Zigs Kettle and Brew Reviews

JoeM500	2.7 Zigs Dubbel Trubbel Holy Sugar Wafers Batman, this is a beer? There is so much sugar in this that it could be used as a sweetener for other drinks. There was just no body here, even though the nose showed signs of funky yeast, spices and alcohol. All must be consumed by the sugars. Monday, August 25, 2003
JoeM500	3.6 Zigs Imperial Stout This is a pretty decent Imperial stout giving off a nice chocolate coffee aroma. Thick and chewy, the roasty malts are the most dominant feature, but hints of smoke, nuts, coffee and especially chocolate at the finish make it a very pleasurable experience. Monday, August 25, 2003
jaymobrown	2.5 Zigs Dubbel Trubbel Overly sweet beer. While better than the offerings on tap, the thin texture left me wanting. Abundance of pears, peas, and pomegranates. Candy sugar. Tuesday, August 12, 2003
jaymobrown	3.1 Zigs Pumpkin Ale Hazy medium brown color. Tastes like nutmeg, with some medicinal flavors. Thin texture. Strong vegetable taste, corriander, spinach. Didn't taste much like pumpkin really. Some hops and chewy. Thursday, August 7, 2003
jaymobrown	3.6 Zigs Imperial Stout Compared to their other selections, this is probably the best showing. Well hopped and malt balanced, and the nose has a port/alochol sweet aroma. Roasted and smoked flavors peak through at times. Could be thickened up a bit. Tuesday, August 5, 2003
jaymobrown	1.3 Zigs Vanilla Porter Vanilla porters. Interesting, I guess. Not here though. Strong vanilla extract mixed with coffee. Send it to the showers folks! Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	2.3 Zigs Pale Ale Soapy. Thing watery and slightly bitter. No hops at all here. Some citrus, yes, but overall disappointing. Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	3.2 Zigs Porter Really dark with the typical roasted flavors. A bit of smokiness, but didn't really see this evolving into anything. Decent. Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	2.9 Zigs German Alt Ale Malt, earthen, stone, grain nose. Dirt like feel. Bitter finish, with a slightly sweet end. Not bad. Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	3.2 Zigs English IPA Hip-hop-da-hibby-hop. Really hopped nose. Some perfume and floral arrangments, but pretty much dominanted by the bitter hops. Fizzy with medium finish. Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	2.9 Zigs Hedonism Hefeweizen Berry nose wrapped around plastic and rubberbands. Lemon wheat flavor with dried banana chips. Sweet finish, perhaps overly so. Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	1.7 Zigs Zig-Light See through clear yellow. No real nose. Some malt-type flavors. Medium carbination. Some cereal tones. Smooth. Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	2.2 Zigs Zigweiser Carbinated nose like a faucet. Rye, grain, cereal flavors. Sits heavy in the middle of the palate. A bit of orange peel in there too. Tastes fine, but the smell is off. Sunday, August 3, 2003
jaymobrown	2.3 Zigs Bobby Magees ESB Mild nutty caramel nose with a smattering of hops thrown in for the ride. Overall lacking. Sunday, August 3, 2003
Schroppfy	1.8 Zigs Dubbel Trubbel Initially the aroma held promise (sugar and spice and mistiness and earth); then came the warm-up and sour notes abounded. Taste was all water and alcohol and lots of sugar and cheap malt. Not good - and not only because it was opened side-by- side with a cellar-drawn westy 8. Wednesday, July 30, 2003
hoppygrrrl	2.8 Zigs Cup of Joe Typical color for a coffee stout, with the aroma of those little French coffee candies you find in round tins in gourmet shops. Thin palate (really it has the body of a porter, not a stout), watery even. Not bad, though it tastes like diluted iced coffee - you know, the kind that's been sitting around that all the ice has melted in! Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Schroppfy	2.6 Zigs Cup of Joe JoeM pegged this one's lacticness. Thick and rich and lifeless and yet...watery, too? Huh? Sweet, roasty, not too bad. Serious coffee. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	3.2 Zigs Cup of Joe Very rich, chocolatey and lactic...is this chocolate milk with too much chocolate syrup? No carbonation from the bottle, very, very black and lifeless. Coffee bean dryness with a slight bit of detectable hops in the finish. Too flat and lifeless, but enjoyable in small amounts. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	3.2 Zigs Hedonism Hefeweizen Non cloudy look, with a dried banana chip nose (yes, just like in your trail mix). Very soft wheatie banana and clove taste, slightly sweet with a very cereally end. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	1.7 Zigs Zig-Light Artificial caramel and toffee is about the only detectable note in the nose and taste. Very bland and tasteless, but not offensive in the least way. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	2.2 Zigs Zigweiser Strange gassy aroma right away that I usually detect from nitro-dispensed beers. Deep nutty, malty flavor. A lot of dry cereal, just like Cheerios. The slightest bit of grassy hop at the end, leaves cereal aftertaste. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	1 Zigs Vanilla Porter This stuff is undrinkable. The sour/offensive/artificial vanilla nose became irritatingly worse as it warmed, I had to move it further from my face. Medicinal, and rough, like eating a Stridex facewash pad after adding a drop of fake vanilla on it. They can't be serious here, I'm guessing it's a "Candid Camera" style trick for some tiny Michigan Public Access cable station show. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	3.2 Zigs Pumpkin Ale I normally despise these types of beers, but I found the Zig's Pumpkin Ale to be quite enjoyable!!! It's nose is nutmeg, clove and pumpkin pie, and the taste was right on! All it was missing was the Cool Whip topping! Not an everyday drink, but is nowhere near offensive or nasty. Yum! A tasty treat that I wasn't looking forward to trying! Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	3.6 Zigs Porter Notes of smoky cherrywood, sappy with a coffee bean finish. Thin, but had a lot of flavors going for it. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	3 Zigs German Alt Ale Light and sugary, warms to a richer malt profile with hints of caramel. Bittereness at the finish is not there as it warms, very sweet. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	3.4 Zigs English IPA Nice and hoppy! The citrus and grassy hops mix well to make it perfumy and a bit oily at first sip. Some graininess is drowned out by some caramel malts. Finish is bitter, leaving a nice hoppy aftertaste. Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	2.9 Zigs Pale Ale Citrusy nose, but an overall grainy taste. Some dry grassy hops at the end, but no hint of the citrusy notes that it began teasing me with! Monday, July 28, 2003
JoeM500	2.8 Zigs Bobby Magees ESB NO mention of "Bobby Magee" on the menu, this one had a nice and simple malt profile that was caramelly and nutty. Some slight grassy hops was present at the end. Monday, July 28, 2003
hoppygrrrl	1.9 Zigs Pumpkin Ale Artificial pumpkin and spice nose, which initially follows through in the flavor, but not enough. Falls flat, and is really watery. Reminded me of one of Alvie's jokes in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall"...there were two old ladies at a resort commenting on their meal: "the food is terrible," said the first, and the other replied, "and such small portions!" Oh well. Sunday, July 27, 2003
hoppygrrrl	3 Zigs German Alt Ale (On tap at Zig's) With its dark golden-amber hues supporting scant foam, and a fresh, very light, sweet nose, I expected this to be better. It does have a light fiz and nice tingle. A bit bitter too; but ultimately it falls flat and is all smooth cream. Even the great company (PsychProf, JoeM500 and Jaymobrown) couldn't earn this one a higher rating :) Sunday, July 27, 2003
Schroppfy	1.4 Zigs Pumpkin Ale Beats the Vanilla Porter by a hair - artificial pumpkin, spice and clove like that kids gum...? Spiciness on top of some strained wheat? ale with no head. Metallic. One of the absolute thinnest and fakest beers I've had. Not medicinal like the Vanilla Porter, thank goodness. Saturday, July 26, 2003
Schroppfy	1.2 Zigs Vanilla Porter Sweet fermented vanilla aroma, medicinal and nasty! Flavor reminds me of a medicine they used to have circa 1973, but I (thankfully) forget it's name - whoa! Achieved "total heaviosity" in it's still, lazy, yucky-ass grossness in the sampler cup - where it should have stayed. Enjoyed in good company (hoppygrrrl, jaymobrown and JoeM). Thursday, July 24, 2003
Schroppfy	3.4 Zigs German Alt Ale Met up with Jaymobrown and JoeM500 at Zig's - woohoo! This was too caramelly, and a tad too sweet, nice lighter brown, good weight, fresh and good, yet somewhat salty and sour. Thursday, July 24, 2003
Schroppfy	3.7 Zigs Porter Like Sean says, I'm a sucker for that dry malty smokiness of a good porter, with a crisp bit of hops (although I'm surprised to read that its 45 IBUs!). My brew was listed as 7.5%, not 6.8%, and it showed as the alcohol thinned the body even further and took it out of style quite a bit. Friday, May 30, 2003
hennes	4.2 Zigs Coffee Cream Stout Easily the best Zig's brew and a monster stout. This thing is huge and rich and absolutely dripping in complex bitter java tones that hold the front line while a decent rise of thicker sweets alternately rolls in ocean waves behind. Great beer! Wednesday, May 7, 2003
hennes	3.8 Zigs Sweet Stout The most substance of any Zig brew I tried at the bar - this one is real chewy and full bodied, to the point that the texture subdues the flavour. It starts out rolling roastily but a little sweetness gets going and eventually rises to the challenge, rocking with the roasts behind that thick bodied screen. 30 Ibus. Thursday, April 10, 2003
hennes	4.1 Zigs Porter 45 Ibus. I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for smoky porters, adn for this taste in beer in general. This beer is thinner than it might be, so it relies hard on flavor, and that is a slow build of smoke and richer malts that builds into a brush fire, til the smoke takes over with the effect of a decent cigar. I like this beer a lot, and I probably like it a lot more than it deserves, but like I said, I'm a sucker for this flavor. Thursday, April 10, 2003
hennes	3.7 Zigs Imperial Stout You have to drink this from a bottle - they won't serve it to you on tap. This phenomenon happens a lot - either the microbrerwery makes you buy tiny glasses of the good stuff, or won't let you drink it on premise at all. What's up with that? Anyway, when you fight through the shrink rap and swing top, you get a very nice imperial. I mean that in the way a young goddess would tell me - you're very "nice" back in my frustrated dating days. All the pieces are in place - decent dark malts, a touch sweet and on the edge of deeper darkeness from the hops, but nothing rages against the dying of the light. Thursday, April 10, 2003
hennes	2.6 Zigs Bobby Magees ESB Zigs seems to have undergone a recent revolution. If you look at their old beer menu, they were crazy, kaleidoscopic, out of control with style ideas. Now they are more strait laced, cleaner, simpler, more attractive to the off-the-freeway-can-I-just-get-a-beer crowd. This beer is deadly clear, exceptionally clear, and tastes like that too - rather uninteresting and monochromatic, based on hop action. It has more significant head retention than it's brethern Zig brews, but is basically lackluster. I'd guess the recipe has been simplified from the award winning ways, like the menu and the marketing approach at this place. Thursday, April 10, 2003
hennes	3.8 Zigs Hedonism Hefeweizen My barwench was more enlightened - she made the lemon optional. She also expressed sadness that this more generic, unfiltered hefe had replaced the original Hedonism, which was classic and beautiful from all accounts. The thing I like about this version is that the esters are controlled and interesting, building behind the decent texture and substance of the brew. So many microbrewed hefes reel with out of control banana. This one has depth and subtlety, with some sweet alcohol kicking at close. Nice. Thursday, April 10, 2003
hennes	3.5 Zigs Pale Ale 56 IBUs. Two hop rushes - the first one charging boldly, madly through the cloudy orange. As it fades you get a little residual citric sweetness. The next blast is subtler, but lingering. This is one challenging pale! Thursday, April 10, 2003
JoeM500	3.8 Zigs Pachachuti of Machu Picchu I've had plenty of "gimmick beers". Ones with stupid labels depicting the Man Show or Monty Python... Ones with hot peppers floating in them or died green, but this is a different gimmick beer altogether. The gimmick here is to overdo the IBUs to an insane level and let the hophead drown in the bitter trainwreck. The nose was quite nice, a hoppy perfume with enough malt to notice. Sweet malts do make themselves known at the beginning of this ale, but surprisingly, the 177IBUs take a long second or two to gather speed and stregth before they collide on the sides of your tongue like a hop-filled tidal wave. Dry and grassy, the aftertaste lingers on into the next beer that you drink. A neat idea, big alcohol and big IBUs. Monday, March 10, 2003
cb	3.4 Zigs Pachachuti of Machu Picchu I admit it, I got this one for the name at the end of session 1 of the RAF...had no idea of the IBUs. Citrusy sharp, slightly flowery aroma. Enjoyed it because it woke my mouth up after a long night of sweet nectar. Maintained a semblance of balance, but made my tongue numb in a almost intriguing fashion. Friday, March 7, 2003
jaymobrown	3.6 Zigs Pachachuti of Machu Picchu Ridiculous IBU level at 177. Plus a 9.5 ABV. Surprisingly easy going. Hits the tongue with a malt presence, but then goes into the huge lingering bitterness that would be expected. Monday, March 3, 2003
DaSilky1	3.8 Zigs Pachachuti of Machu Picchu cask (RAF): 177 IBUs on the wall with my palate nailed there too..Hello..this beer was hoppy, go figure. mango and orange citrus zeal aroma..scrapped bits of hop resin, tangy pine sap all combine in unadulterated, wacky, off-balanced bitterness...did i mention it was cloudy brown with a thin head..cool...it was a fun ride none-the-less. Sunday, March 2, 2003
iwantalambic	3.7 Zigs Pachachuti of Machu Picchu Absolutely huge piney, floral aroma. Though the hops are pronounced the aroma has some sweet malty sugar as well. Rich orange peel flavours, and other soft fruits like pears. . . nice lingering sweetness from some good malt presence. Very impressive to stay balanced and sport 177 IBUs as well. Sunday, March 2, 2003
Jokes	3.9 Zigs Pachachuti of Machu Picchu A nice balance of malt and hops in this beer. Totally unexpected at 177 IBUs. The malt is strongly caramel and chewy. The hops were citrusy and floral but nearly to the extent I expected. The 177 IBUs are well hidden leaving a statisfying beer to drink. Sunday, March 2, 2003
MeisterEckart	2.3 Zigs Bobby Magees ESB Since this was the first beer on my sampler I got a pretty good taste of it. My first thought - This is an ESB? Not nearly enough malts and body - and too much alcohol. I think Zig's need to narrow their focus and work on creating two or three decent brews before they make offensive imitations of every well-known European style they can think of. Monday, February 24, 2003
Schroppfy	3.5 Zigs Imperial Stout Bottled from draught in a 500 ml swing-top. Middle-weight consistency, nice dark brown fading to lighter head.Slight alcohol, nut, chocoalte malt and brown sugar nose. Flavors are initially sweet (sugar), nutty and some salt in the finish (noticeably less salty than Founders Imperial Stout). Closer to 60 deg and up salt and bacon bits show up a little brusquely. Hops are very well balanced. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Schroppfy	3.4 Zigs Hedonism Hefeweizen Served with lemon (uck). Big banana aroma, some clove, no pepper. Quite clear, filtered apearance. Flavors mingle nicely, feels right, tastes right, a solid effort. Rapidly diminishing head. A good, normal beer on the third try! Wednesday, January 29, 2003