Victory - Festbier

The nights are cooler and the days are shorter.  It's that time of the year again and along with it comes Pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers!  My first beer of the season is an Oktoberfest by Victory.  Pours a golden copper color with very little head.  Malty aroma with little to no hop presence.  Taste is malt forward, appropriate for the style, and sweet with no spice that I could detect.  Medium body and carbonation make it a pretty easy beer to drink, especially on a crisp fall day.  I felt like this was a pretty solid example for the style and I would probably buy it again if there weren't so many other fun things to try!

Southern Tier - Farmer's Tan

I found this to be a little bit of a disappointment.  Farmer's Tan is an Imperial Pale Lager offered by Southern Tier weighing in at 9% ABV.  Poured into a pilsner glass my first reaction was that the beer was a very crisp, dark, golden color. There was a nice, slightly off white, head that left a thick lace on the sides of the glass as I drank it.  The aroma presented was of mild hops with subtle malty undertones.  Overall I found it to be pretty unexciting.

The first taste of the beer wasn't bad, malty with a slight hop bitterness to the finish.  At first I thought the alcohol flavor was well balanced... then  the beer warmed up.  There is a reason the bottle suggests a serving temperature of 37 degrees F.  As the beer warmed I found the alcohol dominated the flavor of the beer and made it difficult to drink.  Other then that it had a medium body, carbonation, and despite being a little one dimensional flavor wise, was what I would consider an average craft beer.

I probably wouldn't buy this again but if you happen to enjoy Imperial style ales I would recommend you give it a try.

Welcome!

Welcome! Hopefully this page will eventually contain a plethora of beer reviews.  I got the idea for this blog at the liquor store while picking out several beers I have never had before.  I think this will be an excellent way for me to keep track of what beers I have tried and what I thought about them .  I am by no means a writer and I warn you in advance that my spelling and grammar are horrible (especially if I am posting from the bar on my phone). 

I am a novice home brewer and I hope to be able to draw from that in my reviews.  I am also hoping that slowing down and really thinking about what I am smelling and tasting will help me become a better brewer and Beer Geek.

Cheers!