Review: Hoegaarden Original White Ale

Hoegaarden Original White Ale ~ Currently residing on the bottom spot, below even unreviewed, unworthy, and unwanted kinds of beer-like products (such as Budweiser and Coors and so on...), this was the biggest disappointment I've ever tasted. I couldn't get through the bottle, and even Stacy, who mentioned how bad it is to leave beer behind, couldn't force herself to drink enough to get this bottle below the 3/4 level. My first thoughts were "interesting", but on my second and third sips I realized that it just didn't work for me. The cloudy, off-whitish, appearance put me off a bit; admittedly, I prefer darker and heavier beers, and this is about as far as you can get from that ideal ("white ale" being a dead giveaway of its construction). The spices didn't come through as clearly to me, and the flavor was just unpleasant and revolting enough that I couldn't continue. The feel of the beer was more reminiscent of a malt beverage such as a Zima ~ it felt like it wanted to go after the refreshing, keep-the-wine-cooler-drinkers-on-beer kind of thing. The bottom line, however, was that the taste of it was so off-putting, refreshment was out of the question. To be fair, even though I kind of don't feel it deserves it, the label itself recommends a hexagonal glass, with a very specific kind of pour, and we were glass-less at our tasting... however, there wasn't a shred of decency there that would lead me to try to drink it in the proper manner.

Review: Victory HopDevil Ale

Victory HopDevil Ale ~ Clearly, by the name, a very hopped up beer, I found this to be very enjoyable. I think I would have preferred to see how it worked in the glass instead of the bottle, but Locksley's doesn't bring out any glasses with their bottled beer ~ not even generic one-size-fits-alls, let alone the proper glass for the beer. Given the bottle, I didn't get a good look at the beer itself, but that couldn't stop me from giving it a sniff, and the smell of hops jumped right out at me. I was impressed with the first taste, and the beer remained enjoyable throughout. I couldn't help but compare it to Dogfish Head's 90 Minute Ale, and, in that regard, it was wanting. That said, it was an excellent beer, and preferable to many others I've tasted.