Guinness @ Scotland Yard in Hoboken

I can't believe I haven't reviewed a Guinness here yet (or if I have, I don't remember). Scotland Yard is by far my favorite bar in Hoboken that combines Scotland, Colombia and frat house basement to create a great place. After work you'll find the usual happy hour regular businessmen there grabbing beers, shots or maybe just sipping on some Rumpelmintz. The entire bar is half off till 7 which means Guinness is $3. On the weekends you'll run into anyone looking for a reasonably priced beer or a game of beer pong.

As for the Guinness, it was a decent pour that wouldve been better if it wasn't in a Budweiser glass, but for $3 I'm not complaining. Taste was pretty much what you would expect a Scotland Yard Guinness to taste like, a bit too bitter and not so crisp, but definitely above average. While I'm not going to say its a contender for the perfect pour, I will give it a medal for best value. At $3 you can't beat it.

Guinness at Montclair Station

From the beginning this looked like a disaster - a Guinness being poured into a skinny glass with a handle. However, I was surprisingly delighted when I watched a very well thought out and efficient pour that was probably as good as you could do with the tools at hand. The beer was served a bit too cold, but it was decently smooth with slight bitterness. Overall, probably one of the more interesting ones I've had due to the glassware it was served in. Far from the perfect pour, but not bad either.

River Horse Summer Blonde Ale

River Horse is one of many solid New Jersey breweries and is located out West in Lambertville. I don't think I've reviewed many of their beers on here, but I've never had a bad one from there. Their Summer Blonde Ale, which featues the female river horse on the bottle, did not disappoint again. I'm usually a hard person to please with a summer ale because although I want something a little lighter for those hot days, I don't want just a watered down beer that tastes like Coors Light with lemon. The Summer Blonde was bready with some slight citrus nodes, but not nearly as citrusy as I expected. It also finished with some faint earthy hops (wouldve liked it to have been a bit hoppier). Overall, a very refreshing beer that fits the bill for a good 90+ degree day drinking beer. I would've liked a little more flavor and hops, but its a far cry from some of the watered down summer beers you'll find, but won't see on here.

Newcastle Brown Ale on tap @ Gallagher's Pub

After a brief hiatus of buying beers for my mini-kegerator I decided to try the Newcastle Brown Ale one. I've had the Heineken Light one on tap here a few times and even though I'm not a fan of Heineken, it was pretty good out of the keg. The Newcastle Brown Ale was much the same. I've had Newcastle in bottles and never was a big fan, probably because they use clear bottles which equals skunking. Out of the mini-keg though, its quite delightful. A heavier, but very smooth beer that has a very nice taste to it. It's aroma was much like the taste - caramel and nutty. Aftertaste was a bit metallic, but not too bad and it went down very smooth. I think the best part of it was the mouthful which was soft, medium-bodied and silky smooth. Very delightful. Overall, the lack of hops brought it down a bit, but not bad at all - 100 times better on tap vs the bottle for sure. I'd say its my favorite mini-keg so far for sure.