Welcome to the first edition of MMAmania.com presents "Beermania."

The plan is to rate and review two different beers prior to each mixed martial arts (MMA) event, with one brand representing each of the two main event fighters. Starting off with UFC 142: "Aldo vs Mendes," which goes down on Jan. 14, 2012, from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I will present a beer from Brazil (Jose Aldo) and a beer from California (Chad Mendes).

I will do my best to use beers that are of the same style and represent the fighter's home country (or state) for each post. With any luck, I can convince some you to try out a beer that you normally wouldn't have sampled at the local watering hole.

Here's how it works.

When reviewing a beer, there are typically five categories of concern: Appearance (A), Smell (S), Taste (T), Mouthfeel (M), and Drinkability (D). After a brief description for each category, based on my tasting notes, I will assign a letter grade to each beer.

Follow me after the jump to get started.

Fighting out of the red corner, representing UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, and brewed out of Blumenau, Brazil, we have Eisenbahn Vigorosa.

Tale of the Tape:

Beer: Eisenbahn Vigorosa, Unfiltered Wheat Doublebock.
Brewery: Cervejaria Sudbrack Ltda., Blumenau, Brazil.
Serving Type: 12 ounce bottle poured into nonic pint glass, 8-percent alcohol/volume.

From the Brewery: (Translated from Portugese)

Two flavors together in a single drink with characteristics of type beers and Weizen Bock. It is a fine, dark drink, unfiltered and made of wheat. It has a fruity aroma and spices along with high-low bitterness and body. It's well carbonated and has a dense foam and is creamy with hints of roast, banana and clove.

ShivanTiger's Review:

A: Hues of red, tan, two-finger head, settles to a ring. No lacing.
S: Licorice, bread, slight notes of copper, most likely from oxidation, mellowing to dates and raisins.
T: More raisin, slight bread flavors, dry cocoa finishing and strong with alcohol.
M: Thick, viscous, low carbonation, creamy finish.
D: Probably not more than one glass, not on par with German equivalents.

Overall: C

Not the worst I've had, but certainly not a good representation of the Weizenbock style.

Next up, fighting out of the blue corner, representing the challenger Chad Mendes and brewed out of Petaluma, California, we have Lagunitas Bavarian-Style Dopple Weizen.

Tale of the Tape:

Beer: Lagunitas, Our Own Bavarian-Style Dopple Weizen.
Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, California.
Serving Type: 22 ounce bottle poured into a nonic pint glass, 9-percent alcohol/volume.

From the Brewery:

Our Own Bavarian-Style DoppelWeizen. A Brand-Spankin' New Beer Inspired by Rolec: The Builders of our New Brewing System. They Sent Us a Traditional Yeast Sent From Their Friends in Bavaria & We Way-Overfed It To Take It All Up A Bit!

ShivanTiger's Review:

A: Amber body, two-finger off white head, fading quickly to a faint lace.
S: Bready, slight banana, clove, apricot.
T: Wheat, fruity esters with a strong hop profile for this style.
M: Mildly thick, nice effervescence, nicely carbonated.
D: For a 9-percent beer, it drinks very easily. You could probably down two of these in a single sitting.

Overall: C+

While not brewed to style (too lite), it's not a bad beer to drink. Bartender, pass me another.

Additional Tasting Notes:

Weizenbocks should be served with German cuisine, chocolates and grilled meats in a flute or weizen glass at 45 – 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Some other examples of the Weizenbock style would include:

Schneider Aventinus
(Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH)
Weihenstephaner Vitus
(Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan)
Ramstein Winter Wheat
(High Point Brewing Company)
Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse
(Brooklyn Brewery)
Ayinger Weizenbock
(Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer KG / Brauerei Aying)

That does it for this week.

Be sure to check us out in advance of UFC 143: "Diaz vs. Condit" for another go-round. In the meantime, get up to speed on all the UFC 142 news and notes here.