Earthquake High Gravity Lager (8.1%) - City Brewing Company, LLC

emerge077

Illinois

2.23/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 2.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2.25

Usually a change in ABV doesn't warrant a new entry... not sure if this is a reformulation or what. Happened upon this at a local bodega and recalled the change in ABV. This brand is owned by the makers of Four Loko, fyi.

Urine yellow with rapid champagne carbonation trails. Thin layer of white foam on top, fizzles away and breaks apart quickly. Random bits of lace seem to be accidental.

Smells artificially sweet like apple juice that's 10% juice, that's started to turn and begin fermenting. White grape from the champagne/wine yeast used to jack up the ABV in malt liquor. Sweet solvent fumes as it warms, thankfully not as heinous as the old 12% version.

Sharply astringent, acidic like cider. Bland wet grain flavors, flaccid and one dimensional. Sweet apple juice and wine yeast. Very gaseous with a bunch of burps. Feeling a headache coming on halfway through. Thankfully it isn't as nasty as the old 12% version, but that's not saying much. Avoid.

Serving type: can

03-25-2013 01:22:55 | More by emerge077

Darkmagus82

Montana

2.75/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Poured from tall boy can into a pint glass

Appearance – The beer poured a medium golden color with a two finger white head. The head was on the more fizzy side, fading rather fast and leaving a decent level of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell – The aroma was rather light but actually quite pleasant. It consists of a blend of bready malts as well as some sweet smells. The sweet were a mix of citrus, corn and an almost sugar cookie like smell. The blend of all the aromas made for a somewhat warming and pleasant sweeter smell.

Taste – The taste begins with flavors of corn and a light bready. While rather sweet up front it grows even stronger as the taste moves on to the middle and the end with more corn sweetness and some flavors of a sweet and sour green apple taste. As the taste moves onto the end the green apple grows stronger with the corn syrup getting stronger as well. When combined with a light alcohol and a quite metallic flavor at the end of the taste it leaves a somewhat biting and sweet taste to be left on the tongue. As the beer warms the lesser, later qualities of a sour, metallic and corn flavor begin dominating the flavor even more; this is one to drink when quite cold.

Mouthfeel – The thickness and the creaminess of the brew are average to slightly above average with the carbonation level that is average to just below average. The thickness was a bit too much for the sweeter and metallic flavors of the brew with the carbonation level too low. Both the body and carbonation level gave the brew a bit too much time to sit on the tongue and a bit too slow of a drinker.

Overall – When drunken cold it is not too bad, but once it starts warming it turns more unpleasant. Drink it cold for best results.

Serving type: can

02-19-2013 01:44:13 | More by Darkmagus82

RonaldTheriot

Louisiana

2.3/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Earthquake High Gravity (8.1% version) has a thick, stark-white, soapy head, which quickly dissipates, and a clear, yellow-golden appearance with lots of streaming bubbles and no lacing left behind. The aroma is of dank, sweet, green apples and wet corn husks. The flavor is of green apple Jolly Rancher, sickly-sweet malt, and filtered Mississippi River water (LaCrosse). No hop bitterness, except for the faintest shade, is present here. One can pick up an alcohol burn in the back of the throat, although alcohol is not present in the taste. Mouthfeel is light and watery, and Earthquake High Gravity Lager (8.1% version) finishes mostly dry, decently refreshing, and almost credible. Overall, this is a vast improvement over the original 12% version, which isn’t saying much, considering that that beer was possibly the worst beer on the planet. I rate this one low-average, at best.

RJT

Serving type: can

01-05-2013 00:33:35 | More by RonaldTheriot

ElCommodoro

Texas

2.48/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours a straw colour with about a half inch of pure white head. It looks exactly like a typical adjunct lager, but believe me, the similarities end there.
The taste is corn syrupy gasoline. Seriously. That's about all there is to this. The 12% version was at least more interesting, though I'll admit, noticeably more disgusting. It's like the brewery said, "Hey, I have an idea. Why do we have to be limited by ethanol as the only hydrocarbon flavour in beer? We should make a bold new brew that incorporates all sorts of hydrocarbons! They don't even have to be an alcohol. It'll be revolutionary!" I really don't know how else to describe the flavour of this beer. It's....unique. And not worth drinking. There is an almost equally alcoholic malt liquor that is far better. Sadly, Anheuser-Busch makes it, but the independent brewery that made this clearly did not know how to compete. Natty Daddy beats the absolute crap out of this malt liquor.

Serving type: can

11-28-2012 08:55:05 | More by ElCommodoro

buschbeer

Ohio

2.68/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

24oz can
Served in a conical pint

A - It has a golden body with pale yellow highlights. It has two inches of white head.

S - It is sweet and grainy. It almost has a candylike quality.

T - This is the sweetest malt liquor that I have ever had. I get a warming alcohol sensation. It is sweet with a grainy taste. I get alcohol as it warms.

M - Thin

O - It is a little different tasting malt liquor. It is sweeter than I'm used to. I would get it again for the 8.1% alcohol.

Serving type: can

09-22-2012 21:10:52 | More by buschbeer

tone77

Pennsylvania

2.35/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Another beer from City brewing, I can hardly contain my excitement. Poured from a 24 oz. can. Has a pale yellow color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is hardly there at all, after several deep sniffs I was able to detect just a touch of alcohol. Taste is green apples, alcohol, more green apples. Feels light in the mouth and overall is just about as unpleasant as the 12% version.

Serving type: can

05-05-2012 20:37:37 | More by tone77

bobstad

Washington

3/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

being required to do the bold field selections feels idiotic.

I wanted to note that my last can of Earthquake 12% I told the turbaned, bearded fellow behind the counter at the neighborhood 7-11; that if I went blind this would be his fault. I've contributed an expanded dialogue already about Earthquake 12%.

To my great surprise when I rode my old ten-speed there for the next can of 12% the only choice available was the Earthquake 8.1%

I've since a few cans of that, humbly taken to either 24 oz cans of Rolling Rock; or a new discovery at $1.79 plus taxes a little further away, 500 ml cans of DAB 5% German lager.

Though I've noticed even the 3.2% Rolling Rock can gives me a pretty hefty buzz. I'm having to reason about my eventual mortality after a couple of fifths of whiskey and several fifths of red wine the past month; with a passion for longevity as well as excellent health.

Everyone else should be forced to drink Earthquake though; until the planet's major problems are reasonably rectified. Or something as radical; at least. I've tried.

Serving type: can

04-25-2012 01:10:31 | More by bobstad

tdm168

North Carolina

1.28/5  rDev -51.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Pours a pale gold with a thin layer of loose, soap-like head that quickly fizzles away to nothing. The nose is sweet but smells like nothing specific. The flavor is very sweet, almost candy-like, and grainy. The mouthfeel is very light and crisp.

This is awful. It's so sweet. It lacks flavor and quality all around. Avoid at all cost.

Serving type: can

03-01-2012 23:43:11 | More by tdm168