During this weekend's football fest, I sampled four beers - some with distinctly different feels and flavors.

I am running on a ten point rating system, rating the beers on bouquet, flavor, color, and carbonation. Each aspect is rated from one to ten, ten being the best, one the worst (ie: 1 could be poor taste, flat, over carbonated, poor aroma, etc.). Those numbers are added together and divided by four, resulting in a final score for each beer.

The beers, from best to worst (worst still being a drinkable beer) -

Harpoon Munich-Type Dark
Harpoon Brewery
Boston, MA
Grade: 8.25

I will preface all of this with the following statement - I prefer dark beers. That's not to say that I don't like pilsners or lighter ales, every type of beer has its place, but my preference leans to the dark.

This beer has a mild Bock-like bouquet, with a hint of a malty aroma. The flavor is mild, smooth and malty with a vaguely sweet smokiness in the aftertaste. It pours well with a nice head and nice, even carbonation, and has a deep, rich dark brown, almost ruby, or garnet coloring.

Tommyknocker Cocoa Porter Winter Warmer
Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub, LLC.
Idaho Springs, CO
Grade: 8.0

This is not your typical winter warmer, which usually is an ale tinted with spices - often with a flavor of gingerbread or pumpkin pie spice. This is like a chocolate version of a lambic, replete with the same sort of sweetness that the fruit-infused beers have.

It's a funny, flavorful beer with the aroma of mellowed Ovaltine. On the label, the beer boasts that the ale is "brewed with cocoa powder and honey." The tastes of the key ingredients make this quite definitively a dessert beer, a nice compliment to the post-meal experience.

Nicely carbonated, with a deep reddish-brown color, this beer is not going to appeal to people that want their beer to taste like beer. Those who do not appreciate lambics would likely grade this considerably lower - probably in the 4.0 to 6.0 range.

Hop-Ocalypse IPA
Clay Pipe Brewing
Frederick/Westminster, MD
Grade: 7.875

I wouldn't go quite as far as the boast on the label - "A hop flavor so delicious...it will change your world," but it is a pleasing, drinkable beer.

Everything about this beer is pleasant.

It's nicely carbonated, gives a good head on pour, has a rich, golden color - maybe a shade darker than what one would expect of a pale ale - and a nice, floral, hoppy flavor that matches its floral bouquet.

Dogfishhead 90 Minute Imperial IPA
Dogfishhead Craft Brewing
Milton, DE
Grade: 5.75

I was not thrilled.

I have heard a lot about this beer, which gets dry-hopped for 90 minutes at the end of the brewing process. I was expecting a hop-laced pale ale - instead it came off as a vaguely hoppy wheat beer. The bouquet was lightly floral with a strong, acrid tone and the flavor was similar.

While the color was good for an IPA (the only aspect of this beer that I scored higher than a 5 at 8), the carbonation was similar to that of ginger ale.