MOAF Announcement 

Hey all you cool drunks and drinkers! Unfortunately this will be one of my final post.. but Dr. Seuss once said “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Being able to write this blog has opened my eyes to the beautiful variation in the 40 field, and hopefully this blog has opened some of your eyes as well. I would like to take this time to congratulate Mickey’s for being crowned MOAF (Mother of all Forties). Mickey’s just has the Irish feel to it, which drives the leprechaun in me crazy. It easily went down smoother than any other 40 I reviewed, and the buzz was the perfect pregame. I want to thank anyone for stopping by to up their 40 knowledge, who knows maybe I inspired someone to be the next Greg Koch, or “Beer Jesus.” Although I will not be posting anymore, in no way is that a reason to stop drinking your 40s. I am a firm believer that a 40 a day keeps COVID away. Speaking of the ultimate party pooper, I’d like to remind everyone to WASH THEIR HANDS and do your part to finally putting an end to all of this chaos. What good is a 40 if you aren’t drinking them with the boys? The only way we are going to get over this is together. So please, for the sake of those pregame 40s, social distance your heart out. My birthday is coming up, and if I have to be one of the people that has to celebrate their birthday stuck in quarantine, I might actually go mad. It is unconstitutional for someone to spend their summer birthday stuck at home doing nothing but reading birthday wishes on Twitter, Snapchat etc. So let’s end this once and for all. Thank you again for stopping by, and remember, don’t get caught up creek without a 40!

Right out of the gate I have to say that out of all the 40s I have sampled so far, Steel. Reserve is definitely my least favorite. It was almost impossible to get the traditional 5-second slam down. While every other 40 I’ve tried was extremely smooth going down, each gulp of Steel Reserve almost felt like I was taking a shot. It really put the focus on liquor in malt liquor. Which could’ve been a good thing, but the strong taste of alcohol did not match the buzz I got. Even at 8.1% ABV I didn’t even feel anything until I was a little halfway through the bottle. With the taste being as bad as it was, I ended up accidentally babysitting the thing to the point where it got room temp. Rather than drinking it I decided to man up and slam the rest of it, which was about a quarter of the bottle. That was one of the most strenuous slams I’ve ever done. After I finally got the last sip down it took a great deal of focus not to puke. I almost gave in and let it all loose, but momma ain’t raise no.. well you know how it goes. After getting through all 40 ounces, and stomaching the awful taste. I was left at a disappointing level of drunk. I was so sober I had to dip into my White Claws to finish the job. If you ever have to turn to a seltzer to do what your 40 lacked to do, that’s when you know that you got a bad 40.The only good thing about Steel Reserve is that it has the blue cold stamp on the label much like the Olde English label. Other than that, I do not recommend this 40.

2.3/5 Stars

Okay so first off I have to say, My father has been drinking Bud light as long as I can remember, so Bud Light is what I started drinking on With that being said, I do not believe that Bud Light belongs in a 40. As my father once said, “Bud Light is not a Lamborghini, it’s a Chevy. It won’t get you where you need to be the fastest; but it will get you there every time you need it to.” Bud Light is a beer that is meant to be drank throughout the night. It is not a beer that you have one tall boy of and you’re set like most forties are. However, Dos doesn’t even offer a 40 ounce option. I was forced to buy two 24 ounce bottles and round down, which takes away points in the price aspect. With everything being considered, especially Bud Light having a higher ABV (5% to 4.5%) and the fact that Dos Equis doesn’t even offer a 40, I would have to say that Bud Light is the superior 40. It just goes down smoother and hits you with that buzz a little quicker.

Bud Light 4.7/5 Stars Dos Equis 4.3/5 Stars

https://www.taleofale.com The Tale of the Ale is a beer review/beer news blog based in Dublin, Ireland. Reuben Grey the writer of the blog is what I would definitely call a professional. I was fascinated going through his blog and reading all of his posts. He has reviews with a very similar layout to mine, and even goes into his top beers for each year. In a sense, Reuben Grey is the guy you want to go get a beer with. Reading his reviews has given me a slew of new things to look for while doing my own reviews. The level of hops, the aftertaste, and even the way the beer is affected by exposure to oxygen. He mentions the aesthetic of the can, the ABV (Alcohol by Volume) in comparison to other beers and goes in deep description on the overall taste of the beer. He uses pictures as links to other parts of his site and I would really like to learn how to do that so I could make my blog a little bit more organized. Grey’s site has single-handedly made going to Dublin on St. Patty’s Day the number one thing on my bucket list. He goes in depth on every beer giving the reader as much of a description of the beer as one can without actually tasting the beer. You don’t even have to read the blog to get the scoop on his beer updates. Grey’s twitter https://twitter.com/TaleOfAle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3ATaleOfAle&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.taleofale.com%2Fp%2Fabout-me.html gives the need-to-know of pretty much anything that is going on in his life, especially The Tale of the Ale related info. If you do not trust my word on official beer reviews, I would highly recommend referring to The Tale of the Ale because any question you have about Irish IPAs and stouts are answered and then some on this blog.

COVID-19 Update

Hello everyone! I want to say I hope everyone is safe and doing their best to stay healthy in these crazy times. I want to apologize for my lack of posts, but in the wake of a global pandemic, apparently along with toilet paper, people found it necessary to stalk up on their malt liquors. When I went to choose what 40s I would be reviewing over my extended spring break, I was dumfounded to see that there wasn’t a store for miles that had a single Colt 45, Steel Reserve or even a Bud Ice on their shelves. But, the people still need their 40 review, dammit. So I went to the next big thing, I got 40 ounce samples of an imported beer (Dos Equis) an a domestic beer (Bud Light) and decided to put them head-to-head to answer a simple question, which beer makes the better 40? In my next post, I will be comparing every aspect of my review process for both beers. At the end I will score both of them truthfully as I always do and crown a winner. Hopefully soon the shelves will be overflowing with 40s and I can go back to the real deal and this whole fiasco will be over. I want to remind everyone that for one thing, the liquor stores are still open, so why not go get yourself some drinks since we are all stuck at home? Second, remember to stay as clean and healthy as possible. You can’t control what other people do, but what you can control is how you take care of yourself. The world would suck without you, so please make sure that you are keeping yourself and anyone around you safe. If you would like some tips you can go to the cdc official website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fprepare%2Fprevention.html) for their prevention tips and other helpful information. Stay safe, drink responsibly, and don’t get caught up creek without a 40!

Mickeys’s is the perfect 40 for a weekday when you just don’t want to be sober but you can’t afford to get wasted. With the glass bottle it stays colder longer than other forties with plastic bottles. With a 5.6 ABV (alcohol by volume) I got my initial buzz was right before the label started, and that buzz hit hard. The crack of the seal has a very satisfying sound. It hits the ear just right and puts you in the perfect mood to drink your 40. It has a grainy taste which makes it a little harder to drink at first, but it makes up for it by getting you drunk quicker so you don’t care about the grainy taste anymore. It is also very carbonated so expect burps, but these burps are very smooth. In comparison to Olde English, Mickey’s is smoother and easier to chug that O.E. To quote Justice Satterfield, an acquaintance of mine that helps me review in my reviewing process, “Olde English is good don’t get me wrong, but Mickey’s just hits different.” I would have to agree with Justice. There is something about Mickey’s that Olde English lack. Maybe it’s the glass bottle or how it goes down just a little bit smoother. Coming in at basically the same price, I’d have to say go with Micky’s. I also have to give a head-nod to the label and overall aesthetic of the bottle. I guess I’m a sucker for a simple design, but the green bottle with the green label and gold trims hits the eye just right. It is also convenient because you can keep a good eye on how much you have drank.

I am now coming back to this post days later and I have just finished another Mickey’s and I can confidently say that I prefer Mickey’s over Olde English.

4.1/5 Stars

It’s only right that the first 40 review is over the classic O.E. Olde English is a pretty cheap 40 coming in at around $3.50. It has a very smooth taste and goes down almost too easy. It is really easy to just go bottoms up and get a good 5 second slamDrinking it makes me reminisce of my childhood growing up in ghetto Dallas County, seeing empty bottles of O.E. in the iconic brown paper bag all over the place. It is very** carbonated so expect burps often. I am not a fan of the plastic bottle though. Plastic is really bad about keeping drinks cold once you start drinking them, and when you’re drinking forty ounces, you need it to be cold for awhile. However the label on every bottle has a stamp that turns blue when it is cold (much like the Coors mountains) which I believe was a great touch. With that being said, you’re going to want to finish your Olde English while that sticker is still blue because the warmer it gets, the harder it is to drink. Now, let’s talk about the buzz. I started feeling my initial buzz right around where the label begins, which is about a third of the way through the bottle. Granted I am a 6’0 230 pound drinking machine so your initial buzz may differ. Once I got through my first Olde English, I was sitting at around a 4 out of 10. The second one is the one that will get you where you want to be. After taking 2 O.E.’s to the face, I was at what I like to call the “Julian level”. If you are familiar with the Netflix show “Trailer Park Boys” then you know what I am talking about. If not, then to quote the late Jim Lahey, “I’m sober enough to know what I’m doing, but I’m drunk enough to really enjoy doing it.”

3.8/5 Stars

Hello everyone! My name is Gage Dillon, and I am currently a student at Texas State University. I am a Mass Communications major with hopes to one day have my own talk show. When I was told I would be making a blog this semester, I could not for the life of me think of what I should do it over. Then, one day, I was in my living room drinking a forty, and I had a lightbulb moment; I should just make a blog reviewing forties! It makes perfect sense, I drink beer almost religiously, and I needed something to write a blog about.

If you have ever had any questions regarding forties, or any beer questions for that matter, then look no further. This blog was made for one simple reason, to find the best forty money can buy, until one can be rightfully crowned as the M.O.A.F. (Mother of All Forties).

I chose to review forties for my blog because I like to consider myself a semi-professional beer sommelier, and have pretty reliable judgement. However, I do not want to exclusively review forties, I want to review all kinds of beer from all over the world. I plan to use this platform to educate my fellow beer drinkers on which beers are worth spending their hard earned money on, and which ones aren’t. We’ve all been there, you’re at the store and you see a beer you’ve never had, and you decide to try it. Only to try it and find out that it taste like a mix of old bread and cat pee. Now you’re disappointed, you’ve got a case of undrinkable beer and your wallet is $20 lighter. I am here to prevent that from happening. I will drink nasty beer so you do not have to. You’re welcome.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
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• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.