from the twisted minds of snm
Grabbed a sixer of this years SA Oktoberfest. Pours a clear medium dark amber with medium head. A bit of the floral and bitterness of hops, but its not out there prominent. A nice medium roasty and very nice nutty finish. A medium thick mouthfeel without a whole lot of carbonation to lighten it.
A nice brew, an easy 3 out 4 oompha monkeys.
Now that’s a mouthful, and my retention of German from high school consists of the word “pavian”. So what is the title about? It’s a mountain bike tire. Schwalbe, the company, explains that Hans Dampf is German for what we call Jack of all Trades, so this tire is supposed to be their good all arounder. I was in need of new tires and with the new bike decided to try out the tubless thing. I actually got my old Panaracer Fire FR’s to work tubeless, but the “new” one I put on was in storage so long that the rubber was cracked. The Fire FR is the tire that I’ve been running for w while so a lot of this review will be in comparison. The Hans Dampf version I got was the high zoot, tubeless ready, lighter sidewall version, harder wearing and faster rolling compound. 26×2.35 size.
Picked 
up this ridiculously expensive beer at liquor collection a couple months ago and been saving it for my B-day. Cracked it open tonight to see what it’s about. Pours opaque black with barely any head. The moment I cracked open the cap the smokey casky aroma is detectable. It carries over into a smooth almost like bittersweet chocolate flavor and picks up some of the whiskey peat. Interestingly I find it to be pretty balanced and even on the bitterness, but then I’m a dark chocolate lover. Fairly thick mouthfeel. This is no “session” beer at 8% ABV, it’s one to be savored, but I find it surprisingly easy drinking if you are a fan of dark beers.
Worth the price of admission as a treat for my birthday, 4 out of 4 oily monkeys.
Final selection from their current variety pack, the Belgian Session pours a clear medium amber with a medium head. Floral and fruit aromas but not overpowering. Even bitterness that stays even throughout with a slight nuttiness in the finish. Medium mouthfeel that is lightened by crisp carbonation and astringency. And in keeping with the latest beer buzzword of being a “session” beer, it has a fairly low ABV in the 4% range. It does have considerably more complexity than a “session” water beer like Coors or the bit nicer “sessioner” Speights.
I’ll give this a 3 out 4 session monkeys.
I guess the usage of “extreme” has not died yet as NW insists on using it for their top of the line cycling shoes. I got a pair of these MTB older models on closeout for a great price. Non-clown/superhero color of black. They feature a carbon sole and a top ratchet strap and lower “winch” lace system. It’s not BOA, which I find interesting since they use actual BOA brand closures on a coupe of their other shoes. I’m hoping this will give me a more secure fit that the Velcro strap closures on my current Scotts can’t.
Another selection from their current Summer variety pack. Pours a cloudy light gold, light head. Citrus in the initial flavor and aroma, spice mid notes, hint of grain, medium mouth feel. Nice beer for those who like spiced Weiss, but is not as strong on the coriander as Hoegarten.
A solid 3 out 4 Weiss monkeys.
Current seasonal, pours a clear bright yellow with small head. Not very strong floral aromas, not a whole lot of aromas period. Barest hint of the honey, a little bit of grain. Light on the bitter, clean tasting, medium mouthfeel. Easy drinking and retains a beer character. While not outstanding, its a solid drinkable beer.
I’ll give it a 3 out 4 summer monkeys.
Another from the summer seasonal variety pack. Pours a bright cloudy gold, medium light head. Citrus aroma, a bit of spice. Balanced bitter and some grain notes. Medium mouth feel and crisp. Pretty easy drinking.
A decent 3 out 4 citrusy monkeys.
Another selection from the summer variety pack. Summer is fruity beer time? Anyway, pours a clopudy amber with medium light head. Blueberry aroma immediately detectable upon opening bottle. The berry is mostly an aroma thing, it perhaps lends a little sweet, but there is also a bit of bitter. This one is more beerlike than the previous Porch Rocker, but still pretty light on any malt and grain flavors. Medium mouthfeel. I can’t say I’m a big fan, it’s not like a soda that packs punch that the Porch Rocker is, but doesn’t make it as a good beer either. It’s not horrible.
2 out of 4 blue monkeys.
From their current summer variety pack, this is a flavored beer. A style some might be familiar as a shandy, a combo of lemonade and beer. Pours with moderately small head, a bright clear yellow. Definite lemon aroma, not a whole lot of much else. Not overwhelmingly sweet, but enough to mask most of any bitterness, only a touch of that remains. There’s also not a whole lot of beer flavor to be found, if you try really hard you can taste some grain in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is light. It’s not objectionable, but it’s like a malt beverage, dare I say it, Zima? At 4.5% ABV it’s about the same as a beer on the lower end, so it can get some buzz going since its so easy drinking.
If you’re looking for something like those hard ciders or lemonades, then this is fine, but as a beer I don’t know how to rate this. 2 out of 4 pop beer monekys.