Things I did today

  I did wonder if the Belgian-ness of this beer would save it from its India Pale Ale-ness, a flavor/style that I do not like. It... kind of did? I'd say it was the best IPA I've tasted, more citrus forward, but still held a fair amount of pine flavor and bitterness that is found in IPAs. I would drink it if I were told to drink an IPA, else suffer harm. I wouldn't drink it in any other situation, though. I probably could have powered through, but I didn't really want to. The beer did not "spark joy", so after five swallows, the rest of the beer was drank by the sink. I'd rate it a 3/10, but if I were to rate it in my IPA scale, it'd be like a 8/10, as most IPAs make me grimace at a sip, and this didn't!

Another wheat beer, wonderful! This was an unfiltered wheat with citrus notes instead of banana and clove. I liked it very much, but realized that I hadn't had any unfiltered wheat beers that are citrus forward. Most citrus forward wheat beers I've had have been filtered, which gives them a more refreshing quality. This, while being good, wasn't 'refreshing'. I'd rate it as a 7/10. If it had banana and cloves or was filtered, I would have bumped up the rating to 8.   

  The Robust Stout is rather... robust! It smelled of chocolate and caramel and tasted of chocolate and... bitter greens at the beginning, but it toned down at the aftertaste and was just a normal sweet stout. The bottle has the description "Chocolate, Crystal and Oat Malts." I'm unsure what a Crystal malt is, so I did a little research. I guess Crystal malts are Caramel malts, but not all Caramel malts are of the Crystal variety. I tried to get over the bitter greens taste in the front, but I couldn't do it. I felt bad because the rest of the taste was rather nice. I ended up pouring the rest of it down the drain. I'll rate it a 2/10, and I think that if it were someone else tasting it that likes bitter beers and stouts, they would rate it higher. If it was just the stout taste that I get at the end, I would have rated it higher, like a 5/10. 

 Another was-an-IPA spot that I switched out with a different beer I thought I'd like better. I also decided not to drink, again, but I bet it will be tasty once more when I do try it! The coffee was Organic Rainforest, which just tasted like medium roast coffee. A little sweeter than a random store brand, which is nice, but nothing is extraordinary. 

 You may notice this beer is the same as Advent Beer #1. Before Advent, I fished out all of the IPA beers (There were 5) and I gave them to one of my friends, who likes IPAs, as I do not, and didn't want them to go to waste. I didn't feel like drinking beer last night, and opted for green tea, instead. I have several boxes of Twinings Green Tea with Strawberry and Pomegranate, so I finished the evening with two cups of that instead. The coffee of the day was Caramel Pecan. It only smelled and tasted of caramel which I was happy with, since I don't care for pecans!

 Saint Alena is surprisingly good for a beer I was predisposed to not liking, after having the Brens. It starts a bit like Heineken, but follows with a sweetness like a St. Pauli Girl. I'd rate it a 4/10. Drinkable, and if it were what I was offered at a party, I'd take it. Other than that... I'd leave it, for better beers!

  This Irish Lager was billed as a well balanced beer between hops and barley. It reminded me of a PBR. Apparently, lagers aren't that much better across the pond. I'd drink it if I were at a party and that's what they had, but I wouldn't buy any for myself. In fact, I poured half out, and opened a wheat beer instead. Rated 3/10. The advent coffee was Organic Colombian. It was nuttier and somehow drier, if you can call a liquid dry. The coffee was fine, but nothing I was excited about.