BEERJANGLIN'

We've Moved!

2009-01-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

We have moved all our posts over to a new site:

http://www.BloggersAndAles.com

All our old and new articles can now be found at that address. If you have us bookmarked or on your blogroll, that is the new address. It will be new and improved, and the address is a helluva lot easier to remember.

SO COME ON OVER!

Turning Wattle Seeds into Lemonade

2009-01-09T18:36:00.004-05:00

I have a friend named Christian who is a wine/liquor guy, but lately, he has been wanting -- perhaps to humor yours truly -- to learn more about beer. Every couple of weeks we meet at Wegmans and pick out a couple sixpacks to sample.

One problem: he doesn't like hops, which is basically saying that he doesn't really like beer yet, at least not the full spectrum. Because of this, our trips to Weggie's often consist of my scouring the West Coast and East Coast sections, while he trolls the Belgian and European sections, their beers being more brown sugary-sweet and less hop-intensive.

Personally, I think we all come around to hops in the same way that we all come around to coffee: over time and on that one time that it just hits you the right way. But for the time being, I am trying out a couple odd Euro beers that I wouldn't normally purchase.

Problem was, a few weeks ago -- against my "are you sure?" skepticism -- we picked up a six pack of Baron's Wattle Seed Ale. Apparently, wattleseeds come from the Acacia plant, a pea-like bit of foliage that bears pods. That's right: peas in beer. Other than it's admittedly useful medicinal function (not that I need it, am I right ladies...?) it's not a beer ingredient I would normally fancy. In fact, a bit more knowledge of the Magnoliophyta plant division might have steered us away from this unfortunate choice.

I have to give Christian credit: though he doesn't like hops, his palate is remarkable. He took his first whiff of it and said, "It smells like peas." And at this point neither of us had any idea what a wattleseed was. And boy was he right. It has the aroma of cooked vegetables and cigarette ashes. And as for the taste, imagine a Bass Ale brewed with more brown sugar and boiled broccoli. Please don't hurt yourself driving to the store to get a case.

It's a really dreadful beer, one that I found undrinkable. I drank half of it and poured the rest down the drain. Naturally, Christian gave me three to take home and try out.

Back at Christian's this past week, I brought some beer, including the two remaining Wattle Seed Ales, hoping perhaps to fool him into drinking some more, but also see if I could get it to go down easy. I hate wasting beer, even bad beer, and it's still got alcohol in it for pete sake!

I decided to cut the beer with two American beers with very strong flavors, hoping that they would be enough to grab those little wattleseeds by the throat and beat them into submission.

The first test was Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale. Stone is one of my favorite breweries, but I have had Arrogant Bastard more times than I can count this year. Plus it's abundant and cheap, so if I ruined a bottle, I wouldn't be happy, but I wouldn't be heartbroken either.

I poured the beers half-and-half. The color of the beer was very Bastard-ish. (For all it's flaws, Wattle Seed Ale has a nice brownish red color.) The aroma took on that of an Arrogant Bastard Lite: still has some of the harsher, darker notes -- the alcohol, the woods, the dark malts -- but muted. The wattleseeds were drowning in the richness of the Bastard. Strangely, it made the Arrogant Bastard more "drinkable," in the Bud Light sense of making it lighter and less filling. It was not an unabashed success, but it made the Wattle Seed Ale go down easy like a worm pill hidden in a chunk of Purina.

The second beer I tried was Magic Hat's Roxy Rolles, another beer that I like, but that I've had a million of this winter. The color remained the same chunky red, but a little more transparent. This was a pleasant surprise, since the severe, woody hops of Roxy completely choked the life out of what was left of the Wattle Seed Ale. If I may: the Wattle Seed was The Colonel from Boogie Nights, and the Roxy Rolles was his large African-American cellmate, slapping him and telling him to shut up.

All-told, I am going to have to try cutting these terrible beers a lot more. Neither pairing was an improvement upon it's original non-Wattle Seed counterpart, but it saved me from having to waste precious, precious alcohol.

A New Year For Three Sheets?

2009-01-07T23:00:00.004-05:00

If you've never had the pleasure of viewing an episode of Three Sheets, the globe trotting drinking show, it's probably because it was only available to about 34 households nationally. While exclusivity is nice, it may also have something to do with the December demise of MOJO HD, the network that aired the first three seasons. If you haven't seen the show, you should. It's great. Well, maybe great is strong, but it sure is fun.

Host Zane Lamprey is genuinely funny, and Three Sheets manages to be irreverent and informative without geeking out. It's equal parts beer, wine and liquor, and all about drinking locally. As if that weren't enough, Zane is from Syracuse and went to college at SUNY Cortland, which is interesting to all of us at Beerjanglin', considering our various connections to Central New York. Anyway, don't take my word for it, watch the damn thing! The first three seasons are available for your viewing pleasure on Hulu.com - don't worry, it's free (and legal!).

Season four has been shot already and is merely awaiting a good television home. We've got our fingers crossed.

Flourishing tip of the ol' cap to Mr. Rick Lyke, another fella with Syracuse roots, for pointing out on his excellent blog that a new episode, the Second Annual New Years Eve Pub Crawl From London, is streaming on mojohd.com. Check out the first ever show, Three Sheets: Belgium, below.

Albany's Old Chicago Closes

2009-01-06T14:51:00.004-05:00

Old Chicago Pizza and Pasta, famous for offering "110 Brews", has closed its only New York State Location. The owner of this particular location had previously filed for bankruptcy protection, so this move can't come as a complete shock to anybody who has been paying attention.

Old Chicago opened on Wolf Road in Colonie (which is Albany as far as we're concerned) amidst much fanfare in the fall of 2007. We visited on more than one occasion and were generally pleased. In the chain restaurant wasteland that is the Wolf Road corridor, at least you could get a decent bite to eat and wash it down with something other than a Smithwicks or the current Sam Adams seasonal.

The problem -- as far as attracting the infinitesimal segment of the population that into this sort of thing -- is that they didn't do much in the way of rotating taps and getting something new and interesting on a regular basis. I get that they are a chain and are (uhh, were) operating under some corporate constraints, but in a town in which a place like Mahar's has thrived for years, there might just be at least a bit of a demand for a beer selection that sets you apart from all those national chain joints surrounding you. The latest offering from Redhook ain't exactly gonna get it done. Or maybe people around here are just as happy to eat at Appleby's and the Olive Garden and enjoy a Bud Light bucket special when they are lucky enough to come across one. Maybe it has nothing to do with local tastes or beer selection and the dude simply took on too much debt in getting the place up and running. Could be that pesky economy we keep hearing about. Whatever the cause of your demise we're sad to see you go, Old Chicago.

The Beers of 2008

2008-12-31T12:43:00.002-05:00

Here are the best beers I had in 2008, in no particular order...

Sierra Nevada 12th Release Harvest Wet Hop Ale
Stone 08.08.08 Vertical Epic
Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale
Flying Dog Kerberos Tripel
Green Flash West Coast IPA
Avery Out of Bounds Stout
Mendocino Special Edition Imperial IPA
Anchor Summer Beer
Three Floyd's Alpha King Pale Ale
Abita 20th Anniversary Pilsner
Empire Brewing Company India Pale Ale
Rogue Smoke Ale
Troegs Rugged Trail Nut Brown
Anchor Christmas Ale 2008 (Our Special Ale #34)
Stoudt's Fat Dog Oatmal Stout
Sierra Nevada 2008 Anniversary Ale
Thomas Hooker Hop Meadow IPA
Berkshire Cabin Fever Ale
Shipyard Prelude (Special Ale)
Custom Brewcrafters Canandaigua Lake Ale
Gemini Imperial IPA
Middle Ages Boxing Day Bitter

To all our readers: may the best of your 2008 be the worst of your 2009. We look forward to reading all of what you all have to say in the coming year. We also will be announcing a change to our site, for both of you that are interested. We look forward to providing flawed insight and ill-informed opinions -- and lots more of it than ever -- in the next year.

Cheers! From BeerJanglin'

My Cans! My Antique Cans!

2008-12-30T20:18:00.010-05:00

It wasn't long ago that drinking beer that came from cans was considered something far too gauche for the drinker of finer beers. But brewers such as Saranac, Sly Fox and Oskar Blues have been scoffed at such constraints. Now, rather than being ignoble, canned beer is considered just as acceptable as bottled beer. In some cases, it may even be better for transport and storage purposes.

Plus, we all pour them into a glass anyway, don't we?

Long gone is the metallic taste that used to creep into the Miller Lites and Coorses of our youth. Since the "can liner" was pioneered by Keystone*, we have not had to add aluminum to our tasting notes.
With this stigma now removed, I felt little guilt about purchasing a twelve pack of four canned beers by Butternuts Beer and Ale in Garrattsville, New York. Butternuts' website describes their mission thusly:

It's a place where common men brew approachable beers for other common men. Translation? No pretentious eight dollar a bottle Weenieweissers allowed. Here, the ingredients are simple and natural. The brewer's art is practiced with creativity and reverence to the old code. The beers are eminently drinkable.

And farting is funny.

(Believe it or not, none of us at BeerJanglin' added that last line.)

So there is a clear -- some might say belabored -- credo to appeal to the "just plain folks" demographic; in fact, the site often takes irreverent potshots at the classic English and German styles. But will they apply the same irreverent whimsy to their beers?

The first beer I tried from the four options was the Porkslap, a pale ale that is also curiously labeled a Farmhouse Ale. (I later realized that all four of the beers were misleadingly labeled "Farmhouse Ale," being that they are apparently brewed in a rustic area.)

Porkslap pours a big fluffy head. There is a massive amount of carbonation climbing up the yellow-orange-amber colors. There is a decent amount of haze in the glass, but still remains somewhat clear. The aroma is spicy, with some crystallish pale malts. There is a touch of some orange peel and citrus. The curious earthiness that I might expect in a hefeweizen. Is it really a farmhouse ale?

The taste is a pretty typical pale malt taste, but with almost zero hops. There is a slight citrus taste that could be attributed to a hop but little more. It's not bad, but it's crystal malts or bust. The feel is fizzy and bubbly. It's not a great beer but for the right price it's not a bad one.

My second selection was the traffic-light yellow Snapperhead IPA. It pours a nice finger of fluffy white head. Not exactly clear, but not what you would call cloudy either. It resembles a bright pilsner.

The aroma is of a pale ale, or an English pale ale; certainly not your typical American IPA. Some citrusy hops do come in, but they are sweet and very very mild. The smell is weak -- not bad, just weak. And another oddly earthy tobacco in the malt.

The taste is more heavily toasted malt than anything. It's a surprise. It ends up being bitter on the back of the tongue. The hops are citrusy but very sharp; tart, astringent, almost acidic. There are two bitters: the burnt kind and the grapefruity kind. It actually could use more of that earthy balance in the malt that it had in the aroma.

The beer feels fizzy on the tongue like ginger ale. It is a very sharp drink, lots of bitter flavors and not enough balance for my liking. It's average.

Third on the list was the thick and milky Moo Thunder Stout. It isn't the most impressive beer I've ever had because of the lack of head; instead it has a brown film that floats atop. It is a black color with a brown tinge at the edges. It's about average to look at.

But the rest of it gets a heckuva lot better.

The smell is sweet raisin and black licorice. Granted, I hate black licorice, but it fits here. It's not burnt or bitter. It's sweet, and even just a bit sour in a good way. The first sip is slighly roasted stout flavors. More of that sour raisin to balance the roasted malts, which are very nice. It's tart because of that sweet raisiny taste, and really pleasant because of it. Comes in as it warms with toffee, caramel and molasses. The feel is milky smooth --appropriately -- and just a tad bubbly. It's quite good.

The fourth beer in the pack, the Weissbier, really surprised me. It pours a cloudy-as-hell banana yellow. There is no head, but it doesn't seem to move. Appears slightly illuminated.

The Weissbier has a pungent and spicy Belgian-ish ale aroma. Also, it has the sweetness and wheat base of a hefeweizen. Mostly it's orange peel and a hint of banana. Very strong and very pleasant.

The taste is citrusy and orange. It has the flavor of Belgian spice, which is subdued but acts as a nice accent. Sweet in an appropriate way. It's puckery at the end. It feels milky and bubbly, dry at the swallow. This is a surprisingly nice wheat beer. It has the sweetness of a hefeweizen, with the wheaty mildness of a witbier.

In my ever-so-humble opinion, the Weissbier and the Moo Thunder are the class of the pack, although the Porkslap is their flagship beer. Here's hoping that if cans are truly the superior method of beer transport, that some of our finer breweries begin making the move so maybe our beers will stay out of the light, and last longer.

*I have no idea if this is actually true.

Ithaca Excelsior! White Gold

2008-12-26T15:44:00.004-05:00

With all the fast-moving happenings in the craft brewing world, we have been remiss in being slow to ignore some of the good things that the Ithaca Brewing Company has been doing lately. I first took notice on Thanksgiving weekend, when I noticed that their seasonal twelve-pack was absent the previously ubiquitous Apricot Wheat beer (a popular beer of which I am not particularly fond).

Instead, the twelver has four solid offerings: the decent Pale Ale, the gloriously hoppy Cascazilla, the surprisingly nice Oaked Nut Brown and my favorite winter offering, Gorges Porter.

Ithaca has also thrown their hat into the Big Beer movement, by offering 22-ounce bottles of new beers, in their Excelsior! series. They have just announced the release of their new αlpHαlpHα Double Honey Bitter and it has become clear that we are way behind in getting in on the Ithaca action.

[Note: It is going to be hard to find information about the Excelsior! series on Ithaca Beer's own website since it's not listed among their beers. They may want to get on that.]

Ithaca has released a beer in the series called White Gold, which is labelled as a "Strong Pale Wheat Ale." The label describes the beer thusly:

A Belgo-American Ale brewed with domestic barley and French wheat malts, the finest Continental and U.S. grown hops, and fermented with Belgian, English and Wild yeasts.

Here's what I thought about it:

The look is a very clear straw-yellow color. It has a massive puffy head when poured into a tulip glass. The liquid is anything but static; quite the contrary, it looks like champagne on the interior, with throngs of upfloating bubbles rushing to the surface. Other than that, it is very clear, appropriately so. With each sip, it leaves a thick and frothy lace.

The aroma is of the typical wheat vardiety, with only a mild spiciness that comes more from the mild hop than from any possible Belgian yeasts. There are fruit flavors that come through like a light accent, mostly lemon, orange peel and apple. The malts are estery and crystalline, a little spicy.

The flavor is primarily apples: the sweet red kind and the sour green kind. All this is balanced by a dry wheaty base. The beer is both sweet and spicy; you could call it Franco-Belgian. Surprising taste of pineapple, as well as a mild leafy hop. The pale malts mix well with that wheaty "twang" (as the kids are calling it these days). At the end of the sip, it turns slightly more sour, probably due to warmth. All these sweetish/spicy/sour flavors blend nicely with a frosty thickness on the tongue, lending themselves to a feel that is both bubbly and creamy.

White Gold is sweeter than most beers of its ilk, but it's balanced enough on the other ends of the spectrum to make it very drinkable. While there is a hint of sour and lots of other tree fruits that make it a good beer for girls and boys.

Merry Christmas From Beerjanglin'

2008-12-25T16:57:00.002-05:00

NPR had a solid little story on Christmas beers yesterday. Solid mostly because it featured Don "Joe Sixpack" Russel and his considerable knowledge on the subject. You can give it a read or listen here. And check out Joe Sixpack's top 10 Christmas beers, it's about as sound a list as you'll find:

10 Christmas Beers, From Soup To Nuts

by Don Russell

"Think fruitcake, but not the awful one made by your Aunt Bertha," Russell says of Troegs Mad Elf. "This beer tastes like it's been aged in an apple cider cask." Courtesy Don Russell

Advertised as "The Strongest Lager Beer In The World," Samichlaus has 14 percent alcohol — that's three times as strong as the average beer. Make sure you have a designated sleigh driver. Courtesy Don Russell

Smuttynose Winter Ale (New Hampshire), a sweet dark beer with notes of cherry and chocolate. Pair with snapper soup.

Stille Nacht (Belgium), a sweet, very strong pale ale. Pair with a washed-rind cheese such as Limburger.

Troegs Mad Elf (Pennsylvania), a strong dark ale brewed with cherries and honey. Pair with bacon quiche.

Mahr's Christmas Bock (Germany), a classic, malty Bavarian bock. Pair with a sausage plate.

Anchor Our Special Ale (California), a spiced winter warmer with a spruce aroma. Pair with cranberry salad.

Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome (England), a classic unspiced winter warmer with mellow roasted malt. Pair with roasted turkey.

Anderson Valley Winter Solstice (California), a spiced winter warmer with warming vanilla notes. Pair with pumpkin pie.

Baladin Noel (Italy), a Belgian-style strong dark ale with a vibrant, spicy yeast character. Pair with those red-and-green-wrapped Hershey kisses.

Samichlaus (Austria), a smooth, brandylike triple bock. Pair with a cigar next to the fireplace.

Gouden Carolus Noel (Belgium), a strong dark ale spiced with herbs. Pair with salted pecans.

Merry Christmas, whatever you're drinking.

Drinkability?

2008-12-21T17:02:00.007-05:00

At the risk of eschewing actual content for cheapie YouTube posts, this one caught me during the first half of today's Bills-Broncos game.

We all know that the "Drinkability" concept/campaign is laughable at best and audience-insulting at worst. All beverages are drinkable. This would be akin to McDonald's starting a campaign proudly trumpeting that their food is "Edible." It's a silly campaign, although not as desperate as their "It's so clear you can't hide its flaws" campaign with The Daily Show's usually amusing Rob Riggle. [Note: I cannot find any of these Riggle-laden commercials anywhere. I'm wondering if Bud realized how insipid and ridiculous they were and removed them from all existence.]

What struck me about this commercial though -- and it might be harder to see on the YouTube clip than it is on TV -- is the James Spader lookalike to the right of the screen who has just taken a sip of his Bud Light and proclaims "Man, that's good." See below.

The look on his face tells me that the beer is actually anything BUT good. His face resembles that of a person who had to ingest barium sulfate before a medical test. If that isn't the textbook definition of "choking it down," I don't know what is.

I think Bud is losing it.

If your goal is to make a drink that's "easy to swallow," as the commercial would indicate, then maybe you should get out of the goddamn beer business and into the iced tea business. Is beer really that hard to swallow? Have beer drinkers been reporting this as a problem? Are we gagging on our ales?

Some might think that BeerJanglin' is anti-Budweiser. And some might not be completely wrong. But we are getting very tired of the trend of this Belgian-owned company spreading blatant falsehoods, especially while claiming themselves to be the "Great American Lager." Drinkability. Clarity. Patriotism. All reasons that you should shun the craft brewing industry and drink Bud.

Right?

[Update: I was searching for Beer Ad articles online, and came up with this 2004 NPR/Slate spot by Seth Stevenson that talked about the battle between Miller's "President of Beers" and Bud's "disproportionate response" (their words). Interestingly, it's notable that one of Bud's main contentions of its superiority over Miller was that Miller was bought about by "a South African company" and therefore were somehow less patriotic. Oops!]

ECP Approved

2008-12-19T20:07:00.004-05:00

Wow, it's been over a year since I twice posted. No, I have not stopped drinking beer. And yes, I have moved from Schenectady. I just felt now was the time for us to catch up.

So here is a list of recently approved beers, breweries, or bars:

Chatham Brewing

Located in lovely Columbia County (my new home), they produce some quality beers. I really enjoy the Porter. Great place to enjoy one? Peint o Gwrw in Chatham.

Yuengling Black and Tan

The economy isn't good. But this beer is. $8.99 for a 12 pack? Yes, please!

Pittsfield Brew Works

A favorite of the Beerjanglin' staff. This a great staff, and the Sampler is awesome.

Southport Brewing Company

I don't remember much about my trip to Milford. It rained. A lot. I drank. A lot. But I do remember this spot. It had its own beer, which I am sure was good. But they had pitchers. Of Genny Cream. God bless 'em.

King Authur's Brewpub

This gem in Oswego is of course ECP approved. Try the Red Dragon ale.

Southern Tier Pumking

Is it the fall yet Yet?

Schultz and Dooley

In the ECP hall of fame!

I am glad we could catch up!

Beer Review - Southern Tier Cuvee: Series One

2008-12-17T20:25:00.003-05:00

When stumbling upon what appeared to be a nondescript convenience store -- Stafford Convenience Store, corner of Stafford and Sunnycrest in Eastwood, Syracuse, NY -- I was surprised to see, for the first time, Series One of Southern Tier Cuvee.

Apparently, Southern Tier will be putting out three separate series of oak-aged beers. The first series, released in October, will be in French oak; the second series, released in February, will use American oak; the third series, available when the last of the snow will finally have melted in June, will likely be a combination of the two.

And spoiler alert, because the label gives away some of the beer's secrets:

ALE IMPRESSIONS: Light copper color, slight malt flavor with mild bitterness, dry finish with subtle hop aroma.
FRENCH OAK IMPRESSIONS: Qualities of toasted coconut, almond biscotti and toasted almonds with a taste of honeysuckle.
11.0% abv. • individually boxed, foil labeled 22 oz bottle

But more importantly, what did I think? I broke out a tulip glass and my notebook and took a crack at it.

This beer is very attractive, worthy of its provocative French moniker. The color is honey and copper. Though the head starts puffy (possibly due to a suspect pour), it disappears pretty quickly. It's not a clear beer, but puts out a hazy glow like a lava lamp. The carbonation is infinitesimal.

When hoisting this unwieldy glass toward the nasal cavity, the first smell -- naturally -- is of oak. The oak masks a second wave of heavy Belgian ale spice. The caramel malts come through to add both another level of flavor and another level of balance. It smells woody, roasted and dry.

The taste opens up a veritable pandora's box of flavor, a menagerie of disparate flavors. I was able to taste: oak, vanilla accents, Belgian ale spices, raisin, strong alcohol, caramel, molasses, a nutty malt and coconut. (To be fair, I'm not sure I would have detected the coconut if I hadn't read it on the label first. Ah the power of suggestion.)

The label mentions that there is creme brulee in the flavor, but to me that comes out much more like vanilla, caramel and molasses, and not the strong sense of Southern Tier's recent Creme Brulee Milk Stout. The beer is creamy and fizzy, and leaves a nice little remnant on the tongue.

It's a beer that's actually greater than the sum of it's parts. As far as drinkability goes, it's superior. At 11% alcohol by volume, there wasn't a moment at which I was choking it down. In fact, I was surprised to find it was gone before I was finished writing everything down about it. Which meant I had to pour another glass. And fast.

According to the Southern Tier website, Series Two will feature a more roasted, possibly more bitter, flavor. It should be more oaky, but with "a creamy intensity." Series Three will ... ah who the hell knows. I'm just glad I got to try this one.

Say It Ain't So, Governor

2008-12-16T21:55:00.006-05:00

Now that we are "officially" in a recession, it is no secret that many state governments are in a bit of a negative cash flow situation. Given that New York State depends on Wall Street for roughly 20% of revenues, it shouldn't be shocking that we are in a bit more of a fiscal bind than most. Governor David Paterson today released his sure-to-be-popular proposed budget, which is designed to spread the pain around to, apparently, everyone who has ever lived in, visited, or heard of New York.** One unpleasant "revenue action" (how's that for a euphemism?) that happened to catch my eye: a more than 100% increase in the excise on beer.

Increase Beer and Wine Tax Rates. Increases the excise tax on wine and beer to approximately the average of surrounding states. The tax on wine would increase from 18.9 cents per gallon to 51 cents per gallon, and the beer tax would increase from 11 cents per gallon to 24 cents per gallon. Alcohol excise taxes were last increased in 1991.

Ouch. It's not as ugly as the excise increase on wine, but he is proposing allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores. Oh, yeah, there would also be an "obesity tax" on the sale of non-diet soda (or pop, depending on from whence in the state you hail). Times are tough all over.

** It should be noted that I think Governor Paterson is doing, to this point, a fairly credible job in a rather untenable situation.

Wine Snobs Become Bud Geeks!

2008-12-15T21:36:00.007-05:00

A Hat Tip to Brookston Beer Bulletin for inspiration...

Let's break down this Budweiser commercial for a moment. Two wine snobs sit at an upscale tavern where the chesty Christine Scott Bennett is tending bar. They are debating as to where their wine comes from. One says, "It tastes like Sonoma Valley," to which the other rebukes, "These grapes are VERY Sierra foothills."

At which point, our dreamy tavern maid jumps in with, "Idaho!"

No, she is not saying that "She [is] da hoe," nor does she have Tourette's. Rather, she begins to explain where the hops in Budweiser -- the Belgian beer company -- are harvested. Idaho, as all beer aficianados can tell you, is the home of "fields of the finest hops known to man." This fact is irrefutable.

But what better way to empirically prove the superiority of Idaho hops than by pouring -- unsolicited, mind you -- two large pilsner glasses filled with Budweiser. (It's an American-style macro lager, for those of you unfamiliar with this Belgian company.)

So dumbstruck and embarrassed are these two pseudo-sommeliers, that they are shamed into purchasing Budweisers for everyone in the bar! Clearly, these men -- because of their appreciation for wine -- are men of class and taste, and probably have high-paying jobs in the private sector which would allow them to afford such an outrageous bar tab. Apparently, they took one look at this exotic yellow beer and decided that it was time to say "enough" to all this stuffy wine talk and get down to a real workingman's drink! (One question, however: why is it that these men would argue about the origins of the grapes in the wine they are drinking, when they could just as easily look on the bottle's label or Google the answer via their BlackBerries?)

A quick cut to the Budweiser logo, with the words "The Great American Lager (Please Drink Responsibly)" and the Rock and/or Roll sounds of Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" This song represents that the buttoned-up world that these two stagnant males were living in has just been rocked! (Or possibly rolled.)

But just knowing that these men are going on to better drinking isn't enough. You have to watch ... the process. When we return to our wine connois-snores, they are practically obsessed with this stuff! Mr. Sierra Foothills asks Mr. Sonoma Valley if he's "feeling the hops?" Mr. Sonoma replies, "I'm SO-O-O feelin' the hops!" as he wafts the aroma of those bitter hops into his nasal cavity. You know, just like real beer geeks do. Oh, and suddenly there are two comely young blonde lasses who have just sidled up to them. Apparently buying $2.50 beers for the house make a woman swoon. Cut and print!

Thanks Budweiser, for capturing what it's like to be a real beer drinker.

21 Things About Prohibition

2008-12-12T12:07:00.000-05:00

We would be remiss if we didn't give a quick shout to our man and FotB (Friend of the Blog) Lew Bryson for his really excellent breakdown of 21 points about prohibition and repeal. I can't even begin to do the piece justice so just check it out yourself.

Beer O' the Moment - Sierra Nevada Harvest

2008-12-11T23:21:00.004-05:00

Sunday, October 15th 2006 was a watershed day for yours truly, for it was the first time I tried the 2006 version of the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale. Our Albany bureau chief Bojangles had secured a large, fancy growler of it -- and not the screw-cap kind, mind you, but the kind with the rubber stopper flip-top and an ornate silver handle. I was visiting Bojangles for the weekend and on Sunday morning -- before the Bills lost to the previously-winless Detroit Lions -- he offered me a pour.

This was in the early years of beer geekdom, and to me, Sierra Nevada was far too mainstream a brewery for my liking. Basically, if I had heard of it, I didn't want to try it. And I was sure that a brewery like Sierra Nevada had sold out to the American populace and dumbed down its recipe. Don't try to sell it to me, cuz I'm not buyin', maaaaan.

In short, I was an asshole.

Suffice it to say that the 2006 version of the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale was -- and I have repeated this many time since -- the single greatest pint of beer that I had ever had. It was my first experience with the "wet hops" of a harvest ale, and brought the idea of an IPA to a completely new place. It actually changed my life. I never doubted Sierra Nevada's brewing chops again. In fact, Mr. Bojangles once had a long and virulent discussion

The problem is, as with that first hit of heroin [secondhand knowledge], you are always chasing that high again. I had looked for the Sierra Nevada Harvest ale, and though it wasn't particularly hard to find, I had always ended up just missing it. I had had the Southern Hemisphere version -- which ostensibly was created to react to the hop shortage -- but it wasn't quite the same. I found the 2007 version at a local watering hole, but it didn't match up. This year, I called several local beer stores, all of whom said they would have it; they all lied.

Finally, on a fateful trip to Beers of the World on Thanksgiving weekend, I serendipitously found a twenty-two ounce bottle of the cumbersomely titled Sierra Nevada 12th Release Harvest Wet Hop Ale. Being that I already was spending an embarrassing amount of money on all the other beer I was lugging to the register, I gladly took a flier on this one.

And folks, I have finally caught the elusive dragon.

There is nothing I don't love about this beer. First -- and maybe I'm just biased or using revisionist history -- it looks amazing. It's a clear copper orange. Infinitesimal little bubbles shoot up like little glass elevators. The head is huge: three chunky fingers worth, fluffy and white, like an ice cream float. The rings of lace around the top of the glass resemble a redwood more than a red-ale.

Take one whiff and prepare to be hooked. The hops in the nose are simply magnificent. They are a complex blend of major oily citrus, and a hint of resiny pine. It's a sweet, flowery perfume. All that sweet-n-spicy is balanced out by what I can only describe is burnt firewood.

The sip was a reward for two years of patience. Again, a bitter perfume. It's sweet and citrusy, but with a real bite on the back end. Some crucial roasted malts come through in the taste, without which this beer would collapse under its own hoppy weight. It's nearly the perfect IPA, and I don't know that I've had a better one. That triumphant triumverate of sweet estery hops, bitter citrus/pine hops and roasted malts make this an all-timer.

Combine the strangely bubbly, fizzy feel with these strong flavors and you got yourself a drink right there! It's bitter, yes, but it's balanced. And it's superior.

It must be said that this beer is closest in style to Stone Ruination and Flying Dog Double Dog, at least as far as my humble palate was able to ascertain. I would give the ever-so-slight edge, however, to the Sierra, only because of those inimitable "wet" hops.

My beer-drinkin' buddies are glad that I finally found this beer so that I would stop talking about, and bitching about how I can't find it anywhere. Pound for pound it's probably my favorite beer in the world. So go grab some, email me your address and expect a self-addressed stamped box within three business days.

Brewing in Sudan

2008-12-10T23:03:00.005-05:00

According to Reuters, SABMiller is creating the first brewery in Sudan in a quarter of a century. Alcohol was banned in the Islamic-run country in 1983, but beer has been allowed in the region since the south of the country achieved semi-autonomous rule three years ago. And though alcohol has been known to cause some problems in the region, here's hoping that the initial issues are simply a reaction to strict government restrictions and they will learn to "drink responsibly."

By creating a South Sudanese brand, Miller will hopefully help start the process of giving the people of that war-torn region some added regional pride -- hopefully in a "hometown spirit" sense, rather than more jingoism. Previously, the region had been importing all their beer from Uganda; Bell Beer is Uganda's most highly-regarded beer. (For an interesting read, check out this BBC article about the Ugandan tradition of communal drinking from a straw.)

According to the Reuters article, the new brewery will employ 250 workers, brewing beer and soft drinks. SABMiller is also reportedly interested in using the region's local cereal grains for the beer's barley.

In the wake of InBev laying off over 2000 workers, the Sudan story is a nice development.

What's In My Fridge?

2008-12-10T12:25:00.002-05:00

You can tell a lot about someone by the items with which they surround themselves: a record collection, a DVD library, their wardrobe. I judge people by these things, and judge them harshly. Should I see a Hinder CD, a Uwe Boll movie or a trucker hat in anyone's residence, that person shall hear my very strong and very correct opinions.

But should I apply the same stringent and high-minded snobbery to what someone keeps in their refrigerator? Of course, I'm not referring to Hellman's mayonnaise, Diet Coca-Cola, Heinz's Extra Fancy Tomato catsup, or Hungry Man microwaveable dinners (I have one of these items in my fridge, can you guess which one?). Rather, I'm referring to the libations, spirits, lagers and ales of the world. Now that good beer is becoming easier and easier to get, there is no excuse -- save for dearth of funds or lack of taste buds -- to be slumming it on the beer front.

So what DO I have in my refrigerator, indeed! you ask. Nothing fancy, but here is a partial list:
22-ounce bottles of:

Rogue Double Dead Guy
Ithaca TEN (Excelsior! Series)
Ithaca White Gold (Excelsior! Series)
Rogue Smoke Ale
Rogue Chipotle Ale
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Stone IPA
Rogue Shakespeare Stout
Green Flash Stout

Out of these, the only ones I have had before are the two Stone beers, half of the Double Dead Guy and the Chipotle Ale. Any suggestions where I should go next?

12-ounce bottles of:

Sam Adams Boston Lager
Sam Adams Winter Lager
Sam Adams Cream Stout
Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale
Sam Adams Holiday Porter
Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic
Ithaca Cascazilla
Mendocino Double IPA
Magic Hat Roxy Rolles
Magic Hat Jinx
Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA
Victory Festbier
Ithaca Pale Ale

Our good friend Willie Moe, Boston's favorite prodigal son, has chimed in with the contents of his icebox:

Southampton Pumpkin
Southern Tier Krampus
New England Atlantic Amber
Sam Adams Winter Lager
Victory Festbier
spoiled cheese*
rotten tomatoes*
Ipswitch Harvest
mustard*
mayo*
spicy brown mustard*
Shipyard Brewer's Special

(*not clever beer names)

I have more out on my enclosed porch but it's too goddamn cold to go look to see what they are. What you got?

I Need To Visit Vermont

2008-12-09T07:15:00.000-05:00

I grew up near Buffalo. We have never been shy about a little wintry weather, to say the least. Eight years of living in Syracuse, New York (aka the snowiest city in the world!) did little to dispel this notion. The discovery of the myriad seasonal ales that accompany this time of year only serves to further reinforce it.

Don't get me wrong - I don't enjoy skiing or snowmobiling. Or hunting, snow shoeing, sub-freezing temps, commuting in inclement weather, flu season, Ebeneezer Scrooge-types, wassailing, etc. You get the picture. I guess I like this time of year in spite of itself. I oddly romanticize it (at least until Ground Hog day or so) and that works for me.

All of that nonsense has little to do with this article in the Boston Globe:

There may or may not be a craft beer heaven, but this vibrant city wedged between Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains is close. Located at the epicenter of Vermont's microbrewery scene, Burlington is bustling with pubs and taprooms. Finding one that serves craft on draft is not only easy, it's the rule.

To prove it, we set out on our own pub crawl to see how many bars serving local brews on tap we could find before we ran out of steam. (Yeah, it's a tough job.)
The rules were simple. The crawl had to stay within walking distance of the intersection of Main and Church streets. Burlington beer aficionados readily provided a list of places to check out, but this crawl, as they so often do, progressed randomly.

This piece doesn't even begin give it justice, but just picture the scene with me: a snowy winter's night in Burlington. The wind is whipping in off of Lake Champlain, and fat flakes dance in the air. 'Tis not a fit night for man nor beast, but the cheery glow of the many pubs off the pedestrian mall in the city's downtown are calling. There are three brewpubs within walking distance and plenty of other likely destinations betwixt and between...

Brewpoint with Willie Moe

2008-12-08T12:10:00.008-05:00

Its time for another edition of Brewpoint with Willie Moe! Yes folks its time for Willie Moe to dole out his opinions on something in the world of beer. Mmmmm, world of beer, aaaaaaggghh! In this edition we go into the seedy underbelly of Bud, dum, dum, dum, dah. But more specifically Bud Light and their "Drinkability" campaign.

It probably comes as no surprise that there is not one Beerjangler' who is an avid drinker of Bud or Bud Light. Yes, even Dunford, the self proclaimed huguenot (whatever that means), parted ways with the self proclaimed "King of Beers" after he could no longer readily find BudDry, the only beer to this day that matches his unique wit and style. Is it because we are, what the world outside Brewtopia commonly refers to as "Beer Snobs"? Well, maybe partially. But I can guarantee that every single Beerjangler' has, in the last year, partook of a Pabst Blue Ribbon (and we were drinkning it long before it was trendy), or a Strohs, or a Gennessee Cream Ale, or a Schaeffer's, or any number of other comparable beers. Well, alright, I realize there is nothing comparable to a sweet, sweet PBR, but you get the point. If you ever see us voluntarily forcing down one of Heir Wieser's mainstays, it's probably a good day for curling in "h-e-double hockey sticks", if you catch my draught. If you don't, it means Hell froze over, because us drinking Bud by choice is that far fetched. So, needless to say, we do not like Budweiser, as opposed to Bud Wiser, whom we love. But if there's one thing, and there probably is only one thing, I could always count on from the Bud Empire, was clever and funny commercials.

This makes sense because they certainly aren't putting all those thousands of dollars they make into making a better beer. From Spuds Mackenzie to the WAZZZZZZUP?! Guys to the Tree Frogs to any number of hilarious ads they have produced over the years, Bud has been the King of Advertising. Which is why I have been so distraught lately. These Drinkability ads are about as good as the product they are selling, which is to say they are not. The premise of these ads is to say that Bud Light has what all those other light beers are missing. Yep, you guessed it, "drinkability". "Drinkability"?! Are you effin kidding me?! There point is that all light beers are not the same, which is, I guess slightly true, but are they trying to imply that Bud Light goes down easier than say, Coors Light? Because I'm pretty sure that is untrue. What they are equating "drinkability" to is how easy it goes down by more or less saying beer is only drinkable if it goes down like water. Which may be true for Joe Nascar Fan, but not for this guy! This guys wants something called "flavorability"! Yes, the ability to have flavor in my mouth, whilst getting drunk. I know it's an "out there" concept, but it could just catch on! But the Budheads idea of "drinkability" is not even the thing making me the most mad! No, it isn't! Keep reading.

You see in these ads, someone will ask for any light beer because, "they all taste the same." This then cues the random dude who has the Zack Morris ability of freezing time to go over the inaccuracy of this statement. Now if this were actually Zack Morris, that would be funny! But I digress. Joe or Josephine Time Freezer proceeds to move through the backyard barbecue, asking us if eating ground beef is the same as eating beef off the ground, or if drinking regular water is the same as drinking birdbath water, or eating a carrot stick is the same as eating a stick, stick. My first question is how do these people get the ability to freeze time, when they clearly didn't even have the ability to do well on the analogy portion of their SATs? Even Zack Morris got a 1502 on his SATs. Okay, I suppose freezing time would be more indicative of their math portion, not their verbal, but anyways. The fact remains that not one of these comparisons is relevant or funny. I mean basically the comparisons would be more like Light Beer in a can is not like licking light beer off the ground. Maybe if they were like, "is eating a hamburger from McDonald's the same as a eating hamburger from Ruby Tuesday's? Is taking a dump at home the same as taking a dump at a gas station? Is poking a bear behind bars at the zoo, the same as poking a bear out in the woods, unprotected?" I don't know if they mean for these to be ironical or something, but what I do know is they do not make me laugh and that is about all I have ever got from the King of Beers. The commercial where there's a creepy hitchhiker with an axe and a twelver of Bud Light, and the guy in the car dismisses his lady friend's comment about not picking him up because he has an axe, with, '"but he's got Bud Light."? That's funny! But it even gets funnier than that. When asked what the axe is for, the stranger's reply is, "To open the Bud Light?" Come on?! You kidding me? I'm giggling just thinking about it! So please Anheuser-Busch, I implore you, stick to what you know, making crappy beer and funny commercials. It's all I ask. And this has been Willie Moe's Brewpoint!

Europeans Are Turning Into A Bunch Of Beer Guzzlers?

2008-12-07T22:08:00.004-05:00

Say what? Europe is known as a continent full of enlightened sophisticates who enjoy socialized health care, responsible consumption of fine vintages of wine and long walks along the Seine and the Danube. Still mostly true, but part of that image may be due for a change, according to a survey commissioned by the Wall Street Journal:

Europeans are supposed to sip wine in sidewalk cafés, not guzzle beer like American college students.
But Europe's relationship with alcohol is changing. Countries like France and Italy, where good wine is considered a birthright, are seeing a surge in beer drinking among young people. In many countries, the traditional glass or two at mealtimes is giving way to a new culture of binge drinking.

To study the issue, the Wall Street Journal asked market-research firm GfK to poll Europeans about their drinking habits. In 13 European Union countries, plus the U.S., Russia, Turkey and Switzerland, GfK asked more than 17,000 people to describe how often they drink, what they drink and how alcohol affects their lives. Many of the results were surprising. (Read the rest here...)

While this seems like an incredibly silly, inaccurate survey in which many of the participants are obviously lying (53% of Italians don't drink at all, really?), it does make for an interesting read. A surprising trend of younger Euro's preferring beer over wine clearly emerges, and (coincidentally?) binge drinking seems to be becoming more prevalent among that set as well. I'm not sure what exactly can be gleaned from all this, but it's worth a quick look.

WHAT'S BRAZILIAN FOR ALCOHOLIC WATER?

2008-12-03T14:57:00.005-05:00

If you guessed Brahma, you'd be correct! That's right folks, I decided to grab the bull by the horns, not literally of course, and take in this Brazilian concoction. Now I know many Bud drinkers right now are wondering where they've heard that name before. No, not concoction, InBev. Well InBev, in your mind, added Budweiser into its brewing axis of evil. Now before you Budheads get all riled up and call me unpatriotistic, for drinking un-Americaned beer, hear me out. You're idiots, plain and simple. Okay, now that that's settled, onto the brew.

Brahma was created by Joseph Villager in 1888. Ever since has has flowed through Brasil, adding to the energy, passion and creative spirit called "Ginga". A Brasilian philosophy and approach to life fusing creativity and ingenuity,and living life with effortless flare.

Brahma has a nice curvaceous bottle, with no label, but rather its name raised up on the sides of the bottle. Not as eye-catching as say, Tiger, but then again what is? The curved script is displayed wonderfully, but it also gives you the feeling that you're getting a typical Brazilian macro. But enough about the bottle, we're not gonna drink out of there for crying out loud! Lets pour!

Now we try not to go into drinking any beer with preconceived notions, but to be honest we do it a lot. Is it fair to the beer? No. But life's not always fair, so deal with it! But I digress. Pouring it into my pint glass, it seemed to come out as expected. Oh, did you want to know what that was? Okay, fine! It poured a thin yellow color, with medium carbonation and a thin, quickly dissolving head with no trace of lace. Did not look atrocious, but also did not look to be packing too much in the way of, well, anything. But how does it smell?

Upon plunging your nose into this one you are not met with much. The smell is weak, with mild grains, and the ever so slight hint of fruit, possibly lemon. About what you would expect from your run of the mill macro. The smell is not necessarily bad, just bland. Your socks will remain on when you give it a whiff. Think Corona, but far weaker. But could the mildness pass over to the taste as well?

Yes and yes! Actually not half bad! It was all bad! Hahahaha! I kid, I kid. It really was not terrible, especially considering I heard from a very unreliable source, that the people of Brahma literally put their blood, sweat and tears into their product. Sounds gross, but what you don't know is that a Brazilian's sweat tastes like corn bread. And not that store bought crud, homemade cornbread! For those of you worried about it, the blood, sweat, and tears only make up about 23% of each bottle, rather than the rumored 72%. Hardly anything to get all up in arms about. I mean that sweet Brazilian sweat accounts for the slight grainy corn taste in every sip and the tears help give it just enough water to overpower both it and the alcohol. This is actually fairly refreshing. If I had been chased out of Uruguay with heavy gunfire, and had finally ended up in Brazil taking on odd jobs, possibly in the cane fields, there would be nothing better after a long day of working in that hot South American sun than an iced cold Brahma. And that's the truth!

If you want to get international and try something exciting and new, then I would wholeheartedly recommend an ice cold Brahma. Goes down as smooth and easy as a head cheerleader on prom night. In fact if you're ever in Sao Paolo, it would be an insult to order anything else! Is it a typical macro? Sure, but that's not always bad. Brahma scores slightly higher than Pacifico on the alcoholic water spectrum. So if you see it, give it a whirl, raise your glass to "Ginga" and enjoy!

Bottoms Up!
Willie 3:16

Beer O' the Moment: Mendocino Imperial IPA

2008-11-30T21:03:00.006-05:00

The first time I had the Mendocino Imperial IPA, it wasn't the Mendocino Imperial IPA. It was the 2005-2006 Mendocino Winter Ale, and my first sip of it took place at the Olde Saratoga Brewing Company, the East Coast home of the Mendocino family of beers.

'Twas a cold winter's night in early 2006, and the weather gods were angry that night, my friends. And though I am loathe to be sentimental, this was a watershed pint of draft beer. For on this dark and foreboding evening, I entered this brewpub a burgeoning beer enthusiast, and exited ... a hop-head.

This beer holds a special place in the hearts of the Beerjanglin' family (should you enter "Mendocino" in the search of this site, you will find numerous mentions of it), and when I found a full case of it for only $24.99 plus NYS sales tax and deposit, I simply had to have it.

The beer itself? Well it's so good that Mendocino decided to make it a permanent part of their line-up, instead of just a one-off. (And to think we thought we were going to have to say good-bye.) The beer itself is a veritable orgy of hops, but it's not extreme. It uses several different hops that bring different flavors; it's citrus and grapefruit, combined with some pine and woods. It's bitter to be sure, but it's not over the top, because it has some nice bready malts to balance it.

Mendocino Imperial IPA is a "Winter Seasonal," which means that this beer and the NFL playoffs are basically the only two things to look forward to in the winter months. Since I have about 22 of them left, I'm hoping to ration it until the sun comes out again some time in late May.

Quick Takes: Harpoon's Firth Of Forth Ale

2008-11-28T14:18:00.002-05:00

As many an American across the country did, I spent the better part of yesterday in the kitchen, cooking up a feast for the family. On the menu? A non-traditional, but still excellent, rotation of Cranberry-Thyme Cornish Game Hen, marble-rye and sausage stuffing, and mashed sweet potatoes. A menu like this would, for normal folks, be accompanied with wine. Fortunately, I'm not a normal person.

To accompany my Thanksgiving feast, I cracked open a bomber of Harpoon's Firth Of Forth Ale. Guest-brewed by Scotsman craft-brewer Steve Stewart, the Firth Of Forth Ale was released by Harpoon as a part of their 100 Barrel Series of session beers. The bottle described the brew thusly: "a combination of Scottish malts and American hops give this dark Scotch style a malty, roasted character with caramel notes and a hint of chocolate."

My take? Most assuredly more malty than hoppy - the hops are barely there, to be honest. The malt and caramel are front and center with this brew, which lent itself nicely to an end-of-the-meal beverage. Didn't catch the chocolate, to be honest. The thing that I loved the most about this brew? The carbonation was minimal, to say the least. This was the closest I've ever seen to a cask-conditioned ale in a bottle.

If you want hops, this is not the beer for you. But otherwise? This was phenomenal. So, if you want hops, grab yourself a Caskazilla. This is a malty brew, through and through, and satisfied the palate all the way to the bottom.

Bud American Ale - A Weiser Choice?

2008-11-23T15:07:00.006-05:00

If there's one word that just screams "Amer'can" (three-syllables), it's Budweiser. For decades, the name has defined not only beer, but a way of life. If you are a "Bud Man," chances are you are a patriotic, blue-collar guy, who likes to work hard and relax at the end of the day with a cold one. Chances are you drink it directly out of the can or bottle, and drink it partially because you want to support Amer'ca and Amer'can workers -- at least up until six months ago.

This is the stereotype, anyway. For most people, Bud is a shorthand for affordable, universally-accepted beer that you could bring to a party without risk. It is the Coca-Cola of American beer; it's a wonder they still even feel the need to advertise.

Because of this, the unveiling of Bud American Ale has been met with curiosity and skepticism. I'm not sure how long Bud had been planning on unveiling this product, but it has put its weight behind it. Skeptics would say that Bud is attempting to tap into the craft beer market by creating a beer with a reddish hue that will somehow crossover by luring in the frugal craft beer fan, as well as the loyal -- if curious -- Budweiser aficianado.

So is this a cynical attempt to tap into the burgeoning craft beer market? Or is it an earnest olive branch to the evolving American palate? I took a flier a 22-oz bottle to find out.

First, let's observe the appearance: yellow water it is not. Although it is see-through (I was able to watch a few scenes of "30 Rock" completely through the glass), it is a nice reddish-orange color. The head is relatively sturdy -- another surprise. At face value, the look is not bad at all.

The aroma is relatively inoffensive as well. The caramel malts to which they refer in the commercials are noticeable, in their slightly toasted smell. It is sweeter in the nose than I had expected it to be, mostly because I had expected an English pub ale by its appearance. There is a little bit of a tinny, metallic presence here, which is typical of a macro beer. Some mild grassy hops are a minor accent, and some extra sweetness comes through in some brown sugary notes.

Finally, time to take a sip. The first thing I notice is how sweet it is, with more of that brown sugar coming through, but more of a sweet toffee flavor. It's actually too sweet for me, only because there is not enough of a hop balance.

I know that America is not ready for a steady diet of hops in a macro beer, lager or ale. But it appears to me that if Bud is truly committed to making a craft beer -- as opposed to simply cracking into the craft beer market -- they need to start adding some hops for balance. Sure, it may hinder sales among the fratboy crowd, but it might actually convince craft beer drinkers to give it a chance when they are looking for a cheap, widely-available ale. As-is, it's like Bass with a more cloyingly sweet, unbalanced flavor.

It does feel creamier than any Bud product I've ever had, but that's not saying much. It's drinkable, but it's weak. Far too cloying in both its sugary sweetness and its overbearing alcohol, which should have been hidden by more richness.

It seems that Bud may have suffered from trying to straddle the line between wanting to make something that would entice ale-drinkers, but not offend their hardcore contingent (i.e. 50% of the American beer-drinking population). Unfortunately, I think they may have failed at both.

My hope is that the American Ale will find a way to infiltrate the masses, thereby allowing the populace's palate to change from bland macro lagers to something more rich and flavorful. (For all its flaws, American Ale is far more flavorful than any of it's Bud brethren.) This, in my utopia, would lead to more ale-drinkers, who would then branch out into other beers and breweries.

Of course, I'm sure the folks at Bud don't share this hope.

Budweiser American Ale is a below-average but inoffensive ale. It reminds me of a sports bar more than a pub. And whether Bud should be lauded for branching out or scolded for being opportunistic and exploitative, I'll leave that up to you.

Head to Head: Ithaca Cascazilla vs. Magic Hat Roxy Rolles

2008-11-22T12:14:00.006-05:00

We tried a little experiment some three months ago pitting two similar beers against each other and determining which had the superior brew. We know, of course, that beer is not a competitive enterprise, and should be seen as an artisinal endeavor. But then again, films have the Academy Awards and beer has the Great American Brew Fest, so we might as well just go ahead and have some fun with it.

VS.

Today, we explore two very hoppy amber ales: Cascazilla from the Ithaca Brewing Company in Upstate New York, and Roxy Rolles from the Magic Hat brewery in Burlington, Vermont. We had always considered these two beers somewhat equitable, since they were two of a a kind; both are amber ales with an inordinate amount of hops, eschewing the idea that an amber/red beer should be malty, with a bitter, German-style edge to it.

When we tried them side-by-side, however, we found them to be a lot more different than we had anticipated.

The Look:

There is a striking discrepancy between these two beers in their appearance. The Cascazilla has the color of cherry juice, and is clear and glassy; Roxy is a deep mahogany reddish brown, and is as cloudy as a dirty martini. The head on the Cascazilla is pure white, while the head on the Roxy is a rose-tinged off-white. The head on the Roxy sticks around longer and is thicker, and Roxy also has more lace.

Advantage: Roxy Rolles
The Aroma:

Again, these brews that we had heretofore considered fraternal twins show that they have deep differences. Roxy smolders in the nose, with the smells of oak and mahogany. Its hops are those of pine and cut grass. More of an "East Coast" hop aroma here. The hops on Cascazilla, on the other hand, are closer to a traditional West Coast variety, with sweeter citrus notes. Cascazilla's malt is more roasted, but also has some nice sharp crystal malt characteristics. Roxy's malts are more lightly toasted, in that bready English way. They are both very strong, bold aromas, but due to the balance between the bitter and the sweet, we have to say...

Advantage: Cascazilla (by a nose-hair)
The Flavor:

Here is where the proverbial rubber meets the hypothetical road, and where the character of each of these two brews comes out. We cheated a bit and looked up the types of hops that each of these beers use: Cascazilla uses Cascade, Chinook and Crystal (aka "The Three C's"); and Roxy uses Simcoe. The hop character is what really sets these two apart. Having had them in different settings, we had always considered them step-brothers of sorts due to their hop strength in the amber/red style. But upon further examination, the hop character really differs between them.

Cascazilla is much more citrusy in the hop, but is also balanced by a wonderful roasted caramel malt quality. As it exhibited in the smell, Roxy continues its arboreal streak with a rich oak flavor over lightly toasted malts. Those grassy Simcoe hops pop right out at you. If this makes any sense, Cascazilla has more of a "bouncy" flavor, and Roxy has more of a "flat" flavor. Cascazilla is very American; Roxy is very English. And though the Roxy tempers and improves with warmth, the balancing act that Ithaca pulls off means...

Advantage: Cascazilla (but just barley)
The Feel/Drinkability:

These beers are really different on the palate, further proving that they are hardly relatives, but rather two sides of the same coin. The Roxy is dry, ashy, chewy and coarse. You almost have to have another drink to wash it down. Cascazilla is buttery and smooth, milky and fizzy. They are both very drinkable, but because of its substantial texture...

Advantage: Roxy Rolles
THE VERDICT:

These are both two excellent brews. Cascazilla is bittersweet and balanced, smooth and highly quaffable. Roxy Rolles is deep, rich and woody, rough around the edges and a very rich session brew (only 5.1% compared to Cascazilla's surpising 7%).

But we have to have a winner and so, we declare, by a split decision and one of the closest taste-tests we've ever had the pleasure of doing, the winner is....

CASCAZILLA! Congratulations!

Now, this is to take absolutely nothing away from Roxy Rolles, which is also an excellent beer, and one that, maybe on another day, we might have given the slight advantage to. It's a choice between smooth and balanced, versus rich and coarse. There are no "losers" in this competition, except those of you still drinking Coors (all due respect).

Dogfish Head in the New Yorker

2008-11-20T20:15:00.007-05:00

Hat tip to my brother-in-law Scott to the New Yorker article about extreme beer in general, and Dogfish Head in particular. It explores the idea of so-called "extreme beer," it's definition, and at what point "extreme beer" blurs the line and becomes ... well, not beer at all.

Please click above to read the full article, but a couple points I found interesting that I didn't know previously:

Belgian brewing acts as a rebellion against the Reinheitsgebot (Germany's ancient beer purity law).
Brooklyn Brewery's -- and Beerjanglin' patron saint -- Garrett Oliver doesn't like DFH 120 Minute IPA and calls it "unbalanced and shrieking." (Great minds think alike.)
Palo Santo isn't just an outstanding Shearwater album, but also one of the hardest woods in the world. (It means, literally, "blessed wood.") The barrel made of this wood in which DFH's Palo Santo Marron is made cost $140,000 and was made in Buffalo.
Dogfish Head is the 38th largest brewery in the United States, and makes more beers with 10% alcohol or more than any other brewery in the country.
DFH founder Sam Calagione helped make wine as a kid and didn't graduate high school.
A craft brewery produces less than two million barrels a year, a microbrewery produces less than fifteen thousand, and a brewpub serves at least a quarter of its beer in house.
A lot of Calagione's inspiration was derived from Michael Jackson's "World Guide to Beer."
Dogfish Head was the first legal brewpub in the state of Delaware, and only became legal after Calagione petitioned for it.
The inimitable 60 Minute IPA was inspired by a tv chef making soup, and originally made using a vibrating "electric football" game.
"Mother nature makes wine; Brewers make beer."
Trappist monks like Budweiser ... sort of.
Wine finds its roots in aristocracy, due to the relative rarity in it's regional and seasonal limitations; beer trickled down to the working class once the technology needed to produce it was created.
Marketing to craft beer enthusiasts, and all the while chastising darker beers for their impurities is "beer racism"!

Of course, I left a lot of good stuff out, so make sure you read the article.

Update: Van Dyck's Brewing Equipment Sold

2008-11-17T17:01:00.002-05:00

Remember how, a little over a month ago, in mentioning that the Van Dyck Restaurant had been sold, we were simultaneously lamenting how the brewpub's brewing equipment was to be sold separately at auction? And how that didn't look good for the future of Schenectady's only brewpub?

Well, today, the brewing equipment was sold, and guess what?

The family that bought the Van Dyck also successfully bid $70,000 for the brewing equipment.

What does this mean for the Van Dyck as a brewpub? We dunno. But this certainly seems like a good thing, dear readers, does it not?

Beer O' Three Months Ago the Moment: Stone Vertical Epic 08.08.08

2008-11-12T19:37:00.008-05:00

Some might say that a beer that was ceremoniously released over three months ago is hardly "of the moment." However, when that beer isn't actually intended on being drunk until after the next presidential election (if that benchmark puts it into any perspective).

For those not familiar with Stone's Vertical Epic series, it's a series of a dozen beers released over a dozen years, with the intention that they be cellared and drunk at the same time tasting. To taste them "vertically" means to sample multiple vintages (to use wine parlance) from the same brewery, so as to compare different styles and recipes, rather than comparing breweries. (Sampling the same style from different breweries is considered "horizontal" tasting.)

Stone's version isn't quite a true vertical tasting, only because the beers they have been creating are not identical in style: 02.02.02 was a Witbier; 03.03.03 thru 06.06.06 were Belgian Strong ales (the lone exception being 04.04.04's Tripel); and the last two offerings have been Belgian Pale ales. However, if you have to trudge through a myriad of beers from the same brewery, you could do a lot worse than Stone. In fact, one might say you could only do worse.

Personally, I wasn't crazy about the 07.07.07 version, which was a decent, drinkable beer, but harsh and sour. It was a fine, decent beverage to be sure, but not quite up to what I had hoped.

Enter a new year and a brand new beer: the 08.08.08 version is the truth, and son, you better recognize.

Poured into a Belgian tulip glass, it is roughly the color of a lit candle: brightly yellow and glowing. The puffy white head takes a while to subside. Small bubbles float to the top, creating a seductive, tantalizing appearance.

The aroma is, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, magnificent. Rarely does a beer have a smell that could be called perfect, but this is one of them. Spices abound, both in the sweet, citrusy hops, and its fraternal twin, the Belgian malt. It wafts a symphony of woody, flowery hops, as well as a dry, spicy, champagne-like malt. It's a strong perfume, and absolutely superior.

The first sip is strong citrus on the front of the tongue. At the swallow, the spicy Belgian flavors come out on the back of the palate. The two flavors, while both sharp and strong, mesh beautifully. For me, the intense Belgian ale flavors can often be a bit off-putting due to their intense flavors, but they are actually made more palatable by adding those wonderfully citrusy hops. The fizzy champagne texture scrubs the tongue and exfoliates the taste buds.

Oh-Eight-Oh-Eight-Oh-Eight an outstanding assault on the spicy part of the tongue. It's both strong and refreshing, and at 8.4% alcohol, it'll make you feel good for a little while. And in these tough times, who could argue with that?

On The Newsstand: Men's Journal Presents "America's Best Beers"

2008-10-25T09:13:00.004-04:00

We were perusing a recent issue of Men's Journal on the subway the other night, and were pleasantly surprised to see (in their October 2008 issue) an article entitled "Best Beers 2008: American Brewmasters Take Over." Inside the issue was a number of beer recommendations - we'd like to summarize them here, as it's a genuine pleasure to see the liberal Mainstream media finally approach a topic like this without their bias and politics and geegaws and whatnot. Anyway.

Their article presented these beers in the following format: they'd list a "popular" beer and note that if you liked it, you should try their recommendations. All beers were described in detail (we won't list that here). Some blanche at this type of format; we like this - the world of craft brewing is a complicated one, and we're all in favor of trying to give newcomers a "way in," as it were, to help find what kinds of brew matches what they already like.

Anyway:

If you liked Sierra Nevada, they recommended Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale, Full Sail Pale Ale, and Stone IPA.
If you liked Guinness, they recommended Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Alesmith Speedway Stout, and Dieu Du Ciel Peche Mortel.
If you liked Pilsner Urquell, they recommended Stoudt's Pils, Trumer Pils, and Two Brothers Dog Days Dortmunder-Style Lager.
For Blue Moon drinkers, they recomended Ommegang Witte, Ramstein Blonde, and Penn Weizen.
Like Samuel Adams Boston Lager? Try Southampton Altbier, Lakefront Organic ESB, and Elysian The Wise ESB.

Also recommended? Seven American craft brews that "are setting a new standard for the next generation of beer." These include:
- Russian River Brewing Co's Beatification Lambic
- Allagash Hugh Malone
- Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
- Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold
- Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga
- Lost Abbey Angel's Share
- Southern Tier Unearthly Ale

We're genuinely chuffed to see such thoughtful coverage of craft beer in a mainstream press.

Our hats are off to you, Men's Journal.

Beer and Politics

2008-10-21T20:54:00.004-04:00

We here at Beerjanglin' prefer to remain apolitical -- at least as far as this here site is concerned -- and yet we were intrigued by an October 15, 2008, article on the free-market advocate Reason.com called "How Your Beer Bought John McCain's $500 Loafers." (Hat tip to my brother-in-law Scott; the article has tons of helpful reference links.)

On one hand, it is a criticism of McCain and what the author perceives to be McCain's disproportionate wealth, but it's also a damnation of the antiquated distributor laws that are decades old, and that actually prevent free commerce between states for apparently no good reason.

According to the article, these "three-tier" laws are to the benefit of the wholesaler, but to the detriment of the customer. The wholesaler, the article asserts, simply marks up the price of each alcoholic beverage 18-25% for the trouble of distributing it. The distribution lobby apparently is trying to ban alcohol sales over the web so as to close a loophole in which they would not be the middle-man.

The article certainly paints the alcohol-distribution industry as one that is woefully out of date, especially in the wake of free trade and a global economy. (The article also accuses Anheuser-Busch of "distributors to drop the products produced by its competitors."

The article cites four main arguments by the wholesale industry:

Wholesaling allows a bottleneck by which the government can collect all their alcohol taxes in one convenient location.
Wholesalers act as a quality-control protection agency against poisoned and/or tainted beer.
It creates 91,000 jobs and a $15 billion on the national economy (both claims the article questions)
The wholesalers are a gatekeeper that regulate the distribution of alcohol from brewery/winery to consumer, since alcohol is, in fact, a drug.

On a micro level, it's clear that it doesn't make sense for states to create an alcohol bureaucracy that limits the free commerce of beer, wine and spirits. It's a Good Ol' Boy Network policy that does nothing for consumers other than make beer more expensive and harder to obtain.

Pump Station Wins Gold at GABF

2008-10-14T22:46:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to the Albany Pump Station for winning the gold me dal for American Style Brown at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Trust us, Kick Ass Brown is a well-named beer indeed. This is the third time this beer has won gold in Denver. Not too shabby.

Historic Van Dyck Restaurant Sold at Auction

2008-10-08T22:07:00.005-04:00

The Van Dyck Restuarant and Brewery, at one time a landmark Schenectady jazz club, has been auctioned off to a pair of brothers who already run several successful restaurants in the city. The Van Dyck, which has been closed for roughly a year and a half, is located in Schenectady's historic Stockade district and had been the only brewpub in the city until its closing. While this place has incredible potential (and, it would seem, the right owners to finally realize it), the sad news is that the brewing equipment will be sold off separately in an auction on October 22.

Beer O' the Moment: Middle Ages XIII Anniversary

2008-09-10T21:35:00.005-04:00

Around these parts, we are enormous fans of Middle Ages Brewing, an absolute local treasure located at 120 Wilkinson Street in Syracuse, NY. For thirteen years, the brewery has been English-style ales (and no lagers) to the region. Most of their beers having a very distinct ringwood yeast flavor.

Since their tenth year, they have been releasing "Anniversary" ales around this time. Their first of this series, the Tenth Anniversary -- now known as "Middle Ages Double India Pale Ale," but known as "The X" to my friends and me -- is a triumph of intense bitter hops and thick English malts. The Eleventh Anniversary, a double wheat, was not quite as successful commercially, but a fine, thick beverage nonetheless.

The Twelfth Anniversary is an outstanding, roasted porter with mocha and caramel notes that goes down almost in an almost unfairly smooth manner. And this year, they unveiled the Thirteenth Anniversary, which they bill as an Imperial Wheat. At 9.5%, it's certainly got some pop.

I have mixed feelings on this particular offering. First of all, what is it? It's not that I need every beer I drink to be precisely defined, but I do like to know what I'm getting into. The Beer's creators call it an imperial wheat. Beeradvocate calls it a "Herbed / Spiced beer." To me, it feels like an incredibly thick hefeweizen.

First let's discuss both the look and the beer's thickness. It's very very thick looking. Cloudy as all get-out, and dark orange, like a thick apple cider. Any head that was there disappears almost immediately, and it leaves no trace of its existence on the glass.

The feel of the beer is no small matter. I had this out of a half-growler. (Having had the sample at the Middle Ages tasting room, I wasn't so sure I could finish a full jug.) The beer is very thick and milky like a hefeweizen, but it also has some fizzy and bubbly qualities, like a typical Belgian ale. The issue here, however, is the beer's staying power. Hefeweizens are a dicey lot to begin with, since they can range from fresh and banana-y to overly thick and swampy.

I had good luck with this one. Since it is relatively fresh and not much-traveled, I was able to finish the entire 32 ounces with little incident or change to the viscosity of the beer itself. However, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that a friend of mine who bought the beer at the same time at me reported a bad turn of the beer into a syrupy, sap-like texture, which doesn't lend itself well to the beer. Take that for whatever it's worth.

As for the aroma, the banana/clove smell that we all associated with hefeweizens are all there. There is, however, a citrusy fragrance as well and the wheat comes out in a later sniff. The scent would tend to indicate a half-hef, half-wit concoction. (By that I mean half-witbier, not half-witted attempt at beermaking; the Middle Ages folks are as good as it gets.) But there is also a certain pungence to the smell. It's not bad, but it's tenuous.

The taste is where we get down to brass tacks: it vascillates between a strong hefeweizen and an extra thick witbier. The girl pouring at Middle Ages found it curious that I would say it was "sour," but I sense a certain Belgian ale sourness. There is, as the website says, plenty of orange and coriander, and the spices that come along with them. But I also detect a certain amount of cinnamon flavor. It's strength alone is impressive, if not thirst-obliterating.

From top to bottom, it's a solid beer, but not necessarily one I crave, nor one I would necessarily purchase again. This is certainly not an indictment of Middle Ages itself, as that particular company has taken thousands of dollars of my money, and I wouldn't take a penny back. (I've got a full growler of their Old Marcus sitting in the fridge right now.) But it's only fair to say that this beer isn't for everyone, especially those who are iffy on hefeweizen-style beers.

Reminiscing on Labor Day

2008-09-02T12:13:00.000-04:00

How best to celebrate a day that marks the unofficial end of summer but was also created as "a day off for the working citizens"? Well, for starters, it should probably include outdoor activities, and it had better involve little to no work. Got it! The deck at Brown's brewpub should fill the prescription nicely (sometimes it's rough being the Hannibal of the family). A couple of great local beers, maybe some steamers - yup, that'll do. Now to convince the wife... How does a hike at Peebles Island State Park sound? Don't worry, I'll haul the baby around. We could stop at Brown's afterwards.

It was just that easy; she's pretty cool sometimes, the wife. We stopped on the way to take a gander at the majesty of Cohoes Falls. After a short hike at Peebles Island, we gazed at the scenic vistas created by the confluence of the mighty Mohawk and Hudson rivers. We watched a pair of feuding squirrels. We even saw a deer, although the little one was more interested in the girl with the light up sneakers if front of us. Sure, we had our fun. It was pretty great, actually. And then it was time to go to Brown's and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

We started off with an order of steamers and a couple of beers, fresh and spicy IPA for me, nice banana-y Hefe for the lady. The steamers are a dozen fresh Littleneck clams steamed in the brewery's own brown ale with butter and fresh garlic. By thunder, those little buggers are delicious! I have it on good authority that a bit of Italian bread dipped in the steamy juices ain't bad neither.

We followed it up with Troy's Pulled Pork Sandwich, tender pork coated with Brown's signature Cherry-Raspberry Ale based barbecue sauce, all piled on a kaiser roll and topped with melted cheddar jack cheese. I paired that tasty little number with a crisp, Saaz hopped, Tomhannock Pilsner, while the lady enjoyed her first Hefe enough to order up another. Simply delectable, scrumpshalicious. Brewer's fries dipped in Cherry-Raspberry barbecue sauce are also a taste sensation.

What's the point here? I'm not sure there is one, other than I had a kick ass Labor Day and Brown's is a wonderful place. We had a great time without even going inside! Sorry for all the personal tripe, suffice to say that nature is pretty sweet and Brown's is even better. My crazy little cutie of a baby girl even got at least eleven compliments for every time she vomited on the deck! Better than her old man's career ratio, I assure you.

River Horse 12 Pack

2008-09-01T12:02:00.000-04:00

Every time I had ever bought River Horse Hop Hazard, it has been an older bottle, and has gone a bit soft. Although liquid butterscotch doesn't sound like all that horrible a beverage, the Hop Hazard incarnation is not exactly the best way to experience such a confectionary delight. I blame the distrubutors and stores from which I had picked it up rather than the brewer themselves.

So when Wegmans started carrying left-of-center beers, one of the surprising offerings was a twelver of River Horse, which I had not seen any specialty beer store in the area, let alone a grocery store.

The four beers in the twelve-pack are a Special Ale, Tripel Horse Belgian tripel, the aforementioned Hop Hazard and River Horse Lager. Each was given an interrogation by Officer Taste Bud, whose office is in my mouth. I apologize for that last sentence for several reasons.

First up to bat was the SPECIAL ALE, which they call and ESB but seems to be a bit more than that. The color is a light cranberry red. It's clear except for that hazy fog on the glass. A half-finger of foamy off-white head sits atop the bubbly brew. Nice to look at.

Though the label categorizes this beer as an ESB, it smells like a barleywine, with that strong aroma of alcohol, as well as lots of dark berry and raisin. It has that "leathery" quality that so many darker beers give out. In a blind sniff-test, I wouldn't have pegged this as an Extra Special Bitter.

The taste is strong barley malt, and also gives a puckery sour flavor. Some leathery malt in the flavor here as well, almost like a porter in how dark the malt is. There is some sweet-n-sour dark berry here as well, as well as hints of roasted caramel. The hops are of the English variety and very subdued. The malt is strong and thick, as is the consistency; it's full-bodied on the palate like a cream ale.

So far so good, this is a "special/select" ale with some bite, but it's quite drinkable. It's substantial for just one but okay if you feel like snagging another one.

The next one came up a little later in the evening, and in retrospect was probably not the beer to finish off with. It's not that it isn't a fine beer, it's just that the TRIPEL HORSE packs quite a wallop. I mean it's only 10%, so who wouldn't have thought it's the one to have right before nighty-night time.

Out of a tall weizen glass, this beer pours a massive puffy head. It's clear and glassy, but ... there are some wonderful chunks of yeast (I hope) floating about. The head goes down eventually, but the floating sediment and carbonation remain.

Ironically, the thick head hides some of the aroma by blocking it from escaping. What little I am able to extract from it nasally is that of a trademark spicy Belgian yeast and malt. There is a tad of chlorine in the aroma, but I'll pretend I didn't smell it.

The first sip gives some sharp crystal malts but that come handcuffed to some sharp crystal malts with some caramel. There is a strong alcohol bite that I probably should have expected. Otherwise, it's actually deceptively mild. It doesn't at all fetishize the spicy Belgian aspect of it, which also makes it easily drinkable. It's very smooth for a Belgian tripel, especially one that's 10% abv. The feel is butter and honey, rather than champagne or orange juice pulp.

This one surprised me, a really easy-drinkin' Belgian, and though it's strong, it's not at all extreme. Nice curve-ball.

Ugh! I'm only halfway through this difficult slog? I decided to save the remainder for a few days later. I finally decided to give a shot to the beer which I had always previously caught at a bad time -- HOP HAZARD. The look, to paraphrase the Talking Heads, is the same as it ever was: nice, very cloudy dark orange. The head does disappear almost immediately, which is a bit of a downer. It is the color of apple cider, and would be gorgeous if it could just retain a little bit of head.

The aroma gives off some decent woody hops, and with the dual hints of butterscotch (not overwhelming this time) and sour apple. This is how it's supposed to smell. The smell is actually pretty complex, because further down the line, we get some nutty, toasted malts, as well as alcohol-soaked raisin, and all under the woody pine hops.

As for the taste, the first sip gives a nutty bitter malt, similar to a dry amber ale. Hints of raisin and black licorice (I'm not usually a fan but it works here as an accent). It's a darker brew than expected. Some caramel comes out when it's about half gone, and warmer. And there is the most unusual aftertaste of peanut?

Hop Hazard feels dry and a little bit ashy, but the thickness is nice. It's a very nice, toasted and complex ale. Sure it could be considered a pale, but a dark one -- if that's even possible.

Last but ... well, least, is the RIVER HORSE LAGER. I don't mean to crap on this beer, but when are brewers going to realize that there is really only so much you can do with lagers.

I must say, it seems that a lot of brewers are trying to have it both ways, in that they load up their mixed 12-packs with nine solid offerings, and then add one for the "non-beer drinker" or commercial beer drinkier. Magic Hat does it with "#9," Ithaca Brewing does it with the (in my opinion) undrinkable "Apricot Wheat," and Dundee does it with "Honey Brown."

Well, it's here so I might as well pound it. It pours a decent sunny golden color with a mass exodus of carbonation bubbles. There is a thin layer of head that resembles Italian ice. It's very clear, as is typical for the so-called "lager" style.

The aroma is lagery, but clearly made with real barley and not adjuncts. It's a fresh, biscuity malt, with just a touch of that sour apple. It's middle of the road, but inoffensive as many lagers can often be.

The taste is a very solid lager flavor, and we all know what that entails. It does have a slightly citrusy taste, but not from the hops, oddly enough. The malt is slightly bready. The sour apple and butterscotch that were present in the Hop Hazard also make an appearance here. And there is a welcome, tangy bubblegum flavor toward the end. It's actually quite pleasant for a summer lager.

The consistency is pretty predictable, with a thin and watery body. It's not unpleasant but there's not much to say about it. All told, it's not a bad lager by any stretch, it's just kind of run-of-the-mill with some extra flavors thrown in. Highly drinkable but not a skirt blower-upper.

At any price below $15, this is a pretty decent twelve-pack, with two very good beers, and two other good ones. Do what I do and bring it to a party and give the lagers out first. But do see that you make sure to get it somewhat fresh as it seems to go bad quicker than most.

Whither Party Source

2008-08-31T07:30:00.002-04:00

[Note: The views expressed in this post are those of the writer only and is not intended to represent those of the rest of the Beerjanglin' stable.]

When I think of the Party Source in Syracuse, NY, I think of the film "Gladiator" from the year 2000. The film won the Academy Award that year for Best Picture, though in reflection it is a mediocre movie at best. But when compared against the very weak competition of the films of 2000, "Gladiator" somehow stood out as the best of its peers.

The Party Source, located in the ugliest green building on Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse, is not a great beer store by any stretch, but's probably the best we have.

It caters mostly to college kids, selling blocks of Busch and Natural Ice by the gross, and finding ways to move keg after keg -- despite New York's ludicrous keg laws, which in my opinion actually encourage binge drinking rather than suppress it.

The store is built like an open warehouse that is half-empty. When you walk in, to the left you see nothing but empty floor space, with the occasional odd case of macro-lager that someone decided to put down.

Straight ahead is the register, and toward the far wall is a cooler that has a decent mix of commercial and craft brews. It's a nice selection and would be the envy of almost any grocery store.

On the floor are cases upon cases, often set up in some kind of geometrical order, but not at all pleasing to the eye. They are usually stacked no more than two cases high, rather than in a tall display, and you usually have to step over them rather than go around them.

The wall to the right is what keeps me going back: it's a collection of craft brewed six packs organized nicely by brewery and country. To the far left of this wall is the seasonal selections (this month it's Southern Tier Harvest, Dogfish Head Punkin, and Long Trail Harvest, to name a few). Strafing to the right will show a collection of European and "European style" brews, mostly from England. And about halfway down the wall come all the micro- and craft brews we love so much. This wall is what makes Party Source a destination beer store.

The reason that I keep coming to Party Source is because it is the only beer store in the area where you can purchase off-the-shelf mixed six packs that are not confined to a few select brews that the store allows you to buy. In other words, you can try any one bottle of beer, and just pay the a la carte price for it. Other than it's above-average selection, this is the one aspect of Party Source that makes it worth repeat visits.

I must say, however, that the store has been going downhill for a while now. And I want to briefly share my experience there Friday, which was frustrating, disappointing and disheartening.

First of all, there is a rack where the "unsold" beers go that can be bought individually by the bottle. These beers, by and large, have been in the store for months and months, and often have dust on them. They are not sold at any kind of discounted price, such as $8.99 a six pack, which would be a fair deal. The beers I have selected from this shelf have often been old and musty -- not always, but sometimes. It would behoove the owner of the store to come up with some sort of pricing compromise so that he can move these beers off the shelves, and as well as giving the paying customer a bit of a price break.

The selection that the store carries has been disappointing lately. It's not that they don't carry a great deal of excellent beers, because they do. But they haven't been rotating the selection as well. In other words, every time I go, there are usually no more than 5-6 new beers at any given time. We are left with the same selection that we have had previously, and who knows how old they are -- since most beers don't have a "brewed-on date" on the label.

What was most disappointing Friday was the service.

The old curmudgeon that runs the store is always in an apparently foul mood. He answers the most basic questions with a sort of "why are you bothering me?" tone. But he knows me. He knows my face and he gets money from me on a consistent basis. I once dropped $90 there for little more than a couple of six packs. I am what you would call "a regular."

So Friday, I bought a mixed six pack (possibly coming up for a "6Pac" review) and two regular six packs: Southern Tier Harvest Ale and Victory Storm King Stout. The old curmudgeon was standing at the register and on the phone, so I placed my items on the shelf to patiently wait for him.

He hung up the phone and looked as if he was about to ring me out. Suddenly, the phone rang again, and he picked it up and decided he was more interested in talking to the person on the phone than ringing out the familiar face standing at his counter.

I have worked in customer service capacities for a good portion of my life, and one of the cardinal rules you go by is that if a customer is waiting for you, you don't turn your back on them, whether on the phone or not. And if you do get a phone call, all you have to do is make eye contact with the person at the counter and give them the "one second" sign. (Mouthing "one second" is a nice bonus.) The curmudgeon not only stopped paying attention to my transaction, but he actually turned around and walked away, turning his full attention to the prospective customer on the phone. (He mentioned someone who had called before that needed over 120 thirty-packs of Natural Ice for the evening and that Party Source the only place he would be able to get it. Yeah, the SU and LeMoyne kids are definitely back in town.)

So I stood and waited. And waited a few more minutes. The Party Source only has one register, and so no more than one transaction can take place at a time. An oafish employee saw that I was waiting, and to his credit, attempted to make his way to the register to ring me out, but the curmudgeon was "hogging" the register and the oaf had to nudge him out of the way.

The oaf took my mixed six pack and removed all the bottles from the holder, giving me a "How's it goin', boss?" for my trouble. With a big sigh, he looked up each beer in his computer as if he were using a Lexis-Nexis search, painstakingly placing each beer back into its respective compartment. When he was done, he sighed and said, "Those mixed beers are a pain in the ass," before giving me my total.

Now, if I may digress for a moment: I'm sure that scanning each individual beer is a pain in the ass. I've worked retail before, and it's always harder to scan multiple items. But maybe, as the beer distributor, you should a) find a more efficient way of scanning these items, b) stop offering singles altogether or c) keep your frustration hidden from the customer. The mixed six packs are the only reason I go to this place more than only every six months or so. There are other places -- like Brilbecks, Galeville and now Wegmans -- that have good selections of six- and twelve-packs of beers, and their employees don't make you feel like you're inconveniencing them.

Anyway, the guy said "Have a good night, boss" to which I gave an uncharacteristically curt "Yup" before walking out the door with beer in hand but not satisfaction in my shopping experience.

I'm frustrated, because there is no reason that this store can't be a world-class beer hub, along the lines of Oliver's in Albany, Finger Lakes Beverage in Ithaca or Beers of the World in Rochester. Space is being completely wasted in this building, which is located in a burgeoning beer-centric city. The city of Syracuse is a growing beer community, and the store would be ripe for not only expanding the floor space, but dialing up the selection as well. Any city that can make profitable enterprises out of Clark's Ale House, the Blue Tusk and Al's Wine & Whiskey would benefit from having a central marketplace for bringing home all the finest beers from around the country.

Instead, while it's still probably the best we have, it all comes off as very half-assed. And worse, there is no joy in the store; it doesn't make you feel like you are in any kind of beer haven, but rather a warehouse selling widgets. It's too bad that some enterprising company can't come in and give the Party Source a run for it's money, and maybe force them to step up their game.

Syracuse deserves better.

The Beer Hunter Remembered

2008-08-30T22:36:00.005-04:00

Michael Jackson

1942 - 2007

Beer O' The Moment: Tröegs Hopback Amber

2008-08-30T12:33:00.005-04:00

Picked this one up on a recent foray through northern Jersey. Luckily, Bergen County blue laws allow the purchase of beer on Sundays. Electronics geeks are not quite as fortunate. No, seriously. No electronics can be purchased in the Garden State's most populous county on Sundays. You can't even by pants there for crying out loud!

Tröegs Brewing Company is a pretty well thought of brewery based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. None of their stuff makes it to Upstate New York, so I jumped at the chance to grab a sixer of the flagship, Hopback Amber. Sure, I would have loved to get my hands on some Nugget Nectar or Mad Elf, two purportedly fantastic Tröegs entries, but this stuff surely does in a pinch.

Here's how the Brothers Trogner describe it:

Tröegs Brewery’s Flagship beer, HopBack Amber Ale derives its name from a vessel in the brewhouse called a hopback. As the ‘wort’ is being transferred from the brewhouse to fermentation it passes through the hopback vessel. Packed full of fresh whole flower hops, the wort slowly circulates through this vessel extracting the essence of the aromatic hops. This vessel adds more time and more hop character that creates a fresh, spicy taste and rich caramel note that defines this signature ale.
Deep amber in color under a huge creamy head. The aroma very apparent, bold and spicy with a slight floral character. Balanced with caramel malt, this well-rounded amber ale has an up-front floral spice that builds with a flush of sweetness

Our very own Bill, as only he can, expounds on the virtues of Hopback Amber thusly:

Appearance: Thick fluffy head. Ruby red with brown tinge. Glassy but with a haze and nice body.

Smell: Awesome combination of some dark caramel and bitter, woody hops. Hops evolve into a citrusy aroma. Really outstanding smell.

Taste: Toasted, roasted caramel malts, but with a latter bitter taste. Bold on both fronts and challenging. Both the piney hops and the malt are powerful flavors.

Mouthfeel/Overall: Thick and chewy. Creamy and viscous; really nice. Overall, a bold and challenging brew. Smooth, dark and bitter. Very good beer, all things considered.

Me? This is the third of these I've had over the past four or five days, and I've enjoyed each one more than the last. At first, I thought it was solid, but no match for, say, Ithaca Beer's über hoppy red ale, Cascazilla. I'm still leaning that way - gotta love the hopping Ithaca gives both Cascazilla and Flower Power IPA - but Hopback Amber is no pushover. It's a pretty caramel/orange beer with a great nose. An everyday drinker with a nice, bitter finish. I'd buy this stuff pretty regularly if getting it didn't involve entering New Jersey. Score one for the Trogner Bros.

Retro Beers

2008-08-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

In the September 2008 version of All About Beer magazine, Don Russell writes and article called "Retro Beer," which chronicles the rise of beers like Pabst, Rheingold and Genny Cream Ale among hipsters and ironic college types.

The piece speaks of how these beers went from hokey third-rate relics to wink-and-a-nod artifacts which trucker hat wearing twentysomethings drink not for taste, but to feel connected to another time, and connected to the beers their dads drank. (The article, in fact, has a very interesting angle about how a desire to connect to our fathers might the strongest subconscious rationale behind this new trend.)

Personally, I'm not sure I'm buying it.

I know several people who drink good beer, and yet express a mind-boggling affection for Pabst Blue Ribbon. It's one thing to celebrate the retro kitch culture such as a wonderful place like Philly's own Bob and Barbara's Lounge, which is awash in long-forgotten PBR ad campaigns of the past. It's another to swig down a can of PBR and actually fool yourself into thinking it's a premium beer.

There is a place for these kind of beverages; I would have felt positively out of place at the outskirts of Wrigleyville in Chicago drinking anything other than tallboys of Old Style, or hunkering down at a townie bar in Rochester and ordering Bud over Genny. And truth be told, Utica Club is actually a decent beverage.

But truthfully, I don't need to hear another fratboy in a pre-tattered straw cowboy hat and Che Guevara t-shirt telling me that Blatz is superior to whatever I'm drinking, any more than I need someone telling me that "Speed Racer" is better than "The Venture Brothers."

It's one thing to dress in an ironic, postmodern way to assert some sort of hipster aesthetic; it's completely another to try and fool your taste buds.

CNN Brew

2008-08-28T21:06:00.003-04:00

Item!

Something unusual that I came across at The Onion's blog about the Democratic National Convention.

It appears that CNN has taken over a local Denver tavern, naming it the CNN Grill (at least according to the blog, and since this comes from the deadpan Onion, its veracity is uncertain).

At any rate, there now apparently exists in this universe CNN Brew, a red ale brewed right in Denver, Colorado, apparently by Breckenridge Brewery. For what it's worth Fox News apparently isn't serving alcohol.

Beer O' the Moment - Brown's Brewing ESB

2008-08-27T20:15:00.004-04:00

While the weather is still nice, I encourage -- nay, implore those of you who live in New York's Capital District or the "Collar City" in particular, to visit the Brown's Brewing Taproom, located at 425 River Street in Troy, NY, off the banks of the Hudson River. Not only is the atmosphere pleasant both inside and out, but the food is top notch. Oh, and the beer is pretty damn good.

One beer in particular caught my fancy, one that is only available (as far as I can tell) directly from the brewery itself: Brown's Extra Special Bitter. As far as I can tell, it is only available from the taproom in a 22-ounce bottle, but it is worth the detour.

Before I give you my impressions, here is what Brown's says about this beverage.

...a deliciously sturdy ale that’s dead-on true to its English heritage. Full-bodied, with a classic toasty malt palate throughout, our ESB finishes fresh and hoppy. Carbonated lightly, and poured via a slow pour tap, Brown’s ESB is an outstanding example of one of Britain ’s finest gifts to civilization.
You've heard an intelligent opinion. Now mine...

The color is absolutely gorgeous; a hazy, radiant dark orange. A large and fluffy head peeks over the lip of the glass. A heavy jetsam of carbonation floats to the surface. The bishop's collar of lace around the top of the glass is big, thick and wonderful. Just a tremendous appearance.

The aroma gives initial sniffs of caramel that are a sweet balance to a nicely toasted malt. Yes, it does have some bitterness in the mild but flowery hop smell, but that is balanced by that solid malty base. The malt does dominate the nose.

As for the taste, it's an excellent roasty -- but not at all burnt -- malt. Again, the caramel fulfills the promise of the aroma. Though there are some mild flowery hops, the malt really dominates, like a fine English ale. The barley is sweet but bready, like a pub ale. And just a hint of nuttyness in the malt.

The feel of this beer is smooth, but with just a little pop at the end. Not too thick or too thin, and highly guzzle-able. It's one of those beers that is gone before you even realize you were half done with it. I have one regret about buying this bottle and that's that I didn't buy a case of them.

Growing Hops Outside the Pacific Northwest

2008-08-26T22:21:00.007-04:00

Thi s story from the Wall Street Journal is not the most informative article on hops you will ever have the pleasure of reading. Then again, it's from the Journal, not Beer Advocate. Little different audience they're appealing to, I guess.

Target demographic aside, it actually does make for a pretty interesting read. Apparently, given the recent meteoric rise in the price of hops, some newcomers across this great nation are trying their hand at growing the flowery devils on a commercial scale. The article gives a quick synopsis on the circumstances that led up to this turn of events before briefly profiling a handful of these farms, including one in particular that caught our eye:

Many new hop farmers are focused on selling to brewers in their region. Rick Pedersen, a farmer in Seneca Castle, N.Y., began growing hops in 1999 but wasn't able to start selling them until just few years ago, when the Ithaca Beer Co. in Ithaca, N.Y., became a customer. He is part of a budding revival of hops production in the Northeast, with farmers in states such as Pennsylvania also participating.

"It's not an easy thing to just start up from scratch," Mr. Pedersen says, adding he's still "not even close" to recouping his investment...

Until the 1920s, New York state was the nation's hotbed for hops. However, two diseases -- downy mildew and powdery mildew -- crippled production, and the industry began moving to drier Western climates less susceptible to mildew. Today, nearly all of the nation's hops are grown in Washington, Oregon and Idaho

The Ithaca Beer referenced is the delightful (and lamented) Double IPA, which I believe is on indefinite hiatus due to the current hops "situation". Pederson Farms has also supplied Victory with fresh hops for their harvest ale for the past few years as well as Brown's Brewing for their tasty New York hopped IPA. Brown's has since opened their own small bottling operation and planted over 800 hops rhizomes in Hoosick, New York with an eye to the future. More on that, hopefully, sometime in the uh... future.

Beer O' The Moment: Lionshead

2008-08-25T22:11:00.005-04:00

Sometimes, the situation doesn't call for sipping a 10% abv imperial stout by a roaring fireplace or quaffing a nice Belgian quadrupel with King Albert II*. No, sometimes the temp is pushing 90 and you're on a glorious rooftop deck tailgating before a Phillies - Dodgers game in South Philly with a bunch of really good dudes, most of whom you've known for a decade or more.

*He's the king of Belgium, silly!

Times like these, when the sun is shining, and the laughs are flowing and you're all just riffing - maybe MC Hammer is on the stereo - times like these are what a beer like Lionshead was made for. Throw a couple of cases on ice. Twist the caps off a few of 'em. Maybe take a minute (possibly 15) to puzzle out the rebus under those caps. Fire up the grill. Enjoy.

Oh, the beer itself? It's a lawnmower beer. A rooftop deck beer. Again, those certainly have their place. It's highly drinkable, especially at icy temps. Fairly crisp, with some corn and a faint hop presence somewhere in there. It definitely cuts the dust. And the mustard. The Lion calls it a "deluxe pilsner", which may be a bit of a stretch, but there ain't nothing wrong with it.

It doesn't hurt at all that this stuff retails for thirteen bucks a case. Or that it's brewed at The Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, one of the few remaining old time regional breweries in the northeast. Oh yeah, if you watch carefully, you just might see it on an episode of The Office.

A Big Crazy Mix-Up

2008-08-21T23:15:00.004-04:00

Since I feel like I'm running out of beers to try, I have decided to do something revolutionary. I had a six pack of Saranac and a twelve pack of Dundee and decided to mix it up a little. Literally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I took three beers and did a little "round robin" pouring half of each into a pint glass with half from the other two. The three beverages I used were Saranac Pale Ale, Dundee Porter and Dundee Wheat. Please note, I had intended to use Dundee Pale Bock but I screwed it up and poured the wrong one. Ah well, let's check the results...

SARANAC PALE/DUNDEE PORTER

The beer pours a mahogany reddish brown. It's slightly darker at the top. A finger of thick ocean foam head. It's thick, but also shiny and glassy.

In the aroma, the crystal malts of the Pale overshadow the roasted malts of the Porter, but only barley ... barely. The slightly piney hops in the pale do make a difference in breaking through the thick malt. It's a bit too sharp in the spiky malts.

The tastes are strange bedfellows. The pale flavors (hops, crystal malt) are the first flavors, and then a mild roasted, nutty malt kicks in. It evolves throughout the sip, but the flavors clash rather than getting along nicely.

The feel is thick and creamy, and chewy and chunky. Has some nice body, with a small bite on the way down. It's not the runaway success I had hoped for, but it's an interesting change of pace beer.

DUNDEE WHEAT/SARANAC PALE

The look is a hazy light orange. The thick head dissipates quickly. Leaves a nice icy lace. Overall the appearance is a nice cloudy thickness.

The smell is some bittering pilsnery hops floating atop a thick banana-ish wheat aroma. Some mild citrusy sweetness, which actually blends nicely with the clove in the wheat.

The sweet citrus and banana/clove taste give this makeshift brew a decent bubblegum flavor. And though the flavors are strong, they are disparate, thought it is a surprisingly decent mix.

The feel is thick and sticky. It's creamy, and the wheat beer definitely has the influence on this one. All told, it's actually a solid mix. The hops and wheat play nicely in the sandbox.

DUNDEE PORTER/DUNDEE WHEAT

This one was the real shocker.

The appearance is a thick, cloudy brown. The head disappears quickly. It looks very thick.

The aroma is, at first, an uneasy mix of the roasted malt and some wheat. It has the aromatic effect of a dark Belgian ale. The wheat and the roasted malt. It takes on a smoky quality.

The taste has a real, dark Belgian ale flavor, oddly enough. It's a really surprising mix of two good flavors. Not too shabby at all. The rich caramel flavors meet the wheat flavors, as well as a subtle tobacco kick.

The feel is milky but smooth. Really decent. Overall it's like a dark Belgian ale. A surprisingly good little concoction. Smoky, rich and deep.

None of these were the unmitigated triumph that I had secretly hoped for, but they were all drinkable, and were a decent change of pace idea when all you have is the same stuff you've been drinking for weeks on end.

Hopefully, we will become bolder and wiser in our choices, selecting brews that are unbalanced with other brews that are unbalanced. It is this attempt to bring together the yin and yang (the Yuen and Yueng?) of beers in those that are lacking that zen balance. I'm making a list as we speak.

Battle of the Brews at Saratoga Race Course

2008-08-20T21:10:00.004-04:00

It's hard to find any real details, but the Adirondack/Saratoga chapter of the American Red Cross is presenting the 11th annual "Battle of the Brews" at Saratoga Race Course on Friday, August 22, from noon to 4:30 p.m. It will be held in the “Big Red Spring” area. This is the biggest weekend of the Saratoga racing season with the 139th running of the Travers Stakes, aka "The Mid-Summer Derby" on Saturday.

Tickets for the event are $25 per person. That price includes a commemorative 2008 pint glass. Last year, tickets went for $15 in advance and $20 at the door, and the glass would have cost you $5 or $7 depending on your ability to plan ahead.

Sixteen breweries will offer approximately three beers each for sampling and voting:

Adirondack Pub & Brewery

Anchor Brewing Co.

Black Dog

Boulder Beer

Brewery Ommegang

Brown’s Brewery

Cooper’s Cave Ale Company

Green Mountain

Harpoon Brewery

Long Trail Brewing Co.

Magic Hat Brewing

Olde Saratoga Brewing Co.

Paper City Brewery

Saranac Brewing Co.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Switchback Brewery.

Awards for People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice will be presented. Looks pretty solid, actually. Seeing as I will be at the track already, perhaps a little "field research" is in order.

You can get more information by calling the local American Red Cross Adirondack Saratoga Chapter at (518) 792-6545, or e-mail reehlc@usa.redcross.org. Proceeds benefit the Red Cross.

Head to Head: Saranac IPA vs. Dundee IPA

2008-08-17T22:23:00.008-04:00

Today we are pitting against one another two of Upstate New York's premier mid-sized breweries' hoppier offerings in a new feature we like to call "Head to Head." I tried to think of a catchier name but let's face it, when your research involves drinking it sometimes takes you out of the zone.

The breweries discussed today are both going through a rebirth of sorts. Saranac (aka F.X. Matt) weathered a major fire in late May of this year. Luckily, the fire, while harmful, was not enough to keep Saranac from brewing for more than about a month.

Dundee Beer, on the other hand, while not having to endure any kind of blaze, has been going through a transformation of its own, dropping the "JW" from it's moniker and coming up with a whole new design and identity for its flagship brand. Dundee appears ready to be taking its rightful place among the major regional breweries, not only by making a concerted marketing effort built on beer tradition, but also by improving the quality of the beer itself (which you will read about in an upcoming post). The brewery is looking to shed its image of being the brewer of Genny and a couple of marginal microbrews. And the way it's been flying off the shelves in the Syracuse area, it appears that the eye-catching new designs are working.

Today we decide to compare the IPAs of these two proud, venerable breweries, and see which one can reign supreme as Upstate New York Mid-size I-90 Brewery Champ. Let us begin...

The Look:

Both beers have an almost identical golden color, though Dundee's is slightly darker. Saranac is more clear and see-through, while Dundee has a bit more haze on the glass. The head retention goes to Dundee by far, in that its head sits proudly atop the liquid, while Saranac's head is minimal and fades quickly. The Saranac looks more watery, and while they both sweat on the outside of the glass, Dundee just looks a bit thicker, like an ale. Both leave a decent Brussels lace on the glass, but again Dundee is thicker and more pronounced.

Advantage: Dundee.
The Aroma:

Saranac's IPA has a fine pine-hop aroma, with some citrusy notes of lemon and lime. It's a more flowery and sweet-smelling hop. The hop on the Dundee side is also a woody smell, but the aroma comes through less, ironically because of the thick head that is blocking many of the scents from coming through. The malts are what makes these ales smell markedly different: the Saranac has pale, crystal malts bursting through, while the Dundee is more roasted. The Saranac is just more aromatic.

Advantage: Saranac.
The Flavor:

Here is where the rubber meets the road, as they say. Both of these IPAs have very nice flavors, but they are decidedly different. The Saranac IPA has a woody, pine hop flavor, which is mild but does well with the sharp crystal malt flavor. There are sweet fruity and flowery hop flavors emerging. The malts in the Saranac are more "spiky" and sharp, giving the impression of a heavily-hopped pale ale rather than an IPA.

The Dundee on the other hand, is more bold. It has a deeper "ale" flavor, with the malts deeper and more roasted than the sharp crystal malts in the Saranac. There are mild caramel and butterscotch notes coming through, giving off a more complex flavor than the Saranac. The malts are what separates these two beers.

Advantage: Slight edge to Dundee.
The Feel:

The Saranac is more "spiky" and fizzy; it's got a sharper feel with more bubbly carbonation felt on the tongue. (Ironic because the Dundee looked much more carbonated in appearance.) The feel of the Dundee is thicker, more like a pub ale. It's more creamy and buttery than the Saranac. This one is based on personal preference I suppose, but to me...

Advantage: Dundee.
The Verdict:

Both of these beers are very worthy, mild IPAs. The Saranac is really a pale ale that has been hopped a little extra. The Dundee is a milky, buttery ale with more balance and more pronounced malt flavors, which in turn make the hops shine through just a bit more. While both of these are worthy selections, I would have to declare...

WINNER: DUNDEE

So in a nail-biter, High Falls just barely edges out the descendents of F.X. Matt on this one. To be sure, both are very solid middle-of-the-road IPAs, so please don't use this as a reason not to buy the Saranac IPA. In fact, if you get the chance, pick up a twelve-pack of each and help support both the local economy and the craft-brewing industry. The more you buy, the more they'll make

Brunswick Barbecue and Brew

2008-08-11T10:02:00.000-04:00

There is a new brewpub on the scene in New York's Capital Region... almost anyway. Goose Gosselin, former headbrewer at Malt River in Latham and most recently an assistant brewer at Olde Saratoga/Mendocino*, has opened his own barbecue joint in Cropseyville (just outside of Troy). The barbecue has been getting good reviews so far, and Gosselin hopes to start brewing some time this fall.

*In addition to Malt River and Olde Saratoga, the Goose has also worked at Boston Beer Works, Union Station in Providence, and Buzzards Bay Brewing. Pretty solid resume, that.

We were never huge fans of Malt River's brews; they were hit and miss, mostly. How much of that was due to its location in a dying mall and the inability to turn beers in a timely manner is anybody's guess. We only visited a handful of times, probably not enough to make a true judgment of the brewer's prowess. Gosselin certainly has his fans, including one Mr. Lew Bryson :

7/30/08: Got an e-mail from Gary "Goose" Gosselin yesterday, formerly of Malt River: he's opened Brunswick BBQ & Brew in Brunswick, NY, east of Troy on Rt. 2 (3925 State Hwy 2, Brunswick, 518/279-9993). They're open but not brewing yet: he hopes to be brewing in the fall. Good to see him back at the kettle!

Pretty exciting stuff, really. Even an average brewpub is a wonderful place and good barbecue is always welcome. This makes for tantalizing possibilities of beer runs beginning at Brown's in Troy, heading east on Route 2 to Brunswick Barbecue and Brew and then turning for the Madison Brewing Company (where the beer is okay, but the food is scrumpshalicious) in Bennington, Vermont. Or Pittsfield Brew Works in, umm, Pittsfield, Mass. Or lots o' good stuff in North Adams, Mass. Hell, it could lead us anywhere really. The possibilities are dizzying!

Middle Ages XIII Anniversary Celebration

2008-08-03T00:30:00.005-04:00

Hey, if you're in the area, it's certainly worth a stop. Cheers to one of our favorite breweries on making it into their teens.

The Session: The Golden Anniversary That Nearly Killed Me

2008-08-01T14:58:00.000-04:00

For this month's The Session, we are taking a trip down memory lane to a time when Miller High Life and Genesee's Golden Anniversary were acceptable beer choices. This story is from October of 2004 on a trip to visit my friend Javen in Schenectady, NY. It has some graphic medical terminology, so if you are squeamish you may want to gloss over it a bit. Hope you enjoy.

Have you ever woken up with cotton-mouth? How about a sore throat? How about something hanging out of the back of your throat that feels like one of those sticky octopus things you used to get out of a vending machine that you would throw against the wall and it would climb down? No? Well, all you have to do is drink some beer that doesn't mix with your body or your internal food processing mechanisms and voila, you've got it!

This is a story of my swollen uvula. It's a story that's not for the squeamish, which means it's really not even a story for me. It only lasted but 6 hours or so, but friends, it was a six hours I'd like to forget.

The story starts this past Saturday. Visiting my friends, Javen and Justine (aka T.T., still don't know where that nickname came from), in Schenectady, NY, just a two-hour drive from my home in hardcore urban Syracuse, we had gone to dinner and watched a few innings of the Yankees-Red Sox blowout before heading back for a brief cocktail at the apartment and then out to hopefully more bars. Will was already bitter due to the Red Sox taking an 0-3 dive in the ALCS, and I was just happy to be drunk. We went to a small convenience store, where we looked for the cheapest possible selections. I chose my favorite, Miller High Life, the best cheap beer known to man. But what for our second selection? Which beer would serve a dual function as both an economically-prudent choice but also one that would please the tastebuds as well? The choice was simple: Golden Anniversary, proudly brewed in my hometown of Rochester, New York.

Sure it seemed like a great idea at the time, get some cheap brew to get lit up, then walk to the neighborhood watering holes and slow 'er down with the fancy stuff. As Javen and I embarked on a 6-hour political discussion, we began knocking back brew after brew. I started with the High Life, as is my custom. Even though it is summer no more, the best summer brew this side of Milwaukee was treating me just fine. Curiously, someone handed me a golden can of the Golden Anniversary, and it was just fine too. When you're as far in the bag as I was, you can't tell the difference. Interestingly, I felt no ill-effects while conscious. As 4:30 AM rolled around, Javen and I finally agreed to disagree about Bush and Kerry, and decided to fall asleep. I felt great, a little dizzy, but great.

After what I can only assume is the worst night of sleep in my entire life (the air mattress I slept on collapsed under my burly weight), I awoke around 8 AM and felt the curious sensation of having a deflated balloon attached to the roof of my mouth. I swallowed once and felt a large flap of something undulating in my throat. My first inclination was to assume William and Javen had played a mischievous prank on me by placing something in my mouth as I slept, and I briefly looked forward to the sure-to-follow digital photo documenting the hilarity at my expense. But when I realized everyone else was still comatose, I flipped the hell out.

I ran to the bathroom to check the inside of my mouth. It was too dark to see in the bathroom, so I had to turn the light on, but the marquee-style lighting was too bright for my sensitive eyes, so I had to pull of an idiotic-looking maneuver by which I tilted my head back, opened my mouth in the say-ahhh position, shielded my eyes like a visor and stared into the horrifying abyss that was my mouth. I saw two tongues: my actual tongue and the second one where my uvula (the little punching bag in the back of the throat) used to reside. But instead of the cute little cartoonish teardrop-shaped piece of skin or whatever the hell it is, I saw an elongated, misshapen blob that was resting on the back of my tongue. And if you think that's gross, imagine how I felt looking at the goddamn thing. I nearly passed out. In fact, I lied down on the bathroom floor momentarily to get my blood back into my head, and then wondered if blood in my head was good for my amorphous uvula. I actually considered taking steps to get blood out of my head. Not a good idea in hindsight, but this is how my affliction affected my thought-process.

So I did what anyone with such a medical condition would do: I went back to sleep in the hope that my condition would be gone when I woke up, or better yet that it was all a horrible dream. So I fell asleep for another 15 minutes, trying to dream my growth away. No dice. It felt like peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth, except in this case the peanut butter was my own flesh. Now, this didn't hurt, not at all. It was simply uncomfortable, and since I have apprehensions anyway about swallowing and my dubious gag reflex (no jokes, fellows!), it became incredibly irritating and somewhat frightening.

Most people might call a doctor for something like this. Since I hate doctors and hospitals, I did the next best thing and got on WebMD. I had remembered what a magnificient resource this had been when I had a bit of a hemorrhoid problem back in March of '03, and I thought, if anyone could help me, it would be WebMD. Double dang-it! The only thing it suggested to me was to get my tonsils out. I had been planning on doing that anyway, but not now, dammit!

Who is better than a doctor to cure this problem? Who? Think, damn you, think! Of course! My little brother, Mike, aka "Beach Justice." No, he is not a doctor, but he did graduate from SUNY Fredonia in 2002 or so and I remembered he had had a similar condition at one time. So I called him on my cellular wireless telephone. It was about 9AM and Mike is accustomed to waking up at ohhh about noon, so I wasn't expecting him to answer. The phone rang 4 or 5 times before I heard the glorious click and timbre of my brother's surprisingly alert voice answering his phone. I asked him to help me. "Please, brother, please!" He replied, "Calm down, my friend, let me walk you through it." In his most scholarly and medicinal voice, Mike gave me the clinical explanation. I've had a bad allergic reaction to some beer. Something about the wheat or the way they process it. Have I had this beer before? No. Did you drink at all last night? Yes, yes! Well there's your answer. Take some allergy medication and give it till day's end. Oh, thank you brother, thank you! TT, the absoulute peach that she is, drove to the store and got me some Benadryl. Though they didn't exactly perform open-heart surgery on me, Mike and TT saved my life.

I shouldn't have driven back to Syracuse after the Benadryl though. Future reference.

Wegmans Beer Upgrade in Syracuse: Confirmed

2008-07-23T23:45:00.008-04:00

For those of you in the Northeast who are so blessed as to have a Wegmans in your neighborhood, there may be some exciting news. You may remember that a scant five days ago I reported that Wegmans was likely to be expanding their beer selection as of Monday, July 21. I finally made it to the Wegmans in Dewitt (Syracuse) New York to find out if this was a hoax or whether it was something that beer aficianados can believe in.

Hopefully, the pictures below speak for themselves.

Wegmans clearly has gotten the memo that craft beer is a popular -- and profitable -- enterprise, as they have transformed their already solid beer selection into a full-fledged craft beer department. Not only have they greatly expanded the variety of breweries and styles that they had previously offered, but they have doubled, if not tripled the floor space to which their beer is devoted.

Previously, Wegmans had a cooler area where you could find some popular macroswill choices such as Busch, Bud, Natty Ice, Miller Lite, etc. They had a walk-in cooler where local beers could thankfully be found (lots of Middle Ages in Syracuse, lots of Dundees and Customer Brewcrafters in Rochester). They would also go above and beyond by carrying not only regional brands (Souther Tier, Ithaca, Ellicottville, Saranac, etc), but also some find craft offerings from around the country (Stone, Dogfish Head, Rogue).

Today when I walked in, I found a grocery store section transformed into an excellent source for craft beers. They had some selections I had never seen previously (Flying Dog, River Horse, Stoudt's, Clipper City/Heavy Seas). They expanded the number of large bottles as well, carrying some more 22oz bottles of Rogue, Lindeman's and Stone.

Wegmans has also smartly decided to keep a large selection of craft beers in the cooler, and offering their counterparts on non-refrigerated shelves as well, so you can either buy for immediate consumption (like in the parking lot while loading groceries) or for storage.

Another encouraging developement is that Wegmans seems to be committed to furthering craft beer as a valid part of American culture. For a few months, they have had a whiteboard with beer/food pairings that I found quite positive. Today, they not only have beer books (some informative, some novelty), but also sets of Guinness pint glasses and sets of "international" glasses (an nonic pint, a pilsner glass, etc).

Furthermore, Wegmans has added small cards next to select beers, explaining more about them. For example, the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA gives a brief lists of food it is best paired with, as well as a "Mild" to "Extreme" spectrum, so novice beer drinkers can better select what they want. It explains the beer thusly:

A session India Pale Ale brewed with Warrior, Amarillo and "Mystery Hop X." Goes With: Spicy food, pesto, grilled salmon, pizza, vintage cheddar.

(Hopefully, even Busch-swilling frat boys will see the word "extreme" and pick up several cases.) Granted, the only three options on this continuum are "mild," "extreme" and in the middle, but it's a start. It even says what type of glass from which each selection should be consumed.

While none of these developments are going to blow the mind of the average beergeek, it almost brings a tear to the eye to see really good craft beers thrust onto the stage of a mainstream grocery store.

No, this isn't going to supplant specialty beer stores altogether (and why should it) and Wegmans is probably never going to carry true-school beergeek classics like Anderson Valley, Avery or Three Floyds, they do have Weyerbacher, Green Flash, North Coast and other semi-obscure offerings for this area, as well as expanding their Smuttynose, Victory and Otter Creek, to name a few.

The bottom line: While this still isn't Beers of the World in Rochester, Finger Lakes Beverage in Ithaca or Oliver's in Albany, it's a quantum leap in the Syracuse area, and hopefully one that will challenge the other beer stores in the area to step up their game. One thing, however, is for sure: the days of having to "settle" on the beer that's sold in Wegmans are over.

A-B's Turn Back Toward European Shores

2008-07-20T19:24:00.004-04:00

Tip of the hat to my brother-in-law Scott for directing me toward an article at Salon.com called "The Rise and Fall of an American Beer," by Edward McClelland. It tells the story of how Budweiser overcame its mediocre product with its marketing acumen -- and ended up crushing smaller breweries along the way.

Imagine the Budweiser Clydesdale team on a cross-country rampage, with a decrepit, tipsy August A. Busch Jr. strapped to the lead horse, wearing a bright red St. Louis Cardinals cowboy hat. Starting on the West Coast, platter-hoofed horses trample a can of Blitz-Weinhard, spewing suds all over the streets of Portland, Ore. Moving south to San Francisco, they stamp on bottles of Lucky Lager. In their hometown of St. Louis, they crash through the wall of a Griesedieck Bros. brewery, rolling hundreds of barrels into the Mississippi. They're seen next in Cincinnati, kicking a Hudepohl taster to death. The Clydesdales' tour of destruction ends in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Busch orders them to urinate in a vat of Piels, cackling that no one will be able to tell the difference.

It debunks the myth that somehow Budweiser's legacy as "America's Beer" was a matter of divine right, but rather came out of a great deal of wheeling and dealing to get the Budweiser name out in the open.

From its very inception, Budweiser was a triumph of marketing over quality. Adolphus Busch, the dynasty's founder, called his beer "dot schlop" and drank wine instead. During taste tests, St. Louis drinkers spat it back over the bar. But if the Busches didn't believe in their product, they believed in their business plan. Adolphus bought licenses for tavern keepers and paid their rent. In exchange, they served Budweiser. On one of his frequent visits to Europe, he learned about pasteurization. That, and a fleet of refrigerated railcars, kept the beer fresh on cross-country shipments, allowing Bud to break out of St. Louis.

It also demystifies the dearly-defunct breweries of yore, pointing out that though it's sad they had to be run out of business by the A-B giant, they were producing pretty much the same beer as Bud was.

If anything, it is a clarion call to keep our loyalties -- and monies -- in this country by drinking domestic craft brews.

If ever there was a time to be patriotic, John and Jane Q. Nascarfan, this is it. Show your love of country with a Sierra Nevada, a Brooklyn, a Dixie, or any other beer that supports our economy and way of life. Craft beer drinkers have been supporting the American economy by keeping our money going to our fellow citizens; I ask Bud-drinker, will you?

Brooklyn Brewery Expansion?

2008-07-20T13:26:00.007-04:00

The New York Times has an interesting article on the difficulties Brooklyn Brewery has had in its planned expansion in Brooklyn. The brewery has played no small part in the revitalization of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn since locating there twelve years ago. The improved economic conditions of the surrounding neighborhood and in Brooklyn in general have been a mixed blessing, however, as brewery co-owner Steve Hindy has repeatedly been rebuffed in efforts to expand:

He and his partners are willing to spend $15 million for a bigger brewery that would employ at least twice as many workers as he has now and would have a beer garden where customers could sample his growing roster of specialty brews. But after four years of searching and two failed bids to be included in redevelopment projects in Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, they have not found a suitable building in the borough at a feasible price.

“We are the Brooklyn Brewery, and we want to be in Brooklyn,” said Mr. Hindy, who often bicycles to work from his home in Park Slope. “If we can’t find a place, then who can? We’re about as perfect an example of light manufacturing as you can get.”

The other side of the coin, at least in our eyes, is that the bulk of Brooklyn's beer is currently contract brewed at F.X. Matt in lovely, scenic Utica, New York. According to our fuzzy math, Brooklyn brewery currently sells somewhere north of 90,000 barrels of beer per year, 12,000 of which are produced in Brooklyn. Given the proper facility expansion, the locally brewed portion of that could increase to 40,000 barrels. Plus, they want to add a beer garden. We say get this done already! Matt Brewing can concentrate more resources on getting the excellent Lake Placid beers to the masses and Brooklynites get more local beer and a great place to enjoy it. Everybody wins. Let's do this thing!

Click here for some great pics of F.X. Matt.

Wegmans Beer Upgrade in Syracuse?

2008-07-18T18:00:00.005-04:00

I have this on "good authority."

I was at a well-known beverage store in Syracuse today, and I heard the following proclamation by one of the people working there. And I paraphrase:

"We're gonna have some competition starting Monday. Wegmans is going to be revamping their beer selection."

[For those of you who don't know, Wegmans is THE best grocery store in these United States. There might be some better in other countries, but Wegmans is the best in America, and they already have a pretty solid -- if not spectacular -- beer selection.]

Now, I have seen no information either supporting or debunking this nugget of information, however we can only hope that Wegmans can raise the bar and force the other specialty beer stores in the Syracuse area to step it up a bit.

For a city of our size, we don't have anything approximating, say, a Finger Lakes Beverage (Ithaca), Glenville Beverage, Oliver's (both Albany/Capital District) or Marcy Beverage (Utica). And while I'm skeptical to think that Wegmans will start clearing the shelves of Busch, Keystone and Natural Ice for Dogfish Head Immort Ale or Three Floyds Alpha King, it is heartening to know that the savvy business people of the Wegmans chains could possibly be taking the lead on the Syracuse beer market.

There are couple of decent beer stores in the 'Cuse, notably Galeville Beverage in Liverpool, Brilbeck's convenience store on Tipperary Hill, and The Party Source on Erie Boulevard. Galeville and Brilbeck's are both surprisingly good places to get beer, given that they are housed in small convenience store-sized locations.

The Party Source, while probably the best place to get beer, is still underwhelming, with a major waste of space (more than half the floor space is empty) and beer that has a problem of being sold after the "best by" date, but at regular (ie. not-discounted) prices. Party Source still has the best selection, but that is by virtue of its size, and they don't rotate in new beers nearly often enough. Also, while you can get mixed six packs, they don't have some kind of "blue dot special" where selected beers can be mixed for something like $8.99, which every other store -- even the P&C supermarket chain -- is doing now. All beers in a mixed six pack are sold a la carte.

Hopefully Wegmans will recognize the value of craft beers and lead the local march to force craft beers to infiltrate Central New York. More information as it comes.

Regarding the InBev/A-B Merger

2008-07-15T23:56:00.006-04:00

Despite our lack of any warm and fuzzy feelings for all things BMC, we knew we were vaguely unhappy about Anheuser-Busch being snapped up by Belgium based brewing conglomerate InBev, but we weren't quite sure how to express it. This is exactly how.

Hat Tip to Big Lew

6Pac June 2006 - Drinking Outside the Bocks

2008-07-12T17:34:00.001-04:00

The weather in Syracuse, NY, in June of 2006 was worthy of actually being a month that took place in "Summer." I scooped up a sixer at Glenville (N.Y.) Beverage in the Capital District whilst on a sojourn to visit our editor emeritus and Albany bureau chief.

Since the weather prospects at the time were iffy, I decided to split my selections into three dark and three lighter. Among the "yellow sticker" beers (the ones that were eligible to be included in a $8.99 six-pack), it was hard to find six I hadn't tried before, but I was able to find a couple, even if some of them didn't exactly blow my skirt up at first glance.

Ultimately, here is where I landed:

Hook & Ladder Lighter
Mendocino Bock Beer
Erie Brewing Mad Anthony IPA
Abita Bock
Hook & Ladder Golden Ale

I know you're just dying to know, so I'll just dive right in.

#1: Hook & Ladder Lighter. I have been seeing these Hook & Ladder six-packs all over the place lately, and I didn't quite know what the story was with them, so I haven't really been that eager to try them.

Upon reading up on Hook & Ladder, they are based in Silver Springs, Maryland, and they donate a small amount of money to burn centers in communities where their beer is sold. So at the very least, if I didn't like the beer, I was giving money to a good cause.

I was surprised by how much I actually liked this beer. It's a pale ale with a lagery look and feel. The reviews on Beeradvocate.com for this beer were savage so maybe it's that my expectations were so low, but it was surprisingly decent.

The color is bright, brilliant gold. The heavy carbonation bubbles up like ginger ale. The finger of foamy head looks like Italian Ice. Looks like a light lager, but I won't let that scare me off.

The aroma is real barley, with a very nice biscuity sweetness in the malt. The hop is ever-so-slight, and reminiscient of a pilsner. Again, even though this is a pale ale, you coulda fooled me. The smell is surprisingly solid.

The taste is where I really was caught off-guard. The malt in this beer is so biscuity sweet, with none of the adjuncty corn & rice flavors I expected. Amazing how real barley makes all the difference. This is a very good summer beer. It's a little sweet and only a tad bitter.

The feel of the beer is smooth to the touch. It's got a tiny nibble of a bite on the way down. Not chunky, not watery: just right. It's refreshing, and is a "respectable" summer brew. It's not off-the-charts incredible, but it's highly drinkable beverage, and one that didn't make me feel guilty for foregoing other, craftier alternatives.
#2: Mendocino Bock Beer. One of my great joys is to visit the Saratoga Brewery, purveyor of the finest Mendocino products. This bock is one that I hadn't tried before, but given their track record, I'd bet dollars to donuts that I was going to like it.

The color is a honey-colored orange, shiny like polished glass. The lace is spotty and the head is minimal and slushy. To take a whiff is to inhale a pale malt aroma with a mild but spicy hop. The malt is a roasted concoction in the nose, with a naughty splash of liqueur-like alcohol stinging the nostrils slightly. The aroma overall is very hard to detect, but what is able to be picked up by the olfactory glands is pleasant enough.

The intial taste I sensed was a hint of roasted toffee in the malt, with a very conspicuous layer of alcohol therein. As it warms up, it becomes more burnt and more bitter. That's pretty much the story of the taste of this beer, other than the pale malt blooming toward the end as the clock runs out. Decent.

The beer feels smooth and buttery; savory, for lack of a better word. There is a small sting on the way down. It's a mild and roasted bock. Not too bitter, but strong otherwise. A solid choice.
#3. Erie Brewing Company, Mad Anthony APA. Although the idea of an "American Pale Ale" is becoming more and more popular, I rarely see beers that advertise themselves as such. Being a native Western New Yorker (yes, Rochester does count as WNY, Javen), I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the beers made west of the 315 area code.

Erie Brewing has been one that I haven't really been blown away by, mostly because their Railbender is decent enough, but I never seem to be able to get it fresh. Also, it always seems that the labels on their bottles are always peeling off, as if they are applied by a kindergarten glass with Elmer's glue sticks.

I was really nicely surprised by this beer -- even moreso than the Hook & Ladder Lighter. The look is a bright, sunny yellow; it becomes light orange when held up to a lamp. The head is thick, but not long-lasting. There is some minor icy lace. Clear for the most part, but containing a light haze.

The smell is mild, somewhat hard to detect like the aforementioned Mendocino Bock. The only thing I can really sense is pale malt. Again, the aroma doesn't detract from the beer, but it's hard to find a hint of what to expect.

The taste provided a nice apology for the coyness of the aroma. The flavor is a terrific citrus that goes beautifully with the spicy pale malt flavor. The spice in the hop is almost reminiscient of a Belgian White/witbier. What sets this apart from most mediocre pale ales is that fantastic citrusy hop, which injects it with a refreshing, summery dynamic.

The beer feels a little on the fizzy side, but you can feel the carbonation making the flavors of the beer burst out and come alive. There is a nice thickness that came as a surprise. Overall I was really impressed by the citrusy, fruit-tinged flavor that was balanced by the pale malts. It's refreshing and easy to drink.
#4: Abita Bock. Apparently honey-tinged orange is a popular color this year, because this bock exhibits that very look. In the thinner spots of the glass, it is closer to a dark yellow. The head is short-lived, but otherwise this beer is awfully attractive.

The aroma gives off some very nice flowery pale-ish malts. There are hops, of the German (Hallertauer-esque) variety. A couple citrusy notes here and there but it's not altogether clear whether it's the hops or actual citrus.

The flavor has more of that pale malt flavor, as well as the sweet, puckery citrus that we all so dearly enjoy. They two flavors go together very very well. There is a dry, semi-sweet start and a tart finish.

All told this is a pretty good summery bock, with lots of tree-fruits and with a nice thickness that doesn't require choking down.
#5: Sam Adams Double Bock. Not to be confused with the Sam Adams Triple Bock, this lighter, distant cousin didn't particularly tickle my fancy any more than the Triple Bock did.

The color is a nice-enough ruby red with very little head. The look is hazy, but also shiny and glassy. It has the foreshadowing look of a winter ale. The aroma has the vague prsence of a mild barley, with some pale-ish malts. Moreso, however, there is the aroma of a sweetish berry or cherry; the smell is underwhelming, but the saccharine nature of the aroma comes through.

The taste has the initial taste of sweet cherry at the initial sip, before turning to a darker and more burnt berry. It is dark overall, but has a Nutrasweet finish. Just as I don't love winter ales, this one isn't my cup of tea (figuratively speaking, of course). There is a slight Belgian ale spicy finish, but overall it's a double Winter lager.

The bite on the way down is mercifully controlled. It is somewhat spicy and bubbly like Coca-Cola, but that doesn't quite salvage it for me. All told, the flavors skew far too much toward a puckery, cloying Winter ale sweetness. If you like that sorta things, be my guest.
#6: Hook & Ladder Golden Ale. This is the final beer of the sixer, and it's a bookend of sorts, in that it's another of the Hook & Ladder series. This one is a golden ale, so naturally it has a dark yellow color. The head is thin and watery, but there is a hint of icy lace on the glass like frost on a window.

The aroma is consistent with a golden ale or lager. It has the properties of a pub ale, but to a weaker, more watered-down degree. It's nothing unpleasant, just a tad wimpy. The taste is of a light English ale, a la Bass. The malt is actually of a decent sweet style; it's bready and with just a dollop of molasses. It does leave a bit of a malted aftertaste.

The beer feels watery and leaves a minor, bitter film that is more like a lager than a golden ale. This beer is okay, but not awesome. Didn't hit me the right way like the Lighter at #1. It's drinkable, but should be priced among the BudMillerCoors instead of the crafties.

I have quite a diverse selection for July, so hopefully I can find the strength to trudge through all of them.

F*ck It, Let's Do It Live! Part Deux.

2008-07-11T02:46:00.003-04:00

[Note: My baby sister decided on a late-night whim to do a liveblog of the beer we were drinking. I'm not sure she fully grasps the concept of the liveblog but we all have to start somewhere. You might find a deviation from the normally erudite and buttoned-up style to which we generally adhere. Still, every voice counts.]

So when my dick brother (bitch sister?) told me we'd be drinking something stronger, imagine my surprise (i always spelled that without the first R) when he ~~whipped~~, ~~pulled~~, brought out a LABATT BLUE LIGHT. Ugh. Like I said, I've been to college - not interested.

However, I'm a sporting gent(lewoman) and am up for the challenge of categorizing this delicious (?) brew. And seeing as how my bro drinks this to sober up before driving home, we have to give it up to our neighbors to the North. I was told not to bother sniffing out of our Sam Adams quote/unquote Special Glass. I did anyway. Bill thinks that....speechless so far....WAIT. "It's not the moose piss that I generally think it is. When I think of Blue Light I think of something awful. Something evil. But now that I know they make it in Buffalo (as their american headquarters) I find it drinkable. I wouldn't call it a pilsner, I wouldn't call it that. But as far as Northeastern Macrobrews go, it's only 107 calories, which is paramount because those numbers are essential in terms of what I put in my body. It's not horrible. Sub-par, ahhh, yes. But not horrible."

All of a sudden, he's worried about what I think of the beer. Let me taste. Ahhhhhhhh, gross. Okay. Let me shoot it to you straight. In terms of sub-par, shitty beers, this isn't bad. Better than Coors. And Bud. And Bud Light. However, it is no American craft beer (am I right?) so it's hard to think of it in terms of a smaller scale of beers that are much (MUCH) better.

Intrigued? Let me continue. I've pissed lighter, fizzier, more head-laden liquids than this. The smell is unremarkable and the taste is like what 5th year college students drank - classier than me, but not so much so that they won't try to bang an undergrad. (The Dixie Jazz is looking gooooood right now.)

So, the verdict? Eick. I wouldn't bathe a crack baby in it, BUT I would drink it to sober up at the end of the night, because let's face it, water is boring and drinking is cool. So, when I rap atcha again (November?) you'll want to know what's hot, what's cool, what's dope, what's fresh, with all the college kids. I'm not in college anymore, but I still love a good, delicious beer. Later my lovelies.

F*ck It, Let's Do It Live!

2008-07-11T02:08:00.005-04:00

[Note: My baby sister decided on a late-night whim to do a liveblog of the beer we were drinking. I'm not sure she fully grasps the concept of the liveblog but we all have to start somewhere. You might find a deviation from the normally erudite and buttoned-up style to which we generally adhere. Still, every voice counts.]

Hello beer snobs and sassy pants. This is Kate Shannon, sister to the beer blogger and extradinary a-hole, Bill. We knocked back a few of our favorites, and after a few embarassing stories (look out Seventeen Magazine) we decided to enjoy a few brews and liveblog it. I am drinking Great Divide Raspberry Wheat Ale, and hoss over there is drinking Dixie Jazz Amber Light (don't worry about it). Out of our Sam Adams quote/unquote Special Glass, we are both...WAIT - he hasn't sipped it yet...I am enjoying my beer. (he is surveying the situation, much like you would while mail-manning (gooogle that shit).)

I heard a wow. "Look at the carbonation of that shit." I did. Not that impressed.

Back to me. The Great Divide Raspberry Ale smells....not great. However, the taste is delish (probably a new word for Bojanglers). Bill says the raspberry is overpowering, like a framboise, while the wheat takes a back seat (use it, abuse it). I think it smells like something I've smelt before (not helpful...I'm new at this, deal.) I just sniffed, but was told I did it wrong. Anyway, my serious (Two Coreys is still on? Silly 80s actors, talent is for Rob Lowe.) opinion is that this beer is alright. As far as fruit beers go (I'm an ~~connassyeur~~...~~connoseiur~~...~~connaseur~~...expert at fruity delights) it's a little heavy. More syrupy than I'm used to. I do like how it's a little on the sweeter side, but not overpowering. It's dark complexion is not what I'm used to, but definitely holds its ground. There is something inviting about it - not light like Michelob's new brews, but not so dark that I don't believe it's fruit. I'd give this beer a solid thumbs up and definitely suggest the mature fruit beer palate try it out - not hoppy and scary, but dark and smooth.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand back to Bill. "Wonderful, lovely, golden hue. A thick swatch of lace, gracing the inside of the glass. A majestic jetsam of carbonation, blah blah blah, Billy likey. Don't worry about it. Even though it's Light, he seems to appreciate it. "It's not bad. It's okay." It's definitely a lager, with a watery aftertaste. It's not all that amber by our accounts. As yellow as it gets, I heard Bill say. I think it's down right watery, but the bottle will get you. The cool piano and inviting letters will make you pick it up. Bill said watery is appropriate for the style, but I think there are no excuses. For $1.60/bottle, at a 4.3%, this is quite frankly, bullshit. I drank 3.5% in college and it was not pretty. But before I get a lambasting (word?) from the brewer, I'm sure they have plenty of other fine ales that are worth their weight in gold - Bill just called it a "decent light lager."

I was just challenged to drink something a little more heavy. Will our liveblogging continue? Wait and see fair readers. I'm tired of blogging and am ready to drink more. Hope to see you soon lovelies.

Dundee Beer Revamped

2008-07-09T19:47:00.009-04:00

Apparently dropping the "JW" from the name, Dundee Beer -- brewed at High Falls Brewery in Rochester, NY --has revamped their brand and changed their labels.

So sayeth Patrick Magallanes, VP of marketing for High Falls:

"If you look at our existing packaging, we sit next to Michelob and Rolling Rock in the premium beer section. Our beers are undervalued in the marketplace and we've created that undervalue. We should be next to Saranac and Sam Adams. Packaging is what sells."

While we are not sure that packaging alone is "what sells," we are glad to see Dundee stepping it up in the regional craft beer market. And I must say, their labels are gorgeous. Let's look at a couple, blatantly stolen from Dundee's much-improved website.

This label for the Pale Bock has a touch of tradition, and a touch of modernistic artistry. One internet site states that "bock" is German for "billygoat," which may or may not be true. (Any German-speakers out there? We're too lazy to Google it.)

The light orange color and attractive new typeface are the backdrop of a goat of some kind performing a fanciful, whimsical dance of some sort. The goat appears to be a dapper old-timey gentleman, wearing the garb of another era. The label makes us feel happy and thirsty.

Another nice touch is at the bottom of the label where it reads "Big and Malty." It's nice of a beer company to give a brief description of what the beer is like to give neophytes a glimpse into what they can expect. (For example, IPA reads "Bold and Bitter.")

If the Pale Bock harkens back to the Caprinae traditions and superstitions of German brewing, the Porter recalls the timeless image of a doorman -- in his traditional garb -- ostensibly counting down the minutes until he can get off of work and fill up his stein.

Modern beer mythology has always considered the porter to be the blue-collar working man's beer. It was said that porters were the beers that were too burnt for the bourgeouisie to drink, so they were given to the working class porters and servants who would drink anything they could get their hands on. This explanation is likely not grounded in any fact, however it's nice to see Dundee nodding toward tradition with this light-hearted and evocative label with this "Roasted and Robust" beer.

It should be noted, also, that the script of the new Dundee bottles evoke broadway posters of the 1920s through the 1940s: lots of serifs and flourishes. It gives us a nice, nostalgic feeling to look at.

While each of the six new labels (and the seasonals, such as the upcoming Oktoberfest) deserve equal scrutiny for their artistry and sense of history, the last one we will give a once-over is Dundee's Pale Ale.

This label is clever on a couple of levels. First, it depicts a frog on a lilypad, dressed as an English gentleman, with a double-breasted brown suit, cane and bowler hat. As Pale Ales owe much of their worldly success to their growth in England (the term was coined there in the early 1800s), so too does this label owe to the good-natured collective bloke across the pond.

And since so many of us are so enamored with beer and beer terminology that we can't see the forest for the trees anymore, the tagline on this beer is "Enjoyably hoppy." It took us a moment to realize that the term "hop" is also a verb, and doesn't need to necessarily be preceded by "dry-" to be used as such.

We checked Wegmans in Syracuse, NY today, but alas, the "JW" Dundee's beers there had the previous -- although not altogether unattractive -- packaging. Beerjanglin' and all it's beerjanglers hope that this marks a new foray for Dundee to the upper echelon of regional craft brewing.

[Update: Someone on Beeradvocate.com noted that the man on the Porter is a train conductor. Based on the size of the picture, I wasn't able to see the sign that says "Arrivals." I'm a bit of an idiot.]

The Session: Independence Day Two-Fer

2008-07-05T16:23:00.012-04:00

[Note: We have been remiss in contributing to The Session for a while, so I decided to throw one out there regarding two decidedly un-summer beers I had on the 4th of July.]

I spent the 4th of July with a fellow beergeek by the name of Bruce. In the course of the weekend, he introduced me to two beers to which I had not previously been exposed. (Naturally, we were not confined to only two beers for the day, but two really stood out.) One of these beers was a tremendously nice surprise, the other was a crushing disappointment.

Early on in the day, Bruce forced me to down a beer that he had been trying to convince me to have for months: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine. It's not exactly barleywine season, but it really didn't matter with this beer.

First, let's see what the folks at Sierra Nevada themselves have to say about this beer (courtesy of RateBeer.com):

Gold Medal Winner, Great American Beer Festival (Ales: Brown, Bitter and Pale 1987, Barleywine 1988,1992,1995). Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is an award winning example of the English Barley Wine style. It boasts a dense, fruity bouquet; an extremely rich, intense, bittersweet palate; and a deep, reddish-brown color. This ale is superbly balanced between an almost overpowering maltiness and a wonderfully bittersweet hoppiness.

Bigfoot is a strong beer, to be sure. It's got all the usual trappings of a barleywine: it's thick (the color of mahogany, in case you were wondering), it's got a major alcohol aroma and flavor, a hard liquor-like burn on the way down and a juice-like thickness. But to me, what sets Bigfoot apart are (and if you know me I'll bet you could have guessed this) the hops.

Where most barleywines are content throwing a bunch of burnt malts and alcohol percentages at you, Sierra -- as they always do -- makes an overture toward those of us who need balance in our beers. The hops make this beer, and they make it one of my new favorite barleywines (Brooklyn Monster Ale, you've got company).

There is a major citrus and grapefruit quality to this beer that I found not only surprising but necessary. The beer has a very high alcohol content (just a smidge below 10%) and strong liqueur and malt flavors. But the hops, while adding a bitter respite, also add a needed sweetness that takes the edge off. It makes a man thankful that the United States expanded to the west coast to get dibs on those wonderful hops. I don't think I could have more than one in a row of this one, but the one to be had is outstanding.

After spending the rest of the day sampling various other offerings (including some nice choices like Wychwood Hobgoblin, Victory Whirlwind and Erie Brewing's Mad Anthony, among others), the time was nigh to get ready to go to sleep. For most sane people, beers at the end of the night are mild and easy to drink, so as to send one off to bed with a pleasant memory.

Of course, my friend Bruce is not at all sane, so he decided -- after midnight, mind you -- to break out the Samuel Adams Triple Bock. I had seen this beer, with its strange rubber-looking cork and 8-ounce bottle but never thought much of it. I have been drinking a few bocks lately but had never really been too familiar with this particular beer.

Again, let's have the fine folks at Sam Adams tell you what they think:

Triple Bock is complex, elegant, and has the depth and complexity of a fine cognac, vintage port or an old sherry. Non-carbonated, ruby-black, and very special, Triple Bock should be sipped from a small snifter in a two-ounce serving. This is a beer to savor, and sip slowly. Triple Bock has a brandy-like warmth and a complex melange of fruity, woody, and toffee-like flavors. Let the aroma fill your mouth and nose with rich malt and fruit overtones. Savor and appreciate its enormous character. Serve Triple Bock as you would a fine sherry, at room temperature, in a small snifter. One bottle generously serves two or three. Recork and store standing up. Once poured into a small glass, the layers of aroma and flavor will continue to evolve as the deep ruby brew warms in the hand.

Before I tell you what I think, let me tell you a few things I read about Sam Adams Triple Bock after the fact:

It is considered by some to be one of the first "extreme" beers.
It's one of the 25 strongest beers by ABV in the world, at 17.5%.
It was brewed in only three batches, in 1994, 1995 and 1997.
It's one of the most controversial beers on BeerAdvocate.com.

Okay, so what could be a better idea than cracking open this baby at quarter-to-one to ease into sleepytime land? Nothing, that's what. The beers were poured into two 4-ounce tester glasses, which was perfect for two servings. I noticed a couple of things.

First off, there was no head; apparently this beer is not carbonated at all. The look of it is black as midnight. It was very clear that this beer is deep, murky and thick. It is completely pitch black, as if someone poured roofing tar into a sippy-cup.

The smell is what shocked me. There is a scene in the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, where Brian Fontana wears a cologne called Sex Panther. Ron Burgundy eventually tells him, "I'm gonna level with you, that smells like pure gasoline." Had this beer come out after 2004, it may well have been renamed Sex Panther. Never have I taken a whiff of a beer that actually dared me to take a sip of it. I don't drink liquor because I don't like the harshness of the flavor. (Any beverage where you have to wince after you have you have a 2-ounce shot of it is not for me.) But this smelled like brandy or bourbon or whiskey. A lot of reviews say it smells like a port, so I'll take their word for that.

But there is one common trait that this beer has in both smell and taste, and it's been noticed by beer drinkers throughout the nation: Soy sauce.

The taste of alcoholic soy sauce permeates every sip, as does some hints of dark raisin and burnt fruit. It's not a pleasurable combination to my taste buds. I know that I'm probably supposed to like this, and admitting that it's not for me, is going to make me look like a bit of a pansy, but my taste buds don't like what they don't like. I hated it. If I had to describe it in one sentence, I would say the following: It's like drinking soy sauce mixed with blood.

One note: about a year ago I reviewed the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, and while I didn't really care for it, I was able to sort of appreciate where it was coming from, and why it existed. My taste buds didn't enjoy the complexities of that brew, but it did understand them. I cannot say the same for Sam Adams Triple Bock; it does not seem to me to have many complexities, but rather a "everything but the kitchen sink" ethos. I just can't pretend this beer is good to me.

The epilogue is that Bruce and I had considered going halfsies (or thirdsies or fourthsies or however many people we could get on board) on a $170 kettle of Sam Adams Utopia, the most alcoholic beer in the world. But after having this concoction, I can't see shelling out that much money for a beer, even if just to say I've had it. Nothing against Sam Adams -- and I'm sure Jim Koch could care less what I think, since he has said that he's sold every kettle of Utopia that he's produced -- but that Utopia plan has since been scrapped. (I am a frequent drinker of Sam Adams products, by the way, so this in no way a criticism of the brewery as a whole.)

Not that I need to mention this, but these are strictly my own opinions. Feel free to agree or disagree and leave a comment if you'd like. Am I brave for having the courage to admit I didn't like something that beer geeks everywhere should enjoy? Or was that bad smell I detected simply my own head being wedged where the sun don't shine?

Book Review - Beer, Edited by Michael Jackson

2008-07-04T08:58:00.004-04:00

A trip to Border's or Barnes & Noble looking for books about beer generally end up being frustrating and fruitless. It isn't that there aren't a lot of books about beer -- although the wine-book to beer-book comparison has got to be ten to one. It's that so many beer books are between five and ten years old.

We are in the midst of a full-blown beer revolution, especially in the United States. So many of the books I have read are interesting and full of good information, but they are woefully dated.

When you have an insatiable desire to read about beer, this simply won't do. Beer culture is evolving right before our very eyes, and though books can be great for long-term history, the internet is by-and-large far superior in terms of getting current information. (That the internet is better for getting current information is certainly not breaking news, but the level at which the industry and the culture is evolving and emerging can make even the most well-intentioned book feel ancient.)

Because of this, I was pleasantly surprised to find a book simply called Beer, edited by the late great Michael Jackson, printed by DK Publishing (ISBN 9780756631550).

Now, this book may very well be quited dated in the next 2-3 years, but for right now, it's a very nice companion to a full fridge, giving lists of not only some of today's best breweries by country and region (try to find Stone or Dogfish Head in a book from five years ago), but giving them historical context.

While I love books with lists of great beer, they can often be frustrating since these lists are often arbitrary, and usually unavailable due to the regional nature of beer. Many of them came out when the craft brew culture was still in its embryonic stage. (Some might argue it is in the fetal stage right now, but I'd say the culture has really exploded in the last half dozen years especially.)

This book first gives an overview of beer, some of its different styles, and notable breweries. The information given regarding beer's history is not earth-shattering fro the most part, although I found myself learning a little bit of new information on every page.

But perhaps the best gift is that, being published in 2007, it is one of Michael Jackson's last offerings. As usual, his knowledgeable -- but never pedantic -- style is wonderfully readable and entertaining. As great as the internet can be for disseminating information, it will unfortunately not be able to give us anything new from MJ.

It's a great gift for a budding beer enthusiast, and a worthy reading companion for any beer drinker. When it makes you thirsty just by reading it, that can't be a bad thing.

A Quick Note as F.X. Matt Bottles Again

2008-07-02T21:16:00.005-04:00

Just a month after a raging inferno nearly destroyed a production building and caused roughly $10 million in damage, the venerable F.X. Matt Brewery has resumed bottling their tasty wares and shipping said wares to a retailer near you, just in time for Independence day. If that run-on sentence hasn't already made you thirst for a Saranac, perhaps the thought of working one's way through the 12 Beers of Summer this weekend, or a simply sipping a couple of Pomegranate Wheats whilst taking in the local fire works show might do the trick.

6Pac - May 2008

2008-06-02T22:07:00.009-04:00

The weather here in Syracuse has not been indicative of the change of seasons this month of May. They say April showers bring May flowers, and though Mayflowers may bring Pilgrims, this so-called "spring" has brought little more than cloudy days and scattered raindrops.

So forgive me if I'm not quite in "summer mode" yet. It was only one week ago that I finally got some color on my pasty Mick-Kraut complexion. And though I'm sure that is tangentially related to the fact that I prefer to watch Battlestar Galatica with the curtains drawn than leave my home, I'll blame genetics, thank you very much.

That being said, the Sixer we selected for May was one that was split nearly down the middle between the India Pale Ale style which I love so much, and that of the Belgians.

The line-up is as follows:

Abita Jockamo IPA
Avery Redpoint Ale
Sea Dog India Pale Ale
Southampton Double White Ale
Fort Collins Rocky Mountain IPA
Weyerbacher Quad

The sixer was purchased at Finger Lakes Beverage in Ithaca, New York, a store that is worth the drive even if you are a complete imbecile with directions, as I am. Here are the respective verdicts:

#1: Abita Brewing - Jockamo IPA. As far as I know, this beer bears no relation to my good friend, musician Tony "The Geek Love" DiGiacomo, but dare I say it smells nearly as wonderful. First of all, let me marvel at the look for a spell. It's a glowing copper-orange color with a massive, ice cream float-worty head. The carbonation shoots upward so as to look like a game of Space Invaders. The lace is thick, the head sticks around for a long-ass time. It's an otherworldly sight.

The aroma is a rich, buttery-sweet malt smell, topped by a flowery perfume of hops. The malt is a perfect counterpoint, roasted but not burnt or bitter. It's excellent and magnificently balanced. The flavor is a perfumy hop, which tastes like it was aged in pine-chips. (Do people age beer in pine chips?) The hops make the whole affair just a bit sour, but not in an unpleasant way. Just interesting. The taste is different than the aroma in that it is all hops, with nary a hint of the malt to be detectable. It's a fine flavor, but more hop-intensive than expected. With its woody bitterness, I kind of wish there were some sort of sweeter malt counterpoint to balance it.

It feels bubby and effervescent, like a glass of Schwepps. However it's thick and creamy, and gets even moreso as it warms. It's very drinkable, though more bitter than expected. Unbalanced on the hoppy side, but still a very nice beverage.
#2: Avery Brewing - Redpoint Ale. From the Colorado Rockies (the mountain range, not the incredibly disappointing baseball team), comes this interesting red/amber ale. Its appareance is unusually thick and cloudy, a falu/brick red color. [Note: Yes, I said falu.] Puffy head that leaves a smooth film of lace. It looks quite thick and murky. Really a splendid appearance.

The smell is a toasted malt aroma that has some notes of sweet sugar. Has the dual qualities of a toasted red/amber ale, and the brown sugary sweetness of a brown ale; the brown wins the duel in the nose. The taste has a sweet beginning, with some bold liqueur flavors, and a burst of strong alcohol. The roasted malt is tempered by a slight sweetness. It's a bold red/amber flavor with an added sugary sweetness. It's a tad saccharine, but not too bad.

Feels full-bodied and creamy, leaving a lasting thickness on the tongue. It mellows out about halfway through. Overall, I'd say it's a substantial, complex, balanced beer. It's a solid brew, but possibly too thick for repeats.
#3: Sea Dog - India Pale Ale. This one has a magnificent look: a super cloudy, super dark orange. Has a large, puffy, pillowy head. Looks thick and hazy and awesome.

The smell is a mild citrus and flowery hop. It's a slightly toasted sweet, bready malt. Also has a curious dark raisiny aroma. The flavor is a strong blast of alcohol, which is followed by a strong, woody hop. Ok, so the alcohol here is very very very strong for a regular IPA. The malt is sharp and burnt, roasted and gritty. This is a strong ale with hops. A unique taste for an IPA, actually. There is actually some coffee in that malt.

The feel is bubbly and thick, yet milky on the palate. The final verdict on this one is that it's a strong but remarkably balanced IPA. The malt holds its own. It's a heavy beer but not extreme. It's not so much an IPA; it's a strong ale with hops.
#4: Southampton - Double White Ale. This former Beer O'the Moment is very thick and cloudy, a bright sunny yellow. There is no head but I halfway blame myself for a bad pour. It looks sunny and refreshing.

I smell some spicy orange peel, with a mild wheaty base. The smell is mild overall, but the orange/coriander and Belgian spiciness dominate. The taste has a spicy initial burst, but then a more sweetish fruity flavor. As it warms, a pleasant puckery sour flavor comes out. There are strong Belgian spices, but it's actually halfway between a Belgian ale and a witbier. It's a pleasant taste.

The feel is fizzy but smooth. The feel is thick like juice on the way down. All told, it's a nice, spicy-sweet Belgian white ale. Easy drinking but with a small bite.
#5: Fort Collins - Rocky Mountain IPA. The color is a clear, dark orange, with a finger of puffy head. The liquid stays completely still except for a few stray bubbles.
The aroma is a strong resiny hop. It's a little sweet, but with a woody finish in the nose. Smells flowery, though a tad musty. The strength of the aroma is quite impressive. The taste is resiny, oily/woody hops, grounded by some dry, gritty malts. Woody and bitter on the back of the tongue. Flowery and estery, with pale crystal malts emerging.

Dry and sandpapery feel. It's thick but in a good way. I would have to categorize this as a gritty IPA; bitter but not harsh. It's on the hoppy side but just balanced enough.
#6: Weyerbacher - Quad. Now this baby was the big portabello of the sixer. It's a dark orange, just this side of rose-colored. The finger of flat head is murky, although the other side can be vaguely seen. It's one of the few beers I can remember that actually gets more cloudy by the minute.

The smell is fantastic, a terrific spicy Belgian aroma with hints of citrus and orange peel and coriander. It appears to have a hint of strong alcohol. Bursting with additional flowery scents. Smells excellent. The taste is a strong initial injection of pungent alcohol, but with a spicy ending. It's a one-two punch of alcohol, then spicy, flowery esters. It's grassy. The citrus and orange that were present in the smell are nowhere to be found in the palate. This baby is really, really strong.

The bubbly feel is thick like apple juice, and has a burn on the way down. It warms the belly like brandy. Or gasoline. This sucker is a choker; thick and bursting with alcohol. It's too thick to be drinking all night, but a wonderfully heavy one-and-done.

This sixer was not for wimps! Yet I got through it anyway. Hopefully the ecosystem in the three-one-five will improve over the next few months (it's been nice the last couple of days) and I can move onto some lighter brews. Suggestions are welcome, as are your wonderful erudite comments, criticisms and challenges.

Saranac Brewery Fire

2008-05-29T18:11:00.012-04:00

As if the hops crisis, the malt shortage and the constantly rising price of gas weren't enough of a burden on beer lovers, a fire has reportedly broken out at the F.X. Matt Brewery. And it doesn't look good. The phrase "total loss" has been mentioned by fire officials and brewery president Fred Matt has already expressed that the historic brewery will be rebuilt, should it come to that. I know what kind of beer I'll be picking up this weekend.

From the Utica Observer Dispatch:

Utica - City public safety officials are telling everyone to stay as far away from Varick Street as possible while firefighters battle a toxic fire at the Matt F. X. Brewing Company.

The fire began shortly after the start of this summer's first Saranac Thursday as flames erupted from the portion of the brewery right behind the music concert stage.

Utica police Officer Shannon Acquviva said Varick Street is being closed by orders of the fire chief. Officials are urging residents to get out of the street and have blocked off either end to traffic.

A Toxic blaze
Utica Public Safety Commissioner Daniel LaBella said the fire is ammonia-based, and the four to five blocks around the brewery are being evacuated.

"It's toxic. We're worried about the shift in the wind. If it comes over here, there's people over here," LaBella said about the residents gathered outside.

“This is a bad one,” LaBella said from the scene.

All of Varick Street has been evacuated, and LaBella described the circumstances as an “emergency situation.” He also encouraged everyone to not inhale the smoke.

“People, this is toxic smoke, please, please go back to the light,” LaBella shouted to some bystanders near Varick Street. “This is toxic smoke.”

Duane Evans, assistant chief with the Whitesboro Fire Department, described the fire as a “massive stream situation.” This means they are trying to drown the fire with as much water as possible.

At least four hoses up on ladders shooting at the building. Evans said the fire seems to be contained to that building. However, the building has noticeable cracks and firefighters are worried about collapse, so no personnel are inside.

“It’s going to take a lot of water to put this out, ” Evans said.

Large chunks of ash and debris are coming down across the city from the large plume of smoke coming from the brewery fire on Court Street. The plume is being blown by a wind out of the west.

Police continue to evacuate because of concerns of hazards materials and smoke inhalation.

Unconfirmed injuries
There are two unconfirmed reports of injuries sustained by Saranac employees, according to Utica Fire Chief Raymond Beck.

Beck said there was no one else in the building.

There is going to be a media briefing at the command post around 7:30 tonight.

Brewery officials react
Meghan Fraser, marketing coordinator for the brewery said they had done a head count and all of their employees were accounted for.

The fire is in a building on the Saranac compound that relates to processing and the canning line, said Meghan Fraser, marketing coordinator for the brewery.

The alarm went off at about 4:45 p.m., she said. They initially called it in as a smaller fire and then it grew.

One aspect of this is that there is a lot of smoke that relates to packaging and to plastic, Fraser said. Fraser said everybody had been evacuated in the brewery.

Two employees had smoke inhalation issues but they had managed to evacuate everybody, said Fred Matt, vice president of F.X. Matt Brewery.

The fire could severely impact brewery operations because the building houses their can operations, Matt said. Asked about what the fate of Saranac Thursday will be, he said he anticipated the party would come back, possibly next week.

Local politicians react
State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, also reached out to LaBella and he is in the process of getting extra emergency help for the city's firefighters.

Common Councilman Jim Zecca, D-2, represents West Utica, and said he was assisting with the evacuation.

Zecca was going door to door on Huntington Street with paramedics to see if anyone was having any health problems and to encourage people to seal their homes.

“It’s pretty smoky down here,” Zecca said. “I just want to make sure everybody is safe.”

Zecca said he has been told the gym at Kernan Elementary School on York Street is being prepared as a shelter if any areas of West Utica need to be evacuated.

Zecca has also talked with the Matt family and expressed concern about what this blaze means for the future of the brewing facility and Saranac Thursday.

“The brewery is the cornerstone of West Utica and the city, and this is a disaster for the community,” Zecca said. “It’s a beautiful facility, and it looks like it’s going to be a total loss, from what I can see. I hope they’re going to rebuild and move on from this. I’m wishing them well.”

Still, Zecca said he was impressed that police and fire officials seem to have the situation “pretty well under control.”

“Nobody’s getting panic-stricken, and the police and fire department are doing excellent jobs,” Zecca said. “I’m very proud of everybody that’s been pulling together and other elected officials. The fire is just outrageous.”

The band in the middle
Mike Santalucia from the band The Bomb said they were in the middle of the third song when they noticed smoke behind them.

Brewey officials at first told them it was a small fire and to keep playing. But then a law enforcement official came on stage and said everyone should leave.

Santalucia said he was concerned about $80,000 of equipment and was trying to get some of it off the stage.

Jennifer Crossway ust moved to Utica from Florida and was at Saranac for the first time. Her brother, Jim, is a guitarist for band, and was on the stage at the time of the fire.

“All I can think is that my brother won’t leave his equipment and he won’t leave his phone,” she said.

Residents react
Traffic on the streets around the brewery is deadlocked and people are standing in their yards and on nearby streets watching the smoke.

77-year-old Beverly Eddy lives on Hamilton Street and was standing on Columbia Street in front of the Polish Community Home.

"They came and told me I had to get out for two hours because of the smoke," she said. "I could smell it. I was starting to choke in the house, and all the windows were shut, too."

Kevin Hight of Ilion has come to Saranac Thursdays for the past few years.

He said he came around 5 p.m. with a few friends.

“The flames were peeking out over the roof,” he said. “My first thought was that it was a nearby building, but at that point, everything happened quickly.”

Sherri Harris-Dame was one of the more optimistic ones.

“I’m hoping they get that under control and reopen the bars so that people can enjoy themselves,” She said.

Edward Street resident Don Stockbridge, 41, said Utica police told him he had to leave his home because of the fire at F.X. Matt Brewing Co.

“My doors are open and everything,” he said. “I grabbed my wife, kids and the dog, put them in the car and told them to hightail it.”

When asked why Stockbridge himself didn’t evacuate, he replied, “Because I live here. I’ve got a lot of stuff in that house.”

Stockbridge was standing on Columbia Street, a few blocks from his home, where he’s lived for the past 17 years.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

Carleen Gilot, coordinator of social recreation for Catholic Charities, said there was an event planned for tonight at the West Side Senior Center, but it has since been canceled.

A bus load of people were coming in for the event, but it was canceled out of concern.

“It's too bad,” she said. “I feel bad for the brewery. That's one of the only things we have left in the city.”

Janet Riquelme lives on Court Street, just a couple blocks from where the fire broke out.

She said she came outside once she heard about the fire on the news.
She's concerned for her two kids.

Her daughter, Savannah, 7, said she was scared.

“I don't want to sleep in my room,” she said.

More help requested
According to 911 dispatchers in Oneida and Herkimer counties, the following fire agencies have also been dispatched to offer mutual aid in fighting the Utica blaze.

Mutual aid from New York Mills, Whitesboro and New Hartford was requested at 5:31 p.m., dispatchers said.

Frankfort town police were then requested at 5:48 p.m., followed by Ilion firefighters at 6:12 p.m., dispatchers said.

Two Minute Guide to Moe's Tavern

2008-05-25T12:55:00.005-04:00

Moe's Taven in Lee, Massachusetts, has been a longtime destination of ours for a couple of reasons. First of all, we are geeks, and any geek worth a damn knows that Moe's Tavern is Homer Simpson's favorite hangout. Secondly, we had read -- and been told by those who know -- that they have a terrific setup and a very good beer selection.

Moe's is tucked away on a side street in this quaint Western New England village, a fact which caused us to miss our turn and have to circle back to find it. From the outside, it's hard to know what to make of it. In the windows are some neon beer signs, as well as some words written backward on the windows. In some ways, it looks like a hip indie record store from the outside.

Walking inside gives a clearer view of the bar's vibe. First, it becomes apparent that the writing on the windows is a list of the beers available on draft, as well as their prices. ("Victory Lager $4," "60 Minute IPA $6," etc.) This list apparently is updated every once in a while, but not always immediately.

A beer menu is also available at the bar, listing all the bottled beers available at Moe's, ranging from $4 (Stone Coast 420 IPA, Brooklyn Lager, et al.) to $399 (Unibroue Fin Du Monde 6 litre). There are also about a dozen specialty beers in the $10 to $25 range (Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA $19, Stone Russian Imperial Stout $12, Dogfish Head Red and White $25). The menu helpfully splits all their bottles into four categories: IPAs and Big Beers; Browns, Porters and Stouts; Pales, Pils, Bitters and Lagers; and Belgian Styles, Whites and Wheats.

There is a large sign painted above one of the windows that states "No Coors Light," which was apparently added as a reaction to being requested so many times. Now the barkeeps need only to point to the sign. Please note, there is no BudMillerCoors fare to be found at Moe's.

The decor is decidedly beergeek friendly. Remember the episode where Moe said in order to open a family restaurant, all you had to do was "throw a bunch of crap on on the walls"? Well, the real life Moe's Tavern took that advice to heart, although with a beer lovers in mind. Paraphernalia for Rogue and Dogfish Head line the walls, and bumper stickers and signs for Smuttynose and Berkshire can be found strewn all about. It's like a townie bar with Bennigan's walls, but with tons of beer and a smaller menu.

On this sunny day, only about 4-5 people were inhabiting the Tavern. Javen and I placed our orders: a Six Point Bengali IPA for Jables, a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA for me. We bellied up to an out of the way section of the bar, near the restroom. Javen and I placed an order for a light lunch (three small slider burgers and a buffalo chicken strip sandwich, neither one bad at all).

Of course, no Beerjanglin' adventure would be complete without an unusual encounter; this day we ran into a wonderful 50s-ish couple named Bronco and Rita. [Note: we forgot their real names.] I lied to them about Javen being a federal officer (he denied it, for the record) and told them my name was Ramon. Bronco rewarded my blatant disingenuousness by giving me the red Gritty McDuff's hat off his own head when Javen pointed it out to me. He was just, in his words, "payin' it forward."

Hopefully our trip to Moe's will not be our one and only. And though I didn't see a Flamin' Moe on the menu, a cozy, friendly atmosphere, a terrific beer selection and lively conversation make this a spot well worth the detour.

Twelve Pack Review: The Abita Party Pack

2008-05-14T23:20:00.000-04:00

Maybe it's our white guilt, but we really enjoy supporting the breweries of New Orleans -- or at least the ones that are available where we live. Dixie Lager and Dixie Blackened Voodoo are fine examples of the lager and dark lager style, respectively.

I'm not sure how Hurricane Katrina affected the Abita Brewery; I know it took quite a toll on Dixie Brewing, but they are thankfully doing fine even though they sustained some damage.

Upon a Saturday sojourn to the Finger Lakes Beverage Company in Ithaca, NY, we saw the Abita Party Pack, two beers each of six different selections. We have not been able to secure twelve-packs of Abita in the Syracuse area, so we decided to give it a whirl.

The six selections are:

Turbo Dog Brown Ale
20th Anniversary Pilsner
Abita Amber
Fall Fest Oktoberfest
Purple Haze Raspberry Wheat
Golden Lager

I decided to tackle them head on. Here are the results.

ABITA AMBER. Rather than the amber color I expected, more of a dark orange. Not much head and is more clear and light-looking than a typical amber. The smell is a sweetened burnt malt. Lots of brown sugar. It almost has a mild Scotch ale smell, with nice toasted barley. It's both sweet and dry at once.

The taste is a striking sharp malt with some sweet brown sugarcane and molasses. Some mild caramel in there as well. It tastes like a liquid "Sugar Daddy" candy bar. It's sweet, but thankfully not saccharine. The feel is thick and chunky and chewy. It's milky and smooth. Really a nice feel. Overall it's very sweet but not TOO sweet. Well crafted and delicious. A hell of a good start.

FALL FEST. Has a light copper color. Decadent white foamy head. Light bubbly carbonation. It's sturdy and quite nice. The aroma is a rich bittersweet toasted malt with fresh English-smelling hops wafting above. Light caramel. Hints of mild liquid yeast as well.

The taste is a rich toffee/molasses over a roasted (but not burnt) malt. The hops are a welcome bittering accent; they are mild and serve to balance that sweetness. Also a hint of pale malt.

It feels creamy and thick. Stays on the tongue for a while; it's substantial. It's a sweet caramel/molasses beer with some mildly bitter hops. It's more like a roasted pale than anything, but a good Oktoberfest.

GOLDEN LAGER. It's a cloudy yellow with a proud finger of head. Looks more thick and chunky than a normal lager, for sure. The smell is a dry pilsnery/lager malt. The aroma is light, but it's clearly all-malt. Bitter but mild Hallertauer-smelling hops. Malt is German-lagery.

The sweetness in the taste is the bitter malt, with the nice bitter hop accent. The taste matches the smell almost exactly, with the right bitter notes all around. It's a nice lager, much better than the typical Bud/Miller/Coors pale lager fare.

It feels light and bubbly, like the feel of a nice, slightly spiky Belgian ale. It's a light and easy-drinkin' lager with lots of strong flavor.

TURBO DOG (Brown Ale). Well this is the beer that Stuff Magazine named the #1 beer in America back in 2005. Remind me to never listen to Stuff Magazine when it comes to beer. Not that Turbo Dog is bad, but it's average at best. It's dark brown like Coca-Cola with an off-brown cardboard colored head. It looks deep and murky.

The smell is a strong whiff of alcohol with some darkly sweet roasted malt. It's got brown sugar practically wafting above the glass. It smells slightly darker than a normal brown.

The taste again has that heavy blast of alcohol at first, with a sweet malt swooping in immediately afterward to apologize. Then it hits me that this beer is just too sweet and saccharine, without enough balance. This would have been a perfect example of adding some hops to a dark beer to give it a rich full flavor. Instead, we get heavy and sweet sugars. It's not awful, it's just unbalanced.

It feels thick and milky, although not as smooth as typical browns. It's more of a choker-downer. Overall, not really balanced enough for me to recommend. It's got some of the flavors of a brown, but with more alcohol (which by the way, doesn't count as bitter enough to balance). It's decent, but Stuff Magazine should stick to putting ridiculously hot women on its magazine and get the #&$@ out of the beer game.

PURPLE HAZE (Raspberry Wheat). I have heard mixed things about this one. BeerAdvocate.com really doesn't like it, and I've heard that it's a beer for chicks. Let's see for ourselves, shall we?

The color is a peach-color with minimal head. It looks fruity all right, and it's hazy. Not a horrible sign. The smell, on the other hand, isn't what I'd call incredible. It's far too sweet for sure, with a sugary raspberry flavor with some mild wheat to dry it out. This could use a bitter malt balance, such as a chocolate or caramel malt to even the score.

It is very sweet in the taste, but the wheat does a much better job of balancing everything. It's still too far on the sweet side of the spectrum, but decent. It's a little tart and puckery. It does get better as it warms up, but a nice toasted malt would have done wonders for this beer.

It feels creamy, with some dry yeast on the tongue to remind you of the good old days. It is clearly too one-sided for me to drink it all night, but all-told it's a decent "guilty pleasure" beer.

20th ANNIVERSARY PILSNER. A fine bookend to the first beer, this is one of the better pilsners I have had in quite a while. It's a hazy bright golden color, and a half-finger of foamy head. Classic pilsner look.

Before I go on, I have to say I'm not a huge fan of pilsners in general, and that's because they are all so similar, they are like bitter pale ales (yes, I know pilsners are actually lagers) with a smidgen of mandatory bitter hops. And there is very little deviation from this tried and true formula. (If I have my head up my ass on this, please give me some examples to prove me wrong. I'm all ears.)

Ok, so, the smell of this pils is really good. It's got a pleasant flowery aroma, with bitter Euro-German style hops. Doesn't have the too-bitter chlorine smell to which so many lesser pilsners fall victim. Really crisp aroma.

Now the flavor took me completely by surprise. It's got such a nicely diverse hop flavor. Not only does it have the bittering pilsner hops, but also a flowery, estery hop with a burst of citrus. But it's not an IPA or overly hoppy; it's just well balanced. The pale-ish malt steps aside for a second to be the Stockton to the hops' Malone. The finish is pure grapefruit (Javen!).

It feels fizzy and bubbly like champagne. Really nicely crafted, and the bubbles help evangelize the good word of the effervescent flavors. It's a superior pils, bursing with diverse flavors. It's got a wonderful finish. It is to what all pilsners should aspire.

As far as the 12er goes as a whole, I would say the 20th Anniversary Pilsner and the Amber are the two best, and both worth picking up a popularly-priced sixpack. The Fall Fest and the Golden lager are a good addition to mix up the 12-pack. And the Turbo Dog and Purple Haze -- ironically the most widely available of the twelver -- are just okay.

Our Stolen Sunday at Keegan Ales

2008-05-10T20:42:00.001-04:00

The passage from boyhood to adulthood is a difficult one, but three short months ago my good friend and colleague Mr. Bojangles decided to try and soften the blow of aging by escorting me to Kingston, NY, home of Keegan Ales, one of the well-kept secrets in the eastern part of New York State.

Keegan Ales is a brewpub unlike any I've been to. First of all, the inside feels more like a lounge than a brewpub. The inviting foyer area has hardwood floors, some couches for relaxing and enjoying, and a very chilled out vibe right from the start.

The beer-tasting area slash bar experience began inauspiciously when I knocked about 150 flyers and papers off a narrow ledge when first walking in. As I picked up the strewn papers from the floor, Javen proceeded to order for the both of us.

The bar area is a charming, hardwood bar, with about a dozen taps and lots of stuff to look at. Under the glass in the bar was fossilized barley, leaving no ambiguity as to the source of the brewery's malts. About six picnic tables sit in the bar area, perfect for a laid back beer-drinking evening. This night, a big band jazz combo was expected to come in -- on a Sunday night, no less -- so the tables were moved to the side. It seems like an atmosphere where club-goer and hippie alike would feel right at home.

Javen and I hunkered down at the bar moments before a snow squall engulfed the Kingston area and slightly frightened a few of us into thinking we might not be able to leave. (I was kind of secretly hoping we would get stranded there.) Luckily, it was short-lived and we were able to enjoy the fine Keegan offerings without fear of being marooned.

The beers on tap were the Old Capital golden ale, Mother's Milk stout, Hurricane Kitty (a hoppy red), Four Philosophers Abbey Tripel, as well as a few guest taps -- He'brew, Genesee Ale, Captain Lawrence and Six-Point -- and a light beer. I started with the Old Capial -- which Javen said was due to Kingston being the capital of New York State at one time -- and Javen started with Hurricane Kitty, Keegan's flagship beer.

The atmosphere here was about as laid back as can be. A man was reading a book at the bar while the bartender and a cook sat and hung out. The bartender was very helpful, offering what knowledge she had of the beers, and and giving small samples of the beers we hadn't had before. She even allowed some half-pints, which gave us the chance of trying pretty much all the beers in the place.

The drive from Glenville to Kingston is about an hour, but it is all highway, and if you live anywhere in the Capital district, take the trip. It's one of the more charming brewpubs I've been to, and is about as perfect a Sunday afternoon destination as I can recommend. If you go on your birthday, it's even better.

6Pac - April 2008

2008-05-05T22:42:00.000-04:00

Today we embark on a Beerjanglin' experiment, we will get a mixed six pack, we will drink the entire thing, and we will tell you about it. The emergence of mixed six packs has been a godsend to geeks such as ourselves, as it allows us to sample a great variety of beer one bottle at a time, rather than one full six pack, and at a cheaper price than at the local tavern. Because seriously, what could possibly worse than having to endure a full six pack of beer, when you can tell from the first sip of the first bottle that you aren't going to like it. Well, I suppose being hit by a meteor could be worse, but only by a slim margin.

At any rate, here is your line-up for this inaugural entry; the story of some beer I bought back in April of 2008, in six chapters:

GREEN FLASH BREWING - West Coast IPA
WILD GOOSE - English Style Amber Ale
AVERY - 14'er E.S.B.
WILD GOOSE - India Pale Ale
SIERRA NEVADA - Stout
MENDOCINO - Imperial IPA

And now, the verdict on each....

#1: Green Flash Brewing - West Coast IPA. To call this sucker an IPA is like calling an Escalade a station wagon. This is a supremely bitter IPA offering, more akin to an Imperial ippa than the regular variety.
The first thing that strikes me about this beer is its look, which is copper-orange and with big chunks of something or other floating around. It looks like it's suspended in amber. It looks big and chunky. The smell is full of those sweet, pungent west coast hops we all know and love so well. The hops in the smell are citrusy and flowery; breathtaking ... literally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, I would have to say that this is one of the most perfectly-aromatic beers I've had. The smell is balanced, however the flavor is all hops. If you are a hophead, this is going to be right up your alley, but don't expect much malt in the flavor. It's a thick and chewy beer, and incredibly bitter. Just don't buy the "regular" IPA label.
#2: Wild Goose English Style Amber Ale. While it appears like a standard red/amber ale. Like the West Coast IPA, the smell on this one is fantastic as well, although in a different way. The Wild Goose's aroma is smooth and buttery, showcasing a sweet and biscuity malt, with just a hint of butterscotch (and not spoiled kind). It has hints of honey and even a mild sweet grape. As it warms, the aroma becomes more roasted.

The flavor is nicely balanced between a hint of sweetness in the pale ale-ish notes and the roasted amber malt. It tastes like a pale amber, and has a nice tension between the burnt and the sweet. Not bad at all. It becomes more sweet, but never cloying. A good, solid ale.
#3: Avery 14'er ESB. There appears to be a glow coming from within this beer in the form of a hazy light orange. The smell and taste of this beer are both mild and balanced. The sweet and biscuity malt is the perfect counterpoint to the flowery-but-bitter hop presence. Starts sweet at the sip, ends bitter at the swallow. It's a perfect change-of-pace beer; not incredible, but incredibly pleasant.
#4: Wild Goose India Pale Ale. Lots of bubbling carbonation floating to the top of this hazy bright orange brew. Leaves a nice icy lace and a big fluffy head.
The smell is slightly sweeter than a normal pale. It does smell more like a regular pale than an IPA, that's for sure. There are some bitter hops, but more pislnery in the nose than IPA'y. A definite hint of pale crystal malts and even a hint of a burnt malt. To call it even an English IPA is pushing it.

The taste is a bitter symphony of both malt and hops. The hops are a tad flowery, but overpowered by the pilsner/pale flavors. It could use a bit more balance, in my opinion. It feels bubbly and bites a little on the way down. It does mellow out after a little while. It's a tad too bitterly harsh to drink all night. (That's not to say I don't like bitter flavors, but this one could have used the relief of something a little more sweet or muted.) I'm honestly not a huge fan of pales lately for some reason, so that may be shaping my opinion here.
#5: Sierra Nevada Stout.
One of my go-to beers of the past winter. It's a dark chocolate brown with a head the color of Nestle Quik, big and puffy. The smell is burnt coffee and dark chocolate, charred to perfection.

The taste is a beautiful balance of sweet dark chocolate & toffee, countered with the burnt coffee malt. Just a deliriously good beer. I'm sad to see it go away, but it kept me warm for many cold months. It is thick and rich. It feels milky on the way down, but smooth like motor oil. Only 5.8% but you'd never know it, cuz it gives the warm feeling if drinking brandy. Top notch.
#6: Mendocino Imperial IPA. One of my all-time favorite IPAs of any kind, and possibly the first IPA I really fell in love with. Clear right orange color with a nice pillowy, foamy head. Sits still in the glass with no sign of carbonation.

The smell of this beer is to die for. West Coast hops that are slightly piney, slightly citrusy, and completely intoxicating. Other than possibly Stone Ruination (of which this beer reminds me a great deal) there might not be a better balance of hop flavors on Earth, or Caprica for that matter. (Sorry, I'm watching Battlestar Galactica as I drink this.) This one has been sitting in the fridge for a few weeks, so it has just the slightest hint of mustiness, but we'll see what happens.

The taste confirms why they used to ship these from England to India. The hops have a graceful citrusy sweet first taste (like a grapefruit, Javen!) and then a woodsy bitter second wave. It hits both parts of the tongue and together they form a terrific combo. The sweet tries to charm you; the bitter acts like it could care less if you like it or not. What a beautiful balance in the hops. The malt is really an afterthought here.

As I'm drinking it, there are beautiful icicles of lace surrounding the inside of the glass. It leaves a bitter residue on the tongue, like nature letting you rent it out for a few extra hours at no charge. Magnificent. And 7.5%.

I hope this little journey gave you a couple of good suggestions. I certainly enjoyed the research.

Beer O' The Moment - Magic Hat Lucky Kat

2008-04-20T21:11:00.003-04:00

While I have always appreciated the fervor with which the folks at Magic Hat have tried to spread the notion of diversity in beer drinking, there have been precious few of their beers that I have found myself craving on a regular basis even though I find all of them competent and priced popularly.

Magic Hat has also been good at experimentation, forcing numerous styles on the American beer drinking public. Some of these styles (St. Gootz) were a success, others (Kerouac) interesting failures. They also have the best brewery website I can find.

Magic Hat has gone down the IPA road a few times before, with mixed results. Their most well-known offering is the now-retired Blind Faith, which was a good if not great English IPA. It lacked the hop character to which American IPA drinkers are accustomed, and therefore was probably ushered out to keep the hop-fantatics (such as yours truly) happy. Their Hi.P.A. is a decent brew, but in today's age where it seems every brewery is trying to come up with a signature, flagship IPA, the Magic Hat folks could probably see they needed something a little different; they needed something a little stronger.

Enter Lucky Kat. While I'm not sure I'm 100% in love with the name of this new concoction, I do have to say that I'm impressed with the beer itself. While I am not necessarily a proponent of more "extreme" beers, this one was a nice step up for a brewery that takes chances but doesn't necessarily take great leaps.

The beer is very nice to look at, and the most IPA-looking IPA they have come out with. It's dark orange and hazy, just the way it should be; it glows from within like a Christmas tree light. It pours a big fluffy head.

The aroma foreshadows a piney, woody IPA. There is some definite grassy pine action going on in the smell. It also takes the risk of putting in some oak. (Note: I've been told that I often sense oak where oak does not exist. I have sensed it in grape juice, caesar salad and my air conditioner so take that observation with a grain of salt.) The smell is nicely balanced, with some sweet and bready malt peeking its head out briefly.

The taste follows through on the promise of the smell, for the most part. The hops are definitely of the distinctly woody variety, and yes, that oaky flavor comes in too. It's altogether very grassy and outdoorsy, with the oily pine flavor dominating. It could use as much balance in the flavor as it does in the aroma, as the hops dominate the flavor completely, leaving only the very end of the swallow to make room for the malt to come in. This isn't a bad thing, as most imperial IPAs give the hops center stage, but a little more of the nicely toasted malt would have been a nice touch. The beer feels thick and oily, even a little milky, but smooth.

While I'm not going to say that this is an unadulterated home run for Magic Hat, I was surprised at how deep this beer is, and packed with flavor. Perhaps it's the silky, thick mouthfeel that surprised me the most. Either way, it's Magic Hat's best IPA to date, and if it sells well enough, it might be their last crack at the formula. I think they might be on to something.

Some Quick Notes (On The Occasion Of My Return To Captain Lawrence)

2008-04-12T18:14:00.004-04:00

Today, I made it back to Pleasantville, New York's Captain Lawrence Brewing Company after a prolonged absence. While Captain Lawrence is still establishing its presence in the lower Hudson/Westchester County region (they still only bottle a select number of their beers in bombers, and a prominent display in the brewery's tasting room is a poster listing the small-but-growing number of establishments that serve Captain Lawrence beers on-tap), one constant since the brewery's opening has been Saturday tasting-room hours from noon to 6 pm.

Brewmaster Scott Vaccaro was among those behind the tasting-room bar on this warm spring afternoon, and, as a pleasant surprise, there were 2 new (well, to me) beers on tap. Here now are some quick notes on these new offerings from the Captain:

The first one that I tried was Sunblock, a Belgian-Style Wit beer. Captain Lawrence has done Belgian-style beers in the past (two of their standouts, Liquid Gold and Xtra Gold, are variations on Belgian Pale Ales). Unfortunately, Sunblock suffers from comparison to these standout drinks. Where Captain Lawrence's Belgian Pales are masterpieces, Sunblock sort of seems like a first draft. It's very light - extremely light, in fact, enough so that the nuances of the beer (hints of orange and spice) become insubstantial. The notes on Sunblock hint that there is a hop bite to be found at the end - I can't say that I found this. This is a rare miss for Captain Lawrence; certainly preferable to a macrobrewed light beer, but nowhere in the class of their other Belgian-inspired brews.

The other new offering was their Brown Bird Brown Ale, a spiced brown ale, and holy cow - another winner for Vaccaro and the folks at Captain Lawrence. My glass of this may have been enough to supplant Brooklyn Brown as my favorite of this genre. Originally intended as the Captain's fall/winter seasonal, Vaccaro and Co. have decided to brew Brown Bird year round - the beer's malty, dark-caramel finish is a welcome taste and, served fresh and cold from the tap, hit the spot nicely on this warm spring day.

It's always a pleasure to get up to Pleasantville and sample the goods of the Captain - the addition of these two beers bodes well for this developing brewery!

Beware the St. Ides of March

2008-03-14T19:24:00.009-04:00

Yes that's right, as a time honored tradition here at the "Janglin" ranch, we once again, for the 37th year in a row, pay our yearly tribute to the disputed Duke of Forties, St. Ides. Now this beverage is one that can not be judged solely on our usual metrics. While we do take into account the eye, nose and mouthfeels, this malty dream is much, much more than that. The faint yellow color, funkified smell and corn malt taste are not what defines this heavenly brew. Oh no, you must look beyond the typical senses. You need to look at your seventh sense, your heart and soul. Because "the Ides" is about emotions and feelings. Everyone has a story about when they first, or even last, had this saintly forty ounces. It takes you back in time without pumping 1.21 gigawatz into a flux capacitor. It conjures so many feelings and stories, like some sort of alcoholic story telling quilt. More so than any other malt-ernative, I'd be willing to wager. For me it takes me back to my meager beginnings. Me and my "homeys" chillin' in the cal-de-sac, cranking our DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince cassette tape, discussing the difficulties of growing up as middle-class white males. I get a little choked up just thinking about it. Now sure it doesn't have the ringing endorsements of say, Colt 45, but for once planet Earth don't let Billy Dee Williams make your decisions for you! You may come up short in other categories St. Ides, but when it comes to Heartfeel, you will always, and I mean always, be a five in my books. I'm sure I speak for the rest of the "Janglers" when I say "the Ides" has a special place in all our hearts, and Bill's uvula.

Bottoms Up
Willie 3:16

The Best Baseball Promotion Pretty Much EVER.

2008-03-05T19:56:00.006-05:00

We here at Beerjanglin' are, without doubt, a baseball-loving bunch. Our loyalties are a bit divided, sure (Red Sox Nation, Yankees Country, and whatever the hell superlative Mets fans use to describe themselves as a collective are all represented among our numbers), but when it all comes down to nuts and bolts, we enjoy getting together to drink some good beer and enjoy watching our true national pastime.

So, when we were perusing this site, which lists the coolest promotions for the upcoming season of Major League Baseball, something caught our eye. It was this logo:

That's right. The Oakland A's are hosting a beer festival. On June 21, the technical first day of summer, no less.

According to the site, "The game’s not until 6PM, but come to McAfee Coliseum from 11AM to 1PM and sample beers from 30 breweries and listen to live music. Then go to the parking lot and tailgate. Can you tailgate in Oakland?

Admission is free with a game ticket, but you’ve got to pay $10 for a souvenir acrylic mug and two tastings. When you think about it, those might be the cheapest two beers you’ll ever buy at an MLB stadium."

After minutes of painstaking internet research, we uncovered a partial taplist from last year's event: Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Corona, Dos XX Lager, New Belgium Fat Tire, Skinny Dip, Heineken, Heineken Premium Light, Deschutes Inversion IPA, Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Red Hook, Singha Lager, Singha Light Lager, Tecate Light, Trumer Pils, and Widmer Hefeweizen. While there are lame elements to this list (do you really need to waste taps on Singha and Singha Light? On Corona and Heineken?), there are some interesting picks (we are now intrigued by these Deschutes people). It's not perfect - far from, but credit to these folks for trying something different in an attempt to bring beer-nuts out to the ballpark. The odd timing notwithstanding (11 AM to 1 PM before a 6 PM game? Seriously?), this makes us wish we were somewhere near Oakland in June.

Quick Takes: Kona Brewing Co's Longboard Lager

2008-02-28T20:16:00.002-05:00

A couple of weekends ago (the same weekend as my jaunt to the Dogfish Head Alehouse), I found myself looking for beer in an essentially barren liquor store in a shady part of Seaside Heights, New Jersey. I was there because we were moving my brother out of an apartment in said shady part of Seaside Heights, and wanted to find something good to accompany an evening of watching DVDs of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and "The Kingdom."

Sadly, I was faced with a shelf filled with what Glenn Gould might call "variations on a theme" - and that theme was macrobrewed American lagers and their watered-down "light" counterparts. I grabbed a sixer of Heineken Light for my brother (the same one who would order a Miller Light at Dogfish Head later that weekend, the cur) and was resigned to some Sam Adams when I spotted an unfamiliar looking sixer. The red packaging bore a new name for my eyes: Kona Brewing Company. The beer was called "Longboard Lager."

This was perfect for the day - I needed something that was drinkable from a bottle (any pint glasses in the apartment were either packed or dirty to the point of wretchedness). I happily grabbed it and was soon cracking open my first bottle. The result? Not bad. Longboard Lager was an American lager, much like the other alternatives, but this was a tad hoppier than your garden-variety macroswill; not hoppy to the point of being an IPA. Resultingly, the taste was a bit bitter - not a "bad" bitterness at all, but more of an emphatic crispness. The color? A pale yellow.

In short, this was a perfect wild-card beer. I was satisfied with Kona's product and would be intrigued to try other types of their beer. In the meanwhile, Longboard Lager would be a welcome change of pace in a cooler full of macrobrews, and I think it would be an excellent counterpoint to a steamy, beach-bound summer day. On this February night, though, it was a great drink for an evening with my kid brother and some "It's Always Sunny" DVD hijinks.

THE BOSTON HOPS: PENGUIN PIZZA

2008-02-27T11:03:00.006-05:00

I know what you may be thinking, "why is there a pizza place in this blog? This isn't Pizzajanglin' for crying out loud!" While this is true, Penguin Pizza is by far much, much more than just a solid pizza joint. Allow me to proceed. You see Penguin Pizza has around 200 some odd beers to available for consumption at any given time. That's right, 200, no typo here. Ya with me now? I thought you might be. So come on in!

"Penguin", as it is affectionately known, is a cozy little place located in the Brigham Circle area of Beantown. (right off the Green Line Brigham Circle stop. Go figure). When you walk in, you don't really know what to expect. It's dark, and quaint, with only about 6 or 7 bigger tables, 3 little two-seaters, and of course some spots at the bar. Lady Moe and I have been there on several occassions and have never had trouble finding a seat. You seat yourself, and they present you with your menus. One for food and one for beer. Now whilst the pizza here is quite good, again, this is not Pizzajanglin', so we will skip over the reasonably priced and delicious pizza pies available to order and move right along to why you're here, the beer.

As mentioned, there's in the neighborhood of 200 beers on this menu. Now sure amidst this 200 are your macros, like Bud, Miller and Coors, as well as some other alcoholic waters from far off places you may never have heard of, but there are still plenty beyond the likes of them boys, including some local favorites, not as readily accessible to the world outside New England. I mean with that many beers available, if you can't find one you like, chances are, you don't like beer. Now they only have about 15-20 on tap, as the rest are served in bottles, or cans (Yes folks they have PBR in the can as well as the world reknown Schlitz Tall Boy), so if you're a draught boy, you may be less impressed. But the good news here is they deliver you the bottle and the glass, clearly knowing that plenty of their clientele are beer geeks and will need to see the beer, not just drink it. Plus they may even give you the proper glass (I'm not really sure, cause I am not all that up to speed on the proper drinkware for every type of brew). I know for a fact that some have been in the proper glass, but others, perhaps, not so much. They may just grab the next clean beer holder and be done with it, or maybe it even depends on who's tending the bar, I dunno? So if any of our Beantown readers want to enlighten me, it would be greatly appreciated. But it seems, for the most part the bar maidens may have some idea of what beer goes in what type of glass, but they can sometimes have a lot on their plates.

The service here is a bit of tricky wicket. You see for all but one occassion, the bartender and the waitress have been one and the same. On the one occassion, there were two ladies behind the bar and I believe one stayed behind the bar for the most part. It hasn't seemed to be too much of a problem, but it can, at times create delays in getting your brews and food. You see some of the B-tenders seem to be better than others at this brand of multi-tasking, so it does not have a hugely negative effect on the experience. The first time I visited, there was a decent size crowd an it took awhile for us to get service, but it was a Saturday night, and that's almost expected here in the big city. So for the most part I would say the staff do a reasonable job at keeping you drinking, especially if you're in......

The Mug Club. How does one get into the Mug Club? Glas you asked. It consists of a list of a little over a hundred brews they offer at "Penguin" and all you have to do is finish off the list in a year's time and you get a free mug. That's it? A mug? Ah but wait, there is more! Along with the mug, there is also a sense of pride and accomplishment. Pride? Accomplishment? C'mon! Ah but wait, there's still more! You see the mug is a larger than average size mug, 32 ounces perhaps. Larger than average? 32 ounces? Ah but wait there is still more! Once you have earned your large mug, you then pay the regular pint price, but get the alcoholic beverage in the larger-than-a-pint mug! That's right, you pay the normal price but get like twice the beer! Now if that's not worth gulping down 100+ beers in a year's time, I don't know what is? And now is the perfect time to start, what wih that Leap Day right around the corner and all. The list has a good variety of styles and breweries. In fact I don't think there's any brewery represented more than 3 times. Which means, with some quick math, there are at least 50 different breweries to sample from. Of course, with any such list, you will have to take the good with the bad. For every Stone IPA you get to enjoy, there's also a Peroni in your future. For every Brooklyn or Lagunitas, an Anheuser-Busch product. It happens.

All in all not a bad little place to enjoy a slice and a brew, and has quickly become a fav of this particularly beerjangler. So if you're in the area, stop in, you probably won't be disappointed. Thirteen down, 97 to go!

Bottoms Up!

A Visit To The Dogfish Head Alehouse Of Gaithersburg, Maryland

2008-02-17T11:53:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, I assisted my younger brother and his fiancee in the process of moving their belongings into their brand new, Silver Spring, Maryland townhouse. In doing so, I spent time driving through 5 states, and engaged in something I generally find abhorrent and morally repugnant - manual labor. However, there was a prize waiting at the end of the trip for me; as a thank-you for my work, I would be taken to the Dogfish Head Alehouse in nearby Gaithersburg.

I've been a fan of Dogfish Head beers for some time - their 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IPA may be my favorites of that particular variety, and I've also enjoyed their seasonal beers (the Festina Peche and Punkin Ales especially) as well as other varietals, including their Raison D'Etre. So, I will freely admit that I was excited to visit this because of the beer alone; the fact that I was hungry and thirsty at the time was, as the coach from "Teen Wolf" is wont to say, "cream cheese."

Even though the Alehouse is located in what looks to be a strip mall, the place looked really nice. The inside was rustic in design, with a good amount of nautical-themed decorations (including a large plaster whale that hung over the stairwell, reminiscent of a combination of a smaller-scale version of New York's Museum of Natural History and a large seaside getaway).

We ran into a couple of difficulties, though. We got a late start to Gaithersburg from Silver Spring, which meant that by the time we got to the Alehouse, it was in full swing and we were told that it would be about an hour to wait before we could sit down and eat. This almost led to a quick ending to this visit; however, it was soon decided that we would wait it out. The second difficulty was in finding out that the Alehouse did not offer growlers to go; this was an utter disappointment, as I'd hoped that I could cap off the evening with a growler of something exotic back at the homestead in Silver Spring. I'm not sure whether this particular snafu can be ascribed to the draconian state of Maryland and their odd liquor and beer laws, or whether Dogfish Head had not secured the proper permits. In any case, it was a bit of a disappointment. The third and final disappointment was my younger brother, a light-beer-quaffing heathen who ordered a Miller Lite - the horror! However, we're used to my brother being a disappointment (although, to be honest, my dad will tell me that I'm the real disappointment to him and my mother).

The food here was decent. The bulk of the menu could be described as a combination between Chesapeake and Louisiana cuisine - lots of crab-based dishes, and a good amount of Cajun-style dishes. Their cream-of-clam soup was excellent, and reasonably priced. I also enjoyed a crab-meat and sausage pizza that was quite good. My dining companions had jambalaya ("too spicy" was the report) and a chicken and ribs platter ("not bad").

The beer, though, was phenomenal. I sampled two drafts. First, I enjoyed a 10-ounce sipping glass of Midas Touch. Nominally a barley wine because of its high alcohol content (9%), this was an extremely light, refreshing drink. The consistency of this beverage was thick - this was a drink made for small sips, not gulping. This is an extremely sweet beer, with hints of grapes and honey on every sip. One hardly tastes the alcohol in this potent drink (until it warms up). This was reminiscent of a wine more than a beer (especially given the presence of the grapes in this brew), and when I thought of this drink in those terms I liked it even more. It's a daring brew, really and truly, and quite enjoyable. The second draft was a restaurant-only brew called "Alehouse 75," which our waitress described as being an equal blend of Dogfish Head's famed 60-Minute and 90-Minute IPAs (for you non math wizards out there, 75 is the average of 60 and 90). This meant that the Alehouse 75 was a cross in style between a traditional IPA and a double IPA. People, let me tell you - this was as close to a perfect IPA as I've come. I like the hoppiness of an IPA very much, but realistically, there's a saturation point where this becomes overwhelming . This beer straddled that line perfectly - a crisp hop bite, but not so overwhelming that it felt like a challenge to drink. If they'd served this in growlers, I would have wanted to take some home. (Alas, that was not an option.)

I think that my only letdowns in coming to the Alehouse were in terms of my expectations - I was hoping for more of an on-site brewery, and that wasn't the case. This was a bar that served pre-kegged Dogfish Head beers - which isn't a bad thing, not at all - and had a decent selection of food. If you're looking for a restaurant with really good food and decent food, this is your place. However, it was not a Dogfish Head brewpub, and that's basically what I was hoping for when we decided to go and visit. I would return if I was in town, but I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to go here - the experience could almost be replicated with a reputable beer seller, a fresh supply of bottled Dogfish Head, and a half-decent recipe at home. Which, ultimately, made the Dogfish Head Alehouse a bit of a disappointment for me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T10:17:00.006-05:00

Yes, that's right Beerjanglers, Valentine's Day has fallen on February 14th this year! A holiday instituted by the union of card, candy and flower companies (the jewelry companies just kinda latched on) to exploit your love for that special someone. And sometimes there's even two special someones out there. I like to call that the jackpot. So what does this have to do with beer you ask? I mean after all this is neither Lovejanglin', although that'd not be such a bad name for a blog, nor Madeupholidayjanglin'. So what gives? Well for some, there isn't a special someone to be had on this holiest of days. Now we're not saying that there's anything wrong with that. We're not saying get depressed about it and go straight for the nearest bottle, but we thought we'd throw out what might be a perfect brew for you, and possibly even that special someone(s) as well. So we give to you, Willie Moe's 2008 Valentine Beer: Middle Ages Blackheart Stout. And look we also were able to combine the heart of Valentine's Day with black history month. Bullseye!

The Blackheart stout hath both a black heart and a stoutness to it. And done. Oh, did you want a more in-depth analysis? Okay, fine. If I could, for a moment, go all hyperbolic like a real journalist on y'all, this is maybe the blackest beer ever made. I mean the blackness is very stout indeed. Don't look for any light to pass through, or refract for that matter, cause it ain't happenin', my friends. Of course the head is not black, I don't even know how they would do that? The head is in fact more of a light brown, chocolate milk color if you would. Trust me if you want a dark beer, this is for you. Alright, let's send in the nose....

Your nose will not be overpowered, overwhelmed or even overtaken by the aromas in this stout. Now don't get me wrong here you're also not gonna be underpowered, underwhelmed or undertaken by it's scent. No, no, it's actually a fairly rich roasted, toasted, burnt, braised, well perhaps not braised, that wouldn't make sense, malt air emanating from it. Also there's a hint of coffee in there as well, naturally. Alright, made sense of the scents? Good, let's get drinking.

Upon first taste you get lambasted (I think that's a word, and possibly even used correctly) with a strong coffee, roasted malt flavor. You know, like a nice maltaccino. The roasted stoutness leads the way here in the old flavor category. The second heat of flavor brings about a dark chocolate with a mild yeast. It's a regular cornucopia of flavors in there! And once this bad boy warms up the flavors are brought even more to the forefront, and they're deliciously strong! But what is really going in the mouth?

This concoction is and thick and smooth, much like yours truly. It will leave a thick coating, but it contains a very good balance. It seems to thicken as it warms. I put some in the microwave and now it's as thick as mo-lasses. Just kidding. It's not that thick. You can feel the alcohol and it's worth a go, but I don't know if I could take down more than two in a sitting. Overall this one is aces! Almost as good a feeling as when cupid slings his arrow into a sublime buttock. I'm just not looking forward to March when we have to go back to calling it African-Americanheart Stout. It just doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well, ya know?

Happy V-Day and Bottoms Up!

The Camp Urquell Accords

2008-02-10T01:38:00.000-05:00

As usual, I had to broker a peace agreement between Mark Tichenor of Beercraft blog and our own Willie Moe over Pilsner Urquell. I was glad to do it by extending an olive branch to Mark at the CNY Brew Fest this past weekend. Imagine that Willie is Anwar Sadat, Mark is Menachem Begin and I am Jimmy Carter.

The beer blogging world can spin again. Let peace -- and beer! -- flow throughout the nation.

BEER BOWL I

2008-02-02T12:27:00.000-05:00

Or should we call it the Beer Mug? I mean 97% of the time, I drink from a glass or mug, but rarely a bowl. Well, we'll stick with Beer Bowl for now, or maybe Hop Bowl? Well, the name notwithstanding, it's time to really break down the Super Bowl, the way it was meant to be broken down, by beer! Now, I had this idea a whiles back and one thing led to another and, well, this one kinda got away from me. Much like January, am I right?! Who can beleive it's actually February already? Without looking at a calendar smart aleck! I digress. Luckily someone else was already on it, and here it is from the Beer Nut, to us, to you:

THE BEER NUT: Does New England or New York have the better brewski?
By NORMAN MILLER GateHouse News Media

Another chapter will be added in the Boston-New York rivalry when the New England Patriots and the New York Giants go at it in the Super Bowl.Here is a look at the top 22 beers from New England and New York, 11 from each region. Why 22? Well, there are 11 players each on offense and defense. You decide which is the best.

New England (in no particular order):
1. Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock - This beer from Bloomfield, Conn., is top of the line. If it’s not the best doppelbock in the world, it is the best produced in the United States.

2. Allagash Odyssey - If you like Belgian beers, this Belgian strong ale from Portland, Maine, is tough to beat. A strong effort from the North.

3. Berkshire Brewing Company’s Coffeehouse Porter - If you like porters and coffee, this is the beer for you. South Deerfield’s finest (and only) brewery produces this coffeehouse in a bottle.

4. Samuel Adams Boston Lager - An American classic. The Boston Beer Company first made this craft brew more than 20 years ago, and it still holds up in the crowded craft beer market.

5. Harpoon IPA - Another entry from Boston. Although other India pale ales may be more bitter, higher in alcohol and get more respect, this is a standby in almost any bar in Boston.

6. Cambridge Brewing Company’s Arquebus - You won’t be able to find a better barley wine in a brewpub. At 10.75 percent alcohol by volume, this is one incredible beer.

7. The Tap/Haverhill Brewery’s Leatherlips - Once you take a sip of this IPA, you will never believe it is only 5 percent ABV. If there is an IPA that you can knock back a sixer, this is it. And the woman on the label can be a New England cheerleader.

8. Portsmouth Brewing Company’s Kate The Great - This Russian Imperial Stout from the New Hampshire brewpub is hands down one of the best beers in the world. It’s thick, creamy and downright dreamy.

9. Pennichuck Brewing Company’s Pompier - A recent favorite. This English-style barley wine aged in wood barrels is a great sipping beer. And portions of any Pompier bought from this Milford, N.H., brewery benefits fire departments.

10. Rock Art’s Mountain Holidays in Vermont Rich Creamy Bock Lager - The name of this Vermont brewery’s beer is a mouthful, but ignore that and just bask in the creamy goodness of this German-style bock.

11. Samuel Adams Utopias - The world’s strongest beer at 27 percent ABV. Two ounces is enough to enjoy this sipping alcohol.

New York
1. Blue Point’s Hoptical Illusion - A top of the line, although under-appreciated, IPA from this small Patchogue, N.Y., brewery. Not as hoppy as the name would suggest, but very drinkable.

2. Brewery Ommegang’s Three Philosophers - One of my all-time favorite beers. It’s an American take on a Belgian quadruple from this Belgian-influenced Cooperstown brewery.

3. Brooklyn Brewery’s Lager - This is just a downright drinkable beer. I hope this is on tap at every bar I go into. The brewery bills this as a pre-Prohibition style lager. If lagers tasted like this before Prohibition, what happened to all of the recipes of the big brewers?

4. Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Chocolate Stout - Yes, I know, two from Brooklyn, but you can’t mention the best beers from New York without mentioning this wonderful Russian imperial stout.

5. Saranac’s Black Forest - Black lagers are an under-appreciated style. This is a solid example of the German style. Extremely drinkable and creamy.

6. Six Point Craft Ales’ Bengali Tiger - Another top-notch IPA. A strong hop flavor and bitterness makes your taste buds stand at attention.

7. Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Unearthly - There was not a brewery in the United States that had a better year than this Lakewood brewer. The Unearthly, an incredible Imperial IPA, is a standout. It’s so balanced, you can’t help but love it.

8. Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Oat - This imperial stout weighs in at a hefty 12.5 percent ABV, but you’ll hardly notice it. This thing is full of flavors - some hop bitterness, sweetness from malts, a little coffee, a little chocolate - all good.

9. South Hampton Publick House’s Biere de Garde - Nearly perfect to what a biere de garde is supposed to be. A Belgian-style, smells spicy. The spiciness is balanced nicely by the malt sweetness.

10. Middle Ages Brewing Company’s Wailing Wench - Extremely malty, almost too sweet except for the hops kicking in to make this a worthy beer to drink. The lass on this label could be a New York cheerleader.

11. Schmaltz Brewing’s Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA - If you like your beers bitter (and I do), this is the beer for you. Brewed in honor of comedian Lenny Bruce, this is an aggressive beer. It feels thick in the mouth. Just be forewarned, make this your last beer of the night because you won’t be able to taste anything afterward.

Norman Miller is a GateHouse News Service writer. Contact him at nmiller@cnc.com or 508-626-3823. Don’t forget to check out the Beer Nut blog at www.blogs.townonline.com/beernut/.Copyright 2008 The Patriot Ledger

Now just so you know, the writer was asked to write up the list of brews with brief descriptions, so that is why there are not more in-depth looks at these beers. What are your thoughts on the list, hmmm?

The Session: Barleywines

2008-02-01T22:27:00.000-05:00

Barleywines never seemed like beer to me, and maybe that's why I've been so slow to latch onto them. My first real experience with barleywines was a kegger I went to several years ago where the only beer available was Middle Ages Druid Fluid. While Druid Fluid is a fine ale, it is a thick and heavy brew, fit to drink out of a goblet when one doesn't have to drive anywhere. My intoxication level was off the charts, and my mouth was dry and ashy. The night was fun, but the after-effects may have turned me off to barleywines altogether.

It's a new era, however, and in the interest of expanding my admittedly biased palate, I have been trying to develop a taste for barleywines so I can see what I'm missing. Since both readers of this little blog know that I am a certified hop-head, it often takes me forcing down beverages of unfamiliar genre in order to begin the act of enjoying them. Last winter I did exactly that with porters, stouts and brown ales. This year I have decided to jump on the barleywine, Scottish/Scotch-ale and Belgian Ale bandwagons.

Some have questioned the notion of coercing the taste buds into accepting a new vocabulary. A few people have said to me, "Why would you make yourself drink something that you don't like?" My answer is that there was a time I didn't have a taste for craft beer, yet I kept trudging through, trying beer after beer, eventually developing a set of styles that I liked. I hope that others will consider this a humble step on the tall spiral staircase that is a beer geek's journey.

In most cases with me and beer, there is a tipping point. I think mine came several months ago when stopping for a nightcap at the newly reopened Empire Brewing Company in Syracuse's Armory Square. Fellow 'Jangler Willie Moe and I had been tipped off months before that the EBC would be selling a five-years-aged barleywine that had been produced before the original Empire closed its doors in 2003. This brew was phenomenal. Served in a stemmed tulip glass, it was sweet but bitter, with dry hops and a wonderfully pungent sourness. It was perfect, and flipped on the light switch in my head: this is what a barleywine is. It was bittersweet; sweet knowing I had discovered a terrific style, bitter knowing that these things were usually way more expensive than regular beers and I was a cheap bastard.

First, let me talk briefly about the barleywines I'm not quite in love with. This is certainly not to diminish the product of any of the fine breweries I frequent, but rather to illustrate where barleywines do it for me and where they don't. The one barleywine I had a real hard time drinking was the Mendocino Talon, sold in the wonderful Saratoga Brewery tasting room. I chalk my dislike for this beer to my own shortcomings, as it seems like it would be a wonderful beer for a connosieur of barleywines, with its heavy, chunky barley flavor and sour wine components. But for a novice like myself, it was just not something I was ready for. Please note, this is a routinely fine brewery, and Mendocino/Saratoga's Imperial IPA is a five-star brew.

Another stab at the style came from Stone, with their Old Guardian. Much like the Talon, the O.G. has a heavy grainy barley presence, with some sweet cherry and grape accents. And although all barleywines are high in alcohol, this one doesn't hide it. It's fizzy and thick and chewy. All told, it wasn't an easy drinker for the likes of me. Again, I am more apt to blame my own nouveau riche palate rather than the folks at Stone, who know more about what they are brewing than I do about what I am drinking.

There are a couple of barleywines that I have enjoyed thoroughly, and though my opinion probably means very little to the learned barleywine enthusiast. I enjoyed the Clipper City Brewing Below Decks Barleywine from their Heavy Seas collection of stronger beers. This beer has a whiff of mild whiskey, and though it was slightly too skewed toward the cherry-sweet side in my opinion (as opposed to being offset by the malt balance), it was a very drinkable beer with a good, solid texture.

Possibly my favorite commercial barleywine is the Brooklyn Monster Ale, 2006-07 edition. The smell and taste are equally flirtatious, taking the best of cherry and grape notes and combining them with a calming, grounded yeast presence that adds both sweetness and texture. It has a real heavy bite, but in a good way.

Side note: The fact that the Monster Ale had been aged seemed to make quite a difference, in that it tamed the stronger, more abrasive flavors (like the sometimes cloying cherry) and brought out the best in the well-aged flavors (like the yeast). I'm not sure if all barleywines need to be aged to be enjoyed this much, but considering the two best barleywines I had had to date were well-aged, this might be the case.

I think that the best barleywine I have had thus far was one I had only a few weeks ago, at the charming Pittsfield Brew Works, where the Bees Knees Barleywine was on the ridiculously price-controlled beer menu. This beer was smooth and not at all grainy. The harshness of the malt was beautifully balanced by real honey (hence the name). It was probably the best dessert beer I've ever had, which is ironic because it's not meant to be one. Javen and I also sampled the Berkshire Brewing Company's Barleywine Ale and agreed that it was a fine specimen, although my specific memories of it escape me since it was well into the wee hours of the night and an "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" marathon. These things are bound to happen.

I know that I'm in the yellow-belt class of barleywine appreciation, but I'm looking forward to reading more of these session posts and getting some ideas, because although I still wouldn't put barleywines up there with IPAs and Pub Ales just yet in my own personal rotation, I know that a good version can be transcendent.

Lew's Been Busy!

2008-01-28T18:23:00.000-05:00

Lew Bryson always makes for good reading. Hell, he's probably the main reason that this silly little corner of the interweb even exists. Lately, he's been on a quixotic quest to reach 365 posts before his blog reaches its first birthday on January 31st. That means lots more Lew for me and you to enjoy. Seriously, the man is prolific - he even managed to post again in the time it took us to rattle off this little blurb. So what are you waiting for? Quit wasting your time here and check on his progress.

Berkshire Brewing Company

2008-01-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

Not to continue witth the decidedly New England-ish bent that this blog has taken recently or anything, but there was another rather pleasing element of our recent Invasion of Western Mass that Bill touched on only briefly in his post. On our way home, we made a quick stop at, as Ron over at Hop Talk would say, a "candy store" to pick up a few selections not available to us in New York.

There was a nice cover story on Berkshire Brewing Company in the December issue of Yankee Brew News (click here and scroll all the way down to view it). In reading that piece, you get a good feel for what BBC is - a small brewery that makes good, solid beers and has been successful self distributing their beer within a pretty limited radius. They are located in South Deerfield, MA, about 100 miles from Albany, but none of their beers are yet available outside of New England. Hopefully, that will change soon, as BBC has recently expanded and are poised for growth, as our man Lew so presciently pointed out last summer.

Anyway, back to the candy store. We'd had a couple of BBC brews here and there, and the Yankee Brew News article served as a friendly reminder that we should pick some more up as soon as was convenient. BBC beers are only available on draft and in 22 oz. bombers. Since we had already had the Lost Sailor IPA on draft at Ye Olde Forge, and the trunk of a Saturn SL1 is more conducive to transporting a selection of bottles than multiple kegs, we elected to purchase a few 22's of BBC stuff to smuggle back across the border. Thankfully, there is no known video footage of me giddily giggling like a school girl in front of the cooler with an armload of carefully chosen BBC bombers.

We ended up with six lovely beers that Bill and I managed to work our way through over the balance of the weekend:

Berkshire Ale - An enjoyable, easy drinkin' tranditional Pale Ale

River Ale - Dark ale? Old Ale? Brown Ale? Whatever, it's damned tasty.

Lost Sailor IPA - A nice, English style IPA that ventures close to ESB territory

Dean's Beans Coffeehouse Porter - A variant on their regular Drayman's Porter made with a special extract from a local coffee roaster. Awesome.

Shabadoo Black & Tan - A very nice blend of Berkshire Ale and Drayman's Porter.

Holidale 2007 - An excellent barleywine. Full bodied and balanced, with a big grapefruity finish. Right Bill?

Most of the beers share a sort of soft, almost nutty, creaminess that was quite pleasant. Not sure if it's the yeast, or a soft water, but it is nice. Despite the similarity, they manage to remain distinctive, without the flavour of one blurring into that of another at all. Just a really enjoyable experience with a really likable brewery, made slightly more exotic by the fact that they aren't available in our home state.

Add in the fact that (other than the big beer, Holidale, which was also handsomely screen printed a la Stone beers) they were sold at the very popular price of only $3.60 each, and we're already plotting our next journey to the Commonwealth. Here's hoping that their promised expansion pushes Berkshire Brewing's availability a bit farther westward.

Yankee Quartet Invades Western Mass

2008-01-20T11:25:00.000-05:00

The border that exists between the states of New York and Massachusetts is a thin, nondescript strip of land with no border guards or checkpoints. When it comes to beer, however, the line of demarcation that separates the Empire State from New England is significant in that it is an endline of sorts for many of the Bay State's more lesser known offerings.

With an afternoon to kill, Javen and I decided to break out the passports and and cross from New York's Capital District into Western Mass to scope out what our fine state might be missing out on.

Enlisting my sister Mary Katherine and brother-in-law Scott, we headed to Lanesboro, Mass., and Ye Olde Forge, a small, charming colonial-style tavern. At the entrance, a small, inviting dining area lies straight ahead. There isn't very much seating, but enough to accommodate the crowd that was there on a Saturday afternoon.

Scott noted that the bar "feels like a place Paul Revere would have drank in." Indeed, the bar imparts a very colonial feel, with lots of wood and brick. The whole vibe of the place is very old-timey and authentically New Englandy. The walls are very ornate, with cardboard coasters of beers you've never heard of adorning nearly every square inch of wallspace.

We were told by the hostess that there would be a 6-7 minute wait, so we headed to the bar. We noticed about a dozen taps, many with offerings not often available on tap in New York State. On tap were such diverse brews as Lagunitas Lumpy Gravy, Mars Xmas Bock, Boulder Buffalo Gold, Great Divide Hiberator and Berkshire Brewing Lost Sailor. Javen and I tried the latter, a nice roasted English IPA with the vibe of an Extra Special Bitter.

Another impressive element of Ye Olde Forge is its two full coolers of diverse and sometimes obscure bottles. Usually when you see such tall coolers, they are filled with Molson and Michelob Ultra. To see the fridges full of Fullers ESB and Franziskaner Dunkel-Weisse warms the heart on a cold day.

Once seated, we scoured the menu filled with a good selection of pub fare. Since Javen had read about the wings, we started with a dozen of them, which were deceptively spicy. Jables enjoyed the Cup of Chili with cheese (only $3.50), and was even more impressed by the presentation. It was the right combination of spicy and sweet, he noted. I had the Turkey sandwich on focacci, which was moist and really delicious. The food received positive reviews all around.

There were a couple missteps (the server seemed slightly annoyed that we were there, she brought me the wrong beer, and Scott got a slight hassle due to having a perfectly valid NYS driver's license),but nothing to sour a very positive experience. We all noted that we would spend 4-7 nights a week here if we lived anywhere near it.

Our second stop was Pittsfield Brew Works, a place we had both been before. The vibe in this stop was decidedly more modern, but no less charming. The PBW has a nice oak bar with a flat-screen TV, as well as a small dining area near the bar and a larger section behind it near the entrance. The traffic was very light, but we were told that it would pick up after about 7 or so.

The bar is stocked with a full selection of liquor, as well as up to 10 different microbrews made right on the premises. We ordered a huge bowl of nachos for $4.95, a bargain. But that value is nothing compared to the sampler: 10 selections for just $5.00.

Pittsfield Brew Works' beers are all very competent, and some are excellent. This visit featured their Legacy IPA both on cask and on tap, McKenna's Irish Red, as well as a very nice Pitch Pilsner and Dohoney's gold. All the beers offered were competent and good, and a few stood out from the rest.

The Gerry Dog Oatmeal Stout was a nice coffee-ish stout with a motor-oil consistency and bitter finish. Javen and I agreed that our favorites were the Rauchbier -- a smoky, delicious dark brew that has an almost BBQ flavor and aroma wafting out of it -- and the Bees Knees Barleywine, a heavy brew with sweet and smooth honey accent which eases the harshness of what is likely a high ABV beer.

The barkeep at Pittsfield was friendly and knowledgeable, explaining some of the brewing processes, editorializing on the styles, and giving a brief history of the pub itself; exactly what you want out of a bartender. The whole experience was really enjoyable, so much that we sort of lost track of time (generally the telltale sign of a fun experience).

We had hoped to sample a few more spots in Western Mass but the sun went down and we had to begrudgingly come back across the border back into civilization. Perhaps next time we'll get to visit Moe's Tavern in Lee or Barrington Brewing Company. But for this brief visit, Mass. appealed to the beer enthusiast in all of us.

BREW ENGLAND: A STORM'S A BREWIN'!-PART 1

2008-01-14T18:54:00.000-05:00

Yes that's right, Willie Moe is back! After some mild controversy over my Pilsner Urquell post, I have returned and am ready to take the beer blogging world by storm! Newport Storm that is. You see Willie Moe has packed up and moved from Syracuse to Boston. The Sunshine State, gorgeous. So, if moving weren't stressful enough, now I have to find where they hide the good beer in the Commonwealth. Which means I am out on a beer voyage (pronounced like you'd pronounce it when saying, "bon voyage"), and you, my loyal readers, okay reader, are about to reap all the benefits! Now as excited as we are to dive right in and conduct the Boston hops, we decided to broaden our horizons, or at least our beer selection, and thus I welcome you to Brew England......

Our first stop in Brew England is Middletown, Rhode Island home of the Coastal Extreme Brewing Company, producers of Newport Storm. Now I know, it sounds like an Arena Football team or something, but it's actually beer, go figure? Now I gotta say the labeling is not all that eye catching. I really only picked it because it was from Rhodey and I had partaken of most every other sixer they had available at this particular package store. Plus unlike most of the half dozens available it had two different beers in it. Three of each, for those of you not quick with the math. And of course we are gonna give you a taste of both of those offerings. Well not literally, if you wanna taste you're gonna have to buy it yourself. So enough babbling, into the eye of the storm we go.....

The first one we're gonna give a whirl is the Regenschauer Oktoberfest, which is by far easier to drink than it is to pronounce. Now out of the bottle, this pours a thin orange, honey color, with a nice head that quickly dissolves away. Not very cloudy, giving no warning that a storm's a comin'. I would say the appearance is roughly average. It's not as beautiful as some other Oktoberfests or Marzen style lagers, but it's look would not dissuade you from throwing it down your gullet. It sure didn't stop me, but very little would, let's be honest here. Now that I've painted you a picture of this brew, let's get our face in their and dig out the nosefeel, or smell, as you may call it.

To tell you the truth, the nosefeel did not entice me. Now, I'm not saying it doesn't smell good, it's just not my cup of tea, or glass of beer, if you would. Well, if you want to be literal it is my glass, but come on! The malt is the first thing that hits your nostrils, and burrows itself up in there for a while. Now, me I'm not a fan of the overly malty aroma, but if that's your thing, go for it. There's also the slightest, I say slightest, hint of something sweet in the smell, I can't quite place. Perhaps a snozzberry, I'm not sure? What I am sure of, is it's time to go in for a taste.

The Regajblhdeur gives you the taste of dry woody hop. It's not uber dry, that's for sure, but you feel that woody flavor in every sip. It kind of has that sharp little tingle as it rolls over your tongue en route to your gullet. The bitterness is slight, but leaves a nice little dry aftertaste that you'd expect from a Regnbkjjfbaksbldeur Oktoberfest. There is that hint of sweetness that we took in through the nose that also presents itself in the mouth as well. And I still can't quite place it. Overall I'd say this was not blow your hair back spectacular, but is definitely worth a nip, if you have the means.

Bottoms Up!
Willie 3:16

Beer of the Moment: Southern Tier Gemini

2008-01-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

Southern Tier has always impressed us with its high quality, and constantly evolving product line. It seems that every 2 months or so, the brewers at this Lakewood, New York-based brewery are coming out with new 22oz bottles, and always with beers for a variety of tastes.

Southern Tier not only casts a wide net in terms of styles (Pumking, Raspberry Porter, Uber Sun Imperial Summer Wheat, Heavy Weizen Imperial Unfiltered Wheat Ale, Jahva Imperial Coffee Stout), but they have one of the most versatile 12-packs around, with three-each of their IPA, Raspberry Wheat, the crowd-pleasing Phin-N-Matt's Extraordinary Ale, and a rotating "mystery beer."

They have never been shy about creating good beers with hops, and with their newest release -- Gemini, an Imperial IPA -- they have created a sort of hoppy Frankenstein's Monster. The label of the bottle calls Gemini a "blended unfiltered ale." In this case, the blend is between Southern Tier's own hoppy fraternal twins.

The brew is a mixture of Southern Tier's Hoppe, an Imperial Extra Pale Ale, and Unearthly, their Herculean Imperial IPA. With Gemini, Southern Tier manages to capture the best of both brews, while combining them to form a beer that puts it on a par with either one.

Perhaps a brief examination of each of the twins is in order. Unearthly, which has been around for several years, is a very strong (11% abv) ale that came out before double-digit alcohol-content beers were in vogue. Unearthly is a reddish-orange brew with a supremely fragrant hop aroma. The hops are extremely strong on the sip, but mellow at the swallow. They don't punish the taste buds as they would have every right to. It's smoothness is a surprise. Though it is a thick brew, but the high alcohol is relatively understated.

Hoppe, on the other hand, is a bright, clear brew that might look like a light lager save for it's colossal head. The smell is hoppy, but with traces of oak and pine. The aroma is also balanced by a dry malt, differentiating it from it's hop-heavy brother. Whereas the hops come out nicely in this brew too, they are more flowery and woody. The alcohol (10% abv) is a lot more noticeable here. It is a good beer but not one we've craved like we have the Unearthly.

Gemini takes the best of both beers and creates one that we really enjoyed. The look of Gemini is closer to Hoppe: clear and bright and with a rocky mountain of head that evaporates quickly, but leaves a nice Brussels lace. It doesn't look imposing.

The aroma is this beer's best quality. The hops are a wonderful, fragrant citrusy hop smell. It's sweet and refreshing, and only a little bit perfumey. The pale malt aroma is very complimentary and keeps this beer from teetering over the edge to a classic overhop. The citrusy smell is enchanting and intoxicating (no pun intended).

The taste is supremely bitter hops, with some traces of pine and flowers. The taste is more bitter than the sweet aroma, but terrific nonetheless. The sweetness acts as a calming accent to the sharp hops. It's hoppy as hell, but not in the "extreme" category.

The beer feels chewy and rough, but in a very good way. It's leaves a nice bouncy, bitter film. Substantial, but not a choker-downer.

It seems brewers are starting to revisit their approach to their heavier beers and realizing that strong flavors are good, but balance is crucial to the enjoyment of any fine brew. We all enjoy the novelty of a beer with an insane amount of hops, or a roasted malt that tastes like a burnt cookie. But the brews that are going to stick around -- the brews that Southern Tier are routinely releasing -- are the ones that offer a tug-of-war between sweet and bitter, between strong and drinkable. Here's hoping that Gemini is more than just a seasonal offering.

Quick Takes: Otter Creek Otteroo (Sparkling Australian-Style Ale)

2007-12-30T00:02:00.000-05:00

You know what's thoughtful? When somebody very thoughtfully gives you a beer-related gift for the holidays. Those are the kinds of relatives you keep in the will, to say the least!

My younger brother Nick (he who, in the fall, reviewed Miller Chill) presented me with an Otter Creek Otter's Selection Gift Pack this Festivus - this pack included an Otter Creek pint glass and bombers of 3 so-called Otter Creek World Tour beers, through which I have been slowly making my way.

One of the bombers included in this gift pack was the Otter Creek Otteroo, described as an Australian-style sparkling ale (but made in Vermont). The bottle promised extra carbonation and the use of Australian hops and ringwood yeast. Admittedly, I was a bit wary of this beer - for all of my recently-acquired beersnobbery, I wasn't tremendously familiar with Sparkling Ales as a style, and went in expecting something like a fruit-less Lambic.

Really, though, the Otteroo wasn't much like any of my expectations. The extra carbonation was barely noticeable, if at all, only really serving to keep the head on my pour from bomber into glass at a bare minimum. As for the taste, I must say that this was a particularly malty, somewhat bittersweet beer - not at all a bad beer, really, but considering the exotic ingredients, it was nothing particularly spectacular. Given that the hops traveled halfway around the world, I would have liked to have been able to taste them more.

For a special-batch beer, which the Otteroo seems to be, I wasn't particularly overwhelmed. Overall, it was a decent pint-and-some, but if I return to the Outback for this type of beer, it probably won't be with the Otter Creek brewers as my tourguide.

Quick Takes: Sixpoint Belgian-Style IPA

2007-12-27T18:14:00.000-05:00

Since the beginning of December, I've been spending the bulk of my time in New York City (a new job has me slowly relocating from the Capital Region to the outerboroughs of NYC ). One of the upsides of this switch has been a chance for me to explore some new breweries and beers.

Yesterday, while accompanied by my friend Juan (who, coincidentally, provides voice-over work for a series of commercials touting Miller Chill beer), I went to Great Jones Cafe, a lovely little hole-in-the-wall place on Great Jones Street in Manhattan with a great jukebox and a pretty solid beer selection. When I saw that they offered the Williamsburg, Brooklyn-located Sixpoint's IPA on tap, I jumped at it.

The pour of this beer was thick, with a hazy orange color to it. It was surprisingly creamy, which is something I've not really associated with IPAs before, but man, were those hops front and center. The strong hoppiness of this beer was supplemented by a citrus-y taste to it.

After the fact, I found out that Sixpoint's IPA is considered a "Belgian Style" IPA. Sixpoint's website is mum on what this means (actually, it's pretty quiet on most things - it's currently undergoing renovations), so I'm going to go out on a limb here and wonder aloud as to whether this means that it uses ingredients more commonly found in Belgian styles of beer in an IPA brewing process. I'm stumped, to be honest (but that's not hard).

Needless to say, I was very taken by this beer, and would gladly kill a man (or woman, or child) for another taste. Phenomenal.

Beer O'The Moment - Stone 11th Anniversary

2007-12-06T20:14:00.000-05:00

The wonderful beers of the fine people at San Diego's Stone Brewing are favorites around these parts, as both our loyal readers can tell you. One can find the Ruination double IPA and Arrogant Bastard Ale at bargain basement prices even in grocery stores in Central New York, and if this is the way they are turning people on to craft beer -- 22 ounces and $5 at a time -- then we couldn't be happier.

Stone's iconic gargoyle imagery and the writerly copy on each of their 22 ounce bottles naturally appeals to us aesthetically, but it has always been the deceptively remarkable beers inside that have kept it from becoming just a cleverly marketed beer.

Given our already stratospheric opinion of this brewery, and given the constant evolution of their products and the championing of the merits of craft beer -- the Vertical Epic series comes to mind -- it's hard to say that Stone could really surprise us with any new beers they came out with. But they did exactly that with the 11th Anniversary Ale, a remarkable Strong Ale that pleases four out of the five senses (sorry, hearing). It's one of those beers that catches you by surprise even after you've poured it.

The look of the beer is pitch black. If handed this beer in some sort of a blind test, we would have guessed it was a stout. The foamy head at the top is a large and bubbly light cardboard brown. But it is absolutely opaque, where not even a sliver of light could burrow its way from one side to the other.

The aroma of the beer positively shocked -- nay, flabbergasted us. The smell is not the roasted coffee-and-dark-berries smell we expected. No, the XIth Anniversary smells of a citrusy IPA! What the...? The hops are bitter and woody, like any regular India Pale, pulling a complete switcheroo on our gullible olfactory senses. The hops, it must be pointed out, are magnificently complex: they have equal measures of pungent grapefruit, grassy pine and sweet citrus. All of this is balanced beautifully by a dry, English-ale style malt, a humbling agent that reminds all these brash other flavors where they came from. The smell is actually perfect, which is not a word we use very often. It's less an aroma than it is a bouquet of aromas. The traffic-stopping hops are oily and rich. And to top it off, there is a hint of chocolate aroma at the end. And notice we haven't even tasted it yet.

The flavor is a marriage of the look and the smell: supremely bitter West Coast hops, but with a unique burnt coffee malt. It's like an India Pale Porter. Those oily and bitter hops duke it out with the dry, bitter malt. The hops come out strong in the beginning, but the malt takes the later rounds. The flavor really shifts to the burnt, toasted malt as it warms up, with the hops receding to the background as an accent.

This is a beer that evolves.

The feel is supremely thick and yet also smooth. It's like motor oil with a dry roasted malt finish. And that about sums up the whole beer: it's a bit, thick, oily, dark, hoppy, nutty, roasted brew. Could I drink it all night? Not unless I had the next week off. But it's perfect for a pint.

Stone continues to get it done. If you haven't had the pleasure, take a chance on this damn good balanced brew.

WHAT'S CZECHOSLOVAKIAN FOR ALCOHOLIC WATER?

2007-12-04T19:52:00.001-05:00

Why that would be Pilsner Urquel l of course! Yes that's right the original pilsner, the beer that changed how the world sees beer! This was the first ever pilsner, and every pils, pilsner, or pilsener is in some way formulated from the original recipe passed down through the ages from the gang at good ol' Pils-Urq. Now, while it is tempting to start rattling off an ode to the pilsner style, I will refrain. No, I will not wax poetically about the wonder of Beck's or the magnificence of Heineken. No, no I will not. Why? Because, as tempting as it is to rattle on and on about the glory Saaz noble hops, this post is not about pilsners, and the magic within them. No, no, this is about THE pilsner, Pilsner Urquell.

The Pils-Urq is offered in a shiny green bottle, with a label that screams, "CLASS!" Elegant and inviting, the bottle wisks you away to the old time Czech Republic, and it never felt so right. Nice lookin' label, nice lookin' bottle, so far, so good. Unfortunately that is roughly where the good times end. Because now it's time to open her up and go in for the real thing.

It pours a brilliantly clear straw color, that brings you back to a simpler time, when men were men, and women couldn't vote. Yes and don't you worry your pretty little heads, you can see right through it! And if you put it over a piece of paper with writing, it can actually act as a magnifying glass. Take that Guinness!

Now, as any beer drinker worth his weight in hops would, I go in for the smell. Now when the aroma of this particular brew first hits the nostrils, it becomes readily apparent to the drinker why the initials of this beer are P.U. It's like they threatened Pepe Le Pew before each new batch, to get that crisp skunky smell just right. Cause at Pilsner Urquell they raise and frighten only the finest skunks to in all of Eastern Europe. Well, I won't lie, too often that is, but the smell did not have me that ecstatic about goin' in for the taste. But I did, for you, my loyal reader.

Surprisingly the skunkiness was not as prevalent in the taste as it was the smell, and my mouth couldn't have been happier! Well, I mean it could've been happier, if I was drinking, say, Anchor Liberty Ale or any other beer I enjoy, but you get the pitcher. It had that hint of bitterness you'd expect, with a hint of I believe, hydrogen and oxygen. But the hydrogenity seemed like it may have been about twice as much as the oxygenacity in there. Yes, definitely two hydrogens for every oxygen or so. It almost feels like you're being hydrated? The taste was fairly bland, but the "P to the U" does have some subtle malty undertones, and will prick your tongue as it passes through, but overall it does not have a strong taste about it. It won't stand out in a crowd, if you know what I'm saying.

So, is it drinkable? Sure. Would I go out of my way to track down more for my private stock? Probably not. I mean although it is the original pilsner, I don't think it has any other beers in "Czech", as it were. I would rate this okay to drink if you are surrounded by skunks and need to make them think you are one of their own. Or I guess if you are surrounded by "Czechs" and need to make them think you are one of their own. Either way. Now, it's off to find out what exactly is Yugoslavian for alcoholic water.

Bottoms Up
Willie 3:16