Alaskan IPA

I got a pleasant surprise last Friday when I came home from work. Back when I was researching my Alaskan Smoked Porter entry, I called up the brewery and talked with some people who worked there. Not to brag, but they were so impressed with the research I was doing and the amount of effort I put into the entry that they felt that I deserved some sort of prize. I was taken aback, not really expecting anything except information and a "Thanks for your interest," what I usually get from most breweries (if they respond at all). It arrived, overnighted from Juneau to Reno, on Friday. Here were the contents:

• An Alaskan IPA hat
• A portfolio filled with reprinted articles and information on every single beer they made
• A thank-you note
• A book, Smoked Beers, that was signed by co-owner Geoff Larson (the co-author of the book)
• Three bottles of Alaskan IPA

I was taken aback again. Alaskan was so kind to provide me information and send me this nice stuff. They clearly didn't have to. Alaskan therefore gets my approval as the coolest brewery I've ever spoken to. They were friendly and laid-back enough to deal with the sometimes-invasive questions from a little blogger from Reno about their beer, and they spoke to me with class and respect. That's enough to get in my good books forever, but the swag didn't hurt either. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

So, naturally, the IPA I received from them is the beer I tried. I would like to let you know, however, that the fact that I received swag will not influence my review in any way, shape, or form. I don't know when this beer was first brewed, but, like all their beers, the water comes from the Juneau Ice Field and rain, which Juneau receives 90 inches of annually. (Alaskan IPA homepage)

Here are the stats:

Alaskan IPA
BREWERY: Alaskan Brewing Company, Juneau, Alaska, USA
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING: 210 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS: 55 IBU
ABV: 6.2%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 13.97° Plato (1057)
MALTS: "two-row and specialty"
HOPS: "European and Pacific Northwest"
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: "grilled prawns, spicy food and as an aperitif"
AWARDS:

The IBUs, ABV, original gravity, malts, hops, and foods to pair with came from the Alaskan IPA homepage, and the caloric information came from a document I received from Alaskan via e-mail. I hope to get other information soon from another e-mail/phone call.

Now, my first impression of this beer is: "HOPS!" That assessment came from the smell, with the aroma almost being pure hoppiness, and a STRONG hoppiness at that. The beer was an amber color with a half-bubbly, half-foamy head that was emitting the intense hoppy scent. But I was pleasantly surprised by its taste. While there was a lot of hoppiness to it, it wasn't bitter, and in fact, transitioned to a nice buttery beer taste. The only thing I didn't like about the beer was its stale hoppy aftertaste, which seemed to grow with the beer, but eventually faded away.

When I spoke to Alaskan, they told me that this IPA was for people who don't like traditional IPAs, and I have to say that they're right. Most of the hoppiness is in the aroma, but it still has some hoppy taste to it. Not bad, in my opinion. I still have two more bottles to enjoy, and believe me, I will. You will too if you don't like your overly hopped-up IPA.

Prost!

Black Sheep Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale

The end is here! We have reached the top of the countdown!

The number 1 beer on the "Clean Out the Fridge Countdown" is a beer that honors the great pioneers of wacky British comedy, Monty Python. It's...Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale! The bottles claims that it was "tempered over burning witches," but in actuality, it is brewed by Britain's Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire. The history of the brewery isn't very long; it's only been around since 1992, started in Masham by Paul Theakston. However, his family has been brewing in Masham for six generations until the family brewery was bought out by Newcastle in 1987 after an arduous seventeen-year battle. Determined to continue brewing in Masham, Theakston built a new brewery and has brewed several different ales, including Holy Grail. That beer was released in 1999 in recognition of the 30 year anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus. And yes, according to The Foot crushing the Black Sheep logo on the bottle, it's official. (Black Sheep History, Eurobrew's Holy Grail page (US Importer))


Here are the stats:

Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale
BREWERY: Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire, England
FIRST BREWED: 1999
CALORIES/SERVING: per 500 mL bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.7%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

I got the first brewed and ABV info from the beer's website on Eurobrew (you can also get the ABV from Black Sheep's own website).

This beer has a very alcoholy aroma to it when I poured it, but it wasn't strong enough to be smelled from a short distance. It poured a rich clear amber color with a white foamy head. When I tasted it, it definitely had a very hoppy flavor with strong hints of the underlying alcohol and rich grains. In spite of its hoppiness, it finished relatively cleanly, not leaving that much of an aftertaste in my mouth. It tasted like it had more alcohol in it than was shown on the websites.

It's a pretty decent ale with a good flavor and finish. Do yourself a favor and silly walk over to your nearest pub/liquor store and try out Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale if you're a Python fan. You don't even need to fight the Black Knight to get it.

Cheers!

Young's Old Nick Barley Wine

I have always been interested in having my share of barley wines, so I decided to choose one for the number 2 spot on the "Clean Out the Fridge Countdown:" Young's Old Nick Barley Wine. This beer comes from across the pond, which is most apparent in the moniker "Old Nick," what the Brits have nicknamed Satan, The Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, or The Devil. (When I first heard of Old Nick, I thought they meant Santa, but I guess I just needed to rearrange some letters.)

Barley wine (alternately spelled barleywine) is a style of strong ale dating back to 18th or 19th century Britain. It actually originated out of Britain's constant wars against France, where true patriots always drank British ale over French wine. Therefore, to compete with France's high ABV wines, the Brits created a new beer style that had between 10 and 12% ABV. Apparently, the style wasn't called barley wine until 1903, when Bass created the name to describe their No. 1 Ale (I don't know what the style was called before). Since then, the style has become popular worldwide, with many US craft brewers, including Full Sail, Rogue, and Sierra Nevada, brewing their interpretation, usually naming it something beginning with "Old." (CAMRA - Barley Wine, Behemoth Brews: Barley Wine)

Young's was borne out of an inn in Wandsworth, The Ram, that was started in 1533 and added brewing in 1581. It changed hands a couple of times over the next three centuries until it was bought out by Charles Allen Young and Anthony Fothergill in 1831, establishing the Young's brand at The Ram and 80 other taverns. The Ram (a Dorset horned ram, to be exact) was registered as Young's trademark in 1893. When the brewery celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1981, Queen Elizabeth II showed up for the celebration. In 2006, Young's partnered with fellow brewer Charles Wells to create Wells & Young's Brewing Company Ltd. Under the agreement, The Ram brewery was sold and brewing of Young's was moved out of Wandsworth. (Young's History: 1533-1581, 1582-1831, 1832-1890, 1891-1981, and 2006)


Before we continue, I should note that this beer review may not be that accurate due to the fact that it expired in November 2006. It originally wasn't my beer; it is one of my wife's brother's beers he left over at his parents' house. I acquired it at some point a couple of months ago.



Here are the stats:

Young's Old Nick Barley Wine
BREWERY: Young & Co.'s Brewery PLC, London, England
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING: per 500 mL bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 7.2%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS: Pale, Crystal
HOPS: Fuggle, Goldings
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

This information came from the bottle (ABV) and US importer Belukus Marketing's Young's Old Nick webpage (malts and hops). I may call them for additional info.

This beer poured a dark brown that was translucent if you looked hard enough through the glass (it's hard to tell because it's so dark). The head was an off-white tan-ish color that was foamy and light in appearance. I could detect a faint hint of dark chocolate in the beer's aroma. This trace was a lot more pronounced in the taste, which was a smooth mix of chocolate and alcohol. After a few more sips, a sweetness could be detected. The only problem is that I felt the alcohol was starting to settle, but I don't know if it was because the beer was expired or not. The aftertaste was creamy and not stale at all, even as I drank down to the higher alcohol parts. Like the Alaskan Smoked Porter, I began to feel warm inside while I was drinking this beer, probably because of the high alcohol content.

This is a pretty good beer. Like I said, it may not be a perfect review because of the expiration date, but the fact that it's still drinkable means that it can be kept well past it's Best By date like a fine wine. It has a Hell of a taste.

Cheers!

Site Updates

I received some information from the Widmer and Alaskan breweries yesterday that I had requested. Therefore, three beer reviews have been updated with new information:

• Widmer Snowplow Milk Stout
• Widmer Broken Halo IPA
• Alaskan Smoked Porter 2006
  

Enjoy!

By the way, a new entry will be coming tonight. Tune in to see what #2 in my "Clean Out the Fridge Countdown" is.

Widmer Broken Halo IPA

Happy Silver (25th) Beeriversary to me!

The third-to-last beer in the "Clean Out the Fridge Countdown" is also the 25th beer I've reviewed for this blog, the Widmer Brewery's Broken Halo IPA. While Widmer has released many an IPA in the past, they have usually been as seasonals. Their first one that I know of was Spring Run IPA, which was brewed in the spring months until 2004. After changing their hopping technique and lowering the ABV slightly, an IPA was released as the first of their "W" series of craft beers for the first part of 2005 (the beer itself was called W'05). My guess is that the beer was such a success that it was re-branded as Broken Halo IPA in 2006, complete with a new logo and packaging. (I confirmed that W'05 and Broken Halo are almost identical.) The best part for hop-heads: this Widmer IPA is available year-round.


Here are the stats:

Widmer Broken Halo IPA
BREWERY: Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR, USA
FIRST BREWED: 2005 (as W'05)
CALORIES/SERVING: 190 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS: 45 IBU
ABV: 6.0%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 14.25° Plato (1058.22)
MALTS: Pale, caramel 10L & 20L, carapils
HOPS: Alchemy, cascade, zeus
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 42-46°F (6-8°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: "Spicy hot foods like Mexican, Asian dishes, or hot wings"
AWARDS:

I got all information but the calories, awards, and serving temperature from Widmer's Broken Halo website. The rest came from e-mails to the brewery.

Once again, the aroma hit me like a ton of bricks. This time, it was a hoppy aroma that spilled forth from the beer as I poured it. Seeing as how it's an IPA, that's par for the course. The beer poured a cloudy golden-amber color with a nice foamy white head that took awhile to dissipate. The head itself was very hoppy and tickled my upper lip as I drank the beer. While this beer was hoppy, it didn't really turn me off to it (I'm not usually a fan of IPAs) and was quite drinkable. The only problem with the hoppier beers is that they tend to leave a bit of a dry aftertaste in my mouth, but that's quickly solved by drinking more of the beer.

Overall, I like this IPA, but it may be a little tame for total hop-heads. It's a good beer, but if you want a true hoppy adventure, stick with Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale. For those of us not so IPA-inclined, this one is a good-tasting romp through a hop patch.

Prost, and here's to at least 25 more beers reviewed!

UPDATE: I filled in some of the blanks from an e-mail I received on September 25th, 2007. Thanks so much David! I really appreciate it.

Alaskan Smoked Porter (2006 Vintage)

The fourth-to-last beer in the "Clean Out the Fridge Countdown" is the 2006 vintage of Alaskan Smoked Porter. It is brewed by the Alaskan Brewing Co., which was founded in 1986 in Juneau, Alaska by Geoff and Marcy Larson. They started out brewing their flagship Alaskan Amber beer from a recipe that was popular during Juneau's gold rush days a century earlier. Then, inspired by rumors of gold rush brewers using roasted malts in their brews, they teamed with local Taku Smokeries to roast some malts on some indigenous alder wood in 1988, releasing it Christmas Eve of that year.

Since then, it's been a runaway success, with a new vintage brewed in limited quantity each fall. This beer pretty much introduced smoked beer, known in Germany as rauchbier, to America. It was available only in Alaska until 1997, when it was released to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Northern California (it was brought into Northern Nevada in 2001, hence my pickup in Reno). It even was sold in the UK. The interesting thing about this beer is that the smoke acts as a bottle conditioning agent, which alters the flavor over time like a fine wine. This is similar to Deschutes and Hair of the Dog's bottle conditioning, but Alaskan uses a different catalyst. Because of this, it gains a uniqueness to the flavor that has made it the most award-winning beer at the Great American Beer Festival, which is fitting, considering that the brewery is the most award-winning craft brewery at the GABF. (Alaskan History, Alaskan Smoked Porter Stats and Story, two press releases, and a phone call to the brewery)

There are a lot of interesting facts surrounding this beer that I found out through my correspondence with the brewery. The smoker that they've used for every batch of Smoked Porter since 1988 is now owned by Alaskan so that the brewery can maintain consistent levels of quality. Like Hair of the Dog, Alaskan has a library of all their vintages, used mostly for vertical tastings of two or more vintages. Geoff Larson, co-founder of the brewery, co-wrote a book on smoked beers, appropriately called Smoked Beers: History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes (you can find it at Amazon). Speaking of the Larsons, I hear tell that for vintages of a year or two old, they love serving them over vanilla ice cream with raspberries for dessert. (Note to self: try that out.)


Here are the stats:

Alaskan Smoked Porter
BREWERY: Alaskan Brewing Company, Juneau, Alaska, USA
FIRST BREWED: 1988
CALORIES/SERVING: 225 per 12 oz. serving (or ~413 per 22 oz. bottle)
BITTERNESS: 45 IBU
ABV: 6.5%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 15.8° Plato (1065)
MALTS: "5 types", some of them smoked in small batches (the types are proprietary)
HOPS: "2 varieties" (the varieties are proprietary)
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 54°F (12°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: "Smoked seafood, cheese and other robust foods"
AWARDS: A ton...1991-1995 & 2005 GABF Gold Medal Award Winner, 2007 GABF Silver Medal Award Winner, and 2000 & 2002-2004 GABF Bronze Medal Award Winner (smoked beer category), 2007 GABF Bronze Medal Award Winner (aged beer category - 2004 vintage), 2006 LA County Fair Silver Medal Award Winner (smoked beer category), 2000 & 2007 North American Brewers Association Gold Medal Award Winner and 2001 North American Brewers Association Silver Medal Award Winner and 2004 North American Brewers Association Bronze Medal Award Winner (smoked beer category), 2003 North American Brewers Association Gold Medal Award Winner (flavored herbed spiced beer category), 2000 & 2004 Brewing Industry International Awards Silver Medal Award Winner (international specialty beers 2000, smoked beer category 2004), 2000 World Beer Cup Gold Medal Award Winner and 1996, 1998, & 2002 World Beer Cup Silver Medal Award Winner (smoke flavored beer category), 1999 Great Alaska Winter Brew and Barley Wine Festival People's Choice Award (best winter brew), 2007 European Beer Star Awards Gold Medal Award Winner (smoked beer category), maybe some others

All info but the calories per serving, the serving temperature, and some of the awards came from the Alaskan Smoked Porter website and the Alaskan Smoked Porter story, and the serving temperature came from Beers of the World. Awards came from press releases on their website, found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. (That's a lot of press releases I waded through.) I confirmed during a phone call to Alaskan on September 24th, 2007 that the malts and hops are protected secrets, and the calories per serving came from an e-mail from them the next day.

Like Tuborg Gold, this beer has one powerful aroma; I could smell it back from where I was taking the picture. The nose was a mixture of smoke and chocolate that was pleasing to my nasal passages. When I poured the beer, it poured a dark brown, almost black color with a foamy light chocolate-colored head. The beer's taste was very distinctive, a chocolate-coffee flavor infused with the same smoky flavor that I smelled. The finish left a pleasant taste in my mouth (the aftertaste didn't grow stale), and my throat was warming me up from the inside.

This is a well-crafted beer. At times, I thought the smokiness overpowered the chocolate/coffee flavor a little too much, but that doesn't make it bad. Because of its bottle-conditioning nature, different flavors will emerge over time, so buy a couple of bottles and wait a year between each. It's easy to see why this beer from The Last Frontier has won so many awards. They brew a new vintage every November, so the 2007 should be available in a little over a month.

Prost!

UPDATES: I added some information I picked up from a phone call to the brewery at 4:10 PM PDT on September 24th, 2007. I received additional nutritional and fun factual information from them in an e-mail received the next day. The people I spoke to are very nice for taking the time to talk to a little-known beer blogger out of Reno. Props to Alaskan!

Tuborg Gold Pilsner

Coming in at number 5 on the "Clean Out the Fridge Countdown" is Tuborg Gold pilsner in the golden-brown bottle. I could actually find some information on this beer, because it's a very well-known Danish beer. The Tuborg Brewery was founded in 1873 in Copenhagen, and began brewing its flagship beer, Tuborg Grøn, in 1880. Tuborg names a few of its beers after the color of the label, with Grøn referring to the green label. Other beers named this way include Rod ("red") and Guld ("gold", the beer I'm having).

Tuborg Gold itself was first brewed in 1895 for export (but has since grown popular in Denmark), and is nicknamed "The Golden Lady" after the company made TV commercials for the beer in the late 1950's starring model and actress Anette Strøyberg, a Danish Brigitte Bardot. It is currently available in Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia, Turkey and Nepal, but somehow managed to find its way into my Beers of the World pack. The beer, like the others in the Tuborg line, have been brewed under the Carlsberg family of breweries since the two merged in 1970. (About Tuborg (UK) (requires age verification), Carlsberg's Tuborg Gold Page, Annette Vadim (Anette Strøyberg) IMDB Profile, Carlsberg's History)


Here are the stats:

Tuborg Gold Pilsner
BREWERY: Carlsberg Brewery, Copenhagen, Denmark
FIRST BREWED: 1895
CALORIES/SERVING: per 11.2 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5.8%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS: "Lager"
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 41-46°F (5-8°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Fish dishes, spicy dishes
AWARDS:

I got the first brewed date, ABV, malts, serving temperature, and compatible foods from Carlsberg's Tuborg Gold website.

The first thing I noticed about the beer was its smell. This is a very aromatic beer, and I noticed the grainy smell from a couple feet away as I was taking that picture. The head was a half-foamy, half-bubbly white mixture, and it revealed a slightly cloudy golden-yellow beer in the glass. The taste was a very light grainy flavor with a slight metallic undertone that most pilsners have (I couldn't make out the fruit and nuts Carlsberg says I should be tasting, and I don't know what fennel is). While there wasn't a ton of flavor, the beer was very smooth and not at all acrid, finishing very cleanly and without aftertaste.

Overall, while this beer may not be the most flavorful, it's definitely one of the smoothest beers I've had, making it different from most pilsners. Try one if you're in Denmark (or Nepal, apparently).

Skål!

Whitbread Pale Ale

At number 6 on the "Clean Out the Fridge Countdown" is another beer from the Beers of the World multipack I grabbed from a BevMo! store: Whitbread Pale Ale. Its country of origin is England, so naturally it is an English Pale Ale style. What surprised me about this beer is the lack of information on it. I tried finding a product page about the beer, no luck. I tried searching on InBev's website (InBev brews this beer), no dice. I tried the US importer's website, and it doesn't exist. I couldn't find anything on Sam Adams' website either (they brew the US batch in their Cincinnati brewery). It's as if this beer doesn't really exist.

I do know, however, that Whitbread & Co. Ltd. was established in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread (his signature adorns the label) in swinging London, where and when this beer was first brewed. I also know that Whitbread has since expanded into many different other businesses, including hotels, coffee shops, conferencing centers, and the British TGI Friday's chain. They also brewed such beers as Boddington's and Mackeson Stout. I say "brewed" because Whitbread doesn't do it anymore; they sold their brewing operation to Belgian-owned Interbrew in 2000 for between £400-450 million. That's really all I could find out; if you know more, drop me a line by e-mail. (The bottle, Whitbread's website, BBC page on the Interbrew deal)


Here are the stats:

Whitbread (English) Pale Ale
BREWERY: InBev, Luton, Bedfordshire, England (a UK subsidiary of InBev, Leuven, Belgium)
FIRST BREWED: 1742
CALORIES/SERVING: per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5.7%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS: Styrian Golding
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

The ABV came from the RateBeer website, and the hops and first-brewed date came from the bottle. I may be able to find info from the importers in Cincinnati, as well as ask them why they don't have a website in this day and age.

At first, I thought that the overly-bubbly head was going to dissipate before I could get a good picture, but I was wrong; it stayed there for around a minute and a half, going from carbonated and bubbly to light and foamy, staying its clean-looking off-white color. The beer itself poured a dirty reddish-amber, which was beautiful to look at in the light. The beer's aroma was that of equal parts grain and hop, which lent itself well to the taste, also a grainy-hoppy mixture. It wasn't overly powerful on either end, but still had enough of each to register on the taste buds. The finish was just a little hoppy, but it eventually faded away. Beer shouldn't linger any longer than it has to.

I don't know where you can find it on its own, but if you can, check it out. Honestly, I haven't had a lot of EPAs, so I don't know if there are better or worse ones. But, its taste isn't that bad, so give it a try.

Cheers!

Radeberger Pilsner

The number of beer bottles in my fridge is dwindling, mostly because I want to clean out my fridge of all the beer I received and picked up before the wedding. I'm down to seven beers, and this is number 7: Radeberger Pilsner. I originally picked it up in one of those "beers of the world" multipacks from the BevMo! store in Sacrament three months ago. Since then, it's been relegated to the back of the fridge, waiting for it's day to shine. Well, today's the day, little pilsner.

The Radeberger Brewery started out in 1870 as the Aktienbrauerei Zum Bierkeller in Radeberg, a small town outside of Dresden in the Saxony region of Germany, by Conrad Brüne. In 1872, they became the first brewery in Germany to produce a pilsner, a style born 30 year prior in the town Plzeň in what is now the Czech Republic; in fact, it was the first beer they produced. In 1907, word of the brewery's success reached Saxony's king, King Friedrich August von Sachsen, who requested to visit the brewery. He must have been impressed, because in 1911 Brüne was designated as a Königlichen Kommerzienrat, or a "royal counsellor of commerce" (my 80+ year old German-English dictionary says that it was an honorary title bestowed upon merchants). The Radeberger Gruppe now owns many German breweries and brews many beers, including Clausthaler (non-alcoholic) and the aforementioned Henninger beers. It even controls a Czech brewery, the Královský Pivovar Krušovice (the Royal Brewery of Krušovice). (Radeberger Brewery Information (in German), Radeberger Gruppe AG Information, Geneaology of the Junod de Neuchâtel, German Beer Institute: Pils)

As a side note, if I were the President of the United States, I would visit breweries on a goodwill tour of our nation's brewing tradition. Microbreweries only, no big three macros. I would give brewers I particularly enjoyed some sort of Presidential commendation. And I would denounce any temperance/prohibition movements publicly.


Mini-rant over, here are the facts:

Radeberger Pilsner
BREWERY: Radeberger Exportbierbrauerei GmbH, Radeberger, Germany
FIRST BREWED: 1872
CALORIES/SERVING: per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.8%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 11.8° Plato (1047.74)
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 46-47°F (8°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

The first brewed, ABV, original gravity, and serving temperature came from the Radeberger Pilsner website. I may contact the importer for more.

Once I poured the beer into the glass, the head seemed to explode skyward, with lots of foamy white bubbles filling up the entire space inside the glass. Once the bubbles reduced significantly, a cloudy golden beer was revealed. The aroma that emanated from the thick head that remained was grainy with a hint of metal. That metallic hint carried over into the beer, but it was largely muted by the hoppiness of the beer, making it a fair shake better than most pilsners. It's finish left a slight aftertaste, mostly grainy in nature.

Like I said, it tastes better than most pilsners that I've had, so if that's your style, try the one endorsed by a former King of Saxony.

Prost!

SITE UPDATE: I've updated the Deschutes Black Butte Porter page with additional info I received after placing a phone call to the brewery today. I'd like to thank Jimmy Seifrit, a brewer at Deschutes, for taking the time to answer questions from a tiny little blogger from Reno. Check it out!

Henninger Premium Frankfurt Beer Lager

I needed to drown my sorrows after a heartbreaking loss by my beloved Seahawks to the Arizona Cardinals. Long story short, Matt Hasselbeck fumbled on a hand-off during a 20-20 tie with less than two minutes to go. If there was no fumble, the 'hawks would've probably been within field goal ranger, possibly even in touchdown range. But as it turned out, Arizona was the team that got within field goal range with 0:05 left on the clock and ended up winning the game 23-20. I needed a beer.

So I reached in my fridge and grabbed the first beer I could: a Henninger Premium Frankfurt Beer, a German lager in a spoilage-inducing green glass bottle. I actually couldn't find any information on the beer itself, especially on Henninger's web site. It may be known by a different name over there, I'm not sure. Just like the beer's name states, the brewery is based in Frankfurt. According to the (poorly) translated company history, the brewery traces its roots back to when Eberhard Stein opened his brewery in 1655 Frankfurt, which was the "germ cell of the mark Henninger." After the death of Eberhard's last descendant, Johannes Stein, in 1873, Heinrich Christian Henninger took over the brewery and named it after himself. In 2002, the Henninger brewery was brought under the Binding umbrella, the same company that brews Radeberger Pilsner (what I will be having Wednesday). Like many German breweries, Henninger follows the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Purity Law, that only states water, barley, and hops can be used in brewing beer. (Company history in German or English Google Translation)


Here are the (limited) stats:

Henninger Premium Frankfurt Lager
BREWERY: Henninger-Bräu, Frankfurt, Germany
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING: per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.8%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

Like a golden Guinness, this beer had a fantastic head, clean, white and long-lasting, retaining its shape for a full minute. The beer itself was a clear straw color. Its aroma had the odor of wheat and other grains. It's taste, while having an initial carbonated bite, was very light and not really there at all. As a matter of fact, it was kind of blah. It did have some beer taste, but it wasted away in my mouth. However, it also didn't leave much of an aftertaste. Unfortunately, as I drank the beer, one started accumulating in my mouth, but then again, that's what a lot of beers do.

In conclusion, it's not a great beer, but it's a decent lager. Don't get it for the taste, but get it if you want something other than the Big Three at a bar.

Prost!

Guinness Extra Stout

When some of my friends were in town for my wedding (specifically, they were all here as a part of the wedding party), we hit up the local beer store to grab some special brews to enjoy over classic comedies like Old School and, of course, Wedding Crashers. One that we picked up at Booze Brothers was Guinness Extra Stout. Having had Guinness Draught in various forms (never at a pub though...I'm saving that for Ireland), and knowing that the upcoming honeymoon may allow me to pick up the foreign version of this beer in Jamaica, I picked up the domestic (but still imported) version to try and compare. It's been sitting in my fridge for almost two months now, and since I tried Guinness Foreign Extra Stout already, it's time to taste the version we get stateside.

Guinness Extra Stout (or something thereabouts) was first brewed in 1759 at St. James' Gate in Dublin as Guinness East and West India porter by Arthur Guinness. While it is not the exact beer now as it was then, it is the direct ancestor. It became reformulated as Guinness Extra Superior Porter in 1821. There are a couple of interesting notes about this beer, particularly the name change between Britain and the United States; across the pond, it's known as Guinness Original, a more direct link to the East and West India porter of the 18th century. It's also not as strong over there, weighing in at only 4.2% ABV; according to the website, it's 5% ABV over here, though. Wikipedia (always a "trustworthy" source...) lists 4.8% ABV for Namibia and South Africa and 6% for Australia and Japan (it also says the US gets 6% too). What contradicts that last parenthesized statement is that Canada brews all the Guinness Extra Stout sold in the states; it says "Product of Canada" on the bottle (Canada being the home of 5% Guinness). (US website (requires birthday and USA for location), England website (requires birthday and England for location), Wikipedia entry)


Here are the stats:

Guinness Extra Stout
BREWERY: Guinness Ltd., Dublin, Ireland
FIRST BREWED: 1759
CALORIES/SERVING: per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5% (though I've seen other sources say up to 8%)
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 54°F (12°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Oysters (I'll take their word for it)
AWARDS:

As with other Guinness entries, the beer is an opaque black color that seems to absorb all light that attempts to pass near it. It also gives off a coffee-colored head when poured, once again taking up the whole glass with bubbles moving downward, retaining a puffiness once it had compressed. (I did not attempt to pour the perfect pint, or in this case 12 oz.) The aroma that spilled forth from the beer was that of blackened dark chocolate. Its taste was stronger than that of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, with more hoppiness, I feel, and it tasted like black coffee. While it tasted alright, the taste quickly transitioned to a funky aftertaste.

However, lots of beers have funky aftertastes, and if you want a great stout, than Guinness Extra Stout is a good one to order. Pick one up at your local beer store.

Sláinte!

Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Did you ever have one of those days where everything went wrong? I did today. It just seemed like no matter what I did, the computer code I was working with just wouldn't work properly. I won't bore you with the details, but it drove me mad. That's why at the end of the day I was looking forward to the next beer I could review. For this one, I selected a beer from my home state (and there are plenty to choose from): the Deschutes Brewery's Black Butte Porter.

The Deschutes Brewery was founded in 1988 in Bend, Oregon (in the middle of the high desert) by Gary Fish (who is still the president). It started off as a small brewpub in Bend, a city along the Deschutes River, for which the brewery is named (des chutes is French for "the rapids"). At that point, it started by brewing three beers, Black Butte Porter, Bachelor Bitter and Cascade Golden Ale. The Black Butte Porter is named in tribute to Black Butte, an extinct volcanic cinder code located near Sisters, Oregon (NW of Bend). A planned resort community nearby is also named Black Butte due to its view of the mountain. Other information about the brewery is that it is completely vegan (their clarifying agent is an algae called Irish Moss) and that they moved into their current brewing facility in 1993. They also brew tons of specialty beers, some of which appear to only be available at their brewpub or thereabouts (they may serve them at their forthcoming Portland brewpub, due to open April 2008). Finally, they use a process called Kräusening (don't ask me how to pronounce it) where actively fermenting beer, yeast, or wort is added. Hair of the Dog also does this, but they call it "bottle conditioning" (see my review of Ruth). (Deschutes Brewery information and FAQ, plus info on the bottle itself)


Here are the stats:

Deschutes Black Butte Porter
BREWERY: Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Oregon USA
FIRST BREWED: 1988
CALORIES/SERVING: 192 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS: 30 IBUs
ABV: 5.2%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 13.735° Plato (1056)
MALTS: Chocolate, wheat, and mid-level caramel
HOPS: Cascade, galena, tettnanger (not "tettenanger")
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 44°F (6-7°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Beef with heavy sauces, steak, ribs, BBQ, chicken (basically any meat you can grill)
AWARDS: A ton...1996 GABF Gold Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 1998 GABF Bronze Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 1998 World Beer Cup Silver Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 1999 North American Beer Awards Gold Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 2000 North American Beer Awards Gold Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 2001 Real Ale Festival Gold Medal Award Winner (Bottled American brown ales and porters category), 2002 Brewing Industry International Awards Silver Medal Award Winner (Dark milds, stouts and porters class 3), 2002 GABF Bronze Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 2002 North American Beer Awards Gold Medal Award Winner (Porter category), 2003 20th Annual International Beer Festival (Best porter, people's choice), 2003 North American Beer Awards Gold Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 2003 Real Ale Festival, Individual Category Awards Silver Medal Award Winner (American dark ales category), 2004 Australian International Beer Awards Gold Medal Award Winner (Porter category), 2004 North American Beer Awards Bronze Medal Award Winner (Brown porter category), 2005 European Beer Star Gold Award (Porter category), 2005 World Beer Championships Silver Medal Award Winner, 2006 Australian International Beer Awards Silver Medal Award Winner (Porter category), 2007 Australian International Beer Awards Gold Medal Award Winner (Porter category)

(whew!)

The calories, first brewed, bitterness, ABV, and awards information came from the Black Butte Porter website. The rest came from a phone call I placed to the brewery on September 19th, 2007. Special thanks to Jimmy Seifrit of the Deschutes Brewery for answering my questions!

This is a very dark opaque beer, with a rich dark brown color, almost black; the accompanying head was a light coffee color and refused to go down, its puffiness lasting for upwards of 5 minutes as I enjoyed the beer. Its aroma was of a sweet dark chocolate type that was pleasant to my nose. The taste also had this dark chocolate flavor with some coffee undertones combined with a slight bitterness, which pleased my tastebuds enormously. The aftertaste finished almost clean, with just a slight hoppy aftertaste. I can handle slight hoppiness in my taste, but not my aftertaste.

Overall, this is a great beer, and it's plain to see why Deschutes stands by this brew. It's coming up on its 20th anniversary next year, and who knows what this brewery will do to celebrate. I only wish I could be there.

Prost!

Okocim O.K. Pilsner

Back in my review of Żywiec Full Light Pilsner, I mentioned that my Polish co-worker had purchased me another Polish beer for me to review for this blog. Well, she brought it in a couple days later, but I had other beers to review and other things to get ready for (like a wedding), so naturally, it started gathering ice in the back of my fridge. Well, I finally rediscovered it there and decided to review it. The name is Okocim O.K. Pilsner, a very amusing name.

Okocim O.K. Pilsner (pronounced OH-ko-cheem) is brewed by the Okocim Brewery of Poland. The brewery itself was established in 1845 (the year in the shield on the O.K.'s bottle) by Johann Evangelist Götz, but was expanded under the ownership of his son, Jan Albin. Under Polish communist rule, the brewery was nationalized in 1945, but re-privatized after the collapse of the Iron Curtain. In 1996, the brewery was absorbed into the Carlsberg family of breweries. It now produces several beers in addition to the O.K., including a porter, a malt liquor, and a couple non-alcoholic beers. According to a sales sheet from the importer, Stawski Distributing in Chicago, this beer helped define the "Polish pils style," which sets it apart from other pilsners. On the label (which hasn't been changed in almost 40 years), the beer is listed as a "full pale." I still don't know what the significance of the goat in the shield and the woman on the label signify; I suppose that's a question for the importer. (Brewery history in Polish, plus beer information in English)


Here are the stats (which aren't much at this point):

Okocim O.K. Pilsner
BREWERY: Okocim Brewery, Brzesko, Poland
FIRST BREWED:
CALORIES/SERVING: per 16.9 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5.6%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS: World Beer Championships Silver Medal Award Winner

The brewery and ABV information came from the bottle, and the awards info came from the aforementioned sales sheet. I plan to call the importer to get some more information. Hopefully they'll know some more.

The beer poured very smoothly into the glass, giving off the aroma of wheat and grain. It was a rich dark amber color with a nice white head that was mostly bubbles, but it lasted for about a minute, taking its own sweet time to fade away. Taste-wise, the beer had a little bit of a bite to it, but it transitioned into a smooth grainy taste. Unlike every other pils I've had, this one didn't taste like a penny had been dropped into the bottle, a major plus in my book. The aftertaste originally finished clean, but as I started drinking it, I started to develop a residual taste in my mouth that reminded me of when I drink IPAs.

Overall, a decent beer. Those Poles sure know how to brew. I'm looking forward to trying the Okocim Palone, complete with fire-burned malts. Mmm.

Na zdrowie !

Miller Chill Chelada

The first time I saw this beer was at the 2007 Great El Dorado BBQ, Brews, and Blues Festival in town a couple months ago. Miller Brewing had set up a tent that was promoting the crap out of this beer, offering free samples and various goodies for trying the beer (in a skunky beer-inducing green bottle!). I passed, not wanting to waste my tokens on beers I can get in the store everyday. Then, I recently got into a habit of wanting to review Latin-inspired beers (hence the Corona entry a couple days ago), and I wanted Miller Chill to be a part of the lineup.

The only problem was that I couldn't purchase a single bottle of the stuff. I went to five different stores in search of the single bottle. Wal-Mart had 6-pack bottles I could buy, but they wouldn't sell me one individually. (The moral: Never buy beer at Wal-Mart). The Albertsons nearby didn't even sell the brand. The Safeway nearby sold 12-pack bottles, but I didn't want to pry open the cardboard box just for one bottle. The convenience store near my house didn't sell the brand either. Finally, I ran into a Scolari's up the road from where I live, and I finally found a 6-pack they'd let me grab a single bottle from! They even said that it was their policy to allow single bottles to be sold just because other companies don't. Go to Scolari's instead to buy your beer. They usually have a good selection anyway.

The interesting thing about this beer is that it's a "new" style to America, called Chelada. It's a style of Mexican origin in the 1950's, the name being a combination of chela (slang for "beer") and helada ("iced"). It was beer served over ice with a squirt of lime in a salt-rimmed glass, the ice being integral to maximizing profits. A variation called michelada is served with tabasco and Worcestershire sauces in addition to the ingredients above. (Budweiser is currently testing a version of their Bud and Bud Light beers mixed with Clamato, lime, and salt, possibly in response to Chill; I found it at a local Hispanic store and will review it soon.) Miller decided to try an approximation of the original chelada by adding a dash of lime and salt to the beer itself and test-marketing it as Chill in several markets earlier this year. According to Miller's blog, it was so popular in those markets that they immediately took it nationally during the Summer 2007. As such, it may not be available everywhere nationally just yet. I know that it's not available in Canada yet either.


Here are the stats:

Miller Chill Chelada
BREWERY: Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI, USA
FIRST BREWED: 2007
CALORIES/SERVING: 110 per 12 oz. bottles
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.2%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

I got this information from the Miller Chill website (age check required). More may come from a phone call (there goes my lunch break tomorrow).

The first thing I noticed about the beer was its head, which was large and fluffy white in color atop the faint golden beer. Like the Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, the bubbles moved downward, which I thought was strange, but may not be as strange as I thought. The head also took a long time to dissipate. The smell reminded me of stale hops, not the fresh taste I normally encounter with beers. The taste, however, is its selling point; in spite of the fact that it is a light beer, it actually has some flavor to it. I could taste both the lime and salt mixed in with the beer (the salt was the harder to find), but it took getting past the over-carbonation to find them. The aftertaste was bad, bringing back the "stale hops" taste from the odor. But it didn't last, gradually fading away.

All in all, not a beer I'd drink on a regular basis, but kudos to Miller for actually developing a light beer that has a taste. If you really want to drink light mass-produced beer but want the taste (or if you're living in 2003 and still watching your carbs), drink this macrobrew.

Prost!

Corona Extra

Today, my wife and I had her parents over to our place for tacos and other stereotypical Mexican foods tonight, and, inspired by the delicious meal, I thought that I should follow it up with a stereotypical Mexican beer. Then I realized that I never had the quintessential Mexican beer, Corona Extra, before. So many Cinco de Mayo's have gone by, but I never picked up Corona...mostly because they were sold out, surprisingly. However, this time I happened to have a bottle left over from some party. So I ran to the store, picked up a lime, and prepared myself for a south of the border experience.

Corona Extra was first brewed in 1925 by Cerveceria Modelo of Mexico City, the same brewery that makes Negro Modelo and other beers well-known to Mexican restaurants. It is the number 1 selling beer in Mexico and the leading export brand from Mexico, and has enjoyed enormous success in el norte in the 1980's. It is now sold in 150 countries worldwide, including Iraq. Stateside, it's sold in traditional 12 oz. clear glass bottles (which induces spoilage) and smaller bottles, which are labelled Coronita. Incidentally, regular-sized Coronas in Spain are also called Coronita, but it's because the Spanish crown has a trademark on the word corona "crown." Their label says "La cerveza más fina," which means "The finest beer." The American slogan for the beer is "Miles away from ordinary," while the Spanish American slogan is "Orguillosamente Mexicana," or "Proudly Mexican." (Source, plus personal research)

Additionally, the preferred way to drink this beer stateside is with a wedge of lime stuck in the neck. There have been many theories on the origin of the lime, from keeping flies out of the bottle to cleaning the glass of unsanitary elements around the top of the bottle. All false. The reason has to do with the spoilage-inducing clear glass bottle. The lime is there to mask the flavor of the skunky beer. Interestingly enough, people in Mexico do not usually drink this beer with the lime.


Here are the stats:

Corona Extra
BREWERY: Cerveceria Modelo, Mexico City, Mexico
FIRST BREWED: 1925
CALORIES/SERVING: 148 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.6%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 41-45°F (5-7°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Baked ham and salad
AWARDS:

Most of the information came from the Corona FAQ, and the rest came from Beers of the World.

The clear bottle does not leave this beer's color to the imagination, which is a clear golden hue. The head was a nice bubbly white color that actually took its time going away. I couldn't really smell much of an aroma in the beer until I pressed my nose almost up against the head, which revealed a faint grainy scent. Then I tasted the beer, and there really wasn't much there. It still had more flavor than, say, a Red Stripe Light, and it is the best of all the Latin American lagers I've had before (mostly because most beers taste like Corona knock-offs with some extra metal thrown in). However, that's not saying much. The aftertaste was a little grainy, but the beer was very blah. Even when I added the lime, it tasted like blah beer with lime.

The good news is at 4.6% it'll get you buzzed, but the only sacrifice is taste. While Corona is the gold standard for Latin American lagers, it's not even close to the best beer Mexico has to offer. Get a Negro Modelo the next time you're at the local taqueria. You'll thank me later.

¡Salud!

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

Once again, I have new blog entries on tap (to Adam: pun intended) for you to enjoy, and it's actually one I wrote tonight. After I wrote those two entries on my notebook on vacation, I got so busy with work and wedding wrap-ups (thank you notes suck to write, by the way) that The Beerocrat fell by the wayside for a little bit. But I'm back, and I have lots of beer in my fridge just begging for a drink. I thought I'd start off with a beer that I bought in Jamaica specifically for this blog.

As my wife and I were traveling Jamaica admiring the striking tropical scenery, I was also keeping my eye out for some interesting beers that they don't have in the states. One that I remember from one of my favorite beer books, Beers of the World by David Kenning, was Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, specifically brewed for Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. So naturally, I was on the lookout for this elusive beer. Finally, on our last day there, we stopped to eat at a Red Stripe brewpub in the international terminal of Montego Bay's international airport, I saw a few bottles of it behind the bar. After telling the bartender that I wanted a cold unopened bottle (to which he gave me a quizzical expression), I had a 275 mL bottle in hand ready to import back into the states.

Now you may be wondering, why does the Caribbean (and Africa and Asia) need a foreign extra stout. The answer is borne out of the same dilemma that gave birth to the India Pale Ale. According to Guinness, it is brewed with extra hops so that it can enjoy an increased shelf life in warmer climates, which include the three areas I mentioned. As a consequence, it also gives the beer a unique kick for a stout while still retaining that distinctive Guinness look and taste. It was first brewed in Dublin and first exported in 1802. Since the 1960s, it has been locally brewed in those warmer climates, including Jamaica, and has gone on to be ridiculously popular; 40% of all Guinness worldwide is the Foreign Extra Stout. Unlike bottles of Guinness Draught, it does not have The Widget in the bottle. (Source; you need to enter your birthday and location to enter the site.)


Here are the stats:

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
BREWERY: Guinness Ltd., Dublin, Ireland (mine was brewed locally by Desnoes and Geddes, Kingston, Jamaica)
FIRST BREWED: 1802
CALORIES/SERVING:
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 6.5% (Beers of the World says 7.5%)
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS:
HOPS:
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 64°F (18°C)
FOODS TO PAIR WITH: Sausages and mashed potatoes
AWARDS:

These stats come from a combination of Beers of the World, the Guinness website (link above), and what it says on the bottle. More info may come from a phone call to a Guinness brewery in the states.

As it is a trademark of Guinness beers, the first thing I noticed was the fact that the head took up most of the glass when I first poured it. It was a nice, fluffy, chocolate-tan head where the bubbles were moving downwards...unlike other beers I've had. The foam also had a habit of staying for a really long time; looking at my glass now, I see that the head has finally reformed into those last few delectable drops. The aroma of the beer was a combination of character and a whiff of chocolate that is very pleasing to the nose. The beer itself had Guinness' trademark solid black color and a nice velvety flavor to it with a chocolatey coffee taste that was a little bit more bitter than the usual stout (due to the extra hops added for the climate). The finish was like a liquefied dark chocolate combined with hops and just a touch of sweetness.

In short, I'm glad that this bottle survived the journey from Jamaica back to Reno. I only wish I could pick this up at my local store. Oh well, I have my bottle of regular Guinness Extra Stout waiting for me soon, so I guess I can manage. For now.

Sláinte!