Drinking 'Round the World

Live from the Flying Saucer 8/14/05 Part 1

2005-08-22T21:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Drinking 'Round the World! Today is a special edition as we're here at the mecca of beer, The Flying Saucer in Nashville, Tn. The Flying Saucer has over 200 beers in stock and we plan to try them all. Ok, maybe not all today, but eventually. It also has a bevy of extremely HOT schoolgirl clad waitresses. Smoking chicks who like beer. I think I'm in Heaven...

Anyhow, let's get to the reviews, shall we? Rusty didn't make the trip with us, so he won't be reviewing. Starting it off, we have Murphy's Irish Stout. I can already see Fish drooling.

Fish: Never in the history of beer has there been such a yummy delight. We all have one beer that's our 10 and this is it for me. 10 pints and I'll enjoy every one of them.
Gryphon: Excellent beer. No carbonation, very smooth, nice and full. It's the next best thing to Guinness. But it's not Guinness so I'll give it 9 pints.
Tserof: Good dark beer. Almost no aftertaste. I like it. 8 pints.
Mad Mike: That's a good beer. Very smooth. Nice and dark. I like it a lot. 8.5 pints from me.

The Woodchuckers
Jalera: This is good beer. I'm not huge on beer so that's saying a lot in itself. I'd probably give it 7 pints.
Ashlynne: I could drink this. It's certainly not as bad as most of the stuff you make me drink. 6 pints.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 8.875
Woodchuckers' Average: 6.5

Our next beer is Abita Turbo Dog.

Fish: I don't really care for this. It's got a slightly fruity flavor. And it clings to the glass like goop. That's pretty gross. Not much flavor there beyond the slight fruit. 4 pints.
Gryphon: Good beer. I get a slight root beer flavor. It's nice. Very different. I'll give it 7 pints.
Tserof: I get a strong licorice taste. Ugh. That's pretty bad. I'll give it 2 pints.
Mad Mike: It's got a pretty strong aftertaste, but it goes away quickly. This isn't too bad. Probably worth 6 pints.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Ugh. That's too bitter. Not the worst thing I've ever tried, but not good. Maybe 4 pints. I've had a lot worse
Jalera: It's too bitter for me too. Pretty bad. But like Ash, I've had worse. 3 pints.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 4.75
Woodchuckers' Average: 3.5

Up next, we have a Japanese beer, Sapporo. Let's see how it goes.

Fish: Yuck. Bad smell. Tastes kind of like a Bud Lite. That's not a compliment considering what that cost. 2 pints.
Gryphon: Just awful. People drink this? Major carbonation. It's got a nasty sour taste. 1 But Lite from me.
Tserof: I like carbonated beer, and this is too carbonated for me. It's pretty bland. I'll drink it because I bought it, but I don't much like it. 4 pints I suppose.
Mad Mike: Well, it's better than the Colt 45 was... That's about all I can say for it. 2 pints.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Ugh. That's pretty bad. Too sour. I don't like that at all. 2 Bud Lites.
Jalera: I agree with you guys. It's pretty bland. It tastes like cheap American beer, but it costs like high end import beer. Bad combo. 1 pint.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 1.75
Woodchuckers' Average: -.5

I'll be back later on with the rest of our beers from the Flying Saucer. Check back often.

Steel Reserve, Miller High Life, Colt 45, Olde English, Mike's

2005-08-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Drinking Round the World. Because we're going to be live from the Flying Saucer tomorrow, we're all a little strapped on cash for our regular Saturday night review sessions. So we sent Rusty, our resident cheap beer guru, out to buy something that would fit our tight budget for the day. We had to get to them eventually, may as well be now. Let's take a look at what we have.

Steel Reserve
Country: USA

Miller High Life
Country: USA

Colt 45
Country: USA

Olde English 800
Country: USA

Mike's Hard Berry
Country: USA

Our first beer is Steel Reserve. I see this a lot around town at the convenience stores so it must be popular. Let's see how it stands up.

Fish: Ugh. This made my eyes water. It's got a slight apple flavor, but that's not a good thing here. That's pretty disgusting. 1 pint.
Gryphon: I could smell it when Fish opened it and I was 3 feet away. I want to go on record as saying I think this is a really bad idea.. Here goes nothing. *takes a drink* Wow. That actually tastes worse than it smells and it smells like something dead. Just terrible. There's a lot of flavor there, which is more than I can say about lite beers, but none of the flavor is good. 5 Bud Lites from me. Terrible.
Tserof: You guys are crazy. This isn't bad. It doesn't smell bad either. It smells like beer. It doesn't have a strong alcohol taste. I could drink a lot of this. 5 pints.
Mad Mike: It's not horrible. I've had worse. It beats a Bud anyway. I'll go with 5 pints as well.
Rusty: I've never had this but I have to say it's pretty good. I'd buy it. It's good and it's cheap. My two favorite things. 6 pints.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Well, it's not as bad as the Coal Porter last week. But it's not very good either. I can't drink this. 3 Bud Lites.
Jalera: First, let me say that beer should not look like pee. Unfortunately, it tastes kind of like pee as well. Blech. How do you drink this stuff? 3 Bud Lites.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 2.4
Woodchucker's Average: -3

Our next beer is Miller High Life. The can claims that it's the "Champagne of Beers". We shall see...

Fish: Champagne it isn't. It's extremely carbonated and it's very weak. Not impressive. 2 pints.
Gryphon: Any resemblance between this and champagne is purely coincidental. Hell, any resemblance between this and beer is coincidental too. Bad stuff. You should not be able to read a paper through the beer. Too light and way too thin. Nasty. 1 pint.
Tserof: It's smooth. It has no aftertaste. But the flavor's not very good. I want to like it, but I really can't. 3 pints I guess.
Mad Mike: This smells like the bathroom of a bar. It's got less flavor than the Steel Reserve. I could drink it, but not if something else is available. 3 pints.
Rusty: This isn't good. It's not cheap enough to be this bad. There's better out there for less. 3.5 pints.
The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Ugh. That's worse than the last one. I've had champagne before and that's NOT champagne! 7 Bud Lites
Jalera: See, I didn't think it tasted as bad as the Steel Reserve. It wasn't good though. This one smells like pee too. 2 Bud Lites.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 2.5
Woodchuckers' Average: -4.5

Next up is Colt 45. I used to sell a lot of this when I worked in that ghetto gas station a few years ago. I always wondered what it tasted like. The winos seemed to like it. Let's see what the drinkers think.

Fish: *holds nose while drinking* The smell is just foul. And the taste isn't much better. Ugh. I'm having to chase this with Miller just to get it down, and the Miller was pretty bad. It tastes like moldy bread. Just awful. 3 Bud Lites.
Gryphon: Oh my God. That's terrible. The aftertaste keeps on going. It's like the Energizer bunny of horrible aftertaste. 5 Bud Lites. Rusty, how the hell do you drink this?
Tserof: What's wrong with it? I wouldn't drink it every day, but it's not nearly as bad as you guys are making it out to be. I'd give it 3 pints.
Mad Mike: I think someone pissed in this one. Is it supposed to taste like this? Not very good. 1.5 pints.
Rusty: Well, it doesn't go really well with the Brie we're eating. I can say that. It's mostly harmless and it's cheap. I like cheap. 5 pints.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: *Ash takes a drink and immediately sprints to the bathroom. We hear retching sounds coming from inside.* Ugh. I feel sick. That's the most horrid think I've ever had. 9 Bud Lites. Get it away from me. The smell is making me nauseous.
Jalera: It tastes like sewer water. Not that I ever drank sewer water, but I have to believe if I did, it'd taste like this. Bad. 2 Bud Lites.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 0.3
Woodchuckers' Average: -5.5

Our last beer of the night is Olde English 800. I'm not sure what happened to Olde English 1-799. Let's see what our judges think.

Fish: It's ultra-carbonated but it's smooth. It's not a terrible beer. It would be a good fishing beer. Cheap and inoffensive. 3 pints from me.
Gryphon: It's less bad than the others, but it's still pretty bad. I guess it'd be a good fishing beer. It tastes kind of like fish were swimming in it. Still, compared to Colt 45, this is awesome. 1 pint.
Tserof: This is the best out of the ones we've done. It's smooth. The carbonation isn't horrible to me. I could happily get drunk on this one. 5.5 pints.
Mad Mike: I'd drink it. Yeah. Very drinkable. It's a good beer for the end of the month when you're picking change out of the sofa and need something cheap, but don't want something that will rot your taste buds like the Colt 45. I'll give it 5 pints.
Rusty: I'm keeping the bottle. This brings back good memories. Well, technically I can't remember most of my memories with Olde English, but what I do remember is good... 9.5 pints.

Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Ugh... You guys like this? I can't make it go away. Someone give me water. Blech. 6 Bud Lites.
Jalera: *Jalera's review was not available at time of writing and will be supplied later.*

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 4.8
Woodchuckers' Average: -6

Our final review tonight is our attempt to throw a bone to the Woodchuckers. Every week they come here and make sour faces for our amusement. They don't like beer and we know they don't, but we have them drink it anyway and laugh at the results. Tonight, Ashlynne asked that she be allowed to pick out something to review. We agreed as long as it was alcoholic. Her choice was Mike's Hard Berry. She's never tried it but she's a big fan of the Mike's Limeade. Let's see what happens when the tables turn.

Ashlynne: Now this is more like it. I'm keeping this one. Wonderful berry flavor. It's not as good as the lime, but it's good. I give it 8 pints.
Fish: Hold on now. I agreed to this whole "review the girly drink" stuff, but I refuse to put a pint rating on this. What else can we use?"
Gryphon: We could use little umbrellas.
Fish: That works.
Jalera: I've never had Mike's before. This is good. Very sweet. I like it. 9 little umbrellas.

The Drinkers
Fish: It tastes like slightly sour cherry kool-aid. But it's not bad for what it is. 6 little umbrellas from me.
Gryphon: I admit to being a fan of Mike's Limeade. This one's not that, but it's good. Very berry-ish. It's a great date drink. It's got most of the alcohol of a beer, but it doesn't have the taste. It's an excellent "get in the pants" drink... 8 little umbrellas for this one.
Tserof: Yuck. The cherry taste in this is awful. I hate cherries. I'd rather just buy a mixed drink. 2 little umbrellas.
Mad Mike: I wish I could have this over shaved ice. It tastes like a snowcone. Pretty good. 7 little umbrellas.
Rusty: Very smooth. I get no alcohol taste at all. You could drink a lot of this before you knew you were drunk. 7.5 little umbrellas.

Final Tally
Woodchuckers' Average: 8.5
Drinkers' Average: 6.1

That's all for this week. Despite some pretty skunky beer, we made it through. Next time it's Nashville and an on-location report from the Flying Saucer. See you then.

Coal Porter, Left Hand, and St. Peter's Old Style

2005-08-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to another edition of Drinking Round the World. Today, we're trying out porters. Our journeys bring us two from the US and one from jolly old England. Let's look at tonight's samplers...

Coal Porter
Country: USA (Maine)

Left Hand Blackjack Porter
Country: USA (Colorado)

St. Peter's Old Style Porter
Country: England

First up, we have the Coal Porter from Maine. When I think beer, Maine isn't the first place to come to mind. But we keep our minds, and our tastebuds, open here. Besides, Ashlynne tried to drag me to a movie about Cole Porter once so maybe she'll like it based on the celebrity value. Let's see how it rates.

Fish: This is a damn good beer. Nuff said. 8 pints from me.
Gryphon: Thanks for giving me a meaty analysis of that one Fish. Should be fun to write up your part... This is a really good beer. Perhaps I've been too hard on the northern states all this time. Great bitter flavor. Really strong. Just like I like them. I'll go with 8 pints as well.
Tserof: I don't care for it. All I get is bite. No real flavor beyond the bite. I'll give it 2 pints.
Gryphon: You won't be wanting that one then. Hand it over, I'll drink it.
I didn't say I wouldn't drink it. I just said I didn't care for it...
Mad Mike: Smooth. Good flavor to me. No bad aftertaste. Tserof, you have screwed up taste buds. Plenty of flavor there. 7 pints from me.
Rusty: I get kind of a grainy aftertaste. It's not bad though. Maybe I still taste the Sierra Nevada... 6.5 pints here.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: I'm not sure how to describe this it tastes so bad. Just bad. Yech. Bad bad. 2 Bud Lites from me. *Editor's note: So much for the celebrity factor...*
Jalera: Ugh. I'm with Ash. Bad taste. Too bitter. I tried it twice and it's worse the second time. How do you drink this stuff? 2 Bud Lites here too.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 6.3
Woodchuckers' Average: -2

Second, we have Left Hand Blackjack Porter. I've seen the Left Hand Milk Stout advertised at the Flying Saucer but I've never gotten it. Should be interesting.

Fish: Very smooth. No aftertaste at all. Good beer. I'll give it 7 pints.
Gryphon: Wow. That's good. Really nice flavor and no real aftertaste. Good color. All around good beer. I'm going to have to look up more of their stuff. 7 pints here too.
Tserof: Now this is more like it. It's bitter, but there's some sweetness there also. Much better than the last one. Another 7 pints here.
Mad Mike: Just a hint of sweet taste along with the bitter. It's really nice. 7.5 from me, just to be different.
Rusty: Really smooth flavor for a bitter beer. A lot less aftertaste than the Coal Porter. 7.5 pints from me as well.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: It's not as bad as the last one. It's not good, mind you, but not as bad as the Coal Porter. I suppose that's worth 1 pint.
Jalera: Yech. Bad beer. Bad beer. But Ash is right. Not as bad as the Coal Porter. 1 from me as well.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 7.2
Woodchuckers' Average: 1

Our final beer of the night is one I'm really looking forward to. St. Peter's Old Style Porter. We tried the St. Peter's Stout not long ago and were floored by it so there are high expectations from this one. Once again it should be noted that the girls (and some of the guys) were quite taken with the gorgeous bottle it comes in. But the final proof isn't in bottle art, it's in tasting.

Fish: It's a good beer I guess, but I don't care for it for some reason. It's got some molasses flavor or something that I'm not caring for too much. 5 pints from me. Technically good, but not my thing.
Gryphon: Wow. We have a winner. Very strong. Excellent beer. Just a wonderful flavor. 8.5 pints from me.
Tserof: This one's mine. Great beer. No, seriously. I'm keeping this. *a scuffle ensues to get Tserof to let the other tasters try the beer. At $5 a bottle, we had to share one* 9 from me. Great beer.
Mad Mike: It's a little strong. I'm definitely getting the molasses flavor that Fish is talking about. I think this might be Triple Bock done right. This is what it was before the burned it, threw dirt on it, and peed in it. 6 pints.
Rusty: I get a licorice flavor. It's too thick for me. Brings back bad sense memories of the Triple Bock. Just when I'd almost gotten over it too. Back to therapy... 4 pints from me.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Still not as bad as the first one. Not good though. Too strong. 1 pint.
Jalera: Ugh!!! That's awful. 9 Bud Lites worth of awful, and only that because Triple Bock is bad enough to deserve to keep 10 as its own category. Awful.

Final Tally
Drinkers' Average: 6.5
Woodchuckers' Average: -4

That's all for this week. Join us next week when we come to you on location from the Flying Saucer in Nashville.

Mickey's, Franziskaner, Blue Star, Kelpie

2005-08-03T21:26:00.000-04:00

We really don't have a theme for this edition of Drinking Round the World, unless it's "things that don't belong elsewhere." We have two wheat beers, a kelp beer, and a malt liquor. Hey, we never said we only reviewed good beers in this space. Let's look at what we have today...

Mickey's Malt Liquor
Country: USA (Wisconsin)

Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse
Country: Germany

Blue Star
Country: USA (California)

Kelpie
Country: Scotland

First up is the Mickey's Malt Liquor. The first reaction was one of delight from some of our crew (malt liquor enthusiast Rusty), dread from some (Fish and Gryphon), and confusion from the rest ("We review malt liquors? I didn't sign up for this...) But how does it taste. Let's find out.

Fish: This isn't beer. Who took the beer? This is carbonated water with lemon. I get almost no flavor. It's refreshing, but refreshing is a word for good cold water, not beer. I'll give it 2 pints. It's not skunky like some, but that's only because it has no flavor at all really.
Gryphon: I taste no lemon. I taste no anything. Nothing. No alcohol, no hops, no malts, nothing. This is beer? *looks at bottle* It claims to be beer. It tastes like bad tapwater. I'm contacting the federal trade commission. 1 pint and I'm being generous because I'm still euphoric from the Bridgeport last time.
Tserof: Where's the beef? When I want beer, I want something more than this. This seriously needs a flavor of some kind. 2 pints.
Rusty: I like it. This is good malt liquor. It's "inoffensive". I'll drink the rest of those if you guys don't want them. 5.5 pints from me.
Mad Mike: Not horrible. Not much of anything really. Very little taste at all. But it's not nearly as bad as you guys make it out to be. 4 pints.

The Woodchuckers:
Ashlynne: *mild bitter beer face* I get a little bit of weird flavor, but not much. I'd rather have a water. 1 pint.
Jalera: No flavor. I'm not impressed. 2 pints.

Final Tally: 2.9
Drinkers' Average: 1.5

Next up, we have Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse. And yes, I had to bring an empty home and look at it again in order to spell that...

Fish: This is pretty smooth. I get a flavor of rosemary and cotton candy. It's kind of nice. 4 pints.
Gryphon: Rosemary and cotton candy? Dude, those cigs have burned off your taste buds. The rosemary is definitely there, and strong. But the cotton candy? You need to lay off the cough syrup buddy. Anyway, the beer is kind of strange. You don't expect a beer to taste like Rosemary. I might have to buy one of these to marinate a roast. 5 pints.
Tserof: Weird spice thing going on. Tastes like a Bud with pumpkin pie spice in it. 3 pints. I don't care that much for it. I'd drink it, but not if something else was there.
Rusty: Odd taste, but pleasant. I like it. 6 pints from me.
Mad Mike: Different than anything I've ever tasted. And not in a bad way. Pretty good stuff. This is the first wheat beer I've ever had. I'm happy so far. 6 pints.

The Woodchuckers
Jalera: It's a little sour, and there's that spice in there that you guys talk about. Not awful. 4 pints.
Ashlynne: Herbal. That's what I think when I drink this. Not great, but there's no aftertaste. 3 pints from me.

Final Tally:
Drinkers' Average: 4.8
Woodchuckers' Average: 3.5

Next up we have Blue Star, our second wheat beer of the night hailing from California.

Fish: Damn. This beer is good. Nice clean finish. What I expect from a wheat beer. 8 pints and hand me another.
Gryphon: Mmmm... Wheat beer. *drools like Homer Simpson* It's very wheaty, which is a good thing from a wheat beer. I'm impressed. Hell, hand me another one too. 7 pints here.
Tserof: This is good. Good taste, very little aftertaste. I like. 8 pints from me too.
Rusty: I still taste the Sierra Nevada from last time... This is good as far as I can tell. 7 pints.
Mad Mike: I think we're all still tasting the Sierra Nevada every time we burp, and probably will be for a week or two... This is good beer. No big aftertaste. Goes down nice and clean. Good flavor. I'll give it an 8.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Too sour. Yuck. 2 pints at best.
Jalera: Nice and malty. Like Guinness, but less robust. Decent beer. 4 pints from me.

Final Tally:
Drinkers' Average: 7.6
Woodchuckers' Average: 3

And our final beer is the oddball of the lot. Kelpie. Made from seaweed. Can seaweed make good beer? It's from Scotland, which should win it points with Fish (who has been known to attend Renfests bekilted). But then so is Haggis... Let's find out.

Fish: Smooth. Low carbonation. A very unique flavor. I like it. 7 pints.
Gryphon: This is the weirdest thing I've ever had. It's not bad, it's just really really odd. I don't know how to rate this. It's too alien. 5 pints I guess.
Tserof: I love this one. Strong flavor. It's sweet, but not overpowering like the Mackeson's was. 9 pints for a great beer.
Rusty: This stuff says it's made from Bladder Rack Seaweed. Not a great name for an ingredient... That said, it has a mild flavor and is very drinkable. 8 from me.
Mad Mike: Very smooth. Not bitter. Not sweet. A very balanced beer. 7.5 pints.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: This is decent. I can drink this. 6 pints.
Jalera: The chocolate flavor in this sneaks up on you. You don't notice it's there until several swigs in. It's ok. 4 pints.

Final Tally:
Drinkers' Average: 7.3
Woodchuckers' Average: 5

So there you have it, fellow drinkers. The beers have been drunk, the designated drivers assigned. Join us next time when we'll review more beers from around the globe.

Sierra Nevada, Mackeson's, Bridgeport

2005-08-01T20:17:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to another edition of Drinking Round the World. Today, we're exploring the wonderful world of stouts. Let's see what's on the menu:

Sierra Nevada Stout
Country: USA (California)

Mackeson's Triple Stout
Country: England

Bridgeport Blackstrap Stout
Country: USA (Oregon)

First up is the Sierra Nevada Stout.

Fish: This is a delightful bitter. Medium smooth. Good flavor. I'll give it 5 pints
Gryphon: Nice bitter flavor on this one. I've had better, but this is pretty good. It definitely stays with you. Kind of coats your tongue actually. I'll give it 6 pints. I'd drink this.
Tserof: This is my type of beer. Smooth and bitter. I'm enjoying this a lot. 8 pints from me.
Rusty: Really strong flavor, but it's the aftertaste that never ends. Wow. That just lingers on. 6 from me. They need to work on the aftertaste.
Mad Mike: This is the beer that keeps on giving. It tastes really good, but it keeps on tasting for a long time. I don't know how I'm supposed to rate the other beers. It's been 5 minutes and I'm still tasting Sierra Nevada. But at least what I am tasting is good. 6.5 pints from me.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: Ugh. *wildly contorted bitter beer face* That's really bitter. Too bitter. Yuck. 1 pint.
Jalera: Nice smell on this one. But way too bitter. It's smooth though. Lots of bitter aftertaste. 3 pints from me.

Final Average
Drinkers' Average: 6.3
Woodchuckers' Average: 2

Next up, we have Mackeson's Triple Stout. Considering the amount of water it took to wash the Sierra Nevada away enough to give a good review, we're all a little afraid of what a Triple Stout might taste like...

Fish: Blech. Sickeningly sweet. Bitters should not taste like sugar. Very bad stout. Someone take this. Ugh. I need a Murphy's. 1 pint from me. I guess.
Gryphon: It's not nearly as horrible as I was expecting from Fish's reaction. That said, it's not great. Tastes like coffee which is normally a good thing in my book. But this tastes like that sweet "coffee drink" crap you get at Starbucks. I'd drink it, but I'm not impressed. 4 pints from me.
Tserof: Too sweet. This doesn't taste like a beer. Are you sure this is beer? I'm with Gryph. I'll drink it, but not if something else is available. 4 pints.
Mad Mike: The aftertaste keeps getting stronger. Course, that may just be the Sierra Nevada coming back for more... Pretty good up till then though. I'll give it 7 pints. **It should be noted that this beer is exactly like Mad Mike likes his coffee. Mostly sugar**
Rusty: This has a good flavor. I like it. I'll give it a 6.5.

The Woodchuckers
Ashlynne: **slight bitter beer face** Bitter and sweet at the same time. Weird. 5 pints from me.
Jalera: Very chocolatey. That's not horrible. I'll give it 3 pints.

Final Average
Drinkers' Average: 4.5
Woodchuckers' Average: 4

Lastly, we have Bridgeport Blackstrap Stout. We're hoping for good things out of this one. I went into Frugal McDougal's looking for Murphy's and this is what they suggested as an alternative. Can it live up? Let's see

Fish: Low carbonation, low bitter, excellent finish. This is a really great beer. I was skeptical at first, but it's won me over. 8 pints and worth every one.
Gryphon: Great beer. Very full flavor. I love the low carbonation. I wish more stouts would do this. It makes for so much better drinking. 8 pints from me too. Excellent beer. One of the best we've done.
Tserof: Good taste going down. No aftertaste. Very impressive. 9 pints.
Mad Mike: Good beer. Great flavor. Very smooth. No aftertaste. If I ever go off my diet and can drink regularly again, this is what I'll be drinking. Good stuff. 9 pints.
Rusty: Very likeable. I'd buy this. Good flavor. 8 pints here.

The Woodchuckers:
Ashlynne: Too sour. Not good at all. 1 pint.
Jalera: Yeah, I get sour too. Bad stuff. I don't see what you guys are raving about. 2 pints from me.

Final Average
Drinkers' Average: 8.4
Woodchuckers' Average: 1.5

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

2005-07-31T02:21:00.000-04:00

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

2005-07-29T20:29:00.000-04:00

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.