I’ve been drinking quite a bit of beer lately, which might explain why this post is 6 days late. The last few shifts, I’ve had a Mendocino Brewing Company beer. Tuesday I had their Black Hawk Stout. Thursday and Friday, their Eye of the Hawk ale. I’ve also been lucky to drink a Red Tail Ale and White Hawk IPA.

I am not an experienced reviewer, but it should be enough for me to say that I’ve had an Eye of the Hawk two days in a row, especially when you consider where I work and the immense selection available to me as an employee. It’s a fine ale that is well balanced between hops and malt. The Eye is a little stronger than you might expect at 8% but the flavor is smooth and the beer goes down easily. The Eye avoids the easy, boring, middle ground of a lot of ales and has a deep but not overpowering flavor, and would be excellent company for any barbecue or spicy meal.

I might have said this before, but it bears repeating: I am not a guy for hoppy beers, nor do I generally enjoy IPAs. The White Hawk is a decent IPA that doesn’t punch you in the face with hoppiness, so I enjoyed it.

The Black Hawk Stout was a little bitter and I didn’t really expect that from an “Irish-style stout.” My stout experience is limited to a rather unlimited consumption of Guinness, so perhaps I ought to expand my palate, something I shall enjoy.

For those of you lucky enough to live in the regular distribution area of Mendocino Brewing Co, I’m jealous.

Since Micro-Brew Review Monday died a long time ago on another platform and since I have time to write today, consider this a new series that will continue for as long as my current employment holds and as long as my current enjoyment of both writing and beer hold.

Clipper City is a Baltimore-based brewery and they make a variety of fine libations, but so far my favorite has been the Marzhon. The Marzhon is an Oktoberfest style amber lager. The name is a play on the Baltimore slang “hon,” a term for just about anyone as far as I know, and the name of the style of brew, marzen(umlaut missing on the a). It’s not too hoppy or too malty, nor is it cloying or bitter. I think this is what better reviewers and more seasoned tongues would call “balance.” Marzhon is just a damn good and yummy. I would drink it year round and definitely with spicy food, but it would work well with nearly any food as the flavor is not particularly heavy. I would easily recommend this beer to someone who was not sure that they are a fan of beer yet.

This beer was drunk at the Brickskeller.

Beer: (Eye of the Hawk) Select Ale
Brewery: Mendocino Brewing Company
Cost:$7.99

Result: A-/B+

In-Depth: This beer is surprisingly good. I know I’ve stumbled across their other beer, Red Tail Ale, in the Midwest and I don’t recall any fond memories. So I bought this beer with some trepidation. Especially at $8! However, this beer is quite good. It tastes like an ale in the British sense of the word. It’s got that amber color and an actual body to it. It is also, apparently 8% alcohol so that Belgians won’t turn their nose up at it. In fact, I think a cross between a Belgian beer and an Irish Ale. I would actually buy this again. It manages to taste good alone and complements microwave popcorn. Both of those are quality attributes for a beer that I might stock in my humble domicile. Additionally, I’ve been planning to go to Mendocino sometime soon and now I will try and tack on a visit to their home and report further.

Note: Further research leads me to the discovery that their brewpub is in Hopland. First off, a brewery in a town called hopland = awesome. Plus the fact that this is California and they have the decency not to drown their beer in hops = double awesome.

Further note: The reason this is a “morning after” post is that I left the laptop at work, not that I was overwhelmed by the excellence of the beer.

I just happened to noticed that one of my favorite web comics Savage Chickens has a new comic up that I think is particularly relevant to the beer/alcohol snobbery and pretentiousness of this blog.

Personally, I’ve always been more of a connoisseur of the carbonated, sweetened and flavored water beverages than those of the alcohol nature. Hoho! Perhaps there is room here for a weekly non-Alcoholic beverage review as well. We will have to see!

p.s. On a side note, there is a Penny Arcade comic that reminds me of some of my interactions with Fulsome. Whenever playing strategy or MMO games, I always make him do the heavy lifting of learning all the rules/intricacy of the game and I then just ask him tons of questions. He seems to like that kind of stuff! Sometimes though, there’s a little too much detail.