Beer — Twofer Again

It had been a rough day and I was getting desperate. I was in Port Huron, MI and the beer quest was going very badly. A Kroger’s and three liquor stores and the wildest things I could find were a couple different six packs of Bell’s and the Sam Adams collection. I was so desperate that I ALMOST tried another Bud attempt at a microbrew. But there was one last place off to my right. It looked small and my hopes were hanging by a thread.

Then I walked in and found an oasis of beerness goodness. It may not be the best beer store I’ve ever been in but, based on my experience,  it’s got to be one of the tops around Port Huron. The young man behind the counter was clearly a beer fan and knew what he was talking about. He informed me that they would be having a beer tasting at the end of March and that they would have tastings of Short’s beer. He gave me the good news that Short’s will be releasing Huma Lupa Licious in a bottle (we’ll see if that’s a good thing or not).

Check them out: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14379/?view=beerfly

It was hard to choose because there were a fair number of beers I hadn’t seen before. I opted for two.

Sierra Nevada used to be one of my go-to beers when I found myself in a bar or restaurant that had a crap selection. For some reason, they would generally have the Pale Ale in a bottle or on draft. So, when I saw this, I had to try it. It was tough because there were several other beers that looked more interesting. This won because it promised hops. Lots of hops. I wanted to see what Sierra Nevada would do with it.

Be warned, to see these beers, I had to pour them into a hotel plastic cup. Not ideal but I wanted to see them.

Torpedo had a nice head. It quickly filled half the glass with fine bubbles. The color was lighter than I expected. It’s like a lager with a hint of red. The hops hits right away. Strong hops aroma, and it isn’t an overload of the citrus cascade scent. Cascade is not my favorite hops. It can be overwhelming to me and I don’t like the way the citrus overpowers the flowery/herbal nature of hops. They curbed that citrus a bit, in the smell and the taste. It’s still there on the tongue but the hops taste shines through. This is no Huma Lupa Licious but you don’t always need hops overkill (although it doesn’t hurt…).

It’s light in body for what I would expect from an “Extra IPA” but I liked it. A good drinking beer. Worth a try.

The Dogfish selection at Ryan’s had me drooling (except for that shitty raisin thing). I could have walked out with a number of Dogfish products. It was hard to choose because they offered so many interesting options and all I see where I live is the 60 Minute IPA, the 90 Minute IPA, and the raisin crap. It was hard to pass up the Golden Era (which I’ve just learned was once called Golden Shower — nice move on the name change) but I had to because I decided that I needed to step away from the holy hops for a few.

This bad boy is dark. Really dark. Black. But if you hold it up to the light you can see these beautiful flashes of red. It filled to about 1/3 head and 2/3 beer; a tan head that dissolves in short order. No hops in the bouquet of this one. You get an alcohol whiff like you would from a Double or Imperial IPA, or a Belgian Dubble or Tripple. You also get a hint of the vanilla that the wood brings to the mix. It has a medium body. The first taste is a mixture of the alcohol and the vanilla. Very different. Then the smoke begins to hit and you’re sure this is a brown ale. It isn’t a wimpy brown; I’m not as beer smart as I should be but I’m thinking I haven’t seen too many 12% brown ales. After all the wimpy browns I’ve had, I’m glad to have tried this one. The weird thing is, once you’ve processed that smokey brown ale flavor, you get that sweetness on the tongue like you’ve just had a Belgian Dubble or Tripple (so don’t overdo it). Another beer worth trying. Not a 60 Minute IPA but there are so many bland brown ales out there that this one kept my interest.

Beer — Twofer

I can’t claim to be a Budweiser fan. Even as a teenager, before there was such a thing as microbrew, I hated Budweiser.  But I would like to enjoy Budweiser. Hell, they’re Belgian now and Belgians know how to make good beer. Anyway, with much trepidation and a bit of hope, I decided to try the American Ale. The name seemed suitably pretentious for a beer from a company that thinks rice is a main beer ingredient and hops is not.

Sure, sounds like the rants of your typical beer snob. Guilty. While typing this, I’m enjoying a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. When they aren’t throwing nasty things like raisins into a beer, the Dogfish folks make a mean beer. Anyway, I bought one of the large bottles because I am weak in faith and didn’t want to buy a six pack. Decided to try it with some spicy Chinese food. It wasn’t as bad as Budweiser. It had a hint of that same skanky Budweiser pseudo-malt but to a lesser extent. It might have had a tad bit more body and it certainly had hints of hops. Hints. Don’t go getting all excited, I said hints. There is just no avoiding that Budweiser taste, though. So, if my only three options were Budweiser, Bud Light, and “American Ale,” I might actually choose the American Ale. If there are other choices, this would beer would never make the list.

Founders is a strange brewery for me. In most cases, I prefer the draft product to bottled if a brewery provides both. With Founders, the beers I’ve had onsite have been ok, but not fantastic. However, some of their bottled beers have been great. I like the Dirty Bastard, the Centennial IPA, the Dry Hopped Pale Ale, the Breakfast Stout and the Double Dancer.

Double Trouble is a very nice double IPA. It has all of the hops and all of the body but it doesn’t go overboard trying to balance things. So, it isn’t as sweet as some of the double and triple IPA’s get. You get the hops but it is drier (less sweet) than many of the competitors. Unfortunately, I was not in a position to put the beer into a glass, so I can’t comment on the color or head. I can say that it was (to me) a medium bodied beer with a nice hop finish and a strong alcohol warmth to it.

Oh, and the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA is phenomenal. Probably better than either of these beers.

Beer — Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest

My expectations for this one were high. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is usually my goto beer if I find myself in a bar or restaurant that doesn’t have local beers available. It’s a nice hoppy little ale.

My expectation was to find a special beer with an intriguing hop profile. Unfortunately, this is not what I found. The body is a bit thin, there is no noticeable hop flavor at all and very little hop aroma. The hop bitterness is certainly there but that’s as far as it goes. Certainly nothing to suggest it is a fresh hop ale. It was not a pleasure to drink and I forced myself to finish it because it was nearly $6 for the bottle.

Beer — Roxy Rolles

This will be brief. I can’t describe the color of this one because I drained it from the bottle.

I haven’t been a huge fan of Magic Hat beers. They are good but they haven’t wowed me. Tonight, I found this beer at a local grocery store. It is described as a hoppy amber. I like amber. I really like hoppy. Seemed like a natural fit so I had to buy a six pack.

It has a very nice hop aroma. It’s a forward scent but it isn’t overpowering.  The beer is medium bodied (to me) and you definitely get that smooth taste of an amber. The malty sweetness is very subdued. Then the hops hits. The hops is pronounced but not overly bitter. It also isn’t overwhelmingly citrus, like many of the west coast beers. Very tasty. Very nice. Very much worth trying.

Beer

Disclaimer: I am not a beer expert. I have not been trained in the mysterious ways of beer judging. Anything said here should be considered the ramblings of a madman.

Quite some time ago (probably around 12-13 years ago), there was a brew pub in Lawton, MI called Duster’s. The story of that brew pub is tenuous in my brain, so my history may be more mythical than reality. As I recall, it was started by a man who was a crop duster. There was a crop dusting motif within the pub that gave it a true pub atmosphere. They really didn’t have much in the way of food at the time and the staff were downright surly. More than once, I had an argument with the waiter over what they charged me.

The lack of food didn’t matter. The pissy attitudes of the waitstaff didn’t matter. They had a good red (I think) and this remarkable IPA. To be fair, they may be one and the same beer, I can’t remember. Whatever their attitudes, they knew how to make beer. This was back when micro-breweries were just beginning to form (at least in Michigan). It was an exciting time for anyone who despised Budweiser.

This beer that we liked was the most aggressively hopped beer we had ever tasted. We were convinced that it would take the paint off your car and straighten pubic hair (sorry…). My drinking buddy has a bit of a reaction to hops. When he had this Duster’s beer, he would begin to sneeze uncontrollably. After a few minutes, he would get himself under control and happily finish off his beer. It was that good. Note: there is now a beer that may be close in hop aggressiveness. It is Huma-Lupa-Licious, by Short’s Brewing in Bellaire, MI. It’s another mega-hopped beer that you will hate if you don’t love hops. Short’s is another brewery worth visiting but that is outside the scope of this posting.

Duster’s was then purchased by Larry Bell (of Bell’s Beer fame). Our favorite beer disappeared and we stopped heading out to Lawton. Arcadia, Bell’s and Kraftbrau were closer and there were just no compelling beers to be found there anymore. It appears that The Old Hat has since been purchased by the brewmaster that Larry had put in charge of the brewery. They now serve food (good bar food) and sometimes have live music.

Tonight there was a bluesy band. They were good. The food was good. The beer…interesting. The Old Hat seems to trend toward maltier beers, which I like, but which aren’t my favorites. I got a sampler of all their beers and wrote quick notes about each. If you know how to evaluate beer, you won’t like my descriptions. My ignorance knows no bounds. The beers were all tasted in small sampling glasses, so it was harder for me to get the scent. Having said that…

Station 1300 — This is their “light” beer. I’m not fond of light beers but I enjoyed this one. It has a light body and a good color. There is a nice hint of hops that gives it character but it isn’t a hoppy beer; you get the sense of hops but not the bitterness. This would be a good quaffing beer. 4.5 out of 5.

Pumpkin Ale — One of my rules is, keep fruit out of my beer. I’m sure there are good examples of beer with fruit in them, but aside from the Belgian ales, I’ve not found them. This beer has the spices associated with pumpkin pie. To be honest, it was better than I expected. It wouldn’t be my favorite and would have to be saved for special occasions, but it was drinkable. It has a light body and the nutmeg/cinnamon taste is prominent. 3 out of 5.

Hefe Weizen — It definitely has the unfiltered look you expect from a hefe weizen. It also has a light body. There is a pronounced banana taste to it. There is a hint of the yeast flavor that I associate with the wheat beers I’ve had in Germany but that taste yields to the banana. My drinking buddy for the evening loves wheat beers. He liked this but felt it was stronger in taste than either Oberon or Whitsun (he preferred Whitsun but liked them all). To me, it was pleasant; another quaffing beer. 3.5 out of 5.

Red Lager — This was light red in color and bitter. It is bitter but not hoppy. It seemed like a more carbonated, lighter IPA. The malt keeps the bitterness from being overwhelming. It isn’t sweet like some of the other reds I’ve had (but they were probably ales). 3.5 out of 5.

Pale Ale — This beer is copper colored. It has a more balanced hop/bitterness that makes it fairly smooth. 3 out of 5.

Cherry Baby — (cherry weizen ale). This beer is more coppery colored and is clearly unfiltered. You get your nose near this one and it screams cherry. The cherry overpowers in the scent and in the taste. It was like drinking bitter maraschino cherry juice. I’m sure there is an audience for it but I hated this one. The overpowering cherry essence probably hit me the way my favorite hoppy beers hit others. 1 out of 5.

Lug Nut Brown Ale — This is a dark beer. Possibly Porter dark. It is light-bodied, smooth and malty. If I had to describe it, I would call it a Porter Light. It’s a good beer but not one I would drink often. 3.5 out of 5.

Billy Bock — This was also coppery colored and appeared unfiltered. It is light bodied with a hint of fruit. It is not sweet or as full-bodied as other bock’s I’ve had. In fact, it’s not very sweet at all, which is good. To me, it just didn’t have a lot of taste or character. 2.5 out of 5.

Scotch Ale — This is reddish in color and medium bodied. It has a definite bitterness to it. Again, it is not as sweet as I would expect but it is more bitter than I would expect. There is a definite hint of the roasted malt to it. It doesn’t have that strong sense of alcohol that may Scotch Ales seem to have. Without that and the sweetness, it’s a more refreshing version of a Scotch Ale. 4 out of 5.

Coffee Porter — This has a good, dark color. It is fairly light-bodied with a medium roasted malt taste. The hint of coffee plays well with the malt and keeps it pretty smooth. 4 out of 5.

Stubbin Stout — This has the expected color. It is smooth. It has less body than the Porter and a smoother roasted malt taste. Another easy drinking beer. It isn’t Guinness but I don’t think it’s trying to be. 4 out of 5.

All in all, I enjoyed the beers. The maltiness without a pronounced sweetness was refreshing for me. It made the beers more drinkable. The waitstaff is now MUCH more pleasant also…

Beer

My brother-in-law called one day to say that he would be visiting from Minneapolis. He said that he would be bringing along a canned beer for me to try. Being a bit of a beer snob, I was not impressed. Beer in a can? I’ve had that crap and it isn’t good. That’s like buying beer in a green bottle.

He arrived and handed me a four-pack of 16 ounce cans. They were held together by a six-pack ring that had had two rings cut off. Boy, I was even more impressed now. Beer in a can and the brewer had even gone cheap on the rings. The name was interesting though. It was called Surly Furious. The can had a nice design. Damn…

Surly Furious Can

Pop the top and you’re hit in the face by a blast of hops aroma. Now we’re talking. Hops is what I live for. Lack of hops is apparently why I didn’t like beer until I got away from the mass produced brands in the U.S.

We poured the can into a pint glass. The beer had a great color and a nice head on it. And the taste? Excellent! It has a good body and a great taste. The hops blends well with the malt but it is definitely a very hoppy beer. It has a good strong hops taste without that ultra citrus taste that some of the American breweries seem to favor with their Cascade hops. They say they use a blend of four different American hops. Whatever the blend is, it’s fantastic.

Without question, the best canned beer I’ve ever had. Cheers to Surly Furious.