The Epitome of Class

That's how I'm defining the latest outing with Sparrow and CapsLock. See, when you're a twenty something, most people get these pretensions of class, and stop doing things like drinking at a playground. I, on the other hand, highly endorse all forms of ridiculosity.

Especially those that start at 11:45pm and end with the three of you drinking wine from a bottle, smoking cigars, and scaring off teenagers. Basically I get a call informing me that drinking adventures are happening. I ambush the car, giving Sparrow a heart attack, and we're off. After grabbing a 6-pack of Sierra Nevada Summerfest, a bottle of some red wine, and a cigar, we're off.

Sparrow and I have a long history of staking out the various little parks/playgrounds in suburbia and spending the early mornings there drinking beer and doing everything from talking deep philosophy to fan-casting our friends in Harry Potter. Also, swinging on the swings. This is a fantastic old tradition of ours, and so we were enjoying this once again, along with CapsLock.

Why do I call him CapsLock? Well, see, everything he does IS IN CAPITAL LETTERS. He doesn't cook breakfast, he COOKS BREAKFAST AHHHHHH! He doesn't do push-ups, he DOES PUSH-UPS GRAAAARRRRRGGHHHHH! He doesn't head-but tables, he HEAD-BUTS THE FUCKING TABLE TO DEATH. He's a lot of fun to say the least.

Now, when we arrived at our old spot, it was already full of teenagers. And while CapsLock and I debated a hostile takeover, we realized there was an identical spot just a little ways away. So a short drive and a walk down a sketchy path through the dark woods (which wasn't actually that bad), we arrived at the other playground. We'd heard voices, but they'd disappeared as we'd gotten close so we figured they'd run off. Except, as I explored the area with my flashlight, I had the sneaking suspicion that several large forms weren't actually part of the equipment.

Starting a conversation with "Hi? We're not cops guys. It's ok" is pretty awkward, but apparently pretty effective, because it quickly defused a weird situation, and let us get back to what was important: the beer.

In between debates about personal philosophy, finishing the cigar, and swigging red wine from the bottle, I was thankful to have on hand my Summerfest. As those who've read this before know, this is one of my favorite beers. It's a great example of a beer that doesn't try to hard, but manages to be tasty and flavorful without being super aggressive. From start to finish Summerfest is a pretty mild beer, but that makes it perfect for a hot summer day (or spring evening as may be the case). It's got a lot of sweet malts with a nice hoppy undercurrent, and the sensation of a cool drink of water without lacking in the flavor department. The malts are grassy and the hops add a nice clean bitterness to the finish.

All in all, one of my favorite session beers for the summer, this was a great beer for a great night. Oh, and someone tell CapsLock that holding a position based on an unknowable factor is ultimately not very useful, even if it is interesting :-P

May your days be hot and your beers refreshing! Cheers!

This one took way too long

Seriously, it's been a looong time since I've tried more than a few of these beers. I apologize to my loyal reader (there's one out there, right? :-P) but I just haven't found the time to sit down and hash my thoughts out.

We'll start with the best of the bunch - I was at Victoria Gastro Pub, quickly becoming a favorite of mine, debating between an Oyster Stout and a Saison, when I saw that there was an odd beer. It was a Strawberry Weisse, a "short batch" from Smuttynose. It was described as a sour strawberry beer, and I was hooked. I love Smuttynose, and I liked the idea of trying something limited edition.

The beer was fantastic. It poured a rich, ruby red, and was deliciously sour with a nice flavor of strawberries. This was no thin wheat beer with a hint of fruit - it was a punch in the face. To be fair, I desperately love all things sour, so be prepared to deal with a lot of sour. A relatively uncomplicated beer, I was nonetheless wholly impressed by their ability to make a strong and delicious fruit beer. Fruli strawberry can suck it - this is far and away the best fruit beer I've ever had.

Now, I also feel like I've made a mistake somewhere, because apparently I've never written about Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. This seems wrong, as it's quickly become one of my favorites for summer. Nonetheless, I'll give you my impression, and hopefully you'll forgive any accidental doubling.

Their Summerfest is a lager, but this is no bland golden beer. It has a very nice clean, crisp, and refreshing taste with floral and grassy notes, with a pleasantly assertive hop flavor rounding it out. Not too bitter, it's excellent for hot days and lazing around, with an interesting character but light enough to drink more than a few. According to beer advocate, the beer is a Czech Pilsner, but seeing as the bottle calls it a lager, I'm sticking to that.

I also had a chance, oddly enough, to try their Celebration ale. It's a winter beer from them, but apparently it'd been hiding in the back of my friend, The Culinator's, fridge. Classified as an American IPA, I admit to having my doubts. The beer is excellent - darker and spicy, with a nice hop profile. However, it just doesn't taste as bitter as I expect for an IPA. There are also some sweet malts in there as well, making a nicely balanced beer. Tasty and delicious, although misclassified for my money.

Now, the last beer was good, but a little surprising. While at the Perfect Pour, I picked up a mixed pack of Star Hill. On the box was listed the numerous awards each beer had won - multiple medals at the great American beer festival. Needless to say, I was excited.

Star Hill's Amber Ale is good. It's a nice copper red, with flavors of toffee and caramel, as well as some bready malts. Really though, it was pretty boring. I want to reiterate - it wasn't bad. But it wasn't terribly interesting, especially for a medal winning beer. Not a bad session beer, as I had a couple without evening noticing it, but nothing to write home about.

Too much of a good thing

So, I'm working on a theory. I've found, more and more, that at a certain point all the stouts I'm drinking taste very similar. Of course, there is some joy to be found in all the intricacies of stouts, but I'm having trouble finding truly unique stouts.

Case in point. For Christmas (yes, it's been a while), I received a bomber of Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, made by Anderson Valley brewing co out in California. I'd been waiting for a good reason to crack it open, and had been distracted by the plethora of other beers I've been finding.

It pours a nice dark brown, with very little head. Taking a deep whiff, I get mostly roasted malts, with a little chocolate. The taste is pretty darn good, flavors of coffee and hints of chocolate and vanilla, with a nice creamy mouthfeel, and plenty of oatmeal taste to round it out. Of course, ever present are those delicious roasted malts.

Here's the problem. It was delicious. I loved it. But it didn't grab my attention the way stouts used to, or rivet me to my seat. I feel like I've tried too many stouts or something, but I may have to take a break and try different beers.


Of course, coming along and runing my theory is a beer I had a while ago and just irresponsibly forgot to sing the praises of here. I went out to Max's with some friends, and on their menu was Harpoon Island Creek Oyster Stout. I'd heard that Oyster stouts are pretty interesting, and so I had to try it. And wow, they were right.

The flavors were the usual roasted malts, but with a wholly new experience of smoked oysters, a kind of salty fishy taste that went surprisingly well with the dark roasted malts and coffee flavors. It was an odd beer, and I'm not sure if I'd want to try it with food, or even have more than one, but it was a fascinating departure from the usual, which was nice.


Now, I also feel irresponsible for never giving this beer it's due before here. My standby beer, far and away, is Yuengling Lager. For those living outside the east coast, Yuengling is one of the oldest breweries in the states, and makes a tasty yet affordable lager. They are the my favorite fall back, and a great beer to drink when you're hanging out with your friends.

In fact, it's pretty dangerous being so drinkable, it's easy to have 3 or 4 without really realizing it. The flavor is utterly generic: some sweet malts, some light hops, and maybe a little caramel and some grains. Ultimately though, for a beer almost as cheap as the piss water that is Miller and Budweiser, it is a far better beer. I cannot recommend it highly enough for parties and other shindigs where you're not looking for a crazy beer, but something enjoyable to sip with friends.

Wow, and here I was aiming for a one beer review. Just goes to show you how quickly I can get carried away. Until next time!

Series of Sam (4 of 6)

You know, the problem with constantly having good beers is that eventually you become kind of inured to the whole thing. As much as I love reviewing beers, sometimes it's nice to just sit back and enjoy the beers, without having to worry about flavor profiles.

Over spring break, I got to enjoy Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Allagash White, and Stoudt's Fat Dog stout, all of which were delicious. However, I had these while hanging out with friends and being social. And as much as I enjoyed them, I must shamefully admit to not having put much more thought into them than "damn! this is a delicious beer! I should drink more of it..."

However, luckily for me, this kind of exhaustion doesn't last. As you saw earlier this week I'm right back into the swing of things. Now, I only intended to review one beer tonight, but I ended with two, which is just such a darn shame.

The beer I intended, as above, was another from the Sam Adams mix pack. I'm saving their delicious cream stout for last, but I wanted a beer I could reliably enjoy, so the noble pils had to wait as well. Hence, I went with their ubiquitous Boston Lager.

It pours light golden, with supririsingly little head for a beer whose commercials always feature suds going freaking everywhere. The smell was tough to place, but is one I instantly associate with their Boston Lager and Ale. It's dark, and kind of malty. The beer, if anything, is more so. The taste is dark, maybe chocolate or caramel, and pleasantly malty, with an almost bready flavor.

This beer is pretty much the definition of a fallback beer, good for dinner or sipping with friends, but isn't exactly a thrill ride. If you haven't tried it, shame on you. If you have, it's a solid beer to have on hand for when that crazy beer you're trying ends up tasting like suck.

Speaking of a slightly more crazy beer, I had the good fortune of grabbing a brew with The Parental this evening at Pratt Street Ale House. A typical favorite, I was deciding between their delicious porter and scotch ale, when a new beer caught my eye. It was called Biere De Garde, and was their take on the French farmhouse ale.

Intrigued, I ordered myself a glass. It pours dark amber/reddish. The taste is delicious fruits (maybe cherries?) nicely mixed with a citrusy hop note. Rounding it out, thanks I imagine to the Belgian yeast, is a certain spice flavor that runs undercurrent to the rest of the beer. It's a very tasty beer, but I'm not sure I could share my focus with anything else - it's a holds-its-own kind of beer.

Ah good beer. May I always be cursed with such a bounty of delicious drinks. Cheers!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet