Raven Special Lager
I love microbreweries and I love beer in general. It’s taken me a better part of my 20′s to really appreciate beer for its taste and not the alcohol. Early years in the Army (age 18-22 ) was most definitely spent getting plastered and drinking crap beer, sold by marketing giants like Anheuser-Busch. Something changed along the way and I tasted real beer, Sam Adams Boston Lager. Without getting all sentimental and trying to recall old drunken times, I became a fan of real beer. I haven’t touched a “Bud” in so long, I can’t even remember the last time I had that style American Ale. I’ll be reviewing similar local and microbreweries / craft beers in the area. I figured I’d start with something very close to home…
Baltimore-Washington Beer Works (BWBW) produces The Raven Special Lager, a tribute to the literary genius Edgar Allan Poe, a Baltimore, Maryland local. Nothing good ever comes out of Maryland, like traffic ticket cams, strict gun laws and mediocre baseball. BWBW however claims that The Raven beer “taste is poetic” , we’ll see about that.
Sorry Mr. Poe, but I must deface you to get to the sweet goodness inside…
Appearance: Pours a clear rusty color with about 1/4 inch head, fluffy white foam that fades very quickly.
Smell: A light fruity aroma, with some scent of hops but very faint.
Taste: Subtle graininess, some grassy taste and very strong malt straight up front when you first drink it. The beer ends with a tiny hint of bitterness from the hops, but disappears quickly from your tongue.
Drinkability: Could go well with strong flavor foods, the beer comes off as boring by itself.
Mouthfeel: Carbonation is crisp and strong with light medium feel to it.
Overall, I would give this beer a C – (A+ = best and F = horrible). Rather middle of the road taste and the strong carbonation takes away from the beer IMO. It does have an awesome portrait of E. A. Poe printed nicely on the bottle cap, which is the only keeper.
