The Next Session

Well unfortunately I wasn't able to participate in last month's Session of Food and Beer pairings. Never fear though as this months has been announced! This time around The Session is being hosted by the newly crowned Small Brewer of the Year at GABF, Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey Brewing. The theme is Beer and Music, and here is what Tomme has in mind:

"For this session, I am looking towards my fellow bloggers to share a music and beer moment with. It could be that Pearl Jam show I attended 7 years ago where I was forced to drink 5 Coronas to stay warm. But more likely, it could be an album or song that you’re always listening to. I, for my part, will be writing two blogs. One will be about a particular memory and the other will be about musical stylings and my beers.

Mostly though, I would really like to see how others experience music and beer. I have so many ideas that to only work with two seems crazy. Music as an art form inspires me in so many ways. I think it infuses my writings and brewing and I can’t wait to share that with you. I hope you find this an agreeable Session…"

For me the key is the second paragraph. I know a couple of brewer's that listen to specific music while brewing beer, it helps them to focus their artistic energies (never forget brewing IS an art form). So how does music affect us the beer drinker? Thats what needs to be answered for this month's Session. Due date? Nov 2.

I'm Back

After two weeks away, I'm back in Houston. Between getting married and going on my honeymoon it was a great two weeks. I have a lot of catching up to do, both in the world of beer and at my work, so posts this week will probably be slim, but a couple of notes and observations from the last couple of weeks:
- Went to my honeymoon in Costa Rica, while the biggest beer their is the ubiquitous and quite boring Imperial Lager, there is some interesting choices. For me the best was Bavaria, both the Golden which was very nice on hot days, and their Black Lager, which was quite tasty. While I wasn't able to travel their, San Jose even has a small micro-brewery called K&S Brewery. They had some interesting beers so I'm sad I missed it.
- Great American Beer Festival is over, but some great news for a couple of Texas Breweries now that the winners are announced. Saint Arnold's won a GOLD for their Lawnmower beer in the Kolsch category, and Fredericksburg Brewery won a GOLD for their Pioneer Porter in the Brown Porter category. Great job to both!

The Barley Vine going on a Hiatus

I've been blogging on this site for well over a year now, first with wine, then with my true love, beer. In all that time, I haven't taken much time off, but that changes today. I won't be blogging much over the next week, and none the week and a half after. I'm heading to Denver today to get ready for my wedding next weekend, and then off to my honeymoon. I'll try and post some thoughts on some great Colorado beer, and I'm even going to try and post my entry for the next Session over the next week. Other than that posts will be scarce if nonexistent until the middle of October. See you all then.

Avery's Kaiser Imprerial Oktoberfest Lager 2007

I know its only September, but this will be my last Okotoberfest Beer post for a while (more on that later today). Ever since the Oktoberfest beers started showing up at my store, I have been looking forward to seeing this beer in particular on the shelves. I had it last year and really enjoyed it. So how was the consistency between years you ask?
The Beer: The beer weighs in at a powerful 9.37%, slightly more than the 9.1 of last year. It pours a nice orange amber, with a foamy quarter inch creamy head. The nose is full of malt, caramel, some floral hops, roastiness. The mouth is incredibly complex. It starts with some malty sweetness, then there is some hits of hoppy bitterness and spiciness, before ending with a creamy caramelly sweetness. Just a very multilayered beer. Its rich, very rich. As the beer warms, you get more and more caramel sweetness, maybe a little too much. The richness of the beer, more than the alcohol is the reason why I don't think I enjoy much more than a glass. A fine beer, just a little too rich for my tastes. I'd give it a B. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say. (note that they do not break their tasting notes into separate years).

A quick post on Beer and food

In my ever expanding search for articles on beer and food I was excited to see this article from Barry Schlacter in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Not only a good article praising two Texas Octoberfest beers, one the great Saint Arnold's version, the other from Rahr and Son's that I have yet to taste. But it goes on to discuss food pairings and how well Marzen style brews hold up to good food, showcased by a great recipe from Sam Adams.

Lagunitas Kill Ugly Radio

I saw this beer the other day at Central Market, and although I'm not a huge fan of Frank Zappa, I do like unusual beers so I picked it up. Dedicated to one of the singer's albums this is the second of Lagunitas Zappa Beer's (the first being Freak Out). I also noticed that the same day I bought the beer, the Jay over at Hedonist Beer Jive posted his thoughts on the beer. Now let's see where I stand.
The Beer: This is a highly hopped IPA and weighs in at a robust but not over powering 7.8% alcohol. The beer pours a golden amber with a thin white head. A noseful of pine needles welcomes you when you peak over the lip of the glass. The mouth is over the top with grapefruit and pine needles, minerally and something that I associated with limestone. But beyond that the pine needles over shadowed EVERYTHING. It was just to much, it was like eating a pine needles, bark and all. Very little balance, very little of anything else actually. I wanted to like this beer, but I just couldn't get myself to. I'd give it a very disappointing C. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

Breckenridge Autumn Ale

My latest quest for fine fall brews has taken me to this brewery in Downtown Denver. I have actually had the chance to go the brewery on one of my visits to Denver with my Fiance so I am more than familiar with their beers. There most famous is their Amber ale, however they have made some pretty good beers. To me the most notable of these being Vanilla Porter, 471 ESB (their 471 are 'small batch' beers), and Oatmeal stout. All very good beers, so I was pretty excited to try this one out when I saw it at my local Central Market.
The Beer: First things first, the website calls it an old ale, however I thought the flavor was more of Black Lager. The beer pours a dark rich brown with minimal head. Rich toasted malts up front with some underlying floral hoppiness. Bready yeasts, caramel, with roasted malts on the mouth. A warming smooth beer. Very nice, a bit of hops but really noticeable. At the end as the beer warmed up I started to get hints of raisins so maybe these are the traits of the old ale coming out. Not a bad beer, thoroughly enjoyable. I'd give it a B, but here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

The Business of Saint Arnold's

Not sure how I missed this, but yesterday's Houston Chronicle had an article on Saint Arnold's Brewery. Mostly an interview with founder Brock Wagner, there were some interesting tidbits of information that I thought I'd pass along:
1) Their search for a new place for the brewery is on going, but to find the perfect place for the right amount of money is proving to be difficult in the current Houston market. Hopefully this will change and they can find a great locale.
2) Since 2001 they have grown by an average of 20 percent annually! Way to go guys, that's awesome.
3) Lastly a comment from Brock regarding the wonderful beer and cheese tasting of a couple of weeks ago:

People are also discovering that beer goes great with food, and that you can pair beer with food often better than wine. Two weeks ago we did a beer and cheese tasting. It was an incredible event. A majority of the crowd was predominantly craft beer drinkers, but there were wine drinkers along with their beer-drinking friends. At the end, they were the ones who were the biggest proponents of how wonderful it was.

Its good to see that Brock along with many others are pushing food, beer, and how well the two go together.

Bear Republic: Pete Brown's Tribute Ale

Its been a good time since Bear Republic has made its way to Texas and I have tried four of their beers. My thoughts on those beers are posted here and here. I was pretty excited when I walked into my Central Market and saw a new offering and a brown ale no less. I was pretty excited as the other beers I had were mostly a derivative of a pale ale.
The Beer: A traditional American brown ale made with molasses and brown sugar this beer was a tribute to a member of the Bear Republic family Pete Brown. The beer weighs in at 6.3% and pours a rich dark chocolate brown with streaks of red shining through, capped off with a thick pillowy taupe head. The nose is sweet roasted and caramel malts with molasses. The mouth is rich with notes of molasses and brown sugar. A very solid beer, but it missed that deep roasted malt flavor that I love about some brown ales. Still a good beer one I'd give a strong B. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

The Session #8 Announcement

YES! Time for the monthly announcement of The Session, a monthly virtual beer tasting. The host this month is Beer Haiku Daily the theme this is month is Beer and Food. This is a great theme and one that is quite appropriate with the recent beer and food postings. More details from BHD:

I am looking for posts about pairing beer with food or using beer as an ingredient in food. I hope to see recipes, pictures, tasting notes, stories, menus, reviews or anything else that fits the bill of fare. Whether you write about which beer goes best with chili dogs or give your family’s secret recipe for vegan stout stew or post pictures of those ale braised lamb shanks you had last week, I want to know every mouth watering detail.

Sounds appetizing! I think this could lead to some great posts and more importantly a greater amount of educating, showing people how well beer and good food go together. Due date? 5 October. This means that I will probably be posting a little earlier as I am going to be pretty busy around that time......

Food and Beer

One of my passions is food and drink. I love cooking and consider myself a pretty good home cook, and I feel there is nothing better than a well made dinner paired with a wine or a craft beer. I am always interested in events or articles on good food pairings. One of my all time favorite beer books is Garrett Oliver's Brewmaster Table, the gold standard I think for food and beer pairings. This is a prime reason for my excitement over the recent Saint Arnold's Beer and Cheese tasting, plus it showed there are certain things that pair better with beer than wine. In addition to my post there's been a couple of articles and postings about food and beer that I thought I'd pass along.
First, Stan over at Appellation beer writes about three brewery's setting up Beer and Food dinners. This is a really great way for the brewery's to do a little self promotion and eat some really great foods. I'd love it if a local brewery could set something like this up. (hint hint for anyone out there reading this).
Secondly Fort Worth Star Telegram's Barry Schlacter has a great article on beer and food. Covey Restaurant and Brewing holds a four course beer dinner each course pairing with one of their fine beers handcrafted right there. What a great idea and a place I will definitely have to check out next time I am up in Ft. Worth.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

I had the oktoberfest, so now its on to Pumpkin ale, one of my favorite beers. I don't know why, but to me the combination of pumpkin and beer is a wonderful thing. I tried the Dogfish Head version last year and enjoyed it so I was excited when I saw this years version in my local Central Market.
The Beer: Pours a bright amber with a thin foamy white head. A bit lighter than last year, more amber than brown. The nose is full of cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, allspice and a bit of floral hops. The mouth is amazing, my tongue was shocked by the layers of cinnamon, and the creaminess of pumpkin with some sweetness of brown sugar. This is better than last year from what I remember and reviewing my notes. This beer has got it all. Its liquid pumpkin pie. As it warmed up, the spicey flavors really start to pop with nutmeg and allspice being the most prevalent. Very strong addition to anyone's pumpkin beer collection. I'd give it an A-.

Beer, Cheese, & Divine Reserve #5

On many Saturday's you will find my fiance, my friends and me at an afternoon wine tasting at the Tasting Room cafe. They usually do a good job of having 4 or 5 wines along with some interesting food pairings from their menu. Well this weekend was a little different, sure I was at the tasting room, but this time it was for the beer and not the wine. Tasting Room hosted their first Beer and Cheese tasting. I know that this will be hard for many wine lovers to believe, but beer actually pairs better with cheese, actually MUCH better, so this was something I was extremely excited about. To be clear, this wasn't any beer and cheese pairing....this was Saint Arnold's beer paired with Texas Cheeses, courtesy of the Houston Dairy Maids. The Houston Dairymaids are two young lady's that have traveled all over Texas to find cheeses grown in sustainable and organic methods. They distribute and sell these cheeses to local restaurants and farmer's markets. Now one to the pairings.
The first was pairing one cheese, a creamy hand rolled goats milk cheese with Texas Wheat and Elisa IPA. This tasting was used to show how two different beers bring out two different flavors in the cheese. The wheat really brought out the creaminess and tangyness of the goat cheese while the IPA brought out the earthy and nutty flavors. I preferred the wheat, while my fiance liked the IPA.
The second pairing was a Paragon cheese from the Velduizen family, a raw milk cheese, semi soft with a rich yellow color, paired with Lawnmower. This was probably my favorite pairing of the night as the Lawnmower really brought out the creaminess and nuttiness of the cheese.
Next up was the Brown ale paired with a fresh goat's cheese wrapped in Hoja Santa leaves. This gave the cheese a mild minty flavor, that I personally didn't care for and the match with the sweet maltiness of the Brown was a dud.
The Fifth pairing was Amber with a Queso Blanco with Chiles and Epazote. Epazote is an herb similar to oregano. The flavor combination of the queso blanco and the Amber created something completely unexpected that I can only compare to oven baked pizza dough topped with fresh mozzarella, very nice.
Then came the Oktoberfest paired with Deep Ellum Blue, a mild blue cheese from Dallas, TX. The sweet maltiness of the Oktoberfest blended seamlessly with the creamy tangyness of the blue cheese.
Last, was the treat of the day, Divine Reserve 5, a Russian Imperial Stout paired with a Texas Gold Cheddar. Now the Divine Reserve 5 isn't being released until the 11th, so having the opportunity to try it early was a treat. This is an amazing beer at 10%, opaque with a huge dark chocolate head. Chocolate, espresso and a bit of hops on the nose. The mouth is full of chocolate covered espresso beans a bit of burnt coffee, and just a hint of alcohol on the finish. Incredibly smooth and I sure didn't feel the 10%. Very nice and of all the Divine Reserves this is my favorite. The pairing with the cheese was just as incredible. You start with this nice sharpness of the cheddar and nuttiness. However when paired with this incredibly complex beer there is an underlying sweetness that comes out in both the beer and cheese melding the two together.

As you can see this was a pretty fun afternoon at the Tasting room. I also got to purchase a six pack of the soon to be released Divine Reserve another special treat!
Thanks to TTR, Brock and the Saint Arnold's Crew, and of course the Houston Dairymaids for putting on such a wonderful event, I hope they are able to put together another one.

The Session #7 Roundup

Well it was a fun time this month, the Brew Zoo, the seventh session, this time hosted by Rick Lyke. It's been fun to watch it grow, this month to 33 participants! Amazing. Head on over to Rick's page and check out his roundup. Stay tuned for the announcement of Session #8.

The Session #7: The Brew Zoo

Its the first Friday of the month, which means its Session Time. The host this month is Rick over at Lyke 2 Drink, the theme is the Brew Zoo. The idea is to pick a beer with an animal theme to it. With that in mind I searched high and low in trying to find a local Texas beer. I originally thought of Rahr and Son's Ugly Pug, a very nice Black lager, but I eventually settled on a small brewery from Austin, Independence Brewery. The beer was Old Jasperillo was named after the brewers old dog and features its likeness on the bottle.
The Brewery: The head brewer Rob Cartwright, a Canadian by birth, has been brewing since he was 14 years old! This was due to his parents trying to save money on beer because of the high beer taxes in his native Victoria, British Columbia. Eventually he headed down to the Lone Star State for college at University of Texas. During this time he started working at the Copper Tank where he learned the art of brewing from various mentors. It was at this time that Rob started getting that dream that all brewers get, opening up his own brewery. That has now been realized, and Independence Brewery has been running for a little while turning out some fine Texas brew.
The Beer: As mentioned above its named after the owners dog, is an Old Ale and comes in a 22 oz bottle. This may be the only Texas micro brew to come in a Big Bottle format. The Beer weighs in at 9% and pours a nice copper brown with a somewhat thin bubbly head. I have to admit I was pretty excited to try this beer as it seemed pretty unique in comparison to some of the other Texas Brews out there. Unfortunately my excitement was short lived. The nose was incredibly rich with floral notes, bready yeasts, sweet malts, warm caramel, and fermented fruit. It sounded good until I took my first taste, which was sickly sweet and full of fermented pears. I'm not sure if this was a bad bottle or not, but I was clearly disappointed. There were hints of goodness but they were far out shown by the bad. A C- for this beer. The folks over at BA have varying opinions.
I know this tasting was a disappointment, but I know that there are plenty of other members of the Brew Zoo to go check out. So head over to Rick's posting to see all the other wild animals.

Saint Arnold's Octoberfest

Labor day has finally gone. More than just symbolizing the end of summer and beginning of a school year it also symbolized a time to get ready for fall, and many brewers use this time to start putting out their fall beers, whether they be Octoberfest style brews or pumpkin ale these are some of my favorite beers. So over the course of the next month or so, I'll be trying as many fall brews as I possibly can, then maybe at the end, around the end of October I'll do a mass tasting to see which one I thought the best was. My first foray is one I had last year.
The Beer: Looking over last years notes it's held up very well and its a pretty consistent beer. It pours a bright amber color with a nice quarter inch taupe head, that has more staying power than last years. The nose is of roasted malts and caramel, with notes of yeast and floral hops. The mouth is sweet and caramel-y. Very little bitterness here, but copious amounts of malt-y goodness. Sweet without being cloying or overpowering. A very good beer in my book.

Thoughts on Michael Jackson

As mentioned yesterday, the Father of Beer Writing Michael Jackson has passed on. Like most lovers of beer, I have never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I consider him a great influence. However, there are many who have met him, some of there stories and thoughts are below:

Thoughts from Stan at Appellation Beer.
A great article and post from Lew Bryson
Another good article from the folks at Realbeer.
All About Beer has posted his last article where he talks a little bit about his illness.
A post from Rick Lyke and his experiences with Mr. Jackson.
The brewers over at Lost Abbey take their turn expressing their sadness at the loss of the Leader of the Pack

A Sad Day......

If any day was one, today is it for the beer world. News from Brookston Beer Bulletin brings that the great Beer author and more Michael Jackson has passed. Mr. Jackson known as the Beer Hunter among other things, introduced many a novice beer drinker to craft beer with the World Guide to Beer among many other books. He will be missed. Other much more eloquent will be posting their thoughts throughout the next couple of days. I'll try to gather as many as I can and post links to them this weekend.

The Under 21 Debate

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably noticed that there has been an increase in the debate on whether or not to lower the legal drinking age. I have spoken about it before, and even link to a site, whose goal it is to educate others about drinking responsibly. Earlier this week Jay over at Brookston Blog had a very well written article on the subject. However it wasn't until I read an article by Fred Eckhardt in the most recent magazine of All About beer that I decided to post a few of my thoughts no the issue.
I'll go ahead and state my position at the top so you understand where I'm coming from, I am for lowering the age to 18. There was one paragraph in particular from AAB that really raised my eyebrows: Of all the countries in the world, the US is one of only FOUR that restrict the drinking age to 21, the others being South Korea, Malaysia and the Ukraine. In fact three are only 7 total countries that don't use 18 as the age (the additional three being New Zealand, Iceland, and Japan). Now is it just me or is there something really wrong here. To help furthermake Jay's point, but does MADD really think that every other country in the world is ready to damage the mental development of their youth? I don't hink so.
Having lived in Germany for a few months I know first hand that there view of alcohol is VERY different. They don't have the issues that we have with drunk driving, alcoholism, and frankly just regular instances of public intoxication. Neo-prohibitionists can scream and yell until they are red in the face, but the above are all true statements. We have made alcohol this mysterious stigma due to our outlook on it, shrouding it misconception that creates an atmosphere that once a person leaves the protected embrace of home and heads to college, binge drinking rises to incredible rates. Our youth are not raised to respect alcohol, understanding that it is something to be enjoyed with dinner and friends, vs getting drunk off the cheapest swill possible. The youth of this great country face immense pressure to drink, while in Europe that pressure just doesn't exist. Why is that?
The legal age of adult hood as set by many precedences is 18. It is the age in which we can choose the leader of our great country. It is the age in which we are considered adults in the eyes of the courts. It is the age in which we can die for our country. We can be police officers, and firemen at 18. We drive cars, we can fly airplanes at 18. However we can not have a beer. If everyone looks at this from a logical (I know this may be a difficult request for some) they can not honestly say that keeping the age at 21 is the right thing to do. As prohibition was a failed culteral experiment, so was raising the legal drinking age to 21.

A tale of two magazines

A couple of days ago I was all set to write a post about what I thought was a pretty good magazine on beer, Draft. Of course some bloggers have pointed out that this isn't all that good of a magazine and sure it has its short comings, but I thought it was pretty good. My attitude changed this past weekend when my eyes caught hold of the newly renovated All About Beer Magazine. Now most beer aficionados know of this magazine, however, it was the first time I have seen it in my area. Having heard so much about it, I picked it up and couldn't be happier.
Here are just a few of the things I liked about it:

• The in depth articles were very informative and well written. The article on the history of IPA, while not covering a whole lot of new ground it was still a good article that would give a new comer a greater understanding of what has become an American Craft brewer's standard. The other was the article on the Publican. The intent of the story was celebrating Washington D.C.'s Brickseller, a taphouse that has been around for 50 years. However the article spread to many more taphouses around the country including the local favorite Gingerman's and Flying Saucer.
• A great guide to Beer Books. Covering everything from beer history to beer memorabilia, this was a great guide for book lovers.
• The tastings were very informative broken down into two distinct formats. The first is the traditional ratings of beer, the theme this month being Continental Ales, the second is called "Beer talk" and is a panel of beer experts each extolling on a specific selection of beers. The panel included such luminaries as Michael Jackson and Garret Oliver, among others.
  

All in all, I felt this was an incredibly easy read, good interviews with brewers and a fun look at news bits. They ave a great selection of writers, from Rick Lyke to Charlie Papazian and many others.
My nits are minor and consistent with my gripes for other magazines. The Activity Calendar is already out of date by the time the magazine comes to print. If magazines are going to put these things out, they need to do a better job of making them relevant. This magazine has now become a monthly pick up for me as its one of the few beer mag's that I have access to down in Houston. Unfortunately no Beer Advocate. I am thinking of writing another post on why Draft is no longer my favorite, maybe later this week.

Ommegang Three Philosophers

Ever since my first taste of Ommegang I have been a HUGE fan of their beers. Touted as one of the best brewers of Belgian ales in the US, they are located in Cooperstown, NY. They have an amazing farmhouse brewery located there that over looks the rolling hills and forests of the surrounding area. Originally an independent brewery they are now owned by Moortgart, makers of Duvel and Maredsous. This past week my local Flying Saucer, as it does every Wednesday had a Glassware night. I couldn't make it due to my work, but my wonderful and amazing fiance went because the glass was from Ommegang and I had to have one. This was a very special glass and it was for a very specific beer, their Three Philosophers. After my fiance picked up the glass I of course, went out and grabbed a Three Philosophers to try in its own glass. The glass is a small almost spherical goblet residing on a short stemmed base.
The Beer: The beer is a Quadrupel made with cherries and weighing in at 9.8% abv. Pouring into its unique glass the beer is a cloudy hazelnut color with a very nice tan colored head. the nose is sour, yeasty, malty, cherries, with some caramel notes. The mouth has a bit of cherry up front, but its not lambic-y at all. Thick and malty with malty notes, both caramel and a bit of chocolate notes come out. As the beer warms more cherry flavor pops up mixing with the caramel and chocolate more. At the very back is this warm sourdough bread flavor that comforts the should. Such an amazingly complex beer! As you can tell I thoroughly enjoyed it. A strong powerful A for this beer. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

A Couple of Quick Hits

Just a couple of quick notes today.

First check out this article by one of my favorite Texas based Beer writers Barry Schlacter. Today in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram he has a good article on who owns what. Some of those independent breweries are not so independent after all.

Secondly Saint Arnold's has announced that Divine Reserve 5 a Russian Imperial Stout will be released in early September. In the meantime checkout their Octoberfest brew which was released this week.

Another Texas Craft Beer

Yes sir, may I have another!
Thanks to Josquin for this bit of news, a new craft brewery is opening, in nearby Conroe Texas no less. Called Southern Star Brewing Company, it looks like they some time before they are open. From the website, they plan on being open by January 2008. No report yet on the styles of beer's they will be brewing, but one would hope they would continue the strong tradition of brewing standard brews such as Saint Arnold's Amber and Brown, Rahr's Red, and Real Ale's Pale Ale. However in addition I'd love to see them mix it up some more, provide more stouts and porters (Something few Texas breweries are doing), oak aged beers, and other less locally brewed beers. All done with a Texas take of course. This is exciting times for craft beer lovers in Texas. Stay tuned, I'll try to keep you all posted on the happenings of this brewery.

A Second Double Dose of Bear Republic

As mentioned a last week, the great Bear Republic has finally made its way to Houston and I couldn't be happier. This week I went out and I picked up two other big bottles to enjoy.
XP Pale Ale: This is Bear Republics Exceptional Pale Ale and its quite a good one. It weighs in at 5.4% abv and 55 IBU. It pours a nice bright orange color with a bright white foamy head. Notes of pine, grapefruit and citrus peel are all over the nose, with slight floral hints showing up. The mouth is effervescent, light body, with a slightly yeast note. Smooth and very well balanced, notes of pale malts show up as well. A little piney at times, but very nice. I'd give it an B+. As for the folks at BA, here's what they have to say.
Hop Rod Rye Ale: Made with 20% Rye Malt, weighing in at 7.5% abv and 90+IBU's this is a strong American Pale Ale. The beer pours a cloudy brown with a tan creamy head. Piney hops abound on the nose, malts, and bready notes show up as well. This beer has a really thick mouthfeel, with hoppy bitterness up front exploding into pine needles and flowing into a light sour bready note from the rye before finishing up in another strong wave of hop bitterness. I really enjoyed the ebbs and flows in the taste profile of this beer. Probably my favorite of the ones that I had, I'd give it a strong A-. The folks at BA tend to agree.
Well so far those are the 4 beers from BR that I have seen in my market. One thing is for sure, they do Pale Ales, and IPA's wonderfully well, but I'm eager to see what else they can do. Hopefully we'll get some more of their beers here, or else I may have to just travel to the West Coast (now that would be a shame).

The Session #7 Announcement

Its hard to believe that just 7 short months ago Stan over at Appellation Beer started up The Session. Its been a great time to try new and different beers and growing every time. Its amazing to see the amount of Beer Bloggers out there all over the world participating. For the uninitiated the Session is a virtual beer tasting hosted by a Blogger. Each Session has a theme that the beer tasting needs to fall into, and on the first Friday of the month everyone posts their tasting. A couple of days later the hosts posts a round-up with all of the tastings.
This month the host is Rick Lyke over at Lyke 2 Drink. The theme is Brew Zoo. The guidelines are simple, grab a beer that has an animal theme. From Rick's post:

We have lions and tigers and bears, plus various birds, reptiles, fish, assorted domesticated and wild animals, plus a few mythical creatures. For whatever reason brewers have a tradition of branding their beers using everything from pets to predators. The Brew Zoo will celebrate these lagers and ales.

So come one come all and join the Brew Zoo.

The Session #6 Round-Up

A few short days after the 6th session was completed, Greg over at Beer, Beats, & Bites has posted the roundup. There were quite a few participants participating in this fruit beer tasting. As expected not all were lambic's, and most tried some really unique beer's. Overall I think this was a great tasting that I am sure opened many (including yours truly) onto a different style of beer. Next Month's host is Rick Lyke over at Lyke 2 Drink.

Worst Beer Ever?

The worst beer ever? Thats and have I had it is the question? It all started innocently enough, with me and my fiance, meeting some friends at Flying Saucer, a family of bars with a huge selection of beers on tap and in the bottle. When I go to the Saucer my eyes are usually drawn to the chalkboard above the bar highlighting new offerings. It was there that it happened, I saw Sam Adams Triple Bock. I had heard of this Extreme beer from Jim Koch before. In fact it was Boston Beer Company's first Extreme beer, followed by the Chocolate Bock and Utopia among others. We sat down and I eagerly asked our waitress for the Sam Adams Triple Bock, it was a short time later that she came back with this small jet black bottle and a snifter. From this 8.45 oz bottle pours what I can only describe as black tar it was so thick. Thats ok I thought, I love thick beers. My anticipation crumbled at the first sniff. It was pure unadulterated soy sauce. Now I love soy sauce, with my sushi, but not as a beer. If I had known I was going to drink Sam Adams Kikkoman I would have passed.
Before I go further, lets take a step back and talk about the beer itself. The beer is an ale brewed with maple syrup and its aged in old whiskey barrels. This creates a beer that should be complex with flavors of oak and vanilla. Finally the beer weighs in at a robust 18% abv.
Ok, back to the nightmare that was this beer. This is coming from someone that is not faint at heart when it comes to strong beers, or even oak aged beers. I have had my share of Dogfish's 18%+ abv beers, and oak aged beers and have for the most part given them good ratings. Not this time, I can't do it, this was so bad I couldn't finish it. The nose of Soy sauce was so overpowering I couldn't enjoy the beer itself, which all I really got out of it, was some raisiny characteristics and lots of alcohol. While I appreciate what Mr. Koch is trying to do, this was definitely a big SWING and a miss in my book. Its important to point out that it was not just me that had these strong feelings for the beer, the three other people felt the same way. In fact I was SHOCKED to see that 63% of BAer's enjoyed this beer, I have no idea how anyone can truthfully say they enjoyed this beer.

The Session #6

Its that time of the month again, the 6th Session! This time hosted by Greg over at Beer beats and bites the theme is Fruit Beer. Lucky for me its not just lambic's we are talking about, but any beer brewed with fruit. Greg's talk of Strawberries at his local farmer's market is what led me in the direction of the ale I chose. While not quite fruit from my local market, it does have that type of quality to it. The beer is brewed with local fruit (local to the brewery that is). I found Atlantic Brewing's Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale at my local Central Market, and its something that I have wanted to try for a while, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a taste.
The Brewery: Atlantic Brewing is based out of Bar Harbor Maine. It was found in 1991 and is still a fairly small brewery, only brewing 60 kegs a day according to their website. Another neat thing that they do is they try not to use big distributors instead choosing small local distributors. For instance in Texas the distributor is Spec's Warehouse and not a national company. The brewery makes a wide range of beers from a standard Pale Ale to a 6 month aged Porter and a year long aged Barley wine. Something tells me I was going to like this Blueberry beer.
The Beer: The beer pours a reddish amber with a quarter inch tan head. The nose is FULL of blueberries, maybe a bit of citrus from hops, but no noticeable maltiness, however it may have been hidden behind the blueberries. The mouth was surprising as it didn't have the sugary sweetness that I was afraid of. Instead there were notes of blueberries, some maltiness starts to show up, with minimal hop bitterness. A slight metallic tinge showed up at the end, maybe from the skins of blueberries and thats really the only fault I have with this beer. A very good solid fruit beer, that's not ruined by sugary sweetness. A beer that displays its fruit with out allowing it to take over the beer. I'd give it a good strong B+. What do the folks at BA have to Say?
Now head over to Beer, Beats, and Bites for more Fruit Beers

A double dose of Bear Republic

Living in Texas has some benefits when it comes to beer distributorship since we are somewhat centrally located we get a good portion of beer from the east coast and west coast. Not that we get all that beer, especially with some of the archaic label laws that exist in this fine state, but we get our fair share. One of the ones that we haven't had distributed to Texas is the great Bear Republic Brewing Co. Well that has now changed. Walking through my local Whole Foods, I was SHOCKED, SHOCKED I saw to see big glorious bottles of Bear Republic. I quickly picked up two carried them home and got ready to see what all the fuss was about.
Racer 5 IPA: A 7% alcohol IPA containing Columbus and Cascade hops and an IBU of 69. The beer pours a hazy copper color with a nice creamy head. The nose was more grapefruit than pine, with some citrus and even lychee note. The mouth is vibrant, citrusy, refreshing, not nearly as strong as I would have expected. Some good bitterness but not all that strong, maybe even mildly weak. A very solid IPA, but not top tier as I was expecting. I'd give it a B+, here's what the folks at BA had to say.
Red Rocket Ale: A pretty interesting ale, called a Scottish Red Ale weighing in at 6.8% and 65+ IBU's. The beer pours a nice reddish color with a thick tan head. BIG hops on the nose more piney than grapefruity but there is some citrus here. The mouth is piney, citrus, undertones of malty sweetness, caramel specifically. A little bit of astringency. Very good sipping beer. I really liked this one, this is what I wanted when I popped open a Bear Republic. I'd give it an A-, and here's what the BA people said.
I will definitely be going back to that Whole Foods and give the XP Pale Ale and Hop Rod Rye a try.

Traquair House Ale

A week or so ago, I was having a bad day and my fiance, surprised me by stopping by Spec's and picking up a special beer. It just so happened it was one that I had wanted to try for a while and for one reason or another had failed to pick up. When I saw it, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to open it up for a taste. Before we get to that, a little history on the brewery.
The Brewery: At 900 years old, Traquair is the oldest inhabited house in Scotland. Back in 1107 it was originally a hunting lodge for the kings and queens of Scotland. The Traquair brewery itself was founded in 1965 within what was the house domestic brewery. Domestic brewing had ceased around 1800 until Peter Maxwell Stuart began brewing again in 1965 until his death in 1990. Now managing is his daughter Catherine Maxwell Stuart. Currently the brewery produces around 600 to 700 barrels annually, but has plans to increase production by about 20%. They make a few different types of beers: The house ale (a Scottish Ale), Jacobite (an ale spiced with coriander), Bear ale (a lighter ale at 5%), and The Laird's Liquor (a dark ale).
The Beer: This Scottish ale weighs in at 7.2% abv and pours a deep amber brown capped with a thin taupe head. On the nose there is some mild hops up front with malty sweetness, raisins and figs showing up in force on the back end. Those being most predominate on the nose. The mouthfeel is thick rich and complex. Plenty of roasted malts, bitter espresso, raisins, and surprisingly a mild bit of sour taste just at the end. Not in a bad way either. A very nice beer, one that I would give an A-. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

Christmas in July

As mentioned earlier this week, Saint Arnolds has released their Christmas Ale in the Summer bringing a little Christmas Cheer in the middle of the Texas heat. I tried it last Christmas, and it was pretty good, but missing something from previous years. I was eager to grab a six pack to see how Summer has affected the taste and enjoyment of the ale.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at around 7.0% abv. It pours a nice bright golden amber, capped by a thin whispy head. The nose is full of sweet caramel malts, raisins, figs, and a hint of citrus. The mouth is thick and gummy, plenty of caramel notes, maybe even honey. Just a tad of hop bitterness showing up as the beer warms. Very nice, and much better than the bottle of beer I had during Christmas. I'd give it a B+.

News from Saint Arnold

On this very rainy Sunday morning I thought that I'd give a brief update on Houston's own Saint Arnold's Brewery. The following news bits are from Saint Arnold's news letter.

They have released their Christmas Ale in July! A few months back they took on a vote on how many people would like to see their Christmas beer available for a limited time in July. Enough people responded with a resounding YES that they brewed it, bottled it, and its now out for consumption. Stay tuned to some tasting notes and see how it compares to last year.

The official announcement has been made regarding the next Divine Reserve. As mentioned last month it will be an Imperial Stout and it will be released at the end of August.

Finally Saint Arnold's sales are up 27% for the first half of 2007. Congratulations go out to Brock and rest of the brew crew!

The Session #6 Announcement

Fresh off a wonderful Session number five a week ago, comes the announcement of The Session #6. For the uninitiated, The Session is a monthly tasting, held on the first Friday of the month. Each one is hosted by a different Beer blogger who picks the them of the month. Then on that first Friday, everyone posts a tasting around that theme. A great idea if I ever heard one. This month the host is Greg Clow of Beer, Beats and Bites. The theme this month? Well with all the wonderful fruit that Greg gets from the local farmers market he thought that Fruit Beer would be wonderful choice. Its OK, all you Lambic Haters out there, your choices are not that limited. Here are the guidelines according to Greg:

be a beer brewed/augmented with fruit (or fruit juice or extract), there are no other rules or guidelines. Anything is fair game, from a tart and funky Kriek or Framboise, to a sugar-laden "lambic", to a Blueberry Wheat or Raspberry Ale from your local brewpub.

This should be a fun one, and another Session that will probably open a few beer lovers taste buds to something new and different. Due date for this session? August 3rd. So if your interested in joining write up your post and email it to Greg on August 3rd.

My Denver Weekend

Another Holiday weekend, another trip to Denver for wedding planning fun. Lucky for me, my future wife doesn't mind when I slip away to check out the great beer scene in Denver. Last Friday, I went out with my future Brother In-Law and headed to a couple of breweries located in historic LODO. First off was Breckenridge Brewery. While we get many of their beers down in Texas, there were some interesting choices available that I hadn't tried. The first was a refreshing if simple beer called SummerBright Ale, a wheat ale with flavors of citrus. The second, and by far much better was the small batch Thunderhead Stout, a thick stout with copious amounts of coffee and chocolate flavors. A very nice beer that I had in their half pint glasses. From there we headed down the street to the Great Divide Brewery where I grabbed a chalice of Hades Ale. An amazingly complex and tasty Belgian Strong Golden ale. This was definitely a winner, the only disappointment coming when I realized that for whatever reason this is one of the few beers from Great Divide I haven't seen here in Houston.
That was Friday, but the real treat for me was the day before when I headed down to Falling Rock Tap House. Falling Rock is one of the top tap houses in America, and has an incredible selection of draft and cask beer. The bar holds a special place for me, as one of the owner's, Chris, is from Houston having gotten his start at the great Mucky Duck before heading to Denver. Those familiar with the Beer scene in Houston probably remember when he came to the Duck last Summer for a special Beer Tasting Saturday. Well good new people, I had the chance to meet and talk with Chris, and he is working with the Duck to set up a time next year for another Beer Tasting. It was a great time to visit the taphouse since it's there 10th anniversary, some local brewers have made some special brews and supplied them to Falling Rock. I was lucky enough to try out New Belgiums Special Edition La Folie, in a half pint chalice shaped glass. A couldy brown ale, full of sour cherries, hops, citrus, it weighs in at 6% alcohol and is blended from 10 different fermentation tanks that had been aged in wood. Quite an amazing beer, and while I am not a huge fan of Belgian Flanders Red Ale this was quite nice.

The Session #5

I know its been a couple of days since the Session #5 wrapped up, but I have only now been able to get back to my computer to post about the wrap up due to being busy in Denver last week (more on that trip later). As with the previous four this Session was a rousing success. It seems like everyone had a great time and Hop Talk received entries from all over the beer loving globe. With that said, head over there and check out the round up.
Stay tuned for the Announcement to Session #6 sometime later this week.

The Session #5

Can't believe its been a month already...this time around The Session is hosted by Hop Talk, the theme is atmosphere. The questions they want answered is: Where is your favorite place to have a beer? When? With whom? Most importantly Why? I have tried to do this when taking about one of my favorite places to have a beer. If you have read this blog then you know I am talking about the great Gingerman's. Gingerman's is a small beer pub chain, with locations in Austin, Dallas, New York and the Original Houston. Its a wonderful place with bartenders that know their beer and a pretty eclectic clientele. College students from the nearby Rice U, to some British Expats, to people like myself that just enjoy good beer and hanging out with friends. What makes this place great beyond the amazing beer selection is the building itself. A great front porch with plenty of sitting, leads up a couple of steps to a relatively dark interior. All wood beams its dominated by a few distinct features. One of course is a short bar in front of a wall that is absolutely packed with tap handles. The others are a good jukebox, and two glass cases that are filled with wonderful examples of Belgium glasses. Walking through the dark interior past the bar (not without stopping for a pint of Elissa cask ale of course) leads you to what makes me love this place. The closest thing I have come to in Houston to a beer garden. A courtyard with a lot of good seating and a HUGE oak tree that lends plenty of shading to the entire place. Its such a wonderful place to sip a good beer with friends. Many a Saturday will find my Fiance and I sitting across from each other talking and drinking good beer out in the courtyard. Now that's a great time. Saturday or Friday nights its the perfect place to hang out with friends listening to the Juke box, drinking good beer and enjoying good company, and I guess that answers the why question. Because what is better than that? One last thing that makes me love Gingerman's...half pints...because sometimes that's all you need.
The Beer: This wouldn't be a beer tasting post without a little talk of beer now would it? Of course I went down with some friends sat back in the courtyard and tried Sierra Nevada's new Anniversary IPA named Torpedo. Available in draft only I was happy to get to try this one out. From one of the forefathers of the craft beer movement and American style Pale ale's I knew it would be a treat. The beer poured a dark amber with a thick dense taupe colored head, that stayed around until the last drop. The nose was floral, citrus, specifically grapefruit. A slight astringency on the tongue, bitter throughout, but not over the top. Copious amounts of grapefruit with a little bit of maltiness in the back giving a mild lemony taste to my taste buds. Its hoppy alright but not in that over the top way many IPA's have. To me it was just right. A beer I would be more than happy to give an A-. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.
The Folks at Hoptalk will be posting their Session Roundup in the next couple of days, so stay tuned......

Quick Hits: Monday's Beer Edition

Just some random posts around the world wide web.....

The world of Wine gets Elvis and Marilyn Monroe wines....beer gets Larry the Cable Guy. Nebraska Microbrewery SchillingBridge Winery & MicroBrewery located near Omaha where The Cable Guys is from will be putting out some beers in his honor. Named Git-R-Done beer it will be a light beer with "More flavor and Body than popular corporate beers."

Metal Prices and the Beer industry. A really good article on MSNBC covering the impact that stolen kegs are having on the beer industry. As reported people are taking the keg's and selling them to scrap metal shops for good sums of money. While deposits can be as little as $15.00-20.00, kegs can be sold for scraps for as much as $55.00. According to the article this has an unbalanced affect on the Craft industry. While over all keg sales are only about 12% of all beer sold, however keg sales can be up to as much as 40% of their business.

And finally, reminder that this Friday is The Session #5.

North Coast Blue Star Wheat

Call this one inspired by Jay. That's Jay of Hedonist Beer Jive. Last week he started his Great Summer Wheat Off where he tasted a very nice one from Goose Island. So well inspired I decided to get on the action and have my own taste of a good ole American Wheat Beer.
The Beer: North Coasts version weighs in at a very light and crisph 4.5% alcohol (now thats a good summer session beer). Its not a seasonal but one of their year round offerings. The beer pours a hazy cloudy straw color with a nice foaming white head. Citrus notes abound here, a bit of yeast, low on the banana scent. The mouth is effervescent, lemony, a bit of yeast, zesty and ultimately refreshing which is what I want out of a good American Wheat beer. Not complex but very nice nonethe less. I'd give it a good strong B. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

Avery Fourteen

Avery brewing is a very nice little brewer from the big Colorado. I have tasted and enjoyed many of their brews in the past. From the big bottle Collaboration ale, to the small but powerful Mephistopheles, they are all unique beers. This particular beer is a celebration of their 14th anniversary. The last few years they have been putting out anniversary beers, the 12th was a Saison, the 13th was Weizen Dopplebock. The style this time around? They leave it up to the drinker to decide.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at a potent 9.46% alcohol and 60 IBU's, a note on the label says that its dry hopped. Pours a rich dark brown with a cappuccino colored head. Molasses, raisins, hops in the nose. The mouth has notes of coffee and chocolate covered raisins and finally a note of figs up front with bitter hops showing up near the end. It keeps the beer smooth with a thick mouthfeel. A very rich beer, you can feel the hops, but they aren't overpowering the malty sweetness up front helps balance it out. The over all alcohol while not noted in the taste is definitely felt as you drink it. A very nice beer. One that I would grade a B+. Now as for the style, while it definitely doesn't fit any one style the nearest I could come to is an ultra hoppy Scottish Ale (maybe an ISA - Imperial Scotch Ale?). To each its own. The folks over at BA call it a strong Dark Belgian Ale. To each their own I guess.

Quick Hits: Beer around the Web

Its a lazy Saturday morning, and I have been searching out some interesting articles on that which we love, Beer!

The Capital Times from Madison Wisconsin has a great write up on Lucy Saunders new book, "Grilling with Beer". From the read it sounds like a great book, that focus's on the facts that Beer pairs so much better with foods than wine. One more book that tries to beat back the falsehood of food and wine pairings. From someone that loves food and beer, its irritating to me that when I go to a good restaurant (as I am planning on doing tonight to celebrate my fiance's birthday) I have very little to choose from when it comes to beer. Enough with the aside, back to the book. Sounds like a really good addition to any one's cookbook collection. For another review, head over to the trusted Brookston Bulletin where Jay did another review.

From Virginia comes yet another story of the government and neo-prohibitionists rearing their ugly heads. A fine dining establishment in Alexandria called Rustico has a new beer related item on its menu. A restaurant for beer lovers this place has nearly 300 beers on tap or in the bottle. The chef's new experiment is Beer Popsicle. Evidently this is a BIG NO-NO as the Virginia ABC says the chef’s summer treat may break regulations requiring that “beer be served in its original container or served to the customer immediately once it’s poured.” This from a state that already has overly controlling alcohol laws I guess this shouldn't be surprising, just sad.

Last but not least a nice write up from Stan over at Appellation Beer in regards to Denver's own Great Divide Brewery and their new beer: Samurai. A good beer made with rice of all things. See adjuncts aren't all bad, you just have to use good ingredients.

North Coast Old Stock 2007

I am a big fan of North Coast Brewing from California. From their Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, to Brother Thelonious, that Belgian style beer that also supports great music. When I went to my local Central Market last week and saw their new Old Stock ale, I decided to pick it up. This is an Old ale that they brew every year, and its meant to be laid down and aged. I decided to go ahead and try one before laying any down to get a baseline for later comparison.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 11.7 and pours a cloudy reddish brown with a thin taupe colored head. The head quickly dissipates into a thin tight line that sticks around throughout. The nose is of sweet malt syrup, raisins, figs, espresso and chocolate. The mouth has notes of caramel, chocolate, espresso and raisins. A bit too much alcohol on the back end kind of kills the over all taste of the beer, and not surprisingly this beer needs some more time to mellow the alcohol flavors and let other's start to meld and shine through. Right now I'd have to give it a B-. We'll have to wait and see how it develops.

Shiner 98: Bavarian Amber

Shiner....that beer from the very small Texas town, made at the Spoetzl Brewery. They will turn 100 yrs old in 1909. To celebrate that momentous achievement they have over the course of the last few years brewed some special beers. These beers are count up from Shiner 96, brewed a two years ago, to Shiner 97, and now the release of Shiner 98. Their first beer was a very pleasing marzen beer, the second was a very good Black Lager that I reviewed last year. As stated in the title this beer is a Bavarian Amber, a style similar if not the same as an Amber Lager.
The Beer: The beer pours a bright orange color with a thin, weak looking white head. The head started relatively week, and ended that way as well, quickly disappearing. The nose was of both pale and caramel malts, some slight toastiness, little to know floral scents. The mouth was smooth, effervescent, a bit of a caramel sweetness. A very mild beer, maybe too mild as there wasn't any pop. No vibrancy that I associate with a good lager. Just there, it sat in your mouth. After the first two special brews by Shiner, this was definitely a disappointment. A grade of C for this one only because there was nothing overly offensive about the brew. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Happy Birthday Saint Arnolds

This past weekend the folks over at Saint Arnold's celebrated their thirteenth anniversary. It was an absolutely great time, full of great BBQ from local Goode Company (love that jalapeno bread), and of course great beer. After an hour or so of sipping on their fine Elissa IPA, and Lawnmower, I heard rumblings that they had opened up something special. Sneaking towards the front of the brewery I saw a small silver keg that the guys behind the bar were pouring half pints. When I finally made my way to the bar, I eagerly passed my pint glass to the tender, asking what this special elixir was. His reply made me giddy, it was their special Imperial Stout (a heftier version of their Winter Stout) aged in oak whiskey barrels. I had heard that they had made this, but since its only served at the brewery during special occasions had missed opportunities to taste it. It was a pretty amazing beer, full of espresso, cocoa, chocolate covered raisins, thick mouthfeel, with hints of vanilla and oak. A great beer. After having partaken in the beer, I ask Brock (owner of Saint Arnold's) if he minded taking me and a buddy around back to check out the Saint Arnold's Rolls (see pic above). Although I don't believe Brock's story how how they did the paint job (scrunched it up and tied rubber bands around it) it was nice to see the car. I also was able to get a semi small scoop from Brock. The next Divine Reserve will be an Imperial Stout (hopefully of the same recipe used in the Whiskey aged version). All in all it was a great night. So here's to 13 more great years of Saint Arnold's Beers.

Nice stein Brock!

Dogfish Head: Immort Ale

Every couple of months Dogfish releases a special four pack of beers. Not surprisingly these are usually very special, very unique beers. Their Punkin Ale and Midas Touch are just two such examples. Others include Burton Baton, Aprihop, and Immort Ale. Talk about unique! The beer is brewed with peat smoked barley, juniper berries, vanilla and maple syrup. Its also aged in oak. The four pack has a really nice piece of artwork on it, that is replicated on the bottle label. (see the picture to the right, courtesy of the Dogfish Website). Check out the Dogfish website for more info on the beer.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 11% and pours a dark brown with a thin taupe head into a snifter glass. The nose is of vanilla, maybe a bit of maple, some smokey earthy notes. The mouth is raisiny, oaky, earth, and something that I could only compare to chestnuts, and some espresso bitterness. A little too much alcohol warmth at the end for my tastes. Not a lot of hop bitterness for 40IBU's, it was disguised by the other complexity. That's the thing, its a very complex beer, maybe a bit too complex. I'd grade it a B-. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

The Session #5

Fresh off a very fun Session #4 focusing on local beers, comes the announcement of the next session. The monthly virtual beer tasting is being hosted by the guys over at Hop Talk. The theme this month? Another session that doesn't focus on a particular style, but focuses on Atmosphere. From their sight:

Beer is about more than flavor, IBUs, and the debate over what is a craft beer and what isn’t. It’s about Life. It’s the proverbial icing on the cake.

So, we want to know about the “Atmosphere” in which you enjoy beer. Where is your favorite place to have a beer? When? With whom? Most importantly:

Why?

Because while life isn’t all about beer, beer is all about life.

I think this is a great idea. I have said before that the place that you have your beer, and the people you are with, are sometimes more important to your beer drinking experience than the actual beer. So, the deadline this time around is Friday 6 July.

The Session Round Up

Snekse over at Gastronomic Fight Club has posted the round up for the lastest session. It was a great idea this month, focusing on Local Brew's instead of a specific style of beer. As a supporter of all things local I was very happy to be able to give some pub to the great Saint Arnold's, and their great Cask ale. Go over and check out the Round up. Snekse did something pretty interesting in dividing up the posts into geographical areas. Next month's announcement will be made shPublish Postortly I'm sure, and I'm eager to participate.

The Session: Local Brew

Its the first Friday of the Month, and you beer lovers know what that means...its Session Time. The time for a virtual tasting, where beer bloggers the world over gather around a common theme for a beer tasting. The host this month is Gastronomic Fight Club, the theme is Local Beer, within 150 miles. Well, from the moment of the announcement, there was no question I was going to go with Houston's own Saint Arnold's Brewery. The only question that remained was which beer to taste. I thought briefly about going with the current seasonal, their very tasty Summer Pislner, but I settled on going really local. Getting a local beer that I could only get from a local pub, not a store.
The Beer: The beer in question is Saint Arnold's Elissa Cask ale, served at my favorite beer joint, The Gingerman's (recently mentioned in the latest edition of DRAFT Magazine). I am a fan of St. Arnold's regular Elissa IPA so I was excited to try the cask version. It pours a nice light hazy amber topped with a creamy thick off-white head. Nose of grapefruit, citrus, herbaceous notes. The mouthfeel is thick, creamy with grapefruit, herb's, spices, and some slightly sweet malty notes to give it a bit of balance. The beer was thick leaving a beer-stache as I drank. It was smooth, served the appropriate temperature of just below room temp. Incredibly good beer, this is what I imagine good Cask Ale tasting like. The ending bitterness wasn't over the top, just subtly flowing over the tongue. A very good beer that I'd give a strong B+.
Now head over to Gastronomic Fight Club for the round up.