Miller Fortune Review

Name: Miller Fortune
Style: Amber/Vienna Lager
ABV: 6.9%

Today I have a special review lined up and that is Miller Fortune from The Miller Brewing Company, which was just released within the past month or so. This is MillerCoors' answer to Bud Light Platinum and, more namely, Budweiser Black Crown. Both of the latter beers mentioned have a higher-than-normal ABV for a marco-lager.

About a month or so before it's release, I was seeing posters for this beer in stores everywhere; Like it was the newest upcoming release from Michael Bay. I have never seen such a huge push for in-store marketing like there was for Miller Fortune.

Now before I start, I'm going to break my normal rule of keeping a neutral tone and just throw this out here: I did not like this beer and anyone who is curious to try it out should avoid this at all costs.

Miller Fortune starts out with a clear amber color with a amount of high carbonation. The head is rather fizzy which settles to a small filmy appearance and there is no lacing left behind.

The nose itself is actually quite promising with Munich and pale malts, mild hoppiness, barley, caramel with some minor but noticeable boozy notes. Booziness aside, this actually has the aroma that is fairly typical of a Vienna Lager.

Flavor-wise, it's a much different story. In what I can only describe as "bizarre," the flavor is mixture of cardboard, barley, metallic rust, very strong booziness and Munich Malts. It's almost like they made a malt liquor with munich malts

The body is fairly lightweight but, as expected, the carbonation is very heavy and intense. As you can probably guess, this does not sit well on the palate.

I may not be a huge fan of the regular offerings of Bud, Miller, or Coors but if someone offers it to me at a party, I would not turn it down. Miller Fortune has the rare distinction of venturing into Molson XXX territory as being one of the beers that I would turn down at a party if I was offered it for free. You aren't missing anything by having this, trust me.

Miller Fortune - 1/10

Brooklyn Lager Review

Before moving onto my New Glarus and Ale Asylum beers, I'm going to burn through my Brooklyn Brewing Sampler Pack. I've been seeing more of these "Variety Packs" from brewers recently and have found it to be more cost effective (and sometimes cheaper) than my typical mix-a-six pack. So start it off, I'm going to review their best-selling beer simply called "Brooklyn Lager", which is their Vienna Style Lager according to their website. Besides, after working for 10 hours a beer sounds quite nice.

Brooklyn Lager pours a mildly hazy amber color with a filmy white head and some carbonation activity. Lacing along the sides of the glass is sparse but there.

The nose has some mild caramel notes, yeasts, toffee and floral hops. Not terribly complex and the aroma is slightly earthy.

The flavor is a little more diverse with mild caramelized malts, mild citrus & piney hops, and yeasts. Oddly enough, it's surprisingly hoppy for it's style! The aftertaste has both a bittersweet maltiness and metallic flavor to it.

Body is moderate in weight and the carbonation itself is a couple notches down from moderate as well. Somehow I don't feel it fits the flavor and style of the beer.

With a couple of exceptions, I am not a really big fan of Vienna Lagers as a whole and the reason is that I feel it tastes too metallic-like and the malty sweetness is all over the place and Brooklyn Lager is no exception to this. It isn't a terrible beer and you could do worse but if you aren't a Vienna Lager fan you probably won't like this.

Brooklyn Lager - 6.5/10