Beer of the Week: Presidente

Beer score: 3.4

Company: Presidente

ABV: 5.0
IBU: unknown

This one comes to us from the Dominican Republic. It's supposed to be a pilsner according to the bottle, but don't let that fool you. This one isn't worth your time.

It tastes much like a typical Mexican brew, weak and only vaguely beer-like, but with a lot more carbonation, making it almost acidic.

This is a bit of a grassy flavor splashing around in this liquid, but that's about it. At least it's wet with some light bitterness that lingers on the tongue.

As you can tell, I can't really recommend this one for beer connoisseurs. It might be good for an extremely hot day as a thirst quencher, but honestly, there are better beers to do the job. Then again, I can't say this is the worst beer I've ever had.

Books read in 2020: No. 20 -- Flowers in the Attic

by V.C. Andrews

Started: August 8

Finished: August 30

Notes: As I've just finished reading Wuthering Heights, I'm in the mood for something dark, something gothic. Spying this novel waiting to be read on my shelves, and I have been meaning to try this late author for some time, I can speculate it might be just what I'm looking for.

Mini review: Children locked in an attic for years, murderous family members, incest ... there's little chance this book would be published today, at least not by a mainstream publisher. Anyway, not a bad book. Not great, but not bad. Fans of the gothic might find this one interesting. And it's the first of a series, so there's plenty more where this came from if it's your type of thing.

Beer of the Week: Michelob Light

Beer score: 2.8

Company: Michelob

ABV: 4.3
IBU: NA

Pours a pale yellow into the glass, and comes with a scent not unlike baked bread.

Dry on the throat with a bit of a toast-like taste, but also weak and watery.

This light beer is better than some - at least it's not too hard to swallow and the carbonation is a little less than many light beers.

Eh, it's drinkable. If you want light beer, you could do worse. If you want quality, you could do better.

Beer of the Week: Lindeman's Strawberry Lambic

Beer score: 9.2

Company: Lindemans

ABV: 2.5
IBU: 12

A lambic is unlike any other beer on the planet. There are good things and not-so-good things about this. Many who don't like beer can still drink a lambic, especially wine drinker. However, new few beer drinkers are turned off of lambics because lambics don't really taste like beer.

If anything, in my opinion, lambics tend to taste like a cider or perhaps a fruity seltzer. And while I'm not a huge fan of ciders or fruity seltzers, I am a big fan of lambics. I not only enjoy a lambic for what it is, but I also appreciate the fact it is a unique type of beer.

And here, Lindemans does not disappoint.

This one pours out a light rose color mixed with a little gold, and the smell is fruity, sweet and tart.

When one drinks this, it is quite sweet, even sweeter than most lambics. This sweetness might turn off some drinkers, but while I don't normally care for overly sweet beers, this one I felt reached right to the threshold of being too sweet but without going over that threshold.

There's definitely a lot of strawberry sweetness here and more than a touch of tartness. I also think I picked up hints of flowers and lemon.

Beer of the Week: Great Lakes Eliot Ness Amber Lager

Beer score: 8.2

Company: Great Lakes Brewing Company

ABV: 6.1
IBU: 27

Wow. Just ... wow. I lived most of the 1990s in Ohio where I could regularly enjoy beers from the Great Lakes Brewing folks, but that's been a long while and I'd nearly forgotten just how awesome their beers can be.

And this one is no exception.

Pours a dark, smooth amber into a glass, looking something like liquid copper. While pouring, the scent reaches your nose right away, bringing tones of burnt malts, the barest hint of fruit, and plenty of dark caramel syrup.

Then the taste. Oh, the taste. Caramel and toffee lovers should enjoy this one, especially if they like the darker varieties of those sweets. There are also hints of coffee and maybe cherry here. Fans of darker, heavier beers should also like this one. And while this is something of a sweet beer, it's not super sweet, so don't sweat that if you don't care for sweet brews.

And the texture: Smooth, creamy, dreamy, with the perfect amount of light carbonation. This beer is not near heavy enough to be a stout and not strong enough to even be a porter, but it has more than a little density behind it.

Books read in 2020: No. 19 -- Wuthering Heights

by Emily Bronte

Started: July 22
Finished: August 8

Notes: This is another classic of literature I've been meaning to get to my whole life, but for one reason or another, it's never happened until now. Way, way back in high school, I had a class in which we watched a movie of this novel, but that was so long ago I remember next to none of it. A lot of people are bored by reading the classics, but I usually enjoy them, though not always. From what little I know of this one, I'm expecting to enjoy it.

Mini review: Imagine an Alexandre Dumas villain dropped into a Jane Austen novel to spread his evil over a few decades and you'll have something of an idea of this novel. Dark, almost gothic, but not strictly horror, the real threat here being the all-too-real villain of Heathcliff, himself sometimes mistreated at an early age. Eventually Heathcliff earns his ultimate reward, in a manner of speaking, but whether that is good or bad is somewhat up to the reader to decide. A few of the characters here talk a little about ghosts, but the story itself does not provide any supernatural elements, though this has the feel of a gothic tale about it. Worth reading.

Beer of the Week: Nicklepoint Blonde Ale

Beer score: 7.9

Company: Nicklepoint Brewing Company

ABV: 5.2
IBU: NA

In the glass this one has a faint yellow color that hints at greatness to come. The scent is light, slightly hoppy, with a touch of fizz.

Then it hits the tongue, and oh boy, this is pure joy. Has a touch of a Belgian flavor to it, and the lingering malty sweetness feels like smooth, cool sunshine on your tongue and down your throat.

I could drink a bunch of these, and you should give it a try, too.