Rolling Rock Extra Pale - Latrobe Brewing Co.

    Rolling Rock Extra Pale is an Adjunct Lager brewed by Latrobe Brewing Co. (now owned by Anheuser-Busch) which is located in St. Louis, Missouri. We needed a lager for a shrimp boil recipe and the wife picked this one up. We have a bit of a soft spot for these "tallboy" cans, so that likely factored into the choice.

    Rolling Rock Extra Pale lives up to its name in color as it pours a very pale straw color. The beer appears to be very effercescant and features a large, white head. The head has very low retention, however, and leaves nothing on the glass.

    This Adjunct Lager barely has any smell to it at all. What little scent there is comes off as light malts. Slightly sour corn notes can be detected, though very lightly. If I were to venture a guess, there was very little malt put into brewing this beer.

    Rolling Rock Extra Pale is light bodied and almost watery in mouthfeel. The medium-low carbonation level enhances the mouthfeel and makes the beer feel a bit fuller bodied. The beer has an alcohol content of 4.6% ABV.

A rolling rock gathers no moss, but it sure does ruin a beer.

    The Adjunct Lager's flavor is extremely light. What flavor there is in the beer is that of grains, mainly corn. There is next to nothing as far as hops flavor.

    The name Rolling Rock can't help but make me think of Raiders of the Lost Ark. My mind starts at the picture over there --> and then goes to the glass of beer being the idol on the pedestal. Indy looks at the beer, he smells the light adjunct grains and grimaces. He pours out some sand from his pouch, knowing that this beer is going to be a little lighter on flavor. The time comes to make the switch. Indiana Jones grasps the cup in one hand while readying his sandbag in the other. After a deep breath, Indy makes the switch. A little of the beer splashes out onto his jacket, and he gasps in shock. After a tense moment, nothing happens, everything seems to be ok. Just then, the sandbag begins to recede down into the pedestal. OH NO! He forgot that this was Rolling Rock Extra Pale! He should have taken more sand out of his bag first! Indiana has no time to ponder his mistake, as a giant (you guessed it) rolling rock comes out of nowhere and chases him out of the temple. He'll never put macro beer on a pedestal again!

    Rolling Rock Extra Pale is a beer that I would never choose over most any other beer given the chance. That said, it is actually quite light and refreshing. If someone were to give me this beer after a long day out in the heat, I would graciously accept it. Macro beers all tend to have the same problems (lack of flavor, wateryness, etc..) and this one is no different.

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Homefront - Xbox 360

    Homefront is a First Person Shooter developed by Kaos Studios and published by THQ. The game was released in 2011 on the Xbox 360, Playstaion 3, and PC. Homefront poses an interesting, (hopefully) fictional future in which the United States, weakened by its dependence on oil after the world's supply is nearly destroyed, falls to foreign powers. It falls to the player to join in the American Resistance, and fight back against the oppressive regime which has overtaken the American homeland.

Rare Vos - Brewery Ommegang

    Rare Vos is a Belgian style Amber Ale created by the Cooperstown, New York located Brewery Ommegang. When translated from Flemish (a dialect of Dutch spoken in northern Belgium), Rare Vos means Sly Fox. I have yet to see why exactly this name would be chosen for this style of ale, but i look forward to learning!

    Ommegang's ale pours a fitting red-amber color like the fur of a fox. A gigantic off-white head forms after pouring, though it quickly settles down leaving no trace on the glass.

    The Amber Ale has an interesting, metallic scent to it, like that of mineral water. There is also a very sweet scent of dark fruits and the banana-like Belgian yeast. Earthy spices entice the nose with their homey scents.

    Rare Vos is medium bodied with a medium-low carbonation level. I'm shocked at how smooth this beer is. Perhaps it is called a Sly Fox because it goes down so easily, yet leaves you surprisingly wobbly at 6.5% alcohol by volume.

    The beer tastes very sweet. There is no hint of metallic flavors, but instead, a surprising hint of orange peel. With the wonderful spices in the ale, Rare Vos reminds me of a fresh fruit pie for some reason. The Belgian yeast flavor is present, though it is much more subdued than in other Belgian style ales I have tried. Everything is very well balanced in the beer, making for an easy to drink ale.

I think you would be safer in my mouth!

    I mainly picked up this beer due to its label. I have had other Ommegang ales and have liked them well enough, but I'm a sucker for animals on labels. Add in the fact that the animals are partaking in one of my favorite hobbies, beer tasting, and I'm nearly 100% sure to buy your product based on the label alone. Thinking on the ale's name, however, reminds me of the old tale about the fox and the gingerbread man. We all know the story, the fox is an investment banker who offers to carry the Gingerbread man on his back across the river of homebuying with an amazing loan. The silly gingerbread man agrees, excited to be a new homeowner. Before too long the fox convinces the gingerbread man to invest in some overseas stocks and bonds, and trustingly, the cookie dude agrees. Next thing you know Mr. Gingerbread is so in need of dough that he sells his kids before they are baked to the fox. Long story short, the gingerbread man dies a painful death while the fox, feasting on the gingerbread man's hopes and dreams, retires to a condo in Hawaii.

    Ommegang's Rare Vos will not take advantage of you like the fox in the story, but it might sneak up on you and surprise you with its smoothness. This beer is definitely one of my favorite Belgian style ales that I have tried. There's just something so, safe, and homey about the spiced fruit flavors in the ale that makes me want to curl up and read a book. I'm really glad I tried this one!

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Exodus Porter - SweetWater Brewing Company

    Exodus Porter is a Porter created by SweetWater Brewing Company which is located in Atlanta, Georgia. This beer got its name due to the first batch being brewed on Bob Marley's birthday.

    The Porter pours a dark black color which lets very little light pass through the glass. A finger of khaki head can be seen after pouring with no lacing on the glass being apparent.

    The beer smells lightly of coffee and cocoa. There is a huge roasted malt scent and only the slightest bit of hops aroma.

    Exodus is medium bodied with a medium-high level of carbonation. I would prefer the beer to have a bit lower carbonation as it would feel smoother rather than bubbly on the palette. The high level of bubbles does, however, make the body seem thicker than it would otherwise feel. The beer has an alcohol content of 5.9% ABV.

Three little beers, pitch by my doorstep,
every little thing gonna be alright!

    Exodus is more lightly flavored than some Porters I have had. The first flavor is that of roasted coffee beans followed by chocolate. There is definitely the flavor of roasted malts in the beer, though it comes in secondarily to the other flavors. There is only the tiniest bit of hops bitterness to the Porter, almost nothing perceptible.

    Personally, I don't usually like Porters very much. The main thing that turns me off about them is their "blackness", or the amount that the beer tastes like coffee. I don't know why it bothers me, but I really don't like my beer to taste like coffee. Maybe it is the same reason that I have always hated the coffee flavored jelly beans. Exodus Porter actually comes off as pleasurable to me, even with its coffee flavor. The lightness of the flavors in the beer keep the coffee flavor from overwhelming me and I can still taste the roasty malts and chocolate flavors in it. Overall, not a bad showing from SweetWater Brewing Company.

Amulets and Ale Rating:

 

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Shadows of the Damned - Xbox 360

    Shadows of the Damned is a Third-Person Shooter, Horror Game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Electronic Arts. Grasshopper Manufacture is headed by Goichi Suda (Suda51) who is known for his edgy style of game development. For this game, Suda51 teamed up with Shinji Mikami, of Resident Evil fame, to merge Mikami's Psychological Horror with Suda51's surreal, almost Punk Rock style. Shadows of the Damned saw release in 2011 on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Crysis - Xbox 360

    Crysis is a First Person Shooter developed by the German game studio Crytek and published by Electronic Arts. Crysis originally was released in 2007 exclusively on the PC. For years Crysis was the game to use when showing off how powerful your new gaming computer was. Crysis featured some of the most beautiful graphics yet seen by the gaming world. In 2011 Crysis saw release on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 as a port and in digital download form only. Needless to say, the game does not look nearly as good on the consoles as it did on the most powerful gaming rigs, but after the console release and success of Crysis 2, Crytek decided to let console gamers experience the first chapter of the story.

Snake River Pale Ale - Snake River Brewing Company

    Snake River Pale Ale is an American Pale Ale created by the Snake River Brewing Company which is located in Jackson, Wyoming.

    The beer lives up to its name by pouring a pale yellow color with around a finger of head. Some slight lacing can be seen on the glass.

    The Pale Ale smells of citrus hops with a slight aroma of caramel malts. The hops scents are more floral than piney in this beer.

    Snake River Pale Ale is medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation. This beer is an example of where a beer's body and carbonation can work together to make the mouthfeel seem much thicker than the beer would alone. There is absolutely no alcohol character to the 5.2% ABV beer.

    As opposed to the usual hops-forward flavors of other Pale Ales, Snake River's Pale Ale first tastes like light caramel malts. This sweetness is followed up by a nice citrus hops profile which comes off as more flowery than bitter. Neither the sweetness, nor the bitterness is out of balance in this ale.

I bet snakes are angry drunks.

    I have to admit that when it comes to phobias, snakes are my main terror. I can't even imagine what Snake River must be like. I'm going to just hope that it got its name from it's windy nature rather than that it is full of snakes. My mind jumps right to a river which is made up of writhing, slithering snakes instead of water. You would fall into it and be covered by their long, squirming bodies. At that point, being bitten by a poisonous snake would be a blessing to me.

    Luckily, this beer is nowhere near as terrifying to me as a river made out of snakes. This Pale Ale is actually very well balanced and manages to bring out the flowery nature of hops rather than just bringing the bitter, pineyness that so many beers can't get past. I would say that Snake River's Pale Ale is a good Pale Ale, but it really doesn't do anything for me past that. Overall I feel that it is solely an average Pale Ale.

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Dust: An Elysian Tail - Xbox 360 Arcade

    Dust: An Elysian Tail is an action game with RPG elements created by the extremely talented Dean Dodrill and published by Microsoft studios. That's right, you heard correctly, everything in the game except for the music, voice acting, and a small bit of story writing was all done by one person. The game was released 2012 solely on the Xbox 360 Arcade, but will be released later in 2013 for PC.

Fat Tire Amber Ale - New Belgium Brewing

    Fat Tire is an Amber Ale created by New Belgium Brewing which is located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Fat Tire is interesting, as it is commonly the first craft beer that people try. When New Belgium recently expanded their distribution to new parts of the country, I started hearing all about this new "Flat Tire" beer that I just had to try. Now that I've had a good number of different beers I find Fat Tire to be somewhat of an average Amber Ale, though I'm not at all surprised that people were blown away by it when they first tried it. When you go from drinking only light (or lite, as the case may be) beers to drinking an actual craft beer it's not surprising that it would be world changing. I can just see it now, "Hey! there's something strange in my beer! I think..I think it's..flavor!?"

    Fat Tire pours a fittingly amber color with around a finger of off-white head. There is some very light lacing.

    The beer smells lightly sweet with biscuity malts and lightly toasty. There is a very slight floral hop aroma to the beer.

    The Amber Ale is light to medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation.

Fat tired bikes, you make the rockin' world go 'round!

    Fat Tire Amber Ale tastes of lightly sweet cereal malts. There is only the slightest bit of hops flavor, keeping balance against the sweetness and making for a very drinkable beer. There is no alcohol character at all. The beer has an alcohol content of 5.2% ABV.

    While I find Fat Tire to be only an average beer, I have to give New Belgium credit for introducing new markets to craft-style beers. As I mentioned before, I really am not surprised that some beer drinkers were blown away by the new style. Before the craft wave really hit the Midwest, all we had was basically the macro-brews and Samuel Adams, who might as well be a macro-brewer anymore.

    As with so many other beers, Fat Tire Amber Ale does nothing wrong, yet does nothing to stand out from the crowd. I have a special respect for New Belgium, however, for changing the minds of bad beer drinkers in my area. If nothing else, this would be a great starting point for someone to jump into the craft brew scene. If you have any interest at all in trying new beers, get on your bikes and ride!

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Hogwild IPA - Aviator Brewing Company

    Hogwild IPA is an American India Pale Ale created by Aviator Brewing Company which is located in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. After writing my previous beer review (Caged Alpha Monkey), I've come to fear beers with psychotic animals and lots of hops flowers on the label. You might say that I'm once bitten by a rabid hops animal, twice shy.

    I received this beer as part of my beer club's all cans month. I have mentioned before that I really like canned beers.

    The IPA pours a light golden orange with a large, thick head. I very lightly poured the beer and still ended up with the head nearly overflowing the glass.

    The beer smells like sweet citrus fruits, mainly grapefruit. Light malts can also be smelled.

    Hogwild is medium-light bodied with a medium-high level of carbonation. I was expecting there to be even more carbonation the way the beer exploded in my cup, so this is somewhat of a relief. There is no alcohol harshness to the beer which has an alcohol content of 6.7% ABV.

I've never really thought of pigs as "wild"...

    Aviator's IPA is actually quite well balanced. Sweet malts keep the piney bitterness from becoming unpleasant. While I would have liked more of a flowery hops profile to the beer, I have to admit that the more classic IPA flavors are very well done in this beer.

    Apparently when you feed hops flowers to pigs they become muscly ex-military slavering beasts! I can't believe that this isn't taught to us at an earlier age. I mean, imagine how easily a farmer could plant his hops near to his pig sty. All it would take would be one loose gate screw and BAM! ARMY OF CRAZED WILD HOGS! Terrifying.

    I was very relieved to find that this IPA was much better balanced than my previous experience. I have to keep in mind that I am rating this beer as itself, rather than rating it in comparison to other beers. Hogwild is a well done IPA, but doesn't add anything to the tried and true formula.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Xbox 360

     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a First-Person Shooter developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer games. It is published by Activision, and released in 2011 on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, and Wii. Not only is this the third installment of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare storyline, it is also around the 15th or so Call of Duty game to be released since the original Call of Duty hit PCs back in 2003. Chances are, you're familiar with the series if you have been gaming for any length of time.

Caged Alpha Monkey - CB's Brewing Company

    Caged Alpha Monkey is an American India Pale Ale brewed by CB's Brewing Company which is located in Honeoye Falls New York. The bottle's tagline reads that this is a "bold, East Coast animal that throws hops at you!" This beer was donated the Amulets and Ale by Emily Hohman.

    The American IPA pours somewhat hazy, bright copper color with around a finger of white head. The head leaves a slight lacing down the glass as the beer is consumed.

    Caged Alpha Monkey smells very hoppy with noticeable malt undertones. The hops aroma contains a mix of citrus and flowery tropical fruit with a little bit of pine resin.

    The beer is medium bodied and moderately carbonated. The beer finishes mostly dry with a little bit of oily resin left coasting the mouth. At 6.5% ABV, there is no noticeable alcohol character.

There are much worse things than hops that the monkey
could throw at you...

    Caged Alpha Monkey is very bitter. From the beer's aroma, I was hoping that there would be great, fruity, flowery hops flavors in the beer. Instead, there is solely overpowering, piney bitterness. The malt profile is almost non-existent, so the bitter hops are free to run wild amongst your taste buds. What is worse than the overpowering bitterness is the bitter and sour aftertaste that stays in your mouth long after swallowing the beer.

    The image I came up with for this beer has me thinking. Why don't we have beer zoos? Or even better, maybe we could get a bunch of different people drunk and lock them in cages while we watch what they do. You know, an interesting thing that I have noticed about humans is that generally we are okay with (joking about) doing weird things like this to each other, but if I were to even mention for a second that we get monkeys, rhinos, and giraffes drunk; PETA or some other organization would jump down my throat. For some reason, people tend to outwardly care more about animals than our own brothers and sisters. I'm not really up to the task of figuring out this bit of human psychology at the moment, but it's definitely an interesting issue to think on.

    As anyone familiar with this blog knows, I am a huge fan of hoppy beers. Unfortunately, Caged Alpha Monkey falls into a category of IPAs which I have called "novelty" IPAs. These beers seek only to compete on a bitterness level. Breweries attempt to see just how much heavy hitting hops bitterness they can pack into a normal beer for some sort of non-existent "beer cred". Nobody wins with beers like this. They are horribly unbalanced, they are off-putting, and nobody would ever buy them more than once for any reason other than "hey Billy, try this!" and then laughing at his face when he tastes it. It isn't just the "odd" breweries doing this either. Even some of my most respected breweries have at least one beer which falls into this novelty category. I really wish that they would just stop.

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Bell's Best Brown Ale - Bell's Brewery Inc.

    Bell's Best Brown Ale is a Brown Ale created by Bell's Brewery Inc. which is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This specific beer was donated to Amulets and Ale by Cale Nearing.

    The beer pours a dark garnet-brown with a large brown head that leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass.

    The Brown Ale smells like toasty malts as well as an almost metallic smell.

    The ale is medium bodied with a medium level of carbonation. The beer is very smooth and creamy.

    The Brown Ale's flavor is mainly sweet. Toasty malts and cocoa flavors predominate, with a slight hops bitterness to balance the sweetness. There is a sweet, almost caramel flavor to the beer as well. There is no alcohol warmth or flavor to the ale, which at 5.8 ABV is not surprising.

    I find the label choice for this beer interesting. Anyone who has ever seen an owl knows that their eyes are open WAY too wide to have consumed any alcohol. From strictly scientific observation of my friends while they drink, I have learned that eyes become more and more squinty as alcohol is consumed. If anything, owls are addicted to coffee. I mean, they're nocturnal, right? Up all night chasing (small woodland creature) tail, eyes wide and extremely alert. You can't tell me that these things aren't hopped up on caffeine. I would also like to comment on the fact that the owl on the bottle is looking at you somewhat condescendingly. He even has one eyebrow raised, as if to say, you're going to drink My beer? I don't know about you, but I don't really like elitist, caffeine addicted owls.

    Bell's Best Brown Ale is not at all a bad beer. In fact, I've never had a Bell's beer that wasn't serviceable. Unfortunately, I find this beer to be a very average Brown Ale, which is fine for a night of drinking, but if I were to look for a tasty treat of a Brown Ale, this would not be it.

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Skies of Arcadia: Legends - Nintendo Gamecube

    Skies of Arcadia: Legends is a Japanese style Role Playing Game released in 2002 for the Nintendo Gamecube. Originally developed by Overworks and released in 2000 on the Sega Dreamcast, Skies of Arcadia was ported to the Gamecube as an enhanced edition. I'm incredibly thankful for this port as I never owned the "so-far-ahead-of-its-time-that-it-failed" Dreamcast, and as such, would never have gotten the chance to experience such a great game.
 
    The Gamecube port includes a graphical upgrade as well as all of the extra content that the Dreamcast version got via downloads. Some quests and the game structure have changed between versions, though the Gamecube version is still, at its core, the same game that was seen on the Dreamcast.