Type: Beer – Porter
Name: Baltika Breweries #6 Porter
Price: $1.79
Made: St. Petersburg, Russia
Alc/Vol: 7%

OK first thing first, it’s Wednesday I know but hey after I drank this pint down at 7% I was feeling a little less like writing and a little more like dancing and singing and maybe napping.

Image Property of Baltika.Ru

When I think of Russia, I think of their beloved clear, odorless, tasteless vodka. I know some of you may have an odd look about you, but vodka without the added flavorings should not taste nor smell like anything. Vodka and Russia go hand in hand but when I pour this dark porter into my glass it seems to be the furthest thing from its favored cousin. (more…)

Type: Beer- English Porter
Name: Harviestoun Brewery – Old Engine Oil
Price: $3.79
Made: Hillfoots Village, Scotland
Alc/Vol: 9%

Image Property of Harviestoun.com

It says it right on the bottle, “Blackest Ale” and boy is that truth. This beer pours a dark almost pure black color with just a tiny bit of head – a coffee/caramel color lacing. The beer almost seemed thicker than your average beer as it poured out of the bottle although this could just be my imagination going with the “Engine Oil” name. Yet for all it’s dark deep character, the nose is light. You don’t get much from it, which from such a dark brew you would expect a deep rich aroma. (more…)

Image property of Yuengling.com

Type: Beer – Porter / Black & Tan
Name: Yuengling – Black & Tan
Price: $6.00 for a 6-pack
Made: Pottsville, PA
Alc/Vol: 4.7%

In the words of Yuengling, “It took 180 years to become an overnight success” …that is, in Ohio at least. I’ve heard of Yuengling for years but never had the opportunity to enjoy it until I traveled east out of Ohio. The way I heard it was that due to those dirty distributer who were in the back pocket of Bud, Miller and Coors companies. Yuengling didn’t have a fighting chance to even break ground in Ohio. I’m not sure if that is true, but what I do know is that I had to travel to Savannah, New Bern, and other eastern locations to enjoy this brew.

I am a fan of microbrews, their only downside is that they typically cost more than your Millers, Buds or Coors. The catch with this brew is that it typically runs the same price as your watered down beers – which I guess isn’t really a catch.

Now that we are done with the history and economics lesson onto the brew. Assuming you’ve all been fully educated at Monkey Brew U.’s Half and Half vs the Black and Tan lesson you are aware that this is not your self concocted mix. No, my furless friend this is a pre-mix batch and Yuengling isn’t the only brewery that does this.

This beer has a deep porter scent, while it is a slightly mild scent it still comes through. You get the air of coffee and caramel through the nose and the taste. The coffee taste lingers at the tip of the tongue, with a slight carbonated ting. The aftertaste has bit of a bitter dryness to it.

The truth is that it doesn’t have the strongest taste compared to your typical microbrews nor can be compared to the strong taste of a Guinness mixed into a half-n-half  but that doesn’t mean it is watered down like the major breweries. It lands somewhere in between, it really is a good introduction for someone who wants to know what real beer taste like, or you know that beer has a taste.

Nowadays since Yuengling has made a recent and huge presence Ohio, I typically enjoy their beer, especially when my draft options are ick, yuck, blah and Yuengling Lager. I would recommend this beer to anyone who hasn’t tried it, especially if they don’t want to buy two different types of beer but still want that black and tan mix. Overall I give this brew 3 and a half out of 5 bananas, not to shabby for a pre-mix.

What’s your thought on this brew?

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It shouldn’t be a surprise that here on MonkeyBrewster we often revisit an Irish theme. I’ve highlighted a few Irish brews on my New Brew Tuesday feature, such as Dundee Irish Red Lager, Ohara’s Irish Stout, and the Black-n-Tan vs the Half-n-Half. I talked about my St. Patty’s day celebration in Cleveland last year, which I’m doing one better by revisiting and adding my weeding to my fiancé to it this year. I even highlighted an Irish pub in Rio de Janeiro that I visited every once in a while when I was living in Brazil. Being so close to St. Patrick’s day I feel I must revisit all things Irish and take a look at 4 Irish/Irish style beers. I can’t really tell you what an Irish beer is, even the beloved Guinness is owned and run by an English company, Diageo. True Guinness is still made in Ireland, at least some of it is, but this is all tit for tat and is missing the point. The point you ask? Let’s Drink!

Type:  Beer - Irish Stout
Name: Murphey’s stout
Made: UK (Ireland)
Alc/Vol: 4%

This is dark colored stout that has a nice thick head that sticks to the glass. It has that coffee scent to it and the taste is coffee like but almost an iced coffee taste. It isn’t too strong in any of its flavorings although I can catch a hint of. Overall I was a bit disappointed with this beer, it has that dark Guinness look but doesn’t have the taste. Which I realize no other stout has that taste, but it didn’t even have the Lion Stout taste. Sadly this stout fiddled out only 2 out of 5 bananas on its rating.

Type: Beer -Euro-Pale Lager
Name: Harp
Made: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada (Ireland)
Alc/Vol: 5%

This beer has a nice but pungent smell, thicker and more aroma than the Murphy’s Stout. The color is a light yellow but it’s thick full taste and full of hops. Harp has a nice dry finish,  the hops tingles the tip of your tongue as you drink this one down, although that could simply be because unlike the Murphey’s or Wexford this is a carbonated beer. This is a good quality mass produced lager that is easy to find at any Irish pub and goes good with your Black-n-Tan (Half-n-Half), and happens to be produced under Guinness Ltd. However, it is still mass produced so it does have a generic lager taste, albeit a better quality than you can typically find. This hearty lager earns 3 out of 5 bananas.

Type: Beer - Irish Red Ale
Name: Smithwick’s
Made: Dublin, Ireland
Alc/Vol:4.5%

This beer, pronounced “Smidick’s” has a thicker head than the Harp and was more of a mild spiced less hops type beer. Head lasted longer than the Murphey’s Stout surprisingly. It is a full flavored beer that like Harp is mass produced by Guinness Ltd. Although it is spiced it is still slightly watered down, missing a kick as if they tamed it down a bit. It is an easy Irish beer to enjoy if you are looking to dabble in the world of beer and don’t want too much of a hops bite in your brew. It isn’t my favorite Irish Red Ale but it is still one of my favorite styles of beer so I’m a bit biased in that manner which is why it earned 3 1/2 out of 5 bananas.

Type: Beer - English Bitter
Name: Original  Wexford Irish Style Crème Ale drought
Made: United Kingdom
Alc/Vol: 5%

This brew was different, and not the good kind. I’m not sure what was going on here, the color is not what I was expecting with a yellow/copper-ish color to it and a thick cream head. OK the cream head I was expecting but not the color. It had a toffee, vanilla and caramel mix taste that just didn’t blend right for my liking. It had a creamy mouth feel, yet still tasted watered down, it just was not impressive. This brew, like the Murphy’s Stout was served in a nitro-can which could attribute to the change in flavoring from what I was expecting. This beer only earns 1/2 out of 5 bananas. Sorry Wexford.

Need some good drinking songs to keep you jamming while you drink your liver away this St. Patty’s Day? Then check out my list of 103 Drinking Songs.

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Type: Beer – Stout
Name: Ohara’s Irish Stout
Price: $2.50
Made: Ireland
Alc/Vol: 4.3%

In honor of St. Patrick, who was actually Welsh, on his day where we celebrate something about getting rid of snakes and emptying fluids – or was that getting rid of Druids? Anyways the Welsh guy did Catholic stuff to Ireland. (Ten years ago that wouldn’t of sounded perverted) So as far as I know, the little leprechaun kidnapped St. Patrick made him shorten his name because it was too big (thus calling him Patty even though he was a guy) and made him drink green beer.

Anyways enough about him, onto the beer. I figured sure I could go buy a Guinness, Harp or Smithwick’s but everyone knows them already which takes the fun out of it. It’s my duty to showcase something new, fresh and Irish.

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