Hell or High Watermelon - 21st Amendment Brewery

    Hell or High Watermelon is a Wheat Beer brewed first with watermelon concentrate, with even more watermelon juice added at bottling (well, canning). This fruity concoction is brewed by the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, California. Artificial watermelon flavoring used to really turn me off in candy and other foods as a child, so I have...low hopes..for this one to say the least.

    The beer pours a pale, translucent straw color. There is a bit of haze to the beer, and watermelon particles are visible floating around in the glass which tells me that this is likely an unfiltered beer.

    Surprisingly, Hell or High Watermelon doesn't smell much like watermelon at all. There is definitely a fruity scent to the beer, but it's more of a tart, berry smell, than that of melons. Light scents of malts and wheat are discernible underneath the fruitiness.

    The watermelon brew is light bodied and has a low to medium level of carbonation. The beer feels very watery when swallowing, and has an alcohol content of 4.9% ABV.

Explosive watermelon flavor?

    Ah, there it is, the watermelon flavor I was expecting to smell, I can definitely taste. I'm actually surprised that the fruit flavor isn't just the chemical tasting, artificial watermelon of my youth, but actually more of something in-between the real and artificial flavors of watermelon. The wheat and pale malt flavors are very subtle, possibly overpowered by the watermelon.

    I don't know what kind of watermelons the scientists that invented artificial watermelon flavoring were eating, but I can guarantee they weren't the same fruit that we grow here on earth. Either that, or the scientists assigned to the watermelon artificial flavoring research group just happened to be the exact few members of the human race whose tongues didn't work correctly. Luckily 21st Amendment apparently at least had two people working on the potential flavors for their watermelon beer, one of whom obviously had actually tasted watermelon in his or her lifetime.

    Hell or High Watermelon is extremely light bodied. If you're a fan of watermelon and light, summer beers, definitely try it. If you want a light tasting beer with flavor that isn't nearly-artificial watermelon, look elsewhere for your summer refreshment.

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The Maw - Xbox 360 Live Arcade

    The Maw is an Action/Adventure game with mild puzzle solving created by Twisted Pixel Games. The game was Twisted Pixel's first release, and helped pave the way for other Twisted Pixel titles such as Comic Jumper. Released in 2009, The Maw is available on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade, as well as in the Games for Windows format.

Heineken Lager - Heineken Nederland B.V.

    Heineken Lager is the original style of Heineken beers and is brewed in Zoeterwoude, Netherlands by Heineken Nederland B.V.. Brewed since 1873, Heineken Lager is likely one of the most recognizable beer brands in the world. I was extremely surprised to learn that, unlike our American macro-breweries, Heineken continues to brew without the use of adjuncts in their lager! That gives Heineken a step up in my mind over other macro-breweries for sure.

    Heineken pours the familiar straw-yellow of a Lager. Almost as many bubbles appear in the beer as when you pour a clear soda into a glass. A surprisingly thick 1/2 inch head of white foam caps the beer.

    The beer's aroma is very light, and consists mainly of grain scents without much else going on. There isn't really any perceptible hops scent in the nose.

Heineken from a Heiny-can.

    The Lager is very light bodied and almost watery. I'm surprised to find that there is a very light level of carbonation in the beer, especially after seeing all the bubbles upon pouring. I guess that initial rush of bubbles was all the carbonation escaping their aluminum prison. Heineken has a sessionable alcohol content of 5% ABV.

    Heineken Lager's flavor is mainly that of the light grains perceptible in the beer's aroma. The malts are actually quite sweet, however, and almost syrupy to the point of being highly unpleasant if you're drinking this after any hoppier beers. On its own, it's pretty drinkable and light. I'm thankful for the lack of sour corn adjunct flavors thanks to Heineken's philosophy of quality and just using pure barley malts. As the beer warms, a sort of skunky flavor begins to form, so drink it while it's cold!

    When I was little, the world was a different place. The cigarette smoking camel, two-pack-a-day manly cowboy, and many other mascots for adult items were free to advertise in media that kids were exposed to on a regular basis. As such, I saw a lot of beer commercials growing up, and I specifically remember Heineken as a brand that was advertised. Of course, as a youngster I had no previous experience with Dutch names and made the best of the name with words common in my own vocabulary. This is why I spent the majority of my childhood thinking that there was a beer called Heiny-kin. I had no idea why someone would advertise their product using a posterior, it seemed counter-productive. Obviously I hadn't learned that sex sells at that point either...

    While I'm super glad that Heineken avoids using adjuncts in their Lager, it's still just a plain, average Lager. While easy drinking, it's also somewhat boring drinking. You might choose this over your other macro-brews though, thanks to its faithful adherence to keeping barley the only grain in beer.

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OGAH! #1 - Bubsy in Claws Encounters with the Furry Kind

    Bubsy in Claws Encounters with the Furry Kind is a Platfomer developed by Accolade and released on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis in 1993.