Southern Drawl

In honor of Craft Brew Week in my ruttin home town there will be a review everyday this week, and gunna soddin keep them local. 

 

Got a beer that is ruttin close to home for this review. Great Raft is newish, well to me it ruttin is, brewery out of Shreveport, Louisiana. It seems it was founded by a group of soddin smart dusters who know their way around a brew. They do not fail to surprise and create an enjoyable beer. They have a fairly large selection of beers, but for this review I am focusing on the Pale Lager called Southern Drawl. 

First thing about Great Raft beers are the cans, they are soddin pretty. They have a rustic look with fancy lettering, all the beers information, and what looks like colorized old ink prints. You will ruttin notice them. It is a busy design, but as you slowly enjoy this beer you will have time to read all of it. It reminds this captain of old sighs from store fronts. 

Southern Drawl is a light crisp golden yellow when you pour it from the can, and it makes a nice foamy head. It is damn pretty in a glass. It also has a mild aroma of wheat with a sweet after note. It flavor follows suit, it is a mild enjoyable beer. It has a sharp dry bitter and cold taste at the very beginning. I drank this at room temperature, and still felt it had a cold ruttin note. It also has a slightly sweet and dryer still after note. This beer goes well with anything salty, and I want to try this rut from a tap.

This is a great lighter beer for anyone to try, especially a first time drinker or a fan of pale brews. It is perfect for after doing some yard work, and I can tell this brew will be great on a summer day fresh from an ice box. Its name describes it perfectly. Open a can and sit back and slowly enjoy this brew. 

Rating: 4/5

~Ambrose E. Brightmore

Fraoch Heather Beer

This is an odd bit of brew that comes from Scotland. Fraoch brews a heather ale, which the brewery states has been brewed in Scotland for over 4000 thousand years. It comes in about the most Scottish looking bottle that is not scotch of William Wallace’s skull. It is a mix of dark green Celtic designs and shiny copper and gold additions. It will catch a ruttin A.D.D. drinker’s eye and the price is not bad for a single. I found it once or twice in a four pack at our local liquor store, but can’t soddin remember the price. 

The beer itself is a nice golden hue and easy to see through as water. I ruttin expected a cloudy beer for a Scottish Ale, but at only 5% alcohol it is not a soddin surprise it is easy to see through. The real point winner for this beer is its flavor. It is a flowery mix of sweet ant bitter. It has a floral note, not a soddin surprise with heather flowers in the beer, initially with the malt after shock. It is a damn tasty beer and drinks smooth. It has been a definite rebuy for this captain.

Rating: 5/5

~Ambrose E. Birghtmore 

Sixth Day

Time for a review of a ruttin good microbrew in the Midwest, Goose Island Brewery out of Chicago, Il makes numerous decent to great beers. You don’t mess with the Midwest on beer. They come from hearty stock mostly from eastern Europe, my wife reminds me the Midwest is full of folks of Polish, German, and Scandinavian decent, as well as numerous other decent. However, the point is they come from long lines of soddin brewers and beer drinkers. Hoppy, heavy, tasty ruttin beer drinkers. Goose Island does not fail on that end. Most of the beers they make are ales, and lagers cloudy enough you can’t see through them. 

Sixth Day is the company’s season ale. So it you want a ruttin bottle hurry up and get it. Its already disappearing off the shelves, and may be gone by the time this gets posted. The bottle is less than remarkable, brown glass with muted Christmas colors and a goose with a Santa hat on. An ugly bottle does not kill a beer, Red Strip being the perfect example. The beer though. Damn is it a good beer. It is a dark cloudy amber that smells of holiday spices. It pours well, and looks ruttin good in a Nonic pint glass.

Rating: 4/5

Tin Roof: Blonde

Alright it’s time for a ruttin local beer for this captain. Tin Roof is a relatively new brewery out of Baton Rouge Louisiana that makes a good ruttin amount of beers ranging from amber ale to a coffee stout. This review will focus on the company’s Blonde Ale. The Blonde, like most Tin Roof Beers, comes in a six pack of metal cans, with an odd soddin over the top holder to be environmentally friendly. The can is also a mix of white and with the shiny silver showing through in certain spot. Not the most eye catching, but when in a freezer full of bottles it ruttin damn well stands out.

The beer pours from the can well, but does not create a lot of foam. This prevents a head from forming, which takes away from the look of the beer in a glass. However, if beer comes in a can drink it from the damn can. Only reason why this captain drank it from a soddin glass for this review is so you could see a picture of its color. Speaking of which, the Blonde is truly a blonde. It is a nice translucent light gold in color and is exceptionally smooth. It is like drinking water for this captain. It is a great lighter beer. It is a definite rebuy for a first time or experienced beer drinker. 

~Ambrose E. Brightmore 

Rating: 3/5

Circus Boy

A nice more mainstream domestic beer from Magic Hat Brewery from Vermont is the subject of this ruttin review. Magic Hat is a decent microbrew company that makes several decent to outstanding beers. The company likes the liberally use hops and silly design on their bottles, which Circus boy is a damn good example. It is bottled in a dark brown glass bottle and sports a bright yellow label. It is a yellow soddin yellow too, on top of darker yellow. It definitely will catch the eye, it caught this duster the first time I saw it, and it has been a repeat buy since.

The beer pours well, but is bubbly which can lead to over foaming. A pint glass of a wheat beer glass is best for this one. It is a light orange in color, rather transparent for a hefe. However, that does not mean it does not have some ruttin flavor in it. It has a citrusy and sweet initial taste with a bitter after bite that is great on a cold arse day. It is also incredibly smooth; drinking almost like it was water. The only down side to me is it is a low alcohol content beer at only 4.5% alcohol. That does not hurt it really though. Circus boy is affordable, easy to find in most areas, and ruttin tasty. It is a good first timers beer or for the lover of light beers. 

Rating: 5/5 

~ Ambrose E. Brightmore