Gray's Busted Knuckle Irish style Ale

Gray's Busted Knuckle Irish style Ale. 5.2 % aBV, 32 IBU. Gray's Brewing, Janesville, WI.

Clear, amber/bronze color, slim ivory head.

In the nose: Malty-sweet, lightly fruity. Apple & cherry.

In the mouth: Sweetness kicks it off, but never too much, kept just in check with some bitter hop notes. Good balance. But, not great. Not really together, here. Just short of satisfactory. Eventually, over-sweet maltiness takes over, and the result is unpleasant. I'm not liking it.

This Irish Style Ale is a special blend of four types of malted barley and three varieties of hops. It is a medium-bodied ale showing off a deep reddish amber color and thick, tan bubbly head. The aroma is sweet and light followed by moderate caramel-malt flavors with a light roasty finish. 

Gray's Oatmeal Stout

Gray's Oatmeal Stout. Gray's Brewing, Janesville, WI. 5.2 % ABV, 23 IBU.


Fully ebon, slim brown head.

In the nose: roasted malt, cocoa, coffee.

In the mouth: earthy, gritty, much malt. Espresso traces and chocolate tints. Full-bodied and hearty. A little bit of sweet, ending dry. Classic Oatmeal Stout. Nicely done.

Rich in color with a strong roasted flavor and creamy texture. A true dark beer lover’s beer. Generous amounts of fresh rolled oats, paired with aromatic hops and richly roasted barley lead to the unique coffee-like flavor.

I first tried this beer over 14 years ago. Back in October of 2004, these were my far more verbose notes:

Appearance: dark black color, with reddish tinges, under a thick, toasted tan head.

Aroma: Richly roasted, deep and dark, with hints of anise and chocolate, whiskey, even, I very much enjoyed this smell and kept my snoot in it for as long as I could bear.

Marvelous presence on the palate, nicely carbonated, good hops, but the flavor leaves too quickly, and the body thins out too fast. The promise found in the aroma isn’t quite delivered in full in the flavor.
Medium to full body, with less of a finish than I’d like. Too mellow, with too bare a flavor.
I found myself loving it at the start, and less pleased while I was drinking it. If not for that, this would be an oatmeal stout I’d be most happy to have around, day-in, day-out.

It seems like I liked it better this time around.

Gray's Honey Ale

Gray's Honey Ale. 4.78% ABV, 12 IBU. Gray's Brewing Company, Janesville, WI.

I have in my hands a can of Gray's Honey Ale from Janesville, Wisconsin. Fourteen years ago, I took notes on what I can only presume was a bottle of said beer. I will now drink the can and look back on the notes that I posted in September of 2004 and see if I was wrong, or perhaps the beer has changed, or, am I still right? Let's see. Here come the notes:

Ultra-clear, pale honeyish hue, thick, fat fizzling white head, that zips down in nothing flat.

Nose is softly herbal, lightly sweet and honeyed, a little citric, leaning into sour. Not crazy about it, really.

Taste: too, too mild, bearing little in the flavor department, not even the advertised honey tastes. Very light bodied, short on texture, limp in the finish.  Even irritating...I can't find much to like in this one. So sorry, I really held up hope, but it's just not working out. Too, too blase'...cheers to anyone out there who digs this, but don't count me among the crowd.

I really like the bee on the label, though. Pity there's no close-up available here, he's really a demented looking bug!

So? I have to concur with my younger self. This is wholly unremarkable. There is some honey in the aroma, but the flavor is a total washout. Nothing here at all. And the demented bug is gone, replaced on this can by a man with a beard of bees. Why, he couldn't grow his own? That's no excuse.

This is actually very bleh. I may need to reverse my no drain pour policy.

Gray's Bully Porter

Gray's Bully Porter. 4.5% ABV. Gray's Brewing, Janesville, Wisconsin. (Home of Paul Ryan, let us not forget.)

So, Gray's Brewing has been around for awhile. Since 1856, it seems. I feel like they've been distributed here before, or did I get my previous tastes of their beers from friends who visited our neighbor to the East? Well, they're here now. And someone is distributing them, so I got this sample, and I drank down the bottle a few weeks ago, while looking back at my old notes.

Here's what I said about it back in August, 2009.

Dark brown color, smallish cola-tinged head.

Nose is sweet and nutty, not quite as dry or as rough as I'd expect or want from a porter. But nice...

Drinking it...drinks nice. Smooth, sweetish, cola, nuts, ...Medium bodied, mellow, easy-drinking...but flat in the finish, and sparse in flavor. Good, or, perhaps, average, but not great. A bit too watery, a bit lean...wanted more...but, hey, you can drink it...

eh, ...hoo-boy. Not great, this one. Not great at all. Sigh....

What I said nine years ago occurred once more in this new sampling. And now I have new reason to feel conflicted about this beer. In a moment of carelessness back then, the contents of the glass fell all over the keyboard killing that MacBook. Again. Sigh. Damn it, why did it have to be Gray's Bully Porter to kill this computer that I'd had for 2 years? From now on, I take the notes on an iPad and post them the next day.

So, now you get two lessons: don't drink and blog, and avoid this beer.