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's Circus Boy

The Contestant:
Magic Hat Brewing Company's Circus Boy

Once again, I had to get the label from their website

The Review:
Here is a little known fact about myself:  my favorite color is yellow.  And the sunshiny label, combined with the fun name, of this hefeweizen, sold me.  I had no choice but to purchase it.  Oh well, on with the review!

What are you're initial thoughts?
I had no idea what to expect from this beer because the label didn't give me any hints as to what the flavor would be beyond the usual wheat beer taste.  It was surprised when it had a rather nutty flavor!  I had never had a nutty tasting wheat before, but this was delicious!  The flavor is rather light in general, but not too incredibly light that it has no flavor.  To compare, Blue Moon is around the same flavor intensity, although Circus Boy is more smooth in my opinion.

How's the price?
I paid about $8.99 US for a six-pack, so it's on the upper end of average price for a wheat.

Would you ever buy this again?
Most definitely!  I enjoyed it, especially for the change from a citrus-y wheat or the powerful UFO.  Plus, looking at the bright label makes me happy when I drink this beer!

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: Victory's Moonglow Weizenbock

The Contestant:
Victory Moonglow Weizenbock

Source: their website

The Review:

What are your initial thoughts?
Well I bought this beer wanting something different from my usual, but still wanting a wheat beer.  The pretty colors on the label caught my attention this time.  I'm not so sure about the flavor though.  Unlike the other wheat beers I have tried, this one has the "flavors of harvest fruit" (says their website).  Which I determined  actually means blueberry.  That was a bit of a surprise, when I was definitely not expecting that flavor.  I'm not a huge fan of blueberry, so I might pawn this beer off on my boyfriend, and drink the beer that I incorrectly bought for my one roommate (Right company, wrong type! but more on that later).  Other than the blueberry flavor, which isn't incredibly strong or sweet, this beer is pretty decent.  Although on a funny side note, when doing a bit of research on this beer, I discovered that it is only supposed to be available September through October.  Last time I checked it was July (or June when I actually bought this), so this particular six-pack has to be almost a year old.  I'm not a huge beer nut, but I always thought that young beer is better beer (or so my dad has me to believe), but I also don't know what makes older beer worse.  Maybe I should research, or just ask my dad!

How's the price?
I paid around $10 for a six-pack at the local liquor store.  That is definitely more than I would like to pay for my beer, but I really wanted to try this out.  I don't think it's worth the price. but apparently it is imported from Germany, so I guess that is what makes it more expensive than something of a more local origin.

So would you buy this again?
Very doubtfully.  I'm really disappointed with my purchase this time.  That might be mainly because of the blueberry flavor, but I'm not sure.  If you already like blueberry beers, this might be something for you to try, but it's certainly not going to be something I want again.

Things I learned:
1. I think wiezenbock means wheat beer.  I notice it a lot on the labels of the wheat beers I already drink, and this made it a bit more obvious to me.
2. Labels and descriptions on beer when I go look at them at the store are really poorly written.  "Floral" and "fruity" are not specific terms and do nothing to help a description!  Oh well, I am learning to interpret these ambiguous descriptions.

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!