Shock Top Raspberry Wheat: Where Kool-Aid Meets Beer

Imagine, if you will, a perfect universe where you don't have to decide between the sober ethnic pleasantries of "red" kool-aid and the drunken bliss that is beer. And no, you may not insert any silly Four Loko statements into this comparison, that shit is pure struggle extract. Anyway this beer was recommended to me by a few of my Twitter friends (shoutout to @JuelzSanchtana & @reesecollins518) and I couldn't be any happier with this brew. I've drank my share of Shandy, but this tastes like the fusion of juice and beer breweries have been chasing after for years. I'd hate myself (and so would my Trini friends) to not say that Carib Shandy (review coming soon) is still the best shandy I've ever tasted, but this isn't technically a shandy. Ok it's not a shandy, but why the hell does it taste like one? I don't know, but I'm not mad at Shock Top for this offering.

Now if you've been reading this blog you might have realized two things: 1. I have adult A.D.D. or something like it and 2. I love a brewery where they're not afraid to take a chance on unconventional beers. Mind you I have no qualms about a great Sierra Pale Ale or an ice-cold Carona with my Mexican take-out but why not try something different? If variety is the spice of life, then let craft beers be your Texas Pete.

Speaking...er, writing...of doing something different, I'm doing something different here, I've invited a guest writer to take over this entry. Allow me to introduce my digital friend Mr Juelz Sanchtana, a fellow penman(did I just make this title up?) and more importantly a fellow lover of fine brew.

Guest blogger @JuelzSanchtana

When I first drank Shocktop’s Raspberry wheat ale I was flabbergasted to say the least. I consider myself to be a connoisseur of sorts as far a beer is concerned with Ale being by far and away my most cherished beer of choice followed closely by

lagers but that’s a story for another day. Firstly I opened the bottle and my olfactory senses were overwhelmed with a medley of fresh fruit scent. Ive never had anything bad to say about Shocktop since I discovered it about two years ago, but I was a bit

apprehensive to drink the beer for fear I would be drinking “glorified juice”. If you’ve tasted the beer then your sentiments may mirror my own; needless to say I didn’t put the bottle down once I tasted it and when it was finished I hastily reached for another one.

I took one swig of that bad boy and stared in utter disbelief and what my gullet had just registered to my brain. For all of the overtures of raspberry shocktop didn’t forget to let me know that what I held in my hand was still an ale and for that I was appreciative. I can honestly say that in short order this beer has reached my proverbial “ring of honor” only; an honor not lightly given. One of the things I like about this beer is that it’s one of those beers that you give hand to a female and she will honestly drink it; and will probably ask for another. Trust me on this one I have offered this beer to women with the staunchest disposition about drinking beer and I have yet to receive negative feedback. So what does that tell u? “Winner winner chicken dinner” lol.

In all seriousness this is not the beer that you have to be ashamed to tell someone that you like it especially your homeboys. As a matter of fact they have all

congratulated me on my keen observation *pats myself on the back*. I like the fact that

shocktop doesn’t overdue it with the raspberry, but in my opinion they could’ve added a

lil bit more carbonation in the refining process. Other than that I have nothing but rave

reviews for this stellar ale. I could clearly tell that choice hops were used on this beer

none of that second tier shit. I now use this beer as my conversation piece and as a

segue for discussions on more serious matters or sometimes jus shooting the breeze

with whomever.

In summation I think this is one of the best beers I have ever had the

pleasure of drinking and its now a staple in my diet lol. To the fine folks at Shocktop I

say that you have done the world a great service, and with beers like this one you

guys’ll be a household name in no time. My suggestion to anyone that reads this is to

go try it for yourself and make your own judgment call, but when you’re standing there

in utter disbelief don’t forget your buddy JuelzSanchtana told yall so!!! So don’t hesitate

run on down to your friendly neighborhood liquor store and pick up a six pack. I

guarantee that it’ll be $8.00 well spent or how much ever you guys’ll have to pay due to

the recession and variant taxes in your respective states.

Alas! I have but 2 hands to drink these beers...

Well Juelz has proved his penchant for prose even when plastered. Now what you're probably wondering is "but what if I don't like raspberry anything Flask?" and I hear you Jamal....so considering that this is RASPBERRY infused beer you prolly won't like it just from that. But if you like beer and you like raspberries than this is a win-win for you. Shock Top brewery has been blessing us hop hounds with quality non-fruited beers for quite some time now, don't be afraid to try all of their offerings, even if this one isn't for you.

Ok 85'ers time for "The Rundown"
(yea that's what we'll call it)

LOOK: The beautiful amber with a slight hint of red, like a sunset in a war-torn country that ends in -stan. This is actually one of my favorite things about this beer, it has a gorgeous color to it. It's a perfect compliment to a red SOLO.
TASTE: Imagine a Shock Top Wheat (you've had one before, right? Good) and now dump some Grenadine or your cousin's kool-aid in it and bam, you have this beer. This is a solid unfiltered wheat beer with a ton of flavor by itself, then on top of that there's this great raspberry essence in it. You'll either love it or think "WTF." I'm sure this will be pretty polarizing...like Kanye West, but easier to ignore.
MOUTHFEEL: Drink this ice cold to really get the refreshing feel of this fruit-infusion. As you get closer to the bottom, you'll get more unfilitered wheat and it'll feel a little heavier, but still great. High amounts of carbonation add to the feeling of drinking a soda more so than a beer.
DRINKABILITY: I'm not gonna further stress what Juelz pretty much laid out in his love letter. This is a great beer to drink any time. It's really refreshing and you won't really feel like you ate a loaf of bread after 2 or 3 of these. Light enough for your girl, stout enough for Eddie Long to be attracted to your average man to heartily enjoy.
PAIRING: This thing is already pretty sweet, so try something salty with it to get a nice back and forth thing going in your mouth(insert "Pause" here). Experiment with different foods. Mixing tastes/textures on the palate actually changes the taste of each item. It's like...science or some shit...I promise.
EVENT: Yes ladies, I'm a sexist bastard. Any fruity or light beer I review, the event will always be a co-ed setting. This one is no different. It's light enough to still eat a few things but heavy enough to make you skip that 4th plate and not look like a pig in front of your significant other's judgmental friends.

Special thanks to @JuelzSanchtana for doing most of the heavy lifting here. Next post coming sooner than later....more special guests, more fuckery and more beer........

Pabst Blue Ribbon...Yea PBR: The MySpace of Beer

You still posting on MySpace? Enjoying the familiar comfort of that basic.com? Are you ashamed that you still post on there but love it anyway? Do you only "facebook" when your friends are around? If you answered these questions positively you are most likely lonely, decked out in the finest Fubu and still lamenting the death of the Zune. Don't be embarassed I do the same thing with this beer...it's my guilty pleasure.
This is probably gonna be the easiest review I'll ever write. If you have never had the pleasure of downing a PBR while incorrectly screaming obscene lyrics to a popular song you must not be between 18 and 34 years of age. If you are...my friend you must either get out of the house or descend from VIP and enjoy this swill with the rest of us every now and then. While I'm all about the highest quality of beer available to sate my craft brew habit, I will NEVER (lemme repeat that) NEVER turn down a $1 PBR whilst stumbling around an Atlanta speakeasy. Hell...I'd even pay $2 for one ($2 is my limit tho). But be warned this beer tastes like the most generic offering a brewery can place in a can. But there is such a cult following to PBR I can't even begin to explain it. How can you go wrong with $4 for a 6pack of beer? (...well you can if you buy it from that one guy down the street who drives the windowless white van and always smells of candy, booze and stolen innocence...but you wouldn't trust that guy..I mean he doesn't even have a fridge in his van and those beers that he promises are under his overcoat are hot anyway)

Anyway, if you've never tried a PBR because you think it's reserved for either the mullet crowd or the hipster set, I implore you to try it. But don't try this at home by yourself while watching SportsCenter...it's not for that. It's a social beer. You gotta enjoy yourself while you drink this to ignore the boring flavor and "Brand X"ness of this drink. Trust your old pal here, I know a thing or two about these here beers. If, however, and you will be in the minority, you enjoy the crap outta just shotgunning a few of these in the comfort of your own home while watching that weekly CSI marathon, that's cool. But understand, mi amigo, you are either an alcoholic or a miserly drunk.



See even the baby gets it...


This beer is made to be enjoyed at its maximum with full intent to throw up on yourself later. I say this because no one wants to waste a delicious Sierra Nevada ale all the over the floor while doing a handstand while it's funneled into a hose stuck in your pie hole. No point in shotgunning an Innis & Gunn and not savoring the superior flavor notes. But PBR is made for inebriated fuckery of all kinds. Beer Pong, Turbo Cups, or "How Many Times Will Randy Jackson Make a Fool of Himself in Those Small Jeans While Using Dated Colloquialisms" you know the usual drinking games.




I want you to notice something here my loyal readers (yes all 2 of you), I have yet to mention much of the ACTUAL flavor/taste/smell/look of this beer. Because, like in real life, the taste is absolutely secondary if not like fourt-dary to the enjoyment of this libation. Will this brew win any blue ribbons in any taste constest? Unless it's up against a warm Stella Artois I can't see that happening, but it doesn't taste bad, just doesn't taste like much of the opposite either. But one thing this taste like.....a great night, a good time and a terrible, regret-filled morning.




Look: You remember how Duff looked on the Simpsons? Yea, that's Springfield's PBR. An amber that's sure to show up your favorite graphic tee after you spill it on yourself because you're so comically drunk.
Taste: Tastes like the reason why most people don't like beer. Strong carbonation, dull hoppy notes, well-balanced bitter aftertaste. Tastes great when's like "Brain-freeze Cold" mostly cuz you can't really taste much at that temperature.
Mouthfeel: From what I remember during initial sobriety it feels the same way that soda from a newer McDonald's fountain feels. It's almost too carbonated and makes it hard to ignore. I guess that's why these are great for endurance drinking games.
Drinkability: Do I really need to do this one? It's PBR! Not as smooth as Keystone Light  thinks it is, but not as harsh on the palette as my constant taunting would have you believe.
Pairing: Drink this with anything unhealthy. I promise, it makes them taste better for some reason. Fried anything or bacon-infused everything, this goes great with it. And besides Taco Bell at 2:13 in the morning was gonna be a bad idea with or without any beer as the cherry on top.
Event: Any event where Solo provides the table settings and the Red Cup is king. If you feel like either a Jersey Shore cast member and/or Gucci Man might appear or you won't remember the affair until you get tagged in embarrassing pic the next day. Then PBR is it's element. Find great party beer games at http://www.collegebeergames.com/




Wanna have a beer? Talk brews? Just shoot the shit? Lemme know by commenting.
Thanks for reading. Cheers...

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat

This pic is from Leinenkugel's official site.
I in NO way endorse calorie counting for beer.

This is a special post as it's my first "Special Request Review." I feel like Carson Daly except witty and I still have hope for my future (yes a TRL joke...no I'm not above cheap shots). You remember when MTV used to actually show music videos instead of  "reality" shows of vapid shameful misrepresentations of humanity? ...What?...get back to the point you say?....yeah you're right...BIER/BEER...
So lemme hop off the soapbox and back on to the bar stool. Anyway, so this is my GF's favorite beer, which should already tell you something about this brew. This was actually her suggestion for me to first try it as well as review it. So this beer was a great surprise for me and I have great memories drinking it. Which again is really WHY people drink socially. For the experience. The camaraderie. And the sweet siren song of inebriation. As the poet Homer (Simpson) once said "Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems"

Ok so this beer is a surprise. It's not what you expect from a Belgian witbier which are categorically sour in taste. Sunset Wheat has a very distinct flavor profile. It's sweet with a very familiar taste This is a beer that is strong enough for a man but-nah actually it's less than 5% alcohol by volume (ABV). But then again if you're drinking beer just to get drunk you probably the same dude that'll fill up a pool from the sink tap. This is another great beer to drink when it's hot but I could drink it year round. The first thing that'll really grab your attention from this piece of art is the aroma. As soon as you crack open the top this very pungent FRUITY PEBBLES aroma fills the air. And I put that in all caps because I want you to try this beer then come back and comment and say "Roberto this tastes like Fruity Pebbles" and Imma be like "yea I know, I said that son. Check that all caps statement in the middle" then you gonna be all like "Oh...well yea I concur." I loved drinking this beer because of that distinct taste. In all seriousness that taste is actually from blueberry. But it's a completely different blueberry from say, a Sweetwater Blue. It really hits that flavor across the entire back end of the drink. It's somehow more pronounced in the profile than other fruit brews but in a way that has me resisting oxymoronic statements like "more pronounced in a subtle way." But honestly that's what it is. Taste it and tell me I'm lying.

Writing this is making me want one right now so excuse the comical imagery and frequent A.D.D. sidebars. Sunset Wheat is readily available at most quality liquor stores and for a pretty good price, usually less than $10. So I drank this in a bottle and also out of my trusty weizen glass. In both cases the smell overtook everything in the room but moreso in the glass. The pour really opened up the flavor and I encourage anyone that fancies themselves a drinker to invest in quality beerware or just steal a few from the local bar (but ask first, they might just give you one if you tip well). Yea and you should learn how to properly pour a beer. After you've enjoyed the aroma and set yourself up for the next step: the look let's skip that and drink it. Enjoy the flavor, let it marinate and then let that distinct after taste hit you. (I'll wait...)

So let's go back to the look of this beer. The first picture seems a little bright to me that's not the beer I remember. This pic to the left is a little closer to what I drank. Much more of a copper than a gold. Maybe that beer in the first picture has the same image consultant that Sammy Sosa has... But I love that tone. The feel of the beer is a richer one than most wheat beers I've had. It's a smooth feel but not rich in the sense of a stout or anything. You could easily put away a few of these without feeling like it's Thanksgiving Eve at big momma's house.





Look: Great coloring. Good head. Obvious cloudiness from the wheat and what I believe to be that dust from the bottom of the cereal box.

"Wow...momma I made it!"

Taste: Imagine drinking a great wheat beer but thinking "man I really want some Fruity Pebbles but I don't wanna stop drinking this awesome beer." Voila! Sunset Wheat...(don't believe me Google 'fruity pebbles beer')
Mouthfeel: One of the smoothest non-stout beers in terms of how it feels on the palate. But exceptionally smooth taste and finishes.
Drinkability: Again...so effin smooth! My girlfriend loves this and she *sigh* normally hates beer because of the usual bitter aftertaste associated with my favorite beverage.
Pairing: Because of the unique flavor I can't recommend you drink this with any and everything.
Event: This would be great at a co-ed event that you know will have a lot of ladies that aren't opposed to a good longneck (feel free to interpret that as you'd like) 






This won't be the last beer I review from the brothers at the Leinenkugel's brewery. Subscribe and watch out for my next random beer review or comment and suggest one.
Thanks for reading. Cheers...

Blue Moon's Honey Moon Review

Anyone who knows me knows I have a serious warm place in my alcoholic heart for the fine people at the Blue Moon Brewery. They have to yet to do serious wrong in my eyes although their winter/fall offerings are...well lemme save that for another review. Today's artfully crafted subject is their summer offering, Honey Moon (now known as Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat or something but to hell with marketing I prefer Honey Moon).

To start off this is an amazingly refreshing beer, perfect for the hot days of summer. I'm not gonna lie, this is my Gatorade during the hot summers here in ATL (if that sounds wrong to you you're obviously reading the wrong blog). Does this have electrolytes or some dude with a sneaker deal endorsing it? No, don't be ridiculous. But what it lacks in celebrity it makes up in taste. P Diddy might not tweet about this beer but as sure as Sean can't fully close his mouf, you won't be able to put this summer ale down.

In my eyes, Honey Moon gets extra points for being a quality craft beer at an affordable price. It's sweet honey-infused aroma will hit your olfactory senses as the symphony of bubbles dance in the air...sorry. But this does smell as good as most can imagine a beer smelling. I love the rich amber tone of it and the stark white head gives the coloring an even more amazing tone by contrast. Ok ok Roberto...it looks like ambrosia and smells like a plate of yams wit extra syrup...but how does it taste exactly? I'm glad you asked make-believe reader..it tastes great. Is it the best beer I've ever tasted? Nah, but it's far from the worst and like I said it's my go-to beer for the arid days of life. I mean, look it's the first beer I chose to review, doesn't that say something? But in all seriousness this tastes like a traditional Blue Moon unfiltered wheat ale with the hints of coriander and citrus peel and glitter...but with an unmistakable burst of honey. This is a definite "sample beer" for the people who dislike beer because of bitter brews or harsh after-tastes.

Ok here's the "official" stats:

Look: Beautiful coloring and even carbonation. As with any wheat beer, it's gonna be a lil murky like the swamps of Heaven.

Taste: Sweeter than most domestic beers you'll taste that are still considered "normal". (No starfruit or loganberries in this brew)

Mouthfeel: It feels like authentic cream soda. Ron Burgundy would be proud of the "rich mahogany" feel of it...and the alcohol in it.

Best Way to Drink: A tulip glass...hmmm..sounds girly..um let's call it a "top-heavy woman" glass. Yea...that's much better. I usually drink from a weizen glass which is the 2nd picture. (Will still taste awesome in red Solo cup)

Drinkability: So smooth, your girlfriend would drink this...or Drake would rap about it in a smooth sing-song tone that doesn't frighten Caucasoids. Almost no bitter after taste. Well covered by the honey & hops combo.

Pairing: Um...oxygen? Happiness? Bacon would probably taste great with this. Or really anything salty that would balance the sweetness. (Bacon FTW)

Event: This beer is real chill. It would be great at any BBQ/get-together or even woulda been great at our baby shower (hint, hint). NOT the beer for "pre-gaming" my friends. You don't wanna "shotgun" these. Save that for Bud Lights.

Questions? Comments? Wanna go grab a few?

Lemme know in the comments section below...cheers

The First Round

Welcome to 85 Proof: Libations and Lifestyle. An odd mash-up of beer reviews, advice (read rants) and random commentary on life and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness through the amber tones of a micorbrew ale, an alcohol-related joke or the hilarious life and times of a beer addict.

So what exactly are you doing on this blog? Better yet, what am I doing? I'm trying to help those of you who, although it pains me to say, HATE BEER. Now calm down fellow beer lovers, lower your pitchforks. We were all naive once, help me bring them to the light. What I want to offer is a simple, plain English guide to buying, drinking and pairing beer with food and even events. Yes events. Beer is a complex, social beverage and you should be able to enjoy it with everyone. If Hitler can find a soul (term used here loosely) mate and VH1 can find 40 lonely "ladies" to fight over Flava Fla, I can mate you to beer you'll love.

I hope that I make good on these promises in the coming posts. Feel free to add to or challenge anything I write. I welcome the feedback. Cheers!