I learned about Weeping Radish at the World Beer Festival in Richmond. They had a booth – I tried the beer – I loved it. The folks at Weeping Radish were kind enough to send us some of their wonderful beers to sample, so this is the first in a series of WR reviews.
First up is Weeping Radish’s “Black Radish”, a dark German lager style beer. I expected this beer to be really rich and thick – it’s called Black Radish, right? I couldn’t have been more wrong. This dark lager poured crisp and amber colored with very little head. It coated the mouth a little and had no lingering taste or bitterness.
I can’t help myself, I get very excited about all things fall – and as a consequence, start drinking Oktoberfests as soon as they appear. So I was happy to see Ayinger Oktoberfest on the draft list at my local uber-beer garden. While Ayinger isn’t one of the original Fests from 1810, it’s still regarded as a classic. It all started well, as it was a beautiful copper fest-color, with an even head. But when I started drinking it, I was a bit disappointed. 
Some bottles from Erie Brewing Co appeared in my fridge recently, so I opted to try the Golden Fleece Maibock in my quest to let Bocks grow on me – I haven’t seen too many Maibocks from American breweries before. Erie Brewing is located in (surprise!) Erie, PA, and the Maibock is their spring seasonal. It was light amber/gold in color, and had minimal head. The thing that really hit me was the maltiness. I’m a big fan of malt, but this seemed a bit harsh – it had a flavor similar to what you’d get actually chewing on grain. Luckily, that flavor diminished as I tried a bit more.