Samuel Smith's India Ale -- Four Beers

First of all, let me say that IPAs are my favourite beers.

Then, let me add that "American IPAs" are my favourite IPAs, and that British IPAs, though possibly more true to the genre, aren't as true to the hops. They *are* hoppy, they *are* delicious... but they're softer. A little mellower. A little... waterier. A little more like an ale, and a lot less like hop soup.


This IPA is a quality examplar of the British IPA family. It's got great colour and a delicious, amber-y taste. But it's also got a lot of malt, and almost comes off sweet rather than bitter. I've honestly had reds that are more hoppy than this, and it actually kind of reminds me of one. It's still a quality beer, though.

4 out of 6.

Unibroue's Blance de Chambly -- Three Beers

Another belgian white from Unibroue.  This one, though, is much more purely sweet, when compared with [... whatever the other white Unibroue in this craft pack was].  It's so sweet, in fact, that with the extensive carbonation, it almost tastes a little like root beer.  Makes you wonder what the beer was like back when they invented root beer.

A rapid, thin carbonation reminscent of champagne, plus a cloudy look, a sweet taste that's low on fruit but high on sugar, and almost no hops, add up to a beer that's good, refreshing, and drinkable, but still not one of my fav's.  It might, to some, stand out from other whites--but, just not to me.

Uniboue's Ephemere -- One Beer

It's a fruit-flavoured beer. Some kind of berry. Sweet, highly carbonated, pink... I don't even know if it has malt or hops in it. It could just be fermented berry water.

Good enough to drink, not good enough to want to drink. One out of six.

Unibroue's Maudite -- Five Beers

Of the four kinds of Unibroue that came in the craft-pack I bought recently [EDIT: a long, long time ago, since this text file sat on my Desktop since sometime in the Spring], the Maudite is easily my favourite.  Even though it was that or two whites and a fruit-flavoured beer, it still manages to stand out among other beers, as well.  The thing is, that in greener beer pastures (browner pastures?), I might think this beer almost… not generic, but, pleasantly normal, let's say… Here, it's a gloriously rich beer, full of balance in all possible dimensions of flavour, thickness, carbonation, colour, and downright enjoyability.  You can taste the hops; you can taste the malt; but you aren't overwhelmed by either.  You can feel the beer as a beverage not just some liquid to be swallowed to make you drunk; but it doesn't overwhelm you with a sticky, cloyingly sweet maltiness.  You can feel, see, and even somehow taste the bubbles themselves, but the beer itself isn't made of gas.  Somewhere in there, I stopped describing this beer, and started describing good beer.  It means you should know it's inspirationally good, but also, that I should just stop rambling.

I also have two stories about this beer: [EDIT: Had a long time ago.  Just posting old text files now...]
-Dad and Gill and Erica at BP's
-Emma and beer buying