Ni Hao! Gotta love free mini-bars...San Miguel Pale Pilsnen

Greetings from Hong Kong! For those that did not know, I am in China for the next several days on business and since I am trying to stave off the fatigue of jet lag/have a free mini-bar/have not posted in forever, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to do a little posting from the Far East! Today I am drinking the only beer that happened to be waiting for me in my hotel: San Miguel Pale Pilsen.





San Miguel is the flagship beer of the brewery with the same name based in the Philippines (although this particular can was probably brewed in Hong Kong). Since I don't have the proper drinking glasses, I will describe how this beer pours and tastes in a hotel bathroom glass (only the finest when it comes to this blog)!

The first very noticeable thing about this beer is the packaging...the beer is packaged in a can that uses an "olde tyme" pull tab, ala beers you would find back in the fifties. The beer is unassuming in appearance, with a classic golden pilsner color and a markedly thick head. The beer smells a bit like the Natural Light I used to chug in college but, thankfully, tastes much better than it's aroma might suggest. The taste is subtle and slightly flowery with no lingering after-taste. San Miguel is light and easy to drink, which is a nice difference than some of the American pilsners I have had.

All in all, this is a pretty good beer...there is truly nothing out of the ordinary that makes it memorable (besides perhaps the location it is being consumed), but certainly better than lots of other pilsners I have had (looking at you Natty Light). If you happen to be in Hong Kong, I would recommend giving this beer a shot!

Gan bei! (Literal Chinese translation means "dry the cup").


Flavor: Classic pilsner with a slight flowery hint
Color: Light gold
Alcohol Content: 5% (by volume)
Average Price: Free in hotel mini-bar!

Dual Boston blog - Hookey Bitter

Well, today I am in Boston with Dave, and we are both reviewing a beer together...today we are enjoying a Hookey Bitter





After first tasting, I think Dave and I came to the conclusion that this is an average tasting beer. Nothing is truly striking about the flavor (besides a slight butterscotch/metallic flavor). It is lightly colored and has very little head, although the guy at the store told us that this was a very mildly flavored ale. Dave has pointed out the pleasant aroma of this beer, but also mentions that the flavor does not live up to it. It is not a bad beer, but certainly cannot justify the price that we paid for it...All in all, I think I can file this under "good beer" and feel happy that I tried it and will not feel bad about not ever having it again...

Flavor: Mild bitter ale
Color: Light amber/gold
Alcohol Content: 3.6% (per volume)
Average Price: $5.99 (per bottle)

Old Thumper

Yes, I am reviewing a second beer tonight...I decided to do it up right since I had missed a weeks worth of posts, and since I am enjoying the effects of the OBP2.

Next up this evening is Old Thumper...





Old Thumper is brewed by Shipyard Brewery, which I know best for their pumpkin beer, but it seems as if they like to dabble into other ventures. Thumper always reminds me of Bambi's lovable friend from the Disney movie, but this beer is anything but.

This beer has a nice amber color and aroma, but after tasting it, I picked up a strong plastic-like flavor. After giving it a second taste, I would actually change my analysis to a "spicy plastic flavor". When I started this blog, I decided that, no matter how bad a beer was, I was going to finish it...I am tempted to break that vow.

I probably wouldn't recommend this beer to anyone...it feels weird having this be my first negative post, since I wonder if I would have responded as strongly hadn't I enjoyed the much better OBP2 before hand. Alas, I say pass on this one.

Flavor: Frisbee or perhaps tupperware?
Color: Medium golden hue
Alcohol content: 5.9% by volume
Average price: $2.99 (bottle)