The Beer Junkies Hello Beer Junkies! We are back with another round of beer reviews from some world renowned breweries. The beers in this review are:
- Veritas Raspberry – The Lost Abbey
- Maximator – Augustiner-Brau
- Taddy Porter – Samuel Smith’s Brewery
- Old Speckled Hen – Morland Brewery
The Lost Abbey’s Veritas Raspberry – 6.5% ABV
First up is the Veritas Raspberry, which is part of a line of blends that Lost Abbey releases. As the name suggests, this release is their blonde sour mixed with an “enormous” amount of raspberry’s and aged in oak barrels.
If you enjoy sours, you’ll love this beer. The aroma is full of fresh, mouthwatering raspberry flavor that immediately triggers your tastebuds. The first sip is, unsurprisingly, very tart, with a good amount of raspberry flavor that mellows into maltiness. As it usually goes with sours, the more you sip on this beer, the less mouth-puckering it becomes and soon that fresh raspberry flavor reigns dominant.
I am not a huge sour fan so the tartness is a little much for me, but spot on for the style.
Taste: ★★★★.25
Appearance: ★★★★★
Aroma: ★★★★.5
Overall: 4.58
Augustiner-Brau’s Maximator – 7.5% ABV
Augustiner-Bräu was established in 1328, and is Munich’s oldest independent brewery. I used Brewing Science’s Augustiner Lager strain in the very first beer I designed and brewed, so they have a special place in my heart.
The Maximator has a mild aroma with nice malt sweetness and hints of toastiness and caramel. The taste follows the aroma, with a sweetness that is not cloying, soon accompanied with hints of a caramel, bread, and toffee flavor profile that lingers on the tongue. There is no unpleasant alcoholic flavor, and drinks light for its 7.5% abv. If you are a fan of dark German lagers, I would highly recommend this beer.
Taste: ★★★★.5
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★★★.5
Overall: 4.33
Samuel Smith’s Brewery’s Taddy Porter – 5.0% ABV
Founded in 1758, Samuel Smith is Yorkshire’s oldest brewery. They produce many delicious beers, with all of them utilizing the same yeast strain that has been in use since the 1800’s.
Right away, the Taddy Porter had a beautiful tan head with decent retention. The nose is dominated by a rich, sweet aroma with hints of chocolate and roasted malts. The taste is similar to the nose, with notes of chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt, plus the sweetness was nicely balanced by the bitterness. It was very smooth and creamy, with a nice dry finish. If you are a fan of English Stouts, I would highly recommend grabbing this one.
Taste: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★★★.5
Overall: 4.17
Morland Brewery’s Old Speckled Hen – 5.0% ABV
Last, but not least, is the Old Speckled Hen from Morland Brewery. This beautiful English Pale Ale comes in at 5% abv. Morland Brewery was established in 1711, and has been brewing commercially ever since.
As you can see in the picture, it had a beautiful slightly off-white head with good retention. It has a crystal clear, deep amber color, thanks to the crystal malt additions. It’s aroma was filled with sweet malt, caramel, and a very slight copper tang. The taste followed the aroma, with caramel malt sweetness dominating with a hint of fruity esters tucked away in the finish. Overall, it is a very light, easy to drink beer that I would have again.
Taste: ★★★.5
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★★.5
Overall: 3.67
Final Thoughts
This was our first experience with beer from all of the above breweries, and we couldn’t have been happier with their products. We will absolutely be looking for more of their beers in the future. If you do try any of these beers, please comment below and let us know if you agree or disagree with our beer reviews! And if you have any beers you suggest we try, please send us a message and we will do our best to grab it for the next tasting.
