Friday Grog Blogging: Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Yo Ho Ho and a sack of doubloons. Tonight I'm drinking Rogue's Dead Guy Ale. This is my first official foray into Rogue's extensive catalog. Head downstairs for some Roguery.



Dead Guy Ale's a golden, murky amber. Rogue says it's a German-style Maibock, but it's different from other maibock's I've had. A hint of sweet aftertaste. A little hoppy, but good to swish around your mouth.

I'd say it was a Charlie beer, but I've been doing that a lot lately. I have to say it's a Mike.
Five and 7/8 out of eight pints.

Friday Grog Blogging: Schild Brau

Yippie Ki Yay, Neddarinos. This week I'm rambling about Millstream's Schild Brau. Here's More Dwarf than you can handle.



It's quite an interesting brew, almost sweet. Nice and cold. The head faded quickly; on this beer it's a good thing. Mmmm. A beautiful, clear orange-brown. This really rounds out the trifecta. It's official: Millstream Sample Pack, you rock!

Six pints out of Eight. This is a Charlie beer.

Friday Grog Blogging: Colony Oatmeal Stout

Avast! Tonight be the series finale of Stargate SG-1, and I'm drinking Millstream's Colony Oatmeal Stout, the second beer from the Sample Pack. You may not want More Dwarf, but you're getting it.



Pouring: It's got a nice, thick head that's a darker brown than normal for a stout. Cool.
First Sip: It's spicy, and oatmealy, and all in all quite good. It's got a pleasant aftertaste that doesn't thud in the gut. Mmmm. I might actually like this better than the Remarkable Vanilla Porter. This Millstream Sample Pack has really come through in ways that the John's Generations White failed to.

Rankings: Six and a half out of Eight pints.
Microbrew scale: If you like porters, this is a Charlie beer. If you don't, it's a porter.

Friday Grog Blogging: Windmill Wheat

Ach, ye great galoots! It be time fer the Grog Blog. Windmill Wheat be our grog this night, buckos. If'n ye want me opinion, then head below decks for More Dwarf.




Okay, enough of the Scotch-Dwarf-Pirate talk. Tonight we're drinking Millstream's Windmill Wheat, the first beer from our Sample Pack. Previously I had tried their John's Generations White, which was not from the sample pack - I nicked a bottle from a 6-pack I bought for my sister. Anyways...


It's got a bit of a bite. A better body, and much more interesting, than the John's Generations. It's a bit wheaty, yeah. All in all a pretty good beer.

Scoring: Six out of Eight pints.
This is probably a Charlie beer. I know I'm a fan of Mike beers, usually, but this is good.

Friday Grog Blogging: John's Generations White

And we're back to the Friday Grog Blogging! Sorry about last week; there was a freak Pirate swarm that dragged me away from my booze.

This week is a beer from Millstream Brewing Company, John's Generations White Ale. Head on down to More Dwarf for "The Rest. Of the Story".


Well, it's a beer. It's kind of cold. Tastes a little like a belgian white, but more...banal? Mundane? Almost like someone stole half the flavor. A little hint of citrus? Maybe, but I can't be certain.

I was expecting better.

Four and a half out of eight pints.
Microbrew: Summer

Saturday Slacking - Grog Blog: Lunar Ale

Hey hey! So it's Saturday, and as I promised, here's my Grog Blog about Boulevard's Lunar Ale. It's late, but I'm ready to have more beer. I'm watching The Lost Room on DVD now, but you deserve my beer ramblings. Head down to More Dwarf.




Poured out in the glass, it's a nice, cloudy brown color. Almost more of a dark orange color, with a head of foam that holds up, but isn't an impenetrable barrier.

First sip - There's a bitterness that quickly diminishes. It's a full taste, high up in the front of the mouth.

It's a nice brown beer, but nothing special.

Five out of eight beers. On the Microbrew scale, it's probably a Mike.

Friday Grog Blogging: Breck's Vanilla Porter

Welcome to Friday Grog Blogging, the time of the week when I buy beer, drink it, and ramble. This week I'm enjoying Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter, an "ale brewed with real vanilla beans". Continue on for More Dwarf.



First Impressions: There's a strong aftertaste of vanilla. Which is good, because it's supposed to. It's dark and warm, but not too heavy. A mild beeriness spreads out over the top of the mouth, and then hits like a thud in the gut. The vanilla really mitigates the growliness, which sets it apart from other porters. After about a bottle and a half, it's really starting to fill me up.

A decent porter with a strong finish of vanilla. Six out of eight pints.

Friday Grog Blogging: Great White

Welcome back to Friday Grog Blogging, in which I buy a new brand of beer, drink it, and then describe it. This week, May 4, is a wheat beer from Lost Coast Brewery that they call Great White Beer. Let's go to More Dwarf, eh?


Impressions: poured out in a glass, it's almost as clear as Bell's Lager. Hrm. It claims to be an 'unfiltered beer' but we're approaching American piss-water in color.

What the hell, down the hatch. It's aboust a light as last week's, but it has a fairly strong aftertaste of lemon. Really helps sell the 'wheat beer' branding. More accurately, it's a taste of generic citrus, but lemon is the generic citrus, so that's what it tastes like.

There's not much foam, and it quickly disperses. Starting on my second bottle, I have to revisit my statements on its clarity. While it's not as opaque as a belgian or even Blue Moon, it's sufficiently translucent as to be a passable wheat.

It's a beer, alright, but the only thing that stands out is the citrus. No snarl, no hops or barley, just a 'delicate citrusy flavor'. What a coincidence - that's just what the bottle says.

I'm starting a new scale for ranking that will triple the available scores. Since I know I could never give out either a rating of zero, one, or four pints, that only leaves me with giving out two, three, or some fraction thereof. That's an unacceptably small window.

So starting tonight, I'm going to rank Friday Grogs on a scale of eight, eight being the perfect beer (strongbow about 7.5), and 0 being unspeakably vile (miller light, etc about 1).

On this new and improved scale, Great White Beer ranks about 5 1/2 pints out of 8.

Friday Grog Blogging: Bell's Lager Beer

Hello and welcome back to Friday Grog Blogging. This week, the last week of April, I’ll be discussing Bell’s Lager Beer, a "Lager of the Lakes". Continue on to More Dwarf for my review and scoring.

I wanted to go for something lighter this week, after last week's 'classic' red/porter. I wasn't disappointed. It's definitely lighter.

Impressions: Clear and yellowy, this is just beer. Your grandpa wouldn't be afraid of this beer. Heck, I bet even my cousin who won't drink anything but Miller Light couldn't find anything to hate about this beer. It's actually kind of bland. Light, foamy, it disappears down the throat effortlessly and tastelessly. Almost too much foam. A bit disappointing in its directness.

Final Score: Two out of Four Pints.

May 4 Rating Update: On the new scale, this translates into a 3 1/2 out of 8 pints.

Friday Grog Blogging

Avast, and ach, and ahoy! Nothing's more dwarfey than a good pint of beer, and so from now on I'll be blogging about a brand of beer I'm drinking this week. Some might say I'll be sampling each week's pick as I blog about it. This is an amateur beer lover's opinions. At this point I'm not going to delve into beer jargon, because I don't know any.

For the most part, I'll be talking six packs purchased at my local specialty wine and beer store, but I may spice up things with a trip to the local pubs.

This week, I picked up Fort Collins Brewery's RetroRed, "A Classic Ruby Red Ale".

Impression by the packaging: A red ale, huh? Well, I like Killian's, so let's go for it. I take it home and open her up.

First drink: Phbbt?! This ain't no red ale! It's a mislabeled porter. I was expecting Killian's, and I got something nearer to Guinness. Okay. Expectations not met. What about the actual beer?

It's not bad, expectations aside. As a full, dark beer, it sits less like a brick in the stomach like Guiness can, and without the impenetrable foam. There's a whole bunch of expansive flavor that settles about the roof of the mouth, and has a little jolt of bitterness without going whole hog into the barleywine or IPA madness.

Consensus: Unexpected, Enjoyable, flavorful, growling, will last longer in the fridge than a Killian's or a wheat beer, but that's a good thing.

Two and a half (out of four) pints.