Review: Alpha King, Three Floyd's Brewery

Mmmmmm...I'll review it the next time I get a bottle, I'm just gonna enjoy this one.

I really like it; I'd say it's the best Pale Ale I've had yet.  Should have a review up in the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, let us hear your opinion on Alpha King.

Blind Taste Test: Sprecher Winter Brew vs. Capital Winter Skal

Today, I've got a blind taste test set up between two of Wisconsin's most well-known microbreweries and their respective winter seasonals: Capital Brewery winter seasonal Winter Skal will be going up against Sprecher's Winter Brew.  I'm going to have one marked and one unmarked glass, and have them poured without my knowledge.



I've had both Winter Skal and Winter Brew before, most recently drinking both in the same night a couple weeks ago.   I wasn't trying to rate or compare them at the time, but from what I remember they tasted pretty similar.

Beer A has a nice medium-dark amber color.  It developed a thin head that faded quickly.  While a lot of beer geeks feel that the head on a beer is highly important, I'm one that doesn't.  The best reasoning that I can come up with is the fact that I'm still in college, so conserving even a small amount of beer makes a difference

The smell that I came up with was nice and malty, with a slightly sweet hint.  This was confirmed with the first sip.  The body of the beer isn't the thickest I've ever come across.  I would rate it to be on the light side of medium bodied.  I'd say this is a very drinkable beer.  It's not very thick and not at all bitter.

Beer B is a dark brown color that's barely translucent.  The head was much thicker than the one produced by Beer A, and a thin layer remained on the beer for the duration of the testing. 

Beer B gave off a strong chocolate aroma.  My initial thought that the two were pretty similar seems like it was way off.  Maybe I drank the two beers a little too quickly?  The first sip reveals that I was definitely wrong.  The smell is similar to the taste--a definite chocolate flavor.  Normally I'm not a huge fan of the unsweetened chocolate flavor, but I think that this beer does it right.  There's no bitter aftertaste.  It doesn't have the drinkability of Beer A, but for a beer this dark it is definitely drinkable.  I could see going through several of these on a cold night. 


Now that I've come up with review for both beers, I'm going to try drinking them in different orders.  Somehow I came up with the conclusion that they were similar, when the reality is that they're very different. 

First I drank Beer A before Beer B.  The flavors of Beer B are very noticeable.  When I drank Beer B before Beer A, The flavors of B lingered a lot more.  Something tells me I had Beer B before Beer A when I had them back to back a few weeks ago.

I would say that Beer B is the better of the two.  It's noticeably more flavorful, and I like the taste.  While it isn't as drinkable, it's very drinkable for a darker style of beer and the flavor more than makes up for the drinkability differences.

And the winner is.....

Sprecher Winter Brew



Ok, I'll admit it.  I knew that Winter Brew was a Bock and that Winter Skal wasn't before the taste test, so the second I saw that one beer was significantly darker than the other I knew which was which.  The blind taste testing will need a little refining (and some cups you can't see through), but being able to alternate between the two in different ways (rather than drinking an entire Winter Skal, then an entire Winter Bock) allowed me to differentiate the two in a way I couldn't before.

Do you agree with my take? Disagree? Let us know in the comments.

Review: Klisch Pilsner, Lakefront Brewery

With the holidays upon us, I decided to kick the blog off with a Christmas Eve beer review.  I'll be reviewing a local: Lakefront Brewery's Klisch Pilsner.

(picture on the way)

I'm not necessarily your typical beer reviewer.  The first thing that I notice about a beer comes before I even buy it.  Because of the display we're working on, I take notice of the appearance of a bottle first.  In my opinion, Klisch is pretty nice.  It's not the coolest I've ever seen, but I've always liked the look and colors of Lakefront's bottles.   I like the unique art on different styles (as opposed to the standard "company logo with a different color label" that a lot of beers do).

The first thing I do after opening the bottle is pour most of it into the glass.  My pour revealed a medium golden color with a small head.  The head stayed longer than I expected, considering how thin it was.  It didn't leave any noticeable lacing.

The beer smells sweet and light.  The hops give it a slight citrus smell.  My first impression is that it seems like it will be a very nice beer to drink on a hot day.  The first sip confirms this impression.  This beer is lighter than the other Pilsners I've had, but I don't mind it one bit.  It's definitely a beer I could drink a lot of.  It has a fairly light flavor that isn't unpleasant at all.

I would give this beer a B-.  Not bad, but I probably won't be buying it in six packs anytime soon.

Have you had Klisch? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments.

Additional Info:
Klisch on Lakefront Website
Klisch on Beer Advocate
Klisch on Rate Beer

The Glassware: Part 1

To everyone who has a passion for beer, what you're drinking out of is almost as important as what you're drinking.

Here at The 441, we've all got our favorite glasses.  With my first glassware article, I'm going to share another passion of mine with you.  Since I was a kid, I've loved basketball, college basketball in particular.  I decided to go to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in part because they had an NCAA Division I  basketball team that had been extremely successful when I was in high school.  Once I got to UWM, I turned into a diehard fan of the Panthers.

As a result, one of my go-to glasses (and the one I'll be using tonight) is this Milwaukee Panther pint glass:

I got three of them from going to radio shows hosted by Milwaukee basketball coaches Rob Jeter and Sandy Botham.

Apologies to anybody who can tell that yes, this is in fact a Miller Lite glass.  I'll admit that if I'm low on funds and in the mood, I'll still crack open a Miller...or several (though after really getting into the craft scene, I'll feel bad about it.)

Amendments to the original rules of The Wall

It quickly became clear that we were going to need ot adjust the original guidelines, which were made when we only had about 25 different bottles.

Part 1: General Rules

I.      All bottles on The Wall should have tops (if it doesn’t have a top, obtaining one should be a priority.)

No amendments to this rule, but we haven't necessarily followed it perfectly.

III.  Cans may only be put on The Wall if a valid argument can be made for them (i.e. “The Sapporo can could break most bottles.  It’s badass enough for The Wall.”)

Sorry Sapporo, 80-some bottles later there's simply no room for cans.

• Cans may not be placed on The Wall.
• Bottles must be no larger than 16 oz. to be placed on The Wall

IV. No Budweiser/Busch Products (Anheuser-Busch products are allowed, just nothing under the Budweiser/Busch brand names)

If there was one rule that I thought would never change, it was this one.  Being a craft brew fan living in Milwaukee, Budweiser is a profanity even among the 95 percent who aren't into the micro scene.  However, Phin discovered this beer (If you can't read it, click on "Ano" to view the website, then google translate should do the rest).  As a result, acquiring a Budweiser product has become a priority.

• If you see a bottle of Czechvar or Budweiser-Budvar,  you should buy it.

Part 2: The Top Shelf

We haven't needed any amendments for this section of the rules

Part 3: Shelving Order

I.      The front row on the bottom shelf should be selected the same way as the front row of the top shelf.

Derek hasn't been too adventurous of late, so the bottom shelf's top row is a 50/50 split between Phin and me.  We'll get this rule going when Derek gets enough beers he loves to fill his bottom row.

II.    With the exception of the beers selected for the front rows on the top and bottom shelves, bottles should be grouped by brewery.

The odd shape of certain bottles (I'm looking at you, Sprecher) has made it so that grouping by brewery will require us to take additional bottles off of the wall.  100's a pretty number, we're not grouping by brewery.

III.  The “display” row on the bottom shelf should have 2 rows behind it before any additional rows are added to the top shelf.

Well, this isn't an issue anymore.

Like the amendments? Anything we should Add?  Let us know in the comments

The original rules of The Wall

At the beginning of the year, the three of us had already put together a nice little collection of bottles. Phin and Derek lived together last year, and I already knew them. 

When we moved in, we decided that we were going to try and turn the space above our sink into a great display case.  Within a few weeks of Phin turning 21, we had filled the first row of both the top and bottom shelves, and it became clear we needed to set some standards.

We're constantly making changes as the collection expands, but here's the list of rules we started with at the beginning of the year.  (And for the record, the rules were absolutely meant to sound overly official.)

Rules of The Wall

Part 1: General Rules

I.      All bottles on The Wall should have tops (if it doesn’t have a top, obtaining one should be a priority.)

II.    If bad memories are associated with the bottle, replacing it should be a priority.  Upon finding a replacement, the replaced bottle should be destroyed.

III.  Cans may only be put on The Wall if a valid argument can be made for them (i.e. “The Sapporo can could break most bottles.  It’s badass enough for The Wall.”)

IV. No Budweiser/Busch Products (Anheuser-Busch products are allowed, just nothing under the Budweiser/Busch brand names)

Part 2: The Top Shelf

I.      All members of the apartment are allowed 5 choices to be displayed on the Top Shelf.  

II.    The remaining 2 spots, known as the “wild cards” are determined by a majority vote of the house.

III.  If a member of the house want to select larger bottles for the top row, they must give up the rights to a fifth bottle on the top row.  The remaining 2 members then agree upon a third “wild card” bottle.

Part 3: Shelving Order

I.      The front row on the bottom shelf should be selected the same way as the front row of the top shelf.

II.    With the exception of the beers selected for the front rows on the top and bottom shelves, bottles should be grouped by brewery.

III.  The “display” row on the bottom shelf should have 2 rows behind it before any additional rows are added to the top shelf.

IV. Small bottles should go as far forward as personal preference allows, and large bottles should go in the back row on either shelf.

Like our rules? Think we should add any? Let us know in the comments.