Review of St. Ides High Gravity Malt Liqour
Posted By Ken Sunday, 05 October 2008 11:55
For my birthday that is coming up, my cousin Zach decided to get me a 40 ouncer to help celebrate the occasion. He handed me the 40 in the paper bag and I tried it before I looked at what he had gotten me. Turns out it was St. Ides High Gravity. Read on to see how this malt stacked up.
Ken's Review
Taste: C- The taste of St. Ides was really interesting, in that some sips were better than others. It was almost like a roller-coaster ride, because you could take one sip that was okay then the next one would taste like shit. I never had a malt liquor that was so inconsistent on taste. Overall this wasn't one I was really impressed by in this department, but it was by no means the worst I've had (i.e. Axe Head). Unless you like sometimes skanky malt, I don't know that I would rush to buy this one.
Packaging: C On the packaging front, the main label is mostly black, but has some silver design that runs across it. I'm not exactly sure what the silver part is supposed to represent, as it kind of resembles two plant-like things in a breeze. That is the best way I can describe it. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but taking into account it is a malt liquor, maybe it isn't supposed to.
Value: ? Since it was free to me, I can't say for sure what the value is. But if Zach paid more than $1.50 for this 40 then I feel bad. Unless this is the only option available to you, then I wouldn't pay more than that for it. Overally it is poor quality for price.
Drunkenness: A- St Ides comes in at a nice 8.2% alcohol content. I say nice in terms of the content scale, not that that content is necessarily a good thing. It doesn't take getting very far into the bottle to start feeling the High Gravity work its drunken magic on you. Especially having this in the course of a night of drinking other beers, the morning after is not the greatest. I did wake up with a pretty nice headache this morning, and I'm sure a lof that was St. Ides fault.
Overall: C Thankfully this was not as bad as Axe Head, but wasn't nearly as good as my favorite, Magnum. If you are like Zach and I and like to try random stuff for the sake of trying it, then feel free to grab a 40 of this. If you want something of quality then stay the hell away from this stuff.