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Thread: Ale, Ale, the Gang's All Here: A Refreshing Beverage Thread
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
I thought it might be fun to hear about our respective adventures with beer, cider, mead and the like.
We went on a "daycation" today to a little resort town on the Lake Michigan coast with a new microbrewery specializing in Belgian-style ales. (Stormcloud Brewery in Frankfort, MI, if you're interested.)
I'm generally not a fan of fruity/novelty ales...but I loved Stormcloud's Cherry Bourbon Ale, which uses local cherries and which is aged in old bourbon barrels from a local distillery. It was very smooth going down, no confusion of flavors, and it was a beautiful color. It also packed a bit of a punch (I think 9.5 percent alcohol content).
The area has spawned about a half-dozen new microbreweries in the last couple of years, which in turn has created a mini-boom in growing hops; and in one case, one ambitious new brewing company is working to create a field-to-glass outfit where it grows most of the ingredients for its beers.
We recently tasted a hard cider that we really enjoyed -- I'm not much of a dry cider fan, but I'm learning to like the sweeter ones -- this was an apple-pear cider from Blackstar Farms; it's not listed on their website, so perhaps it's just an experiment that they sold to the brewpub where we tried it. Anyway, it was crisp and fresh, dry but not overly so, with just a hint of natural carbonation...like a fun sparkling wine.
So...what interesting beverages have you tried lately?
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
I actually had a drink on Tuesday. I was at a local social group for typographers (and others) and had a nice glass of Organic Norman Cider. I was tempted by the flight of local Ryes, but passed since I was driving.
The local really good beer pub has some Belgian style Cherry flavored beer, but I think it's from Colorado. I've had another Cherry flavored beer while in Oregon. They tend to grow sweet cherries out here rather than sour cherries which you get in Michigan.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Speaking of cider, on the recommendation of the young man in the local independent wine merchants, where I've bought many a good thing, I bought a bottle of an award-winning cider to try.
All I can say is, I'm going to have to keep it for cooking. I've never tried the medieval verjuice, the sour fruit juice that's called for in many recipes, but this will do very nicely for that or where a touch of fancy vinegar is needed.
[ 19. January 2014, 08:20: Message edited by: Ariel ]
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
We were at a nice farm-to-table restaurant in Nashville a few months back, and they had some lovely but very dry ciders from Virginia on the drink list. They paired nicely with the chicken and dumplings that I had for dinner.
I can see craft cider making a comeback in the next few years. The sweet stuff they sell as a beer alternative is usually not my cup of tea, but I can see people getting into re-planting cider apple trees and producing good balanced dry cider. (I have a fantasy of putting in some bittersweet and bittercrisp apple trees in the ground between my back fence and the alley, to facilitate my own cider making. It will probably remain a fantasy, but one can always dream.)
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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cattyish
Wuss in Boots
# 7829
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Posted
I like a Red Kite ale but I'd quite like to try Tactical Nuclear Penguin just once.
Cattyish, off to search for booze.
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...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posts: 1794 | From: Scotland | Registered: Jul 2004
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
We were at a nice farm-to-table restaurant in Nashville a few months back, and they had some lovely but very dry ciders from Virginia on the drink list. They paired nicely with the chicken and dumplings that I had for dinner.
I can see craft cider making a comeback in the next few years. The sweet stuff they sell as a beer alternative is usually not my cup of tea, but I can see people getting into re-planting cider apple trees and producing good balanced dry cider. (I have a fantasy of putting in some bittersweet and bittercrisp apple trees in the ground between my back fence and the alley, to facilitate my own cider making. It will probably remain a fantasy, but one can always dream.)
It's been happening for in Washington state.
Hard cider can even be found on a high end restaurant menu and bars are carrying more then the cheap British Bands. Still a way to go, some cider makers are trying the new popular earing apple Honeycrisp for cider and about all that can be said for it is that it's better than delicious apples. However the use of real cider apples including bitters and sharps continues to grow.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Heavenly Anarchist
Shipmate
# 13313
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by cattyish:
I like a Red Kite ale.
Oh yes, we tried that in Skye last year, very drinkable.
We're just finishing off a home brewed Festival Ale at the moment, Old Suffolk I think. I wasn't so sure about this as my previous beers have been all malt ones and this had sugar in the brew but it was okay. Not a touch on the Woodforde's Wherry all malt I brewed though. We should have some home brewed Framboos to drink as well but MIL has borrowed it.
Next week I'm going to make a batch of St Peter's Golden Ale. I got my husband a Black Sheep kit to make from scratch so that'll be our next project afterwards.
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'I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' Douglas Adams
Dog Activity Monitor
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Posts: 2831 | From: Trumpington | Registered: Jan 2008
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
Re cider apples: Last year I tried a flight of ciders that included a dry one utilizing apples from a local farm that specializes in heirloom varieties...they grow over 200 (!) different apples. Anyway, the actual mixture used in this cider is some proprietary secret, but it was very interesting; nice depth of flavor. (The cidery in question, Tandem Ciders, is pretty fun; one of their more popular brews is called Smackintosh, made with -- well, you know; and they offer spiced pub eggs as a palate cleanser. They're located along a scenic bicycle trail, hence the name, but I always imagine bikers stopping for a drink, overindulging, then struggling to maintain their balance on the next leg of the journey.)
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by cattyish:
[qb] I wasn't so sure about this as my previous beers have been all malt ones and this had sugar in the brew but it was okay.
The Trappists add sugar to their beers and they seem to do OK. It has its place.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Pre-cambrian
Shipmate
# 2055
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Posted
As a matter of interest, what are the American "Belgian-style" cherry beers like? I ask because the genuine Belgian ones are sour, not so much because they use sour cherries, but because they take Lambic or Gueuze as the base. They are both distinctive Belgian brewing techniques that produce sour tasting beers, but I'm not aware they are manufactured outside Belgium.
I go to Brussels frequently for work. Some Gueuzes seem to be sweetened a bit, but there is nothing like a Gueuze Cantillon or Oude Gueuze Boon (both without fruit) to wake you up after a day's meeting with the European Commission!
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"We cannot leave the appointment of Bishops to the Holy Ghost, because no one is confident that the Holy Ghost would understand what makes a good Church of England bishop."
Posts: 2314 | From: Croydon | Registered: Dec 2001
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
Sour and wild beers are very hot right now here in the States, so it very well may have been sour. You can get your hands on the culture to make a Lambic inspired beer, or you can use your own, which is sometimes done by barrel aging in a barrel that already has developed a desirable mix of bacteria and wild yeast.
I checked out the brewery in question's website, to see if the beer was listed, but it was not. They describe themselves as brewing "Belgian Inspired" beers, which may set you a little more at ease. In American brewing competitions, we have categories that essentially try to mimic specific Belgian beers (there is something called "Golden Strong" which is shorthand for "kind of like Duvel"), and then a category called "Belgian specialty" for anything that takes a technique or inspiration from Belgian brewing, and generally embraces the anarchy of Belgian brewing. So we are aware that "Belgian style" is frequently a misnomer, but it can still be useful to tell you what you might be getting.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
I found the beer at a beer review site. It is sold as a Dubbel, so sort of like Chimay red. I suspect they use a standard dubbel grain bill and hop schedule, ferment with a Trappist strain, and then toss it in the barrels (probably sanitized, so no wild yeast or bacteria) with the sour cherries.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
As a matter of interest, what are the American "Belgian-style" cherry beers like? I ask because the genuine Belgian ones are sour, not so much because they use sour cherries, but because they take Lambic or Gueuze as the base. They are both distinctive Belgian brewing techniques that produce sour tasting beers, but I'm not aware they are manufactured outside Belgium.
I go to Brussels frequently for work. Some Gueuzes seem to be sweetened a bit, but there is nothing like a Gueuze Cantillon or Oude Gueuze Boon (both without fruit) to wake you up after a day's meeting with the European Commission!
God Only Knows. While some are very much like sweet (ha!), delicious Cantillion (my family still reminds me of the time I had them try the Rosé de Gambrinus raspberry one—"that nasty stuff that tasted like rotten urine with the naked lady on the label," they called it), others are sweet amber ales with cherry syrup added. Check your local brewery; half the time "Belgian style," especially for the in vogue "Belgian IPA," just means they use an high ester abby yeast and a tad more malt, rather than the standard Wyeast 1098 English Ale yeast. Like lots of recent American beers, there's no telling until you start drinking.
Sour Americans…yes please. If you see anything by The Bruery, drink it. Yes, even if it's $22 a bottle in a shop, $12 for a half pint in a bar, who cares, it'll be amazing.
Tactical Nuclear Penguin: it's an overblown Scotch ale/barleywine. Not Brewdog's best, but hey, I can say I've had it. If you don't like solvent-y barleywines, you won't much like TNP either. Some people do; they should try it.
People in America are discovering Decent Cider at long last. Naturally, it's horribly expensive, only available at the Most Pretentious Bar In Town (unless you make friends with the staff at another beer bar), and will be imitation Strongbow, at least in its base incarnation. Yes, Strongbow is a decided step up from Woodchuck, whose pear cider reminds me of nothing so much as the smell of urinal cake. I'm also hoping for decent mead, but, so far, I've only found one meadery that doesn't sell it only in Ultrasweet, and they always blend with apples. One Day, I'll get my honeywine. One Day.
As for right now, it's frikkin' cold, so I'm sipping a very small amount of hot August sunshine in a glass—homemade Datil chile vodka. Warms you up from the inside out, that one—and not because of the hooch...
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
The very best I've known in a long time of drinking, perfect for refreshment after mowing your grandmother's lawn and such things, has been Two Dogs Lemonade. About as alcoholic as a beer, much sharper and with good depth of flavour. The label told the tale of an epic incident with two dogs in a dusty and dry street on a hot summer afternoon. Not a plug, Dear Hosts, as alas it has gone from the market.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by cattyish:
I'd quite like to try Tactical Nuclear Penguin .
I gather once is all you'd want. This was the opinion of a couple of the brewers at Traquair, who felt it was professionally incumbent on them. They thought it was revolting.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
As a matter of interest, what are the American "Belgian-style" cherry beers like? I ask because the genuine Belgian ones are sour, not so much because they use sour cherries, but because they take Lambic or Gueuze as the base. They are both distinctive Belgian brewing techniques that produce sour tasting beers, but I'm not aware they are manufactured outside Belgium.
I go to Brussels frequently for work. Some Gueuzes seem to be sweetened a bit, but there is nothing like a Gueuze Cantillon or Oude Gueuze Boon (both without fruit) to wake you up after a day's meeting with the European Commission!
My favorite local bar which carries a wide variety on tap and in bottles. A number of the Belgian style beers come from a couple of breweries I think in Colorado, where they apprenticed under a Belgian Brew master.
I don't know much about Belgians, although there are enough that the bar has a day with a special price on Belgians. The ones I steer to in my occasional forays are sour based.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
Sparkling lambic cherry beer is very nice, at a cost. But t this time of year a hot cherry beer would probably be better. I know there is a Cnadian one, but have forgotten what it is called.
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
I had a pint or two of Fat Tire ale last night when I walked to a restaurant in our neighbourhood. It originally was only available in Northern California and I first had it when I spent part of the summer with a relative in Walnut Creek. It is now available throughout the west coast and tastes quite good when it is on tap. Anyone else ever have it?
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
I remember Fat Tire from when I was working in Dallas some years ago. Well, when I say I remember it, I have a vague recollection of staggering out of the bar and falling over. Strong stuff!
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
Flat Tire's pretty much standard everywhere now; basic American amber, a revelation when it came out, but nowadays a bit passé. Good for everyday use, but if you're like me (i.e., have only been able to legally drink in this century) and have always thought of good beer being common in the States, a bit hard to see what all the fuss is about.
And Spike, what else were you drinking? If by "strong stuff" you mean "about standard 5%, same as Budweiser" then yes, I guess it's strong.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
According to a study, NASCAR fanatics will actually drink beer-flavoured water when there is no real beer.
Mea culpa: I was the Budweiser man at a race a few years ago. It was grueling work going up and down stairs plus keeping accounts but I made a day's pay in three hours. When I ran out of regular Budweiser, I found that the drunken sods would actually buy cans of Bud Light before sales ceased near the end of the race!
Me, I stick to Guinness, 'half and halfs' i.e. black and tans in England. Blacksmiths are Guinness and Smithwicks: I enjoyed one this afternoon having been at a loose end following work. These are good plus several local microbrewed porters at neighbourhood pubs.
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
I made the study!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
According to a study, NASCAR fanatics will actually drink beer-flavoured water when there is no real beer.
They drink Fosters?
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Last ever sig ...
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I actually had a drink on Tuesday. I was at a local social group for typographers (and others) and had a nice glass of Organic Norman Cider. I was tempted by the flight of local Ryes, but passed since I was driving.
The local really good beer pub has some Belgian style Cherry flavored beer, but I think it's from Colorado. I've had another Cherry flavored beer while in Oregon. They tend to grow sweet cherries out here rather than sour cherries which you get in Michigan.
Have you ever tried "Wild Blue"? It's a beer with blueberry juice and it sounds maybe a bit dodgy but it's lovely. I am not a fan of Miller/Michelobe/Rolling Rock/etc. but smaller craft beers and micro breweries I dig. When I lived in Seattle I had some lovely ciders--pear and apple, very good, not too sweet.
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
According to a study, NASCAR fanatics will actually drink beer-flavoured water when there is no real beer.
They drink Fosters?
Ha ha ho ho... or Corona?!
Blechhh, Corona! Tastes like I imagine cat piss would taste.
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The5thMary:
Have you ever tried "Wild Blue"? It's a beer with blueberry juice and it sounds maybe a bit dodgy but it's lovely. I am not a fan of Miller/Michelob/Rolling Rock/etc. but smaller craft beers and micro breweries I dig. When I lived in Seattle I had some lovely ciders--pear and apple, very good, not too sweet.
Ah Wild Blue, craft brewed by the world's largest brewing conglomerate, makers of Michelob and Rolling Rock, piggybacking off of a well-known brewery that's actually honest about who makes their stuff.
See also Blue Moon, Shock Top, half a dozen other brews that are made to look like small, independent breweries, but are 100% A-B InBev/SABMillerCoors. This, of course, excepts other breweries that started off small and local and got bought, though still retaining some degree of individual control, like Goose Island, Red Hook, and Kona.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
Whoops! I sit corrected! Okay, so I erred. But still, Wild Blue is gooooooooood!
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Please ... don't get me started on beer. I'll be here all night.
There'd be little point in describing some of the local brews I drink as you can't find them in other parts of the UK let alone in the USA or Canada, Australia etc.
I've enjoyed some American beers in bottled form. Anchor Steam Beer and such like. I enjoyed some microbrewed beer in New York but I forget the name and it wasn't much like British bitter - more like German or Dutch beer, I thought. Tasty though.
I hear, though, that microbrewed US beer doesn't tend to go for the cask-conditioned approach favoured here in the UK - ie. a secondary fermentation in the barrel.
In which case, is it 'keg'?
British readers will understand the difference.
US style Pale Ales have been popular with microbrewers here in the UK for some time now and I enjoy those in the summer. In the winter I tend to go for bitter or for mild, porter and stout.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I hear, though, that microbrewed US beer doesn't tend to go for the cask-conditioned approach favoured here in the UK - ie. a secondary fermentation in the barrel.
In which case, is it 'keg'?
British readers will understand the difference.
As will Americans, at least those who are willing to pay the extra premium to find the special beer bar in a large city and find the one beer on cask, which, of course, will cost more than the keg variant. It's not common at all, and, usually, they add some extra hops to the firkin to help entice you to pay $7-9 per glass. Kegging is pretty much universal, although bottle conditioning is extremely common, more so than in the UK.
Remember: British beer is served warm and flat. While most craft breweries will adjust the carbonation on their beers down from American premium lager standards and good beer bars aren't going to serve their good beers ice cold anymore (there's one especially twee bar in DC that advertises the exact temperature they serve your beer at, or which fridge it came out of—there's a 2º F difference between each, after five minutes in the glass, it doesn't matter, you pretentious asshole, so long as you're not serving it just above freezing), the stereotype has influenced how Americans think of beer.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I hear, though, that microbrewed US beer doesn't tend to go for the cask-conditioned approach favoured here in the UK - ie. a secondary fermentation in the barrel.
You find it at breweries where they do British style beers. There is a place that opened up a little over a year ago, which is owned by a guy who moved here from Fulham, and who learned to brew because he missed English style beers. They have four beers on cask at any time, and will sometimes dry hop the same beer in two different casks with different hops in each cask, so you can learn the flavor of each hop. They usually have at least one beer that hovers a little above 3%, which is really nice on a hot day when you want to drink a few.
But the nice thing about beer in the States is the variety- we have English inspired breweries, German inspired breweries, Belgian inspired breweries, and places that cater to people who like a nice grapefruity hop forward American ale.
Anchor Steam is one of my favorites from the bottle. It is one of the few styles that is uniquely American, as opposed to other American styles, which are usually bigger, hoppier, less yeasty or malty versions of English ales. It is a lager, but it is a special lager yeast that remains somewhat clean in the low 60s. That is key if you don't have cold caves like they do in Germany or refrigeration like we do now; originally, they just let the wort cool to the temperature of the San Francisco fog, and pitched the yeast. Anchor was one of the pioneers of the American micro-brew scene, and their Liberty (all cascade hopped pale ale) and Porter are both vary tasty.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
Remember: British beer is served warm and flat.
I speak only for Scottish pubs - but 'warm' only in the sense of not having actual ice crystal floating in it. And 'flat'? You expect beer to fizz? I would favour the term 'still'.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
Remember: British beer is served warm and flat.
I speak only for Scottish pubs - but 'warm' only in the sense of not having actual ice crystal floating in it. And 'flat'? You expect beer to fizz? I would favour the term 'still'.
And, like I said, stereotype.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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jbohn
Shipmate
# 8753
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The5thMary:
Whoops! I sit corrected! Okay, so I erred. But still, Wild Blue is gooooooooood!
Yes, but what is it good for? ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) If I wanted to have a blueberry muffin, I'd do so.
Give me a good stout or porter, thanks. Old Rasputin imperial stout is quite nice. Fulton's "Worthy Adversary" is even better, but I'm not sure how widely they distribute.
[ 29. January 2014, 19:51: Message edited by: jbohn ]
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We are punished by our sins, not for them.
--Elbert Hubbard
Posts: 989 | From: East of Eden, west of St. Paul | Registered: Nov 2004
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
jbohn: Well, some of us are... "delicate". We want to be part of the in crowd and drink what the cool people are drinking but we have to be eased into the stronger stuff. So, we congratulate ourselves for being hip and trendy as we raise our bottles of Wild Blue. Sure, the others around us snicker behind their hands and make disparaging remarks about us "lightweights" when we get up to use the toilet. Still, give us some credit for trying something other than a staid, boring bottle of Miller Lite.
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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jbohn
Shipmate
# 8753
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The5thMary:
jbohn: Well, some of us are... "delicate". We want to be part of the in crowd and drink what the cool people are drinking but we have to be eased into the stronger stuff. So, we congratulate ourselves for being hip and trendy as we raise our bottles of Wild Blue. Sure, the others around us snicker behind their hands and make disparaging remarks about us "lightweights" when we get up to use the toilet. Still, give us some credit for trying something other than a staid, boring bottle of Miller Lite.
No offense intended. I'm a fan of all sorts of beers, really - just not that one. (For what it's worth, I concur on the Miller Lite.)
I really didn't get into different beer styles until I started brewing; after that, a whole world of new possibilities opened itself to me.
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We are punished by our sins, not for them.
--Elbert Hubbard
Posts: 989 | From: East of Eden, west of St. Paul | Registered: Nov 2004
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
We do not drink warm beer. We drink it at cellar temperature, which if it's a decent cellar is pretty cold. It's just we prefer not to drink a nice lolly.
That said, any beer that needs to be served at ice temperature probably isn't worth drinking
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
Every beer has its ideal serving temperature and carbonation level. A bone dry Belgian served with low carbonation is going to taste lifeless, and a low alcohol British beer served with high carbonation is going to seem thin. Chilling bitter is going to hide all of the flavor, and serving American adjunct lager at cellar temperature is going to hide the crispness which is the one redeeming quality of adjunct lager, in my personal view. I leave it at that.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Tonight would be perfect for a Refreshing Beverage, cider in my case. Alas. The antibiotics say 'no'. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
My nephew has been experimenting with brewing interesting beers. He offered me and my father some samples when he was here last. I'm not a beer drinker, but I try to be a good auntie!
It was a bonding moment or three.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Stercus Tauri
Shipmate
# 16668
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Posted
I read somewhere - that well known excuse - that the reason why most mass produced north American beer is drunk chilled is to suppress the putrid aroma; highly necessary in many cases. Likewise, they usually drink straight from the bottle to avoid having to inhale it, which also makes sense.
Having unloaded my standard rant, there really is very good beer to be had here and it's getting more common. God moved the blessed owner of the Grand River Brewing Co to set up business in these parts, and I haven't bought mass produced beer since. His Plowman's Ale, despite the spelling, is as fine a bitter as I could dream of, and I have good reason to believe in its efficacy as an adjunct cancer treatment - the outcome can't possibly be coincidence.
Traditional cider is very hard to find here, and I really haven't drunk any since a small bunch of engineering students got badly wasted a couple of times when the Kirkgate Bar in Aberdeen brought in an anonymous keg of the very finest. But that was far back in another century, and the memory may be shaky.
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Thay haif said. Quhat say thay, Lat thame say (George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal)
Posts: 905 | From: On the traditional lands of the Six Nations. | Registered: Sep 2011
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nickel
Shipmate
# 8363
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Posted
Dear Husband is into beers, so I've tagged along and enjoyed muchly. Here in Virginia, in summer I drink beer from the refrigerator -- cool and refreshing. This winter I've found there's no reason to put it in the fridge at all. 60-ish degrees from the pantry is fine (as I sit here in tshirt, long sleeve tshirt, fleece pullover, fleece leggings, thick socks, wooly slippers, and a nice warm laptop on my lap, as it were. My "Bridge Builder" from Parkway Brewery (extremely local to my dear in-law's) says it is "An easy drinking Belgian Style Ale ... with a Wheat Malt Backbone Tempered with hints of Cove, Banana and Pear". Just slightly sour. Yes, that'll do.
That's one of the unexpected and lovely developments of the past decade or so throughout the US -- the rise of local breweries and brew pubs.
Posts: 547 | From: Virginia USA | Registered: Aug 2004
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stercus Tauri:
I read somewhere - that well known excuse - that the reason why most mass produced north American beer is drunk chilled is to suppress the putrid aroma; highly necessary in many cases. Likewise, they usually drink straight from the bottle to avoid having to inhale it, which also makes sense.
Which is a . . . spirited way of saying that light lagers are brewed to be drunk cold. You wouldn't serve sparking wine at cellar temperature, would you? The brewer goes to great difficulty to make something that tastes consistently neutral at a particular temperature,(which is really hard to do- your local brewery would kill to get to the level of consistency that Budweiser does), why mess it up and serve it at the wrong temperature?
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Yes, you are right Og, King of Bashan. Different styles of beer need different temperatures.
It isn't true that British beer is warm and flat. If kept at the right temperature and served correctly it shouldn't be either.
Some stouts and winter ales are 'warm' and no British ale worthy of the name is ice-cold.
I agree that lager should have a bit of a chill on it to bring out the crispness. I've had some Sam Adams and some Brooklyn lager and thought they were ok - but I'm not a big lager fan in general.
I quite like German pils and proper Czech pilsner but I loathe British lagers with a passion ... although I'm told there are some decent ones around brewed by some of the smaller breweries.
In recent years the British breweries have been producing 'Gold' ales and 'Blond' beers which are real ales - ie. cask-conditioned - and light, straw-coloured and hoppy. They've been trying to beat lager at its own game.
I like some of these - Beartown Kodiak Gold, Inferno ... but only in the summer.
I'm rather partial to the browny-copper toffee coloured premium bitter - something like Bwtty Bach from the Wye Valley brewery in Herefordshire, or the Kentish ales from Shepherd Neame - as well as the more effervescent northern ales.
As a general rule of thumb, Welsh ales are maltier than English ones and Scottish ones are softer and sweeter. There's a bit of a beer revolution going on in Scotland at the moment, which is good to see.
Your classic English bitter ale has a pleasing hop/malt balance.
There are subtle nuances and regional differences. Milds are popular in the Midlands, for instance.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
quote:
Originally posted by Stercus Tauri:
I read somewhere - that well known excuse - that the reason why most mass produced north American beer is drunk chilled is to suppress the putrid aroma; highly necessary in many cases. Likewise, they usually drink straight from the bottle to avoid having to inhale it, which also makes sense.
Which is a . . . spirited way of saying that light lagers are brewed to be drunk cold. You wouldn't serve sparking wine at cellar temperature, would you? The brewer goes to great difficulty to make something that tastes consistently neutral at a particular temperature,(which is really hard to do- your local brewery would kill to get to the level of consistency that Budweiser does), why mess it up and serve it at the wrong temperature?
Exactly. The best brewers in the world are those who make Miller/Coors/Bud Light. You have to produce a beer that is exactly the same as the one before it, no variation, in a large batch that you can't micromanage, with no overhopping or heavy malting to hide behind—every single flavor you put into your beer will be noticed. Any faults will show up, any errors will make it into the final beer. It's not that it has a putrid aroma (well, unless you leave it in the sun or let it sit too long, but any beer will do that), it's that it has no aroma if it's done right; American light and premium lagers are meant to be crisp and refreshing, without any body to fill you up as you drink a six pack during a game. Sure, you hear bad things about every nation's beer—Corona gets its lime to keep the flies away, the English wouldn't know what good beer was if you served it to them, Canadians don't care how their beer tastes so long as it gets them through the winter—but very little of it is true.
Now, would someone pass me the Maudite?
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
your local brewery would kill to get to the level of consistency that Budweiser does
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
The best brewers in the world are those who make Miller/Coors/Bud Light. You have to produce a beer that is exactly the same as the one before it, no variation, in a large batch that you can't micromanage, with no overhopping or heavy malting to hide behind—every single flavor you put into your beer will be noticed.
Absolute rubbish! All it does in encourage blandness. Saying that the likes of Miller/Coors/Bud are the best brewers in the world is like saying McDonalds are the best chefs in the world.
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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jbohn
Shipmate
# 8753
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Posted
There's a kernel of truth in Ariston's statement. A light lager is difficult to do well, for all the reasons he mentions - no heavy maltiness or hoppiness to hide behind.
That said, Bud/Miller/Coors/etc. have got consistency down - but it's consistently blah.
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We are punished by our sins, not for them.
--Elbert Hubbard
Posts: 989 | From: East of Eden, west of St. Paul | Registered: Nov 2004
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Spike:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
The best brewers in the world are those who make Miller/Coors/Bud Light. You have to produce a beer that is exactly the same as the one before it, no variation, in a large batch that you can't micromanage, with no overhopping or heavy malting to hide behind—every single flavor you put into your beer will be noticed.
Absolute rubbish! All it does in encourage blandness. Saying that the likes of Miller/Coors/Bud are the best brewers in the world is like saying McDonalds are the best chefs in the world.
And do you know how many overhopped monstrosities you see here, simply because new brewers can't control off-flavors, nor get their beer to taste exactly the same every time? Sure, call the art of drawing perfectly straight lines uninspired, but there's still a technique to it, one that a lot of others haven't even bothered with. Now, to take a brewer with that level of technique and give them something to work with, then you get brilliance. So many breweries, especially the newer ones, can't put out beer of the same consistent quality or recipe, nor do they understand how to manage a brewery around supply seasonality and availability—so your beer may taste completely different the next time you try it from them substituting a different hop because their supplier ran out, or them failing to control the temperature in the mash tun properly, or just cutting corners in the DMS rest. Sure, it may not be the best recipe, but the skill it takes to make and manage it is impressive.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
This is a very lengthy article from the local free weekly about Avery brewing, one of the better respected breweries in the country (and maker of my favorite Brown ale and Wit) talking about why he has spent a lot of money on laboratory work to get his beers as consistent as the big boys. From the first few paragraphs:
quote:
"Making beer is easy. But making great beer and making it consistently is tough," Adam says. "But that is why I am in this. That is the only reason. I want to try to attain perfection, or as near to perfection as we can. It freaks people out when I say this, but we need to be emulating the huge breweries, the big three. You might not think much of their beer from a qualitative standpoint, but with their exactness, they are the best breweries in the world."
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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