Romulus' Beer List
Cranberry Lambic (Sam Adams)
Like it sounds, a cranberry-tinged, fairly dark beer. It seems to be getting rarer lately; though I do seem to recall it was a Thanksgiving-time seasonal. Unfortunately, there isn't much time between Octoberfest, which stops appearing by mid-November, when the newly promoted Winter Lager hits the scene. Cranberry Lambic probably gets lost in that marketing routine.
Hornsby's (cider)
Before Cider Jack was around, Hornsby's was the cider of choice. The most noticeable thing about this cider is its smoke-gray bottles. It's still probably better than CJ in terms of taste and strength, but CJ appeals to a wider palate and is admittedly easier to drink.
Oregon (generic)
Memory suggests that this cap is from a bottle of some black cherry flavored brew from Oregon. It doesn't matter much, since all Oregon caps that I've seen look like this one, and I wasnt too impressed with this brew.
Sam Adams (Lager)
Sam Adams, especially the original, will always be with us. This is an example of the "old" cap; I don't know if it's the oldest cap, but it's an older one. (I have some 'dupes' here in terms of brews, to show examples of old vs. new caps.)
Octoberfest (SA)
This has always been good and is always in large demand, unfortunately it only comes out shortly before October and lasts shortly thereafter, a seemingly shorter run than SA Winter Lager. Note, that this "simple" SA cap style (similar to C. Lambic, Cherry Wheat, etc) are common to the Seasonals line of SA brews.
Killian's Irish Brown
You may not remember this, and it is one of the rarer caps (and brews) here. A few loyal Killian's fans recall this limited-time brew which came out circa 1996 or 7. It was darker, brown of course, and had a wonderful combination of sweet and nutty flavors that I haven't been able to find elsewhere. I had thought it was a new (permanent) product; had I known it was only a limited run, I would have bought at least one stack of cases and found a cold, dark place to store them for perpetuity.
Bass Ale
The "low-end" for some real hard-core beer drinkers (the sort who tend to have a Guinness with their dinner -- you know, to wash it down), Bass is definitely a good beer, though "sharp" in a way that keeps me from getting it too often. It's common enough that if I'm looking for a good or interesting beer, I'll stay away from it, and if I'm looking for a more common beer, I'll go for a Sam or Killian's.
Scotch Ale (SA)
Not entirely happy about this brew, though I haven't given it a fair chance. I can't say more about it, though others who are also fair beer connoseiurs seem to agree that it is "an acquired taste".
Cherry Wheat (SA)
If you're looking for a strong, tasty, and sweet beer, this is what you're looking for. Probably better than SA's wannabe other warm-weather brew (see below), Cherry Wheat is at once simple, unique, good quality, and sweeter than most honey brews on the market.
Woodchuck (cider)
Not really a favorite of mine. Formerly a next-best-thing when Hornsby's wasn't available; and now a next-best-thing when Cider Jack isn't available. It's too sour, too dry, and leaves a funny taste in my mouth, not at all like I feel a hard cider should, and not at all like either Hornsby's or CJ. It's saving grace being that it's usually priced similar to CJ, while Hornsby's is slightly more.
Blue Moon (generic)
Like Oregon, Blue Moon has only one cap design for all its brews, but unlike Oregon, I haven't met one I didnt like. Pumpkin Ale, a fall seasonal, is absolutely the most unique beer you can get (at least in a six pack of bottles), and its name says it all -- you have to try it. Their Belgian White tastes like you would expect a beer colored white to taste -- mildly sweet and at once strong and dark yet light and smooth. Their winter brew feels thick as motor oil, but to me, that's just what a Winter brew should do -- line your stomach like a warm winter coat. Their basic Abbey Ale is like the common denominator to all their brews, and their honey brew for warm months rounds out the collection, though to me, most honey brews are very much alike. Definitely a quality brewery with a common theme of mild sweetness and seasonal sensations.
"Gold Medal 1992" (unknown)
I believe, though I'm not positive, that this is an old Pete's Wicked Ale cap. I can't think of what else it could be, but perhaps someone else knows. The cap does not date to 1992, BTW; more like 1996.
Double Bock (SA)
Training wheels for SA's even darker and much feared Triple Bock. Epitomizes the notion of a dark beer while still being drinkable while standing up.
Molson Golden
This is hopefully the weakest beer represented here; and is mainly only here because it permeated my later cap collections because some friends once preferred it. To be fair, Molson Golden is not even good within it's brand; Molson Canadian is better, but best is Molson Export Ale, not too easy to fnd in the US but widely available (naturally) north of the border. Export is quite impressive if compared to the rest of the Molson clan. I took a 20oz back from Montreal last I visited, and tried to conserve it best I could; unfortunately I do not appear to have saved the cap. Next time.
Killian's Red
Not to take its glory away by lamenting the loss of Brown, KR is the best sweet-ish beer for its price, especially when SA Cherry Wheat is not in season. KR is never out of season, joy; it really is uniquely red, and at least on me, although its not the strongest beer, its easy to drink and enjoy and tends to do a number on me.
Winter Lager (SA)
Another seasonal (duh), it's fairly dark and fairly thick, but on the lower end of thicker winter brews enough that more mainstream SA drinkers will gobble it up. It's OK, but if you really want a dark/thick beer, there's better options for the true believer.
Heineken
I can't say whether this is weaker or stronger than Molson Golden, nor can I fairly defend its placement here. Sadly, Heineken is often the "best" beer available at restaurants in my home town (not far out of Boston), passed off as the high-end alternative to Bud and Bud Light. The next cap is a better excuse for its inclusion here. Every time I end up ordering this beer, and try to appreciate it, I fail.
Heineken Dark
Despite it's brother's horribleness, I was impressed by this beer when I tried it recently. It doesn't probably compare to most things made by SA, and it will suffer by having both a brand name that is distasteful to serious beer drinkers, and a style name that makes weaker beer drinkers run in fear.
Magic Hat (generic[?])
Most likely a cap from Number 9, the brew this company is known best for. Good, interesting, but doesn't drive me wild enough that I will buy it in the store, or order it unless at a more classy pub.
Newcastle Brown Ale
A new favorite. It comes close to my memory of the nuttiness of Killian's Brown, though not as strong (more like K. Red in darkness), and not quite as sweet. It comes in clear bottles, which is both interesting and disturbing (it risks the beer going bad sooner, and bars always seem to keep it on the top shelf of a well-lit cooler). I've never seen it on tap, which is more than I can say for most other beers on this list.
Honey Porter (SA) [old]
Like I said, I tend not to be impressed by honey brews, since everyone seems to have one, and generally I find them each to be just as I expect. This is an "older cap" example; see below.
Woodchuck [old]
See above. This is an example of the "older" cap style.
Rolling Rock
Say what you want about this beer. If nothing else, to me it marks a line in the sand between weaker, more common beers a la Bud, Miller, Heineken, and more chic beers like SA, Bass, and on up. Now, I've heard every bad thing about RR, from it being too bitter, to it being disgusting and too weak, to being told "I've been to Latrobe, it's not a pretty sight." But it's lighter bitterness is something I look for when wanting to relax with a not-too-complicated beer. I also liken it to a cheap wine, and always have a craving for sharp cheddar cheese when I drink it -- it just seems they go well together, and I believe I've verified this.
Old Fezziwig Ale (SA)
An extremely rare SA seasonal, which should more than make up for the previous entry. I don't remember the exact mix of flavors in OFA, though I recall it includes cinnamon and orange peel. OFA is the perfect Christmas party beer, if you could ever find enough of it (when I remember having it, one was hard pressed to find more than a six pack at a time). Unfortunately I cant remember more about its taste in detail, but I do recall that it was the best beer I had ever tasted when I tried it, and no beer has done that to me since. If K. Brown and OFA prove anything, it's that really good beers are only released by breweries, even good ones, once in a great while in order to mercifully tease us. In its first release, probably Christmastime 1995, it was available in six packs; the next year it was only available in Sam Adams Winter Packs (a detestable marketing gimmick), and only one per pack; and after that, I couldn't find it, and couldn't prove that it was still even in Winter Packs, were I desperate enough to buy that pack just to relive the Fezziwig taste. Perhaps, it being Christmastime again, I should start searching (seeing as I shamefully missed SA Octoberfest entirely this year).
Honey Porter (SA) [new]
See above. This isn't the most newestcap design, either; the new image of the patriot looks much like a Ken doll and holds his beer aloft like a singing German oompah dancer, not like a rebellious American colonist.
Summer Ale (SA)
This is an OK beer, and fairly well suited to summer, though I still prefer the springtime-released Cherry Wheat, which seems to be released over a longer run in recent years to accomodate that desire. Summer Ale is a gimmick beer, mostly seeming to be the result of an SA experiment to revive a forgotten about, Pharoah-era grain known only as "Grains of Paradise". It's unique, sure, and it's interesting, but it still shouts "gimmick", and the uniqueness and experimentation is wasted on a summer beer, which should be light and unassuming as reasonably possible. My bet is most SA-curious beer drinkers opt for the embarrasing SA Golden Pilsner for a light summer beer instead of this one.
"Skull w/ brain"
This doesn't really belong here, as this cap isn't from a beer at all, but a novelty soda. Regardless, it was in my old cap collection, probably put there due to its oddness. I don't recall what the soda was called -- probably Brain Freeze or Numb Skull or something appropriately morbid. I do remember however, that it didn't taste particularly good, and was over-carbonated. The soda was one of a collection, the type of thing available only by mail-order via an ad in the back of an underground music magazine. It may have had goth chic once, but it really wasn't anything more than a curiosity. Honestly, in the world of 'cult culture' [sic], if it hasn't lasted at least five or ten years, it doesn't count. And this stuff didn't last two.
Not shown:
SA Golden Pilsner
As I said, an embarrassing offering from SA. I see it as a thinly veiled attempt to pull the Bud and other weaker drinkers into the quality beer fold, unfortunately those that do get pulled in stop there, and the 'real' SA drinkers mostly avaoid the stuff. Or maybe, that's the point, and I should just ignore it exists. Done.
SA Boston Ale
The companion to stock SA (which is really SA Boston Lager), it's a more potent taste, but doesn't try to confuse you. It tastes like SA brews should taste, and is a probably a good way to start moving up the SA chain from the stock lager.
Cider Jack
Like Oregon and Blue Moon, Cider Jack keeps the same bottle cap design for all its flavors of cider (and so far I count five). Unfortunately, that design is plain, flat black, and wouldn't really be meaningful to include. The flavors are a crap shoot, but none qualify as "bad", though some are strange and could take some getting used to. From the base cider, there is a raspberry flavor for those who want a sweeter flavor, and cranberry for those who want a sourer one (though, cranberry CJ is a fall seasonal, and was briefly limited to 4-packs in 1998, but apparently back by demand). A Spiced flavor came later, which gives a more "authentic" cider flavor. More recently, with the US boom in "hard lemonade", CJ has a -- get this -- Lemon cider flavor. Definitely strange, though I could get used to it, had I the better part of a summer to do so with.
Boomerang
The first "hard lemonade" I had, though it didn't call itself that. Prior to the boom of 'hard lemonade' popularity in the US, I tried this limited-market lemonade in Canada, and no 'hard lemonade' I've had in the US since has come close. It was cloudly like Fresca, slightly effervescent in the same way, slightly thick, and had both a yummy sweetness and a distinct, authentic sour lemon taste. It was served over ice, which probably helped. I brought the better pack of a six pack back with me and I couldn't resist finishing it soon after. Unfortunately I know nothing of its existence in the US.
Sierra
Had once (well, a few times) at a bar on my graduation day. It was free, so anything I could say about it would be biased.
Nameless weaker beers
Of course over the course of history I've been fooled or convinced, or fooled or convinced myself, to drink one of the various pretzels-and-football beers which are what until recently were the sorts of things that came to mind in the public notion of the word "beer". Bud, Bud Light, Miller, Bud Ice, Coors, and various others. Sometimes, they've been the only beer in the house. What can you do.
Guiness
Likewise, conversely, I have of course tried Guinness. I respect it highly, but I have only drank it once. It's not the sort of beer I can drink hanging out with others, or chill out and enjoy; and this is doubly the case if I have anything else in my stomach. Still, I have nothing against the beer, I just know when I've been bested. I'm sure I'll be up to the challenge again someday. Basically, my impression is, if you're planning on drinking a Guinness, you better not plan on doing anything else.
romulus@jerky.net