Budweiser American Ale

Since I haven't posted in awhile, here's a bonus post about my thoughts on a beer. No taste test, just thoughts. I refer to the new Budweiser beer I'm sure you've seen advertised all over TV. For years now there has been a slow and steady move toward better tasting beer. The movement is alive. There have been advertisements for the different brews Sam Adams offers, the Guinness "Brilliant" commercials that mysteriously died out and more recently the Michelob variety offering and Budweiser American Ale. The Budweiser American Ale is different than all of these though because it is being pushed by a true giant of the industry. And unlike the Michelob advertisements, they’re heavily marketing this one on its own. When they show the Michelob ones on TV, it is always as a group and they have other commercials not referring to those craft brews. Plus I have never seen those in stores. Mike, the disciple who opened my eyes to wonderful world of beer, said he ran into a variety pack at Sam's and said they were pretty good but they are not easily available to the masses as I have no doubt this new Budweiser beer will be.

My initial thoughts on the beer were I doubt it would be any good but I’m still going to try it. Then I thought I should approach it as I do all beers - with an open mind. However, I think Budweiser might be in a catch-22 with how they’re approaching this beer. In my opinion they are playing with fire because if it’s too strong, which I doubt, people aren’t going to like it and it will fail and fade to black as quickly as it came to Lite (get it). If it's too light then people won’t see the point to it or will simply drink it to be different and it won’t gain a large market (then again, people love Amber Bock and that’s just as flavorless to me however it has a strong market. Maybe the new Bud might succeed for the same reason of people drinking it to be different because I don't know as many hardcore Amber Bock fans as I know Bud or Miller fans). Now if they hit it right, and you know they’ve done thousands upon thousands of taste tests to get it to where they think it should be, then I think it might actually hurt them. If it's decently strong, it might keep people from going back to Bud or Bud Light seeing them as too flavorless. Then those people and others who normally wouldn’t try other beers will think “This is a good beer with more flavor.” Then they might want to see what else is out there and leave the Budweiser brand completely.

Regardless of what happens, I think the winners are us good beer drinkers because if it’s decent tasting, you know it will be carried at all the popular places so it might be a go-to drink if there’s nothing better like Sam or Guinness. If it's wildly successful, it might inspire other large breweries to go that route and try their hand at stronger, more flavorful beers. Again, I doubt there will be much of a dent put into the Budweiser empire as a result of this but it just helps the movement of good beer drinkers. Expect a review of the beer when it hits stores.

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale

Invited my friends over for some drinks and fun on Saturday night for my birthday. Being that we had pretty much stayed out really late the night before and drank a good amount, I didn't expect anyone to be in a huge drinking mood. That didn't matter to me though because as long as the company is good (and whenever my friends are there it always is) I know I'll have a good time. Initially I was right about nobody wanting to drink much, however as the night went on and the spirit became more festive, the beers started going down a little easier for everyone.

So for my birthday drink, I picked a special beer I have had in my fridge for a couple months now - a Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale that Tabi brought me from Austin. It's in a 24 oz. bottle so I knew I would have to wait for a special occasion to bring it out. The label is really interesting, the Southern Hemisphere part of the name comes from the fact that the hops are flown in from New Zealand and mixed with American malts. It sounded very intriguing and I couldn't wait to open the bottle. I decided to pour this into a glass so I could get the full experience of this beer. It poured a hazy reddish-amber color. Sweet, citrus hops dominates the smell upfront. I couldn't make out exactly what citrus I was getting as it was kind of a mix of orange and grapefruit but not quite both. I had to keep smelling it (which I always get flack for) to see if I could make out one or the other but no success. There is also a fairly strong floral, piny aroma in the background accompanied by caramel malts. There is a solid finger and a half of head in this beer which is a pleasant change from the last beer I had in a glass. It doesn't linger long though. Tasting this beer, the first thing I notice is a sharp hop bite. I'm not positive what style this is but it feels like I'm drinking an IPA because of the dominant hops, maybe it's just that New Zealand hops are incredibly strong and badass. The mouthfeel is smooth with just the right amount of carbonation. It goes down very smooth and is even kind of creamy which is rare for this style of beer. Must be high-quality hops to get the oil to give the beer that texture and the taste lingers in the mouth long after the beer is gone. The beer leaves a decent lacing on the sides of the glass but nothing to write home about. The hops continue to get better as the beer warms but a caramel malt flavor begins to emerge in the background as the beer warms. This is definitely a great beer that goes down easy even though there is no lack of flavor whatsoever. I highly recommend it. Great beer for a great day. It made the pale ale's I had after this pale in comparison.

Also, Anabel got me a brewing kit for my birthday! How badass is that?! I am looking into what style to brew first but Casa de Fierrote Brewery is now open. It takes 4-6 weeks to make a beer depending on the style and I have yet to decide what it'll be but expect a review of my first hand-crafted beer within that time frame. I'm leaning towards a nut brown ale but we'll see...