Beer

[scorched earth]

Wouldn't have expected my mother's birthday dinner to provide a significant beer drinking occasion but as it was at a German restaurant with a bunch of not commonly available on tap brews I decided to try one. Being at a German restaurant may have had something to do with that being the heritage of my mother's side of the family, and when it comes to beer I probably take more after my German roots than my father's English ancestry. Even more influenced by the hot desert in unapologetically favoring light, summery beers.

So without knowing much about it (or beer in general of course) I asked for a Weihenstephan Hefeweiss.

I enjoyed it, but almost more interesting was reading about the brewery and beer afterwards. Good rating at Beer Advocate, the highest rated of that kind of beer, as it was at The British Guide to German Beers.

Then going to their website (like the "loading" graphic, the glass filling with beer), it was interesting reading about the history of the brewery, which they claim is the oldest in the world, dating from when the Weihenstephan monastery brewery got a license in 1040 (though somewhere in there the monastery shut down and it became the Bavarian state brewery).

Okay so approaching a beer this way, making it a learning opportunity is probably as rare in this town as this beer is on tap, lol.

Despite my German ancestry I did feel somewhat of a traitor in the restaurant because I'm currently reading the last volume of Richard Evan's trilogy on Nazi Germany, The Third Reich at War. I've just read the other two volumes, so that'll be like 2000 pages on the topic when I finish this one.

It made me happier to have been at a Bavarian-style restaurant with a biergarten though, when I read today that Hitler came close to being killed by a bomb hidden in a pillar and denotated by a timer in a Bavarian beer hall, where he normally hung around and chatted after giving his annual speech but on this evening unfortunately he left early to attend a meeting on the delayed invasion of France.

[Sebastian Knight]

Once again, I was indecisive at the local supermarket and did the "build your own six-pack", where you grab 6 assorted beers from a collection of individual bottles for $10.  One of the things I grabbed was a known quantity (New Belgium Mothership Wit, good stuff) but for the other five, quick notes:

IPAs:

1) White Hawk.   Fairly dry/bitter, with a slight stanky hoppy aftertaste.  It's not bad, but there's not a lot of balance to it.
2) Loose Cannon.   This is pretty interesting.  Much sweeter base than most IPAs, with a nicely zingy hoppiness over the top of it.  It's not as complex as something like DFH, but it would make a pretty good starter IPA for people who are unsure about the whole hops thing.  Worth snagging if you want something refreshing and easy-going for your hop fix.

Dark Stuff:
1) Peg Leg Imperial Stout.  From the same guys as Loose Cannon (Clipper Brewery) but not as good.  Alcohol taste is strong, which makes it a bit medicinal.  Pretty typical sweet but strong Imperial Stout flavors, but doesn't quite come together.  Not bad, but nothing special.
2) Thomas Creek Pumphouse Porter.  This is sort of odd.  There's a real fizziness and sweetness (think Chocolate Yoohoo) but there's a pretty tasty porter underneath.  In general though, it's a bit like drinking porter-flavored soda, which isn't going to appeal to most fans of porters.
3) Pipeline Porter (made with Kona coffee).  Not surprisingly has a strong coffee taste.  In this case, it's a sort of harsh, french-roast style flavor, which isn't really my style of coffee.  On the whole it's pretty dry and strongly flavored.  For fans of dark-roasted slightly harsh coffee.  Apparently their coffee-infused Imperial Stout is the real deal, but hard to get outside HI.

[L.RayRojo]

Just in time for my b-day.
The Dark Lord Day in Munster, IN (http://www.darklordday.com/) featuring this tasty list of beverages:
http://thefullpint.com/beer-news/darklord-day-2010-entire-guest-tap-list

[sarah]

Will you be there?  I'll be there later in the afternoon (stupid baby shower to attend, grumblegrumblegrumble).  I'll look for you!

~s

[Sebastian Knight]

The latest roundup of "pick your six" variety pack experimentation:

Two big winners this time:

1) The Duckrabbit Milk Stout
This is a regular stout (not a Russian Imperial Stout, or some sort of Xtreme Porter or whatnot).  It seems like a lot of the craft breweries are trying to make their dark beers all edgy and Xtreme! and stuff, so it's nice to see a really well done "normal" stout  The usual problem in this category is you're competing with Guinness.  The guys at Duckrabbit have made something I would (at least some of the time) choose over Guinness.  It's wonderfully balanced, in that quite a few different flavors hit you at once, and they work together.  There's a slightly gritty roasted coffee thing, there's the creamy caramel sweetness, and there's a slight dryness from the hops that keeps it from being cloying.  Not a strong alcohol flavor, no big hit of licorice (drink RIS's if that's your thing).  Also, this beer immediately makes you think "Damn! That was good! I'm-a have another!" upon finishing the bottle.   Evidently they make a version that's aged in bourbon barrels that's even better.

2) Heavy Seas Maerzen.
Oktoberfest style beer.  Extremely yummy.  One sip and you are mentally transported to a place where you're sitting outside on a pleasant late-summer evening with a plate full of bratwurst.  Fruity and hoppy and refreshing.  Damn near perfect version of this style. 

Also, filling out the sixpack:
Duckrabbit Brown Ale:  Same guys as the milk stout.  Hoppier and stronger, but not quite as yummy.  Still worth trying, though
Harpoon IPA and Great Divide Denver IPA -- both pretty solid IPAs, particularly the Great Divide, but neither is better than the usual suspects.
Sweetwater Happy Ending -- strong stout from the local Atlanta brewery.  I usually don't like their beers.  This one is pretty good, but not great

[sarah]

I've never heard of the Duckrabbit brewery, although the name reminds me of a classic Looney Tunes cartoon:
"Duck season!"
"Wabbit season!"
"Wabbit season!"
"Duck season!  Fire!!"
*BLAM*

I have always liked Marzens, perhaps because I tend to enjoy being transported to anyplace where I am in possession of a big plate of bratwurst.

The local beer bar just tapped a keg of Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour, which is a whole lot better than I remembered it, all full of musty fruity sweet-and-sour goodness.  It gets extra bonus points for mentally transporting me to that big table in the back corner with frites, mussels, and most of you guys.

I've been drinking a lot of Surly beers lately.  Huge beers with excellent names: Furious, Bender, Schadenfreude.  Any other Surly fans?

~s

[tgraham]

I've had beer when I've been surly. I cant say I've ever had a surly beer.

Tonight at the local grocers I decided to replenish the top shelf in the fridge as I had a few (fews) over the weekend during the painting project.
I found a honeymoon (from the blue moon folks) It goes quite well with a Five Guys burger. slightly milder than the regular blue moon, a pleasant brew.
Also got a six of Red Stripe (Hooray Beer!!!)

[Sebastian Knight]

(from the blue moon folks)

Or, as they are more familiarly known, "Coors"...

[Michael]

Lately, I've been sticking to beers brewed in Ireland or Delaware.

[Sebastian Knight]

Picked up a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot this week, since I hadn't tried it yet.  I've seen a wide range of different beers labeled as "Barleywine", so you never really know what you're going to get with that category.   In this case what you get is

1) a yeasty mellow base which is almost but not entirely overwhelmed by
2) an intense, fairly bitter blast of piney hops.  Yummy if you're into bitter beer but will scare a lot of people off. And
3) 9.6% ABV.  Yikes.  Slight medicinal quality from the high ABV but surprisingly drinkable. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to lie down for a while...

[tgraham]

Picked up a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot this week, since I hadn't tried it yet.  I've seen a wide range of different beers labeled as "Barleywine", so you never really know what you're going to get with that category.   In this case what you get is

1) a yeasty mellow base which is almost but not entirely overwhelmed by
2) an intense, fairly bitter blast of piney hops.  Yummy if you're into bitter beer but will scare a lot of people off. And
3) 9.6% ABV.  Yikes.  Slight medicinal quality from the high ABV but surprisingly drinkable. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to lie down for a while...

"Many parts of the pine tree are edible" - Euell Gibbons

[Michael]

This is real:

"Bitches Brewski? Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Unveils it's 'Bitches Brew'
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original release of Bitches Brew Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery has created its own 'Bitches Brew' - a bold, dark beer that's a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root, a gustatory analog to Miles' masterpiece. Featuring the album's iconic artwork, on its label, Dogfish Head's Bitches Brew was unveiled at Savor, An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, June 5, in Washington DC. Two 40th anniversary editions of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew -- a Legacy Edition and a Deluxe Collector's Edition -- will be available Tuesday, August 31"

[sarah]

I've been hoping that they'll get that at the local beer bar.  DFH seems to be a haven for music nerds...they've also done a couple of specialty beers named after Frank Zappa albums.

Right now in Chicagoland, it's too humid to drink anything but Red Stripe.

~s

[tgraham]

Right now in Chicagoland, it's too humid to drink anything but Red Stripe.

~s

Hooray Beer!!!!

[tgraham]

Beer run Monday.
Started off with a visit to BB's cajun cafe
Lunch pairing was a roast beef po-boy (dressed), chicken and sausage gumbo, and pollo bullets (bacon wrapped around chicken wrapped around cheese and jalapeno) paired with:
Abita Jockamo IPA - not normally a fan of the in-your-face hoppiness of IPAs but i do like the Abita version, particularly with the richly flavored Nawlins  cookin.

Then off to the Saucer for the worlds best pretzels along with a Texas flight:
512 Pecan Porter - I'm a huge porter fan, and this one is second to the breck's vanilla porter as my fave
Live Oak Hefe - Nice hefe, good flavor, it was on teh tail-end of the flight, so memory is sorta fuzzy.
Real Ale Fireman #4 - I very much like the rest of their beers, this one was more for the nascar crowd.
Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout - strong notes of coffee and chocolate is right, like someone spilled a mocha into a pint
Independence Mandarin Saison - interesting, very citrusy, would have been better and very summer-refreshing if served very cold rather than tap-room tepid.

Abita has also announced plans to market Abita SOS (Save Our Shores) with proceeds to benefit coastal relief efforts.
More news on this later.

BTW, the Flying Saucer has a frequent flyer club, if you drink a bazillion beers, you get a lovely commemorative brass plate up on the wall. It took me a few minutes to locate 3 guys i work with up there already.