A Beer Anecdote

My parents do not drink beer--what a sad existence that must be for them.

Anyway, neither is particularly pleased with my intense passion for all things beer. As a result, any beer that can be found in their house has been banished to the basement.

I really wanted a beer with dinner, tonight, so I headed to the basement, where I was relieved to find a decent number of bottles of Sam Adams Boston Lager, one of the favorite beers of both writers on this blog. Sadly, the most recent of them had passed its prime, according to the label, in April. Ugh. One had actually peaked in October 2007. In short, the beer was just old.

I decided, therefore, to pour out the stuff that was truly undrinkable, being sure to taste each bottle when I opened it, just in case. When my dad realized what I was doing, he asked me to return the acetone-beer to the basement, so that someone "who is a little less of a connoisseur can drink it the next time someone wants beer."

Irritating, irritating, irritating. An appreciation of good flavor and a dislike of nasty staleness is not an issue of pallet or knowledge--I'm far from a beer expert, I just don't like beer that doesn't taste good. (Unlike Nick, of course.)

So, what's the moral of my little anecdote? People may call you a beer snob, and they may laugh at you or think you're being ridiculous. But if you know what you like, and you know what you don't like, don't drink the latter--nobody laughs at wine freaks for being too into their wine. Stand proud, beer drinkers! Drink what's good, and ditch what's bad.

PS. I ended up settling for an Anchor Steam that I had forgotten buying about two months ago. A really good beer that will certainly be reviewed here soon, along with my thoughts on how Anchor saved American beer.

It's Not a Kind of Magic

First off, let’s set the record straight: Mark and I have only ever gotten into fisticuffs once (well, twice if you count when we head butted each other while celebrating on the greatest day ever) and it was certainly over something far more important than posting protocol on the beerblog.

As for the beer itself, I’m not actually so big on the #9. It’s not a bad beer but it doesn’t really do much for me either. Mark describes it as a drinkable, clean beer that “flies down.” Yeah, that’s all true – because it’s a boring beer. It’s a very basic, unobjectionable Pale Ale, which is fine but, for me it doesn’t merit being listed as one of the “real major good beers” as Mark so eloquently put it.

I know what you’re thinking: “But Nick, the apricot!” Fruit in beer is a great thing, but it has to serve a purpose. The apricot in the #9 is not nearly pronounced enough for it to make a real difference in my palate. It’s a dulled background flavor, which would provide a great accent to the other flavors in this beer, that is, if they existed.

Again, I’m not saying that I dislike this beer. It’s thirst-quenching and when it’s offered to me, I drink it, but overall I find it kind of disappointing that the brewery that makes so many other interesting offerings has such a bland flagship.

Come on, Mark, if only because of your wardrobe, I thought I could count you to take up the good fight against all things boring. If you’re not going to join me in this struggle that’s fine. We’ve always known that there can be only one.

A Little Bit of Magic

A little while back, Nick and I had a conversation about what to do with the real major good beers out there: Sam Adams Boston Lager, Guinness, Anchor Steam, Magic Hat #9, etc.

After much calm and rational discussion, we decided that for the really major beers, we would just review them whenever, and that both of us would try to chime in at around the same time.

I didn't bother to tell Nick that I was going to write this post, because I only just decided to do it. I'm sure he'll notice it tomorrow after he finishes his usual morning internet browsing, and that he'll provide us with an excellent review of his own.

On to the beer (Magic Hat's flagship #9), however:

I've reviewed the Dogfish Head Aprihop elsewhere, so you know that the use of apricots in beer is something that appeals to me. The thing about the #9 is that it's basically the cleanest beer you can imagine--the damn thing flies down. The apricots are there, and they add a nice/fairly interesting flavor, to be sure, but it's not that pronounced--what Magic Hat has really done is to create an INTENSELY drinkable APA. (That, if only for the benefit of TheLadyFriend, is an American Pale Ale.

Nick and I broke into a 12 pack of Magic Hat on a recent train ride--and while I happen to enjoy all of their brews, this one is a real classic. I'm a big Ultimate player. Big both in the sense that I love it, and in the sense that I'm fat. This evening, after a game, a bunch of us headed to the bar, as we occasionally do on a summer evening. On this night, as on most nights, when I walk into the bar hot, sweaty, and thirsty, there's really no choice to be made--the first beer I go for when I just want to be refreshed and rejuvenated before moving on to more interesting offerings is the #9.

Interesting sidenote that would make you readers jealous, if you consisted of more than my girlfriend and occasionally my sister: Nick and I have both had all three of the beers to which I linked immediately before this sentence. Yes, that includes the one to which "offerings" links.

Public Service Announcement

Hey Y'all-

It should be pretty obvious by now that Nick and I really like beer. But it's also worth mentioning (and probably even serves some legal benefit, though I wouldn't know, as they don't teach law in law school,) that we ABSOLUTELY DO NOT support irresponsible drinking decisions. If you're going to drink too much, please make sure you're doing so in an environment where you're not going to pose a risk to yourself or others.

In other words, please don't be this jackass. And if you do feel the need to drink that much, and you somehow don't die, please have a sober designated driver. And get yourself into AA.

No beer is worth your life or someone else's.

BrewHappens

For the first time in a long time, I’m going to be brewing a BeerHappens original beer. I started brewing almost two years ago but have been on hiatus for a little while because other obligations keep getting in the way. That all changes tonight when I whip up a batch of a new brew I’m calling “Zitrus.”

If you’ve been studying your German, you already know that the goal with this brew is to make something with a wonderful citrusy flavor. I’ve done wheat beers with lemon before and we all know how much I love Sam Summer, but I’m hoping to get that thirst quenching citrus flavor without abandoning barley malts. I’m also planning on using some lime juice which I admit is a little risky; I don’t want this to come out tasting like this (or worse, this). Still, I’ve got confidence in my brewing abilities and I’ll be sure to post in a few weeks when this ale is finished.

Wish me luck!

Top Tier

Sorry for the long absence. I swear I haven’t been away so long because of anything you did. Seriously, it’s not you, it’s me. I also want to assure you that I the reason I haven’t been posting is not because I went through some crazy transformation and decided to give up drinking. No, it’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens. Really, it had a lot more to do with my three least favorite things in the universe: stress, stress, and stress. However, certain things have gotten way better so I’m going to focus on that and get back to providing you with quality beer reviews.

Anyways, without further ado, allow me to introduce an absolutely fabulous brewery: Southern Tier

I was first introduced to this wonderful company back in February when Mark told me that he'd had a chocolate stout that he said I was sure to love. This seemed like a dubious claim given that I generally don't like chocolate stouts and increasingly the only time I have a stout of any kind is when drinking one of these. However, I was completely blown away by Southern Tier Choklat. At the next beer festival we went to, I made a beeline for the Southern Tier booth and tried everything they had and each sample was better than the one before it.

Personal favorites would have to be their summer seasonal, Hop Sun, their IPA, and the aforementioned Choklat, but, hell, you should try them all. So far the only Southern Tier brew that I didn’t enjoy was their Jahva, but I’m not a coffee drinker so that really shouldn’t be held against them. Since February, it has become a major topic of conversation in BeerHappensLand as to whether Southern Tier is in fact our favorite brewery. I don’t know if Mark has officially made up his mind yet but I’m ready to give them the crown.

ADDENDUM: I was with Mark and some college friends the past few days for a weekend of nice quiet fun and we picked up a bottle of Souther Tier’s Crème Brulee Stout and I officially have a new Southern Tier favorite. Full disclosure, I’ve never met a crème brulee I didn’t like so maybe I came in with a bias, but let’s not kid ourselves either, this beer is not only delicious, it's a major brewing achievement. How on earth do you make a beer that tastes like the finest of the fine French desserts? It seems absurd to even suggest yet they did it. Once again, hats off to Southern Tier.

American Craft Beer Fest

Sorry, reader(s?) that this post is so highly delayed in its arrival. But behold:

THE WRITEUP OF THE BEERADVOCATE AMERICAN CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL!

Nick and I, along with a mutual friend from college and TheLadyFriend, attended aforementioned festival on Saturday June 21. Nick and I have experienced a few beer festivals, while our companions were both rookies. We came in, however, with a well-developed plan of attack: we would try many beers, but finish very few of our 2 oz. pours, choosing to drink only the truly excellent ones and the last few of the festival.

So, in no particular order, (though it is actually alpha by brewery,) I give you abbreviated reviews of… THE BEERS… or at least the ones I tried:

Bear Republic Brewing Company Hop Rod Rye—this is a VERY highly ranked beer on BeerAdvocate, so I was really looking forward to it. Honestly, it was nothing special—good, but a bit too heavy on the rye. I wouldn’t really recommend it.

Berkshire Brewing Company Marzen—billed as a “Strong German Lager,” this was a pretty good beer. Light, with a little bit of sugar throughout, this would make a pretty solid session brew—tasty, not too alcoholic (6.8%), and highly drinkable.

Blue Moon Chardonnay Blonde—an experimental brew from everyone’s favorite fake mega-owned microbrewery. Not bad, but barely any discernible taste difference from the regular ol’ Blue Moon. If you like Blue Moon (I do,) try this (I did). You’ll like it (I did,) and may even notice a slight extra grape/citrus kick (I did), but no promises whether you’ll like it. (I did.)

Samuel Adams Barleywine—All I jotted down on this beer (and remember how much I love anything Sam Adams,) was “Textbook.” This was a barleywine’s barleywine. If there were a dog show of beer, where individual entrants were judged based on how closely they matched the description of the archetypal beer of their category, this would win the barleywine category.

Sam Adams Sahti—a pretty cool Finnish beer, brewed with Juniper. I’d had it before on the brewery tour, but it’s still really nice. The juniper is not overwhelming (and as I understand it, is brewed in an employee’s backyard, hence the small batches,) and really adds a nice kick to an otherwise tasty but unremarkable beer. I’ll keep hoping they find a reliable juniper source.

Then, we get to the Brewery Ommegang; they of the cool Belgian twists. They brought seven offerings to the festival, and as they were my last stop of the day, I tried them all.

Hennepin Farmhouse Ale: a Saison with good balance and spice—another dogshow winner, for sure.

Abbey Ale: for a Belgian dubbel, surprisingly flat… not much of the texture and fun that marks the good Belgians, but nevertheless a tasty beer.

Biere de Mars: This one had a KICK to it. Presumably, Ommegang was going for some sort of red-hot flavor in reference to the red planet. While it wasn’t spicy by any means, there were some cool spice flavors going on. One of my two favorite offerings from one of my favorite breweries.

Ommegeddon: this was the other of my two favorites. A pretty classic Belgian with nice banana and clove going on, as well as that fantastic bubble gum pop that only the best Belgians provide. A beer worth drinking over and over again.

Witte: Ommegang goes for a traditional witbier—and succeed admirably. Nothing exemplary or unique, but a beer without any shortfall. I would’ve loved to have a lemon or orange around to get the full experience.

Rar Vos Amber: Ommegang’s weakest offering, but still a nice beer. This one’s a Belgian Amber without too much flavor on it, but the flavor that is there is quite nice.

Three Philosophers: do I need to say anything about this beer? It’s Ommegang’s flagship, and it’s fantastic, and it’s a classic. If you haven’t tried it, it’s tricky to call yourself a beer lover—it’s one of the essentials, and for good reason.

Cambridge Brewing Company Arquebus 2008—I have to be honest…. CBC seldom makes me very happy. I’ve hated EVERY beer of theirs I’ve tasted. Except this one. This was a tremendously good barleywine—not too sweet, not too syrupy, well balanced and crisp.

Cape Ann Fisherman’s Greenhorn Double IPA—reviewed elsewhere on this site. Just to reiterate: if you like Hops, you should befriend this beer immediately.

Fisherman’s Tea Party Barleywine—a pretty neat story. The brewery found a “tea historian” (can you imagine how boring that job would be?) and found out what kind of tea was chucked into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party—they then brewed a barleywine with that variety of tea. While not great, this was surprisingly good—it was very much like a less potent Sam Adams Utopia.

Clipper City Small Craft Warning—these guys make a great beer in their “Red Sky at Night,” but the Small Craft Warning, billed as an Imperial Pilsner, leaves something to be desired… it’s exceedingly watery, and I tasted almost nothing. At 7%, that may make it an excellent way to get loaded.

Flying Dog Double Dog—billed as a double pale ale, this one’s more like a triple-hopped hopfest. FANTASTIC, if you like hops.

Harpoon Old Rusty’s Red Rye Ale (100 Barrel Series)—I like Harpoon, usually, so I don’t want to badmouth them much… let’s just say it’s good they only made 100 barrels of this.

Harpoon Leviathan Triticus Wheatwine—ever tasted nail polish remover? Now you have.

High and Mighty Brewing Company Beer of the Gods—with a name like that, I was expecting great things, and it delivered. An exceptionally clean taste, despite the complex and diverse spices riding along the wheat.

High and Mighty Brewing Company Purity of Essence—perhaps a little too pure. I didn’t taste much of anything (including hops) in this “Hoppy Unfiltered Lager”.

Legacy Hoptimus Prime DIPA—for a double IPA, there were no hops in this beer. Hell, for a non-IPA, there were very few hops in this beer. Good name, though.

Mad River Steelhead Scotch Porter—I’m always up for a beer that claims to have struck a balance between a Scotch Ale and a Porter. And now I know why… this beer tasted a little bit like a caramel ice cream sundae. Only with alcohol. Delicious!

Magic Hat Berliner Weisse—this was actually the first brewery we visited, as we wanted to beat the lines that Magic Hat inevitable draws with its consistently exciting and excellent brews. I’m not entirely clear why this was an “experimental” brew, but it certainly is well made—a solid witbier with unusually clean flavor. So clean, in fact, that Magic Hat had several optional mix-ins. I opted for the sweet woodruff, which left my beer with a powerful, but not excessive sweet flavor. It was, as Nick described it, a bit like drinking Lucky Charms. A good beer, with or without the woodruff.

Otter Creek Otter-San—as part of their series of beers following the adventures of their lovable otter mascot around the world through different beer styles, Otter Creek brings us a Sake infused ale. Basically, this tasted like Sake, with no detectable hint of beer. Unfortunate, as it’s a neat idea from a brewery that has some excellent regular offerings.

Pennichuck Shouboushi Ginger Pilsner—also from the weird beer additives department comes another glass of water masquerading as beer. Explain to me how you lose the flavor of ginger in beer. I don’t understand—again, a huge disappointment on a novel concept from a frequently excellent brewery.

Port Brewing Company Hop 15—finally, a beer that claims to be hoppy and delivers. Billed as a double IPA, but I’d say it’s more of a 2.5 IPA—nice variety on the hops, and a well hidden 9.5%. A fantastic beer for a hot day.



Rock Art Jasmine Pale Ale—we ran into Rock Art’s brewer, a really nice guy, who suggested we stop by and try the Jasmine. It’s an herbed pale ale brewed with jasmine, leading to a very easily drinkable ale with hints of iced tea… a great beer if you’re looking for something to sip cold on a hot day.

Rock Art Sunny and 75—not to overuse the dogshow analogy, but this wins the Belgian White category at my fantasy beer dogshow.

Rock Bottom Cinco de Mayo Lager—this beer claims to be brewed with jalapenos. While this doesn’t mean you expect the best beer ever, it means you expect something interesting, or at least something you can taste. This was, however, indistinguishable from water. Coupled with Nick’s previous jalapeno beer experience, I may pronounce a categorical rule: jalapenos do not belong in beer.

Sixpoint Stout—I’m not nuts about Sixpoint, and this festival did not give me much of a reason to change my mind. The stout was a usual microbrew stout—it tasted burned, oily, and smoked. Ugh.

Sixpoint Emasculator—should be called Sixpoint Emasculator… for its claims of being a dopplebock, this beer has almost no flavor.

Sixpoint Hop Obama—Sixpoint’s shining moment. While badly misnamed, this “indefinable” brew featured a number of excellent and complex flavors, but remained surprisingly drinkable. Almost no hops, however.

Southern Tier Brewing Company—as Nick and I have discussed, this is rapidly becoming our favorite brewery. Their offerings:

Big Red—badly named. This Imperial Red should be named “Enormous and Delicious Red.”

Cherry Saison—possibly the best beer at the festival—the cherries don’t hit until the very end of the beer, which is otherwise an excellent saison, but that flavor kick on the finish drives this beer into the realm of fantastic.

Jah-va—an imperial coffer stout with rich coffee flavor and only a slight hint of roastiness. I like it, but I’d love it if I could stand the taste of coffee.

Raspberry Porter—this one starts out a bit syrupy, with a strong raspberry lead, and finishes in a great porter with only a hint of raspberry.

Speakeasy Prohibition—an American Amber brewed with overwhelmingly strong, pungent, and tasty cascade hops. I’ll be trying to find this beer again.

Speakeasy White Lightning—absolutely no taste whatsoever. Not bad, just utterly flavorless—would probably be fantastic with a wedge of lemon or orange.
Tuckerman Headwall Alt—as a skier, I felt I had to try this one. A very drinkable German Brown… nothing special, but a fantastic and refreshing candidate for a reliable session beer.

Victory Braumeister Pils—having had a few great Victory beers in the past, I figured it was worth a shot… the lone drinkable pilsner of the day, this beer probably shouldn’t be called a pilsner—the hop attack is both exciting and a welcome surprise.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA—obviously (and don’t forget, it was the middle of the summer,) I had a number of very hoppy beers at the festival. While this wasn’t the best, it can most certainly hold it’s own—the simcoe flavor on this beer is absolutely delicious.

By my count, that’s 42 beers. Maybe we now know the answer to life, the universe, and everything.