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Completely Massive (Short’s Anniversary Part One)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Short’s Brewing Company produces some of the most sought after beers in the spectrum of beer nerddom and it took me quite a while to get my hands on some.  They don’t distribute outside of Michigan, they don’t bottle very much beer, and the beer they do bottle is pricey, hard to track down, and obscure, even for a lot of my relatively nerdy friends who live all over Michigan.  It took a random trade involving some local IPA to get me a few precious bottles of Short’s, both of which are Bourbon Barrel Aged, not my particular favorite “process” for a beer to go through, as they tend to be boozy, soaked in vanilla, and very over the top.

I will now proceed to shame myself by saying that while the above three traits all apply to this “Triple IPA,” I still love it.  The reason is that although it’s an enormous, yes even “completely massive” beer, it’s got balance.  A huge, sharp hit of hop bitterness is accompanied by a very sweet nose and a nicely heavy body on the tongue.  This anniversary beer is triple boiled, mashed, and hopped, and then aged in Bourbon barrels for 8 months.  It pours a deep amber color and over the course of the hour or so I drank it, it warmed up and became even more inviting.  A gigantic almost brandy or scotch-like experience, drinking a 12oz bottle of this beer was an exceptional treat.  At 15% ABV it shouldn’t be something you have with lunch or start your night off with, unless of course you’re “going for it.”  It’s pretty save to say with something this completely massive that you’re kind of always “going for it” when you face up to a Completely Massive brew.  Score another one for Michigan.

Filed in review by mrb | Comments (0)

Keepin it Classy in Ohio (Great Lakes, Bell’s, Mad Brewer)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

A few days after I got back from LA, I drove out to Ohio and back within a 24 hour period.  It was a whirlwind that I just woke up from, but it was very worth it.  I got to see some old friends, play some music in a beautiful chapel, and of course, drink some killer brews.  I hit up my friend Aaron who used to live in Oberlin where we were playing, and basically got into craft beers while he was there, and he told me “you want to go to Johnny’s.”  He was right, I did.

Johnny’s is a small liquor and beer store that is close to a college campus and therefore will be perpetually in business until the college vaporizes itself somehow.  Far from being a typical liquor store spot, however, Johnny’s stocks the finest available craft beers Ohio has to offer, providing a nice selection at a great price right near anywhere you’d want to be in Oberlin.  Score.

The first night in Oberlin we stopped and picked up a couple six packs and a few bombers for the night.  We ended up with some Bell’s Porter, a bomber of Brew Keeper’s Mad Brewer’s Hop Fusion IPA, and a sixer of Bell’s Third Coast Beer.  Before we hit the gig, however, we stopped at a local Mexican joint and sampled Great Lakes Dormunder Gold, the pervasive session beer in Oberlin.  A great session Lager that I’ve sampled on many other trips thoughout the midwest, Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold is a very solid, drinkable rendition of one of the most classic and revered styles of German Lager.  Golden and crisp with enough malt to balance and a nice dry, noble finish, Dortmunder Gold is a perfect brew to enjoy with food and could replace any other BMC bullshit Lager in any college town and leave the masses more enlightened for it.  Maybe one day.

Bell’s Porter is an American style Porter with a good amount of residual sweetness and a bitter finish that packs quite a punch if you try to make it your “beer of the night.”  Getting through two or three of these really had me going and it’s funny how you can never tell how a night with Bell’s will leave you.  This one left me feeling pretty bent, but the nice fruit and chocolate malt flavors, balanced with enough hop bitterness to make it drinkable was exactly what I was looking for from one of my favorite breweries who can seemingly do anything.  Classic.

Alternating between the Porter and Bell’s Third Coast Beer was a bit jarring, coming as they do from two different sides of the Bell’s Beer camp.  Third Coast Beer is a biter golden ale that doesn’t have enough yeast presence to be Belgian, enough hop presence to be an IPA, or enough malt presence to be a Pale Ale.  A somewhat thin, middle of the road beer, it took some getting used to before I realized it was just never going to taste right if I was switching it up with some Porters.  Decent enough on its own, sort of a thinner Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Third Coast Beer deserves a shot on its own because it’s brown brother kinda killed it.  Oops.

T-Bone chose to start the night with the bomber of Mad Brewer’s Hop Fusion IPA, a “fusion of four hop varities” that came in a very DIY looking bomber, promising enough as a craft selection from Ohio.  We weren’t expecting much but we got a very satisfying Hoppy IPA with a great floral nose, a solid amber malt backbone, and a ton of bitterness to finish.  Excellent beer that I would love to have on tap — I have another selection of theirs to review later.

We hit Johnny’s on the way out of town and grabbed some other Bell’s selections I haven’t tried or written about, along with some other gems not available in these parts.  Stay tuned for some more words on those.

Filed in review by mrb | Comments (0)

A Trip to Los Angeles (Golden State Cafe, Craftsmen and Anderson Valley)

Monday, March 16, 2009

I recently had the chance to visit, very briefly, one of my favorite cities in the country — Los Angeles. I often joke that I was sort of “raised to hate” the city, being from New York and wholly identifying with it’s version of The City, which a friend summed up by saying that “she loved it, but it’s very provincial.” I know a lot of great people in Los Angeles, and always have a great time eating, drinking, and hearing and performing music there, and although I’ve consumed a fair amount of beer in various dubious institutions there, I’ve never had the chance to really pursue beer.  Unsurprisingly this weekend wasn’t much different, as I ended up holing up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a year in his nice little house in Hollywood watching HD TV and hanging out with the neighbor’s gigantic half-wolf dog.  We did get out a few times, though, and once was to go to  The Golden State Cafe on Fairfax, a spot I found by looking on the internet feverishly for recommendations.

A nice place right across from Canter’s Deli on Fairfax in one of the old main strips of Jewish Los Angeles, The Golden State is a nice, airy California take on a beer and meat-centric grill/lunch counter that works because the food and beer are both good, for a decent price.  My vegetarian friend had a grilled vegetable sandwich and I had the special BLT — both were “nearly perfect,” mine being a little dry and the vegetable sandwich’s cheese being a bit bland, but other than that, the sides, fries and slaw, were great and the beer,  atmosphere, and help were all top-notch.

I drank a Crafstmen 1903 Lager first, which was touted as being the house beer on their website, and had a generous description on the nicely spaced out, if somewhat minimal, beer menu.  6 draughts with only one or two that you can’t find where I live (a tough indictment for sure, but I was seeking that which I cannot find at home! Well, not including Sierra Nevada — it’s always the exception).  They also offered a few bottles and Scoops Gelato by the scoop.  Jesus.

The 1903 was a great example of an American Lager.  It contains a portion of corn in the mash, which comes through in the nose and adds a nice lightness to the beer in general.  The corn is backed up with a very nice malt profile for a low ABV session beer, and finishes with some bittnerness from some noble hopping.  A very nice offering from a Pasadena brewery very local to the restaurant.

Next I had an Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double, a nice take on the Belgian Trappist “Dubbel” style, with a nice Belgian Yeast profile, a good amount of body with some dark fruit action going on, and a nice hit of alcohol to keep you from drinking it too fast.  Generously portioned for a good price by the folks at Golden State, it made spending an afternoon with a good friend that much better.

Filed in review by mrb | Comments (0)

A Lenten Kiss of Smoke from Schlenkerla (Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier)

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Aecht Schlenkerla is the Bamberg, Germay brewer which is known for being the godfather of Rauchbier producers in Germany, and hence, the world.  Fastenbier is produced in a limited fashion to be available only during the 40 days of Lent.  This beer can get you through your other Lenten fasts, or, like me, it can bring a heavy kiss of smoke on a Winter night.  I was lucky enough to pick up a counter-pressure filled bomber of this brew at Bierkraft last week and was very pleased to have the chance to enjoy this draft only beer at home.

Fastenbier pours a pretty clear medium brown color with some yellow and red highlights.  A nice big and bubbly head starts you down the path of remembering that there’s not much subtle about a 50% smoked malt beer. A big heavy hit of smoke on the nose, backed by some mellow hop and malt smells otherwise, this beer smells exactly like I do after a barbecue or a weekend down in Maryland around the bonfire.   This is an easy drinking, 5.5% ABV lager that finishes very crisp and clean, despite the intense smoke, malt and hop flavors that marry together to form a very rustic yet complex beer.  A very special, hand-made product from one of the most staunchly traditional breweries in a staunchly conservative beer country, anything from Schlenkerla is worth tracking down, but if it’s still Lent when you read this — you still have a chance.

Filed in review by mrb | Comments (0)

It’s worth pointing out…

Sunday, March 1, 2009

That the lineup at Beer Table when we went out unofficially for Stinky’s birthday was just a little too intense for me.  Once in a lifetime, like a glimpse at the wall in a Belgian cafe during one of Michael Jackson’s Beer Hunter videos in Belgium.  Behold.

Drafts:

BFM La Meule
BFM Abbaye de St. Bon Chien ‘07
BFM Alex le Rouge

Cask: Hanssens Kriek

Beer By the Glass:

Birrificio Italiano Cassissona
Baladin Al-Iksir
BFM Abbaye de St. Bon Chien Pinot Noir Barrel
BFM Abbaye de St. Bon Chien Bourbon Barrel

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Must…not…fall…behind (Some News and More Recent Flavors)

Monday, February 23, 2009

It’s been over a week since my last post.  A lot of things have been keeping me away from the computer to write about beer — but like I said in my previous post, dear readers, worry not about my beer consumption.  It’s been staying steady and I’ve had the pleasure of trying even more brews that were new to me.  Beer Trading and the almost infinite amount of good beer available to us in NYC saves the day again.

In the “Beer News” department, which I don’t touch on very often, Orange County, California’s The Bruery is making its debut in the New York City market next month.  A variety of awesome sounding events, all of which will be apparently attended by head brewer Patrick Rue, will be popping off in the next week!  Brew Dog Blog has had the pleasure of sampling some of Patrick’s brews and they do not disappoint! Hear a nice interview with Patrick on The Brewing Network here, and brush up on the beers he has to offer here.  Get ready to geek out on some really interesting beers, fellow beer enthusiasts!

In the “Recent Flavors” department, here’s a couple tastes of things I’ve tasted.  Long form reviews are to return soon, as soon as I can get my rhtythm back.

Victory “Golden Monkey” – Golden Monkey is touted as being one of the first American brewed Belgian Style Tripels, a style that is one of the easier to pin down of the Belgian “Trappist Style” beers.  Golden, spicy, a bit hoppy, and very floral from yeast aroma, Golden Monkey hits the style hard on all marks.  A great beer that is pretty widely available and is a great choice if you can randomly find it stuck in with a bunch of shitty macro beers at an airport or a local deli.  There’s a sixpack in my work fridge, which reminds me, having two of these 10.5% ABV beers during lunch is one too many.  Oops.

Kelso “Hop Lager” – Kelso is fucking killing me lately, and somewhere deep in my beer-brain there’s a feature article/interview/tribute piece where I break down why they rule so hard.  You probably haven’t had any of their beer, have you? If you live outside of NYC, you’re forgiven, but if you live in this fair city, you need to seek them out, like, immediately.  “Hop Lager” is a beautiful clear, golden, effervescent…hoppy lager.  Not entirely different from their Pilsener, which I also enjoyed quite a bit, Hop Lager is a great choice for a few late night pints, and certainly would have been a good substitution for the two Golden Monkeys that killed my aforementioned work day.  A nice touch of bready grain, a good dose of hops, and a clean, floral smell gives this everything you could ever want from a sessionable Lager. Not sure if there’s anything these guys can’t do.

Captain Lawrence “Rosso E Morrone” – Travelled up to Pleasntiville with the entirety of the BDB crew the other day for this latest beer in CL’s lineup.  A few of us had tried this about six months or so ago at the Belgium Comes to Cooperstown festival at Ommegang, and boy has it changed quite a bit since then.  Fully carbonated, intensely sour, and unbelievably fragrant, this even beats Cuvee de Castleton in my book and takes the prize for the greatest East Coast sour beer and certainly competes with any of its west coast counterparts (yes, including Russian River).  Rosse is a Cantillon styled, very acidic sipping beer that… can actually be compared to Cantillon, which is saying quite a lot in any beer nerd’s book, especially mine.  A deep reddish brown color with a perfectly present body that finishes very dry, this beer took a few years to complete and I’m glad the brewer waited as long as he did to release it.  He was waiting for perfection, and I think he found it.  I’ll be aging this beer for a while, and I’ll try to write a year from now as to how it’s pouring.  Find one if you can!

That’s all for now, back soon with more!

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Some Recent Flavors (Bell’s, New Glarus, Victory)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Work has been dominating all of my writing time, but thankfully not all of my Beer Drinking time.  Since I don’t have time for a full rundown, and I’m waiting for some illustrations for a few articles (a big Founders writeup, a bit about Brooklyn’s Kelso, and a few more), I thought I’d highlight a couple beers I’ve had recently for the first time, so my blog stays up to date with what I’ve been consuming:

Bell’s Amber Ale – One of the backbone’s of Bell’s success in Michigan, and one of the last active beer styles by them that I hadn’t tried.  Got it in a trade recently and was very pleasantly surprised – a somewhat bready, very aromatic, hoppy Amber Ale.  Like most of Bell’s offerings, balanced when it needs to be.  Awesome.  One of the best 6pm work beers I can think of.

New Glarus “Uff Da” Bock – Stinky swears we’ve tried this before but I don’t recall that being the case.  Cracked a bottle for the boys at Bierkraft and Ben, Jonah, Stinky, and I were all fauning over the heavy dried cherry aromas, the undercurrents of black coffee and the incredibly balanced sweetness.  New Glarus has yet to disappoint.  I received 4 beers beyond this that I haven’t had of theirs yet in a trade, so expect more updates.  Don’t be surprised if I like all of them, though.

Victory Harvest Pils – At a Victory Brewing event at The Gate, Stinky and I got the chance to catch up while drinking beer outside (gasp! spring in winter!) and this was my pick for the evening.  A pale, golden, very clear pouring beer with an overwhelming fresh hop aroma that kept tricking my brain into thinking I was smelling Belgian Yeast.  Crisp and yet very well balanced malt-wise considering the color and dryness of the beer in general.  Victory is an outstanding brewery — get behind them.

I should have some updates on my homebrewed Porter soon as well, and will hopefully be brewing a 100% Brett beer this weekend.  Thanks for checking in.

Filed in review by mrb | Comments (4)

Homebrew Review (Belgian Pale)

Sunday, February 1, 2009

At the end of August I brewed a “Belgian Pale Ale,” which I called a “Sour IPA” at the time because I didn’t have anything else to call it.  Since then, I’ve tried most of the easily obtainable examples of commercial beers which pair Belgian Yeast with big doses of American or Noble hops, and I’ve been surprised in both ways — sometimes very pleased, sometimes disappointed.  Although this beer didn’t turn out sour in the slightest, there’s a great amount of leathery, deep Brett character on the nose, mixed with more typical Belgian yeast esters.  Taking a cue from Mike at The Mad Fermentationist Blog, I decided to post a review of some of my homebrews, so that I can have a public record, and try to step outside myself a bit to give it some honest critique.  Overall, I’m pretty pleased with this beer, especially as it was my second homebrew.  It pours a beautiful golden color, with a huge, fluffy white head that leaves plenty of lacing.  A lot of great aromas from the melange of yeasts I employed, with the slightest hint of dry malt character as well.  The flacor is pure hop bitterness up front, which finishes bone dry, leaving a bit to be desired on the mid-palette.  I’d like a bit more assertive malt character for the next time around, but in terms of a relatively sessionable 7.5% ABV beer, it’s pretty tasty.  I learned a lot making this beer, and I still have a lot left.  Anyone wanna come over and help me finish it?

Filed in homebrew, review by mrb | Comments (4)

An Open Mind Pays Off (Samuel Adams Boston Lager)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Another quick post, this time about a beer that I was quite surprised by.  I’ve been down in West Palm Beach, Florida for a few days visiting my folks who winter down here — typical “snowbirds.”  While the company of my family, fresh fish, good homecooking, and lots of sun are always on my agenda when I’m here, beer certainly is not.  My parents don’t drink a drop beyond the occassional glass of red wine or Appletini (or “Lemon Drop” shots, sometimes, as I learned from my Mom this weekend), and since I spend all of my time down here with them, I don’t usually bother seeking beer or drinking much of it at all.  After four nights, though, at an excellent local restaurant known for great, fresh grilled fish, I couldn’t resist.  Asking for the selection of beers (bottles only) was the typical tour through the BMC (Budweiser, Miller, Coors) beers that I tend to loathe, plus the occasional random import.  And then, there was Sam Adams.

I haven’t had a Boston Lager in a while, and since it was cheap enough, I decided to go for it.  As the title of this post hints, an open mind pays off, and I was quite surprised and delighted with the beer I was presented with.  Boston Lager pours a deep golden-brown color with a lasting head.  I hadn’t remembered this beer being quite so hoppy, but it had a lot of resinous hop aromas and flavors interwoven throughout.  Very well balanced with some bready, caramelly malt flavots, Boston Lager even tips more toward the hoppy than it does toward “perfect balance.”  A nice, bitter finish, with a decent amount of spicy hop character on the palate made this an excellent accompaniment to the grilled, somewhat oily fish I had for dinner.  This beer struck me as well-crafted, and above all, fresh, fresh, fresh.  I still doubt I’ll find myself drinking much of this in NYC because, well, there’s just a lot of other stronger, bolder flavored beers around, but in a pinch, I’d choose this, the last truly American beer of its stature, amongst any of the other choices available.  A nice surprise that I’ll have to bring a sixer of to a barbecue in the spring, just to see what my friends have to say — I think they’ll be surprised too.

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It’s Been a While (Rogue Juniper Pale Ale)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

There’s a new feature in my blogging software (Wordpress) that allows me to quickly post something to the blog. Maybe it will help me be less long-winded. I thought I’d try it out with a beer I didn’t like very much.

Recently someone sacked our infamous work beer fridge while we were away and replaced some excellent West Coast beers of t-bones with “Whole Foods Beers,” that is, beers of respectable provenance but not necessarily high quality. Amongst the gems such as Avery’s “The Czar” and Stone’s “Ruination” was a Rogue beer I hadn’t tried — the Juniper Pale Ale.

It poured a very thin looking yellowish gold that got me excited for something drinkable. I was disappointed by the complete lack of Juniper flavor or aroma, and even more let down by its biting dryness — without any body to back it. No malt character, a completely clean aroma profile, and nothing else to be said for it. Vaguely bitter, vaguely beer, barely interesting.

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