Beer In Front Awards: Deschutes Black Butte Porter

So I’ll be posting each beer I rate for the 2022 Beer In Front Awards. Visit the website at beerinfront.com and the Awards page.

My next beer for judging is one of the beers I have been drinking for over 30 years. It is the first dark beer that rocked my socks off. It is the Deschutes Black Butte Porter.

The appearance is not so grand. It has an almost completely opaque dark brown/black color with a tan head that barely elevated a 1/3” and dissipated to a light film almost immediately. I rated this a 7 for appearance.

The aroma is nice, but also not super impressive. It has a light roasty and more burnt toffee aroma. And that is it. So it gets a 7 for aroma.

The flavor is mostly that burnt toffee but it is so pleasant and not too sweet. I really love the flavor of this beer. So I give it a 9 for flavor.

My overall rating is just an average of the scores. I drink a 6 pack of this beer at least once every 3 months. I really do enjoy it despite the overall 8 rating.

Beer In Front Awards: New Belgium Fat Tire

So I’ll be posting each beer I rate for the 2022 Beer In Front Awards. Visit the website at beerinfront.com and the Awards page.

My next beer for judging is probably one of the first craft beers a lot people tried. It is a beer I drank a lot of when I was first on my craft beer journey and my wife for years called it Flat Tire. It is the classic Fat Tire from Colorado brewery New Belgium.

The appearance is a slightly cloudy golden amber with a nice fluffy off white head that stood three fingers high and jetted above the rim of my glass. I gave it a 7 for appearance.

The aroma is all caramel malt and maybe even some toffee. Not all that spectacular so I gave it a 5.

The flavor was much more lackluster than I remembered. It has a watery mouthfeel and was very subdued. Very disappointing and that six pack I bought will be a chore to finish. I’ll probably save it for my wife’s friends that don’t like strong beer flavored beers. I gave it a 3 for taste.

Overall I am rating this a 5 out of 10.

Beer In Front Awards: Anchor Steam Beer

So I’ll be posting each beer I rate for the 2022 Beer In Front Awards. Visit the website at beerinfront.com and the Awards page.

My next beer for judging is a classic West Coast beer out of San Francisco. It’s the Anchor Brewing Steam Beer.

The appearance of this beer is very nice. A clear, golden amber color with a nice dense off white head. This gets an 8 for appearance.

The aroma comes across bold with a bread dough malt fragrance. You also get a sense of sweetness from the aroma. I give it a 7 for aroma.

The taste was a surprise because I assumed it would be all bready malt. But it was mildly bread mixed with some tobacco and/or figs and burnt sugar. I gave it a 7 for flavor.

Overall I enjoy this beer and it is unique flavored and not just another lager. Overall I rate this beer a 7.

2022 Beer In Front Awards: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

So I’ll be posting each beer I rate for the 2022 Beer In Front Awards. Visit the website at beerinfront.com and the Awards page.

My next beer for judging is a beer from a brewery that was very popular in the early 2000’s. It is Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. I first tried beers from this brewery around 2007 when my wife found a loophole to have beers shipped to a local store. The mark up was crazy and she paid over $40 for a mix six pack. Needless to say none of the beers live up to the price tag. One of those beers was this 90 minute IPA.

For appearance I have to admit it is a beautiful beer. It has a deep amber color with a big, fluffy and creamy off-white head that stuck around for the entire consumption. It is a clear beer as well with a good amount of bubbles rising throughout. I rated this a 9 for appearance.

For the aroma I must admit I was very disappointed. I mostly smelt doughy bread malt with a hint of piney hops. This only scored a 5 from me.

The taste is different than most IIPAs. It has a distinct malt backbone with a strong pine hop flavor that blends into a sweet orange hop flavor. Having both bold malts and bold hops surprisingly balanced very well and makes for an enjoyable drink. For the taste I gave it an 8.

Overall this beer is good, but it is not a beer you want to have a second one in the same day. It is heavy and cumbersome and a bit strong. So my overall rating is only a 7.

2022 Beer In Front Awards: Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool

So I’ll be posting each beer I rate for the 2022 Beer In Front Awards. Visit the website at beerinfront.com and the Awards page.

My next beer for judging is a style that gets little love, but is a great one to bridge between the lighter lagers and the stronger porters and stouts. It’s the brown ale. The Big Sky Moose Drool is a classic brown focused on malts.

For the appearance it is a beautiful deep mahogany red/brown with a tan head. It is also clear with no cloudiness. I really like the appearance so I gave it an 8.

The aroma is sweeter and gives off a Carmel and toffee fragrance. It is enjoyable but not over the top. I gave it a 7.

For the flavor you get a lot of the caramel and toffee flavor and even some dates or figs. I really like the flavor and it has sweetness to it but not overly sweet. I gave this an 8.

Overall I do enjoy this beer and for a brown ale it hits on a lot I look for in the style. I gave it an 8 overall.

2022 Beer In Front Awards: Widmer Brothers Hefe

So I’ll be posting each beer I rate for the 2022 Beer In Front Awards. Visit the website at beerinfront.com and the Awards page.

I’m starting off with a familiar beer to most on the West Coast…the Widmer Brothers Hefe which is an American Hefeweizen.

The scoring is simple…rate from 1-10 on appearance, aroma and taste as well an an overall rating. As everyone knows, I rate by style so this will go against my preference for American Hef.

For appearance it is a very nice golden color with a substantial white creamy head. It’s a 7.

For aroma it has a somewhat fruity and floral hop fragrance mixed with some grainy malt. It is also a 7.

For the taste, I get some of the fruity and floral flavors as well as some graininess. But the finish is far too bitter for a Hef in my opinion. I drop a 5 for taste.

Overall I’m rating this a 6.