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.