Instead of my usual ramblings, I was hoping to solicit your opinion.
What do you like or dislike about the World Brew Review so far? Are
there any beers you have tried that you think are worthy of a review
or do you want to see coverage of a particular topic? Do you just
have general questions or comments? Send us an email and let us know
what you are thinking. It would be nice to hear from you.

Cheers!

Jason Arakelian
Editor and Reviewer



Beers Reviewed in this Issue

Dortmunder Union Export
(Germany – Dortmund Lager)
Wychwood Scarecrow
(England – Pale Ale)
Wychwood Fiddler's Elbow
(England – Pale Ale)
St. Peter's English Ale
(England – Bitter)
Cooper's Extra Strong Vintage Ale
(Australia – Strong Ale)
Unibroue 11
(Canada – Belgian Strong Golden Ale)
Malheur 10
(Belgium – Belgian Strong Golden Ale)
Malheur Brut Reserve
(Belgium – Champenoise Brut)
Malhuer 12
(Belgium – Belgian Strong Dark Ale)
Duyck Jenlain
(France – Biere de Garde)
Herold Bohemian Black Lager
(Czech Republic – Schwarzbier)
Stepan Razin Porter
(Russia – Baltic Porter)
Baltika Porter
(Russia – Baltic Porter)
O'Hanlon's Ruby Stout
(England – Dry Stout with Port)
Weyerbacher Old Heathen
(USA – Imperial Stout)



Dortmunder Union Export

This is a straw colored lager from the city of Dortmund, Germany. It
has a great delicate hop aroma and a malty body with a dry, crisp
finish. A very refreshing brew that would pair well with fish.

Wychwood

Scarecrow
The hop aroma of this beer is reminiscent of lemon and iced tea.
There is a good maltiness with a rounded hop finish.

Fiddler's Elbow
This beer is slightly hoppier than Scarcreow with both a slight citrus
and mint taste. It is well balanced and very quaffable.

St. Peter's English Ale

A light orange colored ale with a sweet aroma. There is a slight
taste of anise amidst the fruity/flowery body and it finishes with a
nice hoppiness and the lingering taste of marmalade.

Cooper's Extra Strong Vintage Ale

I sampled the 2000 vintage, which was the third batch that Cooper's
brewed. I sampled it in 2003 so it had time to age. The copper/amber
colored beer was lean with a fruity aroma. It was malty, creamy and
mellow.

Unibroue 11

This slightly cloudy golden ale is capped with a tremendous rocky
head. It has a flowery hop aroma that is slightly citrus. It is
lemony and grassy and the high alcohol content is very noticeable.
The carbonation is a little harsh. I think it would be best served if
it aged for a few years to let it mellow out.

Malheur

10
This golden ale has a huge soft head and hoppy aroma. It has a hefty
alcohol content, yet it is hidden well among the complex body of malt
and spicy phenols.

Brut Reserve
This is a wonderful beer that I wish I could find more readily. It is
produced using the same method used for champagnes in France by
freezing the yeast in the neck of the bottle and removing it. As far
as I know it is a truly unique beer. This slightly cloudy golden ale
has a big, fluffy head. The aroma is part fruity and part delicate
hoppiness. It is quite complex and tasted of apricot, peach, and
vanilla. It has a spicy hop finish and leaves you wanting to finish
the whole bottle even though it is the size of a wine bottle and is
11% ABV.

12
This dark ruby-brown beer has a big tan head and a spicy, yeasty
aroma. Its taste is fruity with a flowery hop finish.

Duyck Jenlain

A hoppy beer from France that is a cloudy amber in color. The soft
head is good sized and gives off an aroma of oranges and prunes. The
oily body finishes slightly spicy with notes of anise.

Herold Bohemian Black Lager

Many people think that dark beers are not for them because they are
too heavy or strong. This beer is neither. It has a raisiny, buttery
aroma. The taste is fruity with a slightly burnt maltiness and a
crisp, clean finish. A very good comforting beer that is quite
refreshing despite its appearance.

Stepan Razin Porter

This porter is a dark ruby color when held up to the light. It has a
firm body that is spicy and tastes of raisins. It finishes with
slight whiskey notes and warming alcohol.

Baltika Porter

The style of baltic porter was introduced to Russia during the reign
of Catherine the Great, but this brewery was not established until the
last days of Communism. This beer is dark, but not as thick as you
might expect. The medium body is smooth and fruity with hints of
raisin and fig and there are slight whiskey notes in the finish.

O'Hanlon's Ruby Stout

This dry stout from England is infused with a small amount of Ruby
Port. You need to like strong tasting beer to enjoy this one. Its
opaque black color and soft, light tan head give rise to a burnt aroma
with a slight fruitiness. The smooth, full body has a huge burnt malt
character that finishes with a winey tinge and slight vanilla.

Weyerbacher Old Heathen

This stout is as black as night with a little head. It has a sweet
chocolate and coffee aroma. The huge maltiness mostly tastes of
roasted coffee. It finishes slightly dry with a taste of molasses.
This beer would be good with a chocolate dessert or as a nightcap on a
cold night.



The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly

"The Good" – Mead
Want to try something new? How about mead? Mead is a fermented honey
drink that is supposedly the oldest fermented beverage, older than
beer or wine. Essentially, it is made by mixing honey and water and
then adding yeast. One great producer of mead is the Lurgashall
Winery in England. They produce a variety of meads that are exported
to the U.S. Their English Mead is pale yellow in color with a flowery
and sweet taste. Their Special Reserve Mead is vintage dated and is
aged in oak barrels. The result is a darker yellow color with an oaky
aroma. There are some whiskey notes to go with the flowery, perfumy
taste and the finish is slightly drier as well as the alcohol content
being stronger.

"The Bad" – Saxer Lemon Lager
I am not against fruit flavored beer at all. In fact some of my
favorite beers have fruit in them, but this may be the worst. It has
a citrus aroma, but tastes like a lemon soda that is not sweet enough.
I did not find that it tasted too much like a beer. I suspect it
might appeal to those who enjoy other malternative beverages.

"The Ugly" – Route 59 Beverage
It is not too difficult to take care of beer, right? I did not think
so until I purchased nine different beers from a distributor in West
Nyack, New York. All of the beers tasted worse than stale. I have no
idea how they stored them, but please, if you are in this area do not
go to Route 59 Beverage. Maybe it has no affect on the beers that
have a fast turnover, but I bought nine beers that I thought I would
never find in the US and I wish I still had not. They all had the
same off taste that I can't adequately describe. They were not all
from the same brewer, so I could not even blame them. Some were
domestic, some were foreign, but all were bad. Buyer beware.



World Brew Review Staff
Jason Arakelian: Editor/Reviewer
Emily Grant: Graphic Design/Editorial Consultant

------------------------------------------------------------

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Feel free to forward this to your friends

On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, Jason Arakelian wrote:

Instead of my usual ramblings, I was hoping to solicit your opinion.
What do you like or dislike about the World Brew Review so far? Are
there any beers you have tried that you think are worthy of a review
or do you want to see coverage of a particular topic? Do you just
have general questions or comments? Send us an email and let us know
what you are thinking. It would be nice to hear from you.


I would say your short apparently "one-man" reviews contain only about
1/100th of the amount of "consumer information" of sites like ratebeer.com

Expletive Deleted wrote in message penn.edu...
On Fri, 6 Feb 2004, Jason Arakelian wrote:

I would say your short apparently "one-man" reviews contain only about
1/100th of the amount of "consumer information" of sites like ratebeer.com

I am just one man. I never made any other implication that I wasn't.
I don't see what good you are doing out there for beer awareness.

"Jason Arakelian" wrote in message
om...
Expletive Deleted wrote in message
penn.edu...
I would say your short apparently "one-man" reviews contain only about
1/100th of the amount of "consumer information" of sites like
ratebeer.com

I am just one man. I never made any other implication that I wasn't.
I don't see what good you are doing out there for beer awareness.

Ah, so you DON'T read the newsgroup regularly. You just send your stuff
here. See, we like people who are INVOLVED in the newsgroup. Maybe if you
read it more often, you'd know that ED has been making some good
contributions.

--
Lew Bryson

www.LewBryson.com
Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both
available at www.amazon.com
The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it,
or respond to it. Spam away.

"Lew Bryson" wrote in message om...
"Jason Arakelian" wrote in message
om...
Expletive Deleted wrote in message
penn.edu...
I would say your short apparently "one-man" reviews contain only about
1/100th of the amount of "consumer information" of sites like
ratebeer.com

I am just one man. I never made any other implication that I wasn't.
I don't see what good you are doing out there for beer awareness.

Ah, so you DON'T read the newsgroup regularly. You just send your stuff
here. See, we like people who are INVOLVED in the newsgroup. Maybe if you
read it more often, you'd know that ED has been making some good
contributions.

I do read the newsgroup regularly. I just don't feel the need to post
regularly. And like I said before.........

"Jason Arakelian" wrote in message
om...
"Lew Bryson" wrote in message
om...
"Jason Arakelian" wrote in message
Expletive Deleted wrote in message
I would say your short apparently "one-man" reviews contain only
about
1/100th of the amount of "consumer information" of sites like
ratebeer.com

I am just one man. I never made any other implication that I wasn't.
I don't see what good you are doing out there for beer awareness.

Ah, so you DON'T read the newsgroup regularly. You just send your stuff
here. See, we like people who are INVOLVED in the newsgroup. Maybe if
you
read it more often, you'd know that ED has been making some good
contributions.

I do read the newsgroup regularly. I just don't feel the need to post
regularly. And like I said before.........

What, you don't see what good I'm doing out there for beer awareness? Son,
I've been toiling in this vineyard for longer than most craft brewers. And I
seriously doubt that you read the newsgroup regularly. I think you're a
bullshitter. Put up or shut up.

--
Lew Bryson

www.LewBryson.com
Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both
available at www.amazon.com
The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it,
or respond to it. Spam away.

Lew Bryson wrote:

"Jason Arakelian" wrote in message
om...

[...]
I do read the newsgroup regularly. I just don't feel the need to post
regularly. And like I said before.........

What, you don't see what good I'm doing out there for beer awareness? Son,
I've been toiling in this vineyard for longer than most craft brewers. And I
seriously doubt that you read the newsgroup regularly. I think you're a
bullshitter. Put up or shut up.

More to the point, Mr. Arakelian specifically posted this:

I was hoping to solicit your opinion.
What do you like or dislike about the World Brew Review so far? Are
there any beers you have tried that you think are worthy of a review
or do you want to see coverage of a particular topic? Do you just
have general questions or comments? Send us an email and let us know
what you are thinking. It would be nice to hear from you.

So ED posted an opinion, and a pretty straightforward one. He didn't
post aspersions to Mr. Arakelian's character, just an opinion that,
compared to a popular web forum, Mr. Arakelian's "World Brew Review"
posts didn't have much in the way of content, save for brief personal
opinions of some beers, with little background information. Mr.
Arakelian's response, rather than taking into account that he got
precisely what he asked for (an opinion), suggests that he doesn't
react well to criticism. Try as I might, though, I see little
evidence of Mr. Arakelian's regular participation in various forums
dedicated to the discussion of beer, nor can I recall seeing the
byline "Jason Arakelian" in any of numerous beer publications that
I have the occasion to read. This is especially amusing in light
of the numerous publications, not to mention two books I own, that
carry the "Lew Bryson" byline.

In short, if Mr. Arakelian solicits opinions on his posts, and then
receives exactly that, and gets upset about it, perhaps Mr. Arakelian
needs another tree up which to bark, or perhaps Mr. Arakelian should
consider getting more involved in something resembling a discussion,
which is what is encouraged on Usenet, rather than a series of lectures
which, to be honest, seem to be widely ignored, with little feedback.
--
dgs

So ED posted an opinion, and a pretty straightforward one. He didn't
post aspersions to Mr. Arakelian's character, just an opinion that,
compared to a popular web forum, Mr. Arakelian's "World Brew Review"
posts didn't have much in the way of content, save for brief personal
opinions of some beers, with little background information. Mr.
Arakelian's response, rather than taking into account that he got
precisely what he asked for (an opinion), suggests that he doesn't
react well to criticism. Try as I might, though, I see little
evidence of Mr. Arakelian's regular participation in various forums
dedicated to the discussion of beer, nor can I recall seeing the
byline "Jason Arakelian" in any of numerous beer publications that
I have the occasion to read. This is especially amusing in light
of the numerous publications, not to mention two books I own, that
carry the "Lew Bryson" byline.

In short, if Mr. Arakelian solicits opinions on his posts, and then
receives exactly that, and gets upset about it, perhaps Mr. Arakelian
needs another tree up which to bark, or perhaps Mr. Arakelian should
consider getting more involved in something resembling a discussion,
which is what is encouraged on Usenet, rather than a series of lectures
which, to be honest, seem to be widely ignored, with little feedback.

You're right about one thing. I did ask for an opinion and I got it.
I guess I was hoping for constructive criticism instead of someone
stating the obvious that I write the reviews by myself and I am
clearly not like Ratebeer.com. I don't want to be like that website.
Not because I think there is anything wrong with it, but because they
already do it. I can't use Ed's criticism to help my writing.

I never said that I participated regularly in your forums, only that I
do read them on a regular basis. There is no need for me to lie on
this. I guess that makes me a bad beer enthusiast because I never
share my thoughts. I get nothing from the World Brew Review, nor is
it my wish to gain from it. I make a good enough living from my job
that I do not need to plug anything through all of my posts. Not that
it matters, but one of my comments was misconstrued by Mr. Bryson. I
was only reiterating that I I haven't seen what good Ed had done for
beer awareness. I know all about Lew with his books and articles in
various papers such as Ale Street News. He is very knowledgeable.
Egotistictal, but he does know what he is talking about most of the
time. I am sorry that I am not like the great Lew Bryson with his
millions of adoring, international fans and many pulitzers.

"Jason Arakelian" wrote in message
m...
You're right about one thing. I did ask for an opinion and I got it.
I guess I was hoping for constructive criticism instead of someone
stating the obvious that I write the reviews by myself and I am
clearly not like Ratebeer.com. I don't want to be like that website.
Not because I think there is anything wrong with it, but because they
already do it. I can't use Ed's criticism to help my writing.

It's not Ed, BTW. It's ED. If you read this as often as you say you do,
you'd know that, and you'd know that he's posted more worthwhile stuff on
this NG in the past month than you have in the past year. Sorry, but it's
true. You want constructive criticism? Forget the tasting notes; put out
some news. Guys on this NG generally know what beers taste like, and if we
don't, we go buy one and decide for ourselves. To be honest, Jason, what
you're lacking most is credibility. Not your fault, but you're not going
about it the right way. You're not even going about it the right place;
there's not a lot of traffic here at all anymore. Just a bunch of
curmudgeons and some excellent new folks.

I never said that I participated regularly in your forums, only that I
do read them on a regular basis. There is no need for me to lie on
this. I guess that makes me a bad beer enthusiast because I never
share my thoughts. I get nothing from the World Brew Review, nor is
it my wish to gain from it. I make a good enough living from my job
that I do not need to plug anything through all of my posts. Not that
it matters, but one of my comments was misconstrued by Mr. Bryson. I
was only reiterating that I I haven't seen what good Ed had done for
beer awareness. I know all about Lew with his books and articles in
various papers such as Ale Street News. He is very knowledgeable.
Egotistictal, but he does know what he is talking about most of the
time. I am sorry that I am not like the great Lew Bryson with his
millions of adoring, international fans and many pulitzers.

Oh, blow it out your ass. You run your one-man, 20-hit website and flaunt
your reviews here and get ****y-assed mad when someone criticizes you, and
I'M egotistical? I'm just trying to make a living. Like the brewers who wear
their brand on their clothing, I wear my brand, and it's me. I'm all I've
got to sell.

"World Brew Review," forsooth.

--
Lew Bryson

www.LewBryson.com
Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both
available at www.amazon.com
The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it,
or respond to it. Spam away.

Jason Arakelian wrote:
I know all about Lew with his books and articles in
various papers such as Ale Street News. He is very knowledgeable.
Egotistictal, but he does know what he is talking about most of the
time.

It's not egotistical if it's not exaggerated.

I am sorry that I am not like the great Lew Bryson with his
millions of adoring, international fans and many pulitzers.

I'm not. Sorry, that is. One Lew is enough to go around.

IMO, onthis topic in general, we already have enough people
whose only contribution to the forum is to flog their lame web
sites.
--
Joel Plutchak "Senza la birra tutto diventa orfano."
plutchak@[...] - Italian proverb (slightly revised)

"Joel Plutchak" wrote in message
...
Jason Arakelian wrote:
I am sorry that I am not like the great Lew Bryson with his
millions of adoring, international fans and many pulitzers.

I'm not. Sorry, that is. One Lew is enough to go around.

****in' A. Competition with the editors is one thing I don't need.

IMO, onthis topic in general, we already have enough people
whose only contribution to the forum is to flog their lame web
sites.

Ouch. No comment.

--
Lew Bryson

www.LewBryson.com
Author of "New York Breweries" and "Pennsylvania Breweries," 2nd ed., both
available at www.amazon.com
The Hotmail address on this post is for newsgroups only: I don't check it,
or respond to it. Spam away.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004, Lew Bryson wrote:

"Jason Arakelian" wrote in message
m...
You're right about one thing. I did ask for an opinion and I got it.
I guess I was hoping for constructive criticism instead of someone
stating the obvious that I write the reviews by myself and I am
clearly not like Ratebeer.com. I don't want to be like that website.
Not because I think there is anything wrong with it, but because they
already do it. I can't use Ed's criticism to help my writing.

It's not Ed, BTW. It's ED. If you read this as often as you say you do,
you'd know that, and you'd know that he's posted more worthwhile stuff on
this NG in the past month than you have in the past year. Sorry, but it's
true. You want constructive criticism? Forget the tasting notes; put out
some news. Guys on this NG generally know what beers taste like, and if we
don't, we go buy one and decide for ourselves. To be honest, Jason, what
you're lacking most is credibility. Not your fault, but you're not going
about it the right way. You're not even going about it the right place;
there's not a lot of traffic here at all anymore. Just a bunch of
curmudgeons and some excellent new folks.


Leave it Lew to finally hit the nail squarely.
Credibility.

Despite Joel's valid critique of it, ratebeer and similar sites have
credibility because they're a fairly representative sampling with alot of
data (given, representative only of the world of "beer geeks"). Guys like
Lew and other professional writers who comment on what beer tastes like
(MJ, etc) have credibility because of their experience and they've
succeeded in the world of professional beer writing for a reason.
Posting brief comments of a dozen or so beers on a usenet group dedicated
to beer, read only by beer geeks, doesn't mean anything and doesn't spread
the gospel of good beer.

Expletive Deleted wrote:
Despite Joel's valid critique of it, ratebeer and similar sites have
credibility because they're a fairly representative sampling with alot of
data (given, representative only of the world of "beer geeks").

Just to clarify, My peeve isn't so much with the sites
themselves, or even the usefulness of most of the content.
It's really specifically with the kind of "these are the
top 10 beers in the world" conclusions that people draw
from them.
--
Joel Plutchak "Senza la birra tutto diventa orfano."
plutchak@[...] - Italian proverb (slightly revised)

"Lew Bryson" wrote in message
m...

What, you don't see what good I'm doing out there for beer awareness? Son,
I've been toiling in this vineyard for longer than most craft brewers.

Umm, kind of a mixed metaphor there, wouldn't ya say? ;-)

Brian

Brian Lundeen wrote:
"Lew Bryson" wrote:
What, you don't see what good I'm doing out there for beer awareness? Son,
I've been toiling in this vineyard for longer than most craft brewers.

Umm, kind of a mixed metaphor there, wouldn't ya say? ;-)

Not if he's toiling away toward brewing something like
Cantillon's Vignerone Lambic. ;-)
--
Joel Plutchak "Senza la birra tutto diventa orfano."
plutchak@[...] - Italian proverb (slightly revised)