Purple Haze

This is the first beer I've had from Louisiana. Not terribly impressed. A wheat lager with raspberry puree added late in the process. This ought to give it a good fresh flavor, but it all kind of muddles together. Not a great fruit beer.

Asahi Super Dry

This beer was probably named to get the rhyme for English drinkers. The beer itself is pretty lame. Not recommended, and makes the record for rice beers 0-2.

Cinco De Mayo

Del Norte is a local brewery that seems to specialize in Mexican-style beers. The dark lager Mañana was about the tastiest example of the style I'd had, so I was looking forward to this mainline Mexican lager. This one was just okay.

Winterfest

Winterfest is actually not a bad beer if you're a malt-lover. I thought the malt profile of this beer was pretty solid, and not much else to interfere. Tasty enough that I'll have another when the opportunity arises.

Adam's Free Rye'd

I stopped in at Rock Bottom hoping they would have a winter seasonal I could write about, but, alas, no such luck. Instead, I thought to try this offering because I have enjoyed so many rye beers in the past. This beer is really, really bland. No texture, no flavor, and really watery.

Winter Lager

A winter lager is an intriguing idea, but it's got to be something a little more special to win me over.

Glacier

This lager from Tommyknocker is okay. It's not anything I'd really recommend over even corporate lagers.

Black Lager

This lager is indeed very black, and it's really pretty tasty, too.

Hoptoberfest

A pale, not very tasty (and especially not very hoppy!) beer from the brewery restaurant Hops.

Coney Island Lager

I found this relatively flavorless lager to be a great disappointment after Coney Island's other great successes, including the Sword Swallower, Mermaid Pilsner, and, of course, Albino Python. This further establishes that Shmaltz is a very uneven brewery.

Oktoberfest

This is one of the tastier traditional German-style lagers I've had. Really good beer. Nice color. A better-than-average product from Left Hand.

Sam Adams Octoberfest

In contrast to a couple of other Eastern Breweries I have mentioned, Sam Adams generally provides a consistently good product. This is no exception, a really tasty amber lager. If Shipyard and Sarnac represent the competition, no wonder Sam Adams was able to get the lion's share of the beer market in the East.

Octoberfest Lager

Kind of gross--I almost didn't finish this one. Sarnac, like Shipyard, made a really good pumpkin beer. Is that all these Eastern Breweries can make, or does my taste just not mesh with them for some reason?

Colorado Native Lager

Pretty nasty. Everyone I know who's tried this has had the same opinion, so it's not really recommended. And guess what, it's actually a MillerCoors product, trying to masquerade as a craft beer, or actually is a craft beer, financed and managed by the megacorp. I didn't know that until now, but I think it explains a lot about the beer.

Pumpkin Lager

Being as how it's getting on toward autumn, there were a number of seasonal beers out last time I went to the liquor store, and having gotten a recommendation for a pumpkin beer, I decided to try a few different ones. This one was disgusting. You pretty much have to keep at it to take the edge of the squashy taste, and any time you stop it comes back.

Bob's '47 Oktoberfest

Boulevard

Dam Straight Lager

Dam Brewery. The Dam Brewery reportedly has a great winter brew, which is probably why so many skiers rave about it. Visiting in the summer, I tried this variety, and found it to be just okay, maybe a little bland.

Sword Swallower

Shmaltz. Malty-hoppy balance. They're both strong, but neither is overwhelming, and the combination is surprisingly smooth. Truly a fantastic beer. With this beer, Shmaltz overcame my initial reluctance (inspired by He'Brew) to become one of my favorite breweries.

Albino Python

Shmaltz. This is a delicious beer. Truly a delightful blend of spices, not too strong, but very smooth.

Mañana Cerveza Oscura

Del Norte--A really good amber lager. Super tasty and a great accompaniment to pork skins!