Beer of the Week: Murphy's Irish Stout

Beer score: 4.6

Company: Murphy's
ABV: 4.0
IBU: 34

Pours black. Real black. Dark black.

The aroma given off is that of burnt coffee and dark chocolate, with hints of dark bread.

The taste is much as the smell, with perhaps a touch of toffee and a slight tea-like aftertaste.

Extremely weak for a stout, in my opinion. So weak, in fact, you could guzzle this beer (and stouts usually should not be guzzled). One of the wettest beers I've ever had ... so wet it isn't frothy or fizzy, almost as if it's somewhat flat but without the dullness of a flat beer.

Not an exceptional beer, but not a bad one, and worth giving a try.

Beer of the Week: Labatt Ice

Beer score: 3.0

Company: Labatt Brewing Company
ABV: 5.6
IBU: NA

Looks like a generic golden straw-colored mass-produced beer when poured into a glass. There's not much smell, maybe a little cheap-beer scent or possibly faint corn scents.

Overly sweet with a roasted, burnt taste that I found rather annoying. A little carbonation. A little dryness. A little waste of my time.

Labatt does better beers.

Beer of the Week: Estrella Galicia Especial

Beer score: 3.9

Company: Hijos De Rivera, SA
ABV: 5.5
IBU: 25

This one pours a golden color. The scent and taste are pretty much like a typical premium American lager that's had some sugar tossed in, but the sweetness isn't annoying. However, the texture is a bit more heavy than typical cheap American beers, reminding me more of European lagers.

A Spanish beer that's not all that great but doesn't completely suck. There are plenty of better beers available, but you can make do with this one.

Beer of the Week: Saranac Stout

Beer score: 7.7

Company: Saranac
ABV: 5.4
IBU: NA

You should not be able to pour a stout into a clear glass and then see light through the glass. Here I can see light, but very little.

This is a good stout for beginning stout drinkers because it is not as thick, heavy or strong as most stouts.

While pouring, it gives off hints of roasted coffee.

The taste is sweet at first, then turns bitter on the way down. Also, in the taste are more hints of that roasted coffee, but there are also touches of caramel and maybe chocolate.

This isn't the best stout in the world, but it's still quite good.

Beer of the Week Blast from the Past: JW Dundee's Honey Light

Beer score: 6.2

This was one of the few light beers that actually tasted very much like its original, non-light version. But unfortunately this beer is no longer being produced.

It was sweet, to the point of growing slightly annoying after you had had several, and somewhat fizzy (as can be expected from a light beer).

The cost was about the same as most premium light beers, but the taste was much better. Too bad it's no longer around.

Books read in 2023: No. 15 - The Book of Micah

published by Zondervan

Started: April 23
Finished: April 24

Notes: I'm slowly working my way through the prophetic works near the end of the Old Testament, so I thought I'd sneak this one in between other works I'm reading.

Mini review: Themes familiar to the Old Testament prophets are revisited here, such as God's wrath against Israel for its sins, God's eventual forgiveness of Israel, Israel's eventual return to the homeland, etc. However, I did notice here a subtle message of a messiah, and a mention of Bethlehem, which most Christians would probably jump on as a prophecy of Christ's birth.

Books read in 2023: No. 14 -- California: A Novel

by Edan Lepucki

Started: April 14

Finished: April 23

Notes: I don't remember why I placed it there, but for some time this novel has been on my list of books I want to read. I suppose something drew it to my attention, and perhaps by reading it I will remember why. Or maybe not. Either way, hopefully I'll enjoy this one (as I always hope when reading, of course).

Mini review: This was a damn good novel. In fact, it is possibly the best novel I've read this year, other than the ending which I felt just petered out. It's not quite a post-apocalyptic novel, but sort of a pre-apocalyptic novel. In a near-future where climate change has made major differences throughout the world, society and governments are failing. In all this mess, a 20-something couple flees Los Angeles and heads into the woods to survive. After being in the wilds a couple of years, they discover others living not so far away in an encampment of sorts. I'll stop there. I'll just say, this novel has plenty of surprises. Also, for those who usually enjoy post-apocalyptic novels, there's not any action here. The violence and such that happens is almost entirely off screen, so to speak. Still, this is quite the novel. Also, "California" is not only part of the locale of this tale, but it's also the nickname of one of the main characters.