing I needed was a skunked beer that wasn't even that good to begin with. Upon further inspection, however, I discovered that this abortion of an ale was not an ale at all, but was in fact Sam Adams' "Holiday Porter". As you may have already inferred, I'm not a fan. It begins benign enough, with an almost oaky flavor (oaky = of an oak tree), however the finish is that of alcohol. Now you may be thinking; "but Bert, beer is alcoholic", to which I reply "I know, thats why I drink it". But this is an overwhelming alcoholic flavor, much like cheap vodka or grain alcohol. Granted its not nearly that bad, but I think a good rule of thumb is that a beer should not need a chaser. Although, now that I've had a bit more, its not entirely terrible. The finish is still quite bad, and I wouldn't go out a pickup a 6 pack of this stuff, but I suppose if it were free and I was writing a blog about beer, I might be coaxed into drinking it.
Anyway, I'll give it a 2.4
Samuel Adams – Old Fezziwig Ale
Ok so I've been neglecting my blog a bit lately, but i'm changing that now (Thanks to Tom for the feedback and incentive to keep drinking). So for my next beer, I've decided to go with Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale. The reason here being that it's all thats left in my fridge from that party with my girlfriend who is no longer my girlfriend but is now just a girl who I temporarily live with (also thanks to her for the incentive to keep drinking)... but i digress. So this is definitely a winter ale, with all the spices one might expect to find in an alcoholic holiday drink. The flavor of Ginger is most prominent here, followed by a more mild orange and cinnamon in a lovely beery base. I must admit, I'm not generally a huge fan of beer with a lot of frilly extras added in. In fact, I'm a huge fan of the German purity laws (read all about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot), but this brew isn't all that bad. As far as winter ales go, I'd rate this as the best I've had thus far. For a really great winter time treat, however, I'd recommend some warm, spiced red wine. Add a few orange quarters pierced with cloves and simmer for a bit... MMMMM. So I guess i should give this beer an arbitrary rating.... how about a 4.