#49 Old Milwaukee (USA)

Straight from Wisconsin this an American style lager. It pour a light yellow/golden color with a thin white head that dissipates fairly quickly. The aroma is very subtle and composed of very little of anything noticable except a little corn. The taste is watery, very crisp, light and a little grainy with a bit of corn as most american lager's do. There is very little after taste to this one, it is far from heavy and not bitter at all. Overall its just your everyday average lager. 3 out of 5

#48 Foster's Lager (Australia)

Ive wanted to try this one for a long time now, the big 750ml Jumbo cans have been staring me in the face long enough. Upon cracking this brew open it had a nice familiar aroma too it, not too fruity, not too heavy, very well balanced. It poured out a light golden color with a bone white head that retained itself very well. Taste was what I had hoped for, a nice light and crisp, refreshing blend with a great finish of bitterness, leaving your mouth wanting more. texture was slightly creamy and was very carbonated. 4 out of 5

#47 Bavaria 8.6 Special Blonde (Netherlands)

Get ready for this one.... I'm not sure where I first heard of Bavaria years ago but I was under the impression it was a well known beer because it was good. So I picked up some Bavaria 8.6 Special Blonde to give it a try and boy was I surprised. Upon opening the can it had a very skunky malt aroma to it and It poured a deep gold color with a white head. Any type of fine beer taste was just overpowered by alcohol, it was almost vodka-like. Even at 7.9% ABV beer should not taste like this in my honest opinion. Not my cup of tea per say, id recommend staying clear. 1.5 out of 5

#44, #45, #46 - Rogue's Roost Microbrews

A friend and I recently frequented Rogue's Roost Microbrewery and Pub right on Spring Garden Road in beautiful downtown Halifax. I had never been but had heard many talk of their famous Raspberry Wheat Ale. So we had a couple appetizers and a I had a chance to try 3 of their brews.

First off I was anxious to try the Raspberry Wheat Ale. As a typical wheat ale is, it was very cloudy and golden but this time with a hint of pink. The aroma was distinctly of raspberries with some modest soft notes I couldn't quite pick out. The taste was as you'd expect; Raspberry but also very smooth and crisp, light and not really too sweet nor bitter. With that being said it wasn't exactly what I normally drink as far as a beer is concerned. the fruitiness kind of throws me off a bit but I can definitely see how someone who normally does not drink beer could enjoy this. I must give it some props on originality. 3.5 out of 5.


Next up I really wanted to try my favorite style of all beers; India Pale Ale. This beer came out with a nice dark copper color to it with a nice slightly tinted white head on it. The aroma was of citrus as most of Rogue's brews are with a bit of caramel-esque notes. The taste was definitely bitter, like i like it, hoppy and was completed by the slight hint of citrus. As most craft IPA's this one was also a higher ABV% although I'm not sure exactly what the number was. Overall very well balanced beer and would order again! 4 out of 5


To round it all off I wanted to try their Red Ale. This one came out cloudy and a red amber color similar to the IPA. Following tradition this one also had a slightly citrus aroma to it but not as strong as the other last 2. The taste was not what I was expecting, came up a bit short. It had a taste of cereal and grainy malt, a little bitter sweet with a touch of honey. Not my favorite but still better then a lot of beer out there. 3 out of 5

#43 Dab Original (Germany)

Another beer from Germany picked out at the NSLC. This one is very similar to the last review of Boris; It pours yet again a pale yellow with a paper white head. The aroma is a bit sweet, with a hint of heavy malts. The taste is quite creamy and finishes with a nice balance of malts and hops. Liked this one a fair bit but still doesn't make it up the list. This one gets the same 3.5/5

#42 Boris (Le Flacon D'Alsace) (France)

Picked this one up at NSLC in Darmouth mostly because of the can. Boris Lager from France has a 5.5% ABV, pours a light yellow color with a bit of white head. Aroma of a little smooth, fruity and maybe even a little buttery.  The taste is very bland and watery as most macro brews are and has a sort of skunky bitter aftertaste to it. Overall not too bad but not great either, a hair above average. 3.5/5

Reviews to come...

I've had the chance of trying sevral diffrent beer this weekend so I'm going to be playing catch-up with posting the reviews but just a heads up of whats comming:

• Boris (France)
• Dab (Germany)
• Rogue's Roost Microbrew Rasberry Wheat Ale
• Rogue's Roost Microbrew IPA
• Rogue's Roost Microbrew Red Ale

#41 Warsteiner Premium Verum (Germany)

Going to keep this one nice and short. It pours a light golden color, light fruity aroma to it. Taste was awful, too much of a flat sweet taste to it that left a terrible aftertaste in your mouth not really leaving you wanting another sip. Unfortunately at 4.8% ABV it has very little to offer. I had to debate this for a while but i'll still give it a 2/5 as i'm sure i'll encounter worse.

#40 FAXE 10% Lager - Denmark

Next up FAXE 10% from Denmark. Where do I even start with this one? Its label states "Extra Strong Beer" and at 10% ABV it really isn't joking. Upon cracking this one It had a really odd smell to it and the closest way to describe it is similar to an  Popeye's candy cigarette box smell; it was dirty, sweet and a little perfumy even. It poured a nice golden yellow color with little head. The taste was harsh even for a 10% beer and has little to offer other then alcohol taste covered by a lingering sweet perfume taste, with some of the hops and malt coming through midway through. I can't really recommend drinking this unless your only goal is to get really hammered and don't care about the taste; in that case strongly recommended.... 2/5

#39 McEwans Scotch Ale - Scotland

Time to get back into the international beers with this interesting beer from Scotland. I picked up some McEwan's Scotch Ale at the local NSLC but was unsure what to expect from. It poured a very dark chocolaty color with a small frothy head. The aroma was very sweet and chocolaty again with hints of caramel. It had a creamy texture to it and again tasted very sweet of chocolate and caramel malt liquor. A little too sweet for my taste but came packed with 8.0% ABV. 3/5

#38 Holsten Maibock - Germany

I picked up this beer in the international beer section in the NSLC. It pours a nice golden color with a thick head that quickly dissipates. The aroma is sweet in nature, malt with hints of apple but seems to be lacking in the hops department. The taste is smooth and sweet and also has the apple-ish flavour in it. Unfortunetly it seem to be lacking in the hops for my liking and comes across very bland. For 7.0% ABV theres is very little alcoholic taste to it and can definitely get you drunk but just doesn't cut it on this list. 2/5

#37 Propeller IPA - Halifax, NS, Canada

I just had to run out and grab another local brew after the feedback I received from my last review, this time around I have the Propeller India Pale Ale. In true IPA style this beer has nice orange-gold color to it smells very strongly of hops as soon as I started the pour with very little head. The taste follows suit with a strong taste of hops, a little sweet, a bit of malt and small hints of citrus finishing off with one of the most pleasing bitter tastes I've had so far! Very happy I picked this one up and will definitely invest in a growler or five from the brewery. 5/5!

IBU's- 68

Hops- Warrior, Amarillo.

Malts- Pale, Crystal, Wheat.

Water- Soft

Colour-  3.9°L

#36 Propeller Hefeweizen - Halifax, NS, Canada

As promised another brew from local brewery Propeller. This fairly cloudy, golden wheat beer is definitely well crafted from start to finish. The brew has a yeast smell and commonly has yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle. The case the beer came in has a tid bit on swirling the beer before pouring to mix the yeast sediment in for some extra flavor, I opted to pour as is. The beer is creamy yet finishes with a dry, crisp and refreshing taste. Made with special Weizen yeast, German Noble hops and equal amounts of barley and wheat malts I give this beer a solid 4/5.

IBU's- 12

Hops- Spalt.

Malts- Pale, Wheat (50%).

Water- Soft

Colour-  2.5°L

#35 Rickard's White

Let's take it mainstream for a bit here and try some Rickard's White. I had yet tried this beer until a recent visit to the The Pógue Fadó Irish Pub (which has some great food by the way,) for a diner with my visiting family.

To begin with the beer itself is fairly cloudy, the smell was of a citus-y nature and the taste followed right along with a quite strong orange, fruity taste. It wasn't terrible to drink, went down fairly smooth and was a little creamy. I only had 1 but I don't think i'd be able to drink something like this all night due to the strong citrus taste but I could definitely see how this would appeal to someone who does not drink a lot of beer. Even so, this is my  blog so I get to decide the rating =)    2/5


Up Next... Propeller Hefeweizen

#34 Big Rock Grasshopper - Alberta, Canada

Just picked up a 6pack of Grasshopper by Big Rock Brewry in Calgary, Alberta. Grasshopper is a wheat beer, weighing in at 5%alc./vol and for all its worth is pretty standard Canadian beer. 

Style: Wheat Ale

Colour: Golden Yellow

Key Ingredients: Three types of pale and wheat malts

Character: Light on the plate, yet packed with glavor and aroma, European hop aroma, with fruity or citrusy notes.

Source:http://www.bigrockbeer.com/#/beer/grasshopper

There was nothing perticularly wrong with this beer but there was nothing particularly special or different about this beer either. I will give it a modest 3/5.