Back in the saddle

Tried three beers tonight. Here are some notes:

Bell’s Sparkling Ale — from the name, I expected some Champagne-style, light fizzy thing. It’s very much a triple though (the back of the label calls it an “American triple”). It definitely has the candied sugar, bubblegum sort of taste to it. The carbonation is low, but it still manages to have a somewhat sharp mouthfeel. The alcohol isn’t particularly aggressive even though it’s 9% ABV — kind of surprising. Not sure of the price on this one, but I bought it as a singleton from Sam’s Quik Mart in Durham since the Good Beer Store is no more.

Biere du Boucanier Red Ale — I’m not sure if it’s related to Piraat, or if they’re hoping to cash in the confusion. At any rate, this is not the easiest drinking beer — it’s got a full body, with a heavy plum/licorice taste to it. Deep red, not much head retention to it. A bit hot for a 7% ABV beer. Again, a singleton from Sam’s; not sure of the price.

Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale — was fooled by this one; should have looked at the label a little bit more closely. It’s an AB beer and it certainly tastes like it. For all the good things AB has started to do for craft beer lately (Here’s to Beer), I still just don’t like it when they try to do craft beer. This beer is no exception. The color and head look great — a deep, ruby red with a nice think head — but the taste is way too sweet and heavy on the vanilla. I was thinking about a nice warming bourbon-tinged beer with just a hint of vanilla when I bought it, but it’s pretty much all vanilla and no bourbon. 6% ABV (which was actually nice for tonight after the two somewhat bigger beers), just really not that good.