American Craft brews: Innovation vs. Execution of classic styles.

So, working at a beer bar and mingling with a considerable amount of fellow beer lovers has given me ample opportunities to engage in a debate discussing who we think, country-wise, offers the best beer. While the argument always is between Belgium, Germany, and the good ol' US of A, I think the discussion offers a more interesting debate that I believe to be of a different character than merely your favorite beer producing location. The subject I love discussing with beer experts (those who know a considerable larger amount than I) and brewers is what they genuinely think of the quality of American beers. I come at this from an execution standpoint.

When I say "execution" I think of it in a couple of ways: 1. The execution of a classic style of beer that's been brewed for hundreds of years in places like Germany/Czech Republic and Belgium. I combined ze Germans and the Czechs because when you talk about Czech beer you really are focusing on their pilsners, which are certainly different from the German pilsners, but debating the differences doesn't help this discussion. I also left out the English/Scottish/Irish because there is very little to no attempt these days to make beers that are reminiscent to those traditional styles any longer. All of our Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts etc.....are very American and have a characteristic of their own. Beer Advocate are even giving most styles brewed here the "American" prefix. 2. The second "execution" I speak of is in regards to the absolute explosion of the last 5+ years of all sorts of crazy beer styles and flavor profiles. These things include ultra-hopping, barrel aging, crazy yeast strains, collaboration brews, mixing of styles, adding ingredients like chocolate/coffee/vanilla.........well, the list goes on and you get my point. Fellow beer lovers put America at #1 because we have, as a country, taken beer to another level. I agree with that in theory, but I think the thing that keeps me pensive about throwing the US into the top spot is that we have seemed to bypass some of the all time classics in favor of our own fusion-style cuisine, so to speak. In mind it's execution per se, but the innovation and new flavor profiles that get us excited.

EXECUTION OF TRADITIONAL STYLES

This is what I discuss most with beer experts, and remains my biggest issue with American breweries. With all the innovation that takes place on a seemingly less than yearly basis with American brewery, it is my opinion that while the quality of American beer has reached very high levels, there still seems to be a lack of brewers and breweries that can sit down, take a style that has been made in the aforementioned countries for hundreds of years, and nail it. To hell with the rye malts, the crazy yeast strains, the crazy hopping, etc.......take a Belgian abbey ale, a hefeweizen, a doppelbock and kick its ass. Do it without adding any of that extra bullshit and just knock it out of the park. Time and time again (with a few exceptions, of course) American brewers miss the mark. I absolutely LOVE the complexity that some of the newer American brews offer that challenge the pallet....they have become fun to drink. What bothers me though, for some reason, is that in brews that have been made for a really long time, you can find a big ol pile of complexity that is as interesting to the pallet as something that American brewers are inspired to make because they found something they thought looked cool at a yard sale.

Specific Examples you ask? here goes:

The German Doppelbock: There is one American doppelbock I've had that is even in the same stratosphere as the best traditional German doppelbock (the best being Ayinger's Celebrator) and that is made by Bell's brewery out of Michigan (their Consecrator) that hangs with Ayinger's.....kind of. Outside of that one, it's a really really poor go around. America features brews that are heavy-handed with the malt, and become a big, syrupy mess. Celebrator gets all the yummy sweetness, and brown sugar-caramel character that you would want, and doesn't even hit the 7% abv mark. The American ones that I try are all 8% plus and just blow the pallet out with this maple-y nonsense. They look the part, smell the part.....and you get a feeling that they know what they're doing....yet once it hits your tongue you realize the execution is really piss poor. None of them are even CLOSE to what you'd find from a number of German brewers.

German Hefeweizen: A proper German hefeweizen is a relatively low-alcohol brew, yet can still give you a really entertaining level of complexity with competing notes of clove, bubble gum, banana, and maybe a few others every once in a while. It is a highly-drinkable, easily accessible style of beer, yet seems to be forgotten when "great brews" are discussed.....I believe because of its ease to drink. Unlike the last example with doppelbocks, I'm not sure I've tasted any American version of this style that's even worthy to call a a "hefeweizen", much less compare it to the likes of one of the world's finest beers, in Weihenstephaner's Hefe weissbeer. Hell, many American breweries seem to shy away from the name "Hefeweizen" and try to limit themselves to a mere use of the term "unfiltered" when describing their wheats. And while breweries like Boulevard out of Kansas City, Missouri have certainly made a name for themselves with a very drinkable, easy to find brew in their wheat beer, it doesn't have 1/100th the sophistication or flavor profile of any number of German wheats. The American brews that I have tried that have the balls to put "Hefe" in their name make a more valiant effort, but still come off as nothing more than full-bodied, easy to drink brews. A good German Hefe accomplishes that, but also shows a beautiful delicate nature to the style that gives it an interesting array of flavors on even the most inexperienced pallet.

Any Belgian Abbey-Ale: The list of the beautiful abbey-style ales that come from Belgium is seemingly too long to even worry about. I think if you are reading this blog than you have more than likely come across any number of dubbels, tripels, quads that are wonderful pieces of brewing art and absolute treasures to drink. This is a similar discussion as the one above with Doppelbocks, but it is my opinion that a great Belgian abbey-ale offers a fairly larger array of flavors and subtleties than even your high-end doppelbock. That's not a knock on ze Germans, just a general observation of German beers which tend to focus on drinkability, versus some big Belgian ales which more often lend themselves to be "sippers". Crap, I'm getting off-track. The point is, is that this is yet another style where Americans seem to fall short. I'm not saying that you have to love abbey-ales, but like the doppelbocks, many of the American attempts at making these big beers really miss the mark. These are all heavily-malted beers, but for some reason or another, the amount of malt in the brew is often-times the only thing executed correctly. There are extremely easily noticeable levels of complexity to the traditional Belgian ales that aren't found in the American attempts. Now, not being a brewing expert I'm not 10000% sure why this is the case, but I would assume (and some brewers have hinted at this with me) that it's the yeast used and the quality of the malt used in the product. There are a lot of wonderful, spice-characteristics that come in the traditional ales from Belgium that, often times, pull together, and help clean up a beer that is otherwise "heavy" in every sense of the word. The American versions are certainly "heavy", but the fun notes of fruit, pepper, and funk that are found in the traditional takes on the styles often just aren't there. Of all the North American breweries that throw their hat into the abbey-ale ring, I'd say the most consistent product, in my opinion, comes from Unibroue out of Canada. They have all the wonderful notes coming from their yeast that the American versions seems to be missing.

HEAVY-HANDED INNOVATION

It would take quite a while to list all the new styles and flavor profiles that American brewing has given us over the last few decades. As a dedicated beer drinker I love this and it can be really exciting when a brewer gets it "right". The wide spread use of barrel aging, adjunct malts like rye, different yeast strains, and of course massive use of hops - in any and all amounts and varieties has allowed American brewers to do more than stake their claim in the world of high end brews. Hell, the American IPA has almost single-handedly taken American brewing to another level. Most reasonable beer snobs realize this and enjoy going out and tackling the ever growing collection of mad scientist brews that we now have.

Ok, I've kissed enough ass to show that the point of this post isn't a wholesale indictment of American brewing. The problem I have (at times) with this innovation is the fact that such a prevalence does not cover up the first point that I made. Many American brewers still fail to execute the classical styles have been perfected by man in Europe. I understand that America hasn't been doing it as long as the folks across the pond, but that's also the reason why I think our ability as a country, to brew beer, still isn't on the level of those who have perfected their craft. A great hefeweizen, belgian tripel, saison, and doppelbock can entertain your taste buds with a very high level of complexity.....all without bringing in all sorts of adjuncts, barrel aging, and a mouth puckering barrel of hops. In the aforementioned styles, you still have an exquisite layering of flavors, a beautiful balance of bitter and sweet, and at times a level of drinkability that does can be hard to find, even among the high end American brews.

A discussion on drinkability brings us back to the title of this section in reference to the "heavy-handedness" of many high-end American creations. Too many times the drinker is beaten over the head with dominant note of the beer. The seemingly endless supply of double and imperial IPAs often times showcase nothing more than a brewers ability to get their hands on an obscene amount of hops. It's to the point where it often seems like the brewer was mistakenly delivered too many hops and had to figure out a way to use them before they went bad. What the fuck...let's throw some more into the boil!! Certain beers here and there give us a decent malt backbone and help tone down the mouth-puckering bitter a bit, but that often isn't the case. The same heavy handed behavior is showcased in our weak attempts at anything that is made with significant amount of mat....be it a doppelbock, or a high-gravity belgian style abbey ale. Certainly the German and Belgian versions of those styles feature a big, malt profile, but there are subtle hints of bitter, and more importantly beautiful esters that offer notes of fruit and spice that help complete the beer and keep it from becoming a syrupy mess. American attempts at high malted styles like those just mentioned are just that.....big syrupy messes. The malt is way too heavy handed, and the subtleties that keep the beer from becoming a malt bomb and nothing else are non-existent.

Another issue I have is with the innovation itself. While sometimes the final product is nothing short of a really cool brew, it seems as if American brewers are hiding the fact that they can't make any of the traditional styles mentioned, (at least not at a high level) and throw in all these new ingredients and techniques to develop a more complex profile. I don't know if there is this idea that these old styles are tired and boring, but it's hard to believe that any good beer drinker would find something like St. Bernardus Abt 12, Ayinger Celebrator, or Weihenstephan Hefeweizen boring. To me it seems like some American brews are like the people that use A-1 steak sauce on their steak because they can't cook the beef the way it's supposed to be cooked. Either that or the ingredient(s) they started with are simply inferior. The same goes for a top notch piece of seafood. A good seafood joint won't ruin a fresh, perfectly cooked product with a plateful of heavy sauces because simple ingredients done properly should offer a great product, with depth of flavor.

I'm not saying that American brewers owe John Q. Beerdrinker a larger portfolio of traditional brews, my ultimate argument is that I simply don't think that, in terms of skill, American brewers have been able to perfect traditional brews. That doesn't mean our beer is craft, it just means I don't get on board with the idea that we have surpassed the veterans of the beer making profession. The proof is in the product, and the American versions of any number of traditional styles fall EXTREMELY short of their predecessors. An ability to make those styles at a high level will not only offer more depth to a brewer's portfolios, but more importantly, allow them to use that skill and their innovation to start absolutely dominating the euros in high-end brewing.

Sorry folks, we aren't there yet.


Fellow beer nerds, let me know what you think. I have some people that think I'm bat shit crazy, and some people that agree with me to a certain extent.

Cheers.

Boddington's Pub Ale

Yeah......it's been a long g.d. time since I've written on here. I'd like to attribute it to a growing number of hours at work, but I'm not sure that would really work. I've just been a bit lazy. I've been drinking a ton of beer, as per usual.....but I just have been too lazy to write about it. Oh well. I'm sure your hearts were unmercifully broken for the last few months.

All that crap aside, I've decided to write a post or two tonight and am starting with a beer I have never really liked. Well, when I initially drank it 6-7 years ago, I though I was cool and hip because people would see the Guinness-like consistency of it (it's generally served with Nitrogen as opposed to CO2) and be all "WTF?!?!"...and I guess the taste wasn't too much one way or another. Soon thereafter I began drinking bigger beers and found this to be a very bland brew. Now, I'm trying to reconsider the place that some of the more old-fashioned session brews have in my life and have decided to give this another go. A few sips recently from the tap at work have made me think maybe Boddington's isn't THAT bad. So let's see.

Now, as this is being enjoyed in my living room, I'm serving this out of a can poured into a glass. The can has one of those nitrogen plastic balls in it to help mimic what you get out of the draught, although it never does justice to the real thing. So take this with a grain of salt.

Poured the beer from a cold (not super-cold, though....the can recommends 41 degrees F) can into a simple pint. Opened the can.....and the sumbitch done exploded all over the place. I was able to salvage it with some quick thinking and got to pouring. Super tan, with tiny bubbles all over the place. There is a bit of cascading action, but it clears up much quicker than a nitro stout like Beamish/Murphy's/Guinness. Color settles to a really deep golden/yellow/brown. Very white head remains, although only about half a finger. Usually if it's a fresh pour off a good keg you'll get at least twice as much. Carbonation is non-existent as there is no added carbonation to this beer (only nitrogen), and no bubbles messing around outside of the remaining head. Not much to say about the look, but the average beer drinker might think it's flat. And that person would be an idiot.

Smell actually resembles that of a low hopped, mild, English ale with a touch of sweetness, and a grainy smell you get from when you're brewing or visiting a brewery and you smell real, un-milled barely. A bit of a metallic note is there as well. Not sure if that is from the beer or the can. I think I usually get that same smell when I have this on tap, so I'm going to assume it's probably the beer. Either way, it's negligible. Not gonna lie though, this smells like a cheap beer.

Taste is....ehh. There is a little hop bitterness on the tongue, but not much. It's not floral, piney, fruity, resinous, or any other way you want to describe hops, it's just flat out bitter. Not saying that's a bad thing, but just that it is there. Definitely more bitter than what you smell. It's almost as if there is bitterness coming from somewhere else, as the sweetness doesn't play any more role than that of a balance from the malt. As it warms, that metallic note becomes a bit more present, and unfortunately lingers a bit with the bitter. I'm not sure what one taste people are seeking out when they order/buy one of these. Nothing about it is overly pleasant. It's palatable and not "horrible", at best.

Mouthfeel is what people probably dig about this beer, and I'm ok with that. The fact that it's a nitro-brew and that it's a bit flattened out makes this fairly creamy on the tongue. No harsh carbonation at ALL to speak of makes it really easy to put down, and sometimes not even notice the flavor of the beer. (this may be a good thing)

Drinkability, as alluded to in the mouthfeel comment is very high. It's really creamy/smooth and easy to put down. Most traditional brews from the British isles are meant for sessioning (aka: drinking for a long period of time with ease) and this one certainly meets that criteria. I imagine after a couple of these that beers # 4,5,6 would be unnoticeable. (once again, maybe a good thing)

So like I said before, I can dig the drinkability aspect and the mouthfeel to this beer. Only problem is that there are other beers that meet this criteria and taste light years better. This simply is not a very good tasting beer no matter how you put it. I don't need to be drop-kicked with flavor, but what flavor this does have isn't great. I'm putting it into the Budweiser heavy category where I most likely won't order one unless it is the only non-light beer available, but I won't be all that perturbed if someone buys a round and that's what I get stuck with. It's extremely easy to put down, smooth from the first sip all the way down to where it reaches your belly. For that I give it props, but I'm pretty sure that drinkability has more to do with the fact that the beer is served with nitro, and has not much to do with the actual flavor of the product.....which is ultimately sub-par.

Oh well, cheers.

Verdict: 4/10

Ska Brewery is here. (in Missouri that is)

So, Ska Brewing out of Durango, Colorado is finally available in Missouri. Seeing as how I am currently employed somewhere that carries the product, I've been able to try quite a few of their brews (7 to be exact) and decided to throw some of my half-assed reviews of their product out into the interwebz. Nothing is mind-blowingly awesome, but the majority of their stuff is pretty solid so far. Outside of one or two beers, you're not going to be all that disappointed.

Here goes:

BUSTER NUT BROWN.

Outside of a cheeky name, this simply isn't all that good of a beer. Now, it's not that there is something that tastes bad, or off about the beer, it's just a watered down version of the style, in my opinion. There's a nice, dark, brown sugar/molasses, and toasted sweetness to it, and a noticeable nutiness, but it's just too thin. I want a beer that relies on its sweetness to be thick enough to coat the tongue with the malt, and this has a dry, clean, crisp finish which just isn't what I think I want in a a brown ale. Those are good aspects to other beers, but that's why I drink those beers. When I want a good brown, I want something a bit fuller, a bit heavier and sweet, and a bit chewier....if that makes any sense. Now, like I said, nothing really tastes bad here, there just isn't enough of that "taste". It leaves you wanting quite a bit. Annoying, if you ask me. ANNOYING.

Half assed-verdict: 5/10.







TEN PIN PORTER.

All in all a solid porter. The porter seems to be a dying style, and something that too many breweries and drinkers don't really worry about any more. I'm not sure if it's because nobody likes the style all that much, or that most breweries brew porters that are just so close to their milk stouts or regular stouts that they (brewers and drinkers) say "screw it" and not worry about making one. We'll talk about the differences between porters and stouts some other time. Either way, this is a solid porter. I like porters to be sweet (caramel sweet), a touch of roast, and just a hint of hop bitterness in the finish. This has that, maybe a touch too sweet. It's a got a good chewy-ness to the malt, which I like, and while drinkable, is a nice, filling beer. If you like porters, this ain't too bad.

Half-assed verdict: 6.5/10



PINSTRIPE RED ALE.

Dang good red ale. Not quite to the level of North Coast's Red Seal Ale, (at least in my opinion) it's a really solid red. I'm not looking for a red ale to blow me away with any sort of flavor, or have something really stand out by itself, I'm just looking for a well balanced ale. I want a good chewy-malt-sweet presence, and a good clean, bitter finish. A nice balance with a noticeable, firm presence on the tongue (thus, the "chewy" comment). This gets pretty close. I paired it with some of my super bad ass homemade buffalo wings, and it was perfect. There is enough malt to sit heavy on the tongue, sort of coating it, but it finishes with just enough clean bitterness to get you ready for your next wing. It's never too sweet and never too bitter. It might even fair to say that it's just a good pale ale, whatever you want to call it. If you want a solid session beer, something to throw back with burgers or wings while watching the game, this isn't a bad choice.

Half-assed verdict: 7/10


STEEL TOE MILK STOUT.

Decent, not great stout. Now, I guess I should call it a decent "milk stout", because that's a bit different than a normal stout. Milk stouts are supposed to be a touch sweeter, and this one is good, in that there is still some good roast there, but it's possibly a touch too sweet for me. It's got a good look to it, and a good consistency, but the finish has this grainy aspect.....not in the sense of barley or hops, but grainy like grains of sugar. It's a bit of a weird sensation that I usually don't pick up on. It's pretty much the only part of the beer that puts me off as it's not bad up til that point. Of course I say all this and I realize that this is my subjective taste. It's not bad, really, nothing really makes you do a funny face thing, it's just that the finish is a bit sugary sweet for my taste.....but I can't lie, it's not like it's over the top. It is a decent milk stout, maybe just a step below, say the Left Hand Milk Stout. I'm curious to give this a shot on tap, that might help.

Half-assed review: 6/10




ESB SPECIAL ALE.

Not a bad ESB. ESBs, I think are becoming like porters. They kind of meander over into pale ale territory so much that people forget about them as being their own thing. That's fine, as I guess the label doesn't matter if it's a good brew. This was weird as the first 1/3 of the can (yes it's in a can, more on that later......and don't worry I poured it into a glass) was all bitter, and nothing else, kind of unpleasant. So I didn't pay attention to it for about 10 minutes. I came back and the beer changed quite a bit and the malt did it's job. The bitterness is still king (ESB = Extra Special Bitter), but it's malt friend provided a touch of backup. Yes, I'm going to use the word "chewy" again, in that that's what it did. I like the "chewy adjective, and if you have a problem....screw off. The malt gave it a good touch of balance, but still allowing the hops to do it's thing. The hops are more of a dry, floral variety. There's not a huge smack of grapefruit and pine on the lips, and instead they're a touch more flowery and just a bit leafy/grassy. They really are more of a bittering agent in this brew. This would be a really good session beer. We'll get to the can thing a bit on the way down.

Half-assed verdict: 6.5/10


DECADENT IMPERIAL IPA.

Not sure what to think of this beer. When you think "Imperial IPA", you think that you are going to be Karate Kid-ed in the face with hops. That just isn't the case. There may be a ton of hops in this beer but it's so malted that you don't really notice them to level you think you would. Now, they are certainly there, mind you, but they really aren't the star of the show. This confuses me, as they (Ska, that is) are throwing around the whole "IPA" label. Many other beer nerds I've talked to agree with me almost instantaneously in that this beer is a huge malt bomb, that happens to be a bit hopped up. So yes, it is very sweet. Almost too sweet. But, I will say this, once I get over the fact that I should be less worried about what this beer is labeled as, and focus on whether or not I like it, I kind of enjoy the brew. I prefer malt over hops, so after this guy warms up a touch, and you get through the first half of the glass and realize it isn't a hop bomb....it's not all that bad. It's certainly sweet and malt heavy, but there is still enough hop presence (duh) that it doesn't kill you. You just can't come in thinking you're in for a huge hop-kick to the head, cuz it won't happen. It's a good smooth maltiness, slightly syrupy at times, but it doesn't have a cavity-inducing sweetness to it. There's s touch of spice involved that helps out the balance as well. So, if you can get over what this beer is labeled, and just drink it, I think you can enjoy it.

Half-assed verdict: 7/10



MODUS HOPERANDI IPA.

I guess I'm lame, but I think that's a cool as shit name for a beer. Further more, this is an above average IPA. About the whole "it being in a can" thing, well, you're going to have to deal with it. Just like I want beer wussies to realize that dark beer doesn't = bad beer....beer nerds/snobs need to realize that the can is a good vessel for a beer. (read here, a can may actually keep the product fresher). This brew, and the ESB, as far as I know, come only in cans. And yes, I've had it out of a can as well and it tastes mighty fan, no weird metallic flavors at all. Alright, all that being said, this is a good IPA. It doesn't back off from being afraid of being too bitter, but it does do a nice job of staying balanced, and slightly fruity-sweet. There is a good mixture of sweetness from a good malt backbone, and a nice kick of grapefruit up front. The bitterness in the end is the amount of bitterness you want and expect from an IPA. It's there, it's certainly bitter, but the bitterness doesn't hang on too long, and while it's bigger than the malt, it doesn't kick the malt's ass. This is a good thing. It's a nice IPA to drink, in my opinion. A really great version of the style.

Half-assed review: 7.5/10

I'm a beer nerd, not a snob.

Am I (are you) a "beer snob" or merely a "beer nerd"? I consider myself the latter, but it seems that a number of people nowadays prefer to call me a "beer snob" as if I take some sort of offense to what they are drinking, especially if they were to have the audacity to offer me a bud light or the like. I may not like what they offer, but to assume I am offended by this is completely off base.

Let's start with the very base of the discussion, Webster's Dictionary (online) defines a "snob" as either: (1) one who blatantly imitates, fawningly admires, or vulgarly seeks association with those regarded as social superiors; (2) one who tends to rebuff, avoid, or ignore those regarded as inferior; or (3) one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste.

Keep that in mind and we'll get back to the definition later and see where I stand........

Now before I figure out where I fit, let me describe my love for beer in the most objective way possible. I have a general love for all things "taste" related....probably my favorite sense. I specifically use that love of taste in how it relates to beer. Just like many people prefer a higher quality of any sort of items in life, I prefer a higher quality of beer, and ultimately have little problem with paying for that quality. Much like a New York strip purchased from a reputable butcher is better than the 8.99 steak and buffet meal at Ponderosa, often times there is a distinct difference in quality in the beer I choose to drink and the beer made by companies such as Anheuser Busch, Miller, Coors, etc. This is a fact. Beer, in it's purest form is water, barley-malt, hops, and yeast. It is also a fact that things such as malt from rice or corn is cheaper than barley-malt, and is thus used by larger breweries to be able to produce a cheaper product. Beers that are more expensive avoid adding ingredients for purposes of making a less expensive product (although they add stuff to them to enhance flavor from time to time), and it can be argued that they are truer "beers" in the sense that they subscribe to traditional brewing techniques, as opposed to changing their recipes for pricing reasons. (Don't let AB tell you the other ingredients are to add "smoothness"....kiss my ass.) Needless to say, I prefer the taste of beers that are brewed with the proper ingredients, which often times leads to an increase in price. Of course, as I have shown, food and drinks made with higher quality ingredients often taste better.

As I said before, I subjectively consider myself a "beer nerd", but that's just me. I'm also going to be honest, and get into "dick" mode here: In my opinion, a majority of what is sold as "beer" and what is drank in this country sucks, period. Budweiser isn't very good, Bud Light sucks, Bud Select sucks even more, and Michelob Ultra is out of the realm of "beer" and reaches a level of suck not yet known to man. Outside of Budweiser (or MGD, or Coors for that matter), which I don't mind all that much, 95% percent of "macro-brews" pretty much suck ass. I guess that might throw me into "snob" category, but I'm just being honest. I'm not saying you can't drink them, or that you or others are stupid for what you like. I don't understand why you like something that tastes like watered down corn syrup.....but that's just me. I imagine you probably don't understand why I do a lot of the crap I do with my beer

So now that we have my reasoning out of the way, let's re-visit the definition I posted. I think it's fairly obvious, of the three possibilities listed, that #2 probably best describes my thought process when it comes to beer. I guess by definition that makes me a "snob". That's fine, on it's face, it's just that my problem with the terminology is that those who prefer a higher quality of numerous other products don't get the word "snob" thrown at them nearly as often. So while I already threw the text book definition of the word at you, I'm still going to insist that I am not a snob in how the current word is used, and instead I am a "nerd".

I'll even take this up a notch (with the help of anecdotal evidence) and suggest that swill drinkers can demonstrate a greater level of snobbery, if not more, than a beer snob. A beer snob/nerd generally knows his audience, and his surroundings. If you come into the bar where I work, you can snob it up all you want as we portray ourselves as an establishment that serves high end beer the way it was meant to be served.....proper glassware and whatnot. I am fully aware that 98% of the bars I walk into aren't going to serve their beer in such a manner (even if they have a few good offerings) and unless I'm fairly certain that they will, I'll usually just take what I can get.

Now, for the anecdotal evidence:

I have, numerous times in my bar, experienced a customer become upset at the fact that we do not serve "domestic beer" (as in Budweiser.......even though we carry hundreds of American brews, idiot), and also that we do not serve our beer cold enough, or offer frosted mugs. I have seen people become confused at those facts, and some insist that we are hurting our business because of these two things.

Things I have NEVER done at an establishment where I am not certain about the quality of the beer: complained to the staff or other surrounding customers/strangers about glassware, serving temperature, or poor selection. It is what it is. The farthest I have gone is politely asking if I can get my beer in a non-frosted glass. If that's not an option and if my pale ale has ice chunks floating in it like every other beer poured at the bar, then so be it. I don't think I've ever said a word to a bartender/server after the fact if my brew is given to me ice cold. What I have seen....however, on MULTIPLE occasions, is a customer becoming incensed at the fact that their beer isn't ice cold, and being irritated that they didn't get a frosted glass. I've seen beers returned, and I've seen noses turned up to a bud light that isn't cold enough to get your tongue stuck to. Yet, once again, I'm the snob. I just paid 6 dollars for a Blvd. Pale Ale with chunks of ice floating at the top, but your 3 dollar bud select is above 35 degrees and you want a new one. I fail to see how I'm the douche bag in this scenario. But whatever.

Another prime example is the MULTIPLE times that I have been given hell from family members, bartenders, serving staff, and sometimes complete d-bag strangers about my beer choice. I've seen serving staff get pissy at my mere polite ordering of something not starting with the word "bud", and I've had complete strangers huff and puff over my request for something that is located in the cooler at the other end of the bar. God forbid they have to wait 4 extra seconds to get their 16oz aluminum bottle of michelob ultra. I've even had a guy look at me and go "dude, just order a bud light", when I let him cut in front of me at a bar because I simply told him to "go ahead man, I'm still checking out the selection". Once again, I'm the asshole, right? This also happens to me among family members during large family get-togethers. They bring a cooler of what they want to drink, and I bring what I like to drink. I say not one word about what they have decided to enjoy, and yet I hear endless shit for my drink. I get shit about the glassware, the color, and of course the price. Once again, my instigation of this consists of nothing more than me having the audacity to do exactly what they are doing: drinking what I want to drink. Yep, I'm still the asshole.

99.9% of the time, I don't antagonize random strangers in a bar, and I don't say a word to family members unless asked. Now if I get a "why are you drinking that" then I'll be honest and say that I prefer it to XXXX, but rarely if ever will I step up a stranger or an extended member of my family and instigate any sort of "snobbery". And as I have just said, I have received much more flak than I have ever dealt to these folks.

Why is that? Is the presence of my beer insulting to them? Is it akin to wiping my ass with the American flag or kicking a baby? I honestly have no clue. We all wear different clothes, have different houses, drive different cars, and make a myriad of other decisions that say a lot more about us than the beer we choose to drink, yet I am 100% honest when I say that there are people out there that immediately get on the defensive when I have something in my hands that's not fizzy yellow water.

Now, I'm fully aware that the mere presence of this blog is slightly contradictory to this entire rant, but as I said before, I try to be aware of my surroundings when douching it up beer-wise. I'm not so retarded as to antagonize random passer-bys because of their beer choice. Yet, as I've said, it's happened to me on numerous occasions and will certainly happen again.

So I say DRINK WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY, and so will I. Just keep your piss-water away from me and I'll keep my stuff away from you.

Cheers.

Bear Republic - Hop Rod Rye

Seeing as how the last beer I had was something sort of special that you can't get in the Midwest....or many other places for that matter, I figured I'd taste something that you can see at a high percentage of decent liquor stores/beer shops in the MW.

That being said, this isn't some POS beer that I just had lying around. This beer is up there as far as favorites are concerned, and certainly one of my top 5 or so pale ales/IPAs. It is a bit weird though, this beer has the kind of the Kenny G distinction, where it's super highly rated by most rating services (#81 overall on Beer Advocate, and #22 Double IPA on RateBeer), yet I run into a lot of fellow beer nerds, including the lame "hop heads" that for whatever reason won't own up to actually liking the beer. I don't get it.

Oh well, here goes:

This one is a 12oz bottle poured into a simple pint glass. Most of the time you see this, it comes in 22oz bombers, but you can occasionally see 4 packs of 12 ouncers. A 22oz guy will probably run you about 4.5-5 bucks. The bottle's label is different, so that's good, but it is a touch lame with the old hot rod on the front. It calls the beer a "specialty ale", and let's me know that it's 8% abv. Not a huge amount of booze, but most likely enough to notice the malt.

An easy pour gives me a 2 finger light-tan head in my KU Alumni pint glass. The head lasts for a reasonable amount of time and leaves a pretty think soapiness on top. Great, sticky lacing clings to the side. The smell is equal amount hops and malt, with a touch of alcohol. Hops are very typical, with a little grapefruit and just a little pine, nothing over the top. Malt is doughy, crackery, and the rye malt comes in with just a little spice. None of the characteristics seem too overwhelming. The smell allows you to believe that this is a well balanced beer.

This one has been sitting out for a bit, so it's not too cold, which I think this would be nice to allow the rye (malt) to come through. This is by all means a "heavy" beer. Big and chewy....yum. You know, it's actually hard to get a true separation of the flavors here......and distinct flavors is something I usually like, but for some reason in this one, it works. The sweetness of the malt barely sneaks in first, coats the tongue a touch, then you get a nice piney-citrus rind hop, followed by a really good touch of spice from the rye that hits you right as the hop bitterness does the same. The bitterness remains a touch after the spicy rye but it's never overpowering. If there was one word describing this brew, it would be "balance". This is possibly the epitome of the word.

This is just simply a top-notch crafted beer. As I've said many times I don't go nuts over hops, but I do like them when they are not the main show of a beer. This beer is certainly equal part hops and equal part malt (with 18% rye malt, according to the bottle), and they compliment each other very nicely. Never once in the beer does one characteristic dominate the other, and where the hops would leave their mark with an overly bitter finish, the rye comes in and finishes with a good dry spice instead of overwhelming bitterness.

At the end of the day, this isn't beer-gasm-esque as far as flavor is concerned.....although it has a phenomenal taste. This beer has top notch flavor, with top notch balance, which gives it a top notch drinkability for something with a ton of malt, hops and 8% alcohol. For that reason I am giving it an uber-high rating. For you hop-head d-bags out there that want nothing more than mouth puckering grapefruit and razor sharp pine bitterness............eat it. This is a bad as beer, and all the haters can eat a big one.

Verdict: 9/10

Suck it.

Pliny the mother-****** Elder

Ok, it's just "Pliny The Elder", but it's not often that some poor guy like me gets one of the highest rated IPAs on the planet out in the midwest. (#7 on Beer advocate, and #3 Double IPA on ratebeer.com). I took my nerd-dom to a new level and did a beer exchange with a fellow beer nerd who happens to live in Portland, OR. He sent me a bevy of top notch stuff I can't get out here, including the aforementioned PtE, and I'm hoping to return the favor sometime soon. Needless to say, you cannot find this brew out in the midwest, but if you ever get a chance out west, go for it.

Either way, the arrival of the package, which had the beautiful bottle of Pliny sitting on top was borderline "big O" inducing. It was almost a beer-gasm before I even tasted the beer...which definitely would have been a first. Now, I don't go absolutely ape-shit over IPAs, in general, but I do like beers of all styles in the sense that I really enjoy drinking anything that is really well crafted. I figured this wasn't highly rated because it was some obnoxious kick to the head in hops, but because it was still an uber-hopped beer that was well balanced, and well put together. This was all true.

So, let's review, shall we:

As far as I know, this only comes in the 16.9 oz bottle, like the one I received (outside of a few chances to find it on tap in the NW USA). Pretty cool, simple label, brewed by the Russian River Brewing Company out of Santa Rosa California. Looks like this one comes in at 8% abv, which will no doubt help the drinkability, as some big IPAs can get to the 10% level or plus...and that's a bit much even for a big dog like this. The most interesting part about this beauty, however, is that all over the bottle are statements pleading with you to drink the beer fresh, don't age it, and keep it cold. A lot of beer guys, like myself, get their hands on the good stuff whenever they can, regardless of whether they'll drink it right away. We'll grab it, throw it in a dark, cool area, and figure since it's probably a high abv beer, that it will age. Not this guy, they emplore you to drink it ASAP: "Consume Pliny fresh or not at all." This one was bottled on 3/22/10, so I think I was alright.

Beer pours a pretty cool heavy golden-orange. It's murky (not sediment, just thick), and looks really chewy...in a good way. Decent finger or so of bright white head, and as with most good IPAs, some really nice lacing. I was drinking it out of my mini La Trappe chalice/snifter thing.

Smell is of course, initially citrus dominated...but not just grapefruit. There are also some oranges, maybe a beat of peach and apricot, and a little whiff of alcohol presence. I'm getting to the point where I don't think that's a bad thing, anymore as long as it's just a touch. If done right a nice twinge of boos brings it all together. It's still a touch cold, but there is a nice doughy malt in the nose, some biscuity goodness.

Taste is a big fruity, citrus smack, just like in the smell. The fruit comes and goes kind of quickly and lets a decent amount of that malt in there. The malt though, also finishes crisp and extremely clean. And maybe the most interesting part of the drink is the hop bitterness, which comes literally like 2-3 seconds after the drink. The sensation with the bitterness is really cool. None of the flavors are extremely top notch (although the fruitiness of the hops is really nice and crisp, never overwhelming or too coating on the tongue), but the real great thing about this taste is the way it is layered. There is a very distinct 3-4 taste sensations, which is, in my opinion, what often separates the really great brews from the rest of them.

End of the day, this is really a top notch beer. I'm not going to go nuts on my rating because IPAs simply aren't my favorite style. I am really enjoying them more and more each day, but I still don't crave them like a top notch quad, or even an impy-stout. But, regardless of what you like, you have to absolutely appreciate that elite craftsmanship of this brew. The flavors are layered, balanced, and never overpowering.

Verdict: 8.5/10

Cheers, bitchez.

Half-Assed Reviews - 5/11/10

Well, I figured it'd be time for another one of these. I've tried some stuff while drinking out recently that I thought was worthy of noting, but wasn't in a situation where I couldn't completely get down with a real review. Some of these beers have been good, some have been average, some really freaking good, and some downright awful. I'm going from memory here so don't take this stuff as bible,.....whereas you should take any other beer I have reviewed as the quintessential, end all be all of beer reviews. (sarcasm) But, this should be a decent enough assessment to give you AT LEAST a "suck" or "not suck".

Avery IPA

No gimmicky name here, just their India Pale Ale. There is also no gimmick in how I will discuss this beer....in that it sucks, hard. This is an extremely bad beer. I had this 5-6 months ago in Kansas City and it was so bad that I thought it was a bad keg, or something had contaminated the lines, the keg, or even the glass. So I had it again where I worked and it was equally awful, possibly even worse. I understand that there are pine characteristics in a lot of hoppy beers, but this is honestly like drinking pine solve.....the cleaner. No malt balance, no characteristics of apricot, grapefruit, or anything, just pine. I'm not a major hop guy, but I certainly appreciate well-crafted IPAs....but this is not one of them. This is a really bad beer, regardless of style. If you're like me, and you don't like things that suck, stay away from this. However, if you like things that do, in fact suck, then give it a go.

Half-assed verdict: 2/10


O'Fallon Wee-Heavy

From what I can tell this isn't bottled.....yet. Which is too bad, because this is an extremely good beer. I was thinking it was gonna be a big malt bomb as it's a "Wee-Heavy". The maltiness and sweetness is certainly there, (it's 10% abv) but it has all sorts of yummy complexity going on. It has vanilla, some bourbony-booze, chocolate, a nice warming alcohol, some caramel, and a scotchy/peaty sort of smoke note going on which is really freaking cool. Not that it's a knock on O'Fallon as a brewery, but I was NOT expecting something anywhere near this good. The alcohol is certainly there, it's not hidden at all, but it's a good thing. This is a sipper, and almost has a liqueur like quality. It takes a while to put down an entire glass but it's worth the time. I certainly hope that O'Fallon puts this in bottles soon as I can imagine this could get very interesting with a year or two of age on it. If you see it on tap anywhere or in bottles sometime in the future....I highly recommend. Oh, and this thing really needs to warm up a touch or else you miss out on a fair amount of its surprising complexity. Giggity.

Half-assed verdict 9/10

Lagunitas "Undercover Investigation Shut-down Ale"

Apparently there's a story behind the huge name....something about them having to shut down for 20 days after an absolutely epic party. Who knows. Have you ever had The Lagunitas WTF (Wilco Tango Foxtrot)? It's basically a ramped up version of that beer. A big brown ale that's got a touch more malt in it but a bunch more hops. The sweet and the bitter play off of each other really nicely, and there's a touch of some sort of spice in there.....allspice? I've seen some reviews that suggest cinnamon...but I'm not sure. The bitterness isn't to sharp and is a nice mix if floral/citrus/pine, and is just enough to clean up what is otherwise a fairly sweet brew. Mixed up styles like this can really be winners if they strive for balance, as opposed to weird hair-raising tastes......and this does just that. Beer websites have this as an "American Strong Ale", but I would just call it a hopped up, big brown ale, because that's what it is. I find a lot of times the "American Strong Ale" is just a cop out to find an easier name for something that's unique with a big(ger) malt profile and somewhat higher ABV. Either way, this isn't a drop-dead gorgeous beer, but it's very good, very well balanced, and very fun to drink. Giddy-up.

Half-assed verdict 8/10