HopSlam--not as elusive as we thought!

How does this story start? It starts out a year ago when Ben returned from Western North Carolina after a trip to our favorite Bruisin' Ales (yup, the third rated beer retailer in the world!) with one bottle of HopSlam (yup, the 16th best beer in the world) that Ben had saved to share with me. Lucky me! He told me that one tiny little bottle of beer cost about $4. I was almost Hoppin' mad at how much a dinky beer cost, that is, til I tried it. The floweriness of it, the crispness, oh mouth delight; a Midwestern IPA at it's very best. Something to compete with those big boys on the West Coast. In sum, I loved it.

But Bell's, and the HopSlam in particular, remained totally out of grasp. That is, until Bell's came to Georgia just a few weeks ago. No longer did we have to wait to go to Minnesota, Illinois, or even NC to get us some good Bells. Bells had finally come to us. Indeed, soon we wuz sippin on Java Stout, Cherry Stout, an occasional Expedition Stout, the Winter Wheat, and the beloved 2 Hearted Ale. Change was in the air.

In fact just last week Larry Bell was at the BSP and was supposed to bring the Hopslam, but something about it got stuck in I don't know where for what no good reason. Grrr...!

One night this week at the BSP, we saw bar tenders acting a bit sneaky. They kept pouring out of a tap that had some fake-a$$ sign on it into Bell's glasses. After a delicious Founders (also new to GA, and a very welcome addition!) Double Trouble, we finally asked our favorite bar tender (Brian( what was going into those cups. I said "It's not the HopSlam, right?!" and Brian lowered his voice and leaned into me and said "yes....shhhhh....! I would have told you but I just got here."

And there you go. The story of how we got screwed at the BSP. Luckily Brian spilled the beans and we came back another night they had it on tap, but apparently they aren't advertising it at all, you have to be in the know. Well we are now considering ourselves IN THE KNOW. They are due to tap another keg of it on Monday...but you will have to ask for it!

Regardless, I found HopSlam at Green's last weekend (at a pretty penny of $15 a 6 pack) and then we had it on tap at Octane, where it also wasn't on the menu yet but very clearly being served. The HopSlam won't be around for long, so drink it while you can, and make sure you ASK at your favorite bar establishment if they are serving it! Moral of the story: where there is a will, there is a way.

RateBeer Best of 2009

Though they call it "Best 2010", it seems better to think of this as a Best of 2009 list. I don't really get how they think they know the future, or whatever, but RateBeer's best of the year is now online.

Best Beers in the World: Imperial Stouts again dominate. How will ours stack up? Also, best beers by style. Founder's porter is the 5th best porter in the world? Wouldn't have guessed. Also, I feel vindicated that the best porter in the world was that one Matt Vivian brought to beer club last spring that I liked a lot (but it was a solid thumbs-sideways all around. Maybe we don't like porters as a group?)

Best Beer Stores in the World: Bruisin Ales is third, and Hop City is 23rd! Also, the Five Points Bottle Shop in Athens is 24th. I bet that stings when you lose out to a local newcomer by one point in a worldwide competition.

Viva Decatur: BrickStore gets #6 in the world for bars; not bad. The best in the world is Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fa, which across the street from Bir & Fud - which I happened to blog about a couple of weeks ago. So, if you want to read about the bar across the street from the best bar in the world, check it out. (I thought they were like Leon's and Brickstore, actually - same owners - but to tell you the truth we went to Bir & Fud because it looked better). And check out the top 50 US beers - we need to get out hands on some AleSmith, Cigar City and more Three Floyds. WHere does your favorite beer rank?

Chad's Take on Cans

Here's an interesting article about the anniversary of the beer can - from someone who wishes they hadn't been born. Their basic point is that the beer can has been bad for beer and the environment. One interesting question is why Americans are the only ones in the world drinking from cans. Excerpt:

Seventy five years is a good retirement age. It is time to retire the beer can and the disposable bottle and switch to good local beer in returnable bottles. It is not only the green thing to do, but it tastes better. As Pablo noted in Eat Local, Drink Local Beer:

The best solution for keeping your eco-impact low is to drink local beer. Not only does this support your local economy, and support the art of craft beer making, but it is also a great way to enjoy creative and innovative new recipes and techniques.

So I happened to be at the Brick Store...

...and it was the night that Brasserie des Franches Montagnes was in town. I had posted about it earlier, forgot, and then showed up with a couple of friends just in time for them to tap the special keg brought over from Switzerland. The brewmaster, Jerome Rebetez wasn't in the main bar (he was upstairs), but I wasn't in the mood for awkward beer conversation anyway - mainly because I've never tried their beers before. (Imagined dialogue: Brennan: Hey, so, what kind of beers do you, um, make? Jerome: I came across the Atlantic and you didn't even try my beer yet?) After trying a beer, I said hello and thanks for bringing the cask. He's nice.

So of course I got the beer on cask - the Tarry Suchong, a smoked beer brewed with Lapsang Souchong tea leaves, the really smoky kind. It was a rusty orange/brown color, cloudy, no head. Very odd but intriguing appearance. Smelled faintly smoky and lemony. The mouthfeel was very light, and the taste was very much like tea with lemon or orange, and a sweet smoky flavor filled in behind. Not nearly as smoky as the tea, and the taste wasn't as strong as the smell. Honestly, you could have told me it was a fermented strong tea and I might have believed you. But you know, it was good, in a very strange sort of way. I most definitely ordered another round, since I figured it would be a while until I tasted anything this good and unusual at the same time. Dogfish Head, move over - there's another crazy beer brewer in town. Highly recommended, even if just for a taste.

Ummm...

...Who wants to try it first?

Freshly shucked oysters and beer go hand-in-hand like milk and cookies - but a beer actually brewed with the slimy, salty delicacies and their liquor?

It was a go yesterday for Harpoon Brewery and Island Creek Oysters. The Boston beer maker teamed with the Duxbury oyster farm to produce the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Island Creek Oyster Stout.

Sounds like this was dreamed up by boys in a middle school cafeteria in an attempt to gross out some girls, but Harpoon swears that it won't taste Oyster-y - they claim that it simply boosts the protein and thus pumps up the body of the beer. I'll believe it when I see it...

Burger King Bar... Sets the Bar Low

Well, if you're the kind of person that hangs out at Burger King, things just got a whole lot better:

Gimme a Whopper, fries — and a beer.

Those words are no longer wishful thinking. Friday, Burger King (BKC) will unveil plans to sell beer and burgers at a Whopper Bar — a new BK concept to compete with casual dining restaurants — in Miami Beach's tourist-heavy South Beach. The South Beach Whopper Bar is scheduled to open in mid-February.

I actually really like the trend that more casual, "family" type places are serving alcohol. I mean, I haven't eaten at a Burger King in about a decade, but it's this kind of change that might help folks of all stripes loosen up about alcohol. To bad they're just serving MillerCoors.

Beer Blinded Me with Science

I recently came across this categorically exhaustive graphic of the beer spectrum. Does it look like anything else you've seen before? Yeah, that's right. The periodic table of elements! If, like me, you loved 9th grade Chemistry, then this will be right up your alley.

As a visualization for beer education and appreciation, I also think it's genius. Each column represents a distinct variety of beer (e.g. Belgian ales, pale ales, Scottish ales) within one of the two major brewing styles (lagers vs. ales). And, within every column, sub-varieties are organized vertically by A.B.V., with the lowest-alcohol styles appearing at the top and highest-alcohol styles appearing at the bottom.

In case you were wondering, you can also see how common and even obscure beers compare to one another by original and final gravity, bitterness (as measured by International Bitterness Units, or IBUs), and color intensity (as measured by Standard Reference Method, or SRM). Yes, someone actually used a spectrometer to calculate how light passes through a brown porter as compared to a robust porter. And, I appreciate that. Very much.

Winter Beer Carnival at the Contemporary

Did you miss the Great Decatur Craft Beer Festival? Or that circus that sometimes appears across the freeway from Turner Field?

Well, fear not. The Winter Beer Carnival will roll into The Contemporary on February 27th from 3 to 7, carnival games and all. Mmmmmh, carnies.

Advance tickets are $30 and go on sale January 22nd at 10 am. The Contemporary isn't near a MARTA station, but the mighty #1 and #113 buses will get you within about a block of the place.

(h/t Inside Access)

There's an App for That

Katy, ask and you shall receive. I came across this today after (or during) a visit to the Monday Night Brewery page. Find Craft Beer is an app that finds craft beer locations near your body (provided your body is near your phone). It even features new change city lookup algorithm with version 1.6. It is supplemented by the, perhaps, even cooler Beer Mapping Project: they find beer, you drink the beer. If the project has a photo of the location on file it will pull it up for you. If not, no worries. The app will show locations on a map and provided that Goolge's Street View is available for the area you can likely see the bar that way.

One question remains. When will you get an iPhone?

For the Dogs

For Christmas my sister-in-law sent us gifts to open at my mom and dad's house in Detroit. Among them were a few packages for the dog. Interesting, I thought; likely some rubber toy or maybe even a gourmet biscuit (aka cookie aka treat). One of them was a bag of fancy NYC-themed dog cookies. To my surprise, the other one was beer. Beer for dogs. It's called Bowser Beer and is billed as a nutritous and fun non-alcoholic alternative to beer. That description is not winning me over but the concept is appealing: beer for dogs. 3 Busy Dogs is out of AZ and will make you a custom labeled brew with a picture of your dog on the front. We got a bottle of The Salty Paw's Blue Dane Ale. From the picture it doesn't look like it's winning over Mali either. It's fortified with glucosamine to promote healthy joints!! I couldn't find much on how it is made or if it is actually brewed. However, I think the company is pretty cool because, in addition to providing a way for your dog to responsibly drink with you, they are out to educate people on the dangers on giving real alcholic beverages to dogs (though I had no idea this was a problem serious or widespread enough to merit committed advocacy).

I thought that was cool enough but then a coupld days ago this came across the Twitter expanses. Dogfish Head has partnered with a local bakery to make use of their spent grain to produce a new dog treat they're calling Dog Bark.With all the spent grain we have from our Brew Day I want the recipe. We did have some success making loaves of spent grain bread. However, I ate it and later became sick, though not, we think, from the bread and the essence of so many DSBC members. Beer? I'm not sure, but being sick is definitely for the dogs.

The Beer Can: Happy Birthday

Remember those Mad Men episodes when Don Draper opens his beer with a church key? Ah, those were the days before all that technology cluttered up our beautiful beer cans. Well, it's time to wax nostalgic, because the beer can was invented by Gottfried Krueger Brewery 75 years ago this month, and this is an anniversary I'd like to celebrate by indulging in a beer - one in a can, of course. Several great microbreweries have begun to sell great beer in cans, including Oskar Blues and Ska Brewery (for the hiker types). Anybody see any other good beers in cans?

So if you want to see a ridiculous collection of old school beer cans, including the first ever (pictured above), just head to Flint, Michigan to check out the "Brewery Collectibles Club of America." Vargo, next time you're going home for the holidays? If for some reason you don't want to go to Flint, the video embedded below gives you a nice tour of the place. Or, you can check out their annual convention, called (I kid you not) CANvention. Check this out for some great pictures from the 1998 convention - excuse me, CANvention. Seriously, look here. Oh, and don't forget your BCCA gear. Dibs on the lanyard.

Beer Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite public radio programs, Marketplace, and heard an interesting story about recent shake ups in the beer market. Apparently, amidst declining U.S. beer sales in 2009, there have been a number of mergers and acquisitions involving macro breweries (i.e. the Goliaths in the David v. Goliath beer wars).

We've all heard about Belgium-based InBev buying up Anheuser-Busch, but there appears to be a trend emerging. Dutch brewer Heineken announced recently that it has negotiated the purchase of Mexican beer conglomerate FEMSA, maker of Dos Equis, Tecate and Sol.

I'm no economist, but it seems like some macro breweries have weathered the recession better than others, and they are using cash, debt, and/or stock equity to buy up some of those companies that haven't been doing as well. This could be a big boon to the InBevs and Heineken's of the world, because it gives them wider distribution outside of Europe, and will likely increase their global market share, at least in the short term.

But, I also think something else might be happening, and it's an issue that Marketplace reporter Amy Scott barely touched upon in her segment. There has been an undeniable trend over the past 5-10 years of micro-breweries gaining market share in the U.S. as American beer tastes skew increasingly towards more flavorful, more full-bodied, and yes, higher A.B.V. beers. True, craft breweries still have a very small piece of the pie, but it's getting bigger.

What if the big guys are starting to get scared of the little guy? And instead of improving the quality and flavor of their own beers, what if they are gobbling up each other in the hope that they can bully the micro-breweries around, without improving their product?

Here's a remarkable statistic: In the middle of the biggest recession the U.S. has ever experienced, what is typically considered a "recession-proof" market--alcohol sales, and more specifically, beer sales--slumped 2 percent overall in 2009, but craft brews were up 5%.

As statistician Nate Silver noted in his blog, it's difficult to understand what is driving this divergence--and whether it's a one off thing, or part of a larger trend--but he thinks it may have something to do with more Americans "substituting Michelob and Coors for more expensive micro-brews like Alpha King and Dogfish Head." Presumably, Americans are drinking more craft beer, even while total beer consumption is declining.

All of this begs the question: What would you do if you were the executive of a big, macro-brewery with loads of cash to spend?

Would you 1) buy a Mexican beer company that mass-produces poor quality beer that Mexicans themselves don't like to drink, and Americans are increasingly dubious of? Or, would you 2) acquire a well respected craft brewery that is making really good quality stuff, and gain a foothold in the fastest growing segment of the beer market? Hmm...

Don't Give Me Ideas...

...or I may act on them.

Another Revolution 'Round the Sun

Things to look forward to in 2010...

An excerpt:

Founders Brewing Company of Grand Rapids, Mich., has a mysterious new beer planned called Nemesis.

"It isn't actually a beer, it's a series of beers," said Founders' Dave Engbers. "Every year, we're going to be releasing a new style, or a new beer. It's going to be a beer never brewed before and it'll never be brewed again."

Engbers would not say what the first Nemesis will be, but said it will be in stores in a couple of months.

Another beer to watch out for will be from the Brooklyn Brewery. The Cookie Jar Porter will be the next entry in the Brewmaster's Reserve series, and will be available in the middle of the month.

Cookie Jar Porter... sounds delicious.

Brew Day

Over the weekend the DSBC embarked on its first brewing endeavor. We (most of us supremely unexperienced) were guided by the wonderful Dave of East Atlanta Brewery. We began our journey a little over a month ago when we held a monthly meeting at Rupesh's house and tried a collection of Stouts. Dave came to talk to us about making a beer and gave us a run down of various resources like The Homebrewers Association and their Zymurgy magazine as well as the Beer Judge Certification Program and style guidelines. Dave takes his exam in less than 2 weeks.

Good luck Dave!!!

Since we were in a stout-y mood we all thought it would be cool to brew the style that we liked the best that night, the Russian Imperial Stout. This was to be the biggest beer that Dave and EAB had ever put together. This past Saturday Dave, Brennan and I headed down to Just Brew It! south of Atlanta in Fayetteville, GA. The experience was pretty cool. We got to measure out and mill the ingredients for the beer. We left with 50lbs of grain and a mash tun of great expectations. Brennan and I headed back to Daves to sample EAB's excellent Wee Heavy Scotch Ale and familiarize ourselves with the operation.

Sunday morning was the actual brewing and the temperature at the beginning of the day was around 18. This was to be not only the biggest beer EAB ever made but also the coldest they'd ever brewed. Dave and I fired up a turkey-frier burner to thaw the water line outside. Once that was working, the dog got out and everyone who was there got into a car and scanned the neighborhood til we found her. Luckily that only took about 10 minutes. Then Dave had to run to the store to buy some other parts so that we could connect the water purifier to the hose. We sprayed the lawn (ice) in the meantime to make sure that the hoses didn't freeze again. Once the water was flowing and heated we began to dump in the grain and thisis when the trouble-shooting really began. After getting all of the grain into the mash tun we realized just how much we were pushing the limits of EAB's system with this brew. We kept trying to let some of the wort out so that we could have more room to mix but the filter at the bottom of the tun was getting stopped up. Numerous methods were employed to get it to work. Extra barrels were brought in, the screen at the bottom was taken off (it had to be bent back to its original shape), a cooler full of wort was also used as an intermediary, and rice hulls were procured. This kind of all-hands-on-deck brewing added a lot of our group's essence to the wort, and took much longer than expected. By around 4:30 we were getting our boil on and sometime later that night everything made it into the fermenters. The whole day was a sight to see and quite an experience. Thanks to everyone, including Ben's entire family, for coming out to help and be a part of it. Now we just wait and then drink.


To quote Dave on the progress thusfar:
We have a good fermentation! I just got back from congratulating our little yeasties for getting off to a good start. They seem happy and although a few of them had a case of the Mondays, they promise to get the job done. After speaking with their union rep, Dr Zymy McBubbles, I can report that they plan on getting our malted barley hop water to around 10% ABV. Dr. McBubbles reports that about 30 billion yeast cells are currently at work in each fermentor and by the time the job is finished we may well have over 100 billion workers. The Dr and I are planning on starting an army after our workers are finished and taking over the world. Resistance (to good beer) is futile!

May I Suggest an Outing

Some exciting events happening soon at the Brick Store:

Larry Bell Meet & Greet!

Tuesday, January 19th 2010
Join us on Tuesday January 19th and meet Owner/Brewer of Bells Brewery Larry Bell. Larry will be shaking hands,kissing babies, and talking about all of the wonderful beers brewed at Bells. We will be featuring Bells HOPSLAM and some tasty food pairings. See you at the pub!

Meet The Brewer from B.F.M.

Thursday, January 21st 2010
Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes, also known by the abbreviation BFM is a small artisanal brewery in Jura, Switzerland whose products, including barrel-aged beers, have drawn international acclaim.Founded in 1997 by Jerome Rebetez, who had formerly been trained as an oenologist, this tiny brewery has rapdibly become known for making beers that stretch traditional beer style guidelines and use unorthodox ingredients. Come on down to the pub and meet owner Jerome Rebetez and taste the rare cask offering He is bringing along! Food pairings as well as some vintage B.F.M. stuff will be available!

Meet The Bruerys Patrick Rue

Monday, February 22nd 2010
We will be hosting Owner/ Brewer Patrick Rue for a special meet and greet session. Food pairings and special rare beers will be available. See you at the pub!

Wow, count me in for the Bell's and BFM dates, for sure. Let's hope BFM brings the good stuff.

And, for old times' sake, here's an email conversation between Vargo and some dude who runs a blog called "This Peanut Looks Like a Duck."

First, Vargo wrote:

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 4:01 PM, vargo wrote:
Awesome blog! Wondered if you had seen this brewery from NC.

Cool logo and great beer

http://www.duckrabbitbrewery.com/index.html

So the guy responded:

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 11:11 PM, Marc H wrote:
This is interesting - how did I get this email? Where did you send it to?
Cheers,
Marc

Vargo wrote back:

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 11:44 PM, vargo wrote:
hmmmm.? I sent it to beerfoam@thispeanutlookslikeaduck.com

I got it at this post on the blog

http://www.thispeanutlookslikeaduck.com/quack/2008/01/08/this-beer-foam-looks-like-a-duck/

Vargo, did the guy ever respond to that?

Our Dumb Country

Any of you who know my jeremiads against bizarre state liquor laws will know that one question generally follows: "Who are these people who actively support these laws - spending lots of money to lobby for their preservation - and what do they want?" When I read my morning blog-papers over coffee today, I noticed this strange story about a ban on the "Boilermaker" drink in Nebraska. Ok, the back story: as if Sunday sale bans weren't dumb enough, Nebraska is considering revoking a law that bans the mixture of beer and hard liquor. And there are people who are spending time and money trying very hard to fight this. Yes. The story names one of the main groups lobbying to keep this ban in place, so I thought it would be a good time to look hard at their philosophy, goals and methods:

Project Extra Mile, which fights underage drinking, is one of several plaintiffs in a pending lawsuit that challenges the state Liquor Control Commission's decision to allow flavored alcoholic beverages, or so-called "alcopops" to be classified as beer instead of hard liquor. Flavored alcoholic beverages start out as brewed malt beverages but are flavored with distilled spirits. The plaintiffs use the current law banning the mixture of booze and beer in its lawsuit challenging the state rule that classifies the drinks as beer.

So, this Omaha chapter of "Project Extra Mile" is most interested in trying to classify Mike's Hard Lemonade as a liquor, not a beer, so that it would be taxed at a higher level (a few pennies more on each bottle). And this is because they think a few pennies extra will deter the "8th grade girls" (who they claim are the main drinkers of hard lemonade and the like) from buying the stuff and drinking it. Really. They are fighting in the courts and lobbying state officials to keep bartenders from putting a shot of whiskey into a glass of beer (not my thing, but that's a matter of taste) so that they can make 8th grade girls use a higher percentage of their allowance to pay their older siblings to get hard lemonade. Really. It's like a bizarre Rube Goldberg contraption where the chicken lays an egg, and the egg rolls down a ramp and hits a match that lights a candle, etc., until the mouse hits the alarm clock and the guy wakes up. Except their end game seems to me like the egg rolls off the table and doesn't go anywhere, because the 8th grade girls are already breaking the law to get hard lemonade; they will probably find a few extra pennies to do it. This is far easier than actually finding a way to get the alcohol. To me, this is yet another example of the crazy American attitude towards liquor politics, which has very little common sense involved and much wasted effort.

Now, if you want to try to curb underage binge-drinking, there are plenty of ways to do it. How about helping parents instill healthy attitudes towards alcohol from a young age, even letting children drink at the home (a small glass of wine mixed with some water for adolescents, like they do in many parts of the globe)? Teens who drink with their parents experience far fewer alcohol-related problems than teens whose parents follow a "total ban" of alcohol. This is different, however, from teens whose parents buy alcohol for parties that their kids throw; this does seem to lead to binge drinking. As Science Daily writes:

A previous study in 2004 by Kristie Foley of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina showed that teenagers who received alcohol from their parents for parties were up to three times more likely to binge drink within a month, while those who drank only with the family were less likely to binge. So the context in which a parent provides alcohol may be key.

So what context does Project Extra Mile want to create? This: "Underage drinking is not merely illegal and unhealthy, it's unacceptable. We change laws and policies to reduce youth access to alcohol."

Well, good luck with that mission. Oh, wait, their rebuttal to that is affixed to their web site:

"ExtraMile Motto: If you don't think it and dream it today, it will never become reality ten years from now."

Or, maybe the dream of kids not touching alcohol isn't ever going to become reality, and maybe that's a good thing. At some point, like a washed-up minor league baseball player, you have to start asking yourself if the dream itself needs some retooling.

This Little Light of Mine...

In the year-end wrap up of beer news in the City Paper (that also mentions a great article in the Atlantic about a new Allagash Lambic that is actually brewed with natural -i.e. random airborne - yeast), a link leads to the most ridiculous trend in beers - the "Light Beer Arms Race." Apparently, MGD 64 calorie beer wasn't enough; now Bud is making "Select 55," with only 55 calories. As the City Paper says: "At a certain point, you've got to just call it water." Well, that's true, because to make it this "light" they have to just add a lot of water, making the alcohol level around 2%.

And how is the taste? Let's just say that the RateBeer reviews have elevated hating on this beer to an art form. A sampling:

"Oh sweet Jesus this is bad. Total lack of anything resembling a beer flavor. Makes Michelob Ultra seem like Guiness Stout. Only redeeming factor is the calorie count because it sure ain’t the taste."

"I don’t know who shared this, but I hate them now. Looks like a dull nasty pisswater, light coppery hay straw with a thinning soda-like head. Aroma is nasty acetaldehyde- green apple skin, rice/corn adjunctiness, pisswater. Crackery dull rice paper flavor with more apple skin and almost as if you can taste some chemical that will give you a hangover- terrible."

"Skunky, light corn and very sweet smelling. Tastes like water that a beer came by and dipped its balls in. No flavor at all, finishing up the same way. Not undrinkable and not super offensive, but there’s really nothing going on here."

"official rating #1800 . . so why not with the lightest beer in the world!! light skunky hay aromas .. . medium head which disappears quickly .. . very watery, light metallic and water-like flavours..?? .. . has this weird slight fizz .. . i put it in your coat pocket .. . clean finish .. . transparent. .. . I’m not drunk! I just have speech impediment... and a stomach virus... and an inner ear infection."

"No flavor whatsoever. I suspect they skunk this beer on purpose just so it tastes like something. Blech. Only thing has going for it is that you can pound them back without getting drunk... tho I bet you’d get a hangover anyway just from all the chemicals."

"Not worth pouring into a glass, but you can see that its a pee yellow through the clear bottle. Not worth the money. But hey its another rating. Is this beer?"

"The only thing I can think of using this so-called colored soda water is, "A little song, a little dance, a little BS-55 down your pants."

"At colder temps, it was somewhat drinkable and not overly adjuncty or offensive. At warmer temps, it all fell apart and tasted like cum-stained bed sheets."

"my grandpa used to piss better brew than this."

"It initially does a good job of masking its castration, but quickly gives in, due to the dry, papery, barley malt water taste."

"Only 50¢ at Binny’s DG singles rack. Wow, less than a penny per calorie! That’s the sign of a great beer! Pop the cap and… Skunk Bomb! Lot of bad smells from being so light struck! Folks, I am trying to be nice, but even while pouring it’s armpit. Bubbly with color of a urine sample. Soda pop bubbles make for a thin, low powered head. This is in a Sam Adams glass, I’m giving it every chance I can. Unlike that homeopathic preparation called MGD 64, this actually shows a little body. Slight note of hops, a flavor that suggests it once went to kindergarten with some malts. There is a small ring of foam around the edge of what’s left in the bottle, so it’s at least a step above Zima. But reason they put this under the Bud Select moniker is probably similar to why Coca-Cola called its diet soda Tab: don’t want to taint the flagship Budweiser beer by association. I admit to liking a Bud on draft on a hot day, but this makes O’Doul’s taste like Orval."

Everything That Rises Must Converge

In the "odd parallax" category, the day I finally post about my Italian beersperience is the same day that Dogfish Head announces, surprisingly, that they will be brewing the 'My Antonia' beer that Sam brewed with Birra del Borgo, but this time for US release. I will be looking forward to getting my hands on some in April. How about Italian beers for the April meeting?

In other DFH news, we may be able to find Squall IPA.

On an unrelated note: I have some work set out for me.

Also...

Matthew McConaughey's brother (himself named "Rooster," I kid you not) named his two children Miller Lite McConaughey and Margarita Olympia McConaughey because he likes those beers.

Seriously.

Check out this quote:

Rooster, who is also the father of a son and a daughter, claims he isn't surprised that Matthew, 40, and Camila decided not to name their newborn after a booze, as their children's cousins are.

"I think I ruined it for him because I've already taken up that territory," Rooster says laughing. "I named my [3½-year-old] boy Miller Lyte because that's my favorite beer. And my [11-month-old] little girl is named Margarita Olympia ... I liked that beer, too, even though they don't even make it anymore."

Oak-Aged-Yeti Breed, anybody?

TCOB: Unfinished Posts, 2009 Edition

I know the new year baby has kicked old man time out of the picture for the time being, but for the life of me I can't let 2009 go quite yet - mostly because I have a handful of blog posts I wanted to put up, and just never got around to it. So... here goes.

Embarrassingly, I never finished posting about my trip to France and Italy. So... Here goes, lightning round edition. I think I got through telling you all about France. (Though check the name of this French lemonade: Psssschit. I think it is supposed to be onomatopoeia for opening a can, but it looks like something else.)

So as I remember, I petered out just about the time I got to St. Peter's home (Rome, of course). Catherine and I took a flight from Paris to Rome, and after landing, I decided to get on the good foot immediately: while waiting for the bus to the city, I picked up the best I could find - Peroni's Gran Riserva Doppio Malta, which is supposed to be a kind of bock, I think (at 6.6% abv). To be honest: I was surprised that Peroni could make anything this tasty. Not that it was great, by any means; just surprising... for an Italian beer. I'd give it a thumbs-sideways, though perhaps the heat (it was over 100 degrees) and the hours of travel made it seem better than it was. I remember it being really malty, with decent hops, but being rather thin.

Ok, so Rome seemed a bit more beer-tastic than Paris, actually, because you could find relatively local stuff quite regularly, whereas in Paris you were generally restricted to the big brewers. Even the well-known "beer joints" in Paris only served stuff you could find at Greene's liquor. But Rome offered several stores within a few blocks of our hotel that at least had Italian microbrews - though stuff you might be able to find over here if you look hard. I grabbed a couple of beers from Birrificio del Ducato (brewed in a small town north of Parma, which is north of Tuscany), which makes some good (not amazing) stuff. I tried their Strong Ale "Chimera" first (6.5%), and thought it was midway between a thumbs sideways and a thumbs up. Creamy, toffee-like sweetness, and spices made for a good beer - but on a hot, hot, hot day this was perhaps a bit too sweet. The light lagers were beckoning, but I kept my head down and powered through the more interesting brews.

So the next day I picked up another beer (I love how in Europe you can buy a beer and walk around with it - a beautiful thing): L'Orso Verde (Green Bear)'s Vertigo. Orso Verde is from Busto Arsizio, outside of Milan, and they seem to make some pretty interesting beers. Vertigo is a double lager (7% abv) that was surprisingly hoppy and refreshing, and spicy, as I remember (lost my notes for this one). I loved it, especially on another blistering day. I had this one while walking to a monastery to have a peek at some epitaphs; the brothers there seemed to recognize it as a good beer when I put the empty bottle in my bag. Thumbs up, for sure.

I next sampled AFO, a pale ale also from Birrificio del Ducato. Hoppy, fruity, flowery - this is a good beer. They call it "Ale for the Obsessed" - and I was seriously impressed; it was a genuine and uncompromising thumbs up. It didn't hurt that I ate this along with a lunch from one of my favorite eateries ever - Pizza Art, the amazing and not-to-miss artisanal pizza joint in the Centro Storico (and a block from our hotel, thank God). This beer is probably available in the US. It's a good one (think Dale's Pale Ale but coppery and with a subtler hop profile).

Ok, but this all paled in comparison to the place you CANNOT MISS if you ever go to Rome: namely, Bir & Fud (Beer and Food). Catherine and I walked in, and the dude at the helm let us sample every beer on tap (15 of them) and then we had two delicious pints. The bartender knewthe abv, ibus, and stories of every beer on tap, and was glad to struggle through all of them in broken English. Good food, too. It's like the Brick Store with exclusively Italian beers. Go there, seriously. Go.

So while there, my favorites were generally those on tap from Birra del Borgo, a fantastic brewery due east of Rome, about halfway across the "leg". From them, we got to taste the good Re Porter (7% Porter, smoky and delicious, bitter chocolate taste, smooth mouthfeel), the absolutely amazing Re Ale Extra (a 6.4% IPA style, delicious hop bite, a pineapple-bread flavor, and a nice finish), the not-that-different but still amazing Re Ale Anniversario (8%, supposedly Belgian but huge hops), and the delicious My Antonia, a collaboration with Dogfish Head (7.5% Imperial Pilsner, huge hops, pine needles and sage). We also had a couple of beers from Montegioco, which I highly recommend, and Panil sour, which you can get in the states (but damn is it a good sour). Also, strangely, beers from Port, which you can't even get in Atlanta. We sat down with a pint of the Re Ale Extra and the My Antonia (which is actually brewed with sage leaves, and just smells like a hop-and-sage bomb sitting there on the table). For the next hour or so we sipped beers and stared at each other in the streets of Rome. That, my friends, is the definition of a well-spent afternoon. Let me give you a taste:

Then, we simply had to leave the scorching temperatures of Rome to find solace in the cooler climates of Venice. While I love Venice so much (and am thankful that I have research to do there), it is most decidedly not a beer town. Nothing like Rome; the best I could do was a Birra Venezia, and even that wasn't good. It's brewed nearby, at least. Not really awful, I mean I enjoyed drinking it, but I certainly wouldn't saddle up to a bar and say, "man, I need one of those Birra Venezias." That's like saying, "I sure need a Corona." If you're playing volleyball, fine. But I wasn't, so I stuck to drinking wine and delicious Spritz, the Venetian drink of choice. Basically Prosecco and Campari. Mmmm. But take a look at the view:

So you have to give it to Venetians: they like their awful beer, but at least they don't go to ridiculous lengths to get it there. Oh, wait:

Ok, so that's our trip - and my Italian beer rundown. I think Italian beers would make a great beer club, since there are quite a few one can get at Greene's and Hop City.

Alright, I think I exorcised the blog demons. Let's try to get the flow back for 2010 (twenty-ten, right?)