Revisiting the past

So, most of my early forays into craft beer are due to my dad. He drinks interesting and odd beers, and he has usually been okay with me sipping them. One of the first of these I remember was at the grand opening of Victoria Gastro Pub, so it was years ago, maybe even before I went to college.

He had ordered this hilariously named beer, Arrogant Bastard. It sounded ridiculous and I had to try some. It went down like tile cleaner though, bitter and horrid. Ever since then I've always shied away from Stone's Arrogant Bastard. But I realized that it's been years, and I owed it another try. If just for the name, I had to try Arrogant Bastard again.

And much to my surprise, it was pretty damn delicious. The beer has a pretty prodigious head, which sticks around for a while. The bitterness is still a pretty major aftertaste, lingering for quite a while. But as the beer warms, the bitterness becomes less pronounced, and overall the taste isn't super bitter. Definitely hoppy, with some grapefruit and chocolate. This wasn't my favorite beer ever, but it was challenging, and interesting, and I feel like I conquered a pretty major part of my past.

I also had the good fortune to try Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot, an imperial brown ale. The name is absolutely fitting, as this beer comes on strong and stays powerful but delicious. It's nutty, with some caramel and chocolate, and a nice malt sweetness, but an undertone of hops that keeps this from being a sweet beer. A seriously tasty brown ale, this is a more powerful version of a typically tame beer. Definitely recommend a try for anyone who likes brown ales.

Recap time!

So, with finals taking up all my time, I saved all my wonderful beer for a single blog post. Bear with me, this is gonna get a little long.

I wasn't planning to jump into ridiculous beers, but the first weekend of finals, I went home to find out my friends were having a horse racing party. Which race? I don't know! However, I was able to acquire some delicious beers, and branch out a little.

The first was Troeg's Sunshine Pils. This aggressive looking beer seemed like a nice compliment to a hot spring day. And oh it was. Nice and refreshing, with a pleasant hop taste that never overwhelmed the nice lemony citrus. I'm not necessarily a huge pilsner fan, but this was a great beer to sip on a hot day.

I also grabbed Flying Dog's Garde Dog. I've been more and more intrigued with Biere De Garde, a style similar to the Saison. This was a pretty meek version of the style though. Not bad by any means, but a little timid, especially for Flying Dog. A great introduction to the style though for any wary newcomers. It's generically yeasty and spicy, and not a lot more can be said.

I figured I'd be done with beer for a little while at least, crazy me. I had forgotten that I planned to go out for drinks after my first final with Sparrow, Stark, and The Girlfried (aka llama lady aka cat staring at a butterfly aka cutiesaurus rex). I was determined to try this little chic wine bar in Hamden called 13.5%

The place is awesome. I can't even pretend to be snobbish - it was a great mix of classy and relaxed. The food was also ridiculously good. I had stout braised short ribs that literally fell apart and melted in my mouth. Oh god so good. I also had their tiramisu, which was less impressive, but still very tasty.

Mostly though, I was excited to try some beer. I had noticed that they had Evolution's Lucky 7 Porter on tap. I'd been dying to try this for a while, and had even contemplated getting some for the horse racing party, but realized that porter and hot spring days don't mix for most people.

It was delicious, but a little disappointing towards the end. The beer started out as everything I'd ever loved about porters - full flavors of roasted malts, some nice coffee notes, and a little chocolate too, not too bitter and pleasantly light. Mmmm porters. The problem though came after a little while of sipping - maybe it was my excessive hunger, but the beer started to just have a sickly sweet aftertaste. It was just upsetting at the end of a dark, roasty beer to suddenly taste brown sugar everywhere. I feel like I owe this beer another try though, because I've heard so many good things.

What's better than Porter? More Porter! And luckily for me, I'd chosen a hell of a porter to follow up Lucky 7. I got my hands on a probably too expensive but oh so worth it bottle of Rogue's Double Mocha Porter. The taste is boozy, but oh so much coffee/chocolate mix, and roasted malts. I realize that this is how I describe every porter, but c'mon. Until someone does something crazy with the style, that is how you make a delicious porter. This one packs a ridiculous punch of espresso and dark chocolate, satisfying the biggest fan of coffee beer.

And I thought I was done until after finals. I'd had a good week of delicious beers, and was ready to relax until the end of finals. Oh, but I was wrong. I went home for mothers day, with ChefSister and DudeBrah, as well as the rest of the family. What I didn't expect was to be sent out to get beer. Oh, and beer I got.

Started out with a 6 pack of Allagash white, which was absolutely delicious. Allagash white might be my favorite wheat beer, always ridiculously refreshing and surprisingly flavorful. Oh, but that wasn't the end.

No, I was asked to get an oatmeal stout. Oh darn, right? And what did I find there, but a beer I'd been searching for - Rogue's Shakespeare Stout. I know I promised to avoid stouts, but what can I do? It pours a gorgeous black with a cocoa colored head. It's sweet oats and milk chocolate all the way through for this one.

And finally, just when I thought I was done, DudeBrah pulled out the Fordham Scotch Ale, with which to marinate the brats (which was amazing, by the way). I'd had my eye on Fordham's scotch ale for a while, as a big fan of scotch ales. It pours a nice copper brown, and smells all manner of smoke. The taste is standard scotch ale, peat moss, smoke, and some sweet fruits. Really a great example of scotch ales, if not too exciting - think of it as a good mid point.

Finally, last but far from least, I saved a real mad man for my last finals beer. I received from a friend at law school a bottle of Samichlaus. For those who don't know, it's a famous Barleywine that is barrel aged and bottle aged, and is basically a wine among beers.

it pours a gorgeous cherry wood red, with little to no head. The first smell is all alcohol and a cloyingly sweet note of candied sugar and licorice. The taste follows up with a sharp shock of alcohol that warms nicely and tastes of cherries and raisins, and maybe some plum. Not even a hint of hops to be found, but the abundant malts more than make up for it, with a surprisingly sweet (molasses? syrup?) aftertaste despite the booziness.

The beer is a little overpowering at first, but as it warms it settles into a delicious desert of a beer. Not that I've tried it before, but I'd put this up against Port any day of the week for a nice after dinner drink. One is enough though - and then some. At 14% abv, you'll want to sip this one nice and slow.

So yeah. My alcohol infused, ridiculous finals week and a half. Yikes. Glad to be done, sad to see those delicious beers disappear. Until next time!

Oh god stouts

So Young's double chocolate stout was excellent and wonderful, but might've been improved by the cigar I was smoking. At the very least the flavor interaction was wonderful. The beer was basically liquid chocolate, with alcohol. So wonderful.

Siren Noire was more complex, and I wish I'd been focusing on it. Dark chocolate, pleasantly bitter, a thin-ish mouthfeel. Also some burnt wood, and a hint of sweet fruits.

why am I not being all descriptive and including this in a narrative? it is finals and I am both busy and exhausted and sick and none of these conditions will feasibly disappear any time soon.

Really, I blame joining a study group. I'd have sooooo much free time if I wasn't trying to improve my grades by seeing what studying with others has to offer. Laaaame I know, but I actually like law school.

Why am I still drinking an assload of stouts? Because they are inexpensive, reliably wonderful, and these are two I've been dying to try. So sue me. Not stout next time, I promise! I have a porter, an imperial brown ale, and a barleywine. Hoooray beer!

NFL and Beer

Ahhhhh, one of my favorite times of the year. As an avid NFL fan, the draft is one of the best events. It's full of the unpredictability we know and love, as well as so many hopes for next season with new talent. Also, the chance to make fun of stupid coaches making dumb picks.

Obviously such an event deserves good beer and good food. Hold you horses though, we'll get there.

Earlier in the day, I went to Pratt Street Ale House, dying to try a concoction I've mentioned here before. It's half oatmeal stout, half cherry wheat ale. The result was a surprisingly delicious black and tan that tasted just like it's moniker: a chocolate covered cherry.

The beer looks awesome, with dark stout atop rich red-amber beer. The first sip is all chocolate and oats, but soon is filled with subtle flavors of sour cherry. Man this was a sippable beer, every sip producing a different flavor combination. Definitely loved it, would highly recommend it.

This wasn't the end though. I cracked open a bottle I've been holding for a while in anticipation - Rogue's Black Lager. Part of some new agricultural endeavor by Rogue, the beer pours black with a very cool dark brown head that looks like fresh cocoa. The first sip is all those flavors I've come to know and love - roasted malts, dark chocolate. The best part though is that crisp lager finish and light mouthfeel. A great exemplar of black lagers without being too adventurous, and definitely worth a try for any stout fans out there.

I actually only had half the bomber though, because the other half went to making more beer bread. Mmmmm, beer bread. This loaf ended up cocoa brown (shocker :-P), and was delicious like the last one - crusty on the outside, spongy and soft on the inside. Sadly though, the cocoa flavor was a little overwhelming and ended up tasting like it should've been part of desert rather than dinner. Tasty, but perhaps a little misplaced.

To be fair, it was also being used to dip into my latest creation. I decided that for this most high of NFL holidays, I'd try my hand at an old favorite, buffalo chicken dip. It's all the best part about buffalo wings - chicken, cheese, and hot sauce, without any of the bones or fat.

The recipe is pretty simple - although I probably could've used some shredded cheese and a little less chicken. The basics are take about a pound or so of chicken, cook it, cut it up, and toss it in with a package of cream cheese (1 8 oz. package), half a cup of hot sauce, half a cup of salad dressing (ranch or blue cheese), and half a cup of shredded cheese.

Tragically, I had no shredded cheese, and ended up cutting up string cheese. Don't mock me, I'm poor! Also, I ended up super rushed, and rather than baking the chicken (as I've been told is ideal), I tossed the chicken into a pot full of water, and luckily it came out fully cooked. Hooray for boiling! All in all, the dip was pretty successful, and actually a pretty big hit. Of course, it's hard to go wrong with cheese, meat, and hot sauce, so it wasn't a huge surprise.

That's all for now - hopefully your weeks are full of good beer. Until next time, Cheers!

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 (6 of 6)

So, here it is. The end of an era. A very, very short, and mostly delicious era. I am, as I write this, finishing the last of the Sam Adams mix pack. And I may have saved the best for last.

Sam Adams cream stout is a darn tasty beer. One of the earlier stouts I tried, I'd like to think it was pretty formative. It pour a rich dark brown, with a light brown head. The smell is all roasted malts. The first sip is tastes of roasted malts, with a nice creamy undertone. There's also some hints of milk chocolate, as well as a smoky flavor. The beer is pleasantly thick - not heavy, but full and delicious.

I really appreciate this beer for being exceptionally drinkable. This is a stout I could pretty much drink all day, summer or winter. The light creaminess perfectly balances against the thick maltiness. Mmmmm cream stout.

However, this wasn't the end of my alcohol related escapades for the day. Oh no.

I also went to Pratt Street Ale House, to try their new offering, the Cherry Blossom Ale. I know that this sounds like a fruity girly drink, but I was actually pretty darn impressed. I'm not a huge fan of wheat beers, but this was a delicious beer.

It pours a nice red amber, with a pinkish head. The first smell is cherries, shockingly. The taste though, was a sucker punch. Sour cherries, a nice subtle undertone of wheat, and a very nice light hoppy finish. This beer tastes like spring should in my opinion - light, tart, a little sweet, and herbal at the finish. I could've had a few pints, but sadly I couldn't stay.

I've also heard that it goes ridiculously well mixed with their Bishop's breakfast, their oatmeal stout, for something of a chocolate cherry. On the list to try next week.

Now, I had planned to finish the evening with a brand new beer, but the evening was a little too rushed. I went out to Cazbar on Charles Street with some friends, and just got back too late to really sip and enjoy. To be fair, it was worth it - Cazbar is ridiculously delicious, and makes me crave more pretty much every time I think about it. I can't even intelligibly describe the food, other than to say it was amazing and fantastic.

However, this didn't temper my enthusiasm. I'd been dying to try this beer, and come hell or high water, I would. So, the following afternoon I cracked open my bottle of Stillwater Artisanal Ale's Stateside Saison. Stillwater is a new Maryland brewer, and I've been dying to try them ever since I saw the first rave reviews of their offerings.

Their saison does not fail to impress. It pours a nice golden yellow, with a brilliant white head. The smell is all fruity esters. The first taste is that trademark belgian spice/yeast flavor, with a very nice, very subtle hop finish. The flavors are herbal and woody/grains, with hints of orange or coriander and lemon as well. This is dangerously drinkable, and I finished the whole darn bottle before I realized it. And of course, now I want more.

Man, I need to not cluster my beer into so few days. Ideally I'd spread these out more, but I somehow just always wait on beer til the end of the week to really enjoy it, along with my freedom from school.

Mmmmm beer. Until next time!

-The Unabashaed Ungourmet

Series of Sam (5 of 6)

So, this week was a little less awesome than most weeks. I decided to try two different beers, one which sounded interesting, and one which I had tried before, hadn't loved, but was willing to try again.

The first beer, Black Eye Ale, is a mix of Mendocino's stout and golden ale. The beer store clerk had a decent opinion of it, but online reveiws were not so favorable. I went into this one with mixed expectations, and was sad to find out that the online crowd seemed to have it right.

Unlike a good black and tan which is all the roasted flavor of a stout or porter and all the smoothness and lightness of an ale, it was kind of heavy, with weak tastes of chocolate and wheaty flavor. Really, it's not an impossible standard either, holding it up against Yuengling's black and tan. Really, even a home made black and tan of guiness and harp was better than this. It just tasted mixed and confused, with none of the excellent parts of either. Sad. Still, at 4 bucks for a bomber, I guess I got what I paid for.

The next beer was Sam Adams new spring beer, their Nobel Pils. Now, I admit to a bit of a grudge, as I was a huge fan of their old spring seasonal, the white ale. Also, i tried this beer before, and was pretty roundly unimpressed. However, I promised to try everything in that mix pack, and this wouldn't be any different.

The beer pours a light golden with a nice small head. The smell is all hops. Sadly, the taste was all hops too. Now, this shouldn't be a surprise. The beer actively describes itself as having all five "noble hops", whatever that may mean. But really, what with me still not being a huge fan of hops, I was frustrated by the lack of other flavors. I feel like it's also a characteristic of Pilsners to be kind of boring. I might be trying to the wrong pilsners though.

It was an earthy, herbal kind of taste, but only in the sense that it tasted like hops, rounded out by a hop bitterness. With nothing to balance out the hops, I feel like this beer isn't bad for hop lover who want a beer to sip, but otherwise steer clear.

Really though, it's just my comeuppance for having so much excellent beer all the damn time. Eventually you have a bad week. Did I mention last week at the bar watching the UFC fight I got to have Resurrection on tap? I really can't complain too much. Until next time!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet