By the Pint's Top Ten Beers

Dundee Pale Bock - Genesee Brewing Co., Rochester
Dundee Pale Bock Lager
90
Maibock

Dundee's Pale Bock is an interesting take on the Bock style. Based on the name and the picture on the label I was expecting something a bit more like Mahr's Weisse Bock. Mahr's Bräu's Weisse Bock was a combination of a Weissbier and a Bock style lager. The name essentially means the same as Dundee's "Pale Bock" so I was expecting a dark Bock beer with lighter, citrus and sour flavor. Dundee's Pale Bock is actually quite different, it's a lighter style Bock. What I mean by that is this beer is nearly yellow in color, around 6% ABV and infinitely drinkable. The Pale Bock looks a lot like a filtered filtered Wheat Beer, it has a clear yellow/orange body with a very thin head. The aroma coming off of this beer is amazing, it's very sweet like butterscotch candies and warm bread. In many ways, this beer is the opposite of Mahr's Weisse Bock.

Holiday Cheer - Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner
Shiner Holiday Cheer
90
Dunkelweizen

Ah the elusive Shiner Holiday Cheer... I was only able to find this beer at a single restaurant last year. After having a bottle of last year's Holiday Cheer I went to a number of liquor stores looking for a six pack but no one in the area had it in stock. This year I was lucky enough to find some Holiday Cheer at the store and pick up a couple. This is an interesting take on the Christmas seasonal. It isn't a traditional Winter Warmer, but it does have a lot in common with those beers. The Holiday Cheer is a Dunkelweizen style dark wheat that's been brewed with pecans and peaches. Those added flavors push this Dunkelweizen into Winter Warmer territory by giving it a sweet and nutty flavor. There's very little bitterness in this beer but the parallels are otherwise quite obvious.

SkullSplitter - Orkney Brewery, Orkney
Skullsplitter Orkney Ale
90
Scotch Ale

I first decided to pick up a bottle of SkullSplitter because it's got a righteous picture of a proud Viking warrior on the label. This son of Thor is decked out in a winged helmet, fur cape and a pretty sweet beard. I was sold the second I saw this label. Maybe it was buyers remorse but as soon as I got home I started planning for the worst. I thought this beer is probably all marketing and it just a light lager in a cleverly Vikinged bottle. As it turns out, this beer is definitely worthy of the label.

Tripel - Redhook Ale Brewery, Portsmouth
Redhook Tripel
90
Tripel

What do you mean Redhook isn't a Colorado craft brewery? Oh, after staring real close at there logo I see those are Pine trees, not Rocky Mountains.... honest mistake. I've seen plenty of Redhook beers floating around but this is the first bottle I've decided to pick up and take home. Tripels are one of my favorite styles of beer so this probably wasn't the best beer to start with since my expectations were pretty high. I'd heard good things about this beer and figured it would hold up well under scrutiny, so here we are...

Dark Truth Stout - Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City
Dark Truth
90
Imperial Stout

It's Imperial Stout season but Boulevard seems to be running a little behind this year... In lieu of another release of their Limited Release Imperial Stout, Boulevard has bottled a modified version this year and called it the Dark Truth. A very ominous name on it's own, but if you turn the bottle around and actually read the flavor text on the back you might think Boulevard is trying to sell this beer to guys who are waaaay in to Dio and like to volunteer at the local Renaissance Fair. "He who imbibes the Dark Truth shall find himself filled with the strength of mad bear!" Ok, it's not actually that bad... but there are references to alchemy and "hidden knowledge."

Tail Waggin' Double White Ale - Grand Teton Brewing Co., Victor
Grand Teton Tail Waggin' Double White
90
Double Witbier

Grand Teton is a bit of an unknown... I've had one of their beers before, their Au Naturale Organic Blonde. Well, I had a sample of it at a beer festival. Organic beers are pretty hit or miss so I wouldn't want to judge a brewery by their one off. So I went into this big 750 of Tail Waggin' Double White with an open mind. I've had a few double Witbiers before so I had an idea of what I wanted to taste in this beer. I was hoping it'd be sweet, tart, a little sour and be smooth throughout. Opening this capped 750ml bottle was a bit anticlimactic because there was no Wit aroma there to greet me...

The Sixth Glass - Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City
Boulevard Sixth Glass Quadrupel
90
Quadrupel

I'm not exactly sure how this happened... but, I managed to go 250 beer reviews without drinking a bottle of Boulevard Brewing Company's Sixth Glass. I'm shocked. It occurred to me the other day while at the liquor store, I was walking by the Boulevard section asking myself if there were any new Smokestack bottles I should be on the look out for when I saw the Sixth Glass and realized it's probably been two years since I've had a bottle of that beer. That means I haven't reviewed it yet, which seems odd because I remember really liking that beer and it doesn't seem like it's been all that long since I've had it... Oh well, I guess time flies when you're drinking good beer.

Consecrator Doppelbock - Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo
Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock
90
Doppelbock

Bell's brews some pretty great beer. I can't think of anything from Bell's that I genuinely didn't enjoy. Then again, Bell's brews some expensive beer as well. So there are a lot of beers from Kalamazoo that just don't make it into my fridge. Each time I drink a pint of Bell's I think to myself, "I need to drink more of this, it's really quite good." For some reason though, I never follow through on it. This bottle of Consecrator Doppelbock, for example, has been sitting in the basement for a year. I haven't been waiting for a special occasion or anything, I've just been busy with other beers. Other beers that aren't as good as what I've had from Bell's.

Breakfast Stout - Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids
Founders Breakfast Stout
90
Coffee Oatmeal Stout

I try to a point of reviewing beers that I haven't had before, or at least I haven't drank many times before. Every once in a while though, a beer like Founders Breakfast Stout slips through. This is a beer I've had at least a dozen times, mostly bottled but I've had it on tap a handful of times. I first had this beer about a year and a half ago at a birthday lunch for a good friend of mine. I later went out and bought a few bottles, drank them and then eagerly awaited the return of Breakfast Stout this year. After drinking through a four pack of Breakfast Stout it finally occurred to me that I'd never done a formal review for this beer...

Old Viscosity - Port Brewing Company, San Marcos
Old Viscocity Ale
90
Imperial Stout

Like many beers I've logged on this site, this is the first time I've ever had Old Viscosity. Port Brewing's beers don't make it to my neck of the woods so I had to bring this bottle back from a recent trip across state lines. While I haven't had Old Viscosity before, I have had Older Viscosity, a non-blended version of the barrel aged beer that goes into Old Viscosity. I had the Older on tap in the middle of a day of drinker other huge beers. What I remember of the Older Viscosity is hazy, but I remember liking it quite a lot. Before returning home, I grabbed a bottle of Old Viscosity and waited patiently until I could give it the attention it deserves.