The Beer Junkies Hello fellow Beer Junkies! We have a very nice selection for our beer tasting today. For this beer tasting, we had the following:
- Rooster King Red Lager – The Farm Brewery
- Knotty Pretzel Beer – O’Fallon
- Ski Patrol – Brewery Vivant
- Zaison – Brewery Vivant
- Little Sip – Lawson’s Finest Liquids
- Pretzel Wheat – Aldus Brewing Co
The Farm Brewery’s Rooster King Red Lager – 4.5% ABV
The Farm Brewery is a local brewery for us, located in Haymarket, Virginia. It is a beautiful brewery with quality beers. To start off this beer tasting, we had their Rooster King red lager. It was a nice, refreshing red with a dark amber color with a white head. There was a sweet aroma with notes of caramel and toffee. The malt flavor was very pleasant with a slight roastiness, and there was almost no bitterness. At only 4.5% ABV, it was a nice and light beer that we would recommend and could drink all afternoon, but not so special that we would go out of our way to find it at a bottle shop.
Taste: ★★★.5
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★★.5
Overall: 3.67 / 5
O’Fallon Brewery’s Knotty Pretzel Beer – 5.3% ABV, 15 IBUs
We had two pretzel beers in this tasting, and both were very unique. We were skeptical about it tasting like a real pretzel, but we were both quickly shown that it can be done. This beer had a light copper color with some haze from the wheat. It was very bready and malty, with a slight tanginess. There was also a hint of salt. There was just enough bitterness to counteract the malt, but not enough to add a noticeable bite. It really does taste shockingly like a pretzel. The knotty pretzel beer is a golden ale with some obvious twists. They use pale malt as the base, and special roast, red wheat, and white wheat to add the bready flavor. They also add acidulated malt to enhance the tanginess. It was a surprisingly delicious beer that we would try again.
Taste: ★★★★.25
Appearance: ★★★.5
Aroma: ★★★★
Overall: 3.92 / 5
Brewery Vivant’s Ski Patrol – 6.0% ABV
Ski Patrol is a Belgian wheat ale brewed with cardamom and orange peel. It had a hazy, golden color out of the can with a small white head. The head was noticeably less than most other wheat beers we have tried. The spices were present in the aroma with some of the orange coming through, but not overpowering. The flavor was similar to the aroma, where none of the spicy characteristics were too strong, but strong enough to be noticeable. It was a pleasant Belgian wheat ale, but probably not one that we would have again.
Taste: ★★★
Appearance: ★★★
Aroma: ★★★
Overall: 3 / 5
Brewery Vivant’s Zaison – 9.0 ABV
This beer was definitely a first for us for this style – an imperial saison brewed with tellicherry black peppercorn and orange peel. It has a very light orange color with a little bit of haze. The head was similar to their Ski Patrol which was a quickly dissipating white head with limited lacing. The aroma had a very interesting spice characteristic, with the orange peel, peppercorn, and Belgian spice coming through. The flavor is a little less than the aroma, but there is still the initial citrus flavor followed by the spicy finish. The carbonation was high, and there was some residual sweetness but not an unpleasant amount. Overall, it was an interesting beer that we are glad we tried, but probably wouldn’t try again.
Taste: ★★.5
Appearance: ★★★
Aroma: ★★.5
Overall: 2.67 / 5
Lawson’s Finest Liquids’ Little Sip – 6.2% ABV
Little Sip is the smaller version of their Sip of Sunshine IPA, and is a juicy, fruit forward IPA. It is a fantastic beer, and one of the many IPA standards out there. It had a golden color with a very slight haze, and a large slightly off-white head with impressive lacing. The aroma was very citrusy, with a wonderful fruity hop combination. The flavor was similar, with strong notes of grapefruit and pineapple. There was mild bitterness to counteract malt sweetness, but like most juicy IPA’s it was not bitter. This is an excellent beer that lives up to its reputation, and we would recommend it to anyone.
Taste: ★★★★.4
Appearance: ★★★★.5
Aroma: ★★★★.4
Overall: 4.43 / 5
Aldus Brewing Co’s Pretzel Wheat – 6.3 ABV, 5 IBUs
Similarly to O’Fallon’s pretzel beer, this one surprised us. Right away, there was about a finger’s worth of a light tan head with limited retention. It had a beautiful dark amber color, which was unexpected after the copper color of the other pretzel beer. There was a noticeable saltiness, but not overpowering. The aroma was fantastic with it smelling exactly like a pretzel. The flavor was a little less intense than the aroma, and was definitely less bready than O’Fallon’s. We highly recommend trying it if you come across this beer.
Taste: ★★★.75
Appearance: ★★★★
Aroma: ★★★★
Overall: 3.91 / 5
Final Thoughts
Overall, we thought this was a great mix ‘n match beer tasting. Thank you again to Frank for being such an amazing beer geek. 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.
