Category: Reviews

Caution “Danger Lager” ahead….

The latest creation(ish) from your top 5 favorite home brewer is “Danger Lager” originally called “Max’s Danger Lager” but I decided to change the name since I probably shouldn’t be promoting a cute little baby to drink.. though I openly encourage his parents.

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So what’s it taste like? Well it’s got a sweet start and and has hints of alot of things… amongst six taste testers I got six different responses, the one thing they all said…. It lacked the distinctive bite of usual home-brew (I’ve been trying to get rid of that bite for a while now). And as Don said… “This is a beer you could sell” well that was nice of him.

Basic components of the “Danger Lager”? A kit from my new favorite brew shop “Brew your own brew” It was originally a Golden Ale kit, but instead of a ale yeast I swapped out to a lager yeast. I also made a few other modifications to the recipie but it’s still really hard to screw up a kit home brew beer.

Why call it “Danger Lager”? Well other then being a cool name, well it kind of sneaks up on you and can kick your ass.

Third Review… Shiner Bock Brown Ale

Shiner Brewery in Shiner Texas makes a full range of Ales (at least that is what they say on their website, www.shiner.com). Shiner Bock is one of the few brews that comes out of the third greatest state in the union (the first two being Arizona and Colorado) that is generally avalible here in Phoenix.

In general Shiner Bock is about how you would expect a Brown Ale to be. Full of flavor but not to much bite. It’s got a bit of sweetness to it, not like a fat tire but more subtle. It also has a hint of a smokey flavor like a porter again is very subtle to find it. Overall all a way above average beer that has come from much farther away then fat tire or the flying dog (~800 –> 900 miles to the Denver Ft Collins are as opposed to ~1100 miles for Shiner TX Ok it’s not that big of a diffrence but you get the idea)

Shiner loses points for having a twist off top.. I know it’s from Texas and all but come on even a good Texan in a dry county has to have access to a bottle opener (the whole dry county concept is the only reason I can come up with as to why a micro brew would even consider such a device acceptable). Also shave off a few more points for the beer being better out of a bottle then a glass, at the very minimum it should be equally good out of both if not better in a glass.

A good beer, just not the first one I would reach for.

Results of Batch #1 of Obispo Brewery…


Kegging is done and the beer has been under CO2 pressure for 4 days. While it still needs to be under pressure for another 7 days before it’s really done the beer is finally at a point that it’s either going to be good or it’s not.

But before we get to that point I wanted to talk briefly about kegging. The soda keg for the beer is one of the better decisions I made for this entire process. Aside from not having to screw with 48 some odd bottles and caps I also don’t have to screw with a secondary fermentation vessel or additional adjuncts to my beer. As you can see in my picture I’m currently keeping my whole keg setup in a fridge…. this is a less then ideal setup since I lose my fridge for storing food (kind of a issue for me) and the cold humidity is screwing with the regulator… That part is what is causing more pain and misery then anything else right now. So for the weekend I will keep the beer in the fridge but will be purchasing a small freezer and doing some work on it to make it more suitable for beer kegs. More on that once I actually do it.

Now for the part that you have been waiting for… Results of the first beer tasting.

IT’S GOOD!!

The biggest concerns were spoilage because I for got to clean something or something was not quite right…. I’m happy to say that I had no problems in that department and have good beer!

Overall the beer is defintly a ale, a touch hoppier then what I’m used to in Ales, but no where near the level of a traditional IPA. The alcohol content is also a bit on the heavy side as I had a single 16oz serving and was feeling a little to good. A empty stomach may also have had something to do with that. Overall I’m very pleased with the results of this first batch.

In the next series of entries I show I get my fridge back and begin prep for my next batch.

Until next time kiddies.

The first review… Fat Tire Amber Ale

Brewery: New Belgium Fort Collins Colorado

Type: Ale

From the Website: “Fat Tire’s depth of flavor, achieved with neither a disproportionate sway toward hops or malts, tandems well with a full spectrum of today’s engaging cuisines. Salmon, dry-aged cheeses, roasted chilies, omelets at midnight, sweet potato French fries and just about anything with grill marks or garlic are just a few of the edibles we like to partner up with our Amber Ale.“

My Take: Fat Tire is one of my favorite beers. I’m starting with this beer since I know it better then I know most any other beer. It’s a Belgium Style influenced Ale, but it lacks the bite of other Belgian style ales. To someone who is not used to drinking Fat Tire they would probably be struck at how strong the flavor truly is.