Finally, a good case of Writer's Block!

This is the stereotypical beer that people drink at the bar after a hard day at work. Writer's Block is a delicious golden lager. At first sip the lager is initially quite generously hopped however the mellow and gentle citrus-like malts soon come to the fore. The typical golden lager aroma and beautiful barley aftertaste make Writer's Block a rewarding after work tiple at eight out of ten.

-The Poacher

This is the beer that the TV ads mimic!

Blanche De Bruxelles (BdB) is very mellow in both flavor and aroma but also very well balanced. It's mellow and refreshing fruity malt blend well with the wheat malt and mild but tantalizing hops and substantial yeast. What gives this weissbier the eight out of ten it deserves is how genuinely great it looks when you put it down after taking a sip, the modest gravity of the wheat beer makes the bubbles move back to the traditional weissbier head in a whirlpool motion I've only ever seen on ads for shite beer on the telly. Blanche De Bruxelles falls two shots short of a bullseye at eight out of ten.

-The Poacher

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I genuinely couldn't think of a title for this post in my usual style. Thus I'm ashamed of myself. Other than that Gouden Carolus is a nice beer, betraying it's high alcoholic strength with it's wonderfully fruity aroma. The beautiful yeast in this beer is very surprisingly balanced with it's citrus and fruity malts. This Gouden Carlous is 8.5% proof but it isn't very strong tasting so this beer can actually be drank like water. This beer even screams craft beer and drinking it pats each of it's consumers (in the metaphorical sense) on the back for being a beer aficionado but Gouden Carlous is neither strong tasting nor hoppy enough to completely satisfy my taste buds and I want to follow my heart on this beer and leave Gouden Carlous falling half way to a bullseye at five out of ten. However I like to think myself as as good judge of beer and Gouden Carlous efficiently ticks all the same boxes as the big brand name beers and would not only appeal but satisfy the tastes of the average drinker of any taste and age that don't particularly have a preference for craft brewed beer. Gouden Carlous falls two shots short of the mark at eight out of ten.

-The Poacher

Just when you thought there was enough IPAs out there,

you were wrong. Mind you this Pale ale was launched during the Easter festival so it's not like we didn't see this one coming plus the Carlow Brewing Company's IPA is in fact the abbreviation for Irish Pale Ale. O'Hara's Red will remain my favorite of the Carlow Brewing Company's beers but I can see the Irish pale ale snapping up that title with many craft beer enthusiasts. This brew has hit a bullseye making this my first ten out of ten. I particularly loved both the strength of the zesty citrus aroma, tongue tingling barley malt and uniquely soothing (which I did't expect from) hops. This beer simply reeks of the dedication put into craft brewing and of the effort put into this beer, the aroma from this beer gave me the sensation of actually being in a brewpub.

-by the Poacher

Expensive taste isn't necessarily good taste!

The title refers to Brewdog's Paradox cask aged imperial stout. This is a good brew, don't get me wrong and it can unlike mass produced stouts like guinness be enjoyed in some quantity - if it weren't so expensive of course! The cask maturation was an absolute necessity (which leaves a rare and pleasant aftertaste) to make this a nice beer as the combination of hops and malt in this beer is quite bland as though both adjuncts were cancelling one another out. Instead both of the aforementioned adjuncts (hops and assorted malts) should not only complement one another but should also match their individual contribution to the beer's general aroma. This another reason why I don't like this beer - the aroma of Paradox is absolutely beautiful and the beer itself doe not in any manner whatsoever live up to the expectation of said aroma! This craft beer falls six shots short of a dead deer so I'm giving it a four out of ten and that's mostly because I appreciate all the time and effort the lads in Brewdog put into their fine profession.

-The Poacher

My groins!

Sadly that's not what mein grunes translates as however the organic TAP4 brew from my Oktoberfest favorite, Scheider-Weiss is a lovely bottle of enjoyment. The aroma of this of this beer reminds me of the smell of smoked beans that Batchelors brought out in the nineties. So that's the first thumbs up this wheat beer gets from me. I also think it tastes nicer than the original Schneider-Weiss. Somehow the organic ingredients in this beer bring up to par with my favorite craft beers. Another reason I like this beer other than the pleasant blend of hops and wheat is that I was surprised by how great it tasted. The only real reason I'm disappointed by this wheat beer that I can't use it as evidence that the Reinheitsgebot doesn't always work therefor I leave this beer falling three shots short of the mark or seven out of ten.

-The Poacher