Mike Loves Beer

Name – Don’t Try
Country – United States
Type – American Amber/Red Ale

Let me take you all on a try back in time.  It wasn’t all that long ago either.  The date is September 25th of the year 2010.  The event is the Funky Buddha’s Grand Brewery Opening.  At this event I got to try so many of the Buddha’s great new beers.  But one in particular stuck out in my mind.  It was an almost 8% amber ale called Don’t Try.

I loved every time that someone would come up to me and ask me what I was drinking.  I would reply back simply “Don’t Try.”  And they would in turn tell me, “Okay I won’t but just tell me what it’s called.”  It was like a beer edition of Who’s On First.  But this is a beer that I really did want them to try.

Unfortunately for myself and many others that loved the beer it wouldn’t be brewed again until very recently.  And on New Years Eve I was able to secure myself a growler of the beer that was my one night stand that I couldn’t get over.

I opened up the growler and watched the cloudy orangish brew accumulate at the bottom of my Funky Buddha snifter.  It had a nice sized white head that disappeared pretty quickly but left some decent lacing along the glass.

The nose hits you with lots of citrus hops and a bold apricot type smell.  You get a tea like smell to it as well and that’s not surprising as they did use tea in the brew.

The taste is really a lot of the same hoppy flavors of apricot and citrus with a nice sweet backing.  The bitterness I pick up seems almost more from the tea than the hops.

Kevin from the Buddha told me that this version was slightly different from the original.  And I could see some differences.  Firstly the clarity seemed a lot cloudier than what I remember.  This may be because my growler was the tail end of one keg mixed with the beginning of a new one.

I could also taste and smell the tea in the beer more so than at the grand opening.  I did not think this was a bad thing though as I feel it gives the beer more character.

But really this beer is still an awesome beer.  Lots of hops, great balance in sweetness and the tea just adds something different.  And at 8% ABV you don’t even pick up the alcohol in there.  So this is one to beware of as it drinks like a session beer but can sneak up on you.

I’ve had a number of the Funky Buddha’s beers.  Many of them are pretty damn good but this one is my favorite.  I almost thought it was the one that got away when they told me they may not brew it again for long time.  But man am I happy they did it again.  I get to have Don’t Try in my life again.

And please do go try Don’t Try.

Grade - A

CORRECTION: I have been informed that the Funky Buddha actually did not use tea in the brewing of this beer but have used it in the past on other brews.

Name – Anchor Liberty Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Pale Ale

Appearance – Poured a slightly hazy bright orange color with a nice white head.

Smell – Very distinct smell.  It’s a sweet hoppy aroma that is citrus like but also a bit floral.

Taste – Sweet hop taste.  There is citrus there but I really pick up this sugary taste to it.  Kind of like bubblegum.  Very different from any other beers I’ve had thus far.

I really enjoy Anchor.  They make good straight forward beers and then this one comes in a little different from the norm.  A sweet candy like taste makes it different from most PAs I have had before.  Very enjoyable and I’m very happy I decided to actually go for a sixer on this.

Overall Grade – B

Name – Pin Stripe Red Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Red Ale

Appearance – Poured a clear amber color with a nice sized head but it did not stick around all that long.

Smell – Caramel malts with some pine like hop smells in there as well.

Taste – There were caramel and some roasted malt flavors that were backed with a slight hop taste that was like pine or grass.

With my first try at a Ska Brewing beer I tried this one just to get something simple.  While it is a simple style they actually do it pretty well.  There is nothing fancy about this but they seemingly did nothing wrong with it as well.  Straight forward in the approach of the style and I would have to say ‘success’ on it.

Overall Grade – B