February is almost over

I am SOOOO ready for winter to be over. SO READY. I need some sunshine, to hear the birds singing and spend way too much time cleaning up my poor neglected yard/gardens. But the cold wind still blows and all I know is that I can look forward to St. Patrick's Day with certainty. Ahh, yes. It's on a Saturday this year, so there will be no need to burn vacation to attend the parade and partake in festivities. And my favorite local brewery has already released it's seasonal Irish red ale. Hurray! I love Boulevard's Irish Ale. I think I have reviewed it, half-assedly, before, but I think I owe a true report on one of my fave's. Perhaps tonight. Ooh! Now there's another thing to look forward to.

O'Dowd's still wants to feed you

Drink to Valentines Day

I read this article tonight, and I had to share. I am a beer fan and all, but this cracked me up.

"For years brewers and beer lovers have paired beer and chocolate," says Ray Daniels, spokesperson for the Brewers Association, a national trade association for craft brewers. "During a week when many Americans celebrate with chocolate, we want to introduce them to the sensual and romantic marriage of beer and chocolate pairings."




You can read it all via the link above, but the nut is that porters and stouts do well with chocolate because they have toasted, roasted, almost coffee like flavors. The other types of beers that pair well are hefeweizens, and strong Belgian ales.

**edited because someone ate my chocolate cake pic **

I am a Chemical SUPER Freak

Say yeah for chemical explosions. Say yeah for not really realizing what all of those warehouse, industrial-type areas just north of downtown have going on until something explodes. Say yeah for really black skies, stinky air, and mild, momentary panic. I started to imagine that I had a headache & sore throat. Maybe I did. Or maybe I am highly susceptible to suggestion. I lifted this pic straight from KansasCity.com. Just to spread the love, you can read the story via MyFoxKC.


Me & a few others had a scheduled dinner with a rep who was in town. Most everyone bailed after our company excused everyone early to escape the smoke, going home to theoretically save their own lungs, with the outside air circulation vent turned off in their cars. Being a fool, I decided that it wasn't that bad, and met the rep for dark stouts at McCoy's Public House. The stouts were tasty, the company was good, and the raging chemical fire seems to be less of a threat now.

When it thunders, I go outside to look. When the tornado siren wails, I go straight to the nearest, biggest window. If I had been standing on the beach in Thailand, I'd be the idiot pointing and exclaiming, look, something crazy is going on with the water. Whoosh. Keep your fingers crossed for me that nothing truly freaky was burning. I think my throat is getting sore...

O'Dowd's New Menu

O'Dowd's Little Dublin on the Country Club Plaza just got a new chef, revamped the entire menu, and are trying to promote it with a buy one get one for lunch. If you want the emailed offer, hit me up & I'll forward it to you. I hope to get there for lunch this week - the offer expires 2/12, next Monday. I really hope that they didn't remove a single boxty from the menu. They are my favorite!

Happy 5 Years to Us!

Super Bowl

This year will be my first Super Bowl with a DVR. I am more excited than a normal person should be about that.

Last year the Super Bowl contained a record number of ads, clocking in at 47 minutes of advertising. This year's rate for one :30 spot is a reported $2.6 million dollars. CBS is still pushing to sell the last 25% of available inventory, but it's clear that they should top $100 million on Feb 4th.

Anheuser-Busch has been the exclusive alcohol advertiser in the Super Bowl since 1989, and they will remain such for CBS broadcasts of the Super Bowl from 2007 until 2012. Now THAT'S owning a franchise. They typically buy up at least 5 minutes of ad time to hawk their beers, so they are dropping about $25 million dollars just to buy your EYEBALLS, never mind the money they spend in producing ads that they hope generate some chatter afterwards.

My question for you is - what will you be drinking while watching the game?

**edited to add that I beat eMarketer to the posting, but their data is WAY more acurate**

Straight from the article linked above, the top five SuperBowl advertisers, ranked by ad spending over the past 20 years:
Anheuser-Busch $250.8 million
Pepsico $190.0
General Motors $ 65.7
Time Warner $ 63.4
Walt Disney $ 43.5
Top 5 Total $613.4 MILLION

Storm Preparedness

Winter decided to arrive. And in this area of the country, a 50-60 degree day in the middle of January is almost always followed by a blanket of ice. Yesterday was gorgeous. I am glad that I got to enjoy it a little. Today it is 18 degrees.

In 1996, lots of people lost power. I was at college, in an apt., and managed to escape any damage. In 2002, hundreds of thousands lost power and my wedding was almost cancelled due to "dangerous weather." It wasn't, we celebrated, and promptly ran away to French Polynesia, where ice storms are as foreign as tsunamis are in Kansas. But now we live in a neighborhood with overhead lines and massive trees. I'm not sure we are going to escape this weekend with both heat and light. It seems a lot to ask.


I haven't been to the grocery store, go I guess I will be skating by there on my way home. And stopping by the beer store. Because a weekend like this requires both a porter AND a stout.

Monday, Monday

The new Blogger is ok, but now that we have the ability to tag posts (hey! welcome to 2003!) I am compelled to go back thru my archives and tag content. Ugh. It's like less of a present and more of a to-do list. I know how my evenings this week will be spent.

We had a birthday party to attend this weekend, at The Bulldog. I love The Bulldog for the following reasons:
1) It is across the street from the office.
2) They serve excellent beers on tap.
3) The piano player in the evenings can switch from John Mayer and Snow Patrol-esque tunes to Ice Cube's "Today Was a Good Day."
4) The people watching is fabulous, what with a strip club located right next door.

Anyway, this was a birthday party, and they had reseved the back room. The birthday boy's wife warned the staff that they would need more than one bartender, as they expected a large group. They only supplied one bartender for the party, and while I hope that his tips were good, I bet he wished that he had some help! When I got up to the bar and ordered a Bass & a Harp, he informed me that the group were great drinkers - he hadn't served a domestic beer yet, and the pace was astounding.

Happy New Year!

Omygod, I have to go back to work on Tuesday. It's been too long. I haven't gotten out of bed before 9 am in a long long time. Tuesday morning is going to be a little unpleasant.



We had a small Festivus shindig on Friday. The Feats of Strength were abandoned, and I was glad, because I really didn't want to see a bunch of late 20 to early 30 year old dudes wrestling in my living room. The Airing of Grievances were too late in the evening for me, and I was already nodding off. Or not speaking well. Or both. But it was fun, and I am so glad everyone came. Trey brought me a whole six pack of the New Belgium Brewery's 2 Below, which was really quite tasty. It was my first beer of the night, and I dug it a lot. I had tried to pick up some more Nutcracker Ale, but the store down the street was out, and the deadline for hiding the dishes was looming, so I thought I was out of luck. BeerAdvocate classifies 2 Below as an ESB, or Extra Special/Strong Bitter, which just means that it is a little more aggressive than your average beer in terms of hops and alcohol content, but nothing overpowering. It is really not bitter at all, but balanced between hops and malts. I drank it right out of the bottle, like a classy broad, so I didn't really look at color or head, but it is a basic copper colored ale, and it was quite quite tasty.



Mel & Nate (Melanie & Nathan? Sorry, I have an obsession with nicknames, because my name is nickname-averse...) brought me a bottle of this. Delirium Tremens. I cracked it open and immediately drank it all. (Except that little bit the Husband snagged.) Yummers. It is a Belgian Pale Ale, with 8.5% alcohol content. Whoo, but it didn't taste as strong as you would think. But I should have had more food at the party, this is for certain. I had to pour it into a pilsner glass, since that is what I had handy, and I had to share. The beer is straw-colored, almost golden, and the flavor is smooth, almost fruity. I thought that the mouthfeel was extremely light, but the Husband, who had been drinking Bud Light, called it a "thick beer." The head on this was super fluffy, and I caught some crap for bad pouring. Deserved, I am sure, but it had one heck of a head!


Nate/Nathan brought something dark and fierce and reminiscent of motor oil, from the Great Divide Brewing Co. I stole a sip and it was delish. Ah, here it is : Yeti Imperial Stout. I've seen their stuff pop up in KC stores lately, so I guess that will be my beer next adventure.


PLEASE be careful tonight, if you are headed out. It's amateur hour out there, so take cabs, be safe, and I hope that you greet 2007 with a tall glass of water and some quality time on the couch.

A Festivus! For the rest of us!

I'm bringing out the aluminum pole, preparing my list for the Airing of Grievances, and strength training for the Feats of Strength. Festivus is among us. Our celebration will be Friday, December 29th. It will be awesome. And there will be festive beer, like the Nutcracker Ale I bought last night. It is delicious. Mostly a warm, caramel tinged amber ale, this version gives a little sense of the season with pine, and maybe even citrusy twangs. The head on this beer is decent (thick & frothy) if you are lucky enough to find it on tap, but out of the bottle it tends to be weak and light. That's ok, if you never pour it OUT of the bottle, you kind of miss that part anyway!

Where Is My Mind?

I'm geeking out to The Pixies and The Flaming Lips. How you doin'?

Seeing my brother for an hour this weekend made me realize how much I miss the punk. I hate that half of my family lives 2,000 + miles away. We didn't even get to have that beer. No beverages, no conversation, no time. I wish I had more frequent flier flights. I'd be up there far more often. Far too often, I am sure. Holidays are making me very sappy. I rocked out with John Denver & the Muppets while making grandma's fudge recipe this weekend. And drinking a lovely thick porter. Hell to the yes, that's me. Shut up.

Random.
Ready?Set.Go!

I think that this is cool.
I ordered this for the husband at the last minute.
Who else wants to go do this?
I am going to be here in one year.
I got these fancy chocolates today, and I'd prefer to look at them than eat them.
Anyone else noticed that holiday sweaters are everywhere?

XXX-Mas

Mondays are hard. You deserve a beer for actually making it to work today. Since I can't make it, someone should enjoy this opportunity.

The 75th Street Brewery is holding a Sneak Peak Preview Party TONIGHT for their new seasonal brew, XXX-Mas Ale. 75th Street propaganda says that XXX-Mas Ale has a warm mahogany color and is brewed with five different spices. It has a malty-sweet taste and is a winter warmer at 7.2% alcohol. XXX-Mas Ale will be available for good on Friday, December 15th after 5 pm. So even if you don't make it today, you can have a glass starting Friday. (That's when I'll be there, after completing my shopping, on my day off. Yeah.)

75th Street Brewery
520 West 75th Street
Kansas City, MO 64114

Sniff, Cough, Sneeze, repeat

I have a gross, nasty, annoying cold. I have had a cold for a week and a half. I picked it up in Vegas, which just sounds disgusting. I'm living on pseudoephedrine, cough drops and Airborne. I can't taste anything. I needed to whine about it for a moment. Thanks.

B Side

Are we on the flip side yet? I'm exhausted. One more week until we do the Vegas thing, which I am SO looking forward to, I can't even explain. Fall used to be my favorite time of year, as a kid, what with the start of school and Halloween and my birthday. In high school and college it meant crunchy walks and football games. Now it means bagging 60+ bags of leaves and wishing it wouldn't rain again so I could paint the porch. Ah, adulthood. On the plus side, our kitchen is awesome. So awesome. I think I am going to have to learn to actually cook now. Baking and fixing dinner are not the same as really knowing how to cook. When things are happier, we'll have a party of some sort. Post-Thanksgiving, pre-holiday, perhaps? Dark beverages, fattening food, and the like.

I'm gonna sip Sam Adams like it's my birthday

My father-in-law and step-mom-in-law gave me beer for my birthday. A whole lot of beer. This beer. Because they had read my review. How crazy is that? I laughed and laughed. And I drank one last night. So lovely.

What I Want For My Birthday

YouTube and Blogger appear to be having some sort of lovers' quarrel. Click here to see.

Cool Liquour Stores

The Husband has been traveling a lot. Like gone all week, every week. And I've been working late. (It is fall, after all. The life of a media chick doesn't change that dramatically.) Add to that the fact that the Husband's 92 year old grandma is in the ICU, my mom comes to visit on Friday, my house is a wreck, the contractors will actually be destroying the kitchen AND bathroom on Halloween, the day before my 30th birthday, and well, I guess I am trying to say that I've been a little busy. So I haven't been drinking well. But I stopped by Batson Mission Liquor on my way home, and found out that they sell good beer, by the bottle, right up by the register. Tons and tons of cool beers. So if one wanted to try one Chimay, for example, one could. I dig it. I plan to return to grab a selection. Like, maybe in November. See ya on the flip side!

Why I Drink Shit Beer

Too many glasses of wine is typical with an expensive dinner. Ti many martoonis is ok when having a chicks night out. And a thick, dark, micro-brewed beer or four is cool when you can just chill. But some evenings call for something light, thin, not too alcoholic, and above all, familiar. I HATE getting hangovers. Every year I age, they become easier to acquire. So when I am settling in for the long haul, when I am drinking with people who drink fast and lots, I order shit beer. I have no idea how many I had last night. Lots. But I woke up feeling just fine. The other options spell trouble for me.

Wine drunk is fast, I get stupid, and I get hungover in the morning.
Gin also gives me a headache, usually before I even get to sleep.
Rum, tequila and whiskey drunks make me believe that I am always right.
Good beer makes my stomach churn & burn after too many. And I get full.

I think of excellent beer like, say, a good milkshake. I can absolutely LOVE a good milkshake, but it isn't appropriate for every time of day, or every place I go. Sometimes I just want an iced tea. I don't LOVE iced tea, but it has a purpose.

On some nights, I just know that there will be too many drinks going down the hatch, and depending on the company, or my plans for the following day, I plan my drinking accordingly. Shit beer is cheap. (Or at least cheaper than multiple cocktails.) It isn't heavy, I can keep myself from getting out of hand, and I know that if I go home at 2 am after drinking too many, I won't wake up feeling like a Mac truck ran me over.

So I say thanks to the makers of macro, light, tasteless, watery lagers. You made my morning not suck. And yes, I know what you are thinking. Shut up.

Date Night is Beer Night

I haven't seen much of The Husband lately. We've both been a little busy. I've been out of town when he is around, and he's out of town or in town and working 15 hour days when I am home. Saturday we were both in town on the same day, so went out for beer. We were both so tired that we didn't stay long, but we managed to grab the last freakin' Sam Adams Octoberfest that Tom Fooleries had in the house. They didn't expect it to go so fast, the bartender said. Not so fast? Duh. I love this stuff.

This beer ours a redish/orange brown with a white head. The smell is mostly of malt and almost sweet. The flavor is rich and bold and is of mostly malt, with hardly any hops to be found. It has a great balance of flavor and carbonation. It is very smooth, medium body but the beer has a thick flavor. It has a long, lingering aftertaste that some sweet notes that just add to the character. I wish I could get it all year round.

The Search for the Holy Grail

A friend of mine sent me a link to this last week, thinking that she had trumped me. “I bet you never had this beer!” Sorry, girlie, you can’t trump the beer girl. But really, I have to credit my youngest brother for introducing this one to me.

The label is all about Monty Python, stating that it is tempered over burning witches. If you are as dorky as me and most of my family, this is enough to make you buy it, regardless of taste.

BEDEVERE: What makes you think she is a witch?
VILLAGER #1: Well, she turned me into a newt.
BEDEVERE: A newt?
VILLAGER #1: I got better.
VILLAGER #2: Burn her anyway!
VILLAGER #1: Burn!
CROWD: Burn her! Burn! Burn her!...

Thankfully, it tastes pretty darn good, no matter your opinion of Monty Python. This is solid example of an English style pale ale. The English pale ale can be traced back to the city of Burton-upon-Trent, a city with an abundance of rich hard water. This hard water helps with the clarity as well as enhancing the hop bitterness. This ale can be from golden to reddish amber in color with generally a good head retention. A mix of fruity, hoppy, earthy, buttery and malty aromas and flavors can be found. Typically all ingredients are English.

This is a very drinkable beer, with enough character to be interesting, but not so complex as to remind you to drink it slowly. It is a copper colored ale, that pours with a frothy white head. It is a very balanced malt/hop combo, in my opinion, and has a very welcome snap, almost peppery. My husband’s exact words after taking a sip were, “Ah, fall beer! It is almost October, isn’t it?”

If you don’t like it, you can just go cut down the largest tree in the forest. With a HERRING.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

I am starting to love the beer podcast. Is it just me?

I saw an article yesterday, and it got me thinking about how Coors has a strange stable of beers. They produce all of the following:

Coors/Coors Light/Coors Extra Gold Lager
Molson Canadian
Keystone/Keystone Light/Keystone Ice
Killian's Irish Red
Zima (in 5 flavors)
Blue Moon (Belgian White & Pumpkin)
Winterfest (limited, seasonal)

So for the most part, they do cheap, light beer, targeted to the masses, who plan to drink a lot of beer, probably in a can, maybe while standing in a driveway. Right? Oh, and Zima for the girls who don't like beer. Because who drinks wine coolers these days, anyway?

The seasonal Winterfest is likely brewed to attempt to win awards and justify a handcrafted claim on anything they sell. And that's cool. But Killian's and Blue Moon are the odd balls, requiring completely flipped marketing and support. Coors Light or Keystone drinkers are not microbrew drinkers, but microbrew drinkers don't drink Blue Moon and Killian's. Which means they have to walk a fine line down the middle of the road. And the middle of the road is never a FUN! EXCITING! place to be.

Killian's has an identity crisis, being a dark beer brewed by a macro brewer domestically, but with a faux Irish heritage in the name. Coors will probably continue to postion it as a microbrew in order to justify higher price tags, but it could be a stand out at the lower end of the cooler.
BeerAdvocate reviewers were disappointed with it's super-filtered, clear appearance, quickly dissapating head and sweet aftertaste. Regardless of packaging or shelf positioning it may recieve, it is plain to the real beer snobs that this stuff is mass produced in the same way that Coors is done. My absolute favorite review comment was, “The 'exotic' beer you can find at your local dive bar when only other choices are Bud and Bud Light.” He followed this up with this, "Also, if being consumed at that same dive bar, be prepared to get crap from your macrobrew drinking pals or old college roommate about being a “Beer Yuppie”… (Don't feel bad for them, they have NO idea what real beer is.)"

You know I bounce back & forth from beer snob to crap-beer-lover, so some days this is fine for me, and others, not so much. It's kind of like everything else in life. Sometimes I like oatmeal, sometimes I don't. But fall is coming. The temperature is dropping, leaves are blowing, and I am remembering how much I love wearing hoodie sweatshirts. Thick dark beer happens to also represent my favorite season of all, so I suspect the reviews will get darker, as do the days.

Gallup Poll Notes from Big Shot Bob

Big Shot Bob posted this on his blog and I found it (and him) thru our trusty friend Google. I had to be a fan of anyone who names himself Big Shot, but really, it's all about the beer, and I like the info. Stolen directly from his blog...

10 reasons beer is better than wine

Wine's brief moment of glory in the sunshine of the Gallup Poll is done. After inexplicably tying beer last year as America's drink of choice and exciting the napkin-waving emotions of newspaper food editors across the nation, wine has slipped back into its proper subservient place.In the annual Gallup booze poll for 2006, beer reigns supreme once again – the first choice of 41 percent of Americans – and continues to be the biggest seller in volume and dollar sales, accounting for almost 60 percent of all booze sales. Anyone want to take bets on how fast the newspapers won't be to report this crisp, hoppy smack to the merlot-hole?In celebration, a list of reasons why beer is better than wine.

ONE
If you drink beer from the bottle instead of pouring it into a glass first, you’re just a guy. If you’re necking a bottle of wine – doesn’t matter how expensive it is, doesn’t matter how "exquisite" it is – you’re a drunk. Why do you think they call them “winos”?

TWO
Beer’s cheaper. Don’t tell me that’s not a good reason. You can’t pay much more than $25 for a single bottle of beer, maybe $40 in a good restaurant, and that’s going to be a big bottle of some rare Belgian specialty that’s so good your toes will curl. You can easily get two glasses of exceptional beer for under $15 anywhere. A $40 bottle of wine in a restaurant? At best it’s drinkable, but it will probably peel the paint off the walls when the waiter unscrews the cap. Wine is so stupid pricey it can even cost you your job.

THREE
Germans make beer; the French make wine.

FOUR
People know beer’s good without having to be convinced of it by some snot with a wine column. Easy to figure this one out: What do more people start on, beer or wine? Beer tastes like bread and spices and snappy citrus zest and a hundred other things, depending on how it’s made. Wine? On first taste, good wine tastes like fruit gone bad. You need someone to explain to you what it is about wine that’s actually pretty good. Because it is, I’ll admit it, but … it took me a while of wanting to like it before I did.

FIVE
Beer makes you sing AC/DC. Wine makes you sing opera.

SIX
Beer comes in smaller bottles; opening one is an easier decision. That seems like a trivial thing, but wine marketers are pushing smaller bottles lately. Smaller bottles cost less and there’s not as much in them, so people will make the decision to buy wine more easily. Beer’s already there. And we’ve got the whole draft thing, too. Point to beer.

SEVEN
Five percent of wine corks are undetectably bad and turn the wine in the bottle to crap. That’s why the waiter will give you the cork to sniff – or he did until too many ignorant people made fun of the practice. But that’s not the real reason that makes beer better than wine. That’s because even if a bottle of wine is corked, most people will drink it anyway, because they know wine’s not supposed to taste "good." Beer doesn’t usually go bad, but when it does, it turns skunky or sour or has floaters. This is nature’s way of letting you know that the beer is not good. Thanks, nature!

EIGHT
Wine drinkers always go on about vintages and great years and wines of the past. Hey, too bad for them. Vintages run out; the brewer can almost always make more beer that’s just as good as the one you loved.

NINE
Beer goes better with barbecue. And Thai. And ham. And cheese. And salads. And sausage. And bread. And crabs. And tomatoes. And waffles. And so on. In fact, if you read most wine books, there are a lot of foods an honest wine writer will admit just don't go well with any kind of wine. You can always tell when beer goes better with a food than wine does, because there’s an easy test. Ask a wine expert what wine goes best with the food. If they say “Riesling” or “Gewürztraminer,” beer tastes better than wine with that dish.

TEN
Beer is a much more direct drink: When a brewer wants beer to taste like fruit … he adds fruit. If he wants it to taste like smoke, he smokes some malt – with real smoke – and he adds that. Winemakers get different flavors by adding suggestions, imagination and hints: “You’ll taste smoke and hints of fresh herbs, with a flinty, mineral backsplash of firmness.” And if you don’t, goes the unspoken subtext, you’re stupid. Surprise, surprise – everyone says, “Yeah, I can really taste the herbs! Fresh herbs, wow!”

I found this because I was trying to decide what beer I would be having with spicy Thai noodles tonight. I still haven't decided

Once in a Blue Moon

I have a couple of friends who are obsessed with Blue Moon. It is one thing to always order the same thing where ever you go. (Ahem. Not unlike the total poser who writes this and orders a Miller Lite most of the time.) But to only go places that serve Blue Moon? That's a super fan.

Blue Moon is a Belgian White beer. What a Belgian White beer? BeerAdvocate says that it is:
A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due it being unfiltered and the high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, that's used in the mash. Always spiced, generally with coriander, orange peel and other odd ball spices or herbs in the back ground. The crispness and slight twang comes from the wheat and the lively level of carbonation. This is one style that many brewers in the US have taken a liking to and have done a very good job of staying to style. Sometimes served with a lemon, but if you truly want to enjoy the untainted subtleties of this style you'll ask for yours without one.

It is manufactured by the macro-brewer, Coors. Beer snobs find this horrifying. The assumption is that anything mass produced by the big dudes must be watered down, middle of the road, boring stuff for the unwashed. I think it just comes down to your own personal beer snobbery. I love a good beer, but then again I love almost all beer, so I think this is pretty good. Does another, small brewery make a better, more interesting White Belgian? Absolutely! But that isn’t available everywhere, is it?

When you pour the beer into a pint glass, it shows maybe a ½ inch white head that dissipates quickly. There isn’t any of that fancy lacing sticking around the sides of the glass like you get with thicker beers. It appears cloudy, and has a light yellow color. It smells like citrus, oranges, maybe coriander? It is very mild, in both smell and taste. Everyone drinks this with a slice or orange, and it isn’t unlike the more common lemon/wheat beer combo. It just works. It is fruity, light, and often called a summer beer. Translate: chick beer.

You got a dry Martini, thinking you're cool

I DVR'd the HBO stuff - now I have something to watch tonight. Last night The Husband & I went on a Sunday night date for overpriced raw fish and beer. It's ok that it was overpriced, because we factor in the added value of free entertainment. We people watch. And not really in a smooth or unobtrusive way, either. The martini-swilling, faux-society-set are not quite as intelligent, well-spoken or entertaining as Al Swearingen and crew, but it was still worth the price of admission. Although I really would have preferred to have been ready for this steamroller Monday when I crawled out of bed. Don't Mondays at the end of summertime after a night with beer always feel like steamrollers?

Beerfest

Doesn't this look like one of the stupidest movies, ummm, ever? Even the website is borderline retarded. It makes disgusting little farty noises when you select different areas. I'll probably see the movie, at some point, but I still have 100 free movie passes I haven't used and will probably expire before I drag myself to a theater.

There's a Tear in My Beer

It's like a divorce. Only with 300+ kids. If anyone needs someone with whom to drink a beer after this, y'all know who to call.

Go Inside And Get My Pickle

We had a party two weekends ago, to celebrate the new deck and The Husband's b-day. We bought volumes of beer, and some people made some comments about the state of our fridge. Primarily the fact that it contained no food, a few condiments, and lots and lots and lots of beer. We also had buckets of ice full of beer on the deck. We had a bit leftover, but it's been going quickly. Tonight will contain a trip to the liquor store. Sure, we have tequila and rum and vodka and mixers. But I am running out of beer. I am thinking about a novelty label like Black Sheep's Holy Grail, or maybe Bell's Oberon summer ale. Whatever it is, I need it to be kept really really cold. Weather.com says that at 6 pm, it will still be 93 degrees, and feel like 98. Better than yesterday - it was still 106 at 7 pm.

I'm a planner

A beer sort of girl should have a sort of Oktoberfest, don't you think? I'm planning a party. In the Sosenhausen Biergarten. That is now the name of my backyard. October is a long time to wait, but it also means I'll have a lot of time to prepare. And get the patio stones out of my imagination and into the area of the yard that I refer to as the mudpit. Start making your suggestions for bier now. You know you want to be invited.

My Own Private Idaho

Minus the pool. No chlorine in my eyes. But the screened porch and deck combo that I have been going on and on about, if only in my head, are almost complete. A ceiling fan spinning over my very own caged enclosure while I wait lazily for another beer to materialize magically. I know it is brought by The Keeper, but I can pretend whatever I want. It's my zoo, and the only one who ever stares from the other side of the cage is the neighbor's kid.

Oh, hello!

The 4 day weekend was perfect, completely relaxing and beer filled. Ahhh. So lazy.

Tonight I am going to happy hour at a wine bar. A lovely wine bar. JP's Wine Bar. A place where I drank $13 glasses of wine that I couldn't pronounce BEFORE I consumed them, never mind after. Tonight, I plan to delve into their beer menu. Any place that sells Chimay, Delirium Tremens, Nostradamus and Rogue Shakespeare Stout is a bar for me.

Four Day Weekend

I love summer holiday weekends. BBQs, things exploding, bug spray and sunscreen. And beer. Frosty beer bottles plucked from the big metal ice bucket that lives on a deck. That sounds like it is a beer tree or something. Hmm, beer tree.

So anyway, I am actually making a list of beers I want to drink this weekend. Beers that go with hamburgers, spicy BBQ, lots of friends, and that are perfect for kicking back in a screened porch, doing the Sunday crossword puzzle with a ceiling fan lazily spinning overhead. (I don't do soduku.)

So without much further ado, here is the 2006 Fourth of July Weekend Beer Girl List:

Sam Adams Light
Spaten Premium Lager
Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat (with a lemon wedge, please)
Hefeweizen
Shiner Summer Stock

Not Enough

I would link to this, but I lost my password for my online subscription, so for being difficult, the WSJ doesn't get a link.

Anheuser-Busch Considers Expanding Beyond Beer
The Wall Street Journal
Market forces are leading giant beer marketer Anheuser-Busch to consider moving beyond its core product offerings and into other alcoholic beverages. Earlier this month, A-B president August Busch IV acknowledged beer's sliding market share and said, "If this trend continues, we at Anheuser-Busch will have to re-evaluate our business model going forward in terms of expanding beyond beer and broadening our position within the total alcohol industry." His words caught many experts off guard, even though the company has already taken several small steps and formed alliances geared toward expanding its product portfolio. "I think a lot of people were surprised by it," said Lynn M. Walding, president of the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators and administrator of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, who was present at Mr. Busch's speech. "While [Anheuser] has been testing the mixed-drink market as of late, Mr. Busch's remarks suggest that greater inroads into the spirits category can be expected in the not-too-distant future." It is unknown what form Anheuser's interest in the liquor industry could take. One possibility is a joint venture or partnership. Anheuser already has its relationship with Bacardi, which recently acquired the upscale Grey Goose vodka line. Another frequently mentioned possibility is Louisville-based Brown-Forman Corp., maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.

There's more there, but I can't get to it right now. But I did find this little nugget on Sacbee.com 's Food section in May, stating that beer sales are at half of their peak. I'm saddened by this. I can't help it.

Brewing

So, some dudes here are starting a brew club. They are committing to brewing their own beer, and sharing. Amongst each other. They get boxes in the mail of tempting and delicious items like chocolate malts and whole hops. And I feel like someone's little sister for a minute, whining "me toooooo, meee tooooo!" in my head. Because I LOVE beer. I love hops. I love malts. I love cloudy batches of dark brews made with, "something new we tried." I loved the grainy, earthy smells of barley and hops and malts, wafting from a giant kettle behind the bar when Dave's Brewpub still existed. I could totally get into brewing my own beer. But then I'd have to go out & buy all the goodies & spend time obsessing & obsessing. And then I thought that it might cut into the 40+ hours I put in at work, the un-counted hours I put into my Husband's company, the remodeling projects & parades of contractors that I have going on at home, et cetera. Nevermind all the time I like to set aside to enjoy drinking beer. So I just hope they let me be a taste tester.

For Father's Day, Have a Beer with Dad

From Brandweek

Dads Saluted in Beer Industry Promo Effort
June 09, 2006 NEW YORK – The Anheuser-Busch-backed beer support group, "Here's to Beer," has rolled out another series of promotional spots, this time saluting the bond between fathers and their children. The new TV spot features award-winning broadcaster Joe Buck reminiscing about his father, legendary Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Jack Buck. The ad combines commentary from Joe Buck interspersed with historical footage and Buck family photos. Creative is by St. Louis-based Waylon, and the spot was produced by Park Productions. The ad will air throughout June on both broadcast and cable during high-profile sporting events including the World Cup, U.S. Open, Stanley Cup finals, NBA Finals and select MLB games. The trade group will also run a special print version of the ad in USA Today on Friday, June 16, in honor of Father's Day. "Getting together for a beer is a great way for fathers and their adult sons and daughters to celebrate the day, share stories and create new memories that will last a lifetime," Bob Lachky, evp-global industry development, Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement. "These new ads are a unique way to honor fathers and convey beer's place in family celebrations." In conjunction with the ads, "Here's To Beer" is hosting a consumer contest called "Who Would You Have a Beer With?" at HeresToBeer.com. In the first phase of the contest, entrants nominated anyone—famous or unknown—and provided 50 words or less to make their case. Five finalists will be selected to receive a video camera to record their stories, which will be posted on the Web site. Beginning July 24, consumers can visit HeresToBeer.com to vote on their favorite video. The creator of the winning video will receive a trip for four to the ultimate destination for beer lovers, Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.

Stick it in the fridge

The Husband's company open house is this Thursday. We went shopping this weekend for the stuff that doesn't require constant refrigeration, including wine & beer. It was a case of "two for the party, one for home." On pretty much everything. Good times. But even after all of those purchases, what did I end up drinking last night? Bacardi and cola. Because they get the job done.

Drinking & Driving

Not together, mind you. It's just the 2 topics of this post.

I was the last car to get hit in a multi-car wreck that took place on a residential street less than 1 mile away from my house. The back of my car is toast, but everything else is fine. Waiting for a check from the insurance company to fix my car....

Last night I went a-drinking, and I made a conscious decision to drink shit beer. Because I knew that I was going to have more than one (see above) and the Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale that I wanted has at least 250 calories in it. Miller Light has less than 100. I had 4. That's 400 calories versus the potential for 1,000. It doesn't taste great, but it is less filling. *sigh*

I really am Irish, I swear!

I'm going to O'Dowd's tonight, because those out of towners always think it's a good idea. Yeah, take me out and ply me with thick beer and a boxty. You know how to soften a gal up, don't ya? Happy Tuesday to me!

Fat Lip

Last night I had a Fat Tire. I haven't had Fat Tire in ages. I used to adore it. Back in my early beer snob days in college. I even have Fat Tire pint glasses in my cabinets at home. I didn't love it last night. *sigh* It felt like going back to see the town where you grew up, and realizing how small and run down and dirty everything looks. Is it that you didn't know better before? Is it that things have changed in your absence? Who knows why these things happen. Perhaps we have grown apart. Perhaps my love of browns and dark porters have ruined this amber ale for me. Perhaps we will meet another time and I will be smitten all over again.

The New Belgium propaganda page says this about Fat Tire:

Like the ageless delight of pedaling a bicycle, Fat Tire Amber Ale's appeal is in its feat of balance: Toasty malt flavors (sorta like biscuits just pulled from the oven) coasting in equilibrium with crisp hoppiness. Delicious stability - in the world of sometimes-precarious beer flavors – is perhaps what prompted one consumer who wrote us to say, "this beer just makes you smile."

I guess I am more of a fan of pronounced hoppiness now. There is still a bit of a bite to Fat Tire, but the "stability" of the hops and malts that they refer to seems more "middle of the road" than "delicious." Just my 2 cents.

Beer & a Haircut

This story caught my eye. Jude's Barbershop in Grand Rapids, MI is in trouble for providing a complimentary beer with haircuts. Jude's owners claim the practice of offering alcoholic beverages at no charge to customers is common in the hair and beauty industry. And it IS! Women get offered a glass of bubbly when they go to get a pedicure almost anywhere. Why can't a guy have a beer with his haircut? Just because the poor, deprived men of the Grand Rapids city council haven't had the pleasure doesn't mean that it is a BAD idea!

There is a new rockabilly retro hot rod hair salon in my town called Chop Tops. The whole idea cracks me up. The hairstylists wear retro duds, the walls are covered in pinups, the place has a glam-garage feel, and of course, beer in included in the price of a cut. I think that it is brilliant. If I ever decide to reclaim my bangs, I will go there to do it.

I’m nicknamed shamrock but my name is not shamus

This is NOT a song title. It is a lyric. I've grown tired of titles. It's my blog, my rules.
************************************
CaffeineGoddess already posted this, but I love it. Clicky clicky. It reminded me not to forget who I am. Because dammit, I am a beer sort of girl. I had skipped out on mas drinking con addies tonight. Sent The Husband as my representative. Decided to be all responsible and spent an hour working out instead. Amazing how spending time on gym & health food accounts will make you want to stay in shape, ya know? But now I am bored, alone and drinking Irish Ale with The Dog. I've already done some homework, called my mom, my dad, my sister-in-law AND my friends who are expecting a baby this week, & now am studiously avoiding doing any actual cleaning of the house. So to pass the time, I became a member of this. Becoming an actual priest costs money, but you get a lovely paper certificate to prove it.
Obvious topic o' the week: Friday is St. Patrick's Day. I'm Irish, I'm a beer sort of girl, and yes, I am taking a half day on Friday. Even though it is the 2nd worst amateur drinking holiday ever. (Topped only by New Year's Eve.) Don't drive anywhere on amateur drinking holidays. Even if the hardest thing you drink is apple juice. End public service announcement.

That's All

My two favorite subjects, together, in one CNNMoney Article.

Basically, beer needs a PR push, and Anheuser-Busch thinks that advertising is the answer. Cuz you know, wehn you gotta SELL something, you SELL it, right? My favorite quote from this article:

"Spirits are perceived as affordable luxury," said Ozgo. "People are more careful with their spending today. Maybe they can't buy a $40,000 BMW but they're willing to buy a good $60 to $70 bottle of Scotch. You don't get that kind of trading-up feeling with beer."

Good Night Sweet Girl

I know that I have been advocating a lot of dark beers lately, and it hasn't connected with all of you. Too many girly drinkers reading this blog, I suppose. So, ladies, tonight I bring you something most chicks should love. A shandy! A who? A shandy. Shandy is the shortened name of shandygaff, which is really a cocktail made with beer, or more specifically an ale. In some places in Europe, they add lemonade. In the Caribbean, they add ginger ale. I once overheard some dude who at an Irish pub tell the bartender it should be made with Sprite or 7up. The bartender didn't agree. Whatever you add, you should add half parts beer and half parts mixer. How's THAT for a girly drink?! It's like a wine spritzer, but made with beer.

My favorite is a ginger shandy, which a brewpub near me creates. It is a ginger beer, which is then mixed with something lemony and sweet. It is a very light, citrusy, summery beer. Chug-a-lug! You'll have to drink twice as much to keep up.

Llama School

When winter rolls around, and I'm working on insulating myself from the nasty bitter wind that blows, I drink a lot of *dark* beers. I know some of you are not fans of the dark brews. But I think it is because you are afraid. Be not afraid. A beer sort of girl will take you by the hand, and show you the dark side. It is not evil. It is rich, comforting, and delicious. So sit up straight, and be sure to grab your pens, pencils, paper, or if you insist on being all digital, your keyboard. You're about to get some learnin'.

Beer school is now in session. Here are a few types of dark beers, and how I describe them. In all fairness, I describe them this way because the Alström Bros explain things so perfectly, and they always nail it.

Porter - The porter style of beer is responsible for the cartoon image of a drunk swigging from a jug marked XXX. X's were used to denote strength, so one X would be less strong than XX. So you know this style of beer is OLD SCHOOL. It is also the father of the stout. Porter brewers learned that they could roast grains to make them dark, and this turned into the stout. Porters are dark, no doubt, but typically aren't made with roasted grains, and so have a slightly simpler taste. They're a little dry, like wine, but they pack a powerful taste punch. Just because they are dark does not mean they are the strongest beer around. Usually they are on par with your everyday average domestic light in a bottle variety of beer.

Stout - (my fave) - I described it in last week's beer post, but boiled down, this is a very very dark beer, that makes someone think about something rich, like coffee or toffee or chocolate. It isn't sweet like fruit beers can be, it can feel almost dry when compared to light colored beers. The main flavor of a stout comes from roasted barley. Carbonation is usually minimal in stouts, which is why they are usually put on a nitro tap in bars. The nitro sytem is what is responsible for that creamy, masking effect that makes pouring a Guinness so fun to watch. The big 3 are Murphy's, Guinness and Beamish.

Oatmeal Stout - A variation of the traditional stout, this came about when people thought that adding oats to the brewing mix would make the beer healthier. The side bonus is that oatmeal stouts tend to be a litle sweeter than traditional stouts. What you get is a very silky-smooth beer that has a BIG taste, but doesn't feel like you should have to chew it.

Tonight, however, I'm drinking another regular old stout. Because I like them! And I feel like I've earned it. I worked out today and everything. So there. Today's beer is Bridgeport Brewery's Black Strap Stout. I opened this beer almost 15 minutes ago, and then got side tracked by this stupid post. So it's been sitting awhile with only a few sips taken, and the head is still almost an inch thick. Regardless of how long I left it there, I have a feeling that it would leave lacy trails all the way down the glass as I drank it. (That's a good thing!) It totally smells like chocolate and coffee, with almost a cocoa taste immediately hitting me. After that dissolves, there's a little bitter kick of hops, with some molasses, and a dry, i-need-to-drink-more-now feeling left in my mouth.

Short but Funky

I'm freezing this weekend, and I want to drink beer. So I reach for a comfort beer. For me, this is the beer version of mashed potatoes. A stout! Today's beer is Sierra Nevada's Stout. Before anyone jumps down my throat about picking "bigger name" beers, I'll remind you that the beers I review/recommend are based largely on accessibility. There are thousands of amazing craft brews that can only be purchased in one place. That doesn't help me when I want to try something, and I can't get my greedy paws on it. And it doesn't help anyone reading this who lives in a completely different part of the world.

So Sierra Nevada is readily available at stores and bars across the US, and it's a good, solid stout example. A stout as defined by BeerAdvocate: "Inspired from English & Irish Stouts, the American Stout is the ingenuous creation from that. Thankfully with lots of innovation and originality American brewers have taken this style to a new level. Whether it is highly hopping the brew or adding coffee or chocolate to compliment the roasted flavors associated with this style. Some are even barrel aged in Bourbon or whiskey barrels. The hop bitterness range is quite wide but most are balanced. Many are just easy drinking session stouts as well. "

The official BeerAdvocate review states:
Appearance: A smooth black with leather hues around the edges and a creamy tan head with great retention.
Smell: Rich dark and on the dry side hints of fruit esters and grain aromas with a full earthy hop leaf nose, notes of ripe plum and light molasses are also detected.
Taste: A creamy full bodied brew with a roasted barley bitterness, notes of chocolate and a touch of caramel. High hop bitterness to balance that begins light, turns sharp and slightly tingly, eventually imparting its earthy flavour in the aftertaste and complementing the dry bitterness left from the roasted barley. The aftertaste stays with you for a very long time.
Notes: One of our favourite stouts; a well balanced brew showing both malt and hop complexities without one being the more dominant.

In plain english, this is one tasty beer with big flavor and a bit of a bite in the aftertaste. It is quite filling, so this is something I sip on for a long time. No pounding back stouts for me. I'd get full before I got drunk.

Ghost of a Good Thing

Today's beer is the one I had a wee bit too much of last night. I love my Ad Club cronies, and it's always a little too good of a time. Ad peeps can drink. I feel as though I have to represent too. I would be a terrible super hero. Free beer is my downfall, and everyone knows it. At least I know enough to anticipate the hangover, and actually planned to be out of the office.

Boulevard Pale Ale is an american pale ale, brewed by the Boulevard Brewing Company. I love most of their beers, with their seasonal Irish Ale being my top choice. The options last night were Pale Ale, Unfiltered Wheat, and Natty Light. Truly. People were drinking Natty Light as if it's an ironic thing to do. Blech. Just say no.

One reviewer on BeerAdvocate had this to say:
Appearance: Deep golden color; White-ish head dissipated quicker than I'd like (perhaps the glass had soap residue it).
Smell: Fruity, hoppy aroma.
Taste: Voila! A great mixture of several malts, with a bread-y character, and a hop dryness that lingered nicely.
Mouthfeel: Maybe a bit thin, but as this is 'just' a pale ale, I'm not going to be too critical of the weight in the mouth.
Drinkability: High. This is a great example of a midwest pale ale with a wonderful complexity, yet light enough to keep puttin' 'em back. I wish Boulevard beers were available in Chicago, but every time I've tried them on past trips or at beer fests, they have been consistenly good beers and I feel priviledged to sample them every chance I get. Nothing too esoteric, just very well-made beers. The pale ale is certainly a good example of this.

I can heartily back-up the fact that this beer has a high drinkability rating. I always drink more than I should. So instead of hording it all for myself, I share it with you all. Please save me from myself.

Everybody's Stalking

I tried to take Kunstemaecker's tip, and look for a Boeteling. I mean, a dude in Belgium has access to greater beer than I do in the middle of the middle of the U.S. But alas, all I can find is the reviews posted by other people who happen to live in Belgium. And certainly not anywhere that would ship to the middle of the middle of nowhere. Sorry, Kunst, this is why my beer selections are not always up to snuff. I gotta make do with what I can get my greedy beer paws on myself.

I need a beer mentor, me thinks. Even the pros need someone they can look up to. My friend AzianBrewer is not around a lot, and while I respect his opinions, I'm just not enough of a sake afficianado to really hang with him. YOU think you got what it takes? Lemme know.

So, I go back to the well. Back to BeerAdvocate. There are many who could be wonderful mentors. There's a dude on that site that actually TEACHES a BEER CLASS at a college. I might email & profess my undying love. Nah. Don't want to scare him off. Instead I'm internet-stalking him. I picked one of his favorite beers as the beer of the week. Is that creepy? Heh. Oh well! Mr. Mystery Beer Man loves Doppel Bocks. And I love Doppel Bocks! Tis fate.

The favorite is Salvator Doppel Bock, brewed by Paulaner-Salvator-Thomasbraeu AG in Germany, and is affiliated with Heineken, which makes distribution a snap. The review says:
Tinged with red and possessed of incredible clarity, the tan head is fed by extremely fine bubbles. This is a well made brew. The sweet scents in the aroma are unbelievable; candy and baked goods, dark berries and plum. Amazingly, the flavor delivers on the aroma. And that happens without overpowering the palate.

Love Letters

Sometimes when I reflect on all the beer I drink, I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, "It is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
-- Babe Ruth

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
-- Ernest Hemingway

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
-- Paul Hornung

24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.
-- H. L. Mencken

When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!
-- George Bernard Shaw

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
-- Benjamin Franklin

Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.
-- Dave Barry

Beer: Helping ugly people have sex since 3000 B.C.
-- W. C. Fields

Remember "I" before "E", except in Budweiser.
-- Professor Irwin Corey

To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a "support group." Salvation in a can!
-- Leo Durocher

Let's Go Moon Some Cars

Since it's Friday, and I plan to drink while I watch the Chiefs play tonight and hopefully eat BBQ that we pick up from the joint around the corner, I want a beer that can be drank in copious quantities, and will combat some serious spice. I'm thinking about something just slightly sweet, to kill that sauce burn. It's my beer version of orange or stawberry soda. And I want something familiar, since I do plan to drink more than 3. So today's pick is Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde. Shut up with your , "way to pick a girly beer," comments. It's good. It serves a specific purpose. And if you were allowed to come to my house & eat BBQ & watch football, you'd totally try to steal it instead of drinking bottles from the case of Bud Light that's at the bottom of the fridge. I know you!

Pete's Strawberry Blonde is a fruit beer. It will smell and taste faintly of strawberries. The Pete's site calls it a golden lager made of the finest pale and wheat malts and Cluster Hops, with a kiss of natural strawberry flavor. BeerAdvocate reviewers say things like:

Light bodied, Clear gold with only a slight hint of pink and a moderate head that produces a bit of lace.
The aroma is light malt and a nice strawberry.
Mild malt flavor with an overtone of strawberry..Strawberry flavor is definite but subtle enough to be enjoyed without being overdone. Mild hops flavor, well balanced. Very good for a fruit flavored beer. Drinkable and refreshing

That's high praise from a beer snob!

Do It Again

More pumpkin flavored beer? What the hell? I thought true beer fans don’t like fruit or veggie flavored beers? Yeah, well, this is a special occasion. I ordered this online, specifically after last week’s Beer Friday. So not only was it a special order, it was highly anticipated, which always makes everything better.

If you don’t like it, I don’t care. And besides, you know that in back of my fridge, behind the pitcher of OJ and the Country Crock, there are always bottles of Bud Light or Miller Lite. For when you need to drink for the alcoholic content, and not so much for the taste. Although when it gets to that point, I usually will point you in the direction of the 1.75 liter bottles of vodka or rum to do that job.

Back to the beer. I got it. My big FedEx’d box of Punkin’ Ale from the Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware. I proudly carried it home, and lovingly put each of the 6 bottles in the fridge. After a couple of hours, The Husband & I decided to start our punkin adventure. We opened the bottles and poured them into cold pint glasses. This is the first time we realized there might be a slight problem with consistency. My glass filled up with a gorgeous, reddish amber beer and formed a creamy, foamy head more than an inch thick. The Husband’s glass filled up with the same color liquid, but totally missed any head on his beer. Mine smelled a bit more like nutmeg and cinnamon than his did, and as far as taste, his glass definitely fell flat. We shared the 2 glasses, and went for a 2^nd go round, with new glasses, just in case. Same thing happened, one was great, one fell flat.

The great glass of beer looked beautiful, smelled delicious, and while it is definitely a clear beer, without any cloudiness, it feels substantial and almost creamy when you drink it. Almost like you are drinking the essence of pumpkin pie. It’s not cloying, or sweet, but it feels like fall, with a little snap and bite while making you feel all cozy inside. There is a malt base which comes out along with brown sugar, and a little pumpkin. I enjoyed it very much. If they can work on their consistency, in either the brewing process between batches, or maybe just while bottling, this would be a great beer, all of the time.

The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

My Punkin Ale from Dogfish Head Brewery arrived today. I knew it because the mail guy told me I had a package, and someone over 21 had to sign for it. Happy happy dance! Punkin Ale will be consumed tonight. Sweet. 7% Alc. by Vol. Oooh, drunken Thursday? No, I should go easy tonight. I've only been back in reality for one day.

I'll report back in detail tomorrow. Because tomorrow is already Beer Friday!

Make It Last

Fall is HERE, baby. I thought that I should dig up an old friend - a nice, fall-like beer for today. I’ll be serving pumpkin beer this fine Friday.

Yes, I said pumpkin. It’s ok, don’t panic. Have I ever lead you astray before? (No, don't answer that, I remember the unfortunate rum punch episode.) Just trust me this once, grab your kool-aid & follow me.

I would really like to serve this beer. I haven't tried it yet, but I just ordered some online. Can I just say that I love the internet? Anyway, Punkin' Ale, which just sounds cool, is described as a full-bodied, spiced brown ale brewed with real pumpkins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale is named after the annual Punkin' Chunkin Festival held near Lewes, Delaware the weekend after Halloween.

I don't live near the Punkin Chunkin Festival grounds. I live a lot closer to the middle of nowhere than Delaware. (Although I suppose saying the Delaware is somewhere could be argued as well.) Lucky for me, there is a brewery called the O’Fallon Brewery, located in O’Fallon, MO. That’s sort of near St. Louis, for those who are wondering, and their beer is distributed in my city. Their site is pretty rudimentary, so we won’t link to it. But they don’t lose points for that, because when your business is beer, and you make good beer, I’m willing to overlook poor web design. They make a seasonal Pumpkin Ale, released each year on Sept. 1. Feel free to check out the reviews at BeerAdvocate.com . One such review states:

it's lightly cloudy with a weak head, but the color holds a bit of the orange glow, so the appearance mustered up an average rating. sweet aroma with hints of clove and solid cinnamon: nice. the flavor is a great balance of sweetness and a dose of the requisite spices; not overdone as some brewers have the tendency to do. clean finish with lingering pumpkin flavor and cinnamon. a proper pumpkin beer if ever there were one. recommended.

I hope you like it. If you drink too much, you might do something stupid, worse, make yourself sick.

Jenny From The Block

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got
I'm still, I'm still Jenny from the block.

WHY is this song in my head today?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Since it's torturing me, I thought I'd share the joy. And although it's a stretch, I thought I could use it to describe why the beers of the day ARE the beers of the day. Cuz you never forget where you came from. And I came from this. Domestic, canned, light, beer. It's not about taste. It's about experience. For me, it's usually summer & fall outdoor activities. Sitting in a parking lot before a football game, a backyard BBQ with a huge crew of friends, ice cold beer sweating in an ancient beer coozie that has a long-gone radio station's logo on it.

It's served ice cold because that's when you can taste it the least. Not that there's much to taste, anyway. But it's cold, it's alcoholic, and it's fizzy enough to make the men start burping like champs only 2 beers into an evening. It's CASUAL beer, as if most people think there is any other kind.

Standard choices are:
For those who believe they are too hip for that jazz, I also offer these old "yard beers":

C.R.E.A.M.

Beer of the weekend is Samuel Adam's Cream Stout. Sam Adam's site says it's the cappucino of beers:

Samuel Adams® Cream Stout is a true cream stout, balancing body and sweetness with the natural spiciness of grain and hand selected English hops. Our Brewers use generous portions of roasted chocolate and caramel malts as well as unroasted barley to impart a fullness of body, a roasty malt character and rich, creamy head. Its dark mahogany color make it almost as easy on the eyes as it is on the palate.

BeerAdvocate reviewers agree:
Pours black with large brown head. I definitely taste chocolate, but not over sweet. Along with that I taste caramel, roasted coffee. Its all pleasent to the taste buds. For a stout the drinkability is amazing. I will revisit the beer again and again.

As the beer flowed from the bottle it created a beautiful dark, almost black pool im glass that was topped with a delightful tan head that had true staying power. Smell is an intoxicating mixture of chocolate, coffee, caramel, plums, prunes, raisins, and figs. Taste is superb, with just the right combination of roasted malt, coffee, and dark fruit. Finishes with a magnificent dryness to create a perfect ending. As you may guess, I really liked this beer.

Beer Girl says it's good, so drink it!

I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do

Per LE's suggestion, today's beer is Warsteiner. Now, I am aware that Warsteiner has the dubious distinction of being known as "the best selling German beer." Rarely does "best selling" translate into "best tasting." So let's be honest. I am not sayint that this is the world's best beer. But it's different than the big domestic brews and ordering one it makes one feel slightly more interesting, without having to chew down a dark, thick porter that they really don't like anyway.

Most people identify the kind of Warsteiner they are drinking by the color of the label, Johnny Walker-style. The 2 most popular types in the US are the Premium Verum, aka the all gold label, and the Premium Dunkel, or the gold & silver label. They are totally different beers. I'll do both, with propaganda from the Warsteiner site as well as reviews from BeerAdvocate.

Warsteiner says:
Premium Verum is a pilsner style beer with a smooth, rich-full bodied taste wrapped in a thick creamy head and a refreshing hop finish with no aftertaste. Warsteiner quenches the beer lover's thirst for a clean, crisp, refreshing beer taste. Best when chilled to a temperature between 46 and 50 degrees.

BeerAdvocate reviewers say:
Pours a clear golden yellow, white head forms but goes quick, little lacing. Smell is sweet and malty, little tiny bit of hop presence. Tasty is sweet malt, some citrusy hops, nice clean bitter finish. Thin mouthfeel but the carbonation is nice, not bad at all. Not amazing, but a good, solid pilsner.

Warsteiner says:
Premium Dunkel "German for Dark" offers beer lovers incomparable taste satisfaction with its subtle spiciness, delicate aroma, and balance. What makes premium Dunkel distinctive among dark beers, is its thirst quenching, refreshingly drinkable flavor. This is a traditional German dark brown lager , described as being neither sweet nor roastily dry, with a slight spicy maltiness and a clean round finish. It has a reddish-black color which is almost opaque.

Beer Advocate reviewers say:
Pours a coffee brown with medium foam, no lace. Nose is malty with very faint grassy note. Taste is smooth and malty with noticable low-medium hop lingering bitterness and hints of caramel. Well-balanced and very drinkable. Would go with cheese, most meats, beer food. A little too heavy for very light fare.

Whichever suits your mood, grab a beer, pull up a chair, and let's start off the weekend!

Down In The Dark

I wanted another fall beer today, despite the weather continuing to push the limits of summertime. Today's projected high is 92 degrees. Blah. The fall sweaters are on display in the stores, I've already been trying on cute little winter coats, and the Halloween candy is already taking over the grocery store. I'm ready for fall NOW.

It's Friday, and it's Beer Friday. And today, we're drinking 1554 Brussels Style Black Ale. A Belgian Dark Ale brewed by the New Belgium Breweing Company. I love most of the beer brewed by the new Belgium Brewing Company, really, but I haven't had any in quite a while. BeerAdvocate's reviewers had quite a few nice things to say here. The company's site described the beer like this:

Phil Benstein, our resident rumpled professor, stumbled onto Zwartbier in an 1888 tome creatively named “Popular Beverages of Various Countries.” He had trouble convincing brewmaster Peter Bouckaert that such a beer existed back in 16th - century Belgium, so the pair made two trips to Belgium to research this obscure style in the archives of Belgium’s specialty brewers. The oldest reference to these black beers that our dynamic duo uncovered was in the year 1554.

Other than being dark in color, 1554 has little in common with Porters or Stouts. The beer is fermented at relatively high temperatures using a European lager yeast that imparts a refreshing, zesty acidity. Chocolate and coffee tones in the nose give way to a surprisingly clean finish. With 1554 our staff hoped to create a beer similar to what folks enjoyed nearly five-hundred years ago without ignoring five-hundred years of technological innovation.We hope you’ll agree that 1554 is the delicious result of a lot of well-spent library time.

You can't buy this beer east of the Mississippi, so this is one good thing about living in my part of the midwest. Here's a map of where you can buy this:

Hope you enjoy it. Have a great Friday & a happy weekend!

September

Beer is good, beer is great...

"They who get drunk on other intoxicating liquors fall on all parts of their body; they fall on the left side, on the right side, on their faces, and on their backs. But it is only those who get drunk on beer who fall on their backs and lie with their face upwards." -- Aristotle

"Beer is living proof that God loves us & wants us to be happy." -- Ben Franklin

I love beer. Today I love this beer: Harpoon's Oktoberfest.
Harpoon's site says this: Of all Harpoon beers, Octoberfest takes the most time to brew, adding to its complexity and smoothness. A blend of six malts imparts a smooth, medium body, balancing a medium hop bitterness. This legendary beer is brewed for celebrations. Prosit!

A reviewer on BeerAdvocate says this: Gorgeous Coppery orange color with 1/4" khaki colored head that faded a bit. Fruity malt aroma; sweet malt back is highlighted by fruity yeast smell, caramel, fresh bread, and black cherry notes. Good body. Crisp malt to start, malt is somewhat dry compared to the sweet aroma. Slightly bready but mostly toasty malt taste. Finish has a good earthy/ herbal hop twang with slow bitterness that makes the dry malt crawl off the tongue. I'd take this one over Otter Creek's Oktoberfest anyday.

Beer Girl says that I like a lot of oktoberfests, and while the above reviewer says he'll take it over Otter Creek anyday, I'm not so sure. Otter Creek was pretty darn tasty. Not having both in front of me, I can't really do the comparison, but this is good stuff, either way. Cheers!