Drinks for the Drinking Nonthusiast: Terrapin Beer Company's Gamma Ray

 The Contestant:
Gamma Ray

Source: Terrapin's Website

The Review:
I went on a beer hunt today for a specific beer (which I did find, and will review later), but while I was on that quest, I ran into this monster and had to pick it up.  Needless to say, the superhero-themed labeling forced me to buy it.

What are you're initial thoughts?
*ROUNDHOUSE KICK TO THE FACE*  Holy ball, Batman, this beer is strong.  Lesson learned, read the ABV before purchasing any beer claiming to be a "monster" of a brew.  Actually, I should probably look at the ABVs all the time....  This lovely little beer has twice the amount of alcohol in it that any other beer I usually drink.  According to the website, "This Gamma Ray will stop any super hero’s arch enemies in their tracks!" In all honesty, I don't think I can actually even finish the glass I have sitting next to me, it is that strong. I guess that makes me a supervillian!  The flavor is sweet, but with a hoppy bitterness that is stronger than I expected in a wheat beer.  I guess that is what makes it a "wheatwine."  My roommate had a sip and told me it reminded her more of wine than beer, but she isn't a beer or wine drinker, so we have to take her evaluation with that in mind.  As for the color, Gamma Ray is an innocent amber color.  It hides its strength well!

How's the price?
I paid around $10 for a 4 pack.  That is definitely a lot more than I would like to spend on beer, but it was worth the experience.

Would you ever buy this again?
Nope.  It is too strong for me to even enjoy the flavor.  I am interested in trying Terrapin's other brews, especially the Sunray Wheat and  Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout (never the Monster brews though!)

Drinks for the Drinking Nonthusiast: Magic Hat #9

 The Contestant:
Magic Hat #9

Isn't the label awesome looking?

The Review:
This is the second installment of the night I went out with friends and just picked a random beer off of the menu!  I decided on Magic Hat #9 because I already love their Circus Boy.  (If I am incorrect in my labeling of this beer please correct me because the menu only said "Magic Hat" and I never saw a bottle or the tap, so I had to read other reviews to see what flavor they said for Magic Hat's main brews so I could label it on here)

What are you're initial thoughts?
I should have stuck to the Dead Guy Ale.  The moment I received the Magic Hat, I knew I made the wrong decision.  The smell was overwhelming.  I decided (with the help of my friends at the table) that this beer smells exactly like a Jolly Rancher candy.  Specifically the strawberry one.  If you have ever had one of these candies, you know it smells and tastes nothing like a real strawberry, but it is sugary sweet artificial strawberry none the less.  Now imagine that with beer undertones.  That is what the Magic Hat I ordered tasted like.  (according to other reviewers, #9 has an intense fruity apricot flavor, but I couldn't get past the candy-like flavor in general)

How's the price?
I believe I paid about $5 for a pint, which of course is more than I would like to pay for beer, but since I was eating out, I was willing to pay for it.  I assume a 6-pack is a bit more reasonably priced.

Would you ever buy this again?
Never again.  The candy flavor is not something I enjoy at all.  The beer itself is not necessarily a bad beer, but the flavor is just not my thing.

Drinks for the Drinking Nonthusiast: Rogue's Dead Guy Ale

The Contestant:
Rogue's Dead Guy Ale

Their website

The Review:
So I went out to eat with some friends, and decided to pick a random beer from the drinks menu!

What are you're initial thoughts?
Well, considering I had no idea what I had ordered, I was pleasantly surprised!  This beer is pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.  It has a distinct hoppy flavor (think bitter if you don't know what hops taste like), although it is not incredibly strong in that respect, like an IPA would be.  It was perfect with my fajita quesadillas.

How's the price?
I believe I paid about $5 for a pint, which of course is more than I would like to pay for beer, but since I was eating out, I was willing to pay for it.  I assume a 6-pack is a bit more reasonably priced.

Would you ever buy this again?
Most definitely!  I am thinking about picking up a 6-pack when I am out of the beer I have already, or maybe trying another style from Rogue.  (I've had their Chocolate Stout before and if you like a rich chocolate flavor, I suggest it!)  I will have to see what the local liquor store has in stock!  In any case, the name alone makes Dead Guy Ale appropriate for a Halloween gathering.

Drinks for the Drinking Nonthusiast: Boulder Beer's Sweaty Betty

The Contestant:
Boulder Beer Company's Sweaty Betty Blonde

Picture from their website because my camera is being derp.

The Review:
Once again, I fell victim to good marketing, and bought this beer because of the bright label and catchy name!  I was also curious as to how banana would taste in a beer.

What are you're initial thoughts?
When I first took a sip, I thought this was pretty disgusting.  I think, much like with any wheat beer that isn't a citrus flavor, I wasn't expecting the lack of citrus flavor.  The clove flavor (the beer advertises as having a banana and clove flavor), was much stronger than I had anticipated, and I honestly couldn't taste any banana. After a few days though, I tried this beer again and it tasted better than I had originally thought.  I still didn't notice the banana flavor until the very end of a glass though.  I'm a bit disappointed that the banana flavor isn't stronger because I'm rather fond of bananas.

How's the price?
I paid about $8.50 US for a six-pack, so it's pretty average when it comes to cost of wheat beer.

Would you ever buy this again?
Probably not.  While I wouldn't out and out say that this is a bad beer, I didn't enjoy every bottle of it.  I wish the banana was stronger, but even then I don't know how I would feel about it.

Drinks for the Drinking Nonthusiast: Hornsby's Hard Cider and "Beertickers" Mini Review

The Contestant:
Hornsby's Hard Cider: Amber Draft

The Review:
This is the "beer" that I wrongly bought for my roommate a few weeks ago.  All I knew was Hornsby's, and I didn't know they made two kinds of hard cider.  Apparently she only likes the other kind!  Oh well, I like this kind better, so more for me!

What are you're initial thoughts?
Compared to the other kind of cider made by Hornsby's (Crisp Apple), the Amber Draft is a whole lot less sweet.  Both have a strong apple juice flavor, but the Amber Draft is less intense.  It is still rather sweet though, and not something I would pick out if I didn't want something refreshingly sweet.  The apple flavor is more crisp than sugary though, which is nice.

How's the price?
Good question!  I don't really remember.  It's been a few weeks since I bought it and started writing up this review, but I know it wasn't too terribly expensive.  Although it wasn't cheap either.  I'm fairly certain it was between $8 and $10 for a six-pack at the local liquor store.

Would you ever buy this again?
Most definitely.  I really enjoyed the refreshing sweet taste for the summertime.  It makes a nice change from the more bitter beer I usually drink.  I also really appreciate the low-ish ABV (alcohol by volume) as compared to most hard liquors that could be made into other sweet summertime drinks.  I don't aim to get drunk when I buy alcohol anymore (as I might have a few years ago, in a less civilized time), so that is an added bonus to me!  As always, there are plenty of other good, bad, and mediocre beers out there for me to sample!

Things I learned:
Picking up the wrong kind of drink for my roommate is beneficial to me!  Well, only if she has decent tastes to begin with and doesn't like what I "accidentally" buy.

Bonus Documentary Mini Review!
I'm an unabashed documentary-holic.  I love putting on documentaries when I am doing crafts or chatting with my friends online because unlike a regular movie, I don't have to pay close attention to a plot or characters.  And I get the occasional fun and useless trivia!  I found this interesting documentary about these British guys who are "beertickers."  Essentially they drink a half-pint of some kind of ale that they haven't had before and they "tick" it in a book.  Some of the people interviewed had sampled over 20,000 (or even 30,000!) different kinds of local ale over the years!  They certainly are dedicated to their hobby; I don't think I could ever do something like that!  The film was interesting, especially to open my eyes to the insane number of different kinds of beer throughout the world.  I really need to do some research into local breweries!  Anyways, I thought the film was a good watch, so here are some links if you are interested in it!
Here's the documentary's website: Beertickers Documentary
Here's where I watched it: The documentary on Hulu

Also, are you guys interested in seeing full documentary reviews?  They would mostly be various documentaries on subcultures (next on my list is a film on pinball enthusiasts!), nerds hobbies, and the nature of human existence.

Drinks for the Drinking Nonthusiast: Intro and Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen

So I'm not someone who is hugely knowledgeable about beers or even what supposedly makes them good.  All I know is what I like and what I don't like.  But you probably gathered that already from the tone of this blog!  A little background on my taste in beer is necessary at this stage in the game.  My first and favorite beer is Blue Moon.  It's a wheat beer, which if you don't drink a whole lot of beer, just know that wheat beers have a very distinct flavor.  I'm not sure how to describe it, but they tend to be a lot more bitter than another beer of the same color.  I've found that I tend to gravitate towards wheat beers, so I will primarily be reviewing those, but sometimes I just grab something that has an appealing label (yes, I do get sucked into pretty labels sometimes!)  My all time favorite beer, although more expensive and difficult to find, is UFO, and it is rather more bitter than Blue Moon, so I hope that helps you some what gauge where my tastes lie.  Outside of the wheat beers, I sometimes drink Yuengling, but I don't touch Budweiser, Coors, Corona or any of those standard light beers that tend to show up at American college parties.  Now on to the review!


The Contestant:
Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen

Source: their website
because I forgot to take a picture

The Review:

I initially bought this beer because I was tired of Blue Moon and sad that the local liquor store doesn't stock UFO.  And I wanted to try a kind of beer that I had never had.  So this was chosen after looking around for a bit.

What are your initial thoughts?

When I took that first sip, I was a little disappointed.  Having wanted something the with the strong flavor of UFO, this came across as very weak.  There is the standard wheat beer flavor, but it almost tastes watered down to me.  Even when compared to Blue Moon, Hefeweizen has a rather weak flavor.  It is also advertised , vaguely, as having "pronounced citrus and floral aromas."  The citrus turns out to be lemon, which isn't my favorite of citrus fruits.  Lightly lemon-flavored drinks tend to make me think of cleaning products, so that flavor/ "aroma" brings this beer down a bit in my eyes.  I guess if you don't like stronger wheat beers, you should check this one out, but I would suggest pursuing other beer options instead.

How's the price?

The lower price was one of the deciding factors for buying this beer over another beer.  It cost me around $7 for a six-pack.  I know that isn't terribly inexpensive, but it is better than some of the beer I was contemplating buying by a few dollars.  As far as wheat beers go, Hefeweizen is less expensive than most, but I don't know if that is a redeeming quality for me.  Beer is one of the few things that I will spend a little more on to get something I really like.

So would you buy this again?

Probably not.  The lemon flavor isn't my favorite, and there are so many other beers out there just waiting for me to discover!

Drinks for the Drinking Nonthusiast: Frozen "Screwdrivers"

The Contestant:
Homemade frozen "Screwdrivers"

My ugly mug getting tipsy
(with bad smudged makeup from that morning)

The Review:

First off, the glass in the above picture is from a local Irish Pub that does these insanely alcoholic drinks.  And sorry for the awful pic; I was too interested in my drink to actually make myself look pretty!  Anyway, on to the review! (and recipe) These are actually made from a modified Orange Julius recipe that my good friend learned in Girl Scouts.  We modified them to make them a bit more to our tastes with added vodka!  

What are your initial thoughts?

Well like the name suggests, these drinks are orange-flavored, but kind of taste like an orangecicle.  They make perfect summer drinks for that reason, or at least I think so.  My friends and I have always put this drink on the shelf during the winter in favor of more basic drinks (like rum and coke), but bust out this messy concoction as soon as pool season hits.  The alcohol taste isn't too strong, but the recipe can easily be modified to put in more or less alcohol to your tastes.  I think I put in too much vanilla extract in this batch, but it doesn't taste bad, just stronger than usual.  They're sugary sweet and taste like innocence, if innocence had vodka in it!  The only downfall is that they get foamy when they melt and it's kind of weird to me, but as long as I drink fast enough, I don't have to worry about that.  But I think a lot of blended cream-based drinks do that?

So what's the recipe?

This recipe can be easily modified to suit your tastes, and could probably be made with different fruit flavors, but I haven't tried it.  My roommate seems interested in trying it in grape instead of orange, so if that happens I will post about how that went over (or comment and tell me if you try a different flavor!)

Frozen Screwdrivers:

6oz  frozen concentrated orange juice (or other fruit concentrate if you're feeling adventurous)

1 cup milk

1/3 cup water

2/3 cup vodka

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

8-9 ice cubes

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth!  That's it!  Makes about two large portions. Or one and a bit extra if you have a giant glass like I do!

I generally us more ice than the recipe calls for, but that's just because I like the extra crunch!  To make this recipe more or less alcoholic, just change the ratio of water to vodka.  For the nonalcoholic version use 1 cup of water and no vodka, and for a strong drink use all vodka.  Usually this version is far strong enough for me though (but I am a light weight)

So would you buy (make) this again?

Considering this is an old favorite of my friends and I, I don't think I could get away with not making these again multiple times throughout the summer.  They're not to everyone's tastes because of the orange flavor, and they are messy to make, but I like them.  And the price is right for this sweet drink, since all of the ingredients are rather inexpensive to buy, especially if you get cheap vodka!