Session #57: My Guilt, My Secret

After a stolen laptop made it so that Pete Brown couldn't host the 57th Session, Beers I've Know stepped up to the plate with the topic: "Beery Confessions: Guilty Secrets/Guilty Pleasure Beer":

One of the things I most enjoy about blogs and personal writing in general is the ability to have a window into another's life, in a semi-voyeuristic way. So I'd like to know your beery guilty secrets. Did you have a particularly embarassing first beer (in the same way that some people purchase an atrocious song as their first record) or perhaps there's still a beer you return to even though you know you shouldn't? Or maybe you don't subscribe to the baloney about feeling guilty about beers and drink anything anyway?



You're also welcome to write about bad drinking experiences you've had as a result of your own indulgence or times when you've been completely wrong about a beer but not yet confessed to anyone that you've changed your mind.

Can my guilty pleasure be Yuengling? What about Guinness?  They are two beers that many craft beer advocates would not supports (one made with corn, the other a macro). I think Stella Artois is a great beer to drink during a party in the summer (owned by A-B). My first beer (Yuengling) isn't too embarrassing.  I guess I could talk about the horrible end to the first night of my bachelor party (darn you huge shots of Wild Turkey). I guess I just named most of my guilty pleasures right there.
 
Yuengling- this easy drinking beer is local to me.  A couple friends work at the brewery and it is cheap and tastes good.  Easily the beer that I have drank the most of in my life.
Guinness- brought me into liking dark beers.  Still a beer that I will order on occasion, and a beer that helps define the stout.
Stella Artois- this beer was the first to get me to start trying belgians.  HA isn't that funny!  But I still enjoy one during the summer.
Bachelor Party- we usually go for beer, find delicious shots, and have a long night. Sometimes I wish the night would last longer.  We did have great times in Baltimore and Ithaca though.
 
So these are my guilty pleasures.  Not bad beer, not super embarassing stories, but guilty non the less.
 
What are your guilty pleasures?

My International Stout Day List

Welcome to November 3rd, or as we are supposed to refer to it, International Stout Day.  This is a day to celebrate the dark goodness of some perfect winter beers, but in autumn.  As the leaves are changing, so must the taste buds.  No longer are crisp pilsners required for weekend picnics, lawnmowing is done- so no more light wheat beers (Dunkelweizens still are welcome), pumpkins beers are getting harder to find on the shelves (since they are starting to make their appearance in July) and winter warmers have yet to show up.

What ends up being the best beer for the changing of the seasons is the Stout. Pushed onto American palates by Guinness- hey I started there, you probably did too- the rich, roasty goodness can get you through the cooler nights.  So grab a dark one, and enjoy.

Here happen to be a few of my favorite stouts.  Some good beers to have one of or more than a few. (I am trying to stay away from one-offs and special releases, and focus on beers that many can actually obtain.)

1. Guinness (4.2%)- seriously, you have to give it props (Foreign Extra, if you can get it)
2. Sierra Nevada Stout (5.8%)- a highly underrated stout that has the malty sweetness, but also the bitterness that is expected from Sierra Nevada.
3. Founder's Breakfast Stout (8.3%)-the younger brother of the uber-popular Canadian and Kentucky Breakfast stouts can hold his own in any line up.  A coffee lovers dream.
4. Great Divide Yeti (9.5%)- I prefer the Oak-Aged Yeti, but the regular, belgian, chocolate, espresso, and vanilla are all very good (I didn't have the Brett Yeti, but I would imagine it was good).
5. Southern Tier Mokah (11.2%) - what tastes like a blend of the Java and Choklat, perfect balance between coffee and chocolate make this a great cold weather beer.  Delicious as a dessert (If you can't find Mokah, check out the Creme Brulee if you truly want dessert).
6. BrewDog Tokyo*- this 18.2% (yes, 18.2%) beer tastes like it should only be about 7%, dangerously drinkable. They say it was brewed with Jasmine and Cranberries, but I think they added a bit of black magic. Expensive, but worth every penny. (This was introduced to me by Mr. Mitchell of BeerInBaltimore.Blogspot. I have to credit him for my addiction to it.)

Honorable mentions go to Bell's Expedition, Troeg's Java Head, Rogue Shakespeare and Oskar Blues Ten Fidy.

Bad Beer Reviews- Ithaca Cascazilla

One of my favorite beers that I discovered when we went to Ithaca, was Ithaca Brewing Cascazilla.  Sure, everyone knows Flower Power, and rightfully so, it is delicious, but Cascazilla became a quick go to beer for me there.  It was on tap at most places and was absolutely delicious.

Today, I got to thinking about it, so I decided to see what the fine people on BA and RB had to say about it.  I have no problem with people not liking beer that I like. It is just when you see somethings in a review that don't add up:

1) Purchased as variety pack from Westy's in Mechanicsburg, PA.
A- a dirt red cloudy appearance.
S- N/A
T- very dry and bad aftertaste
M-It felt like i was eating powder
D-i put it down but i wont have another.
I am just not a very big fan of Red Ales and that might be the case of the poor review but i really did not enjoy this beer and will not be having it again.
I feel that it is probably a good chance that this review states why it might be a "poor review".  They knew what they were getting into, and choose to give it bad marks because they don't like red ales.

2)Bottle acquired through trade with jchow79 and poured into standard curved shaker pint glass.
A: Pours a very deep orange, almost *brown*... very dark for an IPA. Frothy off-white head, about 1 finger in size, sits on top.
S: Very malty-sweet and earthy, with a mild scent of pine hops.
T: Earthy flavors and the taste of sweet-and-sour sugars that I find to be so prevalent in East Coast IPAs. Some pine bitterness on the back end. For me, the sugars are just overpowering. What I want out my IPA is lots of hops. Bitter hops, oily grapefruit presence, citrus hops, ect. This beer just doesn't have much of any of that.
M: Reasonably good carbonation and lots of tongue coating with the sugars and hops.
D: This isn't my kind of IPA. Just not enough bitterness or grapefruit hops in them for my liking.
This beer reminds me a lot of a Dogfish IPA, particularly 90 Minute. A lot of my friends love Dogfish 90. I'd recommend this beer to any of them. But much like Dogfish 90 (and most East Coast IPAs, for that matter), this one just isn't for me.
This person chose to rate and review this red ale as an IPA. I would have given it an F as an IPA too. On the label it says "Red Ale". Sure it has a lot of hops in it for a red ale, but that doesn't make it an IPA.

3)Excited I finally found single of this.
Appearance - Heavier on the brown side than I expected. No real hints of red at all. Just sort of a dirty sour looking caramel. Chunks of yeast floating around everywhere.
Smell - Smells like your standard red ale. Slightly sour with hints of caramel. Just sort of plain, honestly.
Taste - Slightly sour with hints of light fruits. A zesty citrus that seems slightly skunked. very musty tasting.
Mouthfeel /Drinkability - As stated, quite musty. Drinkability is high. But there were actually solid chunks of yeast that got stuck in my teeth. It just sort of tastes like a musty, slight sour and mellowed red ale. On my list of red ales, this is very low.
Sure, I am weird and a beer nerd, but I would have not reviewed a non-bottle conditioned beer if there were solid chunks of yeast in it.  I would have probably sent Ithaca an email with the bottle number/lot number whatever I could find to let them know.  Skunk, Must and Floaties are all bad signs that do not normally happen from a respected brewery.

These are the types of reviews that kill trustworthy reviewers.  As I have said in the past, I think we should just post the reviews and not worry about a rating system.  There was one other review that was under a C, but his was straight forward, with a good review.

I urge people to keep reviewing beers, that is helpful when searching for something new, but think about what you typed before you click post.

Colorado Beer Map

I must first apologize to those who sent me the Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado (full disclosure, they sent me a Map for free to review).  This is a tremendous tool that should be used if you travel to Colorado and love beer.  This 5th Edition is packed full of coupons that easily make up the cost of the Guide.

For around $15, you can get the map with 142 Breweries and Brewpubs marked on it.  On the back of the map is a tasting guide, a list of homebrew shops, an approximate time travel chart, a list of state parks and other helpful charts. This map would be great for not only the traveler to Colorado, but also a resident.

Oh and did I mention the coupon book?  The Passport to Free Beer includes over $150 worth of coupons to many of the intriguing brewpubs and breweries. Durango Brewing, Odell Brewing, Oskar Blues Brewery and Ska Brewing are a few of the breweries that have coupons included.  Who doesn't want their first beer free at Ska?

This would be the ideal map for anyone traveling to Colorado.  The full topographical map is helpful on its own, and it has the added benefit of placing you where you need to be- AT THE PUB!

Nice Little Weekend

I feel the hardest thing about moving is getting to know the area.  When we jumped from place to place in Baltimore, we stayed in the same neighborhood, but each time our closest restaurants changed.  Since we lived in Canton, the first year we walked into the square to get something to eat or drink.  This wasn't our type of crowd (mostly BMC drinking right out of college crowd- we prefer smaller, quieter places).  We enjoyed a lot of the food at the places, but started to look for different restaurants off the square. At our second and third places, we were able to find great places closer to our doorstep.  It was nice to be able to walk 3-5 minutes and be at the restaurant, eat great food, and have great conversation.  

For the past one plus year, we keep trying to find the local places around our house. It is different now, because in the city, we would take the dog for a walk and see the new places to try.  Now, we rely on the internet or ads in the newspaper for tips on new food joints. Luckily, we found one right down the road.

This past weekend, my parents came down to visit over night and to take us out for our first anniversary. We made reservations down at McCleary's Public House in Marietta.  This is a place that on Friday and Saturday night is usually pretty packed.  It had been closed for a couple of weeks (like most other places in Marietta), due to the flooding.  They also had a band (Big Red) that was going to start playing later in the evening.  This is a place that I occasionally come to grab wings with a couple of friends, so I know their beer selection is pretty good (starndard Guinness/Smithwicks/Harp tap and 4-5 rotating craft taps, and a very nice bottle selection). My mom ordered a raspberry cosmo and my dad got whatever he always drinks.  I ordered a Founders Red's Rye.  The beer was very good, a strong bitterness starts off the beer but gives way to the malt and rye.  Very easy drinker.

Our meals came out and they were about as good as you could have, except that they thought my father ordered the black and blue burger instead of black and blue steak- which they quickly took care of (they definitely felt worse about it than we did). I ordered the "surf and turf" which was filet mignon and a crabcake.  The filet was grilled perfectly medium, and melted in my mouth. After living in Baltimore for 4 years, I am usually disappointed after ordering a crabcake, but for the first time, I was not.  The crabcake would have fit in perfectly at any restaurant in Canton, Fells Point, Harbor East, Federal Hill or anywhere else.  It was delicious.

Once the band started playing a nice bluesy, jazzy, funk 70-90's rock (mostly original music from what I think I heard), I ordered the Flying Fish Organic Amber ale and then the Stoudt's Oktoberfest. The Flying Fish was a nice basic amber. It didn't wow me nor did I want to return the glass, a simple beer to enjoy.  The Stoudt's was a good Oktoberfest, nice malty backbone with a bit of bitterness that broke everything apart.

We left after listening to the band for an hour to get back home.  Overall, it was a nice night.  If you get around Marietta, McCleary's is a great place to check out. It is a place with good food, friendly waitstaff and a nice beer selection.

Newcastle Winter IPA

I didn't know much about this beer before drinking, and the label only had the Surgeon General's warning on it. I didn't know what the difference between a regular IPA and a Winter IPA would be, but I was willing to find out.

This beer poured with very little head, even though I tried to pour somewhat vigorously.  The beer is lighter brown, but still a shade or two darker than many American IPAs.  From the nose, I could tell what the big difference was going to be in my perception and reality. I was thinking of a hoppy IPA, but it was a dead giveaway that this was an English Style IPA.

Sidebar (that is in the middle of the review): the English IPA is not the big, bold, hops-first IPA that has been all the rage the last 5 years or so.  The much more balanced beer has more emphasis on the malt with a slight bitterness.  They are bittered more than other English styles, but no where near the American counterparts.

The floral, citrus hops are replaced with a nice calm bitterness, and not much aroma, which is dominated by the malt.  The taste has a nice sweetness, that is cut by the bitterness of the hops. The creamy mouth-feel (same as in the Werewolf) helps to make the beer smooth and an easy drinker.

Overall, this beer seems close to style, nothing amazing, but something a little different for the hopheads.

Newcastle Werewolf

A couple of weeks ago, a PR rep contacted me about doing a review of the new Newcastle beers- Werewolf and Winter IPA.  So up first is Werewolf:

Werewolf, a "Blood Red Ale", is a new seasonal brew- apparently a Halloween beer. After the pour, the beer looks marvelous. It was extremely easy to pour with a gorgeous 3/4 inch creamy, off-white head.  The brown colored beer had a little reddish hue to it, I guess helping out the blood red name.

The scent was extremely inviting.  It actually drew me into the beer.  The sweet aroma of caramel malts and something a little sweeter (smelled like some fruit that I couldn't put my finger on).  Just a little hop aroma was present.  I was ready for this red ale.

Once it hit my lips, it was a bit of a let down. Taste was on par with an amber ale (not much red to talk about), not on par with Bell's Amber, but certainly better than Killians. It had a slight fruity taste to it, but nothing that really makes a mark. The mouth-feel was off putting to me.  It felt almost creamy. I want something smooth, but this beer kind of left a coating in my mouth, that was not appetizing.  It did lead me to drinking more though.

Being lower in abv, the alcohol was not a factor in the taste, and the taste disappeared as soon as it was out of my mouth.  Overall, this beer was good. I would drink another one and suggest it to someone that likes this style of beer. Would it be something that I would seek out? No, but I wouldn't write it off either.

(I will revisit this beer later in the week to make sure my initial thoughts are on par with a second tasting. Also coming this week will be Newcastle Winter IPA.)