Carrabassett Pale Ale, Brewed by Casco Bay Brewing Co., Portland, Maine

So this is the 4th beer in the mixed Maine six pack that was bought for me by my roommates. It is the Casco Bay Carrabassett Pale Ale . Just like the previous beer reviewed it is also brewed in Portland, Maine by the Casco Bay Brewing Company. This is a pretty basic American Pale Ale. The beer pours a copper, almost amber color. The smell is almost a caramel malty flavor with some hop flavoring. The taste is light on the hops, but full of almost a caramel malt flavor. Overall this is a good American Pale Ale. Very easy to drink. Its not very hoppy which most American Pale Ales tend to be. Although I did like the Gearys Pale Ale better than this one. I would give this beer a B. Its a good medium-bodied beer that is easy to drink.

Riptide Red Ale, Brewed by Casco Bay Brewing Co. Portland, Maine

This is the 3rd beer I am reviewing from the mix six pack from Maine bought by my roommates. It is the Casco Bay Riptide Red Ale . It is brewed in Portland, Maine by Casco Bay Brewing Co. I have never seen this beer at any bars in Boston. The Riptide is an Irish Red Ale. It pours an amber color with a reddish tint. It smells of malty sweetness with very little hop smell. The taste is malty with hints of caramel flavors. There are also hints of fruitiness upon further drinking. Red Ales aren't my favorite style of beer, but this is a very solid Red Ale. If you are an Irish Red Ale fan you will definitely like this. It is better than most Irish Red Ales I've had. I give this beer an B+.

Pale Ale, Brewed by D.L. Geary Brewing Company, Portland, Maine

I decided to review a second beer from this mix six pack that was bought for me from Maine. This is the Geary's Pale Ale . Its brewed in Portland, Maine, which is a great city for craft beers. I've seen Gearys beers at some Boston bars like The Lower Depths Tap Room , The Sunset Grill and Tap and Bukowski Tavern. I've generally seen the Geary's Hampshire Special Ale and its only been in bottle. I don't recall ever seeing it on draft.

Anyways the beer pours out a copper color. There's a slight smell of hops and malts. Nothing overwhelming though. The taste is not too hoppy, very easy to drink. It tastes more of an English Pale Ale vs an American Pale Ale, meaning its not over-hopped which American Pale Ales tend to be. There is a pretty good malt flavor. There are also small hints of fruit.

Overall, this beer is medium-bodied, smooth. Its a very easy to drink beer. I give this beer an A-/B+. I recommend giving it a try if you see it.

India Pale Ale, Brewed by The Kennebec River Brewery, The Forks, Maine

I have been slacking on reviewing beers the last couple months. My roommates were in Maine a couple weeks ago and brought me back a variety six pack of local Maine Beers. One of the beers was the Kennebec River Brewery IPA. The beer poured out a copper color. There was not a strong aroma of hops. This beer was a medium-bodied and was very easy to drink. There was not a strong taste of hops like other America IPAs that tend to use a lot of hops. This reminded me of an English IPA which is more malty than hoppy. If you are expecting a hoppy IPA like an Dogfish Head I would stay away from this beer. But if you are looking for an easy to drink IPA, this is something I would recommend. If you have a friend looking to get into IPA's, this would be a good started IPA. I give this beer a B.

Watermelon, by Cawy Bottling Co., Inc., Miami, Florida

I bought this can of pop in Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC. The writing made me wonder if it was Haitian soda. Or maybe Africa? The girl on the can caught my eye, for obvious reasons.

The area is a Latino neighborhood, so it is fertile ground for hunting "new" beers, sodas, and snacks. While waiting for a friend I jumped into Bodega Los Primos, and while I did not find any cousins, I did find this soda and another one I will review later. The place was very cluttered, but had a good beer selection (and seemed to do great business in lottery tickets).


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There were also other review worthy beverages there, so I hope to make it back there. The can may have been sitting there a while since it had a very dirty top.

After some basic online searching I learned that Cawy Bottling Co. Inc. is responsible for this product and they produce quite a few other lesser known sodas. They have more information on the watermelon soda here.

Originally a Cuban company re-formed in Miami after the triumph of the revolution in 1959, their website says they found success producing Cuban sodas from other Cuban companies. I guess patents and copyright are not a problem in this particular case. Certainly a dramatic story with hints of Bacardi.

When I opened the can there was no instant smell and it poured out in a pink color. On the first try it was sickly, sickly sweet. There was a "watermelon" smell, but almost like a Jolly Rancher. Once in the glass it was a fluorescent dirty pink.

My first reaction was that it was not horrible, but still distracting with almost a hint of a pickled taste and lingering aftertaste. The more I had the more it reminded me of medicine, Pepto Bismol. Which reminds me of an article in the New York Times that talks about how Pepto tastes like teaberry and a new group of soda jerks is using the flavor. You can check it out here.

The soda was overall, not good. There was no head, but it was carbonated. The caffeine content, if any, is not indicated on the can. I will give this a D+. I would not buy it again and had to force the rest down.

But the taste is almost beside the point since most folks would be drawn to what I assume is an image of a little black girl eating a huge watermelon. Is it a racist anachronism?

The folks at Harlem World seem to say yes, check out their video below:


I am impressed that such an obscure soda was sold at a Target. But maybe we are missing some sort of cultural context. What do Miami Cubans have to say about the issue? The dudes at the site Three Guys From Miami promise a Cuban insider's guide to the soda. Their insight on the image of the girl?

Watermelon soda has a unique, light flavor and is very refreshing on a hot day. It's a flavor that we have not seen in other parts of the country.

I guess while others may have a clearer opinion on the issue others just do not see it.

Coming up: Brazilian Energy Berries! Cuban Watermelon Soda!? Red Soda!

Here is a quick update while we enter what is hopefully a period of regular updates! Coming up we have plans to review a new beer, a soda from Brazil, a watermelon soda from Florida, and a mysterious red soda. I will also try to get another beer review in the mix, so please stay tuned.

Event: American Craft Beer Fest, Seaport World Trade Center Boston, June 3, 2011

A big positive about living in Boston is that its a great beer city. There are many craft beers/microbrews in the area. Each year there are beer festivals run by two groups. The first group is called BeerAdvocate, which many beer fans may recognize as they publish their own magazine of the same name, and also run the BeerAdvocate website. They run three beer fests a year. Another group called the Beer Summit runs four beer fests a year.

The biggest of these beer fests is the American Craft Beer Fest (or ACBF). It might be the biggest beer fest in New England. It takes place over a two day period every June at the Seaport World Trade Center in the South Boston Seaport district of Boston.

I went to the first day session, Friday June 3. Ticket prices for each session were $45 for unlimited samplings. It was best to buy your ticket at an area bar that was selling them, buying it online through the BeerAdvocate website charged you a surcharge similar to Ticketmaster. One of the things I recall about the American Craft Beer Fest was the size of the Seaport World Trade Center. I had never been to it before. The line snaked all around the Center, I was amazed at the amount of people there and the fact that the the beer fest did not seem overcrowded. It was easy to move around. Lines were not too long, although at a few brewers there were quite long lines, like Goose Island and Sierra Nevada. There were a total of 106 microbreweries and craft beer makers. Most brewers were from the northeast, but there were also brewers from the Midwest and West Coast, including Anderson Valley, Anchor Steam, Rogue, and Stone. Most of the brewers served anywhere from two to up to five different types of beers. 2 oz pours were given, with pours being strictly enforced. I know from friends who have volunteered at the BeerAdvocate beer fests that the BeerAdvocate has volunteers watching for over-pouring by brewers. Its a bit anal in my opinion. I've volunteered at the Beer Summit festivals and they leave it up to the brewers on pour size.

Here is a picture that the nice folks at Trappist Punks lent us from last year's event:

One of the difficulties in reviewing an entire beer fest, especially one of this size, is the amount of brewers present and the amount of beer one is able to try. The urge to try out as many beers as possible is always present and by the end of the night sometimes you have difficulties even remembering the beers you had. So as a reviewer I decided to review the event as a whole, and focus on a few memorable beers I had during the night.

Allagash is a brewer out of Portland, ME. They are known for brewing Belgian-style beer. The most common one is their Allagash White, which is a Belgian Style Wheat. It is found at many bars in Boston. Less common are other Allagash beers, one of which is the Allagash Black. The Allagash Black is a Belgian Style Stout. It has 7.5% alcohol. Its an excellent Belgian Dark Ale. You can taste the hints of oats in it along with the Belgian hops. The beer is strong but not overwhelming. This is definitely an A beer.

Cape Cod Beer is a brewer out of Hyannis, MA. I have never seen their beers in Boston. After talking to the people working at their booth, I found out they do not distribute as far as Boston, the furthest they distribute outside the Cape is Plymouth, MA. I asked if they had any plans to distribute around Boston and I was told they did not. The beer I tried was their IPA. Their IPA was not trying to do anything fancy, it was just a simple IPA. This IPA was very drinkable, a fairly medium-bodied beer. This would be a good beer for someone who never has tried an IPA. It is a good introductory beer to get someone into IPAs. I would grade this a B+.

I would love to review some more beers but I think this review is going to get too long winded so I decided just to stop at two beers. I had a lot of fun at the American Craft Beer Fest. I do have to say I like the Beer Summit events more due to the fact I have volunteered with them and dealt with them personally. But the American Craft Beer Fest is the largest in the region and is the only time that you can find that many craft breweries in the same place.

Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer, by USA Beverage, Inc., Pennsylvania

I found this can of Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer at D.C. Express Market, in Washington, District of Columbia. I always like to pop into (no pun intended) bodegas and corner stores since you never know what you might come across. Just yesterday I came saw some RC Cola a the Newton Foodmart by a school here in D.C., and I intended to buy a can on my way back but they were closed. Oh well.


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The yellow can caught my eye and I had never seen the brand before, so I snagged one. A few days later there was the distinctive sound of the aluminum popping open. The first things I noticed were that it didn't have any head and it had a strong syrupy and mediciney smell. Once in the glass it had a dark brown color, but while being poured it was more of a reddish brown.

So what did this birch beer taste like? I have not had any Barq's root beer in a while, but that is what it reminded me of. It is a strong taste that lingers, including the mediciney part. It also made me think of root beer candy sticks.

I would not buy it again, but it was fine and certainly not bad. I really enjoy the can design, from the color to the birds and the Olde English style font and the banner underneath. We will give them a B-.

People in Delicious Places

First, an apology: Knowing that we actually do not have any readers has perhaps allowed us to be slow in adding anything new here.

Second, I am going to contradict myself by offering a shout-out to another web log that recently did read us. I am not entirely sure what the title is, but let us just assume it is "Travel the world...for Beer, Wine, Chocolate" at http://beerwinechocolate.blogspot.com.

Looking it over the first thing that jumps out is the good, functional design and the uniformity of layout. Those are things we are shooting for here. It looks as if she will be reviewing restaurants, vineyards, breweries, and general going out. My petty critique would be about the white border of the pictures.

She also lays out an ambitious goal of reviewing experiences in several continents over a ten year period, but we do not know if there is a particular reason for these locations or timeline. But blogs often float around the themes of sharing, privacy, and the mystery of not knowing about the authors. Of course, there are also many examples out there of blogs that share a lot but this is not one of those. Great job Liz at "Travel the world...," seems like a fun site!

It also makes me realize that there are a lot of similar sites out there and we are all embarking on a narcissistic enterprise. If a beer drinker reviews a beer online and nobody reads it, etc.

But at a minimum my co-author and I should have fun and be left with a record of things we have imbibed. One of those things may actually be pop (soda), as well. When traveling one of the fun things I often come across is a new soda, so we'll be reviewing some of that too. I also promise we will avoid any further mission creep.

I recently found another web log...about soda and appropriately called "SodaBlog" over at http://neilkleid.tumblr.com. It has a much more hip and fun layout than us and great use of videos and pictures and in general looks very nice. It also has a very fun tone and allows itself to go on tangents more than we will. I really like the very short posts, some of which are one to two sentences and a picture. Definitely check it out and keep checking back here for a few pop reviews very soon!

Bar Review: Wonderland Ballroom, Washington, D.C.

I have been to this bar three times and both times I have found it to be what the situation called for. The Wonderland Ballroom is located in Colombia Heights in Washington, D.C. and seems to skew towards a younger hipsterish crowd, which is fine. They have outdoor seating and every time I have been there I have found a seat, though the inside is not especially big. It has a dive bar atmosphere, though one that has not come about naturally since they are not that old.

They have a good beer selection and each time I have been there a bunch of empty Delirium Tremens bottles were sitting on the bar. Which makes me wonder, is that for show?

I will go ahead and give these folks a B.

Cerveza Imperial, Brewed by Bebidas Florida, Costa Rica, Central America

While in New York City last fall I came a cross a familiar sight when I poked into the Museo del Barrio, a very cool and hip museum dedicated to celebrating Latinos in the U.S. They happen to have a neat cafeteria that serves beer! That is a trend I have noticed elsewhere, the Smithsonian museums and in particular the National Museum of the American Indian also serve beer. Their cafeteria is also pretty awesome and serves a lot of stuff (i.e., Latin American beer and Latin inspired food), but as expected is expensive.

That could and should be a different blog post. What I saw in NYC was...Imperial! The main Costa Rican beer I drank for two years and three months while I was living down there. Like a lot of Latin American beers it is pretty light and insubstantial and like a lot of those beers tourists love it (Corona, ugh).

I guess folks love the logo and it is pretty good though it has a little of the National Socialist aesthetic when you look at it closely. But the beer itself is just okay and after more than two years of little choice for a beer enthusiast like myself it started to taste less than okay and I would avoid it when possible.

But it is light, crisp, and refreshing on a hot day. To be very authentic you must drink it by pouring it into an ice filled glass, as is the custom in the C.R. They do that for all their beers (though they don't really produce that many, especially when compared to their neighbors on the isthmus). I always considered the practice a tacit admission that their beers don't really taste that great so there is no need to try and preserve the taste.

In Costa Rica it is available in bottles, cans, and tall boys. You can also find it on tap in certain bars in San Jose, the capital city. Also, in the Costa Rican Pizza Huts. But it almost always came out skunky, smelling of rotten eggs.

I have also seen this beer at a liquor store in Boston, near the Jamaica Plain area. Because I grew tired of this beer I will give it an admittedly prejudiced C. But...now that I am back in the States I will order this beer for nostalgic reasons.

Cerveza Golden Light, Brewed by Industrias La Constancia, El Salvador, Central America

During the summer of 2010 I had the privilege of passing through some of our southern neighbors and during that time I was able to try a few new beers. Golden Light comes out of El Salvador, a small country with a surprising amount of beers. Heck, in the capitol city of San Salvador I was able to find some beer on tap pretty easily...that is often a challenge in the places I have seen in Central America.

I tried this particular beer at a restaurant in a smaller town, it was served nice and cold in a wide mug. In the U.S. I never buy a light beer, but when I'm out and about on a trip I am very open minded. This beer got the job done and cooled me down on a warm day...crisp and refreshing but not particularly noteworthy. A decent B.

Beer! Everywhere!

Hello! This is the third post in our new, hopefully fun, blog dedicated to beers in all their delicious and enjoyable varieties. I will just go by "Beer B." and my co-author will go by the nom de guerre "Punjab."

I think you will find that we each have a different perspective but will both strive to be open minded. No beer will be too cheap or (possibly) too expensive for our palates!

We will always be open to suggestions and feedback so please let us know what you think!

Nut Brown Ale, Brewed by Ithaca Brewing Co., Ithaca, NY

The Ithaca Nut Brown Ale was in the same variety pack I had gotten from my roommates. I have seen this beer a few times at bars around Boston, but only in bottles. Served from a 12 oz bottle into a 4 oz Sam Adam tasting glass. The beer pours a dark brown color. A small tan head forms on the top when pouring but dissipates rather quickly. The aroma is malty with hints of nuts and spices. This beer is medium-bodied and goes down smoothly with some carbonation. The taste is a mix of malts, oats, and some nuts. There is a slight hint of sweetness also. This is a simple and drinkable brown ale. I recommend giving it a try. Especially if you like English Brown Ales like Newcastle. Its much smoother than Newcastle also. I give it a B/B+.

Cascazilla, Brewed by Ithaca Brewing Co., Ithaca, NY

The Ithaca Cascazilla was in a 12 variety pack. It is a hoppy Amber/Red Ale It was bought for me by my roommates when they were visiting Ithaca. I am seeing the beer at bars around Boston in the past year. The beer pours an red amber color. It has a very floral hop smell with hints of malts. The taste is a piney hop flavor with hints of caramel and malts. This is a medium-bodied beer. You would never be able to guess that it had 7% Alcohol by the taste. Its a very easy beer to drink. I recommend giving this beer a try if you see it at a bar or at the liqour store. You won't be disappointed. I grade this beer an A-/B+.

Fore more information check out their official website here.