Last night, we recorded Jarate Sandvich, episode 8. We talked about inFAMOUS, Left 4 Dead 2, OSX/Windows/Linux and beer. Beer was a pretty prominent subject due to some of the beers being simply awful. I truly feel this was the worst batch we had yet gotten. The only redeeming beer for me was the Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale. That was slightly sweet with a good taste to it. The three horrible beers were Drake’s Zatec Pilsner, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout and Buckbean Original Orange Blossom Ale.
I couldn’t even tell how Drake’s tasted – the carbonation level on it was insane. It was like someone vigorously shook up the beers before we opened them, but that same carbonation level remained the whole time. Every time I took a swig, it would foam in my mouth like crazy, completely shocking my taste buds and making it impossible to find out how it tastes. That was the first beer dumped on Jarate Sandvich. We each got through about 1/3 of the bottle before deciding it was simply not drinkable, and I took it to the kitchen sink. While pouring, it filled up half of the sink with foam. I’ve read some reviews of this beer and I’m growing increasingly convinced we got a bad batch. The reviews talk about a “thin white head with patchy lacing” and “This cloudy yellow beer poured with a thin white head.” ‘Thin’ is not a word I would use to describe that head. I might give it another shot someday, and hope this batch was just missed by quality control.
The Bourbon Stout was just awful in so many ways. It tasted like a random experiment at brewing beer with whiskey instead of water. I once thought about brewing a pot of coffee with cream instead of water, just to see what it would taste like. The difference between that thought and this beer is that I would never try to market and sell my experiment. It was simply not pleasant. At 13% ABV, it is about as strong of a beer I’m ever likely to see, but it tasted like slightly carbonated bourbon mixed with teriyaki sauce. I don’t know how that taste got in there, but I sure tasted something like that. This is a beer that I will never give another try. If I want bourbon, I’ll drink bourbon, not some freaky hybrid crap.
I hate speaking ill of the Buckbean Original Orange Blossom Ale – they are a Nevada brewery, and I’m a proud Nevadan, but I can’t give them any credit for that ale. It was flat and flavorless. I don’t mean flavorless, as in a good, crisp, clean lager, but flavorless like watered down cough syrup. It really tasted like orange cough syrup, blended with soda water, and thrown in a fridge for an hour. I’ll try other Buckbean beers, but I’m not going to drink this stuff again.
At least the Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale was drinkable.