The Beer Junkies Mix ‘N Match Beer Review (I)
Hello fellow Beer Junkies! And welcome back to our first mix ‘n match beer review. For this round, we made a trip to the closest Wegmans in the hopes that they still had a mix and match, and thankfully it paid off! The beers in this tasting are below.
- Habesha Breweries Cold Gold
- Southern Tier’s Nice Slice
- Great Lakes Brewing Co’s Dortmunder Gold Lager
- New Belgium’s Atomic Pumpkin
- Einstok’s Icelandic Arctic Pale Ale
Cold Gold – 5.0% ABV
Ahhhh Wegmans, an oasis for craft beer lovers, a refuge from bland grocery store selections that are oversaturated with blah blah big name IPAs and miller lite-esque 12-packs. Also, it’s one of the only places we are able to get a pick-a-six now – what the heck?! Anyways, we had never seen the Cold Gold by Habesha before and were excited to try it. It was a very nice light, easy to drink lager. It has a beautiful golden color and is crystal clear with nice carbonation. There was not much of an overpowering aroma, but what is there is clean and grainy. It was extremely smooth, with a nice malty flavor and limited aftertaste. We have never finished a sample faster than this one. Thankfully we only got one bottle of this, or we might not have finished the rest of the mix ‘n match beer review.
Taste: ★★★★.25
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★★.8
Overall: 4 / 5
Nice Slice – 5.0% ABV
Next up for our mix ‘n match beer review was Nice Slice by Southern Tier. We had seen this beer in the pick-a-six aisle for weeks, so we figured we would finally give it a try. Usually, we enjoy all of Southern Tier’s beers, but this one was a little disappointing. We weren’t sure what to expect, but right away we were surprised with the color. There was a slight pink hue to it, but for the most part was golden. The aroma was pleasant with strong notes of watermelon but that’s where the good notes end. The taste was where most of our disappointment came from. The watermelon flavor was much less than we expected from the aroma, and the watermelon we could taste had an artificial aftertaste that almost reminded us of shampoo. It sounded like a nice summer beer, but unfortunately next time we would have to pass.
Taste: ★★
Appearance: ★★
Aroma: ★★★
Overall: 2.3 / 5
Dortmunder Gold Lager – 5.8% ABV, 30 IBU
We had heard plenty about this beer and with can art that dons gold medals, we were very excited to finally try it. We are happy to say that it does live up to its reputation. There was a nice white head that you can see the last remaining remnants of in the picture above. The aroma was malty and mild. There is a delicious malt character with a little bit of initial sweetness, with a light dry bitterness to finish. The bitterness lingers for just a few moments and leaves you wanting more. The Dortmunder Lager is a delicious, well rounded beer that we will absolutely have again. We give it another gold medal.
Taste: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★★.5
Overall: 3.83 / 5
Atomic Pumpkin – 6.4% ABV
With numerous award winning beers under their belt and the creation of the cult classic Fat Tire, we have to ask ourselves – can New Belgium Brewing ever go wrong? The short answer is no. And, honestly, the long answer is also no. We are happy to say that New Belgium has done it once again with their Atomic Pumpkin “Spicy Release”. This is a fun twist on your classic seasonal pumpkin ale – and you can drink it without feeling too “basic”. (Although, hating on fun seasonal drinks and pumpkin ales makes you the basic one, okay? Just let people enjoy things dammit.) On the first sip, a crisp, beautiful pumpkin flavor hits the tip of the tongue and engulfs the mouth in a malty sweetness. This transforms with chai-like spices that hit the back of the throat. And truthfully, it does get pretty ‘spicy’ but only toes the line of overwhelming. We really enjoyed this beer, with its only downfall being that it is a one-and-done type of ale.
Taste: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★.25
Aroma: ★★★.75
Overall: 3.6 / 5
Arctic Pale Ale – 5.6% ABV
Just like Southern Tier’s Nice Slice, this beer has been eyeing us down just about every time we have gone to Wegmans. We finally relented and threw it into our mix n’ match with high hopes and a thirst that only a beer with a viking on the front of the can could fix. And while the beer was not bad, it was just okay. The can says that it is triple hopped with Cascade, Hallertau Tradition, and Northern Brewer, but we would have never guessed that. We would dare to ask if this was even hopped once. There was not a strong aroma, but subtle floral hints. The color was beautiful amber with a nice off-white head. We wouldn’t go out of our way to buy this beer again but we are happy we finally tried it.
Taste: ★★.75
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★.75
Overall: 3.16 / 5
Final Thoughts
As always, we had a wonderful time doing this mix ‘n match beer review. Thank you Wegmans for always having a solid mix and match section! 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.
