It's Sprummer!

It's March 23rd, and I am already sick of yard work.  The only redeeming quality of raking leaves and pulling weeds is that I feel like I've actually EARNED the beer I have consumed this week...

But enough whining...and onto the beer!  Despite my complaints about the Virginia heat (the joke around our house is that VA has two seasons...Summer, and NOT Summer), I will give props to Virginia's early spring evenings, and tonight was the first outdoor Friday Night Pint of 2012!!  Yeehaa!

The debut of the FNP official sign! 

I figured four consecutive days of 80 degree weather (in "spring" mind you...) justified putting up the official sign!  A beautiful evening for a beer on the patio, despite the fact that the yard isn't quite up to snuff! 

Always a fan of supporting local beer, this week's featured brew is from Devil's Backbone Brewing Company in Roseland, VA (ok, it's like an hour and a half away, but I consider same state to be fairly local!) (http://www.dbbrewingcompany.com/default.aspx).  I have only had the pleasure of visiting this brewery once, but it is definitely my kind of place!  Rustic, in the middle of nowhere, and they brew good beer!  What's not to like?!  My local Whole Foods had the Eight Point IPA and Vienna Lager in 6 packs.  If you've read my blog before, you know which one I picked!

The best way to describe the Eight Point IPA is "gentle".  It is a nice, easy drinking IPA.  At 5.9% ABV and 60 IBUs, it is certainly more "sessionable" than others I have tried.  It's a three step IPA (I just totally made this up, but it works here)-you get some nice citrusy hops in the nose, a nice malt flavor, and a bitter finish that reminds you that the hops are there.  One follows the other, in that order, and you aren't overwhelmed by any one aspect of the beer.  The carbonation gives it a prickly mouthfeel and adds a little dryness to the beer (thanks to my pinter in crime for bringing this aspect to my attention).

This is a good, solid IPA that I would definitely drink again.  I need a full weekend to head back over in the direction of Devil's Backbone and the Brew Ridge Trail (this is I did NOT make up...http://brewridgetrail.com/).  I'm a firm believer that beer tastes better with a buddy, but beer with a buddy AND a killer location...unbeatable!  You may very well see the Vienna Lager featured soon!

I hope you are enjoying your Friday Night Pints with a buddy in a killer location!
Cheers!
Becky

Happy St. Practice Day!

Ok, ok.  I know what you're thinking.  I skipped a week.  Yup, I sure did.  It's happened before and I've been forgiven.  In fact, I'm pretty sure no one noticed...
I'm calling last week "Pints with Pals".  Instead of expanding my own beer portfolio, I spent Friday night introducing a few new beers to some good friends of mine who stopped on their way back from a week in Florida in their giant ass RV can you say run on sentence.  So I got to drink beer in the "GARV", which I am pretty sure is nicer than the house I live in.  If I were a better, smarter blogger, I would have pictures to share with you.  But I am not, and I don't, so you're gonna have to take my word for it!  I THINK they enjoyed what I brought them, but they're really too polite to tell me they think my beer choices suck. 

Anyhow, onward!  This week's FNP is #28 of the 52 new beers I have promised you...this is taking FOREVER (skipping weeks doesn't help, I know)!!!!!!!!!!  According to my math, we're not even quite halfway there (someone might wanna check that though...).  It's a good thing I'm persistent and I really care about your well beering, because a lesser person would have quit drinking beer by now. 

This week's FNP is Williamsburg Alewerks Wheat Ale.  It was a left behind by the "GARV" folks, so it was sort of free, which is a total bonus!  They took the rest of them home to share some Virginia craft beer love with the New England peeps.

I would give you more statistical information in the caption, but there isn't any on the bottle or the website.  That really irritates me.  There is no point to the growler other than it happens to be one of the more interesting ones I own.  Oh, and it's from Williamsburg Alewerks.



The pour surprised me because I was expecting a much bigger, fluffier head.  The picture was taken just seconds after the pour, so you can see what I got.  There is a pleasant, lemony aroma at first, but it doesn't last long.  After that, the aroma fades, and you don't get much until the beer warms up and a sweet malty aroma emerges.  It's really hazy (the website does tell us that it's unfiltered, so there you go), and despite the website's claim of a "medium yellow" color, I'm calling it gold.  Who the hell ever heard of "medium yellow"?  Show me THAT color in a box of Crayola!  There are no distinguishing flavors besides a bit of sweet maltiness as the beer warms.  It is super prickly on the tongue and fairly light bodied. 

Overall, not an especially impressive beer.  I wouldn't NOT drink it again, but I think I will look to try some other wheat beers as the weather warms.  I really need another warm weather go to beer besides pale ales and IPAs.  Don't get me wrong, there will always be room in the fridge for those, but a little beer diversity never hurts. 

I would feel badly about such a middle of the road review on a local brew, but 1) I really like their Drake Tail IPA (shocker) and purchase it frequently, and 2) despite have a position posted for the last several months, for which I consider myself qualified, I have received NO response from the two inquiries I have made about it.  ZERO.  Not a "we received your resume blah, blah, blah", or "thanks for your interest, but we've filled the position", or, "sorry, we don't hire chics".  Nothing.  Fine if you don't want to hire me, but at least acknowledge my efforts to contact you.  Poor business practice if you ask me.  I will continue to hold my grudge, because that's just as effective punishment as not buying their beer, right?

Enjoy your Friday Night Pints!!
Cheers!
Becky

Mother's Little Helper

Ok, so this week's FNP is Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils, and I just seriously considered writing a song about it to the tune of the Stones' song of a similar title.  Then I realized that if I were actually that creative and/or talented I would probably be doing more than writing this blog each week!  Why tax myself on a Friday?!

Oksar Blues Brewing
Mama's Little Yella Pils
(Bohemian Pilsner)
5.3% ABV
35 IBUs

Sometimes I just get something in my head (my mother calls it getting a bee in your bonnet, but since I wouldn't be caught dead in a freakin' bonnet, I tend not to use the phrase.  Plus, who wants to admit they sound like their mother?), and I just need to do it.  For whatever reason I had it in my head that I wanted to feature a pilsner.  It almost happened last week, but the Whole Foods beer guy (not Greg...) talked me out of the one I was looking at.  This week they had Mama's Little Yella Pils on draft, so I figured it was worth a shot.  Always better to try beer on draft. 

Since I am apparently not feeling so creative today, I'm taking the easy way out.  The following is the cheap and sleazy review.  Not that Mama doesn't deserve better...

Appearance: straw yellow, brilliantly clear, rocky white head 
Aroma: earthy, sulfur.  Smells like a lager.
Taste: pleasantly mild sweet, malt flavor.  Soft hop bitterness
Mouthfeel: medium bodied, medium to high carbonation
Overall:  Overall I think Mama deserves some consideration as you peruse your local beer aisle(s).  It's a drinkable beer with no exteme aromas or flavors, and I think it would be a refreshing choice as we head toward warmer weather here in Richmond!  I wouldn't hesitate to bring some to the first cookout of the season, but I would make sure I had some kick ass IPAs in the fridge as back up.

To my New England friends and family, I hope you were all safe and sound as the snow fell this week (read: I hope you had enough good beer on hand to enjoy it!)!

Wishing you all a relaxing, enjoyable weekend!
Cheers!
Becky

Alphabet Soup

Today's FNP is brought to you by the letters W, T, and F, becasue who needs THIS sh*t in FEBRUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it is nearly 83 degrees on my deck.  In February.  And, it is only 1:30 pm, despite what the time on that thing says (I can never figure out how to change it).  Too much, waaaaayyyy too soon for this northern girl's blood!

THIS is what my yard looked like on MONDAY.  It is FRIDAY.

Great job boys!

Un. Real.  Anyhow, I guess complaining isn't going to help me figure out what the hell mother nature's problem is this week, so let's have a beer.  On the deck!

Lagunitas
Imperial Red Ale
7.8% ABV
54.2 IBUs (someone is good at math!)

Seriously, right?  What kind of an idiot complains about a gorgeous Friday?  Especially when it provides the opportunity to enjoy a great new beer in the sunshine.  I have to say that today's FNP was a last minute, unplanned choice that turned out pretty well!  The aroma of this beer is one that Yankee Candle should be looking into.  It has a great, sweet, pineapple/fruity aroma that even hangs around in the bottle long after the pour.  It's a little deceiving though because this beer is all malt up front with a sneaky bitterness that catches up with you.  The fruity sweetness is only evident in the aroma.  The amber/orange color did look pretty great with the sun shining through it, but I'm still not happy about 80 degree weather in WINTER.  The off-white head left great lace throughout the entire beer, and even looked a little bit like North America at one point, but I couldn't get it to show up quite right in a picture (did I mention that sun thing?).

This one was a good choice, and I would encourage giving it a try, and quickly, because it is apparently a limited release of a beer they brewed way back in 1993.  It's all cyclical you know. 

Thankfully, it looks like the weather is headed for more "seasonable" temps for the rest of the weekend, so my misery, and the beer, shall be short lived!

Cheers!

Becky

The Power of Suggestion

Recently I got an email from my B.I.L (brother in law) that included a picture of 3 beers (seen below), and a question about whether or not my M.I.L (let's see if you can figure that one out...) should buy any of them.  Strange because a) B.I.L doesn't really drink (and in his words "all beer tastes like Bud"), and b) M.I.L doesn't venture past Corona, or Killians’ Irish Red on a really crazy day.  I really didn't have much of an answer because I hadn't tried any of them, but I knew they were often cited as style examples in the BJCP (see previous posts for what this is, and why I would know this...).  So I figured,what the heck?  I'll give one of them a shot. 



Picture courtesy of my B.I.L

I chose the "dunkelweizen" (middle above) which means “dark, wheat beer”.  Usually not a choice of mine, but if the point of the blog is to introduce us all to new beer, then why not?



Weihenstephaner

Hefeweissbier Dark (Dunkelweizen)

5.3% ABV

 To make it official, I even went and got a weizen glass out of the closet and washed it just for the occasion (I can't fit ALL my glassware in one cupboard, and the weizen glass doesn't get much action around here).  The head on this beer was gorgeous, and took up most of the glass at first pour.  I let it settle, finished pouring, and what you see above is what the finished product looked like.  The white, rocky head on top of the mahogany beer made for a pretty good picture, and justified the extra effort. 

A spicy aroma hits the nose first, but I didn't get much of the expected banana scent often detected in these beers.  It was the spice and the wheat that dominated with no real hop aroma or flavor.  There was a slight bitterness in the finish (almost undetectable to my hop loving taste buds), along with a bit of an interesting tartness.  Definitely a malt driven beer that was sweeter than I expected, and I was happy about the lack of banana essence because it isn't my favorite flavor in beer.  Overall, not a style I'll seek out too frequently, but not a regrettable purchase (especially for $3.49 for the bottle...left more beer budget available than some other options!).  Give it a try if you are interested in learning more about German styles of beer.  It would even be interesting (to me anyhow) to do a side by side comparison of the dark and light versions.  Beer for thought I suppose.

So, at least I now have some first hand tasting experience to offer my beer limited family.  All in the name of beer education!

On a side note, if this one picture sent to me randomly "made" me go buy this beer, imagine what we could do if for one month we could take the advertising budgets of Bud/Miller/Coors and give them to the very best craft beer brewers in the country?  I'm not saying everyone would rush out and buy some Bell's Two Hearted, but hey, it would be worth a try to get the diehard fans of the "big three" to broaden their beer horizons!  Do they even know there are other, better tasting "pilsner" options out there?  I bet not. 

Wishing you all a great weekend, filled with friends, family and good times!

Cheers!

Becky

No Love Potions Here

So I hope you all weren't expecting me to serve up a glowing review of some great beer to have on the made up holiday called Valentine's Day*.  If you did, you don't know me that well.  Plus, I'm still really bitter about a certain football game and not ready to play nice.

Instead I bring you the Big Swell IPA offered up by Maui Brewing Co. based in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.  It is, as you can see from the picture, a canned beer. 

See, I told you it was from a can. 
6.8% ABV

Now I know the arguments for putting beer in cans, and they all make complete sense.  In fact, Maui Brewing was kind enough to point out the following on the can itself (and I quote...):
*Cans eliminate light damage and reduce the risk of oxidation, keeping this craft brew fresher than in bottles!  Yup, no argument there.
*Cans are lighter, chill quicker, and can be enjoyed on beaches and in sensitive environments.  Sensitive environments?  Like where?  The ICU?
*Aluminum is the most recycled and most eco-friendly material.  IF you recycle it that is...

It's also less costly to ship because it is so much lighter than glass. That's probably pretty important to a brewery located on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  They must not have had room to fit that on the can though. 

Despite all these great points, I still prefer my beer in a glass bottle.  This really makes no sense since I hardly ever drink it out of its original container.  If I did, how would I justify the bazillions of pint glasses and other assorted beer glassware that I own?   

Anyhow, on to the beer INSIDE the eco/beer/sick relative in ICU friendly can.  I was pretty excited for the first sip of this after I poured it and took a quick sniff.  It had a nice citrusy, sweet aroma right away, which I love in an IPA.  So I quickly took the lame picture you see above so I could try it, but was disappointed to find that the citrusy aroma didn't follow through in the taste.  Malt and bitterness unexpectedly dominated the flavor, and the bitterness lingered on my tongue for a bit longer than I would have liked.  Not that bitterness in a IPA is unusual or unacceptable, there was just more than I typically care for.  It had a fairly high level of carbonation (a little sweetness creeps up on you as the carbonation fades), and I would call it a light to medium bodied brew.

Not my favorite example of an IPA, but if you are a fan of a more bitter IPA, then grab a 6-pack of Big Swell, go visit Aunt Betty in the ICU, and give the empty cans to the first "recycling engineer" (read: homeless person) you pass on your way out.

The good thing about this is that my pinter in crime tends to like these types of IPAs more than I, so I will make him drink, er, offer these to him with a glowing review (he doesn't read my blog, so he won't know any better) while secretly drinking the 6-pack of Bell's Two Hearted that I also bought.  It's what he gets for not supporting my blog efforts. 

Maui Brewing's cans also make a nice parting gift for a co-worker who has been the victim of down sizing in our continuously sluggish economy.

In the interest of your health and well-being, it might be best to give this anonymously.  They would eventually see the humor in it, but probably not until the last one was gone. 

Have a great weekend!
Cheers!
Becky

*For the record if my pinter in crime came home with a growler full of good  beer on Valentine's Day, I would drink it.  But only with indifference and under protest.

It's a two 'fer!



Avery Salvation                                               Allagash Tripel

    9% ABV                                                             9% ABV

Belgian Strong Ale                                            Belgian Tripel

  Avery Brewing                                              Allagash Brewing

    Boulder, CO                                                     Portland, ME

Being the beer geek that I am (save the smartass comments if you would please), I am always trying to find new ways of coercing myself into trying new beers.  This blog is one of those ways, and it has inspired a little more diversity and creativity in my beer choices, and in the way I approach learning about beer.  Hence, the two 'fer.

For those of you who have followed my blog for awhile, you know that in general I am not a fan of Belgians (the beer anyhow, I don't have anything against Belgian people...I hear they make some damn good chocolate!), yet here I am featuring not one, but TWO!  Well, here's the deal.  I subscribe to no fewer than  five beer related periodicals, would rather read a book about beer than some useless, sappy novel that deals with emotions I try my best to ignore, and would prefer that my husband bring me home a growler of good beer instead of a dozen roses.  And if I'm really in the beer groove on any given day, I'll poke through the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines (for all you true beer nerds out there...here's the link www.bjcp.org/styles... I have the hard copy 'cause I'm old school).  It was flipping through the guidelines that inspired this week's post.  The style guidelines for the Belgian Tripel and the Belgian Strong Ale are nearly identical, except for a few noted differences.  So, I wanted to see for myself how they compared.  And since I know that your interest has been peaked because of this fascinating story, here you go (and because I don't want you trashing my blog and/or sending me hate mail, I will not bore you with the details that are included in the BJCP guidelines...if you've made it through this much of the post, I'll assume you can read them for yourself).

Now I can't say that I was looking forward to drinking either of these, but will say that I did not despise either.  Avery's Salvation (Belgian Strong Ale) was much sweeter in aroma and flavor than I expected, and did not have the "typical" Belgian traits, which made it much more palatable, for me at least.  Although it is only a 9% ABV beer, the alcohol is present on the tongue immediately, but isn't a turn off.  It was a good looking beer, hazier than I expected, and had an interesting rocky head of foam.  I would call it a medium bodied beer, with fairly high carbonation that disappeared quickly.  I enjoyed Salvation, but thought that the sweetness was  a bit overpowering-had it maintained the initial level of carbonation, I think it would have seemed more balanced.  I would drink it again, but in small doses.  Beer is best shared anyhow.

The Allagash Tripel was much more along the lines of what I was anticipating drinking.  There was the definitive, banana/spicy/peppery aroma, but those flavors were much more subdued than I expected.  It was a bit darker in color than the golden, with a creamy, white head that stuck around.  There wasn't much hop aroma to speak of, but there was some noticeable bitterness in the finish.  It seemed more crisp and dry than the golden, which is the exact opposite of the style guidelines, but I guess that's why they are called "guidelines". 

Anyone out there wondering why I didn't choose a Belgian beer made by Belgians, monks (or Belgian monks)?  Well, I figured 1) I like to support domestic companies, 2) I felt it would be unfair to compare a domestic beer and an import, and 3) I like Avery beers and Allagash is from New England!  I would at some point like to compare the same two styles again and choose two imports, but that's a story for another day.


On a side note...

...the fridge is stocked for Super Bowl Weekend!!!!!!!!!

GOOOOO Patriots!!!!!!!

Cheers!

Becky