Tag Archives: review

February 24, 2013 · 3:20 pm

Beer Review: Samuel Adams Third Voyage

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For a long time, I had a love/hate relationship with IPAs. They were too bitter, too strong tasting, too hoppy. Now I feel like I could go the rest of my life never drinking anything else. So when I saw a new Sam Adams Double IPA, (Third Voyage) I ran and grabbed my specially designed, high tech Sam Adams guzzlin’ glass and filled it to the brim with hoppy.

And I’m underwhelmed. I’m never happy with an ordinary IPA. I want to be sandblasted with flavor. I want to have trouble finishing the whole glass because the flavor is punching me in the uvula with a ferocity that could only be equaled by Jake LaMotta roid ragin’. I want my taste buds to be knocked out so hard that the only thing they’ll be able to handle is watered down PBR.

The problem with Third Voyage is that it’s too….nice. There’s no bold flavor at the front and there’s no bold flavor at the back. It’s smooth, almost downright mellow and it’s ticking me off. It hits all the right notes, but not with the right intensity. It has a sharp bark, but no bite. It has that bitter finisher, but not that throat puckering grab that some IPAs have.

It’s a perfectly good Double IPA, sweet and grapey and strong, but it’s just not the IPA for me. I recommend it if you’re not into ultra-hoppy IPAs like Harpoon’s Rye Ipa.

I give it half a hop and a skip.

-D-

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October 9, 2012 · 7:23 pm

31 Days of Spoooktacular: Spoooky Beer Review: Wachusett’s Octoberfest Ale

 I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Oktoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can during the Halloween Season. All while listening to “Thriller”.

Next up: Wachusett’s Octoberfest Ale

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Since I needed a break from pumpkin ales, I decided to go back to our old friend, the Oktoberfest Ale. It was while I was drinking this particular ale that I realized that I really don’t know what defines an Oktoberfest ale. What separates it from other ales? Age, mid-range alcohol content and an amber color apparently. Oh, and it has to be brewed in Munich, otherwise it’s not an authentic Oktoberfest beer.

Which might be why Wachusett went with a slightly different spelling of Octoberfest here. Their beer is definitely amber in color, a nice red-orange glow that would look at home on a pumpkin ale.

It’s light and airy and crisp, a perfect complement to a Fall day. It’s flavor is a little tart, a little sweet and very refreshing, if not overly complex. Unlike some other ales I might mention, it is not bland or lacking definition, but manages to find a balance between a light and pleasing flavor without sacrificing all of the complexity.

I definitely recommend it for people who don’t really want to chug down a lager or any darker, more mysterious beer filled with things hiding in the abyss. This is a beer made for sitting and relaxing on the porch while the first Fall leaves begin to fall from the trees.

I give it a smiling scarecrow, a goofy dancing skeleton and a couple of ears of corn.

Also, you can probably only buy it in New England.

-D-

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October 5, 2012 · 6:34 pm

31 Days of Spoooktacular: Spoooky Beer Review: Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale

 I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Octoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can during the Halloween Season. All while listening to “Thriller”.

Next up: Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale

For whatever reason, I’m incapable of not drinking pumpkin ales. It’s becoming a struggle for me. I use the reviews as a cover, but, deep down, I would drink the pumpkin ales anyway. Do you know how many I’ve bought to review and then just made disappear before even managing to snap a blurry picture of them with a monstrous spider in the background? A LOT.

At first glance, it has the same orange-y hues that most pumpkin ales have, but it’s deeper and darker, almost red. It smells a lot like any other pumpkin ale, but maybe with headier blast of spices.

It tastes a little like a subdued Pumking. No, that’s the wrong word for it. Not subdued. More subtle, not as bold a pumpkin flavor. But just as complex. Maybe MORE complex. Both beers are great pumpkin ales. They both deliver on spices and pumpkin and make you think of Fall with a beer, which is really all you can ask of a pumpkin ale.

But Imperial Pumpkin Ale is more spice than pumpkin and is quieter and more sly. If you have a friend who thinks Pumking is too much for him, then go with Imperial Pumpkin Ale. They’re both royal. They’re both imbued with the power of Halloween. And they’re both really great pumpkin ales.

Let me put it this way, before Imperial Pumpkin Ale, I thought Pumking was going to be the the best all season, but Imperial Pumpkin Ale has shaken my faith.

I give Imperial Pumpkin Ale five Pumpkinhead-era Lance Henriksens.

-D-

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August 30, 2012 · 12:00 pm

Spoooky Beer Review: Wychwood Brewery’s Scarecrow Golden Pale Ale

 I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Octoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can during the Pre-Halloween Season. All while listening to “Thriller”.

Next up: Wychwood Brewery’s Scarecrow Golden Pale Ale

 

As I mentioned in this earlier review, I don’t think Wychwood Brewery is selling seasonal brews; I think this is what they sell year-round. Which is great. There’s nothing better than going to your local liquor store and seeing a Hobgoblin or a Scarecrow on the shelf amidst all the IPAs and numerous variations of Guinness that are all deep, dark and weighty.

While I love “Hobgoblin”, I am less enthused with “Scarecrow.” It’s a pale ale which are, to me, usually a bit less interesting in terms of flavor. They’re never too bitter. They’re not heavy. They’re not bursting with strange and unusual flavors. Pale ales are good for people who aren’t the biggest fans of beers, but need something to drink on a hot summer day. They’re light, refreshing and don’t leave a lot of aftertaste. You drink it down and look for the next one.

And that’s exactly what “Scarecrow” is. There’s nothing truly interesting here. I don’t dislike it. But once I’m done with it, I won’t really be able to remember what it really tasted like. Honestly, the first thing I thought of when I took my first sip was a Heineken. It was really disappointing after “Hobgoblin,” a beer with interesting and complex flavors. I know this brewery is capable of more and I felt like they let me down.

This is like watching Friday the 13th Part V and making it all the way to the end, only to find out that it wasn’t even goddamn Jason behind the mask.

Spoiler alert.

I give “Scarecrow” one Pyscho remake and a handful of direct-to-video Hellraiser sequels.

-D-

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August 28, 2012 · 12:00 pm

Spoooky Beer Review: Magic Hat’s “Hex”

 I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Octoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can during the Pre-Halloween Season. All while listening to “Thriller”.

Next up: Magic Hat’s “Hex”

After all these pumpkin ales, I needed a break. There’s only so much cinnamon and pumpkin you can drink before you start sneezing holiday cheer. So I went and picked up Magic Hat’s Hex, a Halloween theme beer that promises no kind of pumpkin and delivers on that promise.

When a brewery decides to eschew more traditional means of a seasonal beer (light ales in the Summer, IPAs in the Spring, Rauchbiers in the Winter {ugh}), they have to really go the extra mile to sell it as that season’s beer. This generally means the packaging is going to get all holiday up in your grill.

Take “Hex” for instance. There are demons and vampires being served beer by a floating witch waitress while they sit at a blood red table under a blood red sky and the whole thing is framed with wrought iron and spiky brambles. Bam, there’s Halloween for you. Now, it doesn’t have to taste  like Halloween at this point. You bought the beer for a party and you’re going to use the actual bottles as decoration.

But it does have to taste good. It can’t all just be gimmicky labeling and spooky boxes. If you don’t want to drink what’s in the bottle, then you just plunked eight dollars down on a refrigerator decoration, which would have been better spent on cotton ball webs and plastic spiders.

Luckily for you and for me, “Hex” is a pretty decent beer. It has a good, strong burst of flavor; kind of tart and there’s just the slightest hint of Belgian in there. It’s not the most intense beer, but nor is it the disappointingly bland brew that is Scarecrow, a beer you’ll be meeting later in the week.

I’m not generally a fan of Magic Hat, but I like this. It’s that little bit of tartness that does it for me. It’s a little heavy, but not too much and it doesn’t overpower you with flavor.

On the downside, it does tend to…linger a bit. Like an IPA that overstays its welcome a bit too long, Hex leaves behind a bitter aftertaste, but on the periphery of your mouth.

All in all, “Hex” was surprisingly decent and a well rounded seasonal beer that made me want to give Magic Hat a second chance. Bring a six pack to that Halloween party you’re going to. The host will welcome the additional spookiness and people won’t break half-empty bottles over your head when they taste it.

I give it, Hell, I don’t know…two zombies and a murderous conjoined (but detached) twin in a wicker picnic basket*.

-D-

*A head nod and a wry smile to the person who gets the reference.

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August 27, 2012 · 12:00 pm

Spoooky Beer Review: Shipyard Brewing Co.’s Smashed Pumpkin

 

 I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Octoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can during the Pre-Halloween Season. All while listening to “Thriller”.

Next up: Shipyard Brewing Co.’s Smashed Pumpkin

Remember yesterday when I was talking about beers that call themselves pumpkin ales, but don’t really deliver in that department? This is one of them.

Oh, it has that same gorgeous orange color as the others and it smells great, but it smells like cinnamon. It smells so strongly of cinnamon that it doesn’t even really smell like beer. That’s a little alarming.

The first sip basically verifies what your nose already told you; this beer tastes a lot like cinnamon. And not much like anything else. It’s by no means terrible. I think there are only a few people in this world who hate the taste of cinnamon and those people are heartless fiends who also dislike marshmallows in their coco and videos of panda babies stumbling down slides.

But this is a flavor that’s more evocative of pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving than Jack o’ Lanterns and Halloween. Or Christmas! Cinnamon is a Christmas spice too!  If you removed that bad-ass label with the Jack o’ Lantern, the orange and gold and the pumpkin themed name, you could totally market this as a Christmas beer (“Kringle Ale”) with a drunk elf in snazzy green elf shoes on the front.

It’s a good beer with a strong kick (9% Alc./Vol.), but in spite of all the Halloween marketing, it’s hardly a Halloween beer with nary a pumpkin flavor in sight.

I give it a goddamn Ho-Ho-Ho! and a Merry Christmas! for this Halloween brew.

-D-

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August 26, 2012 · 3:00 pm

Spoooky Beer Review: Southern Tier Brewing Company’s “Imperial “Pumking”

 I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Octoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can during the Pre-Halloween Season. All while listening to “Thriller”.

Next up: Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Imperial Pumking

 

The first thing you’re going to notice with any pumpkin ale is that they tend to have an orange cast to them, and Pumking is no different. Look at that orange luster. If you forget, even for a second, that you’re drinking a pumpkin beer, that color will always remind you.

Around this time of year (you know, end of August, Halloween time), you can’t swing a dead black cat without sweeping half a dozen pumpkin ales off the shelf. There are some decent ones out there, but for the most part, the first thing you taste when you drink one is cinnamon. And the last thing you taste will be cinnamon. And in the middle there too.

There is one out there that’s a huge offender in the cinnamon department, but I won’t be reviewing that tonight. But it’s coming. It’s coming.

It’s like they’re not really shooting for the flavor of pumpkins and more going for the flavor of pumpkin pie. And then decided that would be too hard, so they just went with cinnamon instead.

Pumking does have a cinnamonny flavor to it, but it’s more of a flourish at the end. The dominant flavor here, is the rounded, orange and nutty flavor of pumpkin. Imagine that; pumpkin flavor in a pumpkin ale. It’s robust and strong, a bulldozer of fall flavors and it just makes me think of the whole damn season. And we’re still in summer!

To top it off, the label goes a long way to making it a strong Halloween beer. It claims it’s named after a creature of Celtic folklore and that it would waylay travelers. It has a scary story! On the bottle!

Two beers in and I’ve already found two beers I would make people drink on October 31st.

I give Pumking five Bluebeard’s wives and a Druidic blood sacrifice.

-D-

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August 25, 2012 · 6:30 pm

Spoooky Beer Review: Wychwood Brewery “Hobgoblin”

Now, I know it’s too soon to celebrate Halloween, no matter what the candy section at your local grocery store is telling you. But I am, truly, unable to contain myself. I struggled with the best way to let off some of my Halloween steam early and then the thought struck me: While most people are probably not in the mood for horror movies and gruesome make-up tips, they’re always in the mood for my beer reviews.

And, luckily, those same grocery stores are also shoving every fall and Halloween based beer to the forefront. So I’m taking it upon myself to review as many Octoberfests and Pumpkin Ales as I possibly can. All while listening to “Thriller”.

Up first, we have Wychwood Brewery’s Hobgoblin

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With a name like Wychwood Brewery, I’m going to assume that Halloween is a yearlong thing for these folks. Their two beers I picked up at the store had scary themes. I’ve already forgotten what the other was and I’m not getting up to check, seeing as how the kitchen is now more of a trek from my chair for me.

This is a dark English ale (think Newcastle) , though not as dark as I’ve seen, it has a beautiful deep red color, which the photograph does not do justice. It’s very smooth tasting, surprisingly so and a bit sweet, though only a little bit. In all honesty, the first thing I thought of was apples. It’s a round, full flavor that just goes down so smoothly and without any lingering bitterness.

I’m surprised. I’m generally wary of breweries that go to such lengths for what appears to be a gimmicky label (it has witches riding broomsticks on embossed on the bottle itself, for God’s sake), but this is a solid brew and at five dollars for a pint bottle it runs cheaper than some other specialty beers that go for 7, 8, 9 dollars for a pint.

If you want a beer that gets you in a spooky, autumn mood, I can definitely recommend Hobgoblin.

I give it fifteen severed heads. And a Jason Voorhees.

-D-

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March 22, 2012 · 6:47 pm

App Review: Angry Birds Space

I used to play a lot of Angry Birds, just like every other human being on the planet. After a while, though, it got tiring. There’s only so many times you can hurl a bird into a pig and remain satisfied. They tried to mix things up with themed levels (birthday parties and Halloween, frinstance) and the (very) occasional new bird (orange bird), but nothing that really added much to the core fundamentals of the game.

But Rovio is back with a brand spanking new sequel called Angry Birds Space that manages to bring some new things to the table and breathes some more life into the franchise. By adding gravity that varies wildly across the map (or completely taking the gravity away), they’ve added a new dimension to the strategy. It’s no longer a straight shot from point A to Point B. Now it’s: Fire the red bird just past the small planetoid so it curves his trajectory enough the he enters into a decaying orbit around planetoid B, eventually slamming into the pig.

There is one new bird and a modified version of the Yellow Bird, called the Lazer Bird. The new bird is best used in conjunction with the Blue Birds. He can ice up a part of the pig’s base and allow the Blue Birds to tear through previously difficult to destroy materials. The Lazer Bird is kind of a combination of the Boomerang Bird and the Yellow Bird, in that you use the Lazer Bird in both capacities. After launching the Lazer Bird,  you tap the screen to send it in any direction, giving you a much more versatile bird.

They’ve also added actual bosses. Now the King Pig is an actual menace that can’t be killed by a direct hit from a bird, rather than just another pig on the map. Now the last levels play a little differently from the rest of the game, though I don’t know if everyone is going to be a huge fan of that.

The game also feels less smooth than the previous incarnations. There have been a number of times where my aim has jittered after I’ve released the bird, sending him higher or lower than I aimed. There were also a fair number of game crashing bugs during the two hours I played. And there are only two hours of gameplay. I beat the first set of levels with mostly three stars in less than an hour and then rushed through the second set. The difficulty curve seems lower than in the previous games, perhaps to ease people into the new mechanics.

There is another set of levels available at time of launch, but you’ll need to plunk down another 99 cents for those. They’re supposed to be more difficult, but I haven’t tackled them yet.

Angry Birds Space is worth the 99 cents and with the new physics rules, it’s definitely fun, but there was also less content than I expected there to be. I’m assuming they’ll be releasing more content over the next few months, but even for an iPod app, it was a short affair.

I give this game Two Beers and a Pot Roast.

Dylan Charles

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February 29, 2012 · 9:40 am

Zombies, Run!: First Mission Review

I used to run occasionally, but that was a year ago and the most I’ve done since then is to stare at my running shoes before quickly throwing a towel over them to hide my secret shame.

So keep that in mind as I review the first mission of Zombies, Run!.

As I mentioned before, the beginning of the mission has a three minute introduction in which there is no running. If you’re anything like me and you want to stay grounded in the game’s universe, I recommend using this as a warm-up period. Do some stretching.

This is especially important if you’re like me and you can’t run more than ten minutes without fainting. I wasn’t able to run long enough to make it to he second checkpoint, which meant I had to sit through the introduction again the next day.

I also recommend holding onto any items you find until after you complete the first mission. The game gives you information for all the buildings in Abel at that point giving you a better idea of where you should put everything. At this point, I don’t see how the base plays a part in the game. It just seems like a neat graphic for your runner to come home to.

My initial problems with the accelerometer are not as bad as I thought. It does settle down after a while and stops counting off paces when I stood stock still. The main problem with the accelerometer is the that the zombie chases are disabled. This seemed like the funnest portion of the game when I first heard about it, but it’s only available if you have an iPhone.

There’s also no way to input how long one step is. So while you know if you’ve gone 1000 steps, you won’t know how long that really is in miles or kilometers unless you’re willing to crunch the numbers yourself.

Aside from the nitpicks, Zombies, Run is a great app. It got me out of my chair for the first time in over a year and I actually look forward to running the next day, if only to find out what happens with Sam and Runner Seven and the doctor lady whose name I can’t remember. The voice acting is serviceable at its worst and considering this is an independently funded and designed game, the voice acting is, for the most part, pretty good.

They’re going to implement for free content over the next few monhs, including repeatable supply missions. I want to see how the storyline develops over the next couple of missions and I want to see how the supply missions will be handled.

The story drew me in and gave me a reason to keep running, even when I was flagging. For whatever its flaws, it does what it’s supposed to do: make running fun.

Dylan Charles

 

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