Reviews: A Smattering

I had three new beers tonight, and here are the reviews...in a sentence...each:

• Leinenkugel's Classic Amber: Basically a Leine's version of Samuel Adam's Boston Lager, but better, because it's cheaper and Leinenkugel's.
• Boulevard Single-wide IPA: A moderate IPA that does nothing to rival Sierra Nevada's selection, but is nonetheless a welcome choice on the shelf (mostly for its price-point).
• Samuel Adams Blackberry Wit: Too much blackberry, too much sugar, not enough balance; probably more tasty in the Summer than the Purgatory of weather that is March.

The Four Firkins Update 12.12.08

Received an e-newsletter update from The Four Firkins yesterday with news about a few new arrivals. In lieu of reprinting the entire thing, I'll just highlight the two I'm interested in (with links added):

Two Bothers - Hop Juice.
Double IPA - 9.9% and 100 IBU

Those Brothers from Chicago have brewed up a monster of a beer sure to sate even the most insatiable hop-heads amongst you.

Southern Tier Choklat

At Southern Tier, we're not surprised that hieroglyphs of the ancient Maya depict chocolate being poured for rulers and gods. Moving through centuries, the circular journey of cacao has been realized in our brewing house, encompassing the complexity of the darkest, bitter-sweet candy together with the original frothy cold beverage of the ancient Maya to bring to you our Blackwater Series Choklat Stout. 11% Abv

In my opinion, Southern Tier is amazing at flavor matching and somehow still making it palatable. The Crème Brûlée Stout tastes like crème brûlée, the Pumpking tastes like pumpkin pie, and I've heard fantastic things about their coffee beer, (Jah-va Stout). So, I feel like if I'm going to enjoy a chocolate beer, it's probably going to be this one.

The other beers that the email highlighted were the Boulevard Smokestack Series #6 (Bourbon Barrel Aged Quad with Cherries) and the Struise Pannepot.