Amulets and Ale: December 2014

Monday, December 22, 2014

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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Thursday, December 4, 2014

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...