Hey Ladies!
I've returned from the abyss. I was writing for another blog (www.presidentialdebateblog.com) that actually had some readership, strangely enough.
Anyway, I'm home. More writing about beer will soon follow.
In the interim, however, I feel that it is worth mentioning that I had a Simpler Times Lager recently.
All I'm going to say is that the Beer Purity Laws kept things simple. It doesn't make something "simpler" to include garbage adjuncts like corn. UGH.
Still, for the money, this beer is significantly better than its peer group. If you're a poor college student looking to get your drink on, this may be the way to go. Well-hidden high ABV also!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
I (heart) Autumn
Between apple cider and falling leaves, football, and the High Holidays, who doesn’t love sweater season? (answer)
The best part of the coming of autumn may just be the beer. Fall brews were what really got me into beer in the first place. During my (removed for legal reasons) year of college, a friend poured me a glass of Sam Adams Octoberfest and, for the first time, I experienced a beer with flavor. For that simple reason, I have a soft spot for Marzens and for pretty much all fall beers.
To celebrate the coming of my favorite beer season, here’s are a few quality autumn brews you should try before the trees go completely bare:
Sam Adams Octoberfest –
The best part of the coming of autumn may just be the beer. Fall brews were what really got me into beer in the first place. During my (removed for legal reasons) year of college, a friend poured me a glass of Sam Adams Octoberfest and, for the first time, I experienced a beer with flavor. For that simple reason, I have a soft spot for Marzens and for pretty much all fall beers.
To celebrate the coming of my favorite beer season, here’s are a few quality autumn brews you should try before the trees go completely bare:
Sam Adams Octoberfest –
As mentioned above, this is the brew that turned me into a beer-lover. It’s very malty but hopped enough to keep it from becoming sweet. The golden/amber color is very pretty (and matches the leaves in front of my house perfectly, by the by).
If you don’t believe me about how good this Marzen is, trust Bavarians: this was the first American beer ever allowed at Oktoberfest in Germany.
Wychwood Scarecrow–
If you don’t believe me about how good this Marzen is, trust Bavarians: this was the first American beer ever allowed at Oktoberfest in Germany.
Wychwood Scarecrow–
Up until this year, I’ve always seen this beer as Circle Master (anyone know if “circle master” is a britishism for scarecrow?). Whatever the reason for the name change, it’s a solid pale ale. On the lighter side for a fall beer but relatively heavy for a pale ale, it serves as a good training wheel for those who aren’t quite ready to give up on the lighter summer brews. Also cool about this beer, it’s 100% organic and so it gets the TreeHugger seal of approval.
Der Hirschbrau Doppelhirsch–
Der Hirschbrau Doppelhirsch–
I’ve discussed the Doppelhirsch before, but didn’t go into much detail. This is one you’re going to want to pour into nice big stein so you can take in the full experience. It’s got a great dark red/brown color with nice earthy aroma. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was malt heavy but the hops that are there balance it out nicely.
When I picture the last barbeque of the year, I’m standing over the fire, grilling knockwurst and sipping this beer.
Southern Tier Pumking –
When I picture the last barbeque of the year, I’m standing over the fire, grilling knockwurst and sipping this beer.
Southern Tier Pumking –
Southern Tier continues their streak of surprising me and upping the ante for every other microbrewery with this one. Until I sampled Pumking, the only pumpkin beer I’d liked was my absolute favorite beer, Shipyard Pumpkinhead. I still like Shipyard’s more, but that’s like comparing apples to oranges or, more accurately, amber ales to imperials.
Pumking is heavy and has a high alcohol content for an autumn beer. It’s definitely not an everyday beer but next time you’re in the mood to get your mind blown, order one of these, and if you get the chance to have it on tap, do it.
Shipyard Pumpkinhead –
Pumking is heavy and has a high alcohol content for an autumn beer. It’s definitely not an everyday beer but next time you’re in the mood to get your mind blown, order one of these, and if you get the chance to have it on tap, do it.
Shipyard Pumpkinhead –
Friday, October 3, 2008
Battle of the Bulge
Sorry it’s taken me all week to give you my rundown of the Belgian Beer Fest we attended last Saturday. I certainly got my fill of that classic Belgian beer flavor and the lunch fare was certainly appropriate but overall, I don’t think I’ll be going back next year
This shouldn’t really be a surprise to any who’s heard me rant about Belgians before. While I appreciate Belgian brewers willingness to the push limits and try out new ideas, even when something seems really truly intriguing, most of the time I’m left wishing I’d ordered something else. Still, I went into this festival hoping they could make a convert out of me. Needless to say, this didn’t happen, but I still managed to find a few high quality brews among the over-carbonated, extra sweet, craziness that everyone around me was drinking.
Stone impressed me with their 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale, I had a nice conversation with one of their brewers and he explained that while the base of this beer is just plain old pale malt, they use oats, candi sugar, and a clove yeast, all of which combine to give it a light but really interesting flavor. There’s no fruit in this beer but the combination of hops they used create a citrusy flavor that was a hell of a lot more potent than my own attempts at citrus beers. It was weird for me to drink something from Stone that was as light as this; up until Saturday, Stone and Arrogant Bastard were pretty much synonymous to me. Kudos to these guys for being able to brew all over the spectrum.
I’d never had anything by Rohrbach before but I was drawn to them (perhaps because from across the room I misread their name). Their dubble and trippel were pretty standard but their Au Naturale Blonde was surprisingly good. Rohrbach is based in upstate New York, so unless a miracle happens, I probably won’t get the opportunity to try much more of their stuff.
Haverhill Brewery’s Honing Honey Pale Ale was fucking delicious. I spent the rest of the festival sampling other breweries' honings but none matched up. I was so intrigued by this one that I’ve already started researching honey beers and the best way to homebrew them. I love mead and I love beer so I should have known this day would come. Also Haverhill had the coolest taps at the festival. A staff member explained to me that when they moved into one of the old mill buildings they operate out of, they just found all these old wooden shoe molds and decided they couldn’t just toss them out. 10 bonus points right there.
Best in show would have to be Corsendonk’s Apple White. Hands down my favorite at the festival. I’d never had a good apple beer before and I’m not usually a witbier fan but the combination of the two, with relatively low carbonation, made for an exceptionally drinkable beer. The apple really was the strongest flavor but I don’t want you think this was like some strange apple juice concoction. This was still a beer, a beer with an awesome apple flavor.
Corsendonk’s people weren’t actually at the festival (an importer brought their stuff) so there wasn’t anyone well informed enough to answer my many questions about their brewing methods. I did do some research online afterwards and discovered that the Apple White is only 3.1% ABV! That’s incredibly low for any beer but especially for a Belgian. I knew it was light, but that’s lighter than Natty Light. This may be the least alcoholic good beer I’ve ever had. Could that be the secret to the maintaining the strong apple flavor? Nick = Confused. I have many many more questions about this beer’s lack of alcohol but for now let’s put all that aside and remember that it deserves a very strong endorsement.
Deciding on the worst beer at the festival may actually be the toughest question. I’ve narrowed it down to two, both from Lost Abbey: Orphan Annie and Ten Commandments. These beers had so much wrong with them (and that’s not counting being named after two movies that make me want to gouge out my eyeballs). There was a lot of buzz around the Orphan Annie because it’s left to ferment in used bourbon barrels. That’s a cool idea and an interesting piece of trivia but the beer still sucked. It was just too heavy and the alcohol taste was overpowering, which is pretty disappointing considering the many beers at the festival that had equal or higher ABVs and didn’t have nearly as much of alcohol taste. Mark said it tasted like a bad barley wine, which I think is an insult to barley wines.
Ten Commandments was equally awful. The guide provided by the festival called it a “Dark Farmhouse Ale with caramelized raisins, honey, rosemary, and Brettanomyces.” I call it sludge. Between this and Raison D’Etre, I am now completely convinced that raisins have no place in beer. Not to make this entire post about alcohol content, but this beer was listed at 9.5%, which is nothing to is nothing to scoff at and would definitely be a feat to mask completely, but like the Annie, the alcohol was the prominent flavor. Hey Lost Abbey, if I wanted to drink rubbing alcohol, I’d go to a rubbing alcohol festival but this is a beer festival.
All right, that’s my two cents on the Belgian Beer Fest. Hopefully, Mark will check in sometime soon with his take.
This shouldn’t really be a surprise to any who’s heard me rant about Belgians before. While I appreciate Belgian brewers willingness to the push limits and try out new ideas, even when something seems really truly intriguing, most of the time I’m left wishing I’d ordered something else. Still, I went into this festival hoping they could make a convert out of me. Needless to say, this didn’t happen, but I still managed to find a few high quality brews among the over-carbonated, extra sweet, craziness that everyone around me was drinking.
Stone impressed me with their 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale, I had a nice conversation with one of their brewers and he explained that while the base of this beer is just plain old pale malt, they use oats, candi sugar, and a clove yeast, all of which combine to give it a light but really interesting flavor. There’s no fruit in this beer but the combination of hops they used create a citrusy flavor that was a hell of a lot more potent than my own attempts at citrus beers. It was weird for me to drink something from Stone that was as light as this; up until Saturday, Stone and Arrogant Bastard were pretty much synonymous to me. Kudos to these guys for being able to brew all over the spectrum.
I’d never had anything by Rohrbach before but I was drawn to them (perhaps because from across the room I misread their name). Their dubble and trippel were pretty standard but their Au Naturale Blonde was surprisingly good. Rohrbach is based in upstate New York, so unless a miracle happens, I probably won’t get the opportunity to try much more of their stuff.
Haverhill Brewery’s Honing Honey Pale Ale was fucking delicious. I spent the rest of the festival sampling other breweries' honings but none matched up. I was so intrigued by this one that I’ve already started researching honey beers and the best way to homebrew them. I love mead and I love beer so I should have known this day would come. Also Haverhill had the coolest taps at the festival. A staff member explained to me that when they moved into one of the old mill buildings they operate out of, they just found all these old wooden shoe molds and decided they couldn’t just toss them out. 10 bonus points right there.
Best in show would have to be Corsendonk’s Apple White. Hands down my favorite at the festival. I’d never had a good apple beer before and I’m not usually a witbier fan but the combination of the two, with relatively low carbonation, made for an exceptionally drinkable beer. The apple really was the strongest flavor but I don’t want you think this was like some strange apple juice concoction. This was still a beer, a beer with an awesome apple flavor.
Corsendonk’s people weren’t actually at the festival (an importer brought their stuff) so there wasn’t anyone well informed enough to answer my many questions about their brewing methods. I did do some research online afterwards and discovered that the Apple White is only 3.1% ABV! That’s incredibly low for any beer but especially for a Belgian. I knew it was light, but that’s lighter than Natty Light. This may be the least alcoholic good beer I’ve ever had. Could that be the secret to the maintaining the strong apple flavor? Nick = Confused. I have many many more questions about this beer’s lack of alcohol but for now let’s put all that aside and remember that it deserves a very strong endorsement.
Deciding on the worst beer at the festival may actually be the toughest question. I’ve narrowed it down to two, both from Lost Abbey: Orphan Annie and Ten Commandments. These beers had so much wrong with them (and that’s not counting being named after two movies that make me want to gouge out my eyeballs). There was a lot of buzz around the Orphan Annie because it’s left to ferment in used bourbon barrels. That’s a cool idea and an interesting piece of trivia but the beer still sucked. It was just too heavy and the alcohol taste was overpowering, which is pretty disappointing considering the many beers at the festival that had equal or higher ABVs and didn’t have nearly as much of alcohol taste. Mark said it tasted like a bad barley wine, which I think is an insult to barley wines.
Ten Commandments was equally awful. The guide provided by the festival called it a “Dark Farmhouse Ale with caramelized raisins, honey, rosemary, and Brettanomyces.” I call it sludge. Between this and Raison D’Etre, I am now completely convinced that raisins have no place in beer. Not to make this entire post about alcohol content, but this beer was listed at 9.5%, which is nothing to is nothing to scoff at and would definitely be a feat to mask completely, but like the Annie, the alcohol was the prominent flavor. Hey Lost Abbey, if I wanted to drink rubbing alcohol, I’d go to a rubbing alcohol festival but this is a beer festival.
All right, that’s my two cents on the Belgian Beer Fest. Hopefully, Mark will check in sometime soon with his take.
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