Sleeping Dogs - Xbox 360

    Sleeping Dogs is an open-world, or Sandbox, style game that focuses on Action. The game was developed by United Front Games with development assistance and publishing by Square Enix. The game was originally slated to see release back in 2009 as the third entry in the True Crime video game series, but after many delays and budget problems, the game didn't hit shelves until 2012. The game is available on PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.

312 Urban Wheat - Goose Island Beer Co.

    312 Urban Wheat is a Pale Wheat Ale brewed by Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago, Illinois. I'm pretty torn when it comes to Goose Island beers as a lot of their distributed beers seem to mirror the low quality of Goose Island's owner, Anheuser-Busch's products. Their in-pub only brews, however, are on par with those of the best craft breweries in the country. We'll see what side of the coin 312 sits on in just a minute, though I already have my guess.

    312 Urban Wheat pours a pale straw color with vivacious bubbles swarming inside the glass. A two finger head forms at pouring, but quickly subsides into a thin layer of bubbles which lace the glass as the beer is enjoyed.

    Aromas of wheat malt and a bit of sour corn predominate the beer's smell. Very light, hoppy, citrus scents give the beer a bit of a grassy quality.

    312 has a light body and a high level of carbonation. There is a slight bit of wateryness to the beer that I could do without, though it finishes dry. The beer is sessionable at 4.2% ABV.

Goose Island's next Headquarters?

    Goose Island's 312 Urban Wheat beer tastes of light wheat malts with a slight aftertaste of corn. Very light citrus hops give the brew a hint of lemon zest.

    I remember having this beer soon after it was first released and thinking that it was a pretty decent wheat beer. Now, at this tasting, I'm shocked at how much the flavor has chanegd. I wonder if production was changed to make for being able to sell the product to a larger market, and in the process the recipe was reformulated to reduce the wheat malt used in brewing.

    Whatever the change was, it's definitely for the worse. I would definitely look elsewhere for a beer with great, clean wheat malt flavor. If you want something light, 312 still wouldn't be a horrible choice, but you could find better...

Amulets and Ale Rating:

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Pabst Blue Ribbon - Pabst Brewing Company

    Just like ironic facial hair, fixed-gear bikes, and bands that don't even exist yet, Pabst Blue Ribbon has been a mainstay of hipsters for years. Now that I live in Chicago's most hipster neighborhood, it was only a matter of time before this review happened. I debated not even reviewing the beer, seeing as it's so popular nowadays..

    PBR is brewed by the Pabst Brewing Company, located in Los Angeles, California. The beer is an Adjunct Lager, using large amounts of corn in the brewing process rather than all barley.

    The beer pours a golden straw color with a thin foam capping it. This brew is super-clear with lots of bubbles rushing to the top of the cup. A thin film of bubbles on top of the beer stays around for a surprisingly long time for a macro brew. These bubbles clearly don't realize foam isn't cool anymore.

    PBR's aroma is very faint, but light malts and sour corn make up what odors can be smelled. To it's credit, the beer actually smells more like beer than other macros which tend to just smell like soda water.

Hipsters only drink warm beer, they grab it before it's cool.

    The Adjunct Lager is medium-light bodied with a medium level of carbonation. There is a bit of a wateriness to the beer, but it is also strangely syrupy. Even more confusing, the beer finishes extremely dry, just like the hipster sense of humor. There is an alcohol content of 4.74% ABV in the brew.

     Pabst Blue Ribbon's flavor has plenty of sweet grain flavor. I'm surprised the beer finishes so dry with how sweet the flavor starts. There really isn't any hops flavor worth mentioning here. The large amount of corn used in the brewing of this Adjunct Lager becomes obvious with the pronounced, roasted corn flavor of the beer. In fact, this is the corniest tasting beer I've ever had. Don't hipsters know that the use of corn hasn't been "underground" since the early 2500's BC?

    Overall, PBR is actually a bit better than some American macro brews. The corn flavor can be a bit off-putting at first as it's so strong, but you eventually settle on it just like most other things in life. I suppose if you're looking for a cheap, ok-tasting beer (or if you're a hipster), PBR isn't a terrible choice. I can only hope that hipsters eventually move on to local craft beer instead of this, but until then I'll keep blaming Frank Booth from Blue Velvet for causing my neighborhood to be inundated with PBR cans...

Amulets and Ale Rating:

(I would have rated it higher if it weren't so mainstream..)

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Max Payne 3 - Xbox 360

    Max Payne 3 is a Third-Person Shooter released in 2012 on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, and OS X. The game was created by Rockstar games and picks up nine years after the events of 2003's Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.

Tatra - Zywiec Breweries PLC

    Tatra is a Pale Euro Lager brewed by Zywiec Breweries PLC located in Zywiec, Poland. I honestly have never had a Polish beer before, and after seeing this at the store I had to try it out! As far as beer goes, I know next to nothing about Poland's traditions and styles, so I'm interested to explore the country's brewing.

    The beer pours a straw color that is darker than most Lagers. Thousands of bubbles froth up a white head that stands about an inch tall and shows surprising retention. There really isn't any lacing to speak of.

    Similar to other Lagers, Tatra's aroma is pretty light. Sweet, grainy malts are really all there is to smell here. At least there isn't an overabundance of sour corn malt like in some beers...

    The beer sports a light body and a medium level of carbonation. Tatra somehow just barely avoids the common watery beer character that macro Lagers so often have. Proving it isn't your normal Lager, Tatra contains an alcohol level of 6% ABV.

    Tatra's flavor starts out nice, sweet, and grainy. From there things start to get weird as the hops flavor comes in and confuses my mouth for a few seconds. The grain and hops flavors don't seem to mix well together. The beer's aftertaste is of clean grains, though you likely won't notice it with the weirdness of the hops/grain combo lingering in your mouth. The can advertises that Tatra is full flavored, but I would disagree to a certain extent. It's definitely more flavorful than a lot of American Lagers, but it still falls short of its "full bodied taste" slogan.

    After looking into Zywiec Brewery, I was surprised to learn that the company actually has quite a bit of history. Founded in 1852, Zywiec Brewery has been making beer for Poland longer than many of our American breweries have existed. Surviving through both world wars, Zywiec continues to brew under the Polish flag, even if they are currently owned by the Dutch company Heineken.

    With all the history behind the brewery, I still can't believe they haven't changed their recipe to include hops which jive a bit better with the sweet grain malts. Even though the beer's flavor wasn't exactly pleasant, I'm still glad to have tried the beer. If Tatra is an accurate example of Polish beers, they definitely have a unique flavor that I look forward to trying more of.

Amulets and Ale Rating:

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