For the Beer Novices: Fruity Beer Review

I have recently just started drinking beer. I have always enjoyed my girly fruity drinks, and beer just wasn't appealing to me. I recently started trying fruit beers, which are much sweeter, and to me don't seem to have the same aftertaste that most beers have. For me the strong aftertaste is what typically turns me off on beers.

I wanted to share some of the beers that I have tried and hopefully encourge all your beer novices and martini drinkers out there to try something a little different.

 

Luna Strawbeer Beer - Ok so probably most people would not consider this a beer. The label actually says it's a flavored tea beer, and I am still trying to figure out what that means. Anyone know?? This tasted just like drinking strawberry soda, or maybe a strawberry champagne, and it was absolutly delish! Tasted nothing like beer, but it made me feel somewhat cool that I was drinking beer :) We found this at Whole Foods, and was suprised to find that this was actually brewed in our town -- Columbus, Ohio. Even more reason to try it! Please note that this was a larger bottle, very cool label, and we got a couple of servings out of it.

 

Sam'l Smith Organic Strawberry Ale - This was kind of similar to the Luna strawberry beer, but it was a little less sweeter and a little less strawberry flavored. It still didn't have the beer aftertaste which I liked, and it is organic -- score for being healthy while drinking beer! We got this one at Giant Eagle, and like the Luna beer it was a larger bottle. I think I got 2 red solo cups worth of beer out of the bottle (like my way of measuring, so perfect for a beer post!)

Boulder Kinda Blue -- This is a blueberry wheat beer. I LOVE blueberries and anything blueberry flavored, so I was extra excited to taste this beer. It was a very light beer, but didn't really have a big blueberry taste to it. I was a little disappointed in that, but I think because the strawberry beers I have been drinking had such a strong strawberry flavor to it, my expectations were probably off for this one. It wasn't bad by any means, and had only a slight beer aftertaste, and was a way of getting me closer to drinking actual beer than what I had been drinking. I would probably try it again, but I don't think this will become one of my favorites. I do want to find a blueberry beer to love, so I'll just have to keep on with my search. We got this at Giant Eagle, and it came in the standard 6 pack of bottles.

Zimmerman's Framboise Raspberry Lambic - This one is also a very fruity flavored beer and had a very strong rasberry flavor. It was a little tart, but still very tasty. This one also seemed a little thicker than some of the other fruit flavored beers. We got this at Giant Eagle also, and it was available to purchase as a single beer. I also enjoyed this beer at the World of Beers a few weeks ago.

Fruit Cocktail Beer from World of Beers -- This was a fun tasty beer, and I wrote about this beer last week, so check out this post.

Overall it's been fun trying out beers, and I will probably continue to try some different ones here and there. I am also trying to drink a bunch of wine so that I can make a wine cork wreath -- anyone seen these on Pinterest? I need about 75 more corks, so I'll probably be focusing on wine a little more, but it's fun to try new beers especially now that it is summer and there are a ton of cookouts with family and friends. How about you? Any fun beers you recommend?

Fruit Cocktail Beer

Last Saturday night we went to the World of Beers in German Village. World of Beers has a lot of different cocktail style beers where they mix different types of beers together to get a different type of flavor. An example of this is a Black and Tan which is a blend of pale ale and a dark beer such as a stout or porter.

I am slowly getting into and trying different beers, and am starting with more fruity type beers. One beer on their menu that caught my eye was The Fruit Cocktail. It is a Hefe-Weizen topped with Raspberry Lambic and Blueberry Wheat Ale. They also included an orange flavored beer (not Blue Moon, but similar), although sadly we could not tell the brand/type. The Fruit Cocktail beer was then garnished with a few blueberries and a large orange wedge.

This beer was very light, and slightly sweet (although a few guys in our party thought it was too sweet). It didn't have as much of a fruit flavor as I was expecting and it wasn't as sweet as a Lambic typically is, but it did have a little bit of a sweet, fruity flavor. This is probably because it was about 3/4 Hefe-Weizen and only a little of the sweeter/fruitier beers.

It did have a good taste and to a person who isn't a huge fan of beer, it was very enjoyable. I would highly recommend this drink to someone looking for something very light and somewhat sweet. As I try more beers, I'll be sure to share my reviews/favorites! What types of beers do you like?

Product Review: Whole Foods Black Cherry BBQ Sauce

Last night, during yoga class none the less, I was thinking about what I was going to make for dinner. Not really what I should be doing in yoga class, but what ya gonna do. I really didn't feel like grilling out the steak and veggies I was planning on cooking, but yet really didn't want to eat a bowl of cereal either. I suddenly remembered the BBQ sauce I picked up at Whole Foods a month ago, and thought, yea, quick and easy dinner.

I have a major love of BBQ sauce. I love all kinds, although I really prefer the ketchup based sauces as opposed to the vinegar based sauces. One of my biggest goals is to try BBQ from all over the country. I have so far tried it in North Carolina and Tennessee.

I saw the Neely's make a cherry BBQ sauce a while ago on their show Down Home with the Neely's and thought some day I needed to try it. When I came across this Black Cheery BBQ sauce at Whole Foods, I immediatly put it in my cart, even with the $4.99 price tag.

This BBQ sauce is so thick and rich. It has a slight cherry flavor to it, but really it's just so sweet and smokey flavored. The first ingredient in it is black cherry puree, and then ketchup, brown sugar, brown mustard, sugar, lemon juice, liquid smoke and cinnamon. 

So far this has to be my favorite sauce, and unfortunatly I think it might be a seasonal item. I'll have to go back to Whole Foods and pray they still have some in stock and buy all that I can. If you get a chance, do pick some up. I just put a chicken breast in a pie dish, poured some BBQ sauce all over it, and then baked in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Along with some fresh corn on the cob, it was quick, easy and very tastey!