Beer of the Week Blast from the Past: Michelob Black & Tan

Beer score: 3.4

I didn't have the chance to taste any beer this week, so I pulled from some old files my notes about a beer that's no longer with us.

The bottle said this one was a mix of a porter and a lager. It was extremely sweet with a strong maple flavor. It was also stouter and darker than Michelob's usual beers.

Not a great beer, but not awful. Not worth drinking regularly unless maybe you like really sweet beers with dark currents.

Beer of the Week: Warsteiner Premium Beer

Beer score: 3.6

Company: Warsteiner

ABV: 4.8
IBU: 28

Despite what many beer drinkers will suggest, I've never been one who has been overly fond of beers from Germany. And this one proves my point.

Oh, it pours a nice golden color and has scents of grain and bread, but that's not anything spectacular. It also has way too much fizz and a weak taste like many beers that are made for a mass market. The taste also has a bit of skunkiness to it.

It is wet, however, and will quench your thirst. And in my experience it's much better from the tap than from the bottle, so much so I would add a couple of points to my score above when drinking this from the tap.

Beer of the Week: Cerveza Panama

Beer score: 4.8

Company: Heineken Panama

ABV: 4.8
IBU: NA

Reminds me of Corona, and yes, it comes from Panama.

It pours a golden color so light it almost looks like water. Unfortunately, it also has a somewhat skunky smell to it along with some vaguely grainy scents.

It's wet and weak and has a lot of carbonation. It tastes light, has a very little sweetness, and has just a touch of corn in the flavor.

Not a drink for beer snobs, but not a bad drink for cooling off on hot days.

Beer of the Week: Lindemans Framboise Lambic

Beer score: 9.8

Company: Lindemans

ABV: 2.5
IBU: 12

A Belgian lambic made with raspberries.

Pours a light ruby color with scents of fruit, especially raspberry, with a hint of malt.

The taste isn't as powerful as in Lendemans Kriek (cherry) Lambic, but that smell is quite a bit more powerful. Has a strong sweet, fruity berry flavor. Tastes more like a quality red wine than a type of beer.

One of the best beers on the planet, but it's not for everyone. Everyday beer drinkers won't realize it's beer, and even connoisseurs might go away confused. If you want to drink a beer that tastes like a beer, this probably isn't for you, but if you want to try something quite unusual, your taste buds will thank you for it.

Books read in 2022: No. 1 -- The Book of Psalms

published by Zondervan

Started: Jan. 1
Finished: Jan. 7

Notes: I've been putting off this reading because this is the longest book of the Bible and because having read much of it before, I know this is mostly fairly dry material. Still, I'm set on reading the Bible from beginning to end, so here goes.

Mini review: This contains a series of what are basically hymns, most of them praises to God or seeking aid from God in some form or another. It can be quite monotonous reading all these straight through as I did, but there is some beautiful language to be found here. I do kind of wish I understood Hebrew, because I believe these psalms would be even more poetic in their original form.

Beer of the Week: Southpaw Light

Beer score: 2.6

Company: Molson Coors

ABV: 5.0
IBU: NA

I hadn't seen this beer in years, then ran across it recently and decided to see if it was still as bad as it used to be.

It is.

Yes, it's another weak, carbonated drink from Milwaukee. I figure if you simply stop drinking any beers from Milwaukee then you have a decent chance of making it through life without tasting a bad beer (though keep in mind I'm talking about tasting, not drinking ... there are a few beers that are worth drinking but not tasting, if you can manage it).

Anyway, pours a weak yellow in color and smells like water with corn in it.

The taste is sweet with some sourness. There are hints of earth and grassiness. The foamy head vanishes almost instantly. That's about it. At least it's wet.