Mike Loves Beer

Name – Karnival Kolsch
Country – United States
Type – Kolsch

Ah spring has arrived.  Well for some maybe more than others.  For me in South Florida I am dreading the not too distant arrival of summer.  It’s going to be hot and so humid.  My air conditioned house will be my sanctuary for many a days coming up.

And after a long afternoon of cleaning around the house on Saturday it just felt like summer already to me.  So I searched my fridge for a beer that will refresh me.  And luckily I had something that looked like it might fit the bill.

So that brings us to the review for today in Stoudts Karnival Kolsch.  The light, refreshing style of a kolsch sounded like exactly what I needed.

I poured the mostly clear yellow brew into my pint glass.  A bubbly white head formed on top but was gone pretty quickly.

Grains, mild hops and lemon zest fill the nose of the beer.  Simple, subtle and very inviting.

The taste is really a lot of the same.  The flavors all come together in a nice light bodied and crisp drink.

Was I refreshed?  You betcha.  Is this a ground breaking beer?  No, but it’s not suppose to be.  The kolsch style is pretty straight forward and Stoudts nailed it.

The only problem with this beer is that I didn’t have more.  I only ended up buying one at the store when I got this.  So I am going to have to get more the next time I am in.  Especially since this weekend calls for yard work.  I will definitely need a couple of these after all that.

Grade - B+

Name – Stoudt’s Fat Dog
Country – United States
Type – American Imperial Stout

Appearance – Pours a pretty much jet black color with a thin light brown head.

Smell – Roasted malts and coffee are the main smells I pick up but you do get a bit of oats and a little boozey whiff of the alcohol at the end.

Taste – Roasted malts as you expect and then the coffee and oats balance each other out very nicely so one doesn’t dominate more than the other.  Add in a bit of chocolate for a very nice taste.  The alcohol has a bite at the end to it that becomes more prominent as it warms up some.

This has been one that I have been wanting to try for awhile but always pass over it for something else.  Finally I picked it up and gave it a try.  I am glad I did.  A very well rounded stout all together.  It may have a bit more of a coffee taste than I normally care for but it was not overbearing at all.

Overall Grade – A-

Name – Stoudt’s Pils
Country – United States
Type – German Pilsner

Appearance – Pours a clear straw yellow color with decent sized white head that went away pretty quick.

Smell – Crisp grainy smell up front with some grassy hop notes as well.

Taste – Pretty dead on with the smell.  Very smooth and crisp grainy taste and slight bittering hoppy taste in there as well.  Finishes clean.

A very straight forward and good pils right here.  Nothing fancy to it and something I could enjoy on a hot day by the pool that I do not have.  But if I did I would probably be drinking this.

Overall Grade – B+