Paul may have been quiet for a while, but I assure you, he's alive. We had dinner together on Monday. You should be hearing from him soon about his Earpeweizen experience and other beer adventures.
In the meantime, I've been able to enjoy a few new brews with a few good friends:
Avery Mephistopheles' Stout: I liked how strongly flavored it was, but not what the actual flavor was, if that makes sense. I like that it had a certain amount of bite to it just for being a nearly 16% ABV stout, but it tasted strongly of molasses, which is just not my favorite version of sweet in a beer. I remembered Avery for another very strong beer I once tried, but this one won't be remembered as positively.
21st Amendment Bitter American IPA: Florally. It was a decent IPA, but definitely with some kind of flowery taste to it.
Stone Cali-Belgique IPA: Taylor and I just shared this over breakfast burritos for dinner. It balanced nicely with the spicy pepper jack cheese I used on my eggs. Hoppy, but not offensive. Taylor got more of the Belgian aspect of it, but he's also a bigger IPA fan than I am. I got more of the IPA flavor because it's still just strong to me. But this was nice. Clean and refreshing.
Also of note, Cheryl brought me lunch and snowshoes to play with last week after it snowed six more inches in Warren County. We shared Dogfish Head's My Antonia, which was a little hoppy and a lot refreshing. It went perfectly with the slightly hot/spicy Baja Fresh lunch. Pilseners aren't usually something I go after on purpose, but this was totally worth my attention. Dogfish Head is awesome, as ever.
Showing posts with label Pilsener. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pilsener. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Holidays '10 - Part 2
This will be yet another short post, as I am still playing catch up on errands this week. Laura and I got snowed in at my parents, where the snowfall the day after Christmas was about 28 inches! It took over 7.5 hours to return to Virginia the other day - due to road conditions in Monmouth County, NJ and several days worth of Holiday travelers condensed on I-95 on the same day. I received several beers as Christmas gifts (all are new), so I will be reviewing those in the coming weeks.
St. Pauli Girl: Laura's Dad is a big fan of this one. I thought it was a little better than a Heineken. It's a generic pilsner from Germany. It's actually made by InBev. This means you can expect a highly manufactured beverage, but one with highly consistent taste.
Fordham Genius: A friend told me that this was a take on Guinness. The beer was very good, but I do not agree with their analysis. Guinness is very dark, but almost watery when it comes to taste. Guinness is also light in alcohol. On the other hand, this had almost twice the alcohol by volume (ABV). The nitrogen tap (as opposed to carbon dioxide) gave it a similar experience to Guinness, but the two are fundamentally different.
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout: Colleen summed this beer up here. Laura called the beer a "punch to the face." What did I think? This beer is not for the faint of heart. If you're not a fan of aggressive, heavy beers...this is not for you at all. If you like lagers, amber ales, hefewiezens, and perhaps the occasional pale ale - then you should avoid this beer. It's extremely dark. It has a very aggressive taste. It weighs in at 18% percent alcohol. I absolutely loved it. I took my time drinking it over the course of two hours. Those on my short list of hardcore beer drinkers would greatly enjoy this. It's expensive, but worth a try.
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice: I got this as a gift for Christmas from Laura's mother. This was very interesting, and it was a great seasonal. There was a blend of spices that did not overwhelm the beer, but added to it as the blizzard was rearing its ugly head. Most spiced beers are a lot to handle, so this was a pleasant surprise. The finish was nice and smooth, with a little dry flavor afterward. However, the slight spice flavor stays with you for fond memories- 6.9% alcohol doesn't hurt either.
Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA: This is one of very few Samuel Adams beers that I had yet to try. That list is narrowing down to a handful. I thought this was an excellent introductory IPA. It gives all the wonderful elements of an IPA without adding an offensive amount of hops. There was a bitterness to the flavor, but the was almost a sweetness to the hops as well. This is worth a try.
Dogfish Head Midas Touch: The ingredients for this beer were determined from pottery residue found in King Midas' exhumed tomb. An academic styled review can be found here (see page 4). The beverage is somewhere between beer, mead, and chardonnay. I thought it had a very interesting flavor that can't be found in beer today. It's interesting to note how beer has evolved over the past 2,700 years.
Wells Banana Bread Beer: My cousin Brendan graciously shared some of this with me. I've heard about it from him before, so I wanted to give it a try. I do love banana bread, but combining it with beer made me apprehensive. In short, it's a novelty beer. It smelled like banana bread and the flavor was there as well. It was nice to try, but I would recommend splitting a bottle with someone.
The scorecard:
Colleen - 341
Paul - 324
Cheers,
Paul
St. Pauli Girl: Laura's Dad is a big fan of this one. I thought it was a little better than a Heineken. It's a generic pilsner from Germany. It's actually made by InBev. This means you can expect a highly manufactured beverage, but one with highly consistent taste.
Fordham Genius: A friend told me that this was a take on Guinness. The beer was very good, but I do not agree with their analysis. Guinness is very dark, but almost watery when it comes to taste. Guinness is also light in alcohol. On the other hand, this had almost twice the alcohol by volume (ABV). The nitrogen tap (as opposed to carbon dioxide) gave it a similar experience to Guinness, but the two are fundamentally different.
Dogfish Head World Wide Stout: Colleen summed this beer up here. Laura called the beer a "punch to the face." What did I think? This beer is not for the faint of heart. If you're not a fan of aggressive, heavy beers...this is not for you at all. If you like lagers, amber ales, hefewiezens, and perhaps the occasional pale ale - then you should avoid this beer. It's extremely dark. It has a very aggressive taste. It weighs in at 18% percent alcohol. I absolutely loved it. I took my time drinking it over the course of two hours. Those on my short list of hardcore beer drinkers would greatly enjoy this. It's expensive, but worth a try.
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice: I got this as a gift for Christmas from Laura's mother. This was very interesting, and it was a great seasonal. There was a blend of spices that did not overwhelm the beer, but added to it as the blizzard was rearing its ugly head. Most spiced beers are a lot to handle, so this was a pleasant surprise. The finish was nice and smooth, with a little dry flavor afterward. However, the slight spice flavor stays with you for fond memories- 6.9% alcohol doesn't hurt either.
Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA: This is one of very few Samuel Adams beers that I had yet to try. That list is narrowing down to a handful. I thought this was an excellent introductory IPA. It gives all the wonderful elements of an IPA without adding an offensive amount of hops. There was a bitterness to the flavor, but the was almost a sweetness to the hops as well. This is worth a try.
Dogfish Head Midas Touch: The ingredients for this beer were determined from pottery residue found in King Midas' exhumed tomb. An academic styled review can be found here (see page 4). The beverage is somewhere between beer, mead, and chardonnay. I thought it had a very interesting flavor that can't be found in beer today. It's interesting to note how beer has evolved over the past 2,700 years.
Wells Banana Bread Beer: My cousin Brendan graciously shared some of this with me. I've heard about it from him before, so I wanted to give it a try. I do love banana bread, but combining it with beer made me apprehensive. In short, it's a novelty beer. It smelled like banana bread and the flavor was there as well. It was nice to try, but I would recommend splitting a bottle with someone.
The scorecard:
Colleen - 341
Paul - 324
Cheers,
Paul
Sunday, October 24, 2010
drafting with bottles (not drafts)
Hello friends. I'm currently on a self-declared 12ish hour break from thesisland. After I turned in that draft last week, I received a speedy response letting me know of its inadequacies. A little over an hour ago, I turned in a decent portion of draft version 1.5 (it'd be a lie to call it 2.0, since it's not really a new draft so much as a more complete version of the last draft). And now I'm not looking at that stuff or thinking about it until I wake up without the assistance of an alarm clock tomorrow morning. Instead, I get to write for fun in my blogs!... and probably clean my room, and put away laundry, and go for a run...
but first, beer-related things to write fun-ly about!
1. When you Google "thesis depression", the first result is this gem of a blog. I have read through quite a few entries, in chronological order. It's pretty stellar. I'd probably write a blog about writing my thesis, but why create a new venue when I can complain about my thesis in conjunction with beer reviews or my tendency to wander? I could, of course, take this to the next level and try writing in bars...
2. The last beer of my motivational mixed six pack was not a winner, at least not for me. Weyerbacher Simcoe IPA. I bought this in honor of my trip to Lake Simcoe a couple of years ago, and my possible familial ties that inspired said trip. (Look! Thesis, beer and travel all in one paragraph!) My ancestors came to the US via Canada, and lived in that area for a few generations before doing so. There is a provincial park on that lake called Sibbald Point-- my grandmother's maiden name is Sibbald, but she doubts we're actually related to those Sibbalds. Whatever, I reclaimed the family land and then a few years later bought a beer made with hops that share a name with the lake. And I didn't like the beer because of said hops. Just too sharp and bitter a flavor for me. Since there have been a few IPA's that I've enjoyed lately, I'm going to say this one just isn't the greatest. Go after it if you're into that, I guess.
Colleen the explorer reclaiming ancestral lands
3. I have barely left the house since I got home from school on Tuesday. I've been to Staples and to church. No bars, no liquor stores. And yet, I still managed to get another beer on my list that I was actually surprised wasn't already there. For this, I have my awesome older brother and sister-in-law to thank. They were in town for a wedding this weekend and brought with them some Miller Lite (the Earp standard issue-- totally already in the blog) and Beck's. I think it's interesting how poor of a rating it has on Beer Advocate. They recommend avoiding it. I suspect it's because they're super snobby and looking for crazy flavors and unique stuff. However, if you're going for something that's just plain old straight up beer, I think this is totally appropriate. While this is not my favorite style of beer (see-through), I thought this explained German Purity quite nicely-- it was very straightforward, clear, no weird tastes floating around, it tasted the same beginning to end and after. I appreciated this. And I appreciated big brother sharing this with me.
4. "What's going on here? You got a tattoo like him, and now you're drinking like him." -Kerin's commentary on my choice of Miller Lite when hanging out with them on Friday night... yes, I prefer beers that you can't see through, but I enjoy the occasional Earp Standard Issue, especially in the good company of my big brother and sister-in-law (:
Colleen: 311
Paul: 300
but first, beer-related things to write fun-ly about!
1. When you Google "thesis depression", the first result is this gem of a blog. I have read through quite a few entries, in chronological order. It's pretty stellar. I'd probably write a blog about writing my thesis, but why create a new venue when I can complain about my thesis in conjunction with beer reviews or my tendency to wander? I could, of course, take this to the next level and try writing in bars...
2. The last beer of my motivational mixed six pack was not a winner, at least not for me. Weyerbacher Simcoe IPA. I bought this in honor of my trip to Lake Simcoe a couple of years ago, and my possible familial ties that inspired said trip. (Look! Thesis, beer and travel all in one paragraph!) My ancestors came to the US via Canada, and lived in that area for a few generations before doing so. There is a provincial park on that lake called Sibbald Point-- my grandmother's maiden name is Sibbald, but she doubts we're actually related to those Sibbalds. Whatever, I reclaimed the family land and then a few years later bought a beer made with hops that share a name with the lake. And I didn't like the beer because of said hops. Just too sharp and bitter a flavor for me. Since there have been a few IPA's that I've enjoyed lately, I'm going to say this one just isn't the greatest. Go after it if you're into that, I guess.
Colleen the explorer reclaiming ancestral lands
3. I have barely left the house since I got home from school on Tuesday. I've been to Staples and to church. No bars, no liquor stores. And yet, I still managed to get another beer on my list that I was actually surprised wasn't already there. For this, I have my awesome older brother and sister-in-law to thank. They were in town for a wedding this weekend and brought with them some Miller Lite (the Earp standard issue-- totally already in the blog) and Beck's. I think it's interesting how poor of a rating it has on Beer Advocate. They recommend avoiding it. I suspect it's because they're super snobby and looking for crazy flavors and unique stuff. However, if you're going for something that's just plain old straight up beer, I think this is totally appropriate. While this is not my favorite style of beer (see-through), I thought this explained German Purity quite nicely-- it was very straightforward, clear, no weird tastes floating around, it tasted the same beginning to end and after. I appreciated this. And I appreciated big brother sharing this with me.
4. "What's going on here? You got a tattoo like him, and now you're drinking like him." -Kerin's commentary on my choice of Miller Lite when hanging out with them on Friday night... yes, I prefer beers that you can't see through, but I enjoy the occasional Earp Standard Issue, especially in the good company of my big brother and sister-in-law (:
Colleen: 311
Paul: 300
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Road trip with a side of beer
So this post reviews my recent vacation, where Laura and I drove from southwest Colorado to Virginia. Our route took us to Mesa Verde, a small town called Dolores, CO, the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Dallas, New Orleans, and Atlanta. Admittedly, this was not the most direct route, but it was a blast. We drove 3,200 miles in eight days, and that includes one day of no driving at all! For Laura's thoughts on this trip, see her blog.
Upon my arrival in Colorado (we drove out a couple months ago and I flew back to DC), Laura and I went to Durango, CO for Mass (since it was Sunday), which was preceded by a cup of coffee at a local shop. Once we were done with Mass, she took me to an awesome brewpub in the town called Steamworks. If you know your beer history (or if you saw the movie I lasted posted about), you would know there was a time in this country when each town had its own brewery. At some point, we lost that trend. However, I am glad to report than in Colorado, it seems that the local brewpub is on the rise once again.
Steamworks Backside Stout: This beer won a gold medal and a silver medal at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival. As an aside, I must go to the Great American Beer Festival one year. Despite the mediocre ratebeer ratings, I agree with the medal distinction. I thought this stout was amazing, well balanced, and full of flavor. It also was not that heavy. Tenured stout drinkers know that, believe it or not, Guinness comes across as light as water sometimes. This beer had a similar characteristic.
Steamworks Night Train: This was a dark lager than can be described as Yuengling on steroids. By that I mean, it was darker in color and heavier on flavor. It was a little hoppy, but I could otherwise drink a beer like this all night without getting tired of it.
We went to Mesa Verde National Park, which was beautiful. They are known for their 13th century cliff dwellings, some of which still stand today. We didn't stay for more than about 3 hours because the lack of sleep from an early morning flight and the altitude were getting to me. We stayed the night in the Rio Grande Southern Hotel. It's a pretty sweet, and might I add reasonably priced, bed and breakfast that is over 100 years old. Our room came with an awesome breakfast the next morning, and was cheaper than every macro chain hotel we stayed at the rest of the week. The best part about Dolores? They too had a local brewpub. The Dolores River Brewery was 1 block from the hotel, and was a sweet local place to eat. Their specialty is brick oven pizza, but they add pesto sauce which gives the pizza an interesting kick.
Dolores River Dry Stout: This beer was dry, yet well balanced. Experienced alcohol drinkers know the descriptor "dry." In a sense, it's that dryness that appears in your mouth after sipping a dry red wine. In no way was this similar to wine, but the same effect was there. This came across as well balanced and, despite the dry taste, as very drinkable.
Dolores River ESB: Their ESB (or pale ale) was hoppy, but not overwhelmingly. In other words, it fit its style very well. The hop (or bitter) flavor initially escalated during the sip, but trailed off into a malty flavor after the glass was pulled away. It went well with a slice of pizza.
Our next day took us to the Grand Canyon. While we stayed there, we found out that the grocery store at the south rim sells beer. There is a Grand Canyon brew. The part where Colleen pounds her fist into the desk? They let you buy individual bottles, so you can make your own six pack. Never fear dear beer friend, they only had three brews I could try anyway. The Grand Canyon was awesome. It rained while we were there, but it provided some really unique views of the canyon - we saw clouds/fog roll in and out as the weather changed, and the rain brought out a lot of color from the canyon walls.
Grand Canyon Pilsner: I thought this was a crisp, gold colored beer. For the most part, it fit the mold as an average pilsner. The unique part being the slight creamy flavor from the beer head. It didn't significantly improve the beer, but certainly made an impression.
Grand Canyon Horseshoe Bend Pale Ale: Pale Ales have more hops than malts, which give them a bitter flavor most of the time. It's important to note though, that hops are actually flowers. Therefore, hops can give a variety of different flavors to a beer. In this case, the floral aroma came across in the smell and taste.
Grand Canyon Sunset Amber Ale: The beer was below average. The amber did meet its style in the sense that it was mostly malty. Caramel malts were certainly used and they were present in the taste. Unfortunately, I thought the beer was too light in body for me to consider an above average amber ale.
On our way from the Grand Canyon to Santa Fe, we ran into some interesting weather outside of Flagstaff, AZ. While on I-40, we experienced hail (which accumulated), heavy winds, and sat in traffic due to many accidents. A tornado touched down and crossed the highway about 40 minutes before we got there. The storm system wasn't moving, so needless to say, we drove out of there as quickly and safely as possible. Upon our arrival in Santa Fe, we explored the city plaza and the Cathedral. For dinner we went to a place where I ate when I was there about 10 years ago, the Blue Corn Cafe. They had great food and their own beer. I highly recommend it if you are in that neck of the woods.
Blue Corn Cafe Oatmeal Stout: This was a gold medal winner at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival. With oatmeal stouts, you can definitely pick up the difference in flavor and body compared to a traditional stout. Both chocolate and coffee malts were used - with the coffee malt taking control as the majority influence on the taste. I liked this oatmeal stout.
Between Santa Fe and New Orleans, we drove through the long, dark of Texas. We stayed outside of Dallas, but about 11 hours of driving with maybe 20 minutes of stopping took its toll. We used the night to recharge for the next day's drive and the following night in New Orleans.
Our arrival in New Orleans was nice, we stayed in the French Quarter. This allowed us to see Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, and Cafe Du Monde. We got drinks at a brewpub in New Orleans called Crescent City Brewing; I thought the beer was mediocre for the price. We ate at a really local hole in the wall called Coops. We got the tip to eat there by asking a local who worked in a gift shop where she liked to eat. We both had cups of Gumbo. Laura had seafood gumbo. I sincerely hope Colleen will still be friends with me after this, because I had rabbit and sausage gumbo - which had quite the kick.
Crescent City Black Forest: I thought this fell into the category of a traditional dark lager. By that I mean, it's a little more complex than Yuengling and has a darker color.
Crescent City Oktoberfest: Like its counterpart, this was a rather mediocre Oktoberfest. The dark color and malty flavor were there, but nothing else really distinguished it.
Abita Amber Lager: We had this beer at the hole-in-the-wall place. The beer definitely had a clean taste to it, and went well with my dinner. The bottle advertises that the beer is brewed with spring water. Other than that, I didn't think it was that special. Being that Abita is the signature brew of New Orleans, trying this was necessary.
We left New Orleans the next morning en route to the suburbs of Atlanta to stay with Laura's aunt for the final night. She was very hospitable despite her broken leg. We certainly hope she gets better soon. The key note of that day's drive was US-90 along the water in Mississippi which had amazing views of the Gulf of Mexico.
This last beer was in my fridge. It may have been part of my last custom six pack, but I am not entirely sure. It seems Colleen and I tend to drink a beer as we write posts, and today is no different.
Left Hand Oktoberfest: I definitely picked up the caramel malt in this beer, and it had a slight sweetness to it. The brewer says they upped the alcohol from last year. 6.6% alcohol is a little high for an Oktoberfest, so it may have led to a different tasting experience. I tend to like Left Hand's brews, but I thought this was average.
I really need to post more frequently, and review fewer beers. I get the feeling its grueling to read through and digest this many reviews. I also need to get ahead of Colleen.
The scorecard:
Colleen - 304
Paul - 300
Cheers,
Paul
Upon my arrival in Colorado (we drove out a couple months ago and I flew back to DC), Laura and I went to Durango, CO for Mass (since it was Sunday), which was preceded by a cup of coffee at a local shop. Once we were done with Mass, she took me to an awesome brewpub in the town called Steamworks. If you know your beer history (or if you saw the movie I lasted posted about), you would know there was a time in this country when each town had its own brewery. At some point, we lost that trend. However, I am glad to report than in Colorado, it seems that the local brewpub is on the rise once again.
Steamworks Backside Stout: This beer won a gold medal and a silver medal at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival. As an aside, I must go to the Great American Beer Festival one year. Despite the mediocre ratebeer ratings, I agree with the medal distinction. I thought this stout was amazing, well balanced, and full of flavor. It also was not that heavy. Tenured stout drinkers know that, believe it or not, Guinness comes across as light as water sometimes. This beer had a similar characteristic.
Steamworks Night Train: This was a dark lager than can be described as Yuengling on steroids. By that I mean, it was darker in color and heavier on flavor. It was a little hoppy, but I could otherwise drink a beer like this all night without getting tired of it.
We went to Mesa Verde National Park, which was beautiful. They are known for their 13th century cliff dwellings, some of which still stand today. We didn't stay for more than about 3 hours because the lack of sleep from an early morning flight and the altitude were getting to me. We stayed the night in the Rio Grande Southern Hotel. It's a pretty sweet, and might I add reasonably priced, bed and breakfast that is over 100 years old. Our room came with an awesome breakfast the next morning, and was cheaper than every macro chain hotel we stayed at the rest of the week. The best part about Dolores? They too had a local brewpub. The Dolores River Brewery was 1 block from the hotel, and was a sweet local place to eat. Their specialty is brick oven pizza, but they add pesto sauce which gives the pizza an interesting kick.
Dolores River Dry Stout: This beer was dry, yet well balanced. Experienced alcohol drinkers know the descriptor "dry." In a sense, it's that dryness that appears in your mouth after sipping a dry red wine. In no way was this similar to wine, but the same effect was there. This came across as well balanced and, despite the dry taste, as very drinkable.
Dolores River ESB: Their ESB (or pale ale) was hoppy, but not overwhelmingly. In other words, it fit its style very well. The hop (or bitter) flavor initially escalated during the sip, but trailed off into a malty flavor after the glass was pulled away. It went well with a slice of pizza.
Our next day took us to the Grand Canyon. While we stayed there, we found out that the grocery store at the south rim sells beer. There is a Grand Canyon brew. The part where Colleen pounds her fist into the desk? They let you buy individual bottles, so you can make your own six pack. Never fear dear beer friend, they only had three brews I could try anyway. The Grand Canyon was awesome. It rained while we were there, but it provided some really unique views of the canyon - we saw clouds/fog roll in and out as the weather changed, and the rain brought out a lot of color from the canyon walls.
Grand Canyon Pilsner: I thought this was a crisp, gold colored beer. For the most part, it fit the mold as an average pilsner. The unique part being the slight creamy flavor from the beer head. It didn't significantly improve the beer, but certainly made an impression.
Grand Canyon Horseshoe Bend Pale Ale: Pale Ales have more hops than malts, which give them a bitter flavor most of the time. It's important to note though, that hops are actually flowers. Therefore, hops can give a variety of different flavors to a beer. In this case, the floral aroma came across in the smell and taste.
Grand Canyon Sunset Amber Ale: The beer was below average. The amber did meet its style in the sense that it was mostly malty. Caramel malts were certainly used and they were present in the taste. Unfortunately, I thought the beer was too light in body for me to consider an above average amber ale.
On our way from the Grand Canyon to Santa Fe, we ran into some interesting weather outside of Flagstaff, AZ. While on I-40, we experienced hail (which accumulated), heavy winds, and sat in traffic due to many accidents. A tornado touched down and crossed the highway about 40 minutes before we got there. The storm system wasn't moving, so needless to say, we drove out of there as quickly and safely as possible. Upon our arrival in Santa Fe, we explored the city plaza and the Cathedral. For dinner we went to a place where I ate when I was there about 10 years ago, the Blue Corn Cafe. They had great food and their own beer. I highly recommend it if you are in that neck of the woods.
Blue Corn Cafe Oatmeal Stout: This was a gold medal winner at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival. With oatmeal stouts, you can definitely pick up the difference in flavor and body compared to a traditional stout. Both chocolate and coffee malts were used - with the coffee malt taking control as the majority influence on the taste. I liked this oatmeal stout.
Between Santa Fe and New Orleans, we drove through the long, dark of Texas. We stayed outside of Dallas, but about 11 hours of driving with maybe 20 minutes of stopping took its toll. We used the night to recharge for the next day's drive and the following night in New Orleans.
Our arrival in New Orleans was nice, we stayed in the French Quarter. This allowed us to see Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, and Cafe Du Monde. We got drinks at a brewpub in New Orleans called Crescent City Brewing; I thought the beer was mediocre for the price. We ate at a really local hole in the wall called Coops. We got the tip to eat there by asking a local who worked in a gift shop where she liked to eat. We both had cups of Gumbo. Laura had seafood gumbo. I sincerely hope Colleen will still be friends with me after this, because I had rabbit and sausage gumbo - which had quite the kick.
Crescent City Black Forest: I thought this fell into the category of a traditional dark lager. By that I mean, it's a little more complex than Yuengling and has a darker color.
Crescent City Oktoberfest: Like its counterpart, this was a rather mediocre Oktoberfest. The dark color and malty flavor were there, but nothing else really distinguished it.
Abita Amber Lager: We had this beer at the hole-in-the-wall place. The beer definitely had a clean taste to it, and went well with my dinner. The bottle advertises that the beer is brewed with spring water. Other than that, I didn't think it was that special. Being that Abita is the signature brew of New Orleans, trying this was necessary.
We left New Orleans the next morning en route to the suburbs of Atlanta to stay with Laura's aunt for the final night. She was very hospitable despite her broken leg. We certainly hope she gets better soon. The key note of that day's drive was US-90 along the water in Mississippi which had amazing views of the Gulf of Mexico.
This last beer was in my fridge. It may have been part of my last custom six pack, but I am not entirely sure. It seems Colleen and I tend to drink a beer as we write posts, and today is no different.
Left Hand Oktoberfest: I definitely picked up the caramel malt in this beer, and it had a slight sweetness to it. The brewer says they upped the alcohol from last year. 6.6% alcohol is a little high for an Oktoberfest, so it may have led to a different tasting experience. I tend to like Left Hand's brews, but I thought this was average.
I really need to post more frequently, and review fewer beers. I get the feeling its grueling to read through and digest this many reviews. I also need to get ahead of Colleen.
The scorecard:
Colleen - 304
Paul - 300
Cheers,
Paul
Saturday, October 2, 2010
A Medley of Sorts
Part of me doesn't want to make a post this long, but the other part of me wants to update the blog and get back to my regularly scheduled programming. I've been working a lot of hours since Laura has been in Colorado, and now that the craziness is about to end, it's time to go through my notes that I've left here, on the back of receipts, and in my cell phone...so here we go.
In August, Brendan and I got a beer at Fireflies. Almost everyone I have taken there enjoys the the vibe and beer list. We talked about life, had some beer and some wings.
Boulder Beer Singletrack Copper Ale: I had some high hopes for this beer, thinking it might be more like an amber ale. I was sorely mistaken. It did have the smooth, light malty characteristics of an amber ale. However, this beer was had too much hop flavor, which ruined it for me stylistically.
I started off September with a Jimmy Buffett concert. If you have not been to one before, I would recommend it. It's basically just one monstrous, but chill, party. It gave me the opportunity to momentarily kick back and relax with a few beers and some friends. I managed to try a new, large macro brew.
Bud Light: It wasn't on my list yet, but according to Colleen, if it's beer it can be reviewed. I find this beer useful if I am out drinking and I don't want to load up on alcohol content. Other than that, it might find purpose to boil brats in or wash my car.
That same weekend, Colleen came to visit. It was great to catch up with her, and hear about her trip. As a thank you, she bought me a custom six pack. I've worked my way through them, some of which I had at the Virginia Tech vs. Boise State game, and the rest I had at a couple pizza and beer nights with the roommates.
Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen: I really liked this beer. It was a good transition from the summer beers that I've been complaining about in recent posts. Essentially, it's a dark hefeweizen. The difference being there is more malt to it, hence the darker color and different taste. Samuel Adams usually doesn't steer you wrong (EXCEPT: when there is a fruit/pumpkin in it or its name is Old Fezziwig).
Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale: I don't like pumpkin beers. I tend to avoid them. However, I am also behind in our beer count, so I can't be choosy. This tasted a bit like pumpkin pie, because I tasted cinnamon. It's an experimental seasonal. That said, the taste was better than most pumpkin beers that I've tried.
Holy Brew Purgatory Pilsner: It shouldn't surprise most that I bought this beer for the name on the bottle. Overall, it was an average pilsner. It was the light body, medium taste that you would expect to find from the style.
Smuttynose Robust Porter: This was a fantastic porter. Really, it might be one of the best porters I have ever tried. The beer was everything a porter should be, and nothing else. The brewers did a great job of not messing with a good thing. The beer was just the right body, with the perfect roasted malt flavor. I highly recommend it.
The Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale: Bottom Line: This was a sub-par amber ale that didn't seem to distinguish itself from any other amber ales that I've had in the past. If anything else, it left an odd aftertaste in my mouth. Perhaps it could have been the individual bottle, but I wasn't impressed.
Yards General Washington Tavern Porter: The recipe was originally created by Washington himself. He used molasses with his recipe. The molasses creates an interesting twist to the flavor and aftertaste. Porters tend to have chocolate malts, so the taste is not entirely foreign either. I thought this was good as well.
The roommates and I went to RFD in Washington DC. They have about 50 beers on tap at any given time, and a good bottle list. Their location near Chinatown makes for a good location. Matt, Brendan, and I enjoyed time to make sarcastic comments. It's nice to kick back with them and have a few new beers.
Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter: The fact that it is the time of the year for porters makes me very happy. This porter also made me happy, because it was done well. The beer was heavy, which should be expected, but didn't overbear my stomach. The malts seemed varied in flavors, but were very well balanced.
Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale: The guys at Stone brewing are most likely the best in the country. They aren't afraid to experiment, but everything they put on a shelf seems to be liquid gold to a beer snob. This was an incredibly complex beer, which is par for the course with Stone. It's kind of like drinking an IPA, but it's dark with plenty of malts.
I joined my friends Tim and Heather for dinner a couple of weekends ago. We went to Victoria's Gastro Pub. I have been there before with them, and I highly recommend it as a place to eat as well as enjoy new beers. They are on the cutting edge of complimenting food with beer. When paired well together, I think beer and food make a better combination than wine and cheese.
That same weekend, I went to West Chester, PA to their yearly restaurant festival. It's a really good time, plus I get to hang out with my cousin Scott. He was kind enough to buy a six pack of Guinness, since he knew I was coming. Quote of the weekend: At one point, I went to get another beer and I said, "I guess I'll preserve the Miller Lite and get a Guinness for myself". I intended this to mean, that since most people won't drink Guinness, that's what I will stay with in order to be polite. However, after a good laugh, the group decided this would make a great beer commercial.
Evolution Lucky 7 Porter: I enjoyed this porter. As far as the style goes, it was above average. There was that smoky/roasted taste that is endemic of most porters. The malts were well blended between coffee and chocolate characteristics.
This past weekend, I went with my cousin Brendan and a few friends to the DC Oktoberfest. In short, it was a small piece of heaven. I ended up with an extra ticket, so that meant more tokens. The best part was the smallest samples (which cost one token) were 4 oz. That follows our rule. Secondly, I had enough tokens and time to get decent samples (8+ oz) and still maintain a good review. I will be going back to this next year. Colleen, you should come down for it. Most of the brewers were ones that I hadn't heard of before - win.
Julius Echter Hefe-Weissbier: I thought this was a very light bodied hefeweizen. The beer was unfiltered, and thus a little heavy on the yeast. However, it did have a sweet characteristic that complimented the hot September day.
Evolution Rise Up Stout: This was heavy on the coffee malts. I traditionally don't like coffee stouts that much, and this wasn't an exception to that rule.
Goose Island Honker's Ale: I have some interesting notes for this beer. I thought it came across as rather malty on contact, became mild and very good in between, and ended off hoppy. And those are the impressions I got on each sip. I need to find this beer again so I can break it down more.
Pyramid Juggernaut Red Ale: The lone descriptor I included was the beer was rather malty. Other than that, it was very forgettable. I wouldn't go out of your way to find this.
Lancaster Oktoberfest: I tend to think of Oktoberfest style beers as being on the heavier side, and erring mostly toward the malt side of things. If you don't like IPAs, then Oktoberfest might be your thing. For an Oktoberfest, I thought this was very light. By that I mean it wasn't as heavy as I expected, nor did it contain as much of a malt characteristic as I expected.
Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale: Like Colleen, I found this to be a very drinkable beer that was very, very smooth. The malt character is extremely well balanced. For those of you who aren't big on hops, but want to try something from one of America's best brewers, give this beer a shot. I had more of this beer than any other at the DC Oktoberfest.
Lastly, I went to Rock Bottom to celebrate my good friend Andy's birthday. Colleen and I have both reviewed Rock Bottom (since it is a chain of brew pubs). We also happen to like it, since their beers are pretty good. My advice is to look at the boards on the wall to see which beer is freshest and go with that. My biggest complaint is sometimes the beer gets a little old there.
Rock Bottom Rocktoberfest: After a summer of light, fruity beers we finally reach autumn, which means the style of beers predominantly found changes (praise Jesus). I thought this Oktoberfest was rather well done. It was very well balanced, and had a great malt characteristic to it. It's certainly above average for the style.
I'll be on a road trip with Laura in the next couple of weeks. Expect some updates on great brewpubs from around different parts of the country. I need to keep pace with Colleen somehow...
The scorecard:
Colleen - 290
Paul - 288
Cheers,
Paul
In August, Brendan and I got a beer at Fireflies. Almost everyone I have taken there enjoys the the vibe and beer list. We talked about life, had some beer and some wings.
Boulder Beer Singletrack Copper Ale: I had some high hopes for this beer, thinking it might be more like an amber ale. I was sorely mistaken. It did have the smooth, light malty characteristics of an amber ale. However, this beer was had too much hop flavor, which ruined it for me stylistically.
I started off September with a Jimmy Buffett concert. If you have not been to one before, I would recommend it. It's basically just one monstrous, but chill, party. It gave me the opportunity to momentarily kick back and relax with a few beers and some friends. I managed to try a new, large macro brew.
Bud Light: It wasn't on my list yet, but according to Colleen, if it's beer it can be reviewed. I find this beer useful if I am out drinking and I don't want to load up on alcohol content. Other than that, it might find purpose to boil brats in or wash my car.
That same weekend, Colleen came to visit. It was great to catch up with her, and hear about her trip. As a thank you, she bought me a custom six pack. I've worked my way through them, some of which I had at the Virginia Tech vs. Boise State game, and the rest I had at a couple pizza and beer nights with the roommates.
Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen: I really liked this beer. It was a good transition from the summer beers that I've been complaining about in recent posts. Essentially, it's a dark hefeweizen. The difference being there is more malt to it, hence the darker color and different taste. Samuel Adams usually doesn't steer you wrong (EXCEPT: when there is a fruit/pumpkin in it or its name is Old Fezziwig).
Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale: I don't like pumpkin beers. I tend to avoid them. However, I am also behind in our beer count, so I can't be choosy. This tasted a bit like pumpkin pie, because I tasted cinnamon. It's an experimental seasonal. That said, the taste was better than most pumpkin beers that I've tried.
Holy Brew Purgatory Pilsner: It shouldn't surprise most that I bought this beer for the name on the bottle. Overall, it was an average pilsner. It was the light body, medium taste that you would expect to find from the style.
Smuttynose Robust Porter: This was a fantastic porter. Really, it might be one of the best porters I have ever tried. The beer was everything a porter should be, and nothing else. The brewers did a great job of not messing with a good thing. The beer was just the right body, with the perfect roasted malt flavor. I highly recommend it.
The Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale: Bottom Line: This was a sub-par amber ale that didn't seem to distinguish itself from any other amber ales that I've had in the past. If anything else, it left an odd aftertaste in my mouth. Perhaps it could have been the individual bottle, but I wasn't impressed.
Yards General Washington Tavern Porter: The recipe was originally created by Washington himself. He used molasses with his recipe. The molasses creates an interesting twist to the flavor and aftertaste. Porters tend to have chocolate malts, so the taste is not entirely foreign either. I thought this was good as well.
The roommates and I went to RFD in Washington DC. They have about 50 beers on tap at any given time, and a good bottle list. Their location near Chinatown makes for a good location. Matt, Brendan, and I enjoyed time to make sarcastic comments. It's nice to kick back with them and have a few new beers.
Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter: The fact that it is the time of the year for porters makes me very happy. This porter also made me happy, because it was done well. The beer was heavy, which should be expected, but didn't overbear my stomach. The malts seemed varied in flavors, but were very well balanced.
Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale: The guys at Stone brewing are most likely the best in the country. They aren't afraid to experiment, but everything they put on a shelf seems to be liquid gold to a beer snob. This was an incredibly complex beer, which is par for the course with Stone. It's kind of like drinking an IPA, but it's dark with plenty of malts.
I joined my friends Tim and Heather for dinner a couple of weekends ago. We went to Victoria's Gastro Pub. I have been there before with them, and I highly recommend it as a place to eat as well as enjoy new beers. They are on the cutting edge of complimenting food with beer. When paired well together, I think beer and food make a better combination than wine and cheese.
That same weekend, I went to West Chester, PA to their yearly restaurant festival. It's a really good time, plus I get to hang out with my cousin Scott. He was kind enough to buy a six pack of Guinness, since he knew I was coming. Quote of the weekend: At one point, I went to get another beer and I said, "I guess I'll preserve the Miller Lite and get a Guinness for myself". I intended this to mean, that since most people won't drink Guinness, that's what I will stay with in order to be polite. However, after a good laugh, the group decided this would make a great beer commercial.
Evolution Lucky 7 Porter: I enjoyed this porter. As far as the style goes, it was above average. There was that smoky/roasted taste that is endemic of most porters. The malts were well blended between coffee and chocolate characteristics.
This past weekend, I went with my cousin Brendan and a few friends to the DC Oktoberfest. In short, it was a small piece of heaven. I ended up with an extra ticket, so that meant more tokens. The best part was the smallest samples (which cost one token) were 4 oz. That follows our rule. Secondly, I had enough tokens and time to get decent samples (8+ oz) and still maintain a good review. I will be going back to this next year. Colleen, you should come down for it. Most of the brewers were ones that I hadn't heard of before - win.
Julius Echter Hefe-Weissbier: I thought this was a very light bodied hefeweizen. The beer was unfiltered, and thus a little heavy on the yeast. However, it did have a sweet characteristic that complimented the hot September day.
Evolution Rise Up Stout: This was heavy on the coffee malts. I traditionally don't like coffee stouts that much, and this wasn't an exception to that rule.
Goose Island Honker's Ale: I have some interesting notes for this beer. I thought it came across as rather malty on contact, became mild and very good in between, and ended off hoppy. And those are the impressions I got on each sip. I need to find this beer again so I can break it down more.
Pyramid Juggernaut Red Ale: The lone descriptor I included was the beer was rather malty. Other than that, it was very forgettable. I wouldn't go out of your way to find this.
Lancaster Oktoberfest: I tend to think of Oktoberfest style beers as being on the heavier side, and erring mostly toward the malt side of things. If you don't like IPAs, then Oktoberfest might be your thing. For an Oktoberfest, I thought this was very light. By that I mean it wasn't as heavy as I expected, nor did it contain as much of a malt characteristic as I expected.
Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale: Like Colleen, I found this to be a very drinkable beer that was very, very smooth. The malt character is extremely well balanced. For those of you who aren't big on hops, but want to try something from one of America's best brewers, give this beer a shot. I had more of this beer than any other at the DC Oktoberfest.
Lastly, I went to Rock Bottom to celebrate my good friend Andy's birthday. Colleen and I have both reviewed Rock Bottom (since it is a chain of brew pubs). We also happen to like it, since their beers are pretty good. My advice is to look at the boards on the wall to see which beer is freshest and go with that. My biggest complaint is sometimes the beer gets a little old there.
Rock Bottom Rocktoberfest: After a summer of light, fruity beers we finally reach autumn, which means the style of beers predominantly found changes (praise Jesus). I thought this Oktoberfest was rather well done. It was very well balanced, and had a great malt characteristic to it. It's certainly above average for the style.
I'll be on a road trip with Laura in the next couple of weeks. Expect some updates on great brewpubs from around different parts of the country. I need to keep pace with Colleen somehow...
The scorecard:
Colleen - 290
Paul - 288
Cheers,
Paul
Saturday, August 7, 2010
It's been how long?
Note: I have reason to believe that certain parts of this site, i.e. the blogger navigation bar above, have been hacked. Please do not click on them until I manage to find a solution. Thanks.
I've ignored this place too long. Actually, ignored is a bad word. Life has gotten in the way for too long. All the while, I've been collecting little notes on backs of receipts in my wallet and keeping a master list of beers I've tried on my phone. All of these efforts have been with the intention of updating my count before Colleen ends her contract. I know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I have been doing some traveling. Laura and I went 2,100 miles in four days from Northern Virginia to Southwest Colorado. Along the way, we stopped at some ruins for a 12th Century Native American City in Illinois, saw the St. Louis Arch, drank at a micro-brewery in St. Louis (notice the lack of a certain macro-brewer), visited some cousins of mine in Kansas, and a lot of other stuff. You can read her blog entry on our trip here.
Harpoon Summer: This one has been lying in the fridge for a while. I'd say I've been getting really tired of summer style, specifically Kolsch beers, but we have so many reviews to go before the end. It was average as far as the Kolsch style goes, and by that I mean perfect on a hot summer day.
Budweiser: If you drink beer, you know this one....unfortunately. Bud-heavy, as it may be known, is sometimes a foreigner's impression of American Beer. I cry at night when I think of this. It isn't that bad, but there is just so much more to American Brewing than this staple. I'd lambaste this beer more, but among few of my reasons not to bash it further is they have hilarious commercials.
Miller Lite: I had this beer when out with my cousins in Georgetown. We were on a boat outside of Tony and Joe's along the water. Remember my review of Budweiser? Of course, you do - it was my last review. This beer was fine on a hot summer day, other than that avoid it. Don't let all those alleged world beer cup awards in the commercials fool you (more on this later).
Rebel: This is a Czech beer that I had while having dinner at Laura's parent's house (I'm not sure if that statement is grammatically correct, but you'll live with it). This is a Pilsner from the Czech Republic. For those of you scoring at home, this is where the Pilsner style was invented. As far as Pilsner's go, this was a quality beer. However, even reviewing pilsners, kolschs, and lagers is starting to wear on me.
Trader Joe's Bohemian Lager: Damn it, another Lager. This was another one that was graciously handed to my while at Laura's parent's house. I thought the beer was a little heavy bodied for a lager. I drank it from the bottle, so I didn't get a good read on the color of the beer. It just seemed a little too malty and full bodied for a Lager. Nonetheless, I am still thankful for this beer and the aforementioned one.
Laura tells me that I need to add more stories to this blog. However, I always try to weigh them with my own privacy, her privacy, and the privacy of our friends. It's not a perfect system, after all I have a blog, but it's something I weigh in my mind. For example, I tend to not specify the exact dates of my immediate travel plans, and I prefer to write about them after the fact. I'm not perfect at it, but I try.
When Laura and I visited St. Louis on our road trip, we stopped at Morgan Street Brewery. The brewery is about two blocks from the Mississippi River, and about 3/4 mile North of the Gateway Arch. After stopping by the Arch, we walked over to the brew-pub. As I said earlier, take a mental note of the other brewery options we could have visited. The food was pretty good. The sandwiches came with coniques, which I think were fried mashed potatoes.
Morgan Street Brewery Golden Pilsner: This beer is advertised as award winning, so I decided I should try it. I'm starting to wonder who these judges are exactly (Note to Colleen, figure out how we can be on the panel). For a Pilsner, I thought it was a bit malty. Other than that, it went down pretty smooth. After a long two days of travel, it hit the spot. Besides that, incorporate every other buzz word I've mentioned about summer beers.
Morgan Street Brewery Honey Wheat: Before we left, I asked the waitress if I weren't to be in the area again (which is reasonable to assume), which beer I should try. She mentioned that this beer was their most popular by far. As I think now, the popularity of their beers are probably determined mostly by St. Louis Cardinals fans who walk the few blocks there before or after a game. The lager was somewhere between filtered and unfiltered, and had a slight sweet taste to it - hence the honey.
The next day, we drove out to central Kansas to visit some cousin's of mine and stay the night. They were quite gracious hosts. They took us to a Mexican restaurant in town, their county fair, and their farm. It was quite a good time, and we both really appreciated their kind hospitality. When we went out for Mexican, and I had completed a drive of 450 miles behind the wheel. To say I needed a beer was an understatement.
Corona Extra: I had it with the Lime. It went well after a long drive and with my enchiladas. I wouldn't recommend it unless it's with Mexican food, you want to be polite, or it's one of my often referenced "hot summer days."
Upon arriving in Durango, CO after some bare knuckle driving the last 30 miles through the mountain pass during torrential rain, I decided I was too tired to get beer. In my defense, it had been over 2,000 miles, it was 8 PM (local, 10PM to me), and I had driven the final part of the day. Rest assured, I will man-up and find one of their brew-pubs in October when I go to travel back with Laura!
However, during my layover in the Denver airport I did manage to find a place with Colorado micro-brews. I've already had Fat Tire so I decided to try something else.
New Belgium Skinny Dip: Apparently, this is their low calorie, summer seasonal. As far as light beers go, it had a pretty good body to it. I'd say that was its greatest distinguishing factor from all the other summer beers. As an aside, I cannot wait for fall - just to have new styles of beer!
Odell 90 Shilling: This was a Scottish Ale. I was told it would be somewhat like New Castle. I thought it had a fuller body, and more taste to it. I don't have much experience with Scottish Ales, nor does Colleen since neither of us have "tagged" the term. Upon some further research, it does go with the style. It had a full-bodied malt taste, with little or no hop characteristic.
Just today I went out with my cousins for a birthday celebration at P.F. Chang's. It was my first time there, but I am more than familiar with Chinese Food. I thought the food was pretty good, and I still can't use chopsticks. I thought the next best thing was to get one of their beers, and a Japanese beer that was a repeat.
Tsingtao: The first words out of my mouth were, "That's not as awful as I expected." In my defense, the Chinese aren't really known for their beer. I thought it was no different than a Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Lite, etc. I'll give it more points though since it's harder to come across. It also went well with the food.
Kirin Ichiban: Hankering for another beer, and wanting to review another for the blog, I ordered this Japanese beer. I've already had it, so it doesn't count on my list. This is a light styled Lager, and it's certainly not any better than the American macro-brews that I have already mentioned. Again, it was yet another summer beer.
In the time I have written this, Colleen has decided to break our little, albeit temporary, tie. Congrats to her on that achievement. Also, best wishes on your trip and I hope this mess with the antibiotics can be over soon! By the way, I am jealous of your winter style beer - very jealous.
The scorecard:
Colleen - 271
Paul - 270 (no, not pounds)
I am sure that I will have more beers soon. However, my pace will be slowed by travel (as I've already mentioned) and a crazy schedule at work until the end of September.
Cheers,
Paul
I've ignored this place too long. Actually, ignored is a bad word. Life has gotten in the way for too long. All the while, I've been collecting little notes on backs of receipts in my wallet and keeping a master list of beers I've tried on my phone. All of these efforts have been with the intention of updating my count before Colleen ends her contract. I know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I have been doing some traveling. Laura and I went 2,100 miles in four days from Northern Virginia to Southwest Colorado. Along the way, we stopped at some ruins for a 12th Century Native American City in Illinois, saw the St. Louis Arch, drank at a micro-brewery in St. Louis (notice the lack of a certain macro-brewer), visited some cousins of mine in Kansas, and a lot of other stuff. You can read her blog entry on our trip here.
Harpoon Summer: This one has been lying in the fridge for a while. I'd say I've been getting really tired of summer style, specifically Kolsch beers, but we have so many reviews to go before the end. It was average as far as the Kolsch style goes, and by that I mean perfect on a hot summer day.
Budweiser: If you drink beer, you know this one....unfortunately. Bud-heavy, as it may be known, is sometimes a foreigner's impression of American Beer. I cry at night when I think of this. It isn't that bad, but there is just so much more to American Brewing than this staple. I'd lambaste this beer more, but among few of my reasons not to bash it further is they have hilarious commercials.
Miller Lite: I had this beer when out with my cousins in Georgetown. We were on a boat outside of Tony and Joe's along the water. Remember my review of Budweiser? Of course, you do - it was my last review. This beer was fine on a hot summer day, other than that avoid it. Don't let all those alleged world beer cup awards in the commercials fool you (more on this later).
Rebel: This is a Czech beer that I had while having dinner at Laura's parent's house (I'm not sure if that statement is grammatically correct, but you'll live with it). This is a Pilsner from the Czech Republic. For those of you scoring at home, this is where the Pilsner style was invented. As far as Pilsner's go, this was a quality beer. However, even reviewing pilsners, kolschs, and lagers is starting to wear on me.
Trader Joe's Bohemian Lager: Damn it, another Lager. This was another one that was graciously handed to my while at Laura's parent's house. I thought the beer was a little heavy bodied for a lager. I drank it from the bottle, so I didn't get a good read on the color of the beer. It just seemed a little too malty and full bodied for a Lager. Nonetheless, I am still thankful for this beer and the aforementioned one.
Laura tells me that I need to add more stories to this blog. However, I always try to weigh them with my own privacy, her privacy, and the privacy of our friends. It's not a perfect system, after all I have a blog, but it's something I weigh in my mind. For example, I tend to not specify the exact dates of my immediate travel plans, and I prefer to write about them after the fact. I'm not perfect at it, but I try.
When Laura and I visited St. Louis on our road trip, we stopped at Morgan Street Brewery. The brewery is about two blocks from the Mississippi River, and about 3/4 mile North of the Gateway Arch. After stopping by the Arch, we walked over to the brew-pub. As I said earlier, take a mental note of the other brewery options we could have visited. The food was pretty good. The sandwiches came with coniques, which I think were fried mashed potatoes.
Morgan Street Brewery Golden Pilsner: This beer is advertised as award winning, so I decided I should try it. I'm starting to wonder who these judges are exactly (Note to Colleen, figure out how we can be on the panel). For a Pilsner, I thought it was a bit malty. Other than that, it went down pretty smooth. After a long two days of travel, it hit the spot. Besides that, incorporate every other buzz word I've mentioned about summer beers.
Morgan Street Brewery Honey Wheat: Before we left, I asked the waitress if I weren't to be in the area again (which is reasonable to assume), which beer I should try. She mentioned that this beer was their most popular by far. As I think now, the popularity of their beers are probably determined mostly by St. Louis Cardinals fans who walk the few blocks there before or after a game. The lager was somewhere between filtered and unfiltered, and had a slight sweet taste to it - hence the honey.
The next day, we drove out to central Kansas to visit some cousin's of mine and stay the night. They were quite gracious hosts. They took us to a Mexican restaurant in town, their county fair, and their farm. It was quite a good time, and we both really appreciated their kind hospitality. When we went out for Mexican, and I had completed a drive of 450 miles behind the wheel. To say I needed a beer was an understatement.
Corona Extra: I had it with the Lime. It went well after a long drive and with my enchiladas. I wouldn't recommend it unless it's with Mexican food, you want to be polite, or it's one of my often referenced "hot summer days."
Upon arriving in Durango, CO after some bare knuckle driving the last 30 miles through the mountain pass during torrential rain, I decided I was too tired to get beer. In my defense, it had been over 2,000 miles, it was 8 PM (local, 10PM to me), and I had driven the final part of the day. Rest assured, I will man-up and find one of their brew-pubs in October when I go to travel back with Laura!
However, during my layover in the Denver airport I did manage to find a place with Colorado micro-brews. I've already had Fat Tire so I decided to try something else.
New Belgium Skinny Dip: Apparently, this is their low calorie, summer seasonal. As far as light beers go, it had a pretty good body to it. I'd say that was its greatest distinguishing factor from all the other summer beers. As an aside, I cannot wait for fall - just to have new styles of beer!
Odell 90 Shilling: This was a Scottish Ale. I was told it would be somewhat like New Castle. I thought it had a fuller body, and more taste to it. I don't have much experience with Scottish Ales, nor does Colleen since neither of us have "tagged" the term. Upon some further research, it does go with the style. It had a full-bodied malt taste, with little or no hop characteristic.
Just today I went out with my cousins for a birthday celebration at P.F. Chang's. It was my first time there, but I am more than familiar with Chinese Food. I thought the food was pretty good, and I still can't use chopsticks. I thought the next best thing was to get one of their beers, and a Japanese beer that was a repeat.
Tsingtao: The first words out of my mouth were, "That's not as awful as I expected." In my defense, the Chinese aren't really known for their beer. I thought it was no different than a Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Lite, etc. I'll give it more points though since it's harder to come across. It also went well with the food.
Kirin Ichiban: Hankering for another beer, and wanting to review another for the blog, I ordered this Japanese beer. I've already had it, so it doesn't count on my list. This is a light styled Lager, and it's certainly not any better than the American macro-brews that I have already mentioned. Again, it was yet another summer beer.
In the time I have written this, Colleen has decided to break our little, albeit temporary, tie. Congrats to her on that achievement. Also, best wishes on your trip and I hope this mess with the antibiotics can be over soon! By the way, I am jealous of your winter style beer - very jealous.
The scorecard:
Colleen - 271
Paul - 270 (no, not pounds)
I am sure that I will have more beers soon. However, my pace will be slowed by travel (as I've already mentioned) and a crazy schedule at work until the end of September.
Cheers,
Paul
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Beer, Football, and Traveling
A few weeks ago, there was an extended family party in Richmond. Afterward, some of us met for dinner at Bilbo Baggins in Alexandria. They always have a good beer menu. I was looking for something lighter, being that I was tired from sitting in traffic all day, it was hot (I laugh at that now...it's going to top 100 today), and I was dehydrated.
Eggenberg Pilsner: I thought this beer was light, smooth, and refreshing. Unlike a macro light beer, it had a lot more flavor to it. It was slightly above average on alcohol content. To me, it was a great summer beer. It had a bit of a champagne body to it, which was surprising. Let's face it, you don't want a porter when you're overheated and dehydrated. Ok, maybe you do if you're Colleen...but that's not my thing.
Later that week, my beer adventures continued with a trip to Crystal City Sports Pub to watch the USA vs Algeria world cup game (yes, this was two weeks ago...it's been a lot of repeats recently). I have some flexibility with my work schedule, so this enabled me to watch the game there. It was a fantastic time. There's something about having two hundred people in a sports pub, drinking beer, and eating eggs while watching football. My beer of choice? Guinness, of course. Clearly, the beer gods smiled upon me that day.
The following weekend I traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a friend's wedding. I saw this as an excellent opportunity to meet some great people, see my friend get married, hit the open bar (hard), and try some new beers. I was fortunate enough to be hosted by Laura's brother and his family the night before the wedding. Their hospitality was much appreciated. I really like that section of the country, and honsetly wished I could have tried more beers in the land of microbrews.
Grizzly Peak Bearpaw Porter: The groom recommended Grizzly Peak Brewing in downtown Ann Arbor. When I arrived in Ann Arbor, I was searching sustenance as the airports had no selection of micro-brews. I thought this was an excellent porter. I wish I could have brought a growler home. Unfortunately, I am told this is only distributed locally, so it's difficult to find in a bottle.
Grizzly Peak Liberty Lager: This was a seasonal by Grizzly Peak, so I am not surprised ratebeer.com has yet to have a page on it. I liked the porter a lot more, but this wasn't bad either. There can be a lot of variation in lagers, and this erred on the hoppy side. However, the hop choice was interesting, since the aftertaste had a bittersweet to it.
Labatt Blue Light: I brought this over for Laura's brother, as he requested a Canadian beer. It was your average light beer.
I helped my friend Andy move his sailboat on 4th of July weekend. It took 7 hours to move it through the Chesapeake Bay, about 3 hours longer than it should have. While it was hot that day, the wind allowed for it to not feel as bad. However, when we finished I was pretty exhausted and dehydrated. They graciously fed us, and the dinner was excellent.
Pabst Blue Ribbon: Andy's mom offered me this beer, and I housed it due to the conditions described above. The beer was fine, probably because it was cold, and I needed a beer more than I needed a good beer.
I haven't had many new ones lately, so I am squandering my chance to retake the lead. I think I will be heading to make a custom six pack soon. Also, Laura and I will be roadtripping in the next three weeks, so perhaps I can stop at some brewpubs or microbreweries soon.
During my travels, I also had two retreads of note:
Legend Brown Ale: If you like Brown Ales, this is probably a beer for you to try. I wasn't a huge fan of this, again. I thought it was a little too full bodied for a Brown Ale. However, I admit that there would be plenty of people that would like this.
Bell's Oberon: I had this a couple month's ago at the Brickskeller. While in Ann Arbor, I had the chance to have a few of these on tap. I think this is an excellent summer wheat ale. Bell's is perhaps one of the best microbrewers in the country, and this only proves that statement further.
The Scorecard:
Colleen - 267
Paul - 254
Cheers,
Paul
Eggenberg Pilsner: I thought this beer was light, smooth, and refreshing. Unlike a macro light beer, it had a lot more flavor to it. It was slightly above average on alcohol content. To me, it was a great summer beer. It had a bit of a champagne body to it, which was surprising. Let's face it, you don't want a porter when you're overheated and dehydrated. Ok, maybe you do if you're Colleen...but that's not my thing.
Later that week, my beer adventures continued with a trip to Crystal City Sports Pub to watch the USA vs Algeria world cup game (yes, this was two weeks ago...it's been a lot of repeats recently). I have some flexibility with my work schedule, so this enabled me to watch the game there. It was a fantastic time. There's something about having two hundred people in a sports pub, drinking beer, and eating eggs while watching football. My beer of choice? Guinness, of course. Clearly, the beer gods smiled upon me that day.
The following weekend I traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a friend's wedding. I saw this as an excellent opportunity to meet some great people, see my friend get married, hit the open bar (hard), and try some new beers. I was fortunate enough to be hosted by Laura's brother and his family the night before the wedding. Their hospitality was much appreciated. I really like that section of the country, and honsetly wished I could have tried more beers in the land of microbrews.
Grizzly Peak Bearpaw Porter: The groom recommended Grizzly Peak Brewing in downtown Ann Arbor. When I arrived in Ann Arbor, I was searching sustenance as the airports had no selection of micro-brews. I thought this was an excellent porter. I wish I could have brought a growler home. Unfortunately, I am told this is only distributed locally, so it's difficult to find in a bottle.
Grizzly Peak Liberty Lager: This was a seasonal by Grizzly Peak, so I am not surprised ratebeer.com has yet to have a page on it. I liked the porter a lot more, but this wasn't bad either. There can be a lot of variation in lagers, and this erred on the hoppy side. However, the hop choice was interesting, since the aftertaste had a bittersweet to it.
Labatt Blue Light: I brought this over for Laura's brother, as he requested a Canadian beer. It was your average light beer.
I helped my friend Andy move his sailboat on 4th of July weekend. It took 7 hours to move it through the Chesapeake Bay, about 3 hours longer than it should have. While it was hot that day, the wind allowed for it to not feel as bad. However, when we finished I was pretty exhausted and dehydrated. They graciously fed us, and the dinner was excellent.
Pabst Blue Ribbon: Andy's mom offered me this beer, and I housed it due to the conditions described above. The beer was fine, probably because it was cold, and I needed a beer more than I needed a good beer.
I haven't had many new ones lately, so I am squandering my chance to retake the lead. I think I will be heading to make a custom six pack soon. Also, Laura and I will be roadtripping in the next three weeks, so perhaps I can stop at some brewpubs or microbreweries soon.
During my travels, I also had two retreads of note:
Legend Brown Ale: If you like Brown Ales, this is probably a beer for you to try. I wasn't a huge fan of this, again. I thought it was a little too full bodied for a Brown Ale. However, I admit that there would be plenty of people that would like this.
Bell's Oberon: I had this a couple month's ago at the Brickskeller. While in Ann Arbor, I had the chance to have a few of these on tap. I think this is an excellent summer wheat ale. Bell's is perhaps one of the best microbrewers in the country, and this only proves that statement further.
The Scorecard:
Colleen - 267
Paul - 254
Cheers,
Paul
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
crawling back to respectability
The whole idea at this point is to be the little engine that could, and crawl myself back to a respectable tally. It will take a while, but I am going to get there. I just need to keep trying new beers when seeing people, and when all else fails make custom six packs at Total Wine.
On Sunday, I went to Laura's parents house for dinner to celebrate her brother's birthday. I wanted to bring a gift. Since her brother enjoys hoppy beers, I decided on Stone IPA because I think they may be the best micro-brewer in the country. If you like hoppy beers and have never had it before, pick up a six pack and try it. The quality is hard to find anywhere else. I've had this beer before, and it's a real ass-kicker.
While over for dinner, where I ate so much that I fell into a food coma, I managed to try two new beers. The dinner was delicious. The beers were also great.
Dominion Beach House Golden Pilsner: I thought this would be more on the side of a summer beer, perhaps the name just fooled me. Pilsners are not light and fruity (like many summer beers) and neither was this beer. However, it did seem to have quite a bit of hop characteristic to it.
Staropramen: Laura's dad was gracious enough to save me this Czech beer so I could try it. I thought it was very similar to, but slightly better than, Pilsner Urquell. Since Pilsner Urquell is much easier to find in the US, I would try that first before seeking out it's cousin.
Bells Lager of the Lakes: I got this beer as part of a custom six pack, and I'll be reviewing the rest of the six pack later. My initial impression was that this beer tasted about how a lager should. Those familiar with Yuengling and other premium lagers should know what I mean. Bells is also one of the better micro-brewers in the country, so trying their stuff is usually a worthwhile endeavor.
I look forward to Colleen's final updates before she goes under contract. Until then, I'll just keep plugging along and do my best to contain the damage (I mean lead) she will inflict. if she doesn't mind, I'd like to know which micro-brewer she thinks is the best in the country.
The scorecard:
Colleen: 253
Paul: 239
Cheers,
Paul
On Sunday, I went to Laura's parents house for dinner to celebrate her brother's birthday. I wanted to bring a gift. Since her brother enjoys hoppy beers, I decided on Stone IPA because I think they may be the best micro-brewer in the country. If you like hoppy beers and have never had it before, pick up a six pack and try it. The quality is hard to find anywhere else. I've had this beer before, and it's a real ass-kicker.
While over for dinner, where I ate so much that I fell into a food coma, I managed to try two new beers. The dinner was delicious. The beers were also great.
Dominion Beach House Golden Pilsner: I thought this would be more on the side of a summer beer, perhaps the name just fooled me. Pilsners are not light and fruity (like many summer beers) and neither was this beer. However, it did seem to have quite a bit of hop characteristic to it.
Staropramen: Laura's dad was gracious enough to save me this Czech beer so I could try it. I thought it was very similar to, but slightly better than, Pilsner Urquell. Since Pilsner Urquell is much easier to find in the US, I would try that first before seeking out it's cousin.
Bells Lager of the Lakes: I got this beer as part of a custom six pack, and I'll be reviewing the rest of the six pack later. My initial impression was that this beer tasted about how a lager should. Those familiar with Yuengling and other premium lagers should know what I mean. Bells is also one of the better micro-brewers in the country, so trying their stuff is usually a worthwhile endeavor.
I look forward to Colleen's final updates before she goes under contract. Until then, I'll just keep plugging along and do my best to contain the damage (I mean lead) she will inflict. if she doesn't mind, I'd like to know which micro-brewer she thinks is the best in the country.
The scorecard:
Colleen: 253
Paul: 239
Cheers,
Paul
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
woo...antibiotics
So for the last month (really?!), I've been busy traveling for family stuff and have been taking an antibiotic. While drinking wasn't forbidden due to the medication, I did significantly slow down my beer intake (new or otherwise).
I have taken notes, and unfortunately even lost the review for one beer. There's a reason you shouldn't write them on the back of a receipt. In any event, since my last post Colleen visited. She outlined her travels pretty well. It was nice to catch up while she was down here. I may be at a disadvantage if she lives in Virginia permanently, since so many of the beers that I've tried are found in this area exclusively.
I did get a chance to visit Williamsburg AleWerks, however the samples there were under our minimum ounce limit for a beer to count. Nonetheless, the tour and tasting were nice on a hot May day. I'd recommend any of there beers, they don't make anything that is below mediocre.
Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA: Have you ever tried a really dry red wine? Where your mouth just feels arid after? Yea, this was the beer version of that. The extent of the hops literally gave the beer a very dry taste. Colleen thought this was much milder than I did, apparently.
Rogue dead Guy Ale: Most people were surprised when I told them I hadn't head this up until a few weeks ago. This one was a freebie due to Colleen's Geography nerd party. However, I won't make fun of them anymore, since they did get me a free beer. For whatever reason, this gave me a really weird mix.
St. George Pilsner: I'm not that crazy about Pilsners. They ere on the light side for me, and there generally isn't much to them. This beer pretty much meets that description. It was fine, but just nothing special.
Carolina Blonde: Laura and I met with some college friends of mine a few weeks ago for drinks. It was quite nice to catch up with Amanda, since she is leaving the state for work soon. On the beer front, this was a rather disappointing. I'm not crazy about Gold Ales, and this didn't really change my mind. As far as the time of year goes, lighter beers are nice in the summer - but they generally disappoint me. They aren't that complex. As I've said a lot, I prefer porters.
Rogue American Amber: A caveat to my previous comment is that I do enjoy amber ales quite a bit, even if this is a summer beer. Despite my not-so-great feelings about Dead Guy Ale, I know Rogue has a pretty good reputation. For me, this beer definitely saved that. It's really one of the better Amber Ales I've tried.
Highland Big Butte Smoked Porter: I had this at the Green Leafe. I thought it was a bit on the smoky side, but I wasn't aware of the full name until I wrote this review - sometimes restaurants neglect long names on their menus. That said, it wasn't that bad of a porter, being that they should be somewhat roasty/smoky. I just prefer more of a roasted malt flavor than a smoky one. I've had one other beer of theirs when I was in OBX last summer, and I thought that was pretty good.
Bells Oberon Ale: After some searching on ratebeer for the name. I found the name to match the review in my head. I had this at the Brickskeller to celebrate my friend Matt's birthday. It was a rather hot day in DC, and as far as wheat ales go, this was a very tasty beer. I'd love to say the Brickskeller has nothing but knock out beers, but unfortunately it can be a mixed bag there. This one was quite good though. I can't even recall the brewer of the other beer, but that's how it goes.
Laura and I are meeting with a college friend of mine this week for a beer or two. The place has quite a few micro-brews, so perhaps I can close the lead. So, in conclusion, I am not dead...just really, really far behind!
The scorecard:
Colleen: 242
Paul: 229
I have taken notes, and unfortunately even lost the review for one beer. There's a reason you shouldn't write them on the back of a receipt. In any event, since my last post Colleen visited. She outlined her travels pretty well. It was nice to catch up while she was down here. I may be at a disadvantage if she lives in Virginia permanently, since so many of the beers that I've tried are found in this area exclusively.
I did get a chance to visit Williamsburg AleWerks, however the samples there were under our minimum ounce limit for a beer to count. Nonetheless, the tour and tasting were nice on a hot May day. I'd recommend any of there beers, they don't make anything that is below mediocre.
Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA: Have you ever tried a really dry red wine? Where your mouth just feels arid after? Yea, this was the beer version of that. The extent of the hops literally gave the beer a very dry taste. Colleen thought this was much milder than I did, apparently.
Rogue dead Guy Ale: Most people were surprised when I told them I hadn't head this up until a few weeks ago. This one was a freebie due to Colleen's Geography nerd party. However, I won't make fun of them anymore, since they did get me a free beer. For whatever reason, this gave me a really weird mix.
St. George Pilsner: I'm not that crazy about Pilsners. They ere on the light side for me, and there generally isn't much to them. This beer pretty much meets that description. It was fine, but just nothing special.
Carolina Blonde: Laura and I met with some college friends of mine a few weeks ago for drinks. It was quite nice to catch up with Amanda, since she is leaving the state for work soon. On the beer front, this was a rather disappointing. I'm not crazy about Gold Ales, and this didn't really change my mind. As far as the time of year goes, lighter beers are nice in the summer - but they generally disappoint me. They aren't that complex. As I've said a lot, I prefer porters.
Rogue American Amber: A caveat to my previous comment is that I do enjoy amber ales quite a bit, even if this is a summer beer. Despite my not-so-great feelings about Dead Guy Ale, I know Rogue has a pretty good reputation. For me, this beer definitely saved that. It's really one of the better Amber Ales I've tried.
Highland Big Butte Smoked Porter: I had this at the Green Leafe. I thought it was a bit on the smoky side, but I wasn't aware of the full name until I wrote this review - sometimes restaurants neglect long names on their menus. That said, it wasn't that bad of a porter, being that they should be somewhat roasty/smoky. I just prefer more of a roasted malt flavor than a smoky one. I've had one other beer of theirs when I was in OBX last summer, and I thought that was pretty good.
Bells Oberon Ale: After some searching on ratebeer for the name. I found the name to match the review in my head. I had this at the Brickskeller to celebrate my friend Matt's birthday. It was a rather hot day in DC, and as far as wheat ales go, this was a very tasty beer. I'd love to say the Brickskeller has nothing but knock out beers, but unfortunately it can be a mixed bag there. This one was quite good though. I can't even recall the brewer of the other beer, but that's how it goes.
Laura and I are meeting with a college friend of mine this week for a beer or two. The place has quite a few micro-brews, so perhaps I can close the lead. So, in conclusion, I am not dead...just really, really far behind!
The scorecard:
Colleen: 242
Paul: 229
Monday, February 15, 2010
There and Back Again
On Friday night I went to Bilbo Baggins in Old Town with my college friend Robert, and work buddy Jeremy. The place is known for its beer menu and food, so I thought it would be a good place to at least expand my beer horizons. The roads were still treacherous from the snowpocalypse, but we all managed to arrive and leave safely. I enjoyed catching up with them and trying a couple new brews.
Clipper City Bilbo Baggins: This is their house lager, which is brewed by Clipper City. In the interest of having their house brew, and that Clipper City usually does a good job across the board, I decided to give it a shot. I really liked it. The beer reminded me of Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
Rogue Yellow Snow Ale: Confession - I got this beer because of the name. I thought it was pretty good. The waitress pointed out that the juniper after taste reminded her of gin. I somewhat agreed with this assessment. I don't really like gin, but this beer was fine in my book. I thought this was a smooth pale ale.
On Saturday, I ventured to Williamsburg, VA to visit the girlfriend. It is Valentine's Day weekend. There wasn't enough time to make Guiness cupcakes, but it will happen. We hung out with some of her friends Saturday night. The drinking game of the night was Jenga, or some variant thereof, and each piece had a drinking instruction on it. Things got interesting fast, and fun was had by all. I also managed to try two new brews. I was limited to tasting two (alliteration anyone?), because the first was a 22 oz bottle and had an ABV of 10.5%l. Drinking that in less than an hour started to put me in a happy place - thank God for leaving notes on your cell phone.
Stone Double Bastard Ale: This beer is the next evolution of Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale. This beer was incredibly complex and aggressive. There were multiple different effects during the after taste. It certainly was a clean beer, but not for the faint of heart. I can probably name the people on one hand who could appreciate, let alone finish, this beer (Colleen included, of course). If nothing else, the back of the bottle is worth reading (click the image for zoom). You can also read the back of the bottle for Arrogant Bastard here.
Samuel Adams Noble Pils: This is the latest seasonal by Samuel Adams. Colleen recently tried this beer. I was surprised by its very light color and citrus taste. I expected more bitternes, or bite, since the company promotes the beer based on the hops. Perhaps this is a characteristic of Noble Hops? I thought this was ok, but they do a much better job on their other seasonals.
I also got a custom six pack for Valentine's Day, which means I have a few more beers to try at some point. I'm hoping I can manage another trip the Brickskeller this week, but we shall see. Enjoy the Olympics friends, hopefully with a nice beer (especially you Colleen)!
The scorecard:
Colleen: 203
Paul: 196
Cheers,
Paul
Clipper City Bilbo Baggins: This is their house lager, which is brewed by Clipper City. In the interest of having their house brew, and that Clipper City usually does a good job across the board, I decided to give it a shot. I really liked it. The beer reminded me of Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
Rogue Yellow Snow Ale: Confession - I got this beer because of the name. I thought it was pretty good. The waitress pointed out that the juniper after taste reminded her of gin. I somewhat agreed with this assessment. I don't really like gin, but this beer was fine in my book. I thought this was a smooth pale ale.
On Saturday, I ventured to Williamsburg, VA to visit the girlfriend. It is Valentine's Day weekend. There wasn't enough time to make Guiness cupcakes, but it will happen. We hung out with some of her friends Saturday night. The drinking game of the night was Jenga, or some variant thereof, and each piece had a drinking instruction on it. Things got interesting fast, and fun was had by all. I also managed to try two new brews. I was limited to tasting two (alliteration anyone?), because the first was a 22 oz bottle and had an ABV of 10.5%l. Drinking that in less than an hour started to put me in a happy place - thank God for leaving notes on your cell phone.
Stone Double Bastard Ale: This beer is the next evolution of Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale. This beer was incredibly complex and aggressive. There were multiple different effects during the after taste. It certainly was a clean beer, but not for the faint of heart. I can probably name the people on one hand who could appreciate, let alone finish, this beer (Colleen included, of course). If nothing else, the back of the bottle is worth reading (click the image for zoom). You can also read the back of the bottle for Arrogant Bastard here.
Samuel Adams Noble Pils: This is the latest seasonal by Samuel Adams. Colleen recently tried this beer. I was surprised by its very light color and citrus taste. I expected more bitternes, or bite, since the company promotes the beer based on the hops. Perhaps this is a characteristic of Noble Hops? I thought this was ok, but they do a much better job on their other seasonals.
I also got a custom six pack for Valentine's Day, which means I have a few more beers to try at some point. I'm hoping I can manage another trip the Brickskeller this week, but we shall see. Enjoy the Olympics friends, hopefully with a nice beer (especially you Colleen)!
The scorecard:
Colleen: 203
Paul: 196
Cheers,
Paul
Monday, February 1, 2010
Nothing very exciting to report these days, unless you find remote sensing, the electromagnetic spectrum, land change science and Bracken fern interesting... but I have tried three new brews.
Sam Adams Noble Pils: a new spring seasonal?! This was pretty good. Currently on tap at Stuffies, as discovered when I went there for dinner with Tom on Sunday. It's a little hoppier than I'd prefer, but not offensive, more in the same vein as Victory's Prima Pils, which I also recently tried. I got a slightly citrus taste out of Sam's; I think Victory had a little more lemon going on. This was decent, but I don't need to go out of my way for it again soon.
Dundee Honey Brown Lager: As my friend Jeremy said, this beer is inoffensive in every way. It seems the people in the internet were even more indifferent, according to that link at beer advocate. I liked it. Not too sweet, not too bitter, not too sharp, not too tasteless, just fine.
Tröeg's Nugget Nectar: I have liked other things by Tröeg's-- the Mad Elf, Dreamweaver Wheat, and Nut Brown Ale, but this was like a smack in the face with hops, which it's been well established that I don't care for. If you like hops, have at it. I don't need to drink this again.
Colleen: 197
Paul: 185
Sam Adams Noble Pils: a new spring seasonal?! This was pretty good. Currently on tap at Stuffies, as discovered when I went there for dinner with Tom on Sunday. It's a little hoppier than I'd prefer, but not offensive, more in the same vein as Victory's Prima Pils, which I also recently tried. I got a slightly citrus taste out of Sam's; I think Victory had a little more lemon going on. This was decent, but I don't need to go out of my way for it again soon.
Dundee Honey Brown Lager: As my friend Jeremy said, this beer is inoffensive in every way. It seems the people in the internet were even more indifferent, according to that link at beer advocate. I liked it. Not too sweet, not too bitter, not too sharp, not too tasteless, just fine.
Tröeg's Nugget Nectar: I have liked other things by Tröeg's-- the Mad Elf, Dreamweaver Wheat, and Nut Brown Ale, but this was like a smack in the face with hops, which it's been well established that I don't care for. If you like hops, have at it. I don't need to drink this again.
Colleen: 197
Paul: 185
Thursday, January 28, 2010
It's almost Friday?!
I went out Monday with my friends, partially because that's what we do on Mondays, partially because it was our friend Lauren's birthday! And then the week got away from me. Oh well. What matters is, I'm posting now.
(I brought some of those Guinness cupcakes. They continued to be a hit!)
Well, this week, Victory at last. As opposed to those other two times (see here and here). Stuff Yer Face keeps quite a few Victory brews around, but as I've said before, unless you like really hoppy beers, avoid them. Except for Storm King because it's BANGIN' (unless you don't like Imperial Russian Stouts). However, as per my friend Jeremy's previous recommendation, I finally tried the Prima Pils, which is obviously a pilsener style beer. I know I've had pilsener before and it kind of fell under the heading of "meh" in my book, but this was pretty good! Still a little bit hoppy, but there's a little bit of citrus flavor that balances it out and makes it unoffensive. In fact, I dare say, it was kind of enjoyable!
I followed this with Landshark, only because I'd never had it before. Meh. This is slightly sweeter than, but otherwise very akin to, all of the beers in Mexico. I kind of giggle every time I have a Mexican-style lager in the United States, since it's hardly my favorite. But, it's another beer for the list, and reminds me of the good times during my field research last summer. (Also to note: things I call "Mexican lager" are generally referred to as "American Adjunct Lager". But if it's made at a cervecaria, or in the style of other beers that are, I don't think I'm totally wrong in calling it what I do.)
Paul: 181
Colleen: 194
Have a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend, friends!
(I brought some of those Guinness cupcakes. They continued to be a hit!)
Well, this week, Victory at last. As opposed to those other two times (see here and here). Stuff Yer Face keeps quite a few Victory brews around, but as I've said before, unless you like really hoppy beers, avoid them. Except for Storm King because it's BANGIN' (unless you don't like Imperial Russian Stouts). However, as per my friend Jeremy's previous recommendation, I finally tried the Prima Pils, which is obviously a pilsener style beer. I know I've had pilsener before and it kind of fell under the heading of "meh" in my book, but this was pretty good! Still a little bit hoppy, but there's a little bit of citrus flavor that balances it out and makes it unoffensive. In fact, I dare say, it was kind of enjoyable!
I followed this with Landshark, only because I'd never had it before. Meh. This is slightly sweeter than, but otherwise very akin to, all of the beers in Mexico. I kind of giggle every time I have a Mexican-style lager in the United States, since it's hardly my favorite. But, it's another beer for the list, and reminds me of the good times during my field research last summer. (Also to note: things I call "Mexican lager" are generally referred to as "American Adjunct Lager". But if it's made at a cervecaria, or in the style of other beers that are, I don't think I'm totally wrong in calling it what I do.)
Paul: 181
Colleen: 194
Have a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend, friends!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Calorie Counting with Sir Arthur Guinness
A couple of months ago, Colleen and I were having a discussion and the topic steered toward calories. Neither of us are calorie counters, but it was stated that Guiness had less calories ounce for ounce than Corona.
I looked into the matter using Google and thought this would make an excellent blog post. In order to give proper credit for this, I would like to acknowledge that these numbers came from RealBeer.com. You may notice that we have a link to them on the side bar. They are really an excellent resource. We also link to RateBeer.com as that is also a fantastic place for beer reviews. The list below is a sampling of beers on the RealBeer website with their associated calories and percent alcohol. A complete listing can be found here. I did not include light beers, since that is an unfair comparison. The main reason that some mainstream beers were included is so you can compare against well known (and possibly lesser) alternatives.
I think a lot of people would find this list surprising, since the closest beer in color to Guinness is the Anchor Porter. Guinness beats quite a few beers that are both lighter in taste and color. Some of the reason is due to the fact that Guinness is lower in alcohol, hence why it doesn't get you drunk very easily - heavy on the stomach and low in alcohol. Alcohol provides empty calories, and you may notice that there is, generally, a trend with the beers above in terms of percent alcohol and calories. There are other factors at play in the calorie total (i.e. adjuncts, malts, length of the brewing process), but that would be a post better provided by someone with a background in nutrition.
During my Google searching on the subject, I came across a similar article here that you may find interesting as well.
Cheers,
Paul
I looked into the matter using Google and thought this would make an excellent blog post. In order to give proper credit for this, I would like to acknowledge that these numbers came from RealBeer.com. You may notice that we have a link to them on the side bar. They are really an excellent resource. We also link to RateBeer.com as that is also a fantastic place for beer reviews. The list below is a sampling of beers on the RealBeer website with their associated calories and percent alcohol. A complete listing can be found here. I did not include light beers, since that is an unfair comparison. The main reason that some mainstream beers were included is so you can compare against well known (and possibly lesser) alternatives.
| Beer Name | Calories (per 12 oz bottle) | Percent Alcohol (ABV) |
| Guiness Draught | 125 | 4.1% |
| Yuengling Lager | 135-140 | 4.9% |
| Beck's | 143 | 4.8% |
| Budweiser | 143 | 5% |
| Killian's | 143 | 4.9% |
| Coors Original | 148 | 5% |
| Corona Extra | 148 | 4.6% |
| Fuller's London Pride | 156 | 4.7% |
| Miller High Life | 156 | 4.7% |
| Sam Adam's Boston Lager | 160 | 4.9% |
| Heineken | 166 | 5% |
| Blue Moon White | 171 | 5.6% |
| Sierra Nevada Pale Ale | 171 | 5.6% |
| Anchor Porter | 205 | 5.6% |
I think a lot of people would find this list surprising, since the closest beer in color to Guinness is the Anchor Porter. Guinness beats quite a few beers that are both lighter in taste and color. Some of the reason is due to the fact that Guinness is lower in alcohol, hence why it doesn't get you drunk very easily - heavy on the stomach and low in alcohol. Alcohol provides empty calories, and you may notice that there is, generally, a trend with the beers above in terms of percent alcohol and calories. There are other factors at play in the calorie total (i.e. adjuncts, malts, length of the brewing process), but that would be a post better provided by someone with a background in nutrition.
During my Google searching on the subject, I came across a similar article here that you may find interesting as well.
Cheers,
Paul
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