March09 Tasting Notes and Ratings

Guinness Draught
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Rating: good
Overall score 3.8/5
Appearance 4/ Smell 4/ Taste 3.5/ Mouthfeel 3/ Drinkability 4.5

Appearance: Pours a dark brown with a dense brown head. Not much lacing just some greasy blotches left on glass.

Smell: Mild roasted malts

Taste: Mellow roasted malt flavor, bitter chocolate and light smokiness towards the end.

Mouthfeel: A bit thin and watery.

Drinkability: I think Guinness design this beer to be less to make it more drinkable for the average Joe.

Notes: I do not like the nitro idea. Beer should be drank after it has been poured into a glass. To design a beer to be drank from the bottle doesn't seem right. This beer is just a shadow of Guinness Extra Stout. Despite all of this it is still a pretty good beer. This probably will be the last time I drink this beer as long as I can buy Guinness Extra Stout.

[Serving type: bottle]



Bell's Winter White
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Rating: good
Overall score 3.6/5
Appearance 2/ Smell 3.5/ Taste 4.5/ Mouthfeel 4 Drinkability 4

Appearance: Pours a very cloudy bright yellow. I can see small specks of yeast floating around in glass. Decent white head that last a good while. Spotty lacing.

Smell: It has the smell of an over rip banana

Taste: A good amount of wheat tang. Strong overtones of banana, vanilla and clove.

Mouthfeel: The appearance may not look clean but the mouthfeel is clean and refreshing.

Drinkability: Goes down easy.

Notes: Not a beautiful looking beer but very tasty.


[Serving type: bottle]



Killian's Irish Red
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Rating: decent
Overall score 3.5/5
Appearance 3.5/ Smell 3/ Taste3.5/ Mouthfeel 3.5/ Drinkability 4

Appearance: Pours a clear reddish amber with a white short lived head. Small amount of lacing left on glass.

Smell: Faint toasted grains and sweet malt.

Taste: Simple and clean taste comprising of light caramel malts and toasted malts.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied and a slight dry finish.

Drinkability: Decent session beer.

Notes: Not classified as an Irish Red but as a Euro Dark Lager. Nothing extraordinary about this beer but better than most macro lagers.

[Serving type: bottle]


Heineken Dark Lager
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Rating: good
Overall score 3.8/5
Appearance: 3.5/ Smell 3.5/ taste 4 Mouthfeel 4/ Drinkability 4

Appearance: Pours a dark brown with a tan head that rises to about 1 1/2 fingers high. No lacing.

Smell: Faint caramelized grains and floral hops.

Taste: Very sweet. Has a toasted dark bread flavor

Mouthfeel: Thin and watery and not much carbonation.

Drinkability: Very easy drinking beer.

Notes: I have my suspicions this was an outdated beer. It seem a little flat and flavors a bit dull. This by far is a better choice over regular Heineken.

[Serving type: bottle]


Rating scale
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4.8 world class
4.5 outstanding
4.2 excellent
3.9 very good
3.6 good
3.3 decent
3.0 fair
2.7 mediocre
2.4 poor
2.1 bad

A Learner's Permit for Drinking

The transformation of going from a child to a adult does not happen overnight. It is a metamorphosis that happens over time. You progress from crawling to walking to sprinting. Although it may seem that time flies, it actually takes place gradually in a natural progression.

On most things in my life the more I practice and was familiar with something, the greater result I achieved. I would not have been able to write my personal statement for college without the years of practice and time I have had to develop my writing skills. A prime example of a step on the ladder to adulthood is the privilege to drive.

But in order to drive I had to receive my licence. I got my licence by passing my driver's test, logging in more than 100 hours driving in the car with my parents, and going to driving school. I would not have been able to drive without obtaining my permit. My permit came through passing a written exam and attending driving school for the first time.

I had to go through all of this preparation in order to drive at the age of 16. At first I didn't understand the point of all this but I now understand that driving is a huge responsibility and should not be taken lightly. Accidents can happen very quickly and are numerous amount drivers my age. The purpose of the learner's permit was to let me slowly adapt to the world of driving.

If I did not want to go through all of this I could just wait until I am 18 and skip half the preparation. Because once you are 18 you are an adult. You can smoke, vote, marry,and serve our country. All three being things that, in the eyes of our government, only an adult can handle. Then why I ask, can one not drink until the age of 21?

What is it that makes drinking a more grave danger than than smoking or going into war. At 18 I can join the armed forces and risk my life, but I cannot have a glass of red wine with my dinner at a restaurant? Heart disease is the number one killer for women and smoking has been a major contributor to this problem. But it is okay for me to smoke three years earlier than I would drink because drinking is a bigger responsibility.

I do not mean to downplay the effects of drinking by any means. There is alcoholism, drunk driving, and binge drinking among others that are just a few of the effects drinking can have on your life. However, I do feel that some of the problems attributed with drinking could be prevented if it took on more integrated approach.

If a "learner's permit" were put on drinking than those under 21 would be more aware of drinking and what it does to them. Drinking gradually and in moderation seem like a much healthier approach than just letting one have no limits later on.

You do not teach a child to write a sentence by asking them to write an essay. So why is it nothing has been done about drinking responsibly until it is too late. Not once in my four years of high school have I had the issue of drinking be address in other ways than than don't do it. But there seems to be no why behind the reason. The effects and consequences of drinking under age have not been covered.

The current regulations for drinking seem to be like a stoplight; It is red until you are twenty one and then green the rest of your life. As you may notice the yellow light has been taken out of the picture. I think that if it were put back in the amount of people drinking responsibly would go up greatly.

But until anything is changed I will still become an 18 year old who can smoke, marry, vote and go to war, but who cannot have Kahlua in her coffee.




Information poured from: Courtney Love Gavin, a senior and student leader at Live Oak High School in Live Oak, California. Published 02-06-04 in the Morgan Hill Times. Posted with the permission of author.

Beer Sip of Knowledge: Origin of 3.2% Beer

The 18th Amendment (Prohibition) outlawed "intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," but made no reference to alcohol content. The Volstead Act set the legal alcohol limit at one-half of 1 percent, apparently base on Internal Revenue Service distinctions made for the purpose of taxation. Under the Volstead Act, the only "beer" that could be sold legally in the United States was "near beer".

Prohibition became a central issue in the Presidential election of 1932. Concerns with unemployment, the need for farm relief, and growing sentiment against Prohibition led Franklin Roosevelt to call at the Democratic National Convention for "modification of the Volstead Act just as fast as the Lord will let us authorize the manufacture and sale of beer." The New York Times of June 28, 1932, reported that Roosevelt position on the Volstead Act "managed to draw the convention several times to its feet, and to start a real demonstration for prohibition repeal."

After Roosevelt election "modification of the Volstead Act" focused on changing the level of alcohol content deemed "intoxicating." Efforts had been made during prohibition to raise the level from one-half of 1 percent to 2.75 percent by introducing scientific evidence that intoxication was physically impossible drinking beer of this alcohol content. These efforts, one of which reached the supreme Court failed. In 1933, similar scientific arguments were used to support enactment of the Cullen-Harrison bill, permitting the resumption of the manufacture and sale of 3.2 percent beer and light wines in the states that had already repealed their dry laws.

Because "3.2 beer" became legal as a result of the new definition of intoxication in the Volstead Act instead of as a result of the repeal of the 18th Amendment, its distribution and sale in some states was not initially regulated under the State laws established after repeal to control commerce in "intoxicating liquors" Some states still maintain a separate regulatory structure of 3.2 beer.

Kid Rock Beer

The Detroit Free Press reports "the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved Tuesday a state tax credit valued at $722,957 so that the Michigan Brewing Co. a Webberville brewer of craft beer, can produce a new product line: a craft beer for musician Kid Rock.

Bobby Mason, the owner-brewer at the Michigan Brewing Company said he hoped to have the Kid Rock branded beer on the shelves by mid-springtime. The beer's name, style and pricing are yet to be decided. Kid Rock is working closely with Mason on the design, naming and style of the beer, Mason said.

"He's working on designing the beer, he's giving me direction, he's tasting the beers," Mason said. "It's his idea, It's his concept. I'm just working with him to make it happen."

The company plans to invest $7 million in this project, which is expected to create 394 Michigan jobs, including 161 directly by the company. The village of Webberville is considering an abatement to support the project.

Among the issues yet to be decided : Will the new lager be a premium-price brew or a drink priced for Kid Rocks working-class fans? Mason said it's also yet to be decided how many different beers will be part of the new product line. " It'll be one beer starting out, and we'll just see where it goes from there," he said.

Currently, the brewery employs eight people, who produce 100,00 barrels of beer a year. Mason said he hopes to sell 100,000 cases a year of the Kid Rock-branded beer and add more than 150 new employees over the next two to five years, including positions is sales, packaging and production".


Note: I applaud Kid Rock for creating more jobs in Michigan, but I have my doubts about his beer. That is because of the influence Kid Rock has in the making of this beer as the Free Press reports. My first question is does Kid Rock even drink craft brewed beer? It seems to me if you are going to make a quality craft beer you would be a person who likes full flavored craft brewed beer. The last time I heard anything concerning Kid Rock and his taste for beer is that he was fond of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

PBR is a retro favorite of many older beer drinkers and has gain a following among a new generation of beer drinkers. PBR is what it is and that is an American Adjunct Lager. If this is what Kid Rock drinks surely the craft beer bearing his name is not going to be something craft beer drinkers will want to drink. I'm not saying it will not be a success as in the amount of sales. Anheuser-Busch has proven what crafty advertisement can do. As soon as I see his beer in the grocery store I will purchase, drink and give a report on it.

Drinking In Moderation

To define moderate drinking, it is difficult to give a quantitative definition because alcohol can have different effects on different individuals depending on age, sex, size, and health. Today I like to look at what the scientific and medical experts consider healthy and moderate drinking for men. The United States defines moderate drinking as 2 drinks per day, 14 drinks per week. The definition of a drink is: 12oz beer, 5oz wine, 1.5oz spirit (Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005).

These guideline are U.S. Government standards but European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, and France have a slightly higher standard ranging between 3-4 drinks per day and 21-28 drinks per week. In the UK, an interdepartmental group of officials was convened in 1994 to review medical and scientific evidence on the long-term effect of drinking alcohol. Its results were published in December 1995 report "Sensible Drinking". Their findings found that regular consumption of between 3 and 4 drinks by men of all ages will not accrue any significant health risk. Some other medical groups such as Reuters Health, and Canadian Family Physician agree with the "Drinking Sensible" report but advocates a day or two each week of abstinence.

I personally don't drink everyday because I like drinking to be a special occasion or event to look forward to. I enjoy watching a movie, sports event, or just sitting around a camp fire on the weekends relaxing while drinking some great tasting craft beer.

My drinking routine has been to limit my drinking to no more than 4 beers per day, 3 times a week. This 3 or 4 beer amount lets me enjoy my beer throughout an entire 3 hour hockey or baseball game. That is at a pace of 1 beer every 45-60 minutes.

Most people who drink, do so moderately and responsibly as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle. Common sense tells us to drink responsibly at any time and especially if you are planning to drive or undertake other activities that require skills.

Alcohol can be enjoyed as part of a healthy lifestyle in moderation. Enjoyment of wine, beer, and spirits has formed a pleasurable part of many traditions, cultures and some religions around the world since civilisation began.


Information poured from:
Alcohol Problems and Solutions
Dietary Guideline for Americans (2005)
Drinking and You
Live Sensibly
Sensible Drinking (1995)