Street put Jeffery Slick's expertise to the test. After getting Slick's professional opinion on six very different beers, ex-frat boy and our esteemed editor-in-chief Alex Koppelman weighed in with his thoughts on a six-pack we bought with Daily Pennsylvanian money. Thanks guys! The only problem is that he's too much of a pussy to enjoy good beer.
La Trappe Quadrupel:
JS: "It's a Trappist Abbey ale. It's not made by Trappist monks anymore, but it is produced in their abbey. It's a nice, big-bodied Belgian brown ale. Lots of alcohol, but extremely well balanced. A nice malty sweetness to it, rich and tasty, lots of subtle spices on it."
AK: "It's sweet at first and then gets bitter at the end. You know what it's like ... it's a Dutch beer and that's appropriate. It's like a night in Amsterdam: it starts out well, and then you end up in the gutter."
Heavyweight Baltus O.V.S. (Our Very Special ale):
JS: "It's a brewery that does a lot of weird things. This has a lot of English qualities, a lot of German qualities, a lot of Belgian qualities. You get a little bit of a raisiny grapey sweetness to it, mixed with some interesting hops and some German smokiness. You get this great little combination of the world all in one great little beer."
AK: "This is awful. It's so bitter. This is why I don't like drinking anything but Miller Lite."
Bell's Expedition Stout:
JS: "Probably one of the biggest-bodied stouts I've had. This will kill your palate -- you won't be able to taste too much afterward. It's extremely thick, extremely rich and so full of flavor. It's really complex, really big, a lot of roastiness, a lot of sweetness and it is absolutely wonderful."
AK: "It's not very sweet, but it's a lot like Guinness. I feel like I'm drinking my dinner."
Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA:
JS: "It's part of their 60-minute, 90-minute, 120-minute IPA. The minutes refer to how long they start boiling the beer, and they continuously add hops to the brew throughout that time period. Apparently -- from what I've been told -- if you add hops early in it, you'll get more of a flavor; if you add it later in the mix, you'll get more of a bitterness. They try to combine flavor, aroma and bitterness all in one beer. So, you get a lot of floral hop-y characteristics, mixed with some of the nice bitter hop-y characteristics. It smells and tastes wonderful. It's really smooth and pretty big. Nice and tasty. It's a little more on the dryer side, for the amount of alcohol in it, but it is really good."
AK: "It's kinda fruity. It's a girly beer -- I could drink this. If I alternated this with an apple martini, I could be happy for the night."
Alba:
JS: "It's a Scottish beer. It's brewed with pine needles, so you kind of get that weird Pine Sol kind of smell and it tastes kinda like that, but it is good. It's not the cleanser, it's just that woody, piney flavor to it. It's a fun little beer. This brewery does some other weird stuff. They do a seaweed ale, they do a gooseberry and beet beer. They do some weird stuff. And, apparently, all the labels were designed by some high school students from Scotland."
AK: "Ooo, that's really good. It's fruity but a little smokey."
George Gale's Prize Old Ale:
JS: "Definitely a winner. This is part of the vintage English beers. This one was brewed in 2001. A nice medium to full body, a lot of wine-like characteristics, just a little Muscat grape, body feels like wine, got some good spices on it. It's really warming. They actually say that this is best when 20 years old, but I've only had back to '95. It was absolutely fabulous. One I keep going back to over and over again."
AK: "Ohmigod, this is the fanciest thing I've ever drunk. It's a beer with a cork and foams like champagne when you open it. It tastes a little like champagne, too. It's good -- now I don't have to buy $4 champagne on New Year's Eve anymore"
