Two New Beer Reviews!!!!

OK. I had two new beers on Saturday at Dewey's Pizza in Chesterfield. Which, by the way, was excellent. We had a 1/2 Bronx Bomber and 1/2 Southwest BBQ Chicken. Both were excellent and the BBQ chicken was pleasantly spicy.

www.deweyspizza.com

In my life, there are two pizza joints that you have to eat at:

Shakespeare's in Columbia:

www.shakespeares.com

and, being born and raised in St. Louis; Imo's. The trip to Dewey's made me think that a 3rd may be added to the list but I need much more extensive testing.

Anyways, back to the beers:

I actually had a bottle of this earlier in the week but I tried this from the tap:

Brewer: Magic Hat Brewing Company, South Burlington, Vermont
Beer Name: #9 Not Quite Pale Ale
Beer Style: Ale
Price:

Appearance: Clear, light amber in color.

Smell: Hoppy, hint of apricot and perhaps peach as well.

Taste: The bottled version was much more bitter than the draft. The draft had a pleasant, smooth ale taste that led straight to an unmistakable apricot finish. The bottle's aftertaste was not nearly as fruity. Out of the tap, I would drink this until I took my skirt off and danced on the table. As for the bottle, my rating would be much lower as the bitter aftertaste was not nearly as good.

Drinkability: Bottle, somewhat low- not bad and at 4.6 alcohol, you could drink this by the pool and not worry about which direction was up after you dove in. Tap: Much better although I may have questioned my masculinity with repeated drinking...

Overall rating: Bottle 2.5, tap 3.0. Probably won't pick up a bottle anytime soon but would have another draft anytime...

Since I was worried about looking like Johnny Wier's "skating partner" while drinking the #9, I decided to give the Rogue Dead Guy Ale a try. Now, let me preface this. I have heard so much good about Rogue brewery and the Dead Guy Ale that I was almost scared to try it. I have read review after review, heard people talk about it, etc. But it was that or the IPA so I went Dead Guy. Luckily I was not disappointed...

Since I couldn't take a picture of the keg, here is their website:

http://www.rogue.com/

I'm adding it to the links on the right.

Brewer: Rogue
Beer Name: Dead Guy Ale
Style: Pale Ale
Price: ?

Appearance: Medium to clear amber ale. A rich, clear brown; looks like beer.

Smell: In the words of Homer Simpson, "UMMMMMMMMMMMMM." This is what beer should smell like.

Taste: Damn near perfect. Buttery, smooth flavor with very crisp ale aftertaste that doesn't last any longer then it should. Very impressive. Not too hoppy but enough there to know this isn't a beer that should be taken lightly. From my notes on the cocktail napkin, "Good full body, very little aftertaste, perfect bitter/ sweet balance. Awesome beer...

Drinkability: High anytime. This is a must have in my fridge and I will do my best to make sure they stay in business.

Overall Rating: It's hard not to give it a 5. I have always considered Schlafly's Pale Ale as the Benchmark and I'm going to pick up both next time I buy beer. Only after tasting both side by side will I be able to make sure it stands up against the 5. So, for now, I'm going 4.75 (although this may go up as I drink more). A can't miss, fantastic beer that should be in everyone's fridge.