Out-of-Town Beers

Our theme for this month's beer club was an excellent one: since many in the group were taking trips somewhere or other during the last month, we tasted beers that aren't distributed to the great state of Georgia. We had folks go elsewhere in the deep south, to the midwest, to the gulf coast, and to the western deserts to procure the best beers you can't find around here. Starting off with 12 people and fluctuating between 11 and twelve throughout the night, we had more beers than we could even get through. So let's start the reviews...

1. Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Brown Ale

From Mississippi, this beer found its way to our living room table thanks to Chad and Ariel's trip to the gulf coast. It was "deep copper" in color with a "lively head," and tasted "quite sweet", like "nutty caramel," and had minimal hops. While one taster raved, "if you could have one beer with a pecan pie, this would be it," another one said "all I can smell right now is this chocolate cake."

Rating: 8 out of 12 (83%; a 68% on RateBeer)

2. Anderson Valley Hop Ottin' IPA

Anderson valley is a Boonville, CA brewery, acquired by Brennan on a trip to Arizona. While it was "definitely hoppy" and "pretty bitter," it was "not floral or citrusy hops," more like "grass," "sweat" or even "old gym socks." Finish was "sour - blech." One member thought it was "pretty good, just a straightforward IPA," while another said it was "a nice try... almost." An observant participant noted that the copy on the label "describes what they wished this tasted like." I think it said something about touching Rupesh all over, to which Sam offered a warning.

Rating: -7 out of 12 (21%; a 94% on Ratebeer) 

3.  Two Brothers Bonfire Dunkle Weiss

Christa picked up this Two Brothers (Warrenville, IL) limited-run special dark, smoky version of their Wheat beer on her trek through Indiana. We came up with a near-thesaurus of Asian terms to describe this "sesame oil" and "heavy on the soy sauce" brew: "stir fry," "Asian salad dressing," "General Tso," and "sweet-and-sour", just to name a few. While for one taster it was "soy sauce in a good way," for another it "burned the tongue", and the majority of us thought the dark and smoky wheat was just "one note." And that note was like a d-flat or something.

Rating: -5 out of 12 (29%; a 73% on Ratebeer)

4. Ska Brewery Modus Hoperandi IPA

This beer, brewed in Durango, was the one lugged down to the Colorado river last week. It had a "perfect floral bouquet," "poured thick and darker than your usual IPA," and its presentation in the can was "impressive." One taster even thought it "gives Dale's a run for best beer-in-a-can." It had a "grapefruit", "pine" and "flower" initial taste, followed by "tea", "leafy",  "woodsy" and "caramel" flavors, and a "bitter" finish that "went pine again." As one taster put it: "I'd do that all day." Vargo said, "it's well named, just like Gwenyth Paltrow's kids."

Rating: 9 out of 11 (91%; a 90% on Ratebeer)

5. Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer

Vargo procured this Scottish Ale, as it was featured as one of SleepingBrewty's only raves from her trip to England. In honor of Katie and Ben, we poured out a little bit of  this "thin", "carmel" colored ale out onto the street. It "smells garlicky," but "tastes very different," giving out a "roasty" and "slightly sour" but still "surprisingly sweet" "toffee" flavor. Many could "taste the oak" and the "butter-like" finish. One commenter said it was a dead-ringer for "huckleberry-covered espresso beans" that she had once enjoyed. In all, "it's way better than Boddington's". Vargo said, "I would give this as a gift, because I am trying to give really good gifts, just like Gwyneth."

Rating: 6 out of 11 (77%; a 62% on Ratebeer)

6. Boulevard Double-Wide IPA

Rupesh acquired this Kansas City IPA during his trip to St Louis. This "golden" and "smooth" IPA "smells delicious" even before tasting, with "lots of fruits" and "flowers" on the tongue, finishing with "apricot" and then "lots of bitterness". The "big carbonation" made it "tickle" one taster's mouth. One guest called this brew "my kind of juice." Some thought it "smells hoppier than it tastes", and that the hoppiness was "definitely not the west-coast style," even "subdued". It "tastes boozy," and "you can really notice the alcohol." Perhaps it should be called a double IPA at 9%? Or am I just not getting the "double-wide" pun? 

Rating: 8 out of 11 (86%;  97% on Ratebeer)

7. Otter Creek Copper Ale

Matt picked up this Middlebury, VT ale, as he has visited the brewery himself. Aside from Vargo's mainly color-based adjectives like "coppery," "penny-like," "brown metal tubing," etc, we felt it was "straightforward," "uncomplex," perhaps "salty" on the finish and "weak-finishing" otherwise. Yet again, the adjective "sweaty" arose, to some agreement. At first I thought they were talking about me, but that was just my subconscious at work.

Rating: -1 out of 12 (45%; a 45% on Ratebeer)

8. Southern Tier Un*Earthly Imperial IPA

From Lakewood, NY, Southern Tier is a huge and respected craft brewer...that isn't allowed in Georgia. Unless, of course, it stows away in my luggage. Many of the tasters thought it had a "good bouquet" and "intriguing but unusual" flavors on the front end, like "toasty maple" and "butterscotch," but that gave way to "grapefruit" and "fig" drizzled with "honey" and a "ripe bing cherry" finish (sounds like a good recipe). It "didn't taste boozy" but at 11% alcohol that means "they hid it well." There was some disagreement over the name: why unearthly? And what's with the asterisk? 

Rating: 10 out of 11 (95%; a 98% on Ratebeer)

9. Olfabrikken Porter

Hailing from Roskilde, Denmark, the Olfabrikken was offered by Matt. While it "poured like motor oil" and had a "sticky" feel in the mouth, this "smoky," "chocolaty," "licorice"/"Pernod", "tobacco" and "molasses cookie" brew "went down smooth." One taster noted that it "went really well with the cake," which I really have to agree with. It's "dark for a porter, maybe should be called a stout," and for some the "menthol" taste was off-putting. Vargo said, "it seems really down-to-earth, just like Gwyneth."

Rating: 7 out of 10 (85%; a 100% on Ratebeer - literally the #1 porter on the site) 

10. Ska Brewery Decadent Imperial IPA

Another Durango brew, this one in a bottle, had "nice label art." It poured "almost red," and had a "less appealing smell than their IPA," though it did "have a bit of citrus." The taste was "orange", "leaves" and "somewhat sweet pine." It "wasn't much like other Imperial IPAs" in that it was "not a hop explosion," "too malty" and "not enough going on." While the "initial taste was on," it "went downhill" and "faded away too fast," leaving some "wanting more." The pun (is this like a tradition in beer names, or what?) is that the brewery is a decade-old. Ha, ha, ha...um, not really.

Rating: 7 out of 11 (82%; Ratebeer 74%)

11. Abita Abbey Ale 

Another entry from Chad and Ariel's trip to the Big Easy, this Belgian style ale "even smells boozy", much like the city of its origin. It "definitely has that Belgian tang," and "has a good toasty, nutty flavor" along with "smoked cloves" and "yeasty, bready" tastes, but "is missing fruit" except for a "slight prune taste." There's "no orange, which would be nice," but one taster said "that doesn't matter for me, I like the alcohol." Another noted that "we're not a big belgian crowd" (though this author is, for sure). 

Rating: 2 out of 9 (61%; a 69% on Ratebeer)

12. O'Fallon's Smoked Porter

Rupesh brought this one back from St. Louis, though it is another KC brew. It "pours dark," and hits hard with an aggressive "beef jerky" aroma. Another commenter said it reminded him eerily of "the smell of a fleece at 2A.M. after a bonfire." It tasted of "meat and smoked gouda," much like a rauchbier served at the Brick Store not long ago. As one person put it: "I keep smelling it, and that makes me not want to put it in my mouth." Another entry: "burnt straw." Sense a theme? I think the smoke was a bit thick, but I'm "a sucker for anything tasting like smoke," along with Matt, perhaps because we're "both pyromaniacs." 

Rating: 0 out of 9 (50%, a 85% on Ratebeer) 

13. Schlafly Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

Another from Rupesh's trip to St. Louis, this brew is a St. Louis native. It pours "like midnight" and smells like "brownies," making everybody hold their cups to their noses. The bourbon barrel made the taste "round," "sweet," and "with a distinctly bourbon finish," ending with "boozy chocolate" aftertaste. Others noted "brown sugar," "vanilla coffee," and "cinnamon." A hit all around. One commenter: "good thing I wore my depends, because this just made me crap my pants." Vargo's one comment: "not rich."

Rating: 9 out of 10 (95%; a 97% on Ratebeer)

14. Three Floyds/Mikkeller Oatgoop Oat Wine

A collaboration between the Danish Mikkeller and Munster, IN's own Three Floyds, this "Oatwine" is a play on the barleywine style. Pours orange, thick, viscous. Smells "fruity," tastes "grapefruity" and "surprisingly hoppy." Vargo "still smells garlic." Lots of calls for a refill; we run out all too fast.

Rating: 10 out of 11 (95%; a 97% on Ratebeer)

Post-tasting: 

Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA: Great example of west-coast IPA, fruity, pine, floral, hoppy goodness. All-around hit.

New Holland Night Tripper Imperial Stout: Charcoal, licorice, coffee, not as much chocolate. Not as good as Schlafly's but still way up there for Impy Stout.

Weird Beer News Update

If you need to catch up on the latest:

1. Don't hire this guy unless you didn't like the deceased. By the way, that's way more than "stopping for a beer" unless he's drinking individual molecules. 

2. Watermelon beer?

3. Is this the guy from our Facebook group picture? (UPDATE: we now have video.)

4. From the Redundancy News Department of Redundancy: the headline, "For beer drinkers, summertime means summer beers". No joke. Opening line: "When you think about it, beer drinkers are a lot like grizzly bears." Gets better from there.

5. Beer for dogs. Also no joke. Look at the picture above. I guess it's better than a beer for kids.... Oh, wait, that has has actually happened, for real.

6. Actually, this is quite normal and good beer news: Alabama passed a law allowing beer above 6% alcohol to be sold (now it can be up to 13.9%). Why are any of these laws still on the books? And what happens at 14% alcohol that makes beer no-good for Alabama? What is the argument that there should be any ceiling whatsoever on beer alcohol limits? Grain alcohol is sold in the state's limits; seems like anything less than that should be legal, too. 

Beer Reviews From Odd Places

I'd like to kick off a new series that was inspired by one of Chrisstout's messages on the listserv. She reviewed Anchor Steam and Blue Moon while in the field in San Francisco, and I followed soon after with a review of Amstel Light while getting my haircut (a sweet little perk from my barber). I do think that, as my friend Duncan once pointed out, beer is contextual: it matters a lot where you are and what's going on as you drink it. So anyway, about the Amstel Light in the barber shop, I wrote: 

The choice was Corona or Amstel, and I chose the latter because I was sure they didn't have limes. It was kind of warm outside, I was for sure overdressed, and the unexpected offer of a cool beer when I checked in at the cash register felt great - but then I thought to myself as I killed off the first bottle, "but is it good?" There's a reason it's at every catered event ever. It is good enough for you not to complain, but not good enough for you to want to drink more for taste alone. Thus, you only drink a couple. Catering dilemma solved. So, it is for sure a light beer, inoffensive but not memorable. Slight caramel taste on the front end, simple bitter finish. Halfway through the haircut, some hair got in my second bottle, and I stopped drinking it. For sure, a sideways. BTW, do they even make a regular "Amstel"? 

Well, in that spirit, here's a beer review from an odd place - not beer brewed in strange places, like the middle of the ocean or Antarctica, but beer tasted in places you usually don't drink. First up: Ska Brewery's Modus Hoperandi IPA, tasted at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

So my friend Duncan and I were hiking in the Grand Canyon this Tuesday, going down to the Colorado River and back up in a day, and we decided to bring along a couple of good beers to sample while we ate lunch and rested at the bottom. There's a place down there called "Phantom Ranch" that the park service operates, and it has a little cantina in it that serves some meals and, of course, beer. Last year we did this same hike and drank a Tecate. Needless to say, we felt such a momentous occasion deserved a much more memorable brew, so we hiked down with the beers in my pack, like so:

So the hiking plus the heat are probably not too good for the beer, but amazingly it held up ok. We chose the Modus Hoperandi because it was in a can (less breakage) and it was an IPA - enough flavor to revive our tired taste buds. When we got to the cantina, we were ten miles into the hike, five thousand feet down, three hours in, and already tired. We bought a bag of ice and chilled the beer as we sat by the river, like so: 

Then we enjoyed ourselves. 

Now I think there's a reason people don't really encourage mixing extreme hiking with alcohol. It was really hot hiking out of the canyon, and I felt pretty weird on my way up; I am sure the beer didn't help. But it was great for morale. I think the context was perfect: a great little stream, a cool breeze, a shady tree, a giant western national park, and a whole day of being outside in a beautiful place. 

The piney cascade hops seemed right at home, and the bold IPA style seems such a western thing these days. It had a good, sweet caramel malt to back up the pine-resin and grapefruit hop burst, a firm bitter finish, well-hidden alcohol (at 7% this is probably more high gravity than I'd bring on a tough hike again), and a good mouthfeel (slightly sticky, as a good big IPA should be). Maybe I was just delirious from the heat and exertion, but I think it gives the Stone IPA a run for its money. On the way back up, I was still tasting IPA for a while. When the sun started to bake out on the rocky trail, that wasn't nearly as exciting as it was under the shade tree.

Sampling New Orleans' Finest

Ariel and I recently took a road trip through the Deep South, and decided to make a small detour to pass through Abita Springs, Louisiana, home of Abita Brewing Co. I mean, c'mon! We would be crazy not to seize the opportunity to sample New Orleans' most famous beer, freshly brewed.

So, first the bad news. Abita doesn't get a whole lot of points for creativity or complexity. It's beer is shoot-em-straight, plain Jane stuff that doesn't try to push the boundaries of taste. It seems to me that they've been bottling mostly the same lagers, ales, and wheat beers since they first opened up shop in 1986. They have no real aspiration to be an innovator in the beer world, or to compete with the "extreme" craft breweries out there like Dogfish Head, Stone, and Victory.

But, here's the good news. Across the board, Abita makes pleasant, if mild, tasting beers that all have a smooth signature finish that I can really appreciate. Maybe it's the fact that they use natural "artesian" spring water in their brewing process. Whatever the reason, I like.

More good news? Lately, the brew masters over at Abita have shown some interest in experimenting with new styles that are more complex and flavorful than the ones of years past. The company recently introduced two such "big" beers to the market--Abbey Ale (a Belgian-style Dubbel) and Andygator (a Helles Dopplebock)--both of which are really good. Though the they weren't available on the sampling menu that Ariel and I ordered from at the Abita Brew Pub, we did have each of these new comers over dinner in the Garden District one night.

Without furher adieu, here's a list of the beers we sampled at the Abita Brew Pub, and what I thought of them.

Abita Light (4.0% ABV, 10 IBU)

Nothing special. Your standard lager, but with a pleasant, non-metallic finish.

Purple Haze (4.2% ABV, 13 IBU)

American-style wheat beer with slight raspberry flavor. Probably one of Abita's best known beers, but I really would rather not drink it, if I had the choice. As a general rule, I like to keep fruit out of my beer, with the excetion of Dogfish's Rasion d'Etre, which incorporates raisins in the brewing process and is just awesome.

Abita Amber (4.5% ABV, 17 IBU)

A Munich-style lager with a little more body than the Abita Light. It also has a slight malty, and caramely-flavor. One of my favorites of the lot. This would make a good session beer on a crisp Fall or Spring afternoon. Perhaps this is why the Amber is Abita's strongest seller in the U.S. Just goes to show that if you make a tasty beer that doesn't "dumb down" beer drinkers, folks will buy it. Maybe Coors and Anheuser-Busch should take note.

Abita Golden (4.2% ABV, 11 ABU)

An unassuming "continental" lager. As the folks at Abita like to say, "Abita Golden goes well with just about anything." Maybe that's part of the problem. I like my beers to have a little more character, and to bring out some of the flavors in whatever I'm eating rather than just serving as a palette-cleanser.

Abita Turbodog (5.6% ABV, 28 IBU)

Finally, five beers into our tasting, we got a beer that has some of that characteristic hoppiness and bitterness that I love in brown ales and IPAs. In fact, Turbodog is a dark brown ale brewed with Willamette hops and a combination of pale, crystal and chocolate malts, which give it bitter-sweet chocolate and toffee notes. Good stuff.

Abita Red Ale (5.2% ABV, 30 IBU)

Not a big fan. I have to say, I don't usually like red ales. They have a really cool rusty color, but I find that their taste falls short of the mark. Maybe it's just that I like bitterness with my malty-ness, and not either/or (red ales are relatively bitter, as you can tell from the high IBU rating this one has, but not especially malty).

Moylans and Bells: Next week at the Brick Store

Via DecaturMetro, Moylan's is coming to the Brick Store May 22nd (and remember, Bell's arrives TOMORROW, Monday the 18th, at 5:00PM (opening a cask of Hopslam then - not expected to last long.) Unfortunately, I'll be out of town when it's tapped, but I hope someone can let me know how it tastes.

Yet Another Thing To Celebrate

So: we've been promoting our party as a time to celebrate beer and Vargo's graduation from his Master's programs. But I have just learned (thanks to perusing the now-not-worthless "Decatur Focus") that we have another graduation milestone to celebrate at our party. This graduation was earned through the long, hard hours put in by one of our members at some rigorous program called "Decatur 101", and involved such things as looking at the Rec center, walking on the square, and showing up less than half the time. See if you can pick out what I think might be our representative of the Dirty South in the midst of otherwise upstanding citizens, his head poking out to the left of the word "teen": 

DIRTY SOUTH: slowly working our way into the halls of power.

Beer Club at One: A Reflection

Our beloved Dirty South Beer Club will soon be celebrating its one year anniversary. Actually, I have no clue when that anniversary is, and it may be that we already celebrated it. But it’s been a joyous year for us, for sure.

Yeah, sure, we’ve gone through the usual growing pains in trying to manage the wild excitement about our club (see a recent conversation on beer club guest policy), but we’ve come out of it stronger. And though we still don’t really have a formal rating system, we’re getting there and moving to a 1-5 pint system instead of our thumbs up/thumbs down policy. We have set monthly meetings (third Thursdays) with hosts and a monthly theme. Meetings are generally accompanied by delicious and sometimes beer inspired food (see: Chocolate Stout Cake—divine). We have a very active e-mail listserv and blog. And now a facebook group.

Katy's Beer Club Highlights
1. At number one, I have to pub the Unforgettable Teach’s Chocolate Stout. Sits in my mind (and the minds’ of others) as possibly the worst beer on the planet. I include the pilsners, which I really hate (in spite of Brennan’s post). :)
2. The Mountain Beers North Georgia Getaway: Yes, we escaped to the mountains to drink and rate beer. And yes, it was amazing.
3. Pairings: a Valentine’s Day beer club. This was one of my favorite beer clubs, hosted at Christout’s. We had some funky cheeses, homemade pretzels, chocolate, ice cream, you name it, stunningly paired with beers.

But there’s more in store for this beer club. Here’s what’s up(coming):

1. A guest lecturer from the Creative Loafing beer reviewer (my attempts to get the beer purchaser from Cook’s Warehouse massively failed)
2. DSBC Info session slash graduation party. That’s right…we’ll be doing an info session for all y’all out there interested in beer club. More on that one soon (or contact your local DSBC representative for info if we never get around to posting it).
3. Cans & camping: an event to be held at a farm in the summer featuring the finest beers available in cans.

Lots more is in the pipeline, but still in the idea phase: a trip to Asheville, a beer club festival attended en masse, and a world takeover. I am trying to nix the Viet Cong / Tet Offensive beer club night but it may just squeak on trhough.

DSBC has been an amazing journey for us all, I’m sure. And not just because we’ve sampled tens (hundreds?!) of good beers. We’ve made amazing friends of our fellow beer club members, and imagined to expand our beer palates beyond what I thought possible.

So there’s more where that came from. Ya heard?!

Beer Map

This map shows the number of medals awarded since 1987 at the Great American Beer Festival. Georgia is not in the top ten or the bottom 10. Of course, they don't have too many breweries but I would say that Sweetwater and Terrapin put out some pretty good beers. Terrapin particularly is showing creativity in their brewing.

It also shows some of the top breweries and beers. There are some odd entries, especially in the beers list. O'Douls has a beer on there and St. Ides Malt Liquor is up there as well. I think they may dominate a particular category without much competition.


Where I found this

More on the map

I Mean, Is He Even Over 21?

Hold on to your asses... Kid Rock is releasing his new beer around Labor Day. Take a look:

“It’s going to be called ‘Bad Ass Beer,’ '' Rock boasted to Rolling Stone magazine recently from his suburban Detroit studio...“It just tastes like good American light beer…an everyday beer,” he raves, extolling the fact that his brew will be an all-American endeavor, right down to the hops. “It’s creating jobs in Michigan at the brewing company. We know people are hurting here so we’re trying to take that whole approach.” 

But what's going to be the best (far, far better than the beer, I am guessing), is the ad campaign:

“There’s one [ad] where it looks like the Budweiser horses, and they’re all up in the air, just freaked out, like they went haywire, and whatever they ride on is smashed up, and it just has my beer sitting in the front. It says, ‘Bad Ass. And ‘…and the horses they rode in on,’ ” Rock tells the rock mag. 

Maybe he has something like this in mind. Or maybe not. Lest you get discouraged that this is only a marketing ploy, Kid (or when you just use one name for him do you say "Rock," since kid is a descriptor?) reassures us it's all about taste:

But for Rock, it all boils down to flavor: “It’s good, and there’s no aftertaste,” which sounds like as good a tagline as any -- definitely better than meaningless marketing boasts such as "triple-hops brewed" or "beachwood aged."

Yes, folks, the LA Times thinks that "there's no aftertaste" sounds better than "hoppy" or "cask aged". This is why Kid Rock's beer will probably sell more cases in the first weekend than Stone ever has. Oh, and while we're on the subject of brews meant to "mean" something, like being a bad-ass, or whatever, can you believe this? I do love that they chose a Baltic Porter. Nothing says free-market like beers from socialist climes.

Hell's Bells

It's about time: Bell's Brewery, supposedly one of the best craft breweries in the States, is breaking into the Georgia market via the Brick Store. Here's the scoop, from DecaturBeer:

Bell's Brewery comes a ringin' to Decatur next week! Brick Store Pub will be tapping a super limited cask of HopSlam and a keg of Special Double Cream Stout on Monday May 18 around 5pm.

HopSlam, which is released yearly in January/February, gets an A score on BeerAdvocate with over 1200 reviews. I am really looking forward to the cask version of this bad boy. At this time, Brick Store Dave ain't too sure what they will carry full time from Bell's, but I'll keep you posted.

I look forward to it! I won't be in the state on the 18th or I would be there. It's too bad I got some Bell's for my 'can't get in Georgia' brews. Thankfully, I got the imperial stout, which won't be in state for a while.