Bitch Creek ESB Ale

Grand Teton Brewing Company located in beautiful Victor, Idaho...just a hop, skip and a jump from beautiful Jackson Hole the home of jet setters and Euro trash. You know already what I am thinking. I have said in the past that I really despise the sometimes annoying names that these people that brew beer tend to apply to their bottles. This name happens to be the name of the local creek...you will have to buy your own sixer and read the packaging if the rest of the story is what you desire. I also have found that in spite of the stupid labeling, that there is some great beer to be enjoyed inside of these bottles and trust me, I am. This beer is a fine brew and the name has very little to do with that. This brewery has been around since the late 80's and their experience shows in the final product.

This beer first of all, reminds me of the early incarnations of my own homebrew projects. I would put quite a bit of ingredients into my beers, trying to make what I would call..."what the hell is that" ale. I knew it was dark and I knew it was potent and I knew that my friends would be over as soon as it was bottled to mooch like beer moochers were born and bred to do. The color is deep walnut in color with a long lasting tan head. Malt and crisp backing hops are the prominent flavors upon first sip followed by sweet then mild bitter with caramel/toffee esters on the back of the throat. I saw a beer review where it was described that the alcohol put a tingling sensation on the tongue and cheeks. I did not understand that at the time, but I do now.

This beer is well suited to the winter weather and would be a nice winter warmer. While it resembles in some small way, my homebrew Frankenstein of years ago, it is also much more mature and cultured. The rough edges are smoothed by experience and competence. Perhaps the scents are one and the same with my brew but the similarity fades from that point.

This beer is touted as an Extra Special Bitter. I suppose that is as good a name as any. I just call it darn good brew. I am eager to find and try their other beers as well.

4.75 out of 5 points. Get some of this and it will change your opinion about the current craft beer you drink. Well done.

Yuengling Traditional Lager Original Amber Beer

Yep, It is still darn good beer...4 out of 5 points.

Beery Photos and Such

Coors

Coors Banquet. When I think about Coors, I remember searching for the elusive old Coors cans while in California as a youngster. I collected beer cans and it was really hard to find old Coors in the mountains and on the trails. Why, well, Coors went to aluminum cans in 1959 with an aluminum can that required a churchkey to open. Aluminum dents easily and while some think that aluminum does not decay as quickly as steel, it does degrade in the iron rich soils of Southern California. The paint process also does not age well on aluminum. Aluminum might be light but it sucks if you are a beer can collector.

I don't know, I think that since most of the major breweries changed their formulation to allow beer to be shipped without refrigeration, that the beer does not taste as good. This brew had a strong metallic flavor that did not add to the rocky mountain refreshment. Not good.

2 out of 5 points Back to the drawing board...

Mickey's Malt Liquor

I remember Mickey's from back in the day. The little hand grenade shaped bottles were large mouthed as I seldom like to wait the long period that it takes to pour out a beer. I like the clean, potent brew as it really has no offensive flavors to it and it is easy drinking. Smooth? Well, that would be a stretch. Mickey's was brewed for many years by Heileman Brewing Company and was one of the beers by them that I could tolerate. I am sure that large bags of corn sugar are at play here as with most malt liquors as sugar is cheaper than fine malt. Tolerable compared to other malt explosives.

3.5 out of 5

Schlitz Malt Liquor Ice

Sorry, It was not to be. There just was no malt to balance the inevitable alcohol wash when you have a brew boasting 8.2 percent alcohol. I really did not need to feel the jagged edge that one can of this evil brew would inflict on my brain tissue so I gave it the old dump. I tried but really, flavor is not what these high gravity beers are all about.

2 out of 5 points eesh!

Budweiser and Clamato...Chelada!

Having been in the midwest for many years, I am familiar with the tomato beer. I have, however, never had beer with Clamato. I thought it was a good combination. In fact it did improve the taste of flagship Bud considerably. I would however state that there needed to be just a touch more Clamato. That is just my personal preference as I like the rich texture that tomato based juices impart to beer. Will I drink this every day? No, but an occasional brewski with Clamato could do no harm. Next up, Exlax flavored beer for the hard up.

Schlitz High Gravity VS

Schlitz in the large manly can with some semblance of the Schlitz Malt Liquor label. Hmmm, maybe I just might get Schlitz-faced. I purchase the can and ask for a paper bag and with the bag still over the can, I tear the bag open enough to be able to open and drink from the can. Oh, yeah. And now to hang out with my homies on the corner.

When I was younger, that was the image that occured near the liquor stores in Pomona as I was growing up. One would think that in some way, the beer would have evolved. In as much as there has been change in the marketing of malt liquor, there is something still very much the same about it. The razor has changed greatly in fifty or so years. But, when it all comes down to it, you are dragging a very sharp rock over your face to remove hair. With malt liquor, you are just dragging a very sharp rock over your brain cells to get very drunk.

I actually liked some of the elements of this beer. There was flavor and certainly potent alcohol esters throughout the process. There was so much sugar in this brew that it literally felt like corn sugar on the lips. This added to the mouth feel in some way. The hops were present but not prominent. No need for prominent hops with all the bitter alcohol stinking up the place. I found that I drank it down rather quick. Hmmm, strange, I figured that I would have to choke this beer down. It went down like sin. Ten minutes later, the result was there...a very prominent warmth that was a certain prelude to the headache to follow. Surprisingly, I did not end up with a headache. I also was impressed with this brew. I would however caution that unless you are a glutton for pain, only one 24 ounce can will do. Much more and you will be telling these stories about projection vomiting and three day recovery times to your grandchildren in order to scare them away from drinking. The alcohol content is in at over 8.5 percent, which, reminds me of the old Okeef's Extra Strong from Canada. I found this brew to have a place...perhaps, it tastes the same coming up as going down?

3 out of 5 Points- Merit as this one is made with much more quality than common in malt liquors.