A Flowery Song

Background: Probably contract brewed by Gordon Biersch, this Trader Joe’s exclusive is brewed with imported malt and Hallertau hops.

Nose: Subdued grain, sweet golden syrup, and not much else.

Taste: Slight hints of spicy noble hops. Alcohol is on the evident side, with a hearty body. Pale malt with a bit of biscuit character.

Overall: Meh. Slightly candyish, and in all the flavour fails to impress.

The Mission: “What’s your favorite beer cocktail (and yes, despite the title of this post, it can be a black & tan or a shandy)? Find a recipe for that or a new one, try it, and tell us why you did or didn’t like it–even if you think beer cocktails are nothing but a good way to waste a beer. Have fun and try something new!”

Well, that’s sure to prove an interesting topic and I’m looking forward to seeing what others have to say. While I haven’t gone as far as conducting a poll, the prevailing opinion among the beer lovers I talk to seems to be that beer cocktails are a waste of a good beer, or a waste of time which could be spent drinking a good beer if made with “bad” beer.

Personally, I’ve never given the matter much thought. I’m much too busy learning about unmixed drinks to delve deeply into the mixed side of things—I follow a few cocktail blogs and occasionally play around with a spirit that I’m trying (or trying to get rid of). I’m certainly aware of the existence of such things as the Black and Tan and shandy, but I’ve never actually had one.
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The mission: “I’m sure I’m not the only one whose early drinking career featured pale lager in abundance, so consider this a return to our roots as beer drinkers. [...] I want pilsners, light lagers, helleses and those ones that just say “beer” because, well, what else would it be?”

First, some rumination on the topic. This is about as far from my roots as a beer drinker as you can get. My early drinking career, once I got around to beer, featured dark ales (mainly porter) in abundance, with the occasional pale or amber ale for variety. I wasn’t avoiding lagers, but I wasn’t seeking them out either.
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Background: A Trader Joe's exclusive (probably contract brewed by Gordon Biersch, but credited to “JosephsBrau Brewing Company” on the bottle), this dark “double bock” clocks in at 7.5% ABV and has a shiny label.

Appearance: Pours a nice red-tinted brown, with a slight foamy yellow(?)-brown head.

Nose: Heavy malt, caramel, and a hint of breadiness.

Taste: A nice interplay of caramel, dark bread, and earthy tobacco for the main flavours, layered with dark dried figs and a hint of smokiness. On the sweet side, but a light hoppy bitterness cuts through right before the finish to prevent it coming off as cloying.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, but a bit light, with nice peppy carbonation.

Overall: Very solid beer, maybe not quite top-notch but definitely above average.

Background: Trader Joe's private label rebranding of a Paso Robles dessert wine.

Presentation: Tall, dark green half-bottle. Pours an opaque dark purple. 18.1% ABV

Nose: Huge red fruit, mainly strawberry and raspberry.

Taste: A real fruit bomb, but not overly sweet and has a nice acidic backbone. Has some spice in the front, then the nutty oxidized flavour comes forward to dominate the finish, and there are earthy undertones throughout.

Overall: A nice, inexpensive varietal “port” from California. Well balanced, but somewhat lacking in depth.

Appearance: Pours a clear light gold. Two fingers of fluffy white head which quickly dissipated.

Smell: Mild floral hops on a grainy malt background.

Taste: Sweet malt with a lightly bready background. Lots of floral hop flavour, medium bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Light body, high carbonation.

Drinkability: Clean and crisp flavour, very easy drinking.

Background: Sweet dessert wine from Canyon Ridge Vintners in Paso Robles, California.

Presentation: Clear, smoothly tapered tall half-bottle. Pours a clear, extremely light yellow. 12% ABV, 12% residual sugar.

Nose: Lively citrus and apricot nose.

Taste: Sweet, clean, fruit-forward. Flavour is mainly peach and citrus. Extremely light acidity.

Overall: Sweet, very one-dimensional. Definitely a wine to be served with food, as it doesn't have enough depth to stand on its own. Suggested pairing: lemon meringue pie.

Appearance: Pours a deep amber red, with minimal head retention.

Smell: Clean malty aroma with grassy undertones.

Taste: Caramel malt, clean roasted flavour with subtle lemony hops. Coffee notes in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and fairly light, with medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Really quite drinkable. Not a lot of depth, but no real faults either.

Appearance: Cloudy orange-amber, excessively large off-white head with decent retention.

Smell: Yeasty, with bubble gum, banana, and lemon.

Taste: Sweet, with hardly any hops. Clean malty wheat background, citrus and mild clove notes. Banana esters. Finish is a smooth, nutty yeast.

Mouthfeel: Overly carbonated, with a creamy medium body.

Drinkability: Decently drinkable, and a good value at the price point. Average score at BeerAdvocate: 3.62 / 5.

Background: Trader Joe's “exclusive” bottling, imported by Banzai Beverage Corporation, Torrance, CA. Produced by Ume no Yado, a small brewery in Nara prefecture. Originally called Tsuki Usagi (Moon Rabbit), this is a sparkling junmai sake, with 40% of the rice polished away.

Presentation: 330ml blue bottle, with an intriguing ring-pull top. Pours a cloudy, pale straw. Nucleation sites produce streams of small bubbles. 7% ABV

Nose: Very fruity, mainly pears and citrus.

Taste: Sweet and fruity, with a lightly sour acidic bite. Short, somewhat floral finish.

Overall: I'm not sure what to make of this. It's definitely a cut above Trader Joe's still sake, which is produced by a different brewery. Fairly easy to drink. I'll tentatively recommend it; if you like sake or champagne, give this a try.