Shiner - spring ale

Calling this beer spring ale is quite the perfect name. It's nice and crisp that would compliment a nice day of doing yard work or mowing the lawn... which sadly I have yet to do at time of writing this to the dismay of my neighbors . It smells like an amber ale with some citrus and ginger and a nice clear golden pour with very little head. The taste follows right behind. It is very much a floral and fruity ale with lots of grapefruit, lime, and lemon with just enough hops to give it a perfect dry bite. If you read anything of mine you know I'm not the biggest fan of huge hop beers, I find them kind of shallow and pedantic, so this was a nice surprise to find that the hops are what really make this beer fantastic. It gives the finish a nice clean aromatic finish with out being to over pronounced and bitter.
As a matter of fact I am drinking this brew while decompressing after a long day at work on the deck. Granted my dogs are watching me from the back door, but that's only because they were being jerks and barking up a storm at 10:30 at night and have lost their privilege to frolic in the yard. I think they would enjoy this beer too, but they are dogs, and I'm not a big fan of giving your pets booze. But anyway, this is a fantastic beer and I look forward to drinking more of it while its around, you should too...

Stone - Sublimely Self Righteous Ale

In celebration of this week being "stone week" here in KC, I figured I had to do atleast one review of a Stone brew. Thankfully I did not have to have this one shipped to me from my insider source within the brewery, but picked it up at my local liquor store for a price that kills alot of other breweries bombers. 6 bucks for a bomber is a killer deal for such a fantastic brew, and the fact that you can pick up the other so-cal craft brew great (lagunitas) bombers for around 5, even limited edition brews! Long story short, so-Cal beer is going to take over KC, and I hate to say it but, it may just give our KC giant a run for their money and may make them reconsider their 8 and up to 13 dollar bomber price...
OK so I'm supposed to be reviewing beer here aren't I?..
OK so it pours a really dark brown/red with a 2 finger head into the Stone Sniffer that was so generously provided by my in side wo-man. It smells of healthy hops, toffee and Carmel. At first the lacing seemed to be mid to light, but by the time that I was on my last snifter it was nothing but heavy. Like Michael J Fox heavy...
On the taste front, this is definitely a Stone brew. Big loud and proud. At first taste, my first thought was "damn, that's bitter", but it mellowed a good amount as I drank more and it warmed up, as did I. The flavor backbone mirrors the smell very close. It has a nice hoppy bitterness with a slight coffee,toffee/brown sugar undertone. There is a good grapefruit citrus acidity in there too that keeps the bite fresh on your tongue while allowing the beer to finish nice and clean.
It has a medium body that while still being a mouthful is still refreshing and not too over powering.
This beer definately gets 4 and 1/2 stars, and has earned a definitive place in my fridge.

Anchor Brewing - Liberty Ale

This is a brewery that has always been intrigued with as they have seemed to have this old world nostalgia about them. The beer really seems to follow.
This is a beer that I could somehow see my self sailing the seven seas with an eye patch and a peg leg with. Not in my top 10, but still good. Let me explain...
It pours with a huge frothing head that does recesses pretty quickly as well as leave a pretty decent lace on the glass. On the aroma side of things it has a malty wheatiness to it that is a nice slightly spicy crisp refreshing smell.
Taste wise is where it leaves me with a "meh" feeling. It just kind of feels standard to me, a good standard, but standard non the less. It has all the standard flavor backbone of a good solid wheat beer but with the addition of a bitter hops note and a spice that I can't quite put my finger on, maybe nutmeg..? To be honest it seems like a slightly more bitter and spicy boulevard wheat beer, which to be honest I prefer over this beer. This is mainly because of the way it finishes, its not a bad finish, but the flavor profile changes though the finish. It mellows as time goes on, but in the end it goes to a very malty note that kind of contradicts the other flavors. It also leaves a very flowery aftertaste that is an interesting surprise, but doesn't fit the other flavors that are predominant in the beer.
OK so all in all, I spent this whole review comparing two beers that are of two different styles, but at the same time have the same flavor profile. They just hit the tongue different. Do I prefer wheat beers? Kinda. Do I still like this beer? Yes. Is my dog jealous of me right now? I don't know... why the hell would my dog be jealous?..