James and Jessie: Awesome Review! - Sweet Water 420

Today is a first for the blog as both Jess (http://kamikazegourmet.blogspot.com/)and I are doing our first duo review together...As it is her first time to the site, she gets to pick the beer. Today we are reviewing Sweet Water 420 IPA.





This beer has a very clear and crisp amber color, Jess describes as a deep amber (perhaps a nice caramel complextion?) Little to no noticeable head, although a few bubbles are lingering along the top. For the rest of the review, I will simply dictate Jess' thoughts on the beer: "First taste is hoppy and made my tongue tickle...I had it in Atlanta for the first time while attending a museum event. It is a beer that will always remind me of Atlanta, and it makes me nostalgic for those times. My friend Mac brought this for me on a visit to Orlando...to my knowledge you cannot buy this beer anywhere but where it is locally brewed."

James back: This is a very good IPA (I promise some more variety is coming to the review soon!) and has a slight hint of baked flavor, as odd as that sounds. Jess came up with the idea of the beer review as a nice little break from my current P90X diet. I am certainly glad that I decided to give up my carb portion for the day to enjoy this refreshing IPA!


Flavor: Crisp and earthen...slight hoppiness with a nice baked finish
Color: Caramel Amber
Alcohol Content: 5.4% (by volume)
Average Price: $7.99 (6 pack) Only available in the Metro-Atlanta area

And, since I am trying to maintain my diet I think ill include this in all future updates:

Calories: 185
Total Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0g
Carbs: 15g
Protein: 0g

Un petit goût de Canada - Dave takes to the North with Labatt Porter

Enjoy another great review from Dave!


I recently got back from a weekend jaunt to Vermont and Montreal and got to sample a variety of microbrews up there. I tried several flavors from Magic Hat in Vermont (#9, Circus Boy, Lucky Kat, Vinyl, Blind Faith, Single Chair Ale, Wacko), Le Cheval Blanc in Montreal (Blonde, Stout, and Bauweaerts Golden Ale), and Les Brasseurs du Nord (Boreale Blanche, Blonde, and Rousse). I also brought some back from me (1 from Vermont and 5 from Quebec) to write up. I’ll do one every few days or so...

First is the only non-microbrew I brought back: Labatt Porter





Labatt is a larger Canadian brewery, and stouts are one of my favorite varieties, so I thought I would give it a go...

The first thing I noticed is that though it pours dark, it is very clear, much more translucent than most stouts or porters. There is virtually no head. The scent is stout-chocolate/coffee, but very very weak overall.

First taste: tastes like old chicken. From there it expands to old beer (think natty light (previous review) with chocolate syrup). Very watery-easily the most watery “dark” beer I have ever had. Nasty.The body is smooth and feels pleasant on the tongue (.com).Would probably go well with anything spicy, as your dead taste buds will be grateful for not having to taste this. The finish is alcohol-y- again like a cheap American lager.


Flavor: Smooth, old, chicken, with a lager-y body and nasty finish.
Color: Clear and dark
Alcohol Content: 5.0% (by volume)
Average Price: $9.99 CAD (6 pack)




Mmmmm....