Back in the swing of things

Oh man. I'm always so excited to come back home and try the bevvy of new beers. I've been settled in for a few weeks, but it still feels all new as I just finished moving into a new house.

And with new houses comes new beer. This time we've got two delicious Dogfish head beers, and one from a new brewery, Great Divide.

Great Divide is a Colorado brewery that I've heard a lot about, but never had the pleasure of getting to try. Specifically, I've heard about their Yeti stout - and what was awaiting me at my favorite local boozery? A big ol' bomber of Espresso Oak Aged Yeti.

It pours a viscous black - damn close to molasses. The smell is all coffee. Hooo boy, and then some - the coffee flavor comes from them adding local espresso to the beer itself. The flavor has all my favorite notes - oak, chocolate, roasted malts, espresso beans, mmmmm. It tasted a little like a chocolate covered espresso bean actually, which was delicious. It was a little heavy for summer, but this is a beer I'd go after in any weather.

Namaste, from Dogfish head, is basically the opposite. A take on the Belgian Wit beer, it is extremely light and refreshing, and is a very tasty summer beer. Rather than a bland wit though, it is full of orange and lemongrass flavors. As is typical with wit beers, there is also some wheat flavor. There is also a light citrus hop, but nothing to make the beer anything more than a clean, clear, refreshing beer.

Third, and not last by any means, is dogfish head's festina peche. Now, this is classified as Berliner Weissbier. I'm not wholly certain what that is, but I'm not complaining. The beer pours a nice golden orange, with little to no head but plenty of carbonation. It's easy to confuse this beer for cider or sparkling wine on first taste, but after a few sips you can taste the malty undertones. The flavor is all sour peach, which is delicious in my opinion. Folks seem split on this beer, but it is an absolutely perfect summer beer in my opinion - light, bubbly, and full of fruit flavors without being overly sweet.

I should also note that I got to visit the Dogfish head brewpub in Rehoboth, which was pretty cool. The food was very tasty, and everything was woodgrilled, which was tasty. I also got to sample a few of their beers that I hadn't had in a while. The best of the bunch might actually have been the 60 minute IPA, which is weird because I despise IPAs. However, it was pleasantly cirtusy and very drinkable. All of the beers tasted were good though, so it was sort of the tallest NBA player sort of thing.

Anyway, more beer to come no doubt. Cheers!

Home again!

Oh man, being home is nice. Being abroad is fun and exciting, but it really just kind of gets tiring and expensive eventually. Also, the beer isn't as good :-P

Case in point - the first few days home I received bottles of Brooklyn Black Ops stout, as well as Sam Adams Chocolate Bock. Life is good.

In more pedestrian but equally delicious news, I also got to try Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace and Smuttynose's Hanami Ale.

The Sorachi was a bit of a whim - I like Brooklyn and I like saisons, so this was a pretty easy call. Poured it a little warm and it was none too tasty. Stuck it in the fridge, and found a solid improvement. Still, not really a beer I enjoyed that much. A lot of the powerful spicy flavor in saisons, but just a lot of bitterness that didn't seem to contribute. I'm thinking we should've chilled it further.

The Hanami, on the other hand, is one I've been eyeballing for a while. I like cherry ales - none of this stupid fruit beer nonsense, just another flavor in a nice solid ale. Hanami is an excellent example - an excellent sour cherry tang without sacrificing the character of the ale, or loading it with sugar. Really a tasty beer, nice sweet malts complimented by a sour cherry tang that is present but not overwhelming.

The deceptively mainstream

Here's the thing about beer - it can be crappy and mass produced even if it's tougher to get in some areas. Guinness, for all the enjoyment is can produce, is basically the budweiser of another country. Just because it's foreign, doesn't make it good.

The point isn't to bitch about Guinness though - no, the point is to remind people about all the awesome local beers that are around.

in Dublin, there is an awesome local brewpub called The Porterhouse. I wasn't able to try everything, but I enjoyed all that I had. They have a deliciously creamy oyster stout, a nice mild porter, and a surprisingly bitter-sweet stout called "wrassler XXXX", which was tasty. They also have a fantastic and full bodied red ale.

Speaking of excellent red ales, Cork has a similarly excellent brewpub. Called the Franciscan Well, this little place lies down an alley, and sits behind a big brass door. Inside are delicious beers, an excellent dry stout and a fantastically rich and tasty red ale.

Yes, I usually try and be more divorced, objective, and descriptive of beers. But really, it can be enjoyable to not be super critical, but just sit down and enjoy a delicious local beer without obsessing over it. So I apologize for my somewhat brief reviews, but I stand behind my judgments of these beers as absolutely delicious.

Again, the point is to look locally. Yes, there is a popular beer, with a well funded ad campaign that everyone knows. But don't stop there. Look for brew pubs, microbrews, and most of all local beers. These are beers that receive care and attention on a far greater level than mass produced macrobrews, and often have a lot more to offer in terms of flavors, taste, and overall adventurousness. They take risks that are abhorred by mass produced beers who strive for boring acceptance by as many people as possible.

Also? If you're ever in Ireland, look up these bars. They are delicious oases. And be sure to try the red ale