Catching up

“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” 
              ― Ernest Hemmingway

I realized the other day that it's been way to long since my last update. I'll do my best to remember all that I've tried in the last month. So here we go...

First up is a beer from one of my favorite breweries, Ommegang out of Cooperstown, NY. This is Hennepin, another delicious ale, slightly hoppy, an effervescent similar to champagne, and an incredible head, frothy and creamy.

Ommegang Hennepin

Next is a local Cleveland brew, Lighthouse Gold by Crooked River. This is my first one of Crooked River's brews that I have had, I must say I quite enjoyed it. It had a very mild flavor, medium to light body, no bitterness, and quite refreshing.

Crooked River Lighthouse Gold

I have also been working on my world beer tour at the Winking Lizard, here are a few that I've had there recently. First up is Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. I haven't been a fan of Sierra Nevada in the past, I have had their pale ale and didn't care for it, a bit too hoppy for me. Summerfest was quite good, it was refreshing, smooth light mouthfeel, with a slightly bitter finish.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest

I let my wife pick my next tour beer and I must say she did a FANTASTIC job! She picked Schieder-Weisse Tap 7 Unser Original. I'm a big fan of wheat beers and this one is no exception. It has a light body, nice malt flavor and smooth, refreshing mouthfeel. I also liked the fact that it comes in 16.9 ounce bottles!

Schneider-Weisse Tap 7 Unser Original

The glass of the month at the Winking Lizard for May is Oberon, a wheat ale from Bells Brewery in Michigan. Not only do you get a sweet tall glass perfect for hefeweizens, I got a fantastic pair of red sunglasses too. This came served with a slice of orange on the rim, normally I don't care for fruit garnishes but this one was nice. As you getting ready for a sip you get the aroma of the orange then when the beer hits your mouth the spices used in it compliment the citrus aroma. I'm definitely going to have this one again.

Bell's Oberon

Next up is one that I did not care for. It comes from Atwater Brewery in Michigan, their Vanilla Java Porter. I've become a fan of porters and stouts, love the Vanilla Porter from Breckenridge, so I figured I'd give this one a try. I was dissappointed, initially the vanilla start to the flavor was good, then the coffee hit and it just went downhill. It has a medium body with a heavier mouthfeel that I would have expected. 

Atwater Brewery Vanilla Java Porter

Finally, returning to Ommegang for Rare Vos. This one was so good I wanted to swim in it. This is an Belgian amber ale with a hint of spices and the fantastic head that every one of Ommegang's beers have. Smooth flavor, medium body, and smooth, refreshing mouthfeel, there is nothing to not like about this beer.

Ommegang Rare Vos

Until next time...

World Tour Update

“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

Here is the latest update on my progress on the Winking Lizard World Tour of Beer. After a couple of trips to WL I have completed 8 beers, had a bit of help from my buddy Mike with a couple of them. Anyways, I continue to enjoy testing new waters and am becoming quite fond of stouts.

First up is the glass of the month for April, Hazed and Infused by Boulder Beer. This had a nice light citrus taste to it, medium body and mouthfeel, and a pleasant bitter finish. It was quite refreshing and will make an excellent summer drink. Part of the special from the month was a free t-shirt, bonus!!!

This glass was added to my collection

Next up was an oatmeal stout by Anderson Valley. The one is dark, but don't be afraid it's not a heavy bodied beer. The head on this one was beautiful, nice light mahogany color and creamy. You could smell the roasted barely in this one, the taste? Fantastic! It was creamy, smooth, with a bit of a coffee taste. I could see drinking this for breakfast with a nicely toasted english muffin. I did love the logo too, a bear with antlers?? Genius!!!

Next was certainly a weird beer, 5 Lizard Wit by 5 Rabbit Brewery. This is a traditional Belgium witbier but instead of orange peel they used lime peel. It has a unique flavor, very strong lime flavor that rests in your mouth. If you don't like lime flavor this is not the beer for you. It also had a strange color, almost a neon yellow.

Lime lovers drink up!

Lastly was a beer that I have read a lot about as I've been researching recipes for homebrewed oatmeal stouts, it is Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. This comes from a very old brewery in Yorkshire, UK. I was very excited to try this one after all of the glowing reviews that I had read. As expected it was very dark with a nice thick light brown head. It is a medium/fully bodied beer with a smooth mouthfeel and a bitter finish. This is definitely a beer not to drink cold as you'll miss all the flavor. I enjoyed it, but I was a bit disappointed. I think the Oatmeal Stout by Breckenridge and Anderson Valley is better. That's not to say I wouldn't order this one again. 

Until next time....

The Tour Begins!

• I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.

- Frank Sinatra

So tonight I started my world tour of beers at the Winking Lizard. I plunked down my $20 and looked at the list of about 200 or so beers to choose my first one. So difficult to choose, should I go for a draft or a bottle? So many choices.....

Then I saw it, a beer I heard about from a guy I met at the Portland airport who I struck up a conversation with about beer when he saw me reading The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. We started talking about homebrewing and that led to what beers we enjoyed. I saw one of his recommendations to me on Winking Lizards list... Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. This is a good beer! It has a nice red color to it, smooth mouthfeel with a bit of bitterness at the end but enjoyable. I'm starting to enjoy the bittern flavor of the hops. As I continued to peruse the list of beers I noticed the ABV on this one is 9%....and I'm drinking it on an empty stomach...

Dogfish Head 90 Minutes IPA

Needless to say I didn't drive home. I finished my first of 100 beers on the tour and again returned to reading the list and trying to figure out what I wanted to try next. I ended up going with New Belgian's Fat Tire, an amber ale. If you have read any of my earlier posts you may remember that I had previously tried Snapshot by New Belgian, a wheat beer, and wasn't all that impressed. This one was a different story. It has a fantastic medium body to it. No bitterness whatsoever. It was very refreshing and I could see drinking this one on a hot summer day. It also came in a fantastic glass, you may see it again.

Fat Tire by New Belgian

 So the tour has started and by the end of the year I need to have gone through 100 of the 200+ choices to earn my jacket. There is a halfway gift of a hat and a stretch goal at 150 of a hooded sweatshirt, that's my ultimate goal. I will have to return to the Lizard shortly to try the glass of the month, with the purchase of the beer you get not only the glass but a t-shirt! 

I will also come home with the list of beers available for the month to scan and post. I'm looking for suggestions to drink, what are your favorites? After I post this month's list let me know what your recommendations are. Until next time....

What the experts say

Thanks to my favorite Rabbi, here's an article about what an expert panel, developed from data from particular website by a couple of Stanford computer scientists, say are the best 20 beers in the world. It's an interesting article and includes a link to learn the specifics and math behind their calcuations. I'll have to take the list to the liquor stores around town and see how many I can find.

I'm curious if anyone who has stumbled their way here has enjoyed any from the list, leave a comment if you have or would add or subtract from the list.


The top 20 beers in the world

Mish Mosh, it's been too long

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.” 
              ― Abraham Lincoln

It's been too long since I last posted, no weekly mix and match 6-pack last week or this week, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. I am sitting here in my hotel room in Portland and figured I'd post about a few new beers that I had recently. First and foremost is Lunker Bait. Now don't go rushing out and trying to find this anywhere because you can't, it's one of my brews. This is one that I had been very excited about trying, as I made some modifications based on my experience with my first batch. I let this one go through the carbonation phase for 3 weeks instead of the 2 weeks I did on the light beer that I did. The results were well worth it. It has a beautiful dark golden color, it has a refreshing light mouthfeel, with a hint of apple cider.

Lunker Bait, with custom label by me.

Next up I stepped out of my comfort zone, I'm getting a bit better at this, and went with an IPA. I was at The Winkling Lizard (local tavern chain) and tried their glass of the month, Meantime IPA. I haven't been a fan of IPAs before, usually too bitter for my taste, I was pleasantly surprised, plus as a bonus I got to keep the glass. It did have a slightly bitter finish but not unpleasant, nice mouthfeel to it as well and a fantastic head. Winking Lizard has a World Beer Tour that I'm thinking I'll do next year, for a $20 fee you get a card and you have 1 year to drink 300 different beers from their ENORMOUS bottled beer selection. Once you complete your tour you get a really nice jacket for free....well for the the $20 plus the cost of the 300 beers you drank so if you think about it is really an expensive jacket so I won't think about that aspect. 

Meantime IPA

 While at the Winkling Lizard I noticed they had mead. I figured I'd have a sample. So as our server went to go get it I had visions of him bringing back a large pewter tankard full of a lukewarm thick brew with foam dripping down the side, okay so visions of the Lord of the Rings were swirling in my head was that Gandalf over in the corner??? Our server returned with a small glass in front of me with a light golden liquid in it. What??? I didn't order a chardonnay, what the hell. So I gave it a taste, it wasn't chardonnay but a slightly sweet, syrupy liquid with a nice light honey flavor. This stuff is pretty good....and pretty potent at 12% ABV. 

Honey Mead

Finally we have the Pyramid IPL (India Pale Lager), it's a new year round brew from Pyramid Brewery right out of the northwest. It was delicious, very slight bitter mouthfeel but like the Meantime IPA not at all unpleasant. I will have to look for this one once I get back home. 

Pyramid IPL

In closing I have one comment, I was reading an article somewhere on the internet about beer and one point from the article that I have come to agree with is that usually us American's are drinking beer too cold. On more than a few occasions as I taste a fresh beer I don't get the flavor of the beer as it's hidden behind just cold. I think this may be an additional reason why I should get a beer fridge. Until next time....

Mix-and-Match 6 Pack --week 2

"There's no such thing as a bad beer, some are just better than others."
       --Andy Wofford

That's one of the pearls of wisdom I remember from my father. I remember as a kid always offering to get him a beer when we were working outside, and of course to be polite after taking it out of the fridge in the garage I'd open it and take a sip. Had to make sure it hadn't gone bad, it was the least I could do. I don't remember what he was drinking back then, we were living in Hampton, New Hampshire at the time, it could have been a good old Budweiser but I could be wrong.

On to this week's M&M 6 pack. I didn't have any theme like I did last week with the wheat style beers, I did try and step out of my comfort zone and try something new to me. So here we go, this week's selections are (left to right):

• Breckenridge--Oatmeal Stout (Denver, Colorado)
• Stoudts--American Pale Ale (Adamstown, Pennsylvania)
• Ommegang--Three Philosophers Quadrupel Ale (Cooperstown, New York)
• New Belgium--Snapshot Wheat (Ft. Collins, Colorado)
• Thirsty Dog Brewery--Twisted Kilt Scottish Style Import Ale (Akron, Ohio)
• Flying Dog--Doggie Style Pale Ale (Fredrick, Maryland)

I will admit that I haven't sampled all of my selections for this week, I'm saving the Ommegang to try with a buddy of mine when we brew our graham cracker beer (watch for the future posting).

I did a better job of taking a picture of each of the brews after I poured them. I returned to two of the breweries that I enjoyed last week, Ommegang and Flying Dog. The oatmeal stout and quadrupel ale are the "out of my comfort zone" beers. Normally I do not like a dark beer and have shied away from them in the past because I assumed that all dark beers are very bitter. However, I move forward with an open mind, it's a lot easier to buy a single beer to try it rather than commit to a six pack. 

To start with I had the Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout. This is a dark, just about black beer. At first I thought it was too bitter, but you can't judge well from a single sip. As I continued to sip I liked this beer more and more. I was surprised that it wasn't a heavy beer, it was somewhat creamy and very enjoyable. Consider my preconceived notions broken. I want to try Sam Adam's Cream Stout, I would have purchased it this week but they didn't have it in the single bottles. I will definitely drink this one again.

Wow that's dark!

The next one I had was the Twisted Kilt Scottish Import Ale from Thirsty Dog Brewery, local brew!!! I was first surprised how dark this one was, I was expecting more of a amber/red ale, this one was dark, check out the picture below. This one was good! It had a great flavor, not heavy, went down nice and smooth. I'm going to research Thirsty Dog Brewery and see what else they brew and being so close I think a tour is in order.

I like the picture of the label!

Next up was the New Belgium Snapshot Wheat Beer. It is an unfiltered wheat beer, so it has a hazy appearance. I will admit I was disappointed with this one, it was okay didn't excited me. It was no where near as refreshing or smooth as the Ommegang Witte or Flying Dog Hefeweizen. I would not buy this one again. 

I next tried the Flying Dog Doggie Style Pale Ale. This was pretty good, a bit of a hoppy taste to it but not unpleasant. It was very similar to the in taste to the Stoudts American Pale Ale that I tried tonight. In fact they were so close in flavor that I probably couldn't tell the difference in a blind taste test. 

Very good flavor, it will find it's way into my fridge again.

The Flying Dog was slightly less hazy than the Stoudts.

That sums up what I have tried so far this week. Sometime this week I will be brewing my next beer, I'm going to be brewing a rasberry wheat beer. Hopefully all goes well, until next time....

Mix-and-Match 6 Pack - week 1

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” 

       ― Benjamin Franklin

I have found over the past year or two that I really enjoy wheat beers, one of the best I've had is the Pyramid Hefeweizen. It's brewed on the west coast, Pyramid's headquarters is in Seattle, Washington but they do have other breweries. Just discovered that they have a brewery in Portland, Oregon where I'll be in a little over a week, hhhmmm....... So I figured that I'd mainly try different wheat beers. The first M&M 6 pack included the following beers (left to right, top to bottom): 

• Flying Dog--In Heat Wheat Hefeweizen (Maryland)
• Bell's--Lager Beer (Michigan)
• Heavy Seas--Gold Ale (Maryland)
• Blue Moon--Rounder Belgian Style Pale (Colorado)
• Ommegang--Witte Wheat Ale (New York)

Overall I was very happy with my selections, my process was very unscientific, I went by what label appealed to me. I'll probably have to find a better selection process but this is what I used for the first two weeks. While some people may argue that 12 ounces is too much to sample, my argument is that it comes in a 12 ounce bottle I'm certainly not going to throw any out, that'd be an insult to the brewmaster. 

The hands down best beer for this week was the Ommegang Witte, it was simply fantastic. Had a nice frothy, creamy head and tasted smooth. No bitterness whatsoever, nice light refreshing taste. You can definitely smell the orange and spices, adds a nice flavor but not overwhelming. I could certainly see drinking this laying in my hammock on my deck while my oldest cuts the grass. It's a little on the expensive side, $8.99 for a 4 pack, but well worth it. The brewery is not far from the Cleveland area, do I sense a road-trip in the future???

Ommegang Witte--I'm getting thirsty just looking at it

My next favorite was the Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen. It also had a nice light flavor, I didn't notice any of the fruit scents/flavors that were present in the Ommegang Witte. I would definitely get this one again. I noticed that they have a large selection of their beers at World of Wines, and I look forward to trying the rest of them. The other three beers were pretty good, the Bells Lager Beer was probably my least favorite, certainly not a bad beer, but it was just okay for me. It had a bit of a sour aftertaste, I don't know if I would get it again. 

I certainly am enjoying my journey into expanding my beer horizons. I'm hoping that as I continue to taste more and more different varieties it will aid me in making my own brews. I plan on moving away from the malt extracts and making my own worts from scratch. I'm lucky that there is a homebrew supply store very close to my house, in fact they offer classes on beer making that I look forward to taking. I'm also lucky to have a wonderful wife who puts up with my obsessions. 

Until next time...