Blue Star

Rating: 7.2
Brewery: North Coast Brewing Company (Fort Bragg, CA)
Glass: Pint
ABV: 4.5%
Seller: The Foodery (Philadelphia, PA)
When Enjoyed: 26 February 2009

So we here at the Responsible Drunk might have gotten a bit ahead of ourselves here. Tired of the cold weather we decided to try a summer beer a little early. Wheat beer tends to be a summer seasonal beer, best for relaxing and having a drink in the hot weather. This is generally because of it light, crisp and not too complex flavor. Wheat beers tend to focus on having a very crisp and light wheat flavor that can be complimented by a small dose of citrus flavor, although not required.

Blue Star fits this style very well in making a light crisp beer that isn't very complex on taste. The initial taste has a very crisp wheat flavor. While being crisp, Blue Star is also very smooth and doesn't have the hoppier or maltier taste of other beers. The initial taste fits the style perfectly and creates the beginnings to a great wheat beer and summer drink.

However, Blue Star doesn't pan out after that. The crisp initial taste becomes bland by the time the aftertaste arrives. The flavors of the beer die off a little too quick and make the rest of the taste relatively bland for a beer in general. If there was more to the beer than the initial taste it would have made for a great wheat beer and summer drink. Instead it's taste towards the end of drinking and aftertaste left a bit to be desired.

Cappuccino Stout (Limited Release)

Rating: 7.1
Brewery: Lagunitas (Petaluma, CA)
Glass: Pint
ABV: 8.29%
Seller: Blue Dog Tavern (Chalfont, PA)
When Enjoyed: 04 February 2009





Another Stout to be tried. This one is a Cappuccino Stout, which is a Stout that has coffee flavorings. In general this type of Stout tends to have a mixture of tastes where it often goes back and forth between tasting like a Stout and tasting like a coffee. Lagunitas's version however has some tricks up its sleeves.

The first to be considered is the alcohol amount. At 8.29% this is about twice as strong as other Stouts are. While the alcohol amount is increased this also has a very strong impact on the taste of the beer. This Stout is much more bitter than other Stouts. This Stout seems to be more of an Imperial Stout than a Stout. An Imperial Stout is one of a higher alcohol content and tends to be more bitter than the milder taste of a Stout. However, this Stout also has the coffee taste that comes in short bursts. The color is a very dark color but when held up to light shows a dark red as well. The head is relative small and not full of flavor compared to that of other Stouts. The main taste comes from the beer itself which is mainly bitter with coffee tastes sneaking in every now and then.

In terms of the main thoughts about this beer, personally the beer seems to be labeled as the wrong style. This hurts its value, because drinking this while thinking it's a Stout and getting the taste of an Imperial one makes for it to be slightly less enjoyable. However the main feeling that reflects its score is its bitterness. While bitterness marks the Imperial Stout style, this specific beer seems too bitter. While bitterness in a beer can be enjoyed, it usually requires a variety of other interesting tastes to go along as well. This beer seems to only have the bitter taste of the beer and the occasional coffee taste that has some bitterness with it as well. It's hard to fully enjoy the whole beer (1 pint 6 ounces worth) much less think about going to multiple of them in the same night. That is the main thing that hurts its value as a beer.