Archives : 2007 : March
A couple of amusing links
March 22nd, 2007Nothing heavy here, just a couple of goofy beer links.
First is a YouTube user-made commercial… a parody "beer" called "Buck Light." It’s pretty crude. But they’re obviously making a statement as to American macro lager…
Second is "32 Things You Can Do with Beer." Fun read, mostly goofy. I mean, clear up brown spots on the lawn? Your mileage may vary.
San Diego breweries
March 20th, 2007Next week, we’re going to be in San Diego for spring break, and one of the things I’m looking forward to is hitting some of the breweries they have down there (and writing about them, of course). Time permitting, naturally, so if nothing else, I figure the one brewery I have to visit is Stone Brewing. No question.
The last time we were there, we visited one of the Oggi’s and San Diego Brewing. It’s not impossible that we won’t go back to either one, but if I’m building a wishlist, then here’s what I’m thinking we could possibly fit in (aside from Stone, of course):
Most likely there won’t be enough time, I’m realistic about that.
I also think it would be fun to find a Dubbel on this trip to review for the next Session. But I’ve been looking on BeerAdvocate and none of the breweries down there seem to brew any.
Either way, we should have wireless access while we’re there, so I may well be writing dispatches from the road, as it were.
The Hairy Eyeball Ale
March 19th, 2007
I think Lagunitas‘ The Hairy Eyeball takes a prize for one of the best (strangest?) names for a beer. I know I picked up a six-pack based on the name. Well, that and it’s a whopping 9% alcohol by volume. Lagunitas is developing a reputation, like Dogfish Head and Stone Brewing, for extreme beers, I think.
And they’re doing a good job of it. Although I would classify this as a barleywine, rather than an "American Strong Ale" as the ratings sites suggest.
Appearance: Mahogany brown with some orange. Clear. Head is a nice tan with hints of orange.
Smell: Cloyingly sweet, warm malt. Hops are overwhelmed, but a bit fruity. Almost a flossy Belgian candy sugar.
Taste: Like an old ale—malty, bitter, dark but not burnt. Overlaying that is the sweet alcohol barleywine character and strong almost peppery hops.
Mouthfeel: Nice, thick chewy body. Warming from the alcohol.
Overall: This packs a punch for sure. Not the best I’ve had from Lagunitas, but not bad by a long shot, either.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores 88 out of 100 with 99% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.65 out of 5 and is in their 91st percentile.
Best title ever…
March 16th, 2007Is this: Beer: The Best Beverage in the World. I pretty much don’t care what the content of the article could be, they get a link based on that title alone.
…actually it’s for a talk at the Palo Alto Research Center next Thursday, the 22nd. Sounds interesting:
Brewing is the original biotechnology. For 6-8,000 years it has been a delight in the diet, resulting from a tremendously consistent process founded on intricate understanding of the underpinning science. It is an industry that informed all modern day fermentation processes. Beer looks good, it tastes good – and it does you good. This talk will explain all this and much more.
But unless you happen to be near Palo Alto, California next week, it probably won’t do you any good. 
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
March 15th, 2007
Ah, more notes from the Samuel Adams seasonal gift pack; this time it’s their Holiday Porter. With a name like that, you expect something spicy and rich and perhaps fruity, but that’s not the case here—they’ve brewed up a solid, drinkable porter without any foofah and fanfare. At 5.9% alcohol by volume, it’s almost a session beer, and just about right for the style.
Appearance: Chocolate tan head. Dark brown, like coffee, opaque-ish with red highlights.
Smell: Coffee, roasted grain, bitter (black) malt, slightly smoky.
Taste: Nice—roasted, dark, rich. Slightly astringent (dry). Burnt coffee.
Mouthfeel: Nice and creamy, with a slight puckering astringency. Lighter than expected.
Overall: Despite the brevity of my notes, I enjoyed it. It’s a well-crafted example of the style; I wouldn’t mind seeing it year-round, actually.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores 86 out of 100, with 97% approval from reviewers. On RateBeer, it scores 3.35 out of 5, in their 73rd percentile.
The mother of all St. Patrick’s Day events?
March 14th, 2007Yeah, it’s kind of PR-y, but this strikes me as being quite the St. Patrick’s Day celebration: The Guinness Storehouse Festival, taking place over the weekend. Three days of live music and "all the beer you can drink," the email assures me.
The Guinness Storehouse® Festival kicks off on Friday March 16 th and will continue until the evening of Sunday March 18th
Throughout the weekend, visitors to the Home of Guinness® will enjoy:
- A variety of music and entertainment throughout the building. Street Theatre performers and large acts such as US marching bands, Flamenco dancers and Gospel Choirs
- An eclectic mix of rock, blue grass, soul and funk in the Source Bar.
- The Tradfest Movement takes over the Gravity® Bar each evening —this movement combines traditional Irish music with rock, jazz, dance and world music to create a dynamic energy.
- Guinness® Food and Craft Fair showcasing the best in Irish crafts and produce each day.
- Complimentary tastings of Guinness® Draught, Guinness® Extra Stout and Guinness® Foreign Extra Stout as well as Smoked Salmon on Guinness® bread for all visitors.
I don’t know much about this Guinness Storehouse; from the website it seems to be the tourist front/theme park/museum for Guinness. The site is awfully polished and looks like a tour guide. But a three-day beer celebration sure sounds fine to me.
John Barleycorn Barleywine Style Ale
March 13th, 2007
John Barleycorn is a "Certified Organic Barleywine Style Ale" brewed by Mad River Brewing Company. At 9.5% alcohol, it’s not as strong as some of these X-Treme Monsters being put out these days, but it’s still plenty strong for the style.
The label is cool; according to their site, it’s "created by local artist Janis Taylor, is a folksy woodcut based on the tale of John Barleycorn in verse." You can also view the rest of the series (they change each year).
Appearance: Dark brown, murky—like dark maple syrup. Almost no head when I poured.
Smell: Sweet, alcohol, plummy fruits, fig, raisin, brown sugar.
Taste: Strong alcohol (phenols?), coffee, caramel, dark berry, brandy, hint of vanilla and molasses.
Mouthfeel: Nice and syrupy thick, alcohol numbing, pleasantly warming.
Overall: A very decent barleywine with a lot of complex character happening there.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores 84 out of 100, with 91% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.48 out of 5 and is in their 82nd percentile.
Full Sail LTD Series #1: Bock
March 12th, 2007
To commemorate 21 years of brewing (seems to be going around), Full Sail is releasing a Limited Series of beers this year, their LTD Series. The first bottling is a medium-bodied, malty 6.4% alcohol Bock style of beer.
Appearance: Very clear, orange-brown. Very clear. Thin head, it’s light tan. Leaves a ring.
Smell: Clean, with some hops. Soap? Very low aroma profile.
Taste: Very clean, with a bitter pilsner profile over darker malt. My first thought was "malt liquor" but in a good way. (Is there a good way with malt liquor?) Some sweet caramel characteristics… like if you crossed a brown ale with a pilsner. Good.
Mouthfeel: Light-feeling body with a nice base—not watery or weak. Crisp.
Overall: I rather liked it. Even though the alcohol is a little high for a session beer, that’s how I would classify this.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores 83 out of 100, with 95% approval. On RateBeer, it scores somewhat less favorably, with 3 out of 5 and only in the 43rd percentile.
The New Here’s to Beer site
March 10th, 2007I’m not the first to be writing about the new Here’s to Beer website—both Stan and Jay have beaten me to the punch (Jay’s review is comprehensive)—and I’m sure I won’t be the last, but I thought I’d throw my two cents in. Especially since the folks behind it took the time to fill out my contact form with the pointer to the site and a quick note about it—which they’ve done with other bloggers, and I respect groups that are enlightened enough to go grassroots and reach out to the blogging and otherwise non-establishment communities. (Ignoring the point that I’m actually woefully behind on addressing the submissions on my contact form… sorry, for those I have’t gotten to yet.)
Anyway. As for the site itself, I have to say that I never did visit the old version of it so I really have nothing to compare against. The current site starts out with that feature of beer sites I hate, namely the age verification form. I’ll pound the drums again and say I hate those stupid forms because they don’t actually prevent "underage" people from entering—anyone can lie on those forms, there’s no check—they just make the site awkward to access, and it’s not like there’s any reason to keep the "underage" users out anyway. They can’t drink alcohol over the net!
Beyond that, the site seems to be fairly well structured, with an emphasis on video. They seem to be doing viral little videos uniquely for the site, not bad. (I’ve only viewed a couple.) They’re hoping to tap into the YouTube/MySpace market for online video… which is a good idea. Jay is skeptical on this:
So maybe it’s because I’m an old curmudgeon — and a reader — but I’m not convinced that these little video presentations are the way to reach people. Sure, it’s cutting edge technology and has that gee whiz factor but this is information we’re talking about. I can read it much more quickly, and I don’t need to be entertained every second of my day. I actually like reading and learning new things. Does that make me out of step with the modern world?
Not to bash on Jay here, but I disagree, I think the short video presentations are the way to reach people, particularly the newer wave of people that both Jay and myself aren’t really a part of. (Hey, I can admit it: I’m of the earlier generation of internet users that prefers to read my content rather than viewing it—but there’s no denying the YouTube phenomenon. That’s the future.)
And I really like the Javascript-enabled Beer Styles interface they’ve put together. I think that’s hot. It’s short, useful, and to-the-point. Perfect? No. But it’s the kind of thing that appeals to my sense of net-aesthetic.
I also like their link to the Beer Mapping Project—that’s exactly the grassroots, blogger-friendly thing that sucks me in. They’ve fought the corporate mentality urge to reinvent the wheel and own it themselves, instead pointing to the user-created out-of-their-control type of content that’s probably better than they could come up with anyway.
So generally I’ll be optimistic about the site. Their relaunch is off to a good start, but one thing they really need to add is a blog—not just the video blog snippets, or a corporate PR-driven thing, but an actual, honest-to-goodness blog written by someone (or someones) who care about the product.
And perhaps a place for users to upload, YouTube-style, their own beer videos to share. That would be cool, too.
Old Fezziwig Ale
March 9th, 2007
Samuel Adams describes their seasonal Old Fezziwig Ale as "spicy and bold, a big Christmas cookie of a beer." It’s a brown ale style of beer sitting at a warm 5.9% alcohol, and comes in their seasonal packs during the holiday season.
Appearance: Clear brown with garnet tints. Tan head, smooth, collapsed relatively quickly.
Smell: Spicy and malty. Hint of cinnamon; toffee; molasses?; maple syrup.
Taste: Brown ale with a kick. Black pepper at the back of the throat; bitter orange; cinnamon bark; chocolate malt; twiggy/woody. Cloves?
Mouthfeel: A little light, with a woody feel. Kind of wassail-y with the spices and orange.
Overall: Not sure what to expect with a name like "Old Fezziwig," but I thought it turned out remarkably better than I was expecting. A good holiday ale, not overpowering in the spices.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores a decent 85 out of 100, with 97% of reviewers approving it. On RateBeer, it scores 3.37 out of 5, and is in the 74th percentile.
The next Session: Dubbels
March 7th, 2007Alan over at A Good Beer Blog is hosting April’s Session and has announced the topic: Dubbels. Good choice, but one I didn’t really see coming. It’s all good.
References: BeerAdvocate, Wikipedia.
Brown Shugga
March 5th, 2007
One thing I’m figuring out that Lagunitas Brewing does is big beers. Really big beers. I had some of their holiday seasonal Brown Shugga and was surprised to see that it’s a 9.9% alcohol beer. That, along with a name that conjures up visions from a ’70s B-movie is almost enough to give you pause.
Never fear. You’ll be treated to a very sweet, very drinkable beer that should properly be styled a barleywine but has somehow snuck in as a strong ale (at least, according to BeerAdvocate). I want to say that they brewed this beer with lots and lots of brown sugar (which would make sense), but I can’t verify that story one way or another at the moment.
Appearance: Nice copper, slightly murky. Light tan head falling slowly.
Smell: Hops and sweet malt, sugary (Belgian candy?), probably the brown sugar. Very cloying.
Taste: Sweet bite accented by hops. Alcohol heat, strong character on tongue. Caramelized sugar, spun out and flossy.
Mouthfeel: Nice medium feel, lighter than I’d expect as a barleywine. Dry alcohol rolls around the mouth and leaves that numbing/prickly feeling.
On BeerAdvocate, it scores 86 out of 100, with 95% approval. On RateBeer, it scores 3.63 out of 5, in their 90th percentile.
The Session #1: Obsidian Stout
March 2nd, 2007
Welcome to the first edition of The Session (or Beer Blogging Friday, or whatever the ultimate name will be—probably "The Session"): a group blogging effort on the first Friday of each month where individual beer bloggers will post on the that month’s tasting theme, and one person compiles all the links in a "centralized" posting. Whosoever does this compiling will rotate each month, and they will select the theme.
This first month’s theme is "Not your father’s Irish stout," suggested by Stan. So I figured it’s the perfect opportunity to write about something I haven’t covered yet and keep it local: Deschutes Brewery‘s Obsidian Stout.
Obsidian has been a mainstay at Deschutes since they started in 1988, and you can usually find it on the nitro tap at the downtown brewpub in Bend, Oregon. At 6.4% alcohol by volume, it’s stronger than your session beers but doesn’t tip the scales into "Imperial" territory. Which is good, since it seems like every other brew out there these days does!
This is an exceptional stout, all around. You don’t have to take my word for it; check out the awards the brewery has garnered for it on their page, for one thing. For another, Obsidian Stout currently sits at number 88 on BeerAdvocate’s Top 100 Beers page—no mean feat.
Let’s hit my tasting notes:
Appearance: Inky coffee black, with a nice thick brown head, frothy and rocky.
Smell: Roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate. Creamy and smoky.
Taste: Smooth and dark—slightly burnt astringency. Roasted grains, dark roast/espresso coffee, bittersweet chocolate, creamy sweetness, burnt biscuit (good), clean hops.
Mouthfeel: Velvety smooth, nice full body without being overwhelming in strength. An oily chocolate afterfeel, but very clean-feeling.
Overall: An amazing, smooth, drinkable stout, an excellent example of the style. Truly one of the best stouts I’ve had. Good thing it’s from my hometown!
On BeerAdvocate, I already discussed this beer’s placement on their top 100; it scores 91 out of 100 with 100% approval in the reviews. On RateBeer, it scores 3.8 out of 5 and is in their 96th percentile.
This is one beer that’s worth finding—if you’re not in the Western states already. If you are and you haven’t tried it yet, what are you waiting for?
