The Stuff Legends Are Made Of?

If one of my English teachers saw the title of this blog post, they'd kill me because I ended it with a preposition. Oh well, I needed a title and since I've tried a bunch of Legend beers, I thought I was being clever. Since I had another three of their beers (bringing that total to four), I can make a judgment on their quality. My impression is that they make mediocre beer, that while is not bad, I wouldn't go out of my way to find.

This past week, I went down to Williamsburg to visit Laura, as she is finishing up staffing a summer program at William and Mary. We spent the day hanging out, eating, and planning our upcoming road trip. We also made a visit to Williamsburg AleWerks, where I made some custom six packs for a barbecue that I will be attending soon. Later that evening, we met a college friend of mine, Amanda, who is living and working in the area, but will be moving shortly. I was very nice to catch up with her, as she makes the short list of people I want to keep in touch with after college. We met at Center Street Grill, and I had a very good time.

Legend Hefeweizen: You know how most Hefeweizens are see through? By that I mean, a lot of visible light manages to get through? This one was the normal yellowish in color, but not as much visible light got through. As I try to codify this, I realize that I sound like an idiot, but that was my visual impression. The taste got maked by the bartender putting the lemon in the beer, as opposed to the edge of the glass. That said, it was an alright Hefeweizen. A little heavier in body, which coincides with my initial visual impression.

Legend Pale Ale: Personally, I thought this was a very drinkable pale ale. In that sense, I mean it wasn't overwhelmingly hoppy. I didn't get Laura's take on it, but I doubt a real hop-head would love this beer. Then again, it should be more subdued in hop flavor, since it is a pale ale and not an india pale ale.

Legend Lager: This was easily the worst of the three, and it probably unfairly dragged down my impression of Legend brewing. My advice would be to try something other than this. Generally, I was disappointed in it as a lager. I think it might have been a little too malty for a lager.

Yesterday, I caught up with another friend from college and her fiance. They just moved into the area, and, in addition to getting married, are looking to buy a house. It was very nice to catch up with my friend and her fiance (whom I had yet to meet). We met at Gordon Biersch outside of Annapolis to catch up over a beer, and coincidentally I got to see the end of the Germany world cup game. Gordon Biersch is a national chain of brewpubs. It's not a bad place to check out once in a while, but it's certainly nothing to write home about - mediocre beer and borderline expensive food.

Gordon Biersch Sommerbrau: This was their summer seasonal, which is a German Kolsch. For a lighter beer such as a Kolsch it wasn't that bad, but I am not a big fan of the Kolsch style. Don't get me wrong, I won't turn down a beer - especially a new one. That said, I think I'll try different beer of theirs the next time I'm there.

Continuing the college friend binge, I met with my friends Tim and Heather for dinner in Annapolis. We had dinner at the Boatyard, which is a local place off the beaten path of downtown Annapolis. The food is generally pretty good, but some of our entrees were disappointing. It was very nice to catch up with them. I held back on my alcohol, since Heather is expecting.

Flying Dog "Doggie Style" Pale Ale: I love Flying Dog, if for nothing else, they have the most interesting names attached to their beer. Seriously, how can you not expect me to pick that off a menu? I thought this was a pretty good pale ale. As a comparision, I would rate it better than its counterpart by Legend (see above). The beer snobs at ratebeer.com do not agree with me, but that's not the point.

I probably have about three to four weeks left to catch up to and pass Colleen. One would expect she'll have about six new beers in the first ten days after contract. I know she is going to Africa later in the summer, but I figure that I need to get to about 280 in the next three to four weeks to offset her initial tastings before Africa. In light of my new count, that is very doable.

The scorecard:
Colleen - 270
Paul - 259

Cheers,
Paul