Marathon Lager

Brewed by: Athenian Brewery

Style: American Adjunct Lager

ABV: 5%

IBU: 17.5

On a lonely street in Anderson, Indiana sits a Mediterranean restaurant called, “The Nile.” You might assume it is an Egyptian restaurant from the name and the Egyptian decorations that adorn the entire inside of the restaurant (see picture); however, it is primarily a Greek restaurant. So I of course had to find a Greek beer to review while eating Greek food. Marathon was my choice.

The Athenian Brewery has been brewing Marathon Lager since 1971. I won’t go into why it’s called Marathon because that’s an obvious association. So lets jump right into the beer itself.

Look – Pours a translucent golden color with about a half finger width of white foamy head that dissipated rather quickly. It was clearly very carbonated because there were a ton of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass.

Smell – It amazes me how similar the smells are when you have two beers that are the same style. This fits right in with most other American adjunct lagers but does present a slightly fruity smell as well. From just the smell alone, it doesn’t appear that hops will be very present in the taste.

Taste – The initial taste of the beer was somewhat surprising. It had a high malt taste that was very smooth and sweet. It also tasted very yeasty on the front end. It’s a very easily drinkable beer as you would expect because of the very light body that comes along with this style. I was eating Saganaki while first drinking this beer and was surprised at how little the beer taste actually changed with such a complex food taste. The malt and yeast is kind of pushed out but the beer keeps the same character. Interestingly, while I was enjoying a Falafel, the malt and yeast taste reappeared and remained prevalent through the glass. My conclusion on pairing this with food is that the beer remains pretty steady through different kinds of food so don’t be afraid to have this beer with whatever is for dinner.

Conclusion – As far as Adjunct Lagers go, I enjoy this one. The malt flavor is sweet and creates a very smooth feeling in the mouth. Unfortunately, it is still an adjunct lager and well below par of what I would consider a “good” beer. I look forward to trying other foreign attempts at American adjunct lagers and seeing if all of them are better than cheap American beers!

I am going to give this beer a C-

On a very important side note: Beer and olives DO NOT go well together. If you know of a beer that does, please fill me in because this one didn’t work. Also, if you happen to read Greek: http://www.athenianbrewery.gr/

I have to go play Fallout 3 now.

Happy Drinking!

Old No. 38 Stout

Brewed by: North Coast Brewing Company

Style: Dublin Dry Stout

ABV: 5.5%

IBU: 53

I would like to say that I am always pleased by what North Coast Brewing has to offer. They consistently show that they know how to make a good beer and this one is no exception.

The Old No. 38 Stout is identified as a Dublin Dry Stout. The reason that Dublin is before the type is simply because dry stouts were traditionally made in Ireland. In fact, an Irish stout is interchangeable with the term Dry Stout. The big name in this style of beer is of course Guiness….but Guiness also sucks, unlike this beer!

As you might be able to tell from the bottle, the Old No. 38 is named after a steam engine that used to run on a track through the Redwoods. Fort Bragg was on the line and that is where North Coast is located. In fact, you can still take train rides down the line and while you’re there, you might as well hop into the brewery for a few samples!

On to the beer!

Look – The brewery calls the color of the pour “Onyx.” I can’t really agree with that. It poured more of a very deep, dark brown. In the right light, I could see through the glass, which is definitely not Onyx. The light tan head was fairly thick and once it dissipated, a very thin head continued to sit on top of the beer for most of the drinking.

Smell – There was a very heavy chocolate smell right away with the expected coffee and roasted malt scents in there as well. As with most dry stouts, I couldn’t smell too much more than that.

Taste – Love the initial taste of this beer! Unfortunately, it doesn’t stick around for long and it leaves a rather dry aftertaste (though I guess that’s one way to get people to keep drinking). That first taste is strong with dark, roasted malts and barley and very light with the chocolate. It doesn’t taste very hoppy because the other flavors kind of take charge in the whole mix of things. I was eating pizza while drinking this one and found that food seemed to bring out the hops a lot with each drink. I think the beer goes great with food because it kept the taste interesting and brought out more aspects of the beer.

Conclusion – It’s a solid beer for sure. Good taste, good smell and a lot better than some other dry stouts that I’ve had. If you don’t like Guiness, you should definitely try this beer to give Irish stouts another chance.

I would give this beer a solid B

Thanks for reading, come back often!

Happy Drinking!