10 Barrel - Crush Huckleberry Sour 12oz can served in a stemless rastal. Dated 29MAR26 -- probably a best by date because I have zero recollection of when I bought it, but I remember bring it to a friend's cinco de mayo party and them bringing back to my house a couple weeks later... Pours clear pinkish-amber, little head on the pour dissipates to nothing but an extremely light dusting, not even a ring, some active carbonation bubbling up. Smell is jammy. Purple is the first word that came to mind. Welch's grape, blackberry (probably huckleberry, but...), something grainy in the background, light tartness. Taste is jammy, but not as sweet as I was expecting. More dry and watery with a bit of tartness. Little bit of the kettle sour note that I strongly dislike, but at least it's not very strong. Mouthfeel is light, smooth, a little filmy, pretty fizzy. Overall...it's unimpressive at best, even for a style I don't particularly like.
Chuckanut - Alt German-style ale 12oz can served in a stemless rastal. Canned MAR2326. Bought it a couple weeks ago at Chuck's Hop Shop, most likely. Pours dark, clear reddish amber with a big, two-finger head even without emptying the can. Lots of carbonation, medium-density head. Smell is grainy and nutty, earthy near-umami character, maybe a bit of toffee. Taste is earthy bitter, lots of grain, on the toasty side but far from smokey. Lots of nuttiness, bitterness comes across as a soft barkiness. Bitterness lingers. Mouthfeel is light, smooth, clean. Very nice beer.
Fort George - Short Sands, a light lager at 4.8%, maybe a helles? 12oz can served in a stemless rastal. Dated 12/23/25. No recollection of where or when I got it. Pours clear light yellow-amber, maybe a hint of golden orange. Head is fairly small, settles into a medium sized ring and a moderate dusting. Smell is mild, grainy, little bit of rising dough. A little lager funk. Taste is also mild. A little citrus, a little floral, a bit more earthy funk and a grassy bitter. More grain. Mouthfeel is light, clean, effervescent. Overall...solid, drinkable, nothing special.
I feel like this is an all too common comment from you you buy too much beer for others you just lose track, you're crazy and I love you for it.
Oh boy the day I had...getting caught in the flooding rains, not able to get out of the way. Having to find high ground in my neighborhood...which is called The Heights by the way, cause it is ABOVE the rest of Houston, at least the main inner loop of Houston. So, after being able to rush back home to take care of my pupper Moe, who hates all this...and after the rain finally passed by...I said to hell with it, I'm going Downtown bar crawling after the water drains from the streets ha. It actually became a pretty nice day after all the rain passed. Anyway, I was able to make it to one of my favorite downtown whiskey bars...that happened to have something on tap that I have not had before... I reviewed Eureka Heights earlier as well...but this is something I haven't had... Eureka Heights Business Casual Session IPA, 4.5% ABV. With Strata and Citra hops. Ignore the Old Fitzgerald Bottle In Bond...but its a fantastic Bourbon if you want to know Pours with a touch of haziness, a pale/yellow color. A two finger white head forms with excellent retention and lace left all the way down the glass. An almost perfume like hop aroma. With lots of fruity hops, that range from generic passion fruit, citrus, melon, and berries. Very nice. Taste wise, all the fruity flavors you would expect. From that passion fruit and citrus. To more specifically melon and berry flavors. As usual with this kind of IPA style, I find it a bit on the sweeter side cause of the fruity component. Also wanting more bitterness, but still enjoyable. A light body with crisp carbonation that finishes clean. Very easy to drink and come back to. For sure a session offering. Like I said above, my usual qualms with these kinds of IPA's is the fruity sweetness takes over, and not much bitterness lingers on. Still this is very well made for the style, and reminds me of Lone Pint Little Rose, which is a good thing. Overall score is 3.92 an east B+ (which I thinks is the same score I gave Lone Pint Little Rose ha ) Second review for the Old Fitzgerald coming up in the off topic Whiskey thread, a twofer ha.
