Cheers, to International Beer Day!

Raise a glass of your favorite brew for the 5^th annual International Beer Day!  Two beer holidays in a row?  Even I think that’s a little odd.  Yesterday was International IPA Day, which is a newer idea than International Beer Day.  I gotta assume someone fudged their event planning when they set the date to honor the IPA.  It’s believable that the group behind organizing IPA day was unaware of the existence of Beer Day.  I say that because I found out about both holidays only 1 day prior.  Of course, that didn’t stop me from spreading the good news.

This is a quick post to say, Happy Beer Day!  Get on out there tonight and try something new!  Sadly, the closest semi-official International Beer Day celebration is 2 hours away in Austin, so I'll just have to find my own party (so to speak).  Tonight I bought a 4 pack of Allagash White, you can expect a review tomorrow.  I've been looking forward to this one!

I love Spec's, they're my enablers

Saint Arnold Brewing's Fancy Lawnmower

My second choice last night was Saint Arnold Brewing Co.’s Fancy Lawnmower, a Kölsch style beer brewed in Houston, TX.  I hate that city, but as my coach used to say "the Sun shines on a dog's butt every once in a while" (not sure if that applies, but I'll leave it there anyway).

Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of summer seasonals, questing for a perfect summer brew.  For those of you who haven’t lived in the American south, it’s hot.  Damn hot. 

Just a couple more months til' Fall

In College Station yesterday, the temperature reached 105, and the humidity leveled off at about 75%.  There’s something about walking outside and feeling the sweat leak from your pores before you get to your car that makes you really appreciate a hydrating summer-y beer.  I’m also a firm believer in drinking for the season.  What I mean by that is, I don’t want to drink something like a stout in the middle of August.  Stouts were traditionally enjoyed as strong, warming brews for colder temperatures and they don't seem appetizing to me at this point in the year.  

No thanks, I'll pass

Bubbles!

Before the advent of refrigeration, beers would be brewed in certain seasons, stored for periods of time, and then enjoyed during a specific month.  Drinking for the season makes me feel closer to my ancestors, and makes me appreciate certain brewing styles even more.  St. Arnold Fancy Lawnmower is a good example of my seasonal bias, if it were 32 degrees and rainy outside, I'd probably pass it up.  Lawnmower is not a seasonal release, it just feels like it should be.

Lawnmower pours a slightly hazy straw yellow.  It formed some head, with very good retention.  This beer is very bubbly, well carbonated.  So well, it might be a turn off for some people.  Being so carbonated it allowed for a friendly foam that lasted throughout.  Having that head there made the beer seem fresh, long after it was drawn from the tap.  It laced surprisingly well for being a lighter beer.

This beer had a very pleasant smell, like a driving past an orange grove.  The front end note was citrus fruits (lemon and orange) and the rear note was light fresh grass.  The grass was from the hops.

This beer tasted exactly like it smelled, refreshing and delicious.  Strong citrus, some light grass.  This beer was very clean, practically no aftertaste or bitter note.  It was funny, this beer was drinkable like water, however it wasn’t watery (unlike the Saint Arnold Summer Pils I tried earlier this summer).  That lasting carbonation I talked about added to the drinkability.  It was almost as if this beer washed itself down.

This sums it up well

Overall, I’d rate Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower 4 out of 5.  I didn’t have any negative response from this beer, except for the fact that it wasn’t too memorable.  This is an easy beer to pick up and drink a lot of, and it’s semi-local from Houston so that earns it +points for me, but there are other brews I’d like to try before buying this one again.  It’s kind of neat drinking a Kölsch style beer, because those are uncommon, but the novelty quickly wears off. Also, that rating might be a little elevated by the sweltering heat outside.

Check out the A&M glass I bought at Obannon's last night.  It will make the beer taste better.

The grand flavor of tradition

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA for International IPA Day!

Hoppy International IPA Day! 

I’m not sure who exactly commissioned it, but who am I to reject a good ol’ fashioned grassroots holiday?  Yes, today is the first ever International IPA day, a day dedicated to what’s most likely the most popular style among craft beer drinks, the Indian pale ale.  In the spirit of the day (actually completely by coincidence) last night I enjoyed an IPA at Obannon’s, Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute Imperial IPA.

'Tis the season?

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Delaware is no stranger to the IPA.  If you count all of the American IPAs and Imperial IPAs that Dogfish has brewed, which I did, you get 10.  Of these 10, the 90 minute IPA is consistently a favorite.  The 90 Minute, is an Imperial IPA with an abv of 9.00, so this isn’t a beer you’d drink 6 of at a BBQ.  If you take advantage of this beer, it will take advantage of your motor skills.  For those of you that took that as a challenge, Dogfish Head also makes the 120 Minute IPA with an abv of 18.00.

It’s widely accepted that this beer is intended to be drank from a snifter, or an oversized wine glass, to fully release the aroma and flavor.  Unfortunately I didn’t get the pleasure of looking like a snob, and mine was served to me in a Guinness pint glass. The beer was slow drawn from the tap, so there wasn’t a lot of head, about a finger’s worth.  The beer’s color was somewhere between bronze and rust.  Even though it has “pale ale” in the name, Imperial IPAs are nowhere close to pale in color.  One other thing to note about the beer’s appearance is that it laced really well.  This beer left what I called a corona of lace, a thick band of lace that lasted until I finished.

Pictured: the inside of the glass

When you’re in a musty pub, all you can really smell is wet old wood and 50 different fresh beers.  However, from what I could detect in the aroma was light malt scent, and what I could only label as a “mineral” smell.

My first taste of this beer gave me more mineral note.  I’m not exactly sure what that was, but it tasted a bit like Flintstones vitamin.  Maybe the glass was a little dirty and it floated to the top because after my first few sips the real flavors became present.  I tasted predominantly malt, smooth and biscuity.  It sort of tasted like a breakfast biscuit I tried in Fiji.  There was a solid balance between the hops and the malt, which surprised me because there are so many hops added to this beer.  90 Minute IPA is continuously hopped during its 90min. brew time, and then again dry-hopped during fermenting.  In fact, Dogfish Head has a custom, inert-gas fired, dry-hopping machine called “Me So Hoppy.”

Now available at Wal-mart stores!

One complaint I have with this beer, is the mouthfeel and aftertaste.  The beer in your mouth is very dry and astringent, almost like a weak wine, and this might be attributed to the large amount of alcohol present.  Once you’ve swallowed, your mouth feels sticky and dried out, leaving a pine flavor.

Overall, I’d give the Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA 4 out of 5, definitely worth a try.  The 90 Minute IPA is a good example of an Imperial IPA and if you were interested in that type of brew I’d recommend it as a bold starter.  The 90 minute is consistently rated well, and Dogfish Head is one of the most popular craft brands available.

First Review: Victory Brewing's Prima Pils

My first ever review belongs to a first rate beer: Victory Brewing Co.’s Prima Pils.

I first became interested in this beer a few weeks ago when Mindy and I were planning on trying out a local wine bar.  I was browsing their website and I noticed that they had a fine selection of beers, something I wasn’t expecting from the small café.  Now, this was mid July, the average temperature for that week was over 100 degrees.  I wanted something refreshing, so I set my mind on their pilsner offering, the Prima Pils.  Sadly, when I arrived there, they were out of stock.  Someone must have drugged me, and incepted me, because I couldn’t get the desire for a Prima Pils out of my head.  Luckily for me, Spec’s carries it in 6 packs, all the way from Pennsylvania.

In all it's glory.

The first pour of this beer was perfect, absolutely perfect: two fingers of head just barely lofting over the rim of my pint glass.  The color was a vibrant golden straw.  When you think of a German pilsner, you think of a clean golden lager, and this beer was true to its heritage. In fact, I would name this beer the new gold standard.  This beer also laces well, a friendly reminder of your progress through the brew.

I don’t have the greatest sense of smell, but I didn’t need that for this beer.  The beer smelled fresh, like spring almost.  It had very floral notes on the front end, the hops come through like a beer potpourri. There was also a light malt flavor present.

But mostly, this.  Plently of this.

This beer tasted like a classic pilsner should.  The hop flavor was dominating, very zesty, herbal, and posessed a fine bitter bite.  The bitterness lingers on your tongue for around 30 seconds after each drink.  Just like in the aroma, there is a smooth malt taste that hides behind the powerful hops, adding to the drinkability.  This beer was crisp and refreshing, exactly what I expect from a pilsner, exactly what I want to drink in the summertime.

Victory Brewing Co’s Prima Pils gets the highest rank I can bestow: a brilliant 5 out of 5 meaning drop everything and buy this.  The beer possessed every aspect of a pilsner that I could ever hope for.  The strong hop flavor was addicting, and I found myself quickly taking sips for a fresh rush of it.  If you’re looking for the prime example of a pilsner, look no further.

So this is a beer blog right?

I know what you’re thinking, because I’m thinking the same thing, “why would he start a beer blog?”  The answer is simply timing.  Earlier this summer I was invited to the grand tradition of Half Priced Pint Night at Obannon’s Irish Pub in College Station.  Sitting at a booth with a group of my friends, I had a sudden realization.  “It’s the summer, I have only a few responsibilities until September, and I’ll probably be frequenting Obannon’s each Wednesday (at least).  Right now, THAT’S the perfect time to start my beer tour.”  So I did.  The beer tour is a hearty challenge to try each of the 75 brews that Obannon’s carries at any given time.  The reward is a beautiful stone mug and admittance to an exclusive club, reserved to those who also finished the challenge.  The only catch, you can only count 2 drinks per night for the tour, they gotta’ keep you coming back somehow (as if 75 different brews wasn’t incentive enough). 

We know what you want.

            I’ve made solid progress on my tour.  It’s been about 6 weeks now, and I’ve tasted 21 out of 75.  If you drink 20+ beers in a period of 6 weeks, a few things might happen to you.  1.) You get very tired of beer, or 2.) You crave it even more.  I, myself, have found the latter to be true.  Like any common red-blooded American male, I have a profound love for beer.  Also like any common red-blooded American male, I know basically dick about beer.  Since starting my tour, I have been devoting hours upon hours to beer research.  I’ve given in to my inner beer geek.  The purpose of this blog is to share with the general public my humble opinion of the beers I try.  Moreover, I am using this blog to educate myself on the fantastical history and science of the brewing process.  Lastly, I’m using the blog to justify my expensive drinking habit, but hey, it makes me hoppy (get it, it’s a hop joke).