Wexford, O'Hanlon's, and St. Peter's

Today we have three beers up for review. This week, we've decided to take a hop across the big pond, where the wonders of English and Irish beer await us. Let's take a look at them.

Wexford Cream Ale
Country: Ireland

O'Hanlon Ruby Stout
Country: England

St. Peter's Cream Stout
Country: England

First up is the Wexford Cream ale.

Fish: This beer is just like buttah. Very smooth, great pour, and wonderful taste. An all-around good beer. I'll give it 7 pints.

Gryphon: I've had "cream" beers before, but this is the only one that has truly earned the title for me. Just an amazing creamy texture. Really good taste for something that's not a stout. I'll give it 7 pints as well.

Tserof: I love it. I'm keeping this one... I'll give it 7 pints too.

Rusty: This has no real flavor for me, and it has a funky aftertaste. It's nice to look at, but I don't much care for it. It gets 5 pints from me. I'd rather have the malt liquor. Do we have anymore of that?

Mad Mike: I don't get a lot of flavor from this either, actually. This scares me, but I'm going to have to go with Rusty on this one. 5 pints.

Ashlynne: **Very minor bitter beer face** Yeah, that aftertaste is really bad. Not horrible going down, but the aftertaste is a bit much. The aftertasted lessened some from a glass rather than out of the bottle. I'd probably give it 6 pints.

Jalera: **major bitter beer face** That sucks! It has no flavor. How can you guys like that? Blech! No pints from me.

Final Tally:
Drinkers' Average Score: 6.2
Woodchuckers' Average Score: 3


The next beer up for tasting is O'Hanlon Ruby Stout. This one is "infused with wine". Should be interesting.

Fish: Fruity. Smooth, but way too carbonated for my tastes. I'm not big on wine spoiling my beer either. 4 pints from me is all.

Gryphon: It's not horrible. Has an interesting fruit flavor, I suppose from the wine. I agree with Fish on it being too carbonated. This isn't coca cola, folks. I liked it better than him, but not much. 5 pints for me.

Tserof: It's not bad, but it's not great either. The Wexford was better. 5 pints for me too.

Mad Mike: It's got a bit too much aftertaste to it, but was pretty smooth up till then. I liked it. 7.5 pints from me.

Rusty: I get a little bit of aftertaste from it too, but it's very drinkable. I could definitely enjoy one of these. 6 pints here.

Ashlynne: **moderate bitter beer face** Ugh. Not good. This is way too bitter, and it leaves a nasty aftertaste. 2 pints from me, and it's lucky to get those.

Jalera: Yech! **major bitter beer face** That's nasty! It smelled nice, but it tastes awful. 1 pint from me, and only grudgingly then.

Final Tally:
Drinker's Average: 5.5
Woodchuckers' Average: 1.5


Our final beer this go around is St. Peter's Cream Stout. Everyone is really impressed by the bottle for this thing. It's like artwork. But the real test is what's inside...

Fish: Oh my God... That's wonderful. Extremely low carbonation. Perfect color. Great stout bitter. Very smooth. I think I'm in love. 9 pints from me.

Gryphon: Wow. Wonderful. This is just an excellent stout in all facets. Very smooth. 9 from me also.

Tserof: I get a chocolate taste from it. Awesome beer. More chocolate than any beer I've ever tasted. 9 here also.

Mad Mike: Tastes like unsweetened cocoa to me. I like it. Just not as much as these guys. 7 pints.

Rusty: Indistinct. I don't know what else to say about it. 7 pints from me as well.

Ashlynne: **Uncertain bitter beer face** I'm not sure what to think of this. It's not bad, but the bitter aftertaste does it in. 4 pints from me.

Jalera: Yeah, I agree. Too bitter. 4 pints from me too.

Final Tally:
Drinkers' Average: 8.2
Woodchuckers' Average: 4

Introductions

Welcome! You are entering a world. A world not only of sight and sound, but of beer. Lots and lots of beer. Beer from all over. Good beer, bad beer, and beer that's somewhere in the middle. Only the names have been changed to protect the inebriated...

Drinking 'Round the World is the attempt by a group of 5 brave men and 2 exasperated women to learn about the cultures of the world, through their beers. Each week we will drink 2-3 different brands and styles of beer, and post our opinions in this forum.

So what makes us different than more established sites like Beer Advocate? We think it's because our group of real-life friends represents one of the widest ranges of opinions you'll find anywhere, all in one place. Our backgrounds and drinking habits are diverse and we often clash over the definition of good vs. skunky beer. If we all like something, you can be sure you probably have a winner on your hands.

Our scoring scale is simple. Good beers will receive 1 to 10 "pints of Guinness", or just "pints." Really bad beer receives 1 to 10 Bud Lites. If a beer ever receives the dreaded "Triple Bock" seal, it has been deemed the worst beer in history. In all the Drinkers' years of accumulated experience, we've not found a beer that matches Triple Bock in nastiness, and we hope never to.

So, let's meet our motley cast of characters, shall we?

Gryphon
"The Rookie"



Favorite Beer(s): Guinness, Yazoo Onward Irish Stout
Least Favorite Beer: Samuel Adams Triple Bock, Bud Lite
Bio: Gryphon is a relative newbie to beer. He grew up thinking he hated the stuff, only to be given a pint of Guinness one day. He then discovered that he didn't hate beer, he hated cheap mass-marketed beer. The rest is history. Gryphon is also the group's scribe, in charge of recording each week's beer opinions for posterity

Fish
"The Beer Snob"




Favorite Beer: Murphy's Irish Stout
Least Favorite Beer: Samuel Adams Triple Bock, anything with "Lite" in the title
Bio: Some people would call Fish a "connossieur" of beer. But we all know him for what he really is, the beer snob. He looks down his nose at people drinking Miller. He waxes rhapsodic about the comparative merits of filtered vs. unfiltered wheat beers. He makes jokes about Fosters (Australian for water) and American beers (like sex in a canoe). He's slowly working at turning Gryphon into a beer snob acolyte.

Rusty
"The Bad Beer Gourmet"


Favorite Beer: Colt 45, Lazer
Least Favorite Beer: Anything that doesn't come in a 40, Samuel Adams Triple Bock
Bio: Rusty has turned the title "cheap drunk" into an art form. It's not that he doesn't "appreciate" good beer, per se. It's just that there's so much more of the cheap stuff to be had for the same price. Loves to get nostalgic about the good old days in college where a quickie mart down the road sold Colt 45 and King Cobra for $.99 a bottle.

Tserof
"The Mikey of Beers"



Favorite Beer: The beer in his hand at the moment
Least Favorite Beer: Yet to be discovered
Bio: Tserof is like Mikey. He'll drink anything. I mean anything. We've been trying to locate a bottle of Triple Bock for him to try just to prove to ourselves that he really will drink motor oil. Tserof is an indiscriminate drinker, consuming Pabst Blue Ribbon and McEwan's Scotch Ale with the same vigor. Whatever's on dollar draft is fine with him. We use Tserof to dispose of the beer none of the rest of us would drink. Other sites have "drain pours" to denote bad beer. We have "We left the six pack for Tserof."




Ashlynne
"The Bitter Beer Face"
Favorite Beer: Woodchuck Dark & Dry Cider
Least Favorite Beer: Most of the rest of it
Bio: Ashlynne is Gryphon's wife. She is an auxiliary member of the Drinking Around the World team but serves a useful purpose. The severity and duration of Ash's "bitter beer face" upon trying the various brews is another benchmark by which we judge. Prefers her alcohol to have "Mike's" in front of it.

Jalera
"The Slightly Less Bitter Beer Face"
Favorite Beer: Guinness, Woodchuck Pear Cider
Least Favorite Beer: Most everything else
Bio: Ashlynne's companion in Woodchuck consumption. Jalera likes some beer, but prefers things that taste like fruit. Acts as a bridge between the Drinkers and Ashlynne.

So there you have it. Our cast of characters. Come back next week when we should have the first two sets of reviews up.