Bull Jagger Portland Lager

I was a bit confused when I first saw this bottle. A lager made in Portland, ME? After I had to looked into this, and I found out that this was from a new brewery called Bull Jagger. I must say I like their approach to keeping the classic micro-brewery standards but experimenting with brews that aren't just what everyone else has in their variety pack. Only one other brewer in Maine makes a lager.

Poured into the glass it looks like an ale instead of a lager because of the haziness. Once the head hits your lips you're reminded of it's category though, because it's on the fizzy side and the sweet aroma. I would almost say the combo of crisp and sweet is citrus, but it is undoubtedly not because these two elements are defined in their own separate ways. On the tongue the sweetness stays but malt, hops, and yeast come well ahead of it in potency. It's not an intense IPA or pale ale with these, but you can feel it on your tongue as well as taste it. The body is 'sparkling' too, but not to the extent of canned lagers though.

Bull Jagger will be coming out with another brew soon, that has quite a bit of my attention. Porter with rye. Even though it was not in bottling condition, I was quite impressed with the sample and can't wait to add it here with a review. Don't wait for this release to give them a try though! the Portland Lager is a step out of the box with the high standards of Maine brewing kept and I'm giving it a solid B (good).

JosephsBrau Winterfest

Before I begin, I'd like to note that JosephsBrau is just a cover for Trader Joe's. That's not to say this could be a bad beer, I think Trader Joe's does a good job with many of their beers for a great value. I paid a mere $6 for a six pack, and for something outside of cans, that's great these days. So lets see how this dark lager (pretty rare these days) does.

This starts with a good sized head as pictured above, but this does not stay that way. Putting my nose in the glass showed a sweet maltyness and a hint of alcohol! Looking back at the bottle I see that this is due to 7.5% abv, which is a better deal for some. This alcohol taste doesn't have any notice with the finish though. The body of this is right in the middle of my other beer experiences, and it has malts for a taste like the head. I was surprised by the lack of carbonation despite being a lager.

For such a high alcohol percentage this one is easy to drink. I'm not a huge fan of it though. It's just kind of odd in my opinion and the malts aren't as good as ones in others, so I'll be leaving it with a C (decent).

Troegs Troegenator Doublebock

Troges Brewery must be proud of this one, they have it named after themselves and the face on the label sticks out with the constipated face. Is it going to give me that face or make me come back for more? Well I’m here to find out.

It has a thick head with some retention and amber in color. The nose shows hops most, but some malt is apparent. Once in the mouth it’s not as heavy as any other bock but crisp hops will tingle your tongue. Malt is detectable again and works well with the incomparable hops that can be best described as “rye”, but nothing like floral, citrus or super sharp. Easy to drink for a beer so strong with flavor.

I’m leaving it with a B (good). As a comparative way to describe it I’d say it’s a malty red ale mixed with an IPA. Approach it as this, not a bock if you’ve had one before.

Sapporo Premium Beer

I believe this is my first international beer on this blog. Typically when people think of an international beer the United Kingdom and Ireland come to mind, but Sapporo from Japan is what this review is about. I chose this because the fact that it's made from rice intriuged me.

My first impression of Sapporo was a MASSIVE HEAD! While gently pouring down my tipped pilsner glass, it expanded so quick I couldn't drink it fast enough to keep it from overflowing down the sides. The head retained well as a foamy head similar to a stout. After fighting down to drink the beer I found it had a body that was heavier than most lagers, but this wasn't a Budweiser. It tasted grainy which I guess is from the rice and it had a slight inoffensive bitterness. I should also note that it wasn't as carbonated as well-brand American beers despite my first impressions.

This is a fairly bland beer, but I do think it would go well with some sushi. I must admid I'm not a big fan of lagers, but I would buy this again on a hot sunny day when I needed something light to cool me down. It's score is a C (decent).