Actual Photon

I was looking for a beer that was sessionable while hanging out at the bar. This beer looked like the perfect selection for me before I headed over to dinner. Since I was working so early, I ended up going to dinner at 4:30 or 5 PM most days. The good thing about that was that the restaurants were rarely crowded at that time.

ABV: 3.2%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “This dazzling light lager has a dual nature: a wave of golden flavor entangled with a quantum of noble hops. A challenge to brew, but a cinch to drink, this beer moves at precisely the speed of itself.”

Random: This beer is only 96 calories. I bet it competes well with macros.

This beer poured with a half a finger of white head that dissipated quickly. The body was a clear, straw yellow with generous carbonation. The nose was light with grain and a corn-like sweetness. I kept searching for more notes in the scent, but I couldn’t pick anything up. The taste was also light and crisp with some corn and grain sweetness. It had a touch of grass and then went into bready sweetness as well. The body was very light with a lot of carbonation. The finish was quick and sweet. This beer was very light and made for a great session beer. It didn’t bring a huge amount of flavor, but I wasn’t expecting that much from it. If you find yourself in Ohio, give this a shot.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Abita Light

Val and I went into Philly for a birthday part for her friend’s child. After the party, we walked around for awhile and then stopped to get a snack. They didn’t have many beers on tap that I hadn’t reviewed, so I went for this one. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 4%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Abita Light is an all-malt lager brewed with pilsner and carapils malts and Vanguard hops. It is the smoothest and most flavorful light beer you’ll ever taste. Crisp and refreshing with a mild hop aroma, it has only 118 calories and 8 carbs. Great with almost anything, it’s an excellent choice for lighter foods and salads too. Try Abita Light with a sharp Cheddar.”

Random: I could see this beer making a good pair with a sharp cheddar, especially since the beer is so light. Next time I get this beer, I think I’ll try it.

The beer poured with a quarter of a finger of white head that dissipated quickly. It left some lacing on the glass, but not much. The body was clear and straw yellow with high carbonation. The nose was light with grain and not much else. The taste had some mineral water with grain and a corn taste to it. The body was really light with high carbonation. It had a quick and grainy finish. This beer was really simple, which I expected. But, it was easy to drink and crisp. If there weren’t any other choices but macros, I’d grab for this.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Horny Goat Horny Blonde

Six more days to go until end of quarter is officially over. Can you tell that I’m excited? I just feel exhausted all the time and it takes me a few weeks after it’s over to get back to normal. I’m trying to keep up with the reviews and this was another beer that came in a mixed pack. It also had some other beers from Horny Goat that I already reviewed, so let’s get on with this one.

ABV: 5%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Lagers are an American tradition, and so are blondes. You’ll find this pale lager both bright and crisp up front, and perfectly balanced by a hint of German hops on the end.”

Random: Based on the can, I expected an American Blonde Ale, not a Light Lager.

This beer poured with a one finger, white head that dissipated slowly and left no lacing on the glass. A slight white crown was left on top of the clear, straw yellow body. There was generous carbonation visible. The nose was clean with German hops, grass and mineral water. The taste was very light and crisp with straw, German hops and grass. Mineral water was there was well. The body was light with high carbonation. It had a long finish with the same grass and straw that I got in the taste. This was $1.33 for the can, which broke down to $.11 per ounce, which is pretty affordable. But, this beer was really, really boring. It would be a slightly better substitute for a macro, but I wouldn’t have this again.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Stillwater Yacht

Here’s a beer from Stillwater that I’ve seen get a lot of good reviews from other bloggers. Let’s see how I feel about it.

ABV: 4.2%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Canned beer has made a serious return in the craft brewing world. Prior to this resurgence, the only beer found in cans were industrial lagers. So as a nod in both directions we present an elegantly crisp and hoppy new world lager. The light and refreshing pilsner malt body delivers an abundance of floral, spice, and grass driven hop flavors and aroma. Perfect for those luxurious cruises through the Caribbean. Label design notes: The luxurious and refined mood of yachting is alluded to by the muted tones of traditional nautical colors. The stripe pattern elongates the perception of the can’s size, so that it appears longer, thinner and grander. The Recorda typeface is modern and geometric, recalling the shape of a sailboat.”

Random: The can is really cool looking.

This beer poured with a half a finger of white head that dissipated slowly. There was some lacing left on the glass. The body was a hazy lemon-yellow color with high carbonation visible. The nose was grainy and had a touch of herbs. I think I picked up some sage and other herbal notes. The taste was light with grains. I didn’t pick up as many herbs in the taste, but I did get sage. Lemon rind came through as well. This had a lighter body with high carbonation. It had a long finish with grain and lemon rind. This was an excellent beer, especially for the summer and brought depth to a style that doesn’t normally have that quality. It was very drinkable as well. This was $3.29 for the 16 ounce can, which broke down to $.21 per ounce. I would definitely have this again. Go grab it if you see it.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

SingleCut Townes Lemon Squeezer Light Lagrrr

On Sunday, the other half and I headed into Brooklyn and Manhattan. We stopped in Brooklyn at Smorg, which is a huge outdoor food festival on Sundays right by the Brooklyn Bridge. Had it not been insanely hot, I would have really enjoyed it. But, it was definitely way too hot. After that, we headed to the new Whole Foods in Gowanus. After we picked up a few brews that we can’t get in Jersey, we headed to the upstairs bar to kill some time and I watched some baseball. This was the brew that the other half got and let me review.

ABV: 5%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Baby it’s hot out! Our summer seasonal is an easy-drink lagrrr! infused with refreshing lemon finish. Flavorful as you’d expect from us, so your taste buds won’t need to go on vacation.”

Random: I wish Whole Foods locations in Jersey had the same setup as out-of-state ones. They’re pretty awesome.

This brew poured with a one finger, white head that dissipated slowly and left some lacing on the glass. The body was a cloudy yellow color with light carbonation present. The nose had some lemon rind and a touch of sugar to it. The taste was a rather abrupt change from what I expected given the nose. The taste was really medicinal, almost like green NyQuil and very, very herbal. There was not a lot of lemon at all, just a weird spice character and the herbal notes, that were honestly just awful to me. The body was light with decent carbonation. It had a long finish with said weird spice. Although I definitely want to try some more brews from this relatively local brewery, I was not a fan of this one at all.

Untappd Rating: 2.0/5.0

Budweiser Select

Oh Bud Select. Where do I start with my relationship with you? In my early twenties, this was a go-to beer for me. I haven’t had one of these in at least eight years and can honestly say that I don’t remember how it was. I remember that when my friends and I would get this, we thought it was more flavorful than other Bud offerings, but that wasn’t saying much. Let’s see if my opinion of this one has changed.

ABV: 4.3%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to wikipedia.com, “Budweiser Select, or Bud Select is a light pale lager that contains 4.3% ABV and 99 calories per 12 US fl oz serving. Anheuser-Busch has aggressively promoted Budweiser Select. Its slogan was ‘The Real Deal.’ The company hired Jay-Z as a spokesman for the brand.”

Random: I’m almost embarrassed about how much I’m enjoying “The Voice.” It’s really starting to get good.

This brew poured with a half a finger of white head. It dissipated almost instantly and left no lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, straw yellow with heavy carbonation visible. The nose had some sweet corn mostly with grain. The nose wasn’t as offensive or pungent as some other macros. The taste was not great (shocking, I know). There was a lot of sweet corn and then grain and nothing else. It had heavy carbonation and a medium thick body.The finish was really quick with corn sweetness. This was a really boring brew, but not as offensive as I thought it would be. I won’t be having this one again, for sure.

Untappd Rating: 2.5/5.0

Trader Jose Light Lager

Sometimes I pick up beers to review to see how bad they really are. I haven’t had a beer of this style in well over a year, so I was curious to see how this economical beer from Trader Joe’s was.

ABV: 4%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to traderjoes.com, “Here’s our story. For years, we searched for an independent brewery in Mexico with whom we could create a beer-crafting partnership. Problem is, a couple of big Mexican breweries have a virtual monopoly on the market, so there didn’t seem to be a way in. We kept searching, though, until we finally found a small, independent brewer eager to create high quality Mexican beer, without being part of that monopoly. Lucky for all involved, this brewer was also eager to partner with an American retailer interested in high quality Mexican beer at a tremendous value. Such serendipia! Trader José’s Light Premium Lager is a golden-hued, all malt, handcrafted brew. It’s smooth and slightly bitter, with only 3.8% alcohol and a mere 120 calories in every bottle.”

Random: The meow has made himself very comfortable on the ottoman while watching “True Blood.” He seems less than excited for baseball.

This brew comes in a clear glass bottle, which is not a great sign. I could smell the skunk as soon as I opened the bottle. I have a feeling that this beer would have been better enjoyed out of the bottle, but for review purposes, I poured into a glass. It poured with a finger of very light, white head that was shockingly slow to dissipate with some lacing left on the glass. The body was a light clear yellow with very low carbonation. The nose was nothing short of awful. I got straight out skunk and corn, which was really strong. The taste was even worse. It was really skunky with some corn and a touch of artificial lime added as well. The body was very thin with carbonation that was way too low for the style. It had a thankfully short finish with corn. This beer was just awful. I wouldn’t have this one again, even if you handed it to me.

Untappd Rating: 1.5/5.0

St. George Lager

We ended up at Boma for dinner one night. For those who haven’t been there, it’s an African buffet style restaurant in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I don’t think I’ve had African food prior to this, nor have I had African beer, so I figured it was worth a shot. This was the first one that I tried.

ABV: 4.5%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: Ethiopia’s oldest brewery Saint George, founded in 1922 is located in central Addis Ababa.

Random: I didn’t even know that Ethiopia produced beer.

This one was poured by the waiter for me. I’m not trying to be a beer jerk, but I really prefer pouring my own beer. Anyways, due to the pour, this one got a two finger, pure white head that dissipated quickly. There was some lacing left on the glass. The nose smelled like a straight up macro. I got some corn and not much else. The taste was a bit sweeter than a macro. I got honey and corn coupled with lower than normal carbonation and a heavy body. The finish was pretty quick with a hint of skunk and bitterness at the end. I knew that this beer wasn’t going to wow me but it was nice to try something different. So, if you see this one, give it a shot for the fact that you can say that you’ve tried an African beer, but don’t expect to be wowed by it.

Untappd Rating: 2.0/5.0

Bud Light

This was the second beer of Thursday night. I know, for a bar that advertises craft beer I really had the pick of the litter. Although I’ll be writing up a full review for the place later (Tavern on the Lake), the service was absolutely atrocious. The food really wasn’t any better either. I don’t think that Katie and I will be going back. So, onto the brew.

ABV: 4.2%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: According to wikipedia.com, “Introduced in 1982 as Budweiser Light, Budweiser’s flagship light beer with 4.2% ABV and 110 calories per 12 US fl oz (355 mL) serving”

Random: I used to drink this beer all the time, when I was in my early 20s. I used to really enjoy it.

This brew poured with almost no white head that dissipated instantly and left no lacing on the pint glass. The body was a clear, straw yellow with lots of active, visible carbonation. The nose was very mild with a hint of corn. The taste was pretty bad. It was all corn and a hint of grain. The body was thin with prickly carbonation. The finish was crazy quick and unremarkable. It’s a macro, so you have to take it for what it is. It was drinkable, but boring. I really don’t know how I drank this all the time when I was younger. There are so many better options out there.

Untappd Rating: 2.0/5.0

Bud Light Platinum

I’m seriously backlogged with reviews. This one is from Thursday. Katie and I went to a local bar in Hightstown after she came with me for a beer run. This place is starting to advertise that they have more craft beer. But, their limited offerings were ones that I had reviewed already. Instead, I decided to try Bud Light Platinum. The waitress said she “loved it.” I had doubts. If you’re advertising a beer based on the fact of a higher alcohol content, it’s probably not a good thing.

ABV: 6%

Style: Light Lager

Trivia: This brew is “triple filtered.” Great…

Random: I think the only thing I’m going to like about this beer is the fact that the bottle was blue.

This brew poured a half a finger of pure white head that dissipated instantly. It left no lacing on the glass (shocking, I know). The body was an incredibly light, straw yellow with lots of active carbonation. The nose was light and all corn. The taste was worse than the nose. It was absolutely awful. It was all corn and sweetness, nothing else. The higher booze was definitely a gimmick. The body was a little thicker than expected with lots of carbonation. The finish was quick with grain. Katie said that this brew was “absolutely abysmal.” I definitely agreed. This was probably the worst beer that I’ve ever had from AB. I would never have this one again. If I was at home, this would have been a drain pour. Avoid.

Untappd Rating: 1.0/5.0