tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243640022024-03-07T10:46:09.233-08:00HEDONIST BEER JIVEJay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.comBlogger762125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-57893737830118192362010-04-27T11:51:00.001-07:002012-07-05T16:54:31.334-07:00WE HAVE A NEW HOME<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey, I'm writing another beer blog these days called <a href="http://www.beersamizdat.net/">BEER SAMIZDAT</a> - it's better than this one and is read by better-looking people. Come check that out and <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/BeerSamizdat">follow us on Twitter</a> as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Click over to the our non-beer blog <a href="http://www.hedonistjive.com/">THE HEDONIST JIVE</a> as well if you dare, which casts a net beyond craft beer into all sorts of personal obsessions – music, film, politics, baseball, naval-gazing and extreme narcissism. Bookmark <a href="http://www.hedonistjive.com/">http://www.hedonistjive.com/</a> and please visit often.</span>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-70896588867868484552010-04-26T06:00:00.000-07:002010-04-26T10:27:04.029-07:00THE HEDONIST BEER JIVE 95<div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJ6vEdOHpV7qt08DxBeacf8JVawrM3qPGp3kH9y9ZWjxWl9FPHPd1LCk7ffhkIShHVEcOjmu9rRfYfIKlCoUA9A5rHeXGDdGE2JLfmoZuHJnl-OJd2O36irrNskJ1yszMyp2s7A/s1600/rochefort8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJ6vEdOHpV7qt08DxBeacf8JVawrM3qPGp3kH9y9ZWjxWl9FPHPd1LCk7ffhkIShHVEcOjmu9rRfYfIKlCoUA9A5rHeXGDdGE2JLfmoZuHJnl-OJd2O36irrNskJ1yszMyp2s7A/s200/rochefort8.jpg" tt="true" width="142" /></a>Let’s take a moment to give thanks and praise to the beers that rejoice and sing hosannas with the angels, shall we? Expanded from the Hedonist Beer Jive 75, let me present to you the <strong>HEDONIST BEER JIVE 95</strong> – the ninety-five finest ales <em>(and lagers!)</em> to have ever passed my lips. There are multiple newcomers to the list – with <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/03/hoppy-belgian-amazing-bruerys-mischief.html">THE BRUERY’s “Mischief”</a> being the single greatest new beer to hit the hallowed rankings – and jeez, if we can only drink <em>five more</em> world-beating beers, we’ll make it all the way up to a big 100. </div><br />
As we always like to say, start your shopping here and fill your basket with these gems. HBJ says you’ll be glad ya did.<br />
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<strong>1. BRASSERIE DE ROCHEFORT – <span style="color: #660000;">Trappistes Rochefort 8</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em> <br />
<strong>2. BRASSERIE DE L'ABBAYE DES ROCS - <span style="color: #660000;">Triple Imperiale</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em><br />
<strong>3. SOUTHERN TIER – <span style="color: #660000;">Gemini</span></strong> <em>(Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>4. DESCHUTES</strong> <strong>-<span style="color: #660000;"> The Abyss</span></strong> <em>(Russian Imperial Stout)</em></div><div><strong>5. UNIBROUE</strong> <strong>– <span style="color: #660000;">La Fin Du Monde</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Pale Ale)</em><br />
<strong>6. THE BRUERY</strong> - <strong><span style="color: #660000;">Mischief</span></strong><em> (Belgian Strong Pale Ale)</em><br />
<strong>7. MOYLAN’S</strong> <strong>– <span style="color: #660000;">Hopsickle</span></strong> <em>(Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>8. BRASSERIE DE ROCHEFORT</strong> <strong>– <span style="color: #660000;">Trappistes Rochefort 6</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Dark Ale) </em><br />
<div><strong>9. BROOKLYN BREWING - <span style="color: #660000;">Black Ops</span></strong> <em>(Barrel-Aged Stout)</em><br />
<strong>10. THREE FLOYDS</strong> <strong>- <span style="color: #660000;">Alpha King</span></strong> <em>(American Pale Ale) </em><br />
<strong>11. LOST ABBEY</strong> <strong>– <span style="color: #660000;">Gift Of The Magi</span></strong> <em>(Biere De Garde)</em><br />
<strong>12. SIX POINT CRAFT ALES</strong> <strong>- <span style="color: #660000;">Bengali Tiger</span></strong> <em>(IPA)</em><br />
<strong>13. LOST ABBEY</strong> <strong>– <span style="color: #660000;">10 Commandments</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em><br />
<strong>14. ST. BERNARDUS – <span style="color: #660000;">Grotten Brown</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em><br />
<strong>15. BROWERIJ VAN STEENBERGE – <span style="color: #660000;">Monk’s Café Sour Flemish Ale</span></strong><em> (Flanders Oud Bruin)</em><br />
<strong>16. LUCKY LABRADOR - <span style="color: #660000;">Super Duper Dog</span></strong> <em>(Double IPA)</em></div><div><strong>17. RUSSIAN RIVER – <span style="color: #660000;">Damnation</span></strong> <em>(Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale)</em><br />
<strong>18. AVERY BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">The Reverend</span></strong><em> (Quadrupel)</em><br />
<strong>19. MOONLIGHT – <span style="color: #660000;">Reality Czeck</span></strong> <em>(Czech Pilsner)</em><em><br />
</em><strong>20. VICTORY BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">Wild Devil</span></strong> <em>(Belgian IPA)</em><br />
<strong>21. STONE BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">IPA</span></strong> <em>(IPA)</em><br />
<strong>22. HACKER-PSCHORR – <span style="color: #660000;">Dunkel Weiss</span></strong> <em>(Dunkel Weizen)</em><br />
<strong>23. DE STRUISE - <span style="color: #660000;">Pannepot Old Fisherman's Ale</span></strong> <em>(Quadrupel)</em><br />
<strong>24. LOST ABBEY - <span style="color: #660000;">Devotion Ale</span></strong> <em>(Belgian-Style Blonde Ale)</em><br />
<strong>25. CAPTAIN LAWRENCE - <span style="color: #660000;">Captain's Reserve Imperial IPA</span></strong><em> (Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>26. ALPINE BREWING - <span style="color: #660000;">Nelson</span></strong><em> (IPA)</em> <br />
<strong>27. SURLY - <span style="color: #660000;">Furious</span></strong> <em>(Imperial Red Ale)</em> <br />
<strong>28. MIKKELLER/BREWDOG - <span style="color: #660000;">Devine Rebel</span></strong><em> (English Barleywine)</em><br />
<strong>29. DARK HORSE - <span style="color: #660000;">Tres Blueberry Stout</span></strong> <em>(American Stout)</em><br />
<strong>30. CAPTAIN LAWRENCE - <span style="color: #660000;">St. Vincent's Dubbel</span></strong> <em>(Dubbel)</em><br />
<strong>31. BROOKLYN BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">Extra Brune</span></strong> <em>(Flanders Oud Bruin)</em><br />
<strong>32. GOUDEN CAROLUS – <span style="color: #660000;">Ambrio</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Pale Ale)</em><br />
<strong>33. THE BRUERY – <span style="color: #660000;">Saison Rue</span></strong> <em>(Saison)</em><br />
<strong>34. DENNISON’S – <span style="color: #660000;">Weizen</span></strong> <em>(Hefeweizen)</em><br />
<strong>35. BELL’S – <span style="color: #660000;">Expedition Stout</span></strong> <em>(Imperial Stout)</em><br />
<strong>36. BROUWERIJ WESTVLETEREN – <span style="color: #660000;">Trappist Westvleteren 12</span></strong> <em>(Quadrupel)</em><br />
<strong>37. RUSSIAN RIVER – <span style="color: #660000;">Blind Pig</span></strong> <em>(IPA)</em><br />
<strong>38. SMUTTYNOSE - <span style="color: #660000;">Gravitation</span></strong> <em>(Quadrupel)</em><br />
<strong>39. 5 SEASONS BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">Venus</span></strong><em> (Witbier)</em><br />
<strong>40. MARIN BREWING - <span style="color: #660000;">Tripel Dipsea</span></strong> <em>(Tripel)</em><br />
<strong>41. MOYLAN’S – <span style="color: #660000;">IPA</span></strong> <em>(IPA)</em><br />
<strong>42. RUSSIAN RIVER – <span style="color: #660000;">Rejection</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Black Ale)</em><br />
<strong>43. UNIBROUE – <span style="color: #660000;">Maudite</span></strong><em> (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em><br />
<strong>44. DE PROEF – <span style="color: #660000;">Zoetzuur Flemish Ale</span></strong><em> (Flanders Red Ale)</em><br />
<strong>44. DRAKE’S – <span style="color: #660000;">Denogginizer</span></strong><em> (Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>45. BEAR REPUBLIC - <span style="color: #660000;">Racer 5</span></strong><em> (IPA)</em><br />
<strong>46. LOST ABBEY – <span style="color: #660000;">Avant Garde</span></strong> <em>(Biere De Garde)</em><br />
<strong>47. SOUTHERN TIER - <span style="color: #660000;">Heavy Weizen</span></strong><em> (Imperial Hefeweizen)</em><br />
<strong>48. ST. BERNARDUS - <span style="color: #660000;">Prior 8</span></strong> <em>(Dubbel)</em><br />
<strong>49. TELEGRAPH BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">California Ale</span></strong> <em>(Saison)</em><br />
<strong>50. RUSSIAN RIVER - <span style="color: #660000;">O.V.L. Stout</span></strong><em> (American Stout)</em><br />
<strong>51. LOST ABBEY – <span style="color: #660000;">Angel’s Share 2007</span></strong> <em>(Barleywine)</em><br />
<strong>52. BROOKLYN BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">Local 1</span></strong> <em>(Belgian-Style Golden Ale)</em><br />
<strong>53. BROWERIJ DE DOLLE – <span style="color: #660000;">Oerbier</span></strong><em> (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em><br />
<strong>54. BOULDER BEER – <span style="color: #660000;">Hazed & Infused</span></strong> <em>(IPA) </em><br />
<strong>55. DOGFISH HEAD – <span style="color: #660000;">90-Minute IPA</span></strong><em> (IPA)</em><br />
<strong>56. BRASSERIE DUPONT - <span style="color: #660000;">Saison Dupont</span></strong> <em>(Saison)</em><br />
<strong>57. GREEN FLASH – <span style="color: #660000;">Saison</span></strong><em> (Saison)</em><br />
<strong>58. LOST ABBEY – <span style="color: #660000;">Carnivale</span></strong> <em>(Saison)</em><br />
<strong>59. RUSSIAN RIVER – <span style="color: #660000;">Redemption</span></strong> <em>(Belgian-Style Pale Ale)</em><br />
<strong>60. SIERRA NEVADA – <span style="color: #660000;">Celebration Ale 2007 and 2008</span></strong><em> (IPA)</em><br />
<strong>61. HANDBRYGGERIET – <span style="color: #660000;">Norwegian Wood</span></strong><em> (Smoked/Spiced Ale)</em><br />
<strong>62. SOUTHERN TIER - <span style="color: #660000;">Hoppe</span></strong><em> (Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>63. LAGUNITAS – <span style="color: #660000;">Imperial Red</span></strong> <em>(American Strong Ale)</em></div><div><strong>64. 5 SEASONS BREWING - <span style="color: #660000;">Dark White</span></strong> <em>(Dark witbier)</em><br />
<strong>65. TELEGRAPH BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">Golden Wheat</span></strong> <em>(Wheat Beer)</em><br />
<strong>66. BRASSERIE DE ROCHEFORT – <span style="color: #660000;">Trappistes Rochefort 10</span></strong> <em>(Quadrupel)</em><br />
<strong>67. THE BRUERY - <span style="color: #660000;">Orchard White</span></strong> <em>(Witbier)</em><br />
<strong>68. DE PROEF – <span style="color: #660000;">Kerstmutske</span></strong><em> (Christmas Ale)</em><br />
<strong>69. ST. BERNARDUS – <span style="color: #660000;">ABT 12</span></strong> <em>(Quadrupel)</em><br />
<strong>70. SILVER CITY BREWERY – <span style="color: #660000;">Fat</span></strong><em> (Scotch Ale)</em><br />
<strong>71. TWO BROTHERS BREWING - <span style="color: #660000;">Hop Juice</span></strong> <em>(Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>72. BRASSERIE DUPONT – <span style="color: #660000;">Foret</span></strong><em> (Saison)</em><br />
<strong>73. SIERRA NEVADA – <span style="color: #660000;">Torpedo Extra Ale</span></strong> <em>(IPA) </em><br />
<strong>74. NORTH COAST – <span style="color: #660000;">La Merle</span></strong> <em>(Saison)</em><br />
<strong>75. RUSSIAN RIVER – <span style="color: #660000;">Damnation, Batch 23</span></strong> <em>(Belgian-Style Strong Golden Ale)</em> <em><br />
</em><strong>76. RUSSIAN RIVER – <span style="color: #660000;">Temptation</span></strong><span style="color: #660000;"> </span><em>(American Wild Ale)</em><br />
<strong>77. ALPINE BREWING - <span style="color: #660000;">Duet</span></strong> <em>(IPA)</em><br />
<strong>78. LOST ABBEY - <span style="color: #660000;">The Angel's Share 2009</span></strong> <em>(American Strong Ale)</em><br />
<strong>79. SIERRA NEVADA/DOGFISH HEAD - <span style="color: #660000;">Life & Limb</span></strong> <em>(American Strong Ale)</em><br />
<strong>80. SOUTHERN TIER - <span style="color: #660000;">Oak-Aged Unearthly</span></strong> <em>(Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>81. MASIA AGULLONS - <span style="color: #660000;">Runa Ale</span></strong> <em>(Brown Ale)</em><br />
<strong>82. ELYSIAN/GREEN FLASH - <span style="color: #660000;">The Red Queen</span></strong> <em>(Saison)</em><br />
<strong>83. MOONLIGHT – <span style="color: #660000;">2006 Toast Malt Liquor</span></strong> <em>(American Amber/Red Lager)</em><br />
<strong>84. AVERY BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">Fourteen</span></strong><em> (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em><br />
<strong>85. IRON HORSE – <span style="color: #660000;">Beer Shoppe Anniversary Ale</span></strong> <em>(Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>86. NEW BELGIUM – <span style="color: #660000;">Le Fleur Misseur</span></strong> <em>(Belgian-Style Pale ale)</em><br />
<strong>87. LAGUNITAS – <span style="color: #660000;">Freak Out!</span></strong> <em>(IPA)</em><br />
<strong>88. FIRESTONE WALKER – <span style="color: #660000;">10</span></strong> <em>(Barleywine)</em><br />
<strong>89. DOGFISH HEAD – <span style="color: #660000;">Raison D’Extra 2005</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Dark Ale)</em><br />
<strong>90. DESCHUTES – <span style="color: #660000;">2006 Jubel Ale</span></strong> <em>(Winter Warmer)</em><br />
<strong>91. PORT BREWING – <span style="color: #660000;">Hop Suey</span></strong> <em>(Double IPA)</em><br />
<strong>92. NORTH COAST – <span style="color: #660000;">Old Stock 2004</span></strong> <em>(Old Ale)</em><br />
<strong>93. DE PROEF & ALLAGASH – <span style="color: #660000;">Les Deux Brasseuers</span></strong> <em>(Belgian Strong Pale Ale)<span style="color: #000066;"> </span></em><br />
<strong>94. AVERY - <span style="color: #660000;">Fifteen</span></strong><span style="color: #660000;"> </span><em>(American Wild Ale)</em><br />
<strong>95. SOUTHERN TIER -</strong> <span style="color: #660000;"><strong>Iniquity</strong></span> <em>(Double IPA)</em></div></div>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-69301017584873473612010-04-21T20:13:00.000-07:002010-04-21T20:14:55.133-07:00I LOST BELGIAN ROULETTE - DES GEANTS "SAISON VOISIN"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3foExnLP9rmSAaJbXjrCsB6iZxFylT8Qf-aaEdJwTBpL6eoegeaLra0bzdkkYWoFbxX3yCmu4JQS3CcXQHki4kB1lCy5neHWjaHWFLml0dO0TFnZ9o92OIfn5KH-xoWTqfPRzQ/s1600/des+geants+saison+voisin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3foExnLP9rmSAaJbXjrCsB6iZxFylT8Qf-aaEdJwTBpL6eoegeaLra0bzdkkYWoFbxX3yCmu4JQS3CcXQHki4kB1lCy5neHWjaHWFLml0dO0TFnZ9o92OIfn5KH-xoWTqfPRzQ/s320/des+geants+saison+voisin.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div>One of our favorite games here at the HBJ is "Belgian roulette", a game where you risk $5-$6 of your hard-earned money on a Belgian bottle you've never heard of nor have any idea what to expect. As we say in the trade, "Sometimes you win, sometime you lose". I remember the time I won - BIG - on a bottle of <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2008/05/de-dolle-oerbier-oh-yeah.html">DE DOLLE OERBIER</a>. What a night that was. It has ended up being one of our favorite beers of all time. We've had some mighty failures as well in this high-stakes game of Belgian roulette. This is the story of one of those failures.<br />
<br />
I bought a bottle of <a href="http://www.brasseriedesgeants.com/saison_voisin_uk.php">DES GEANTS SAISON VOISIN</a> because I like saisons, because I like beers from Belgium, and because I'm such an adventurous beer swashbuckler that I sometimes go <em>off the hizzle</em> and throw caution completely to the wind. But no, it didn't work out this time. <strong>SAISON VOISIN</strong> is an unfiltered, bottle refermented, 6% ABV saison. Unlike many saisons, this one's <em>very</em> spicy and biting, not the traditional farmhouse refresher of yore but something a little too intense & confrontational to be drunk in pursuit of mere post-work pleasure. It's an orange-colored, highly carbonated and somewhat bitter ale. It's actually quite "crisp" in a way that dries out the mouth, and even a little lager-ish. Like, weird, man. It takes a beautiful photo, that's for sure - this shot totally goes in the HBJ iPhone pictures hall of fame - but it shant be something I'll return to again. <strong>5/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-4483720140347120232010-04-19T16:01:00.000-07:002010-04-19T16:01:38.059-07:00A FEW MINUTES WITH A NEW GLARUS “COFFEE STOUT”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcSQvXjSLxz4Wct61aApePnt8Y3gABwqdaCYpVRAUF5FsAOjQFxr-E5YVKmUj-fU5hGBscou4ZCLXzrYjSAfCprnrt4P-SZDwb-Ec7GWEAU2XruH3oRUJ_YsDe-51OxhL4wepaQ/s1600/New+Glarus+Coffee+Stout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUcSQvXjSLxz4Wct61aApePnt8Y3gABwqdaCYpVRAUF5FsAOjQFxr-E5YVKmUj-fU5hGBscou4ZCLXzrYjSAfCprnrt4P-SZDwb-Ec7GWEAU2XruH3oRUJ_YsDe-51OxhL4wepaQ/s320/New+Glarus+Coffee+Stout.jpg" wt="true" /></a>Earlier in the year it seemed nigh impossible that we’d ever get to try beers from Wisconsin-only brewery <a href="http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/">NEW GLARUS BREWING</a>, they of the lofty reputation for making incredible fruit-packed and otherwise outstanding ales. Yet here we are in mid-April, writing about a fourth ingested beer from them, with a lone New Glarus beer left to go in the beer fridge to be thrown down the hatch on “one very special evening”. Like a Wednesday or something. Last week I decided to spend a few moments with their <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/2810">COFFEE STOUT</a>. If you’ll allow for it, please spend another minute or so here scanning what I had to say about it.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
Now don’t go mistaking this beer for one of the oily, monstrous imperial things that taste like the grounds of Peets’ dark espresso roast run through an acid bath. <strong>NEW GLARUS COFFEE STOUT’s</strong> a restrained, sweet young thing. Nice stickiness on the tongue, and <em>smooooth</em> like the Kenny G Christmas Album after a glass of eggnog. The coffee is present, as is a distant chocolate maltball flavor. The beer is without question very “ebony”, yet it’s a soft-focus sort of deal. The operative word is “silky”. This is a great thing in a stout, the other end of the imperial extreme. HBJ thinks it’s a really good workingman’s stout, and believes that you will enjoy it as well. Got any friends up near Badger country? Ask ‘em to send you one. <strong>7.5/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-29047214537506100942010-04-16T17:12:00.000-07:002010-04-16T17:27:23.471-07:00THE 5 MOST BORING TOPICS IN BEER JOURNALISM<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_e3c66mK-LOrk7374h4pFhjQjmmWWryRI_Zs7QDOwdmdQzFvAN3B9_e7uv04svAZENni89TsSAlUphIaPuLZTut0_K09oqSTFkKtfliXhcTFVf_7PsNF9QbZeBxf0OqZPuBmhg/s1600/u25_asleep-at-desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF_e3c66mK-LOrk7374h4pFhjQjmmWWryRI_Zs7QDOwdmdQzFvAN3B9_e7uv04svAZENni89TsSAlUphIaPuLZTut0_K09oqSTFkKtfliXhcTFVf_7PsNF9QbZeBxf0OqZPuBmhg/s200/u25_asleep-at-desk.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a>“Beer journalism”. Now there’s an oxymoron, hunh? Well, as someone embedded on the beer-soaked “front lines” of “emerging media”, I think that those of us who write about beer are certainly ripe for mockery, myself included. I force myself to slog through innumerable blogs about my favorite liquid – the best of which are lined up on the right-hand side of this page. I subscribe to print magazines <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/store/product_info.php/cPath/27/products_id/82">BEER ADVOCATE</a>, <a href="http://draftmag.com/">DRAFT</a> and <a href="http://allaboutbeer.com/">ALL ABOUT BEER</a>. I also pick up free papers <a href="http://www.celebrator.com/">THE CELEBRATOR</a>, <a href="http://www.alestreetnews.com/">ALE STREET NEWS</a> and <a href="http://www.brewingnews.com/northwest/">NORTHWEST BREWING NEWS</a> whenever I see them. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
I understand there’s yet another new beer-themed glossy magazine called <a href="http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/">BEER CONNOISSEUR</a> hitting the stands these days, and it’s one I’ve yet to pick up. Let’s hope they don’t run these hideously boring, overflogged beer stories into the ground the way the others have. Here they are for your groaning pleasure, The 5 Most Boring Topics in all of Beer Journalism:<br />
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<strong>1. <em><span style="color: blue;">“A tribute to craft brewing’s pioneers”.</span></em></strong> This is the most trite and stale of all beer magazine perennials. Everyone, but <em>everyone</em>, has penned their snore-inducing salute to Fritz Maytag or Jack McAuliffe or Jim Koch or that Sierra Nevada guy or the guy who started the Horse Brass Tavern or……<em>OUCH</em>. That was my head hitting the table. I swear I saw three of these articles just this month. <br />
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<strong>2.</strong> <strong><em><span style="color: blue;">“Women brew beer, too”.</span></em></strong> Oh wow, that’s amazing. And some wear pink boots instead of black ones? Wow, that’s just like a girl, isn’t it? How can women brew beer when they can’t even vote? Oh wait, they’re allowed to vote now? Wait, you’re telling me they let them into the military these days? Well, shut my mouth. Maybe some of them even brew beer, too? Let’s write a 5-page piece on this phenomenon, just like every other magazine has!<br />
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<strong>3.</strong> <span style="color: blue;"><em><strong>“Cooking with beer”.</strong></em></span> Beer Advocate wastes four or more of their thin, scant pages every issue on recipes that <em>no one</em> ever cooks; recipes whose only unifying theme is that someone thinks they’ll be improved by mixing in a few ounces of beer into the kettle or pan. And it’s not just any beer – no, most specify that you need “1 bottle of Victory Hop Wallop” or “6 ounces of Lost Abbey Avant-Garde” in order to make the recipe a success - which I highly doubt. Other magazines have this as a running feature as well. Can we admit that no one except for gastronome alcoholics follow these?<br />
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<strong>4.</strong> <strong><em><span style="color: blue;">“Budweiser, Miller and Coors are faceless corporations who don’t make beer that I like”.</span></em></strong> This is less an article/topic as it is an overplayed trope, one that shows up in countless articles and whinging about “Michelob Wheat” or “Budweiser Amber Bock” or anything that even remotely encroaches on craft beer’s precious territory. It just makes some people so……<em>angry</em> that the Bad Guys might try to mass-produce their swill in a form that might open up new markets – you know, like a profit-driven company might do. Honestly, why people pay any attention to these companies is beyond me.<br />
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<strong>5.</strong> <strong><em><span style="color: blue;">“Beer is to be shared with friends”.</span></em></strong> This is a misty-eyed, maudlin staple of the columnists, who probably write these identical snoozer columns while drunk & alone at home. I can usually spot the retch-inducing, watery-eyed sentimentality in the column headline, but sometimes I’m fooled and my eyes travel down the page to a gagging pack of clichés about beer’s amazing ability to act as a social lubricant, how beer drinkers are the best damn group of humans on the planet, and honestly, if we’d all just grab a pint with our buddies more often, the planet would cool, war would end, and communities would be reborn. <em>“Just as in Ireland, where the pub is actually the hub of social life in many towns”.</em> <br />
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I recognize that I’m probably guilty of more than my share of hackneyed, clichéd writing – there’s no doubt that penning beer reviews can get a little, uh, <em>samey</em> after a while – yet I call upon the “beer journalists” of America and indeed the world to <strong>please</strong> retire each of these 5 topics, forthwith and immediately. Doing so will instantly elevate craft beer into Valhalla, and kill off the big evil beer corporations once and for all, upon whose grave you may dance while celebrating Fritz Maytag’s historic achievements.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-84092037250660012142010-04-15T06:18:00.000-07:002010-04-15T20:29:28.788-07:00LOOKIN’ FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES: “DALE’S PALE ALE”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje1rO8VLNnERMOwMAJGPB7151jnTzPQPNtN13JBdt3h0HzlDRye_qye0PTVXE7capUwGIEy9x5gGQyruXn9VMeg2pQIcMI31r_sZX-0Vt8W6h5IyI1hQMGSVJfRlkK3v1GPkddg/s1600/Oskar+Blues+Dale%27s+Pale+Ale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje1rO8VLNnERMOwMAJGPB7151jnTzPQPNtN13JBdt3h0HzlDRye_qye0PTVXE7capUwGIEy9x5gGQyruXn9VMeg2pQIcMI31r_sZX-0Vt8W6h5IyI1hQMGSVJfRlkK3v1GPkddg/s320/Oskar+Blues+Dale%27s+Pale+Ale.jpg" wt="true" /></a><strike>All I wanted was a Pepsi, just a Pepsi</strike> – No, all I <em>really</em> wanted was a refreshing adult beverage, preferably a nice hoppy pale ale or IPA or witbier – something to take the sweat off my brow and help lighten my loafers. I was in New York City last week, and they were having a <em>heat wave</em>. Yeah, in early April. It was the talk of the town, this 88-degree stretch of weather, and here I was in my suit coat, actin’ like a veritable man-in-the-monkey-suit, just wishing I could be sitting in The Ginger Man or the Rattle & Hum or wherever, drinking a cold-ish beer to cool off from off the corporate shenanigans. So after my work hijinks were finally completed, that’s what I did. I hoofed it over to <strong>THE GINGER MAN</strong>, and I scanned the beer list for something that would take the edge off before I met some friends at the New York Mets game in an hour. I wanted a pale ale. I ordered a <a href="http://www.oskarblues.com/the-brews/dales-pale-ale">DALE’S PALE ALE</a>, from <a href="http://www.oskarblues.com/">OSKAR BLUES BREWERY</a>. It was to be the worst decision of my hot, uncomfortable day.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<a href="http://www.oskarblues.com/">OSKAR BLUES</a> are probably the most famous of the craft brewers who can their beers. If they weren’t the <em>very</em> first, they were one of the first. I have had their imperial red ale <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/06/oscar-blues-gordon-imperial-whatsis-in.html">GORDON</a> and am absolutely smitten by it. What’s the opposite of smitten? Smoted? That’s how I felt by <strong>DALE’S PALE ALE</strong> on draft. Positively smoted. It pours a translucent orange/brown. This beer is a very grainy, and yes, a very hoppy one, but like 6-year-olds respectively into Bakugans and Barbies, the two do not play together well. The grain taste is all-enveloping, like an improper mash that’s hurriedly been covered up by gallons of hops. Chalky. Like – <em>gasp</em> – aspirin, or that Melatonin I have to take sometimes to calm down. Not refreshing in the least – in fact, it was a bit of a chore to get through. It pains me still to know I turned down 50 other unknown beers on tap at the bar for this one. I found better beer at the ballpark later that night <em>(holla for <strong>Goose Island 312 Wheat Beer</strong>, y’all!),</em> and the only things that made it all forgettable were A.), the New York team lost the game (yessss!), and B.) I knew I’d get to savage the beer here at the HBJ. <strong>4.5/10.</strong>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-32590023169924987932010-04-14T17:33:00.000-07:002010-04-14T17:34:43.219-07:00CONTEMPLATING MY SOUTHERN TIER “INIQUITY”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8rduCN92MDvRd2wS47D74YA3fHoDJb2trRSr3wpcH9B7Rpjxufu_wRwFIIehBiVHZXIDT5XhCMnBhju9vjCnV6KgWCGYw_NW3O__kynz32bIYtEOzM_9Rl20wt4qjmRGxFZLhw/s1600/Southern+Tier+Iniquity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8rduCN92MDvRd2wS47D74YA3fHoDJb2trRSr3wpcH9B7Rpjxufu_wRwFIIehBiVHZXIDT5XhCMnBhju9vjCnV6KgWCGYw_NW3O__kynz32bIYtEOzM_9Rl20wt4qjmRGxFZLhw/s320/Southern+Tier+Iniquity.jpg" wt="true" /></a>Howdy. Been a while since I rapped at ya - for me, anyway. This is the first five minutes I've had free to pontificate all week. I'm still drinkin', though.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
Well what in tarnation is this? Is it a “black IPA”? An imperial “IBA”? A simple black ale? Confound it, what <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/47228">SOUTHERN TIER INIQUITY</a> is is another damn great beer from one of my Top 5 favorite brewers in the USA. Again and again I am amazed by their brewing prowess, and practically everything they touch on the “imperial” side of things is spun into liquid gold. Here’s another case in point, sent to me by MCM in our somewhat recent east coast/west coast beer-trading throwdown. <br />
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<strong>INIQUITY</strong> is a dark black India Pale Ale, or so I reckon. That’s what they’re calling it. It’s really not all that hopped out – I believe it’s actually a lot more sweet & creamy than you’d find in any typical IPA. And oh yeah, it’s totally friggin' black and stuff, and tops out with a very small head of foam. This thing really coats the tongue and the top of the mouth with roasted malts, creamy fruits, 9% worth of alcohol, and a little bit of citrus hops. If you were blindfolded, the chances that you’d peg it as anything in the IPA realm are quite small, and even now I think there’s a bit of marketing trickery afoot. Yet there’s no mistaking how fantastic this beer is, and at the risk of sounding redundant, <em>“it’s yet another superb ale from the magicians who conjure beer alchemy all day at Southern Tier Brewing”.</em> <strong>8.5/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-8625081230950467932010-04-09T06:00:00.000-07:002010-04-09T13:47:44.566-07:00A TASTE OF TROEGS’ “NUGGET NECTAR”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTrDvkDjAt8VoT-TKUC2Qv-gZnGT2bwcOvldPOaU9UzdzZAbq6_b-ddyLPmX1xO5uiBq3k6PvcVGeuvfQyjfIJT9jAHT-Oh7mcFIe2phl4XfPN-ccY7Kvbhzle0zaUOP012KHKQ/s1600/Troegs+Nugget+Nectar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTrDvkDjAt8VoT-TKUC2Qv-gZnGT2bwcOvldPOaU9UzdzZAbq6_b-ddyLPmX1xO5uiBq3k6PvcVGeuvfQyjfIJT9jAHT-Oh7mcFIe2phl4XfPN-ccY7Kvbhzle0zaUOP012KHKQ/s320/Troegs+Nugget+Nectar.jpg" width="240" wt="true" /></a>Here we have one of the legendary ones, a beer currently ranked #43 on the people-powered “Beer Advocate Top 100 beers on planet earth”, and one that I had to trade for to get. Interestingly, the <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/15881/?view=beer&sort=low&start=10">last ten reviews all savaged it</a>, something you don’t see too often on the groupthink of Beer Advocate. <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/15881/?view=beer&sort=low&start=10">TROEGS NUGGET NECTAR</a> features an aggressive drawing of a hop cone that looks like a hand grenade – watch out, sissies, this is going to be a bitter ride.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
Do any of you guys pant for “lacing on the glass”? Well then do I have a beer for you. This thing lets its foam crawl up and down the sides of your chalice for the duration of your time with it – not exactly noteworthy to me, but it sure is purty. <strong>NUGGET NECTAR</strong> is one zesty, hoppy ale. I can taste the amber malts, and the three different types of hops that went into it. It’s not a raw blast of bitterness, and only once it has sufficiently warmed does it really start tasting like an aggressively-hopped beer. There is a fruit backbone to it, perhaps apricot, that mixes in well with the pineyness and the 93 IBU hops. I’d only had two <strong>TROEGS</strong> beers to date, and one was the <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2008/05/laid-back-california-drinkin-in.html">DREAMWEAVER WHEAT</a> that I rated an 8/10 – this one comes close, and we’ll clock it as a very respectable <strong>7.5/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-75286045909058345862010-04-07T06:21:00.000-07:002010-04-07T06:22:34.204-07:00I SURVIVED HARPOON NIGHT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6cr0ALldfUmrAAt0wC3UngYQItqYycDRamtJs0tcTyn0QsG5R1Ock4scFuoeD3EITyTJN-_2ffC-aB8wyyFx-bm7_y5Dl6GIFyCsksBUnHxWgyryRIUSvhQJF3zYH0sImjQ5izw/s1600/HArpoon+Saison+Royale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6cr0ALldfUmrAAt0wC3UngYQItqYycDRamtJs0tcTyn0QsG5R1Ock4scFuoeD3EITyTJN-_2ffC-aB8wyyFx-bm7_y5Dl6GIFyCsksBUnHxWgyryRIUSvhQJF3zYH0sImjQ5izw/s320/HArpoon+Saison+Royale.jpg" /></a></div>I’m reporting to you live this morning from New York City, where I arrived last night for business after doing similar work in Kansas City. Upon arrival yesterday evening, I couldn’t shake that New York feelin’ – also famously known as the “New York State of Mind” – and decided to head out of my hotel for a nightcap just to welcome myself and send me off to a good slumber. And yet, who would have known that the nearby <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/12/trip-to-rattle-n-hum-new-york-city.html">RATTLE & HUM</a> bar – which we “famously” wrote up a few months ago in <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/12/trip-to-rattle-n-hum-new-york-city.html">this post</a> – would be holding <a href="http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm?iam21orolder=yes">HARPOON BREWING</a> <strong>NIGHT</strong> the very same night I sauntered in? Holy mackerel and bless my soul. Shades of the lost mid-week night spend in Oakland during <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/03/reporting-from-front-at-grand-teton.html">GRAND TETON BREWING night</a> last month.<br />
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<strong>RATTLE & HUM</strong> has a superlative beer selection, and I could have ignored the Harpoon hullabaloo and gone with all sorts of weirdo offerings from Bear Republic, Green Flash, Nebraska Brewing (!) and others. But <a href="http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm?iam21orolder=yes">HARPOON</a>, they’re a brewer I don’t know that much about. Their web site features really fit, healthy-looking long-distance bike racers, because all the people I see sucking down pints of craft beer in bars look exactly like that. They’re big among New Englanders, likely because they’re based in Boston. When I’ve traveled out east, I’ve seen their beers in just about every store, and some of their “Leviathan Series” big bombers have caught my eye. They pulled out all the kegs on Harpoon Night and said “GO” – there were a good 12 or more different Harpoons on tap, including just about all of these 9%-and-up Leviathan beers. I didn’t squander my time with any 5% pantywaisters and headed right for the rare and the odd, like these:<br />
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<a href="http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm/page/Harpoon-Leviathan-Series/pid/116620">HARPOON LEVIATHAN IMPERIAL RED</a> – Could there be a style more suited to my personal palate than the imperial red, that rich collection of caramel malts paired with tongue-bruising bitter hops? I would answer in the negative. This is a spicy one, a rich red ale with sharp hops. It’s made from 7 different malts and 4 different hops, and there is indeed a lot going on here. I get a very dry hop taste, along with caramel and darker fruits. Fairly intense stuff, at 9.2% ABV, and with a long, lingering aftertaste. Very solid. <strong>7/10</strong>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm/page/Harpoon-Leviathan-Series/pid/116620">HARPOON LEVIATHAN SAISON ROYALE</a> – Even better was the <strong>SAISON ROYALE</strong>, an amped-up farmhouse beer that I found to be exceptionally fruity. It is pictured above. I got a strong whiff of stone fruits (<em>yeah, I’m the dork sniffin’ his beer in the corner when you’re not looking</em>), and then a big blast of peach, honey and apricot flavor. Not in a cloying, “fruit beer” sort of way, but with that rustic earthiness that characterizes the saison. This is not a dry beer, however. The 9% alcohol packs a little heat, and though this supposedly was leavened with white pepper and rosemary, I’m thinking they gave me the peach-n-honey version instead. Loved it, and I can now successfully make something of a case for these guys as a strong & successful brewer of interesting ales. <strong>8/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-70971214432085441722010-04-06T04:56:00.000-07:002010-04-06T04:57:13.078-07:00LAGUNITAS' "BROWN SHUGGA"<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0MQv-WYVG15rf_eenZfy1tbHEIncfcxqoby2YiRjE8h8_rFOhMhVTQd1egAppYOZKNWnYVHiySRY4cxHiG05Fp1dVDh0lbEbJnpmWLup_-tXOXvz0ZYNjqgyp2LihSQJoXvVyg/s1600/Lagunitas+Brown+Shugga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0MQv-WYVG15rf_eenZfy1tbHEIncfcxqoby2YiRjE8h8_rFOhMhVTQd1egAppYOZKNWnYVHiySRY4cxHiG05Fp1dVDh0lbEbJnpmWLup_-tXOXvz0ZYNjqgyp2LihSQJoXvVyg/s320/Lagunitas+Brown+Shugga.jpg" /></a>This is a theoretically "big" beer from a Petaluma, CA brewer who probably deserve a bit more respect than they typically get - they've earned mine in spades on the basis of beers like <strong>IMPERIAL RED</strong>, <strong>MAXIMUS</strong>, their <strong>PILS</strong>, etc.. I'm not convinced respect is necessarily earned on this one, however. <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/2264">LAGUNITAS BROWN SHUGGA</a> is nearly 10% in alcohol, and fits into no true discernable style. "Strong ale" is what these boys are going for, and in terms of approachability and drinkability, they've done very well for themselves.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>BROWN SHUGGA's</strong> made with brown cane sugar (hence the name, you know), and I can taste that along with molasses and something vaguely smokey, One has to strain to pluck these tastes out of the mix - it's just not that flavorful of a beer, you know? It's still and silent, with very little head to speak of after the initial pour. Not a heavy beer, but likely a dangerous one. I've had better offerings from the gang at Lagunitas, and just picked up a bomber of their "Roger Wilco Foxtrot" or whatever it's called and will share the results of said beer in the near future. Meanwhile, Brown Shugga = <strong>6/10</strong>.</div>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-80730969397076424532010-04-02T10:43:00.000-07:002010-04-02T10:43:54.807-07:00CHERRIES JUBILEE: NEW GLARUS’ “WISCONSIN BELGIAN RED”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfztESw6B9YUttZqJs3Qv0n314AAs5VqWQM_x3T2nqnZuuFCNY6aiCYgIc-U3fASNd_K4s66U2dWW2f-iCSsaoKWkDAAAsquzj9UgYQVM3d0uAR0stCcxcv_493BjKgRuZkwCnZg/s1600/New+glarus+Wisconsin+Belgian+red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfztESw6B9YUttZqJs3Qv0n314AAs5VqWQM_x3T2nqnZuuFCNY6aiCYgIc-U3fASNd_K4s66U2dWW2f-iCSsaoKWkDAAAsquzj9UgYQVM3d0uAR0stCcxcv_493BjKgRuZkwCnZg/s320/New+glarus+Wisconsin+Belgian+red.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/Beers.cfm">NEW GLARUS BREWING</a> from New Glarus, WI have made their reputation both in and outside of their home state with these fruit-infused, Belgian-style ales that I’d been dying to try. I’ve been to 41 of the 50 states in the Union in my lifetime, but Wisconsin isn’t one of them, and it’s the only one in which you can buy New Glarus beer. Unless, of course, you know good people who are willing to ship you some, as I now do. <a href="http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/Beers.cfm?BeerCategoryID=1&BeerID=10">WISCONSIN BELGIAN RED</a> is an odd but pleasurable one. Seriously, if you presented this to me as “cherry soda”, I would have believed you, and probably told you “it tastes a little like beer, though”. Because it has <em>instead</em> been presented to me as a cherry-infused beer, I’m comfortable pronouncing it as more than a little reminiscent of cherry soda. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/1577">NEW GLARUS WISCONSIN BELGIAN RED</a> is highly, highly carbonated, and quite sweet to boot. The “Belgian” in the name led me to believe that this might have an acidic or sour taste to it, but I reckon they’ve saved that flavor profile for their <strong>RASPBERRY TART</strong> ale, a bottle of which I also have at home for TBD consumption. I’m detecting a little bit of hops in this beer, and a faint hint of woodiness that slightly takes the sweetness down a notch – which is good. Another great thing about this one is that you just <em>know</em> you’re drinking real cherries, not the crap that would come in a cherry soda. And yet I’m not sure I dig it as much as <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/1577">others do</a> – nor even quite as much as I did the <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/03/one-night-with-new-glarus-cherry-stout.html">NEW GLARUS CHERRY STOUT</a> I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. I’m the guy who’s usually defending fruit beers from the skeptical hoards, and this is supposed to be one of the great ones, but the best I can muster up for it is a <strong>6.5/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-29073623680596544472010-04-01T06:53:00.000-07:002010-04-01T10:15:10.858-07:00NIGHT OF THE ORGANICS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAm-IdqEX4yQyuCmxnXMavN4LLuPutLOxsGni39e1qZyWAbaUYxmphplKrFNsNg-9JkuRVgjb31Mr7lzQjAHYAn9GKBy1iWFQ59KTrOvb72RBOOhJxSY4NK877nTlkDwx0-gTVkQ/s1600/Butte+Creek+IPA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAm-IdqEX4yQyuCmxnXMavN4LLuPutLOxsGni39e1qZyWAbaUYxmphplKrFNsNg-9JkuRVgjb31Mr7lzQjAHYAn9GKBy1iWFQ59KTrOvb72RBOOhJxSY4NK877nTlkDwx0-gTVkQ/s320/Butte+Creek+IPA.jpg" /></a></div>My wife’s part of a category of vegetarians that are very few in number: “fowletarians”; i.e. people who are pretty much vegetarian most of the time, except when they’re eating chicken or turkey. Since her consumption of fowl is actually quite limited, and is usually undertaken at Thai or Vietnamese restaurants or on Thanksgiving, we eat at a lot of vegetarian places when we go out so she can actually enjoy herself. Me, I’m very cool with vegetarian food as long as it doesn’t get to be my lifestyle, you know what I mean? We went to a fantastic, semi-legendary San Francisco vegetarian restaurant this past weekend called <a href="http://www.greensrestaurant.com/">GREENS</a>, and the food is so good and so rich you wouldn’t even know there wasn’t animal flesh being served. Oh, and they serve a rich variety of small-brewer beers, most of them organic, which is what I’d like to discuss today.<br />
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I looked through my <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/11/eel-river-brewings-organic-amber.html">older reviews</a> and found <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2007/08/eww-organic.html">a little bit of hostility</a> in the past toward organic beer – not simply <em>because</em> they were organic, but because they were mostly mediocre-to-awful. There was one huge exception – <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/08/beer-among-hippies-or-my-trip-to.html">MAD RIVER BREWING’s SCOTCH PORTER</a>, and since <strong>GREENS</strong> had that on the menu, that’s what I went for right away. Here’s what I had to say about it last time, which I emphatically second now that I’ve had it twice:<br />
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<em>An easy-drinking yet still complex amber-colored scotch ale, with a porter/coffee taste. The malts are very rich and there’s a lingering smokiness to it. It has all the taste and characteristics of the best scotch/Scottish ales, with a little bit of smooth English porter sneaking in behind it. Totally worth seeking out in a big way. <strong>8.5/10</strong>.</em><br />
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I had another beer round left in the chamber, so this time I went for <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/762/2906">BUTTE CREEK ORGANIC IPA</a>, forgetting that I’d had it back in 2007 once before and rated it a 7/10. I did the same this time, which says something about the beer’s and my own reviewing consistency, I guess. This is a very solid and “normalized” IPA – clear pouring, a little piney, refreshing and by no means a big hoppy monster. It’s what they used to call an IPA before the style got redefined (for the better) the past 5-6 years. I’ll go with a <strong>7/10</strong> again as well, and I feel comfortable announcing that these are “probably” two of the best organic brews in the USA.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-41223136950676276722010-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:002010-03-30T11:47:58.572-07:00THE 2010 HEDONIST BEER JIVE BASEBALL PREDICTIONS<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxs09tFHFAIF6cFEx77LIivTesECz9pAx2TYw9JBbqYpRRnk6UzuRjMEnoFIAPdFsZe5c5Px8THFSPZZTmLrDB4h04mFHChW0ISQszdOEvSmaWG1ZLNkVxTSF56MIuwD2T4LMiQ/s1600/rockies_giants_baseball_fxpb101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxs09tFHFAIF6cFEx77LIivTesECz9pAx2TYw9JBbqYpRRnk6UzuRjMEnoFIAPdFsZe5c5Px8THFSPZZTmLrDB4h04mFHChW0ISQszdOEvSmaWG1ZLNkVxTSF56MIuwD2T4LMiQ/s200/rockies_giants_baseball_fxpb101.jpg" width="200" /></a>Stepping outside of the beer “scene” again, it’s time once again for Hedonist Beer Jive’s baseball predictions. Why, what goes better with a 22-ounce bomber of Belgian strong dark ale than America’s pastime? I intend to watch many innings of my beloved <strong>San Francisco Giants</strong> in 2010 in the company of many beers to be reviewed on this site. Therefore, it’s important that you know how I’m heading into the season – my hopes, my dreams, my predictions……yeah. <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/04/vice-blog-tribute-anchor-brewings-old.html">Last year we told you </a>that the <strong>St. Louis Cardinals</strong> – a team no one was picking - were going to be really good; they ended up running away with their division. The year before that, we picked the <strong>Tampa Bay Rays</strong> to grab the wild card; they one-upped me, and everyone else, and went to the World Series. Then again, I picked both the New York Mets and the Arizona Diamondbacks to win their divisions last year, and both totally stunk up baseball for the whole of 2009. It led to a new rule around here: Never, Ever, Trust the Diamondbacks And Their “Young Talent”. Smoke and mirrors, man, smoke and mirrors.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here’s the deal: I watch a ton of San Francisco Giants baseball, and I think all the good-pitch/no-hit stuff about them is overwrought and overstated. The Giants will <em>finally</em> win the NL West this year, on the backs of amazing pitching (breakout year for Matt Cain coming) and surprising hitting rebounds from multiple players and a rookie or two. My Giants won’t be able to hack it in the playoffs vs. the superior Braves, Phillies or Cardinals, but I’ll take a division this year and maybe a World Series in 2011. Unfortunately the <strong>New York Yankees</strong> are unstoppable, and will beat my sleeper pick the <strong>Atlanta Braves</strong> in the World Series this year. I prefer it not to be so, but at least it’s not the Dodgers, right?</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">MLB play starts this Sunday. Start your craft beer shopping early.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span style="color: red;">National League East</span></strong></div><strong>1. Atlanta Braves</strong><br />
<strong>2. Philadelphia Phillies</strong> <em><strong>(wild card)</strong></em><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">3. New York Mets</div>4. Florida Marlins<br />
5. Washington Nationals<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><strong><span style="color: red;">National League Central</span></strong><br />
<strong>1. St. Louis Cardinals</strong><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">2. Chicago Cubs</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">3. Cincinnati Reds</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">4. Milwaukee Brewers</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">5. Houston Astros</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">6. Pittsburgh Pirates</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span style="color: red;">National League West</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>1. San Francisco Giants</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">2. Colorado Rockies</div>3. Los Angeles Dodgers<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">4. Arizona Diamondbacks</div>5. San Diego Padres<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><strong><span style="color: red;">American League East</span></strong><br />
<strong>1. New York Yankees</strong><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>2. Boston Red Sox</strong> <strong><em>(wild card)</em></strong></div>3. Tampa Bay Rays<br />
4. Baltimore Orioles<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">5. Toronto Blue Jays</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span style="color: red;">American League Central</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>1. Minnesota Twins</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">2. Detroit Tigers</div>3. Chicago White Sox<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">4. Cleveland Indians</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">5. Kansas City Royals</div><br />
<strong><span style="color: red;">American League West</span></strong><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>1. Los Angeles Angels</strong></div>2. Texas Rangers<br />
3. Seattle Mariners<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">4. Oakland A’s</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><em>Playoffs</em></strong><br />
NL = Philadelphia over San Francisco</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">NL = Atlanta over St. Louis</div>NL Championship = Atlanta over Philadelphia<br />
<br />
AL = New York over Los Angeles<br />
AL = Boston over Minnesota<br />
AL Championship = New York over Boston<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">World Series = New York over Atlanta</span></strong>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-16506510414732835722010-03-29T17:12:00.000-07:002010-03-29T17:13:16.995-07:00NEUSTADT SCOTTISH ALE – CANADIAN IN A CAN<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8oISlIWHVZmN9SfJfrNQYYB5uRHZkcmWTz9xDs_ShnMkPBgfNOg6FufLsQvyAKIFu3_oAgOrmXX6a2ODZJRL4-7T63j5CmYcH6iR9i1hsvxXvytxJXMxwrOskcamI5yr3Fovlg/s1600/Neustadt+Scottish+Ale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin8oISlIWHVZmN9SfJfrNQYYB5uRHZkcmWTz9xDs_ShnMkPBgfNOg6FufLsQvyAKIFu3_oAgOrmXX6a2ODZJRL4-7T63j5CmYcH6iR9i1hsvxXvytxJXMxwrOskcamI5yr3Fovlg/s200/Neustadt+Scottish+Ale.jpg" width="200" /></a>So my pal “Pete” comes all the way to Barcelona last month bearing a can of <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4028/15933">NEUSTADT SCOTTISH ALE</a>, from <a href="http://www.neustadtsprings.com/page3.html">NEUSTADT SPRINGS BREWERY</a> in Neustadt, Ontario, Canada. We were meeting for business there, and sometimes we execute beer trades upon doing so, though I incorrectly and rudely assumed trades were off this time. This particular tall boy can flew from Canada, to Spain, to the United States, and finally flew down my throat this past weekend. Peet once brought me a can of the excellent brown ale <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2008/09/smuggled-ontario-beer-notes-pt-1.html">NEUSTADT 10W30</a> back in 2008; I scored it a fetching 8/10 and wrote about it <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2008/09/smuggled-ontario-beer-notes-pt-1.html">here</a>. Could the magic repeat itself over three countries and two years? <em>Could it?</em> Let’s find out.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<strong>NEUSTADT SPRINGS BREWERY</strong> are very concentrated in their brewing. It appears they only make four beers for sale, all generally fairly low in alcohol and harkening to fairly traditional styles. No imperial Russian black IPAs for these fellas, no sir. <strong>NEUSTADT SCOTTISH ALE</strong> is a deliciously rich scotch ale, full of malty flavor and tasting of heather n’ rye. Nah, actually it just tastes like a classic clean Scotch ale. It pours quite light for the style, and is about 4.5% ABV. A little bit nutty, a little bit of sweetness, and a whole lot of malty richness. I think these guys get it. They’re a big two-fer-two for in my book. <strong>7.5/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-90173103330480797792010-03-26T09:42:00.000-07:002010-03-26T09:42:54.792-07:00HOPPY, BELGIAN & AMAZING: THE BRUERY’S “MISCHIEF”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2HyYQH3qiBoQRUGUYwUKtCefT1GYPk0R8WZYftm-4YPQk01dZwTfaJJIDtZqsCou8Xgkd-WmNwVw9lEKkza-OlTrjz05Xu2bWuLjY8gXahJ38OYiliu25cFZEqE7GutxUg35oA/s1600/Bruery+Mischief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2HyYQH3qiBoQRUGUYwUKtCefT1GYPk0R8WZYftm-4YPQk01dZwTfaJJIDtZqsCou8Xgkd-WmNwVw9lEKkza-OlTrjz05Xu2bWuLjY8gXahJ38OYiliu25cFZEqE7GutxUg35oA/s320/Bruery+Mischief.jpg" /></a>Those big bottles from <a href="http://www.thebruery.com/beers/index.html">THE BRUERY</a>, the upstart, new kid pride of Orange County, keep showing up all over California, and for some reason I haven’t been paying them quite the respect that I should be. Strange, because their <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/04/bruerys-world-beating-saison-rue.html">SAISON RUE</a> and <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2008/12/bruery-made-me-believer.html">ORCHARD WHITE</a> beers are among my favorites anywhere. <strong>BRUERY</strong> beers are generally not cheap, and yet why should they be? These guys are envelope-pushers, and they do Belgian-style ales like few others. I think I’m going to have to vault them into the top tier of my personal pantheon after this latest creation, though. Whoa. It’s called <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/53134">MISCHIEF</a>, and it’s a “golden, hoppy Belgian ale”. Is it ever. It’s also the “beer of the year” around my house so far, 2010’s first totally perfect quaff.</div><br />
Since I now drink my ales with an eye half-cocked toward its place on the scale – sure, it’s pathetic, but it’s a natural outgrowth of rating beers to begin with – I always anticipate that first big gulp. I’ve tasted enough over the years to know in that first one whether I’m going to love it or just tolerate it. There are exceptions, of course – last week’s <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/03/one-night-with-new-glarus-cherry-stout.html">NEW GLARUS CHERRY STOUT</a> was a huge deviation from the rule. Yet <strong>THE BRUERY’s “MISCHIEF”</strong> was a winner from the first millisecond it hit my tongue. I adore this beer. I think I wanna marry it. Is it a Belgian IPA? Sure, whatever. It has a slight lemony tartness and a really thick mouthfeel. The hops, the yeasts, the ingredients in general just totally coat the tongue. I also got a little bit of sweet pear and that pepper/spice characteristic you see in some saisons. It hits only notes of perfection. It even looks amazing. I also just learned <strong>THE BRUERY</strong> has made it a <a href="http://www.thebruery.com/beers/index.html">year-round brew</a>. Huzzah! <strong><em>10/10!</em></strong>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-60758445225834455712010-03-24T17:07:00.000-07:002010-03-24T17:14:15.060-07:00ALPINE BEER's “NELSON” – A FULL ONE<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylub_xWVK6ehL4m7F3T_lKjAd2dXHcdfCIWvXBN4XfHxhfEdklTtG2c3R_eGCPZPuwG7R8aURlfhfOGwQc7iFuDYKuX9bOLk9g3waiaaayApcGknOkePrZW43vrjeY7iVpgOMrw/s1600/Alpine+Nelson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylub_xWVK6ehL4m7F3T_lKjAd2dXHcdfCIWvXBN4XfHxhfEdklTtG2c3R_eGCPZPuwG7R8aURlfhfOGwQc7iFuDYKuX9bOLk9g3waiaaayApcGknOkePrZW43vrjeY7iVpgOMrw/s320/Alpine+Nelson.jpg" /></a><strong>THE BEER ROVER</strong> had it, and <a href="http://beerrover.blogspot.com/2009/03/awe-inspiring-alpine.html">said it was the best beer of 2009</a>. <strong>THE VICE BLOG</strong> had it, and <a href="http://theviceblog.com/2010/01/15/alpine-ipas/">gave it an A+</a>, which I believe is the highest honorific one can bestow upon a beer. It made sense that HBJ was going to have to have it soon as well, but only if someone brought me one from San Diego or I found my way down there. As it turned out, Craig & Beth from San Francisco’s <a href="http://www.citybeerstore.com/">CITY BEER STORE</a> brought me one – well not <em>me</em> exactly, but they brought several cases of <a href="http://www.alpinebeerco.com/index2.html">ALPINE BEER COMPANY</a> beers to their store and then sent out the “beer alert”. I foolishly wasted 48 hours before responding to the alert, and by then, all the bottles of <strong>ALPINE EXPONENTIAL HOPPINESS</strong> were gone, and all that was left was the “<em>meh</em>” <strong>PURE HOPPINESS</strong> that I’ve had a couple of times, and the lighter-only-in-relative-scale IPAs <strong>DUET</strong> and <strong>NELSON</strong>. Oh, and a bunch of other non-IPAs from Alpine Beer Company as well that we skipped this go-round.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The beer in question in our discussion today is <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3120/32286">ALPINE NELSON</a>, the one that prodded the aforementioned gentlemen to bust a proverbial nut. Let it be said that this outstanding IPA busted my nut as well. This is a 7% or so ABV India Pale Ale that’s based around the Nelson Sauvin hop from New Zealand, and that also serves up some “European rye” in the mix (and which I admittedly did not pick up on whilst drinking it). <strong>NELSON</strong> is nearly opaque, thinner than most bombshell IPAs. The major fruits are all out in force on this one: oranges, tangerines and grapefruits all combine into a sweet/tart/delicious mix that adds up to a flat-out amazing taste. Bitterness is certainly there, but it’s no scorched-tongue hop beast by any means. Simply put, it’s the best beer by <strong>ALPINE BEER COMPANY </strong>I’ve had by a mile, and it’ll register in the upper half of the <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/08/hedonist-beer-jive-75.html">Hedonist Beer Jive 75</a> for sure once we update it. <strong>9.5/10</strong>.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-22881662053576800762010-03-23T14:53:00.000-07:002010-03-23T14:55:34.344-07:00I WATCHED THE “BEER WARS” MOVIE<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyjfthS-KfVntptnFStd1O058iIJxUP6NEA2vEgXzoQjxR7RuGP0D8E6CKNvAmASMuxxkLe9GVa1vIhQ3lb8zWED0jK-QhfdyCb2kkUJMrL9SUa0Yn6MTOeuNLSF4pEUCsqSBow/s1600-h/beer-wars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyjfthS-KfVntptnFStd1O058iIJxUP6NEA2vEgXzoQjxR7RuGP0D8E6CKNvAmASMuxxkLe9GVa1vIhQ3lb8zWED0jK-QhfdyCb2kkUJMrL9SUa0Yn6MTOeuNLSF4pEUCsqSBow/s320/beer-wars.jpg" vt="true" /></a>Last year I very gladly sat on the sidelines when the documentary <a href="http://beerwarsmovie.com/">“BEER WARS”</a> was released in a somewhat bold one-day-only-in-theaters marketing ploy. It got the beer blogosphere, such that it is, yakkin’ and shuckin’ and jivin’ all of out proportion with the film’s actual importance because finally someone, <em>someone</em> was paying attention to their beloved naval-gazing hobby. I figured I already had a pretty good sense of who the “bad guys” were; in fact, I don’t think the corporations behind boring tasteless lagers are bad guys at all. I’m completely uninterested in their product, and to that end, I’m about as interested in their machinations as I am those of the <strong>Snapple Corporation</strong> or the people who make <strong>Fiji Water</strong>. Which is to say – not very.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yet I had hours to kill on a long flight to Europe, and I wanted to load up my laptop with some documentaries. <a href="http://beerwarsmovie.com/">“BEER WARS”</a> was on iTunes for a can’t-be-beat rental price of $1.99, so I figured hey, I’m “reporting this beat”, I might as well see what the hubbub was all about. And there was indeed a hubbub – I remember paragraphs of dissent being spilled from the bellies of boors, young men dismayed with filmmaker <strong>Anat Baron’s</strong> lack of focus on their craft beer heroes <em>(what about Stone?? Where was Vinnie??!?),</em> or on her personal involvement in managing something called “Mike’s Hard Lemonade”, which she passed off as being relevant beer industry experience. The film was nitpicked to death in blog posts that I skimmed, not altogether unfairly in some cases. While well-edited and entertaining, how you approach <strong>“BEER WARS”</strong> should probably depends less on what sort of beer you like to drink and more on how you view the parasitic relationship between big business and big government. Perhaps I’m showing my hand by the use of word “parasitic”, no?</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">See, Anheuser Busch, InBev, MillerCoors and the others are doing what <em>you’d</em> do if you had archaic laws and government toadies protecting you. They’re not evil, <em>per se</em> – the lack of government-ensured healthy competition is evil, and even that is overplayed as craft beer continues to make incredible inroads into the big brewers’ market share the last few years, despite obstacles. Taste, quality, freshness, and experimental ingredients are starting to win over American palates, and even the post-prohibition three-tier distribution system that Baron and others rightly decry is not keeping great beer from changing minds, one person at a time. It’s why there are winners like <strong>Sam Calagione</strong> from <strong>DOGFISH HEAD</strong>, who makes wonderful beer and is thriving because of it, and losers like the film’s other “little guy/gal” foil, <strong>Rhonda Kallman</strong>. Kallman made a caffeinated beer called <strong>MOONSHOT</strong> that no one was buying, and no matter how hard Baron tried to tug on my heartstrings for this poor ‘lil upstart businesswoman, fightin’ against the big bad corporations with her pluck and heart of gold, I wasn’t moved, and was annoyed by the film’s insistence that I should be.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Baron’s film’s flaw is that she tries to “Roger and Me” the CEOs of the big beermakers, but only in the name of telling a stupid-simple story of Big Beer Bad/Little Beer Good. No, “big beer” doesn’t have to be bad (nor "little beer" good), and the palate-changing revolution is being led from below, which is a story she only partly tells while trying to bash corporations, what with their “greed and thirst for power”. No, like Google and Apple and Southwest Airlines, they’ve got a bottom line to focus on, which means giving the people what they want or think they want. To the extent that craft brewers can re-shape that perception – <em>and they obviously are</em> – it’s a wonderful thing for us lovers of quality. Salvation in the form of a completely disrupted business model is coming at the big brewers directly from the people like a slow-moving sledgehammer, just as it came at the music industry, the travel industry and the newspaper industry. That’s the David vs. Goliath story that I think <strong>“BEER WARS”</strong> initially wanted to tell, but it got derailed enough on cheap sentimentality and ham-handed populism to end up being something I’d <em>not</em> recommend you spend the 90 required minutes watching.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-91600488014386617062010-03-22T06:00:00.000-07:002010-03-22T11:16:52.277-07:00OUR LAST HOMAGE TO CATALONIA - MASIA AGULLONS “PURA PALE”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzj4N4UJW9fCLjumayWbt9NialodY6f-PMJkE5MbrUdWumERV48FEp70gtncpDEVVGVVAeCDmgKnqm0jGxgH87OprV35FOYGrWIuDwYxgOmfv4YGHlun2INca6RZkApWTdbbwRVA/s1600-h/Masia+Agullons+Pura+Pale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzj4N4UJW9fCLjumayWbt9NialodY6f-PMJkE5MbrUdWumERV48FEp70gtncpDEVVGVVAeCDmgKnqm0jGxgH87OprV35FOYGrWIuDwYxgOmfv4YGHlun2INca6RZkApWTdbbwRVA/s320/Masia+Agullons+Pura+Pale.jpg" vt="true" /></a>Well, not “homage” exactly, but this Catalonian beer traveled with me all the way from Barcelona a few weeks ago, and I’m determined to try to find some love for it. <a href="http://masia-agullons.com/">MASIA AGULLONS</a> floored me with a beer of theirs I had several times at <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/02/homage-to-catalonian-beer-part-one.html">LA CERVETECA</a> in Barcelona called <strong>RUNA ALE</strong>; my pithy purple prose about it is proffered <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/02/homage-to-catalonian-beer-part-one.html">here</a>. Based on that experience, I bought a bottle of their <a href="http://./">PURA PALE</a> to take home with me, and on an otherwise uneventful Thursday night last week, I busted it open. <strong>PURA PALE’s</strong> a litte “raw”, just full of sediment and with a slightly skunky taste. Yet it’s not skunky like something that went bad, but rather like an off-beat take on the artisanal English pale ale. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>You guys know that <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/485/1489">HEMP ALE</a> from <strong>HUMBOLDT BREWS</strong>? I actually like that beer, even if few others do – well, this is sorta like that one in its uniqueness. Deep and rich, and colored slightly brownish-yellow, <strong>PURA PALE</strong> seems almost totally devoid of hops, and instead has substituted a weird <em>mélange</em> of fruit, malts and baked vegetables or something. It’s still very drinkable, but nowhere near the smokin’ greatness of <strong>RUNA ALE</strong>. Get that one if you’re heading to Catalonia anytime soon, and maybe give this one a sniff only if you see it on draft. <strong>6/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-8550977541300926532010-03-19T06:00:00.000-07:002010-03-19T10:54:52.663-07:00LOST ABBEY’S “THE ANGEL’S SHARE 2009”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbh6gLNHIssdNjW4EyMIrRZnI7Lcv4zLqmVeo_FAe-znsZ95Hm_YWCgsy9lLNdd9qjigWmtFx6FrmseUR6G4TMl0vWtTmqOkWpEqNLVDg5lVEP-x1UKZErx7B28PH-v9n0wEjHOg/s1600-h/Lost+Abbey+Angel%27s+Share+2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbh6gLNHIssdNjW4EyMIrRZnI7Lcv4zLqmVeo_FAe-znsZ95Hm_YWCgsy9lLNdd9qjigWmtFx6FrmseUR6G4TMl0vWtTmqOkWpEqNLVDg5lVEP-x1UKZErx7B28PH-v9n0wEjHOg/s320/Lost+Abbey+Angel%27s+Share+2009.jpg" vt="true" /></a>Here’s a trend I’d like to applaud. Some pioneering, top-tier brewers have begun to notice that the common man has been effectively frozen out of purchasing their rarified ales due to price considerations, and they have therefore have rectified matters by introducing smaller, pint-sized versions of their large bottles at a slightly more approachable price. Ounce for ounce, it may not be as good of a deal, yet I happily bought this 375ml bottle for a mere $16.99, as opposed to the $30+ that the 750ml bottle typically goes for. Just noticed <a href="http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/">RUSSIAN RIVER’s</a> also got a 375ml corked-n-caged version of their world-beating <a href="http://russianriverbrewing.com/web/brews/damnation.htm">DAMNATION</a> out there these days as well. Good for them both. These beers both deserve sampling by a greater subset of societies’ many stratas. I hadn’t had an <a href="http://www.lostabbey.com/lost-abbey-beers/non-denominational-ales/the-angels-share/">ANGEL’S SHARE</a> in several years, and I was beginning to think it was going to stay that way.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<a href="http://www.lostabbey.com/">LOST ABBEY</a>, as you may know, are among the greats. Just last month we tasted their <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/02/hey-lost-abbey-makes-framboise.html">FRAMBOISE DE AMOROSA</a>, and it’s another one they’ve knocked out of PetCo Park. Did I suspect <a href="http://www.lostabbey.com/lost-abbey-beers/non-denominational-ales/the-angels-share/">THE ANGEL’S SHARE 2009</a> was going to be amazing? Of course I did. And so it was. This bourbon-barrel aged monster has a deep, rich toffee taste that grabs your taste buds and keeps them singing. There’s no head on this one, nada. Just silent, still and intense-looking. You absolutely get alcohol in both smell and taste, another reason why I’m glad I got the small bottle of this 12% beast. Well, “monster” and “beast” – that’s just dumb hyperbole. It’s simply a wonderful big beer, with a smooth mouthfeel, and cocoa, raisins and toffee notes that are ever-present and definitive. Of course, there’s an undercurrent of woodiness/oak as well. Loved it, and again, I applaud the packaging decision made by the Lost Abbey marketing department. <strong>9/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-73838306651129224812010-03-17T06:56:00.000-07:002010-03-17T13:58:38.848-07:00ONE NIGHT WITH NEW GLARUS “CHERRY STOUT” – UNPLUGGED<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1oACwFf6nwf73mWNyFmqwojMZXLObUNuIFeLYc3SijRXEER6Kpkc2qHXwayjyGglG5rOjSJvSAyhtv9tTesHnou2h-UEeuGB1zm_fDGy1Dp1X8PHXG_sS2h0tlGlK8pmXRUDkRg/s1600-h/New+Glarus+Unplugged+Cherry+Stout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1oACwFf6nwf73mWNyFmqwojMZXLObUNuIFeLYc3SijRXEER6Kpkc2qHXwayjyGglG5rOjSJvSAyhtv9tTesHnou2h-UEeuGB1zm_fDGy1Dp1X8PHXG_sS2h0tlGlK8pmXRUDkRg/s320/New+Glarus+Unplugged+Cherry+Stout.jpg" vt="true" /></a></div>Aaron from <a href="http://captainsbeerblog.com/">The Captain’s Chair</a> blog proved to be a perfect gentleman whose mama done raised him right when he sent me replacement bottles of <a href="http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/Beers.cfm">NEW GLARUS</a> beers that broke in transit during our recent beer trade. Not only that, he threw in a bonus beer for my troubles. Now that’s a Great American. The bonus was this <a href="http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/Beers.cfm?BeerID=70">NEW GLARUS “CHERRY STOUT”</a> – part of their “Unplugged” series where the brewer just goes <em>off the hizzle</em> and does whatever it is he wants, ye publick be damned. I love that sort of thing, and it’s why I was pretty excited to give this one a go.<br />
<br />
But wait. Alack! My first impressions of this were just <em>awful</em>. An initial assault of cherry cough drop intensity – yes, cough drop, not real cherries. It even had that medicinal numbing feeling you get what you’re sucking on a Luden’s cherry cough drop, which is the goal when you’re trying to get over a sore throat, but not when you’re tipping back a craft beer for liquid enjoyment. I couldn’t taste any roasting, nothing stout-like at all nor any evidence of the professed “oak aging”– nothing. Then something happened. Room-temperature warmth started creeping into the beer, and lo and behold, that harsh flavor settled into something that was actually enjoyable. The roast started peeking through, as did some alcohol sweetness, molasses and even some hops. The overall body of the beer is thin, but I daresay I was flat-out bummed when I drained the last sips. Seriously, this is the most abrupt mid-beer mind shift I’ve ever experienced. I went from something close to disgust into something closer to worship. Now how did they do that? Recommended if you want to take a similar ride. <strong>7/10.</strong>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-30454386797771147402010-03-16T10:18:00.000-07:002010-03-16T10:38:52.889-07:00CLEARING THE CACHE WITH “BEER HAIKU”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLnlbVqOA3CGcnxtMAKPBem-y31P7_DQnLOAwt1bI-sn3TpPJN157QzpiHLxINhWc4EHwbSjRXujaK0W3ZrY6hQVAb4AEHk7cnrKKxDcLg3hf6dtf2BAYgngIkZOTehiqOAdH4w/s1600-h/Abbaye+Des+Roce+Bruin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLnlbVqOA3CGcnxtMAKPBem-y31P7_DQnLOAwt1bI-sn3TpPJN157QzpiHLxINhWc4EHwbSjRXujaK0W3ZrY6hQVAb4AEHk7cnrKKxDcLg3hf6dtf2BAYgngIkZOTehiqOAdH4w/s320/Abbaye+Des+Roce+Bruin.jpg" vt="true" /></a>You know how some of you drinkers are always going on about having to “clear the stash”; i.e. cleaning out your overloaded beer fridges, cabinets etc. with blowout tasting sessions? I myself have been to a couple of these stash-clearing parties, and depending on the host’s level of beer dorkitude, they can be the best ticket in town and a truly blessed event (<em>I’m thinking of you, <a href="http://beerodyssey.blogspot.com/">Brian Yaeger</a></em>). Me, I’ve got a different problem. I’m still the guy who tries to drink a new-to-me beer just about every time I pick up a glass. Maybe 3 out of every 4 beers I drink is something I’ve never had before, which keeps it fun and invigorating. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a particularly heavy drinker <em>per se</em>, but I drink enough new ones that I don’t have enough time to review & document them all for you here in the proper manner. And not that you’d really want me to, right?</div><br />
So let’s try something new to “clear the cache” of beer reviews tapped into my phone. I’ve never written haiku before, I don’t think, but seeing as I just had sushi the last two nights, I’m in a Japanese frame of mind. I really think so. Here are a few beers I’ve tried over the past month that we just haven’t gotten to reviewing here on the HBJ:<br />
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<a href="http://abbaye%20des%20rocs%20bruin/">ABBAYE DES ROCS BRUNE</a> <em>(pictured here)</em><br />
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<em>Oh, English brown ale/ Not Tripel Imperiale / Where’s the alcohol?</em><br />
<strong>6/10</strong><br />
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<a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/32">UNIBROUE “EAU BENITE”</a><br />
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<em>One superb tripel / This isn’t La Fin Du Monde? / Yankees can’t get this</em><br />
<strong>9.5/10</strong><br />
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<a href="http://www.cerveceriaelflabiol.com/">CERVEZA EL FLABIOL TORRADA</a><br />
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<em>On draft in Spain bar / Made in Belgium, the dude said / I didn’t like it</em><br />
<strong>5.5/10</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmb9zg6d3M7LvHpZ0Q-nYJYoZJj4PJ2LykTbXTCMBIRBzrGYOw5StagqwcZCdxKvf6yyLRkMKfmpGbydV4h2A-5BUrFPDEy2lkvuoZZ0J9fUUMmH-9V5PvqgoB6uDpcDzfM6uV9w/s1600-h/Cascade+Apricot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmb9zg6d3M7LvHpZ0Q-nYJYoZJj4PJ2LykTbXTCMBIRBzrGYOw5StagqwcZCdxKvf6yyLRkMKfmpGbydV4h2A-5BUrFPDEy2lkvuoZZ0J9fUUMmH-9V5PvqgoB6uDpcDzfM6uV9w/s200/Cascade+Apricot.jpg" vt="true" width="150" /></a></div><a href="http://seattlebeernews.com/?p=55">CASCADE BREWING “APRICOT”</a> <em>(pictured to your right)</em><br />
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<em>Fruity and tart, no head / Tartness lingers on mouth roof / Very good, not stellar</em><br />
<strong>7/10</strong><br />
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<a href="http://beers.suite101.com/article.cfm/microbrewery_brings_tasty_beer_to_girona_spain">MOS’KA NEGRA</a><br />
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<em>Dark ale – but wait / Who snuck lager in my house / No taste here at all</em><br />
<strong>4.5/10</strong><br />
<br />
So I can’t write a haiku to save my life, it’s obvious – but I cleared five beers outta the cache and gave you a concise consumer guide to boot. What’s not to love.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-22901391062312675702010-03-15T06:32:00.000-07:002010-03-15T09:35:29.081-07:00GOOSE ISLAND’s “SOFIE”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNTwCT1TUfT0vqEUI8phJRj42Slk-byOwsI4kNL6N1Khyphenhyphenno5c_OKT86P0iBmGg5G7XhJSqhqPY5Viu0h6te-0c4RncHd0nJvotKR7pn-NbcGX7z8eThnbWtlSwOjtwgk566Wk5w/s1600-h/Goose+Island+Sofie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNTwCT1TUfT0vqEUI8phJRj42Slk-byOwsI4kNL6N1Khyphenhyphenno5c_OKT86P0iBmGg5G7XhJSqhqPY5Viu0h6te-0c4RncHd0nJvotKR7pn-NbcGX7z8eThnbWtlSwOjtwgk566Wk5w/s320/Goose+Island+Sofie.jpg" vt="true" /></a>Chicago’s <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1146">GOOSE ISLAND BREWING</a> made a series of complex Belgian ales in simple packages this past year or two, and dubbed them all with fancy European names like <strong>JULIET</strong>, <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/04/this-years-goose-island-matilda.html">MATILDA</a>, <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/09/pere-jacques-pere-jacques.html">PERE JACQUES</a> and this one we’ll be discussing today, <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1146/48824">SOFIE</a>. This beer looks and tastes like a tripel, and bursts out of the bottle in a total explosion of foam, as you shall observe here. I got tired of waiting for it to calm down, so I snapped my picture, sat down for dinner, then came back to collect the beer five minutes later.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<strong>GOOSE ISLAND SOFIE</strong> actually isn’t a tripel, though. It’s an oak-aged saison with a lot of the characteristics of the tripel. There’s a pronounced taste of orange peel, along with lemon. <strong>SOFIE</strong> clocks in at a relatively approachable 6.5% ABV. It’s a zesty, yeasty sort of ale, with slightly more bitterness than I was counting on. Aged in oak, as I said, and that woody, earthy taste is present as well. Wow – “woody”, “earthy”, “bitter”, “zesty”, “yeasty” – I think we just blew all our Belgian adjectives on one single beer. It’s a complex craft beer for sure, but fell a little wide of the mark for me, as did <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/09/pere-jacques-pere-jacques.html">PERE JACQUES</a> and <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/04/this-years-goose-island-matilda.html">MATILDA</a> (<strong>JULIET</strong> has yet to make herself known to me). <strong>6/10.</strong>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-27948580821599469362010-03-13T06:00:00.000-08:002010-03-13T11:27:39.294-08:00REPORTING FROM THE FRONT AT GRAND TETON BREWING NIGHT<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinsJ5obUwyLMxbnInCCWpHHXppoildkU7_cr3U9F5NV7w1Pwhb5aojP-aspHOeOjCPy-IpZ6Klriz58gObbbkdx28Vx4M225BLe2gjxp7YyehzelRmlq5cm-ABWi2zLof2yqOWA/s1600-h/Grand+Teton+Pursuit+of+Hoppiness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinsJ5obUwyLMxbnInCCWpHHXppoildkU7_cr3U9F5NV7w1Pwhb5aojP-aspHOeOjCPy-IpZ6Klriz58gObbbkdx28Vx4M225BLe2gjxp7YyehzelRmlq5cm-ABWi2zLof2yqOWA/s320/Grand+Teton+Pursuit+of+Hoppiness.jpg" vt="true" /></a>It was to be a night like any other night – <em>or so I’d thought.</em> Just an average Monday night out, sucking down a couple beers with a bro – <em>or so I’d thought.</em> Nay, I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.grandtetonbrewing.com/Main.html">GRAND TETON BREWING</a> pint night at <strong>Barclay’s</strong> in Oakland this past Monday, an unadvertised, barely-promoted event where “punters” could sample a range of <strong>GRAND TETON</strong> beers and even cart home their own souvenir pint glass. I’m serious!! So throwing caution to the wind, I cancelled everything; called my wife and told her not to expect me until daylight, called in sick for the next two days, and went to town with the help of my #1 favorite brewer from the great state of Idaho. Here’s what I tried:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
Oh wait a minute – let me tell you <em>why</em> my plans changed and I drank only <strong>GRAND TETON</strong> beers on this epic night. Just a few weeks ago I thoughtlessly threw a 12-ounce bottle of their <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/01/grand-teton-brewings-black-cauldron.html">BLACK CAULDRON</a> imperial stout into my cart, and then drank it a couple nights later to “get it out of the way”. I loved it – an awesome, fantastic, big bad aggressive imperial stout. So naturally, I’m curious about this brewer. OK, back to the recap. Here’s what I tried:<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.grandtetonbrewing.com/PHAR.html">PURSUIT OF HOPPINESS</a> – Of course, they lose a half point on our ratings scale for the bad pun in naming the beer. But other than that, this imperial red ale was excellent. Smooth but biting, with maltiness not being laid on too thick, and really tingling and delicious. I didn’t see if it was bottled but if it is I’m going to grab me some. <strong>8/10</strong>.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.grandtetonbrewing.com/LC.html">LOST CONTINENT OAK-AGED DOUBLE IPA</a> – An understated oak-aged IPA, at least compared with the <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2010/03/southern-tiers-oak-aged-unearthly.html">Southern Tier Unearthly</a> I wrote about earlier in the week. It might be a notch down from that one, but it’s still really, really good. At this point, three beers overall into my exploration of Grand Teton Brewing, I decided that these guys are major alemaking heavyweights. <strong>7.5/10</strong>.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSU3VogJmlaZKDsBYCgjdYfxDXRs7B9NySYLQbYocCAUSY2OSLQbRi_BK3mzH39OZ52K-jPzwCBpYdsaARrSUnRRw1u02H2w7AfGG_Lv5us31JbAF4OkiCTv4GF2mL-ctVPZzcxw/s1600-h/grand+teton+sheep+eater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSU3VogJmlaZKDsBYCgjdYfxDXRs7B9NySYLQbYocCAUSY2OSLQbRi_BK3mzH39OZ52K-jPzwCBpYdsaARrSUnRRw1u02H2w7AfGG_Lv5us31JbAF4OkiCTv4GF2mL-ctVPZzcxw/s200/grand+teton+sheep+eater.jpg" vt="true" width="150" /></a><a href="http://www.grandtetonbrewing.com/SESA.html">SHEEP EATER SCOTCH ALE</a> – ….And this one totally confirmed it. Our waitress told us this was “weird” and that we might not like it. I told her that <em>she</em> was weird, and that she’d better bring me one of these scotch ales, chop friggin’ chop. This beer is decidedly not weird. It’s a dark, roasted, deep and mysterious scotch ale, close to black in color and really rich and full bodied. If I didn’t have a set of car keys in my pocket and a home with a warm bed to get to (I lied above, of course), this would have been served to me in a much bigger glass than the one you see here – and then another after that to boot. <strong>8/10</strong>.</div>Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-34607043212351717132010-03-12T06:50:00.000-08:002010-03-12T10:57:07.198-08:00AVERY BREWING’S “DuganA” IPA<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxz2E0KrUoJvJvkXiS5n4W_M5Sp6AQqkmsHwUo04zQihKNa7hG_UQ9WjlcYN5dgxG53T9QGmUPLOOWiEtXHvZjMMdCzz0uoxb3C_azRz1uygQi-GAqCu8JhXxM-8dwI0xTtxtgKg/s1600-h/Avery+Dugana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxz2E0KrUoJvJvkXiS5n4W_M5Sp6AQqkmsHwUo04zQihKNa7hG_UQ9WjlcYN5dgxG53T9QGmUPLOOWiEtXHvZjMMdCzz0uoxb3C_azRz1uygQi-GAqCu8JhXxM-8dwI0xTtxtgKg/s320/Avery+Dugana.jpg" vt="true" /></a>Not sure where things fell down on this one, but the gap between my review-stoked expectations of <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30">AVERY BREWING’s</a> latest IPA “DuganA” and my pleasure with actually drinking it was far wider than I’d expected. Now granted, I’m not much of an <strong>AVERY MAJARAJA</strong> fan either. But just about everything else they make is stellar, and the advance word that this was a supreme IPA fit for the kings. And while I didn’t really dig it, it’s not a bad beer at all. Let’s see if we can figure this one out together.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30/53167">AVERY DUGANA</a> (<em>I think I’ll start calling it that, Doo-GAHN-ah, just to be annoying</em>) pours a lovely orange/copper color, just like you knew it would. It’s strong and piney like a particular strain of the IPA family should be. So you’re happy, right? Wrong. It’s not “juicy” by any means – in fact, I’d daresay it’s a <em>DRY,</em> almost chalky<em> </em>IPA. Say what? Wait a minute, it even tastes a little bit like aspirin. Yeah, aspirin – a “kiss of death” word for beer. That said, I can still see the appeal here, because it’s got some interesting balance and deep, rich IPA flavor going on. But compared to what I was hoping for? Not so much. <strong>6/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24364002.post-5967316975105152092010-03-08T17:36:00.000-08:002010-03-08T17:36:16.800-08:00SOUTHERN TIER’s “OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY”<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJrfB49jbivU9CLVCFrd6W7tcd1VbKTooCr-b0GNC-h7agWSxRuW_TaUcJ5CgK82u15ACmDxKb1c-knxRFM3uW2r4vF7ZgSCJDh2oSz5s0GLeMgcExI2wybpk7suTb-nKyrnbzw/s1600-h/Southern+Tier+Oak-Aged+Unearthly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJrfB49jbivU9CLVCFrd6W7tcd1VbKTooCr-b0GNC-h7agWSxRuW_TaUcJ5CgK82u15ACmDxKb1c-knxRFM3uW2r4vF7ZgSCJDh2oSz5s0GLeMgcExI2wybpk7suTb-nKyrnbzw/s320/Southern+Tier+Oak-Aged+Unearthly.jpg" /></a>This is the first bomber I opened from my recent acquisition of East Coast beers from MM, the fella that more or less turned me onto <a href="http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/index2.html">SOUTHERN TIER BREWING</a> and their incredible line-up of intense & wonderful beers a couple years ago. Now they’re one of my top 5 favorite brewers in the world, and the creators of the finest India Pale Ale to ever pass my lips, <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/05/southern-tier-gemini-two-great-tastes.html">GEMINI</a>. Now you may know that ½ of <strong>GEMINI</strong> is made up of another outstanding Double IPA from the Southern Tier family – <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/05/southern-tier-unearthly-double-ipa.html">UNEARTHLY</a>. We reviewed that one right <a href="http://hedonistbeerjive.blogspot.com/2009/05/southern-tier-unearthly-double-ipa.html">here</a>. Now there’s an <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/47151">OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY</a>. You know it’s totally gonna rule. And yes, it totally does.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><br />
<strong>SOUTHERN TIER OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY</strong> is truly all about the oakiness. You smell it, you taste the wood, and it lingers on the top of your mouth for a few heartbeats past the swallow. A very crisp beer, <strong>OAK-AGED UNEARTHLY</strong> brings forward the piney hops, and layers in a sweet undercurrent and a thin-to-medium body. If the sweetness is coming from the 11% alcohol, I can’t tell, but it would stand to reason. Again, it’s more oaky than it is hoppy, and really “renders” like a finely aged beer. Didn’t think you could do it this well with an IPA. I don’t know what else to say, folks. When you’re on a winning streak this hot the way <strong>SOUTHERN TIER</strong> are, why would you even <em>listen</em> to a piker like myself? Another flat-out superb beer from one of our nation’s best. <strong>9/10</strong>.Jay H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06153081608332918241noreply@blogger.com3