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...

Wachusett IPA

This is my last of the Boston beers Anabel brought me and I have to say, I enjoyed each one of them. If I had started my blog sooner they'd all be on here but I guess that just means I'll have to find a way to get my hands on them again. I had the Wachusett IPA at god's, I mean Travis', little get together party. It was a special occasion so I thought I would bring along a fine drink to enjoy along with the great company. Talk about going to Chico's later made me really look forward to it since I have really been craving it. Made me once again think about what beer would be a great pairing with Chico's. I'm thinking a pale ale or a brown ale to complement the tomato sauce and the hops would go well to wash down and soothe the spicy chili.

Anyway back to the beer: this beer smelled very sweet. A flowery, citrus aroma dominates the smell and I'm really looking forward to the first sip since IPA's are one of my favorite beer styles. Wow, sharp hops dominate this beer, much more bitter than I initially expected from the smell. Great brew, it finishes with a malt crispness that balances the overpowering hops nicely. This beer has a ton of flavor and I could taste the hops long after I was done with it. The beer sweetens softly as it warms bringing a well-balanced, hoppy example of the style. Would definitely have this brew again if I could get my hands on it. Any fan of IPA's should sample this one. This will be the first in a string of IPA reviews to follow because I just noticed I have a few in my fridge unintentionally.

Newcastle Brown Ale

Was out with work friends on a Friday night after our first softball game, which ended in a victory for us (via default!). As everyone pretty much knows, you can't really find great beer at your average bar and since they didn't have Sam Adams I decided to try a Newcastle Brown Ale which I hadn't had in a very long time. I normally wouldn't try a new beer at a bar because the smell doesn't always come through clearly and like I said before, they don't typically have a great selection. When I took a big sniff of this beer I was surprised that I got a very doughy, yeasty smell. The aroma was actually a pleasant surprise and made me think this beer might be on to something. The taste is nothing like the smell, there's a light malty flavor that settles right in the middle of the tongue, not very much hop flavor at all. There is not much depth here at all and being a big fan a brown ales, this is probably the worst I've had. No surprise since it is a mass market brown ale. This is definitely miles ahead of your typical carbonated water flavored, piss-looking macro lager but it is nowhere near what a good brown ale should be. I guess it's a decent choice when there's nothing better available but I would still take a Sam or Guinness ahead of this.

Anchor Steam

I know I said I'd update frequently but I got lazy. Great start huh. I've already got a backlog of 3 beers I tried so let's get right to it. Not all the beers I review here will be something I've never had before. It'll probably be a mix of both and Anchor Steam is a solid beer I hadn't had in awhile and decided to pickup a bottle last time I was at Buddy's. It was a Thursday night and I was watching the Olympics on TV and decided to grab myself a brew.

I poured it into a glass and it poured a reddish-copper color, looked tasty. I was kind of disappointed because there was no lacing on the glass and that's something I like to see in a beer. Might've been because it wasn't too fresh. I really need to stop sitting on my beers as long as I do but I like to take my time with them and not try too many new ones at a time. On the first sip, I got a sharp hop taste with a nice malty undertone and it continued until the glass warmed slightly. I know this sounds funny but I somehow get a steamy taste. As it warms, I started to get a fig/raisin flavor at the top of the tongue while the hops continued to dominate the sides of my tongue and the back of my throat. It finishes solid with a well-balanced, complex flavor throughout. This is a solid session beer, another one I recommend. This is something I would get a six-pack of and enjoy in an evening if I could.

It reminded me of the beer I had in Vegas last year. Tiny corner bar at the MGM actually sold bottles of Anchor and walking around the hotel with a great tasting beer in my hand and a god by my side was definitely one of the good experiences.

Ipswich Oatmeal Stout

This is my first official post about something so here goes. Rain started coming down pretty hard this afternoon so I decided to grab a lawn chair and enjoy the weather outside with a beer. I had been craving a stout for awhile and decided to grab the Ipswich Oatmeal Stout that Anabel brought me from Boston. It was just what I've been craving. It smelled very roasted and like a mix of coffee and dark chocolate although no one aroma prevailed over the others, very balanced. First sip gave me a pronounced roasted malt and barley flavor with an underlying hint of bitterness and slight coffee taste. Had a nice caramelized flavor to finish. Nice thick mouthfeel with not too much carbonation, which I like in a stout. Could tell this was not your typical stout and I think it's the first oatmeal stout I've had. As it warmed and I got towards the bottom of the bottle, began to feel a slight tickle on the tongue and the toasty flavor stood out more. I think the tongue thing was more because I hadn't eaten anything all day rather than a characteristic of the beer. A slight hop flavor also started to come through which was a pleasant surprise. Overall very balanced and a must try. It made me crave the steaks I had yesterday again and this would be a great compliment to a thick juicy steak. Beer got me craving Chico's now which begs the question: Which beer is the perfect pairing for Chico's?

Beginning

Well I guess I gave in, I've decided to start a blog. I've never wanted to reveal too much about myself to random people online but I thought about it and thought this would be a good way to chronicle some of the things in my life. I'll mostly be blogging about beers, sports, video games, movies, and random other things. I'll try to updated frequently and hope you enjoy!