'Tis the Season

It's December, you know what that means: time for Christmas music, Ugly Sweaters and rich, dark Porters and Stouts West Coast Amber Ales?

I might be alone on this one, but while most in the craft beer community are shifting from Pumpkin beers and Oktoberfests into darker beers, colder temperatures have had me craving Hops far more than normal.  It probably has something to do with a great brew out of California a couple weeks ago after randomly picking it up at my local Craft Beer go-to, but that story is for another night.

Tonight I'm going to talk about a beer that comes from a little closer to home: Ambergeddon, brewed by Ale Asylum right here in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin.

I first had an Ambergeddon back in October of last year when I was just getting into craft beer, and it might've been a little more intense than I was ready for at the moment.  The second time I had it was over the summer at Vintage Spirits & Grill.  Vintage has the absolute best deal on beer in Madison: 1 dollar Wisconsin brews after 10 on Monday nights.  In addition to a constant supply of Ambergeddon, they typically had at least one offering from Furthermore, another brewery in the Madison Area that has put out a lot of interesting brews.

Anyway, Ale Asylum is a brewery that's really taking off in the Madison area.  It's a mainstay at a number of downtown locations in the city, though it hasn't really managed to expand too far beyond city limits.

This beer has  really hit the spot for me lately.  It's got the right amount of hops and alcohol that doesn't overwhelm.  Right now, I'm definitely giving it a solid A.

Beer Advocate's take on Ambergeddon (it got a B in their new rating system? huh...SHOCKER)
RateBeer's take on Ambergeddon

Have you had Ambergeddon? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there.

My mom and I headed over to the liquor store earlier today to pick up some beers for quality father-son bonding.

My dad is a self-described "locovore", so I decided to go with some beers that have more of a local flavor to them.  Unfortunately, none of the great breweries in Madison sell beers that he doesn't get regularly, so I had to stretch it a little bit.  I'd say that New Glarus is close enough to Madison to count that as local, so we got him a 4-pack of their Imperial Weizen, as well as a bottle of their Belgian Red.  We finished it off with a beer that was local to me while I was living in Milwaukee, Lakefront's Bridge Burner--seriously, I lived a few blocks from the brewery.  That was awesome!

Dad and I split the Bridge Burner and each had an Imperial Weizen.  He definitively told me that he preferred the Bridge Burner.  Frankly, that surprised me a bit.  He generally prefers beers that are more like the Weizen, though he isn't huge on higher alcohol stuff so I guess it makes some sense.

I'm not really sure which one of them I thought was better.  I love weizens and I definitely have no issues with higher alcohol, but the Bridge Burner was a very good beer.  To be honest, I'm not actually a huge fan of a lot of the stuff at Lakefront (it's not bad beer, it's just generally not my style) but this was a very nice one. The Belgian Red is an entirely different experience, as it's a low alcohol cherry beer.  I actually got it for him on his recommendation, and we split it.  I'd agree with his initial take: it's absolutely phenomenal.

Did you give/receive any Father's Day brews this year? If so, what?

Better late than never

Well, thanks to some computer issues, I wasn't able to post for The Session #52.  This really sucked for me, as it was a topic that is very relevant to this blog.

As host of Session #52, I’ve decided not to focus on the substance of beer, but the material that plays a supporting role. Bottles, coasters, cans, labels, ads, tap handles, church keys, hats, t-shirts, tip trays, glassware and signs have been collected by fanatics ever since beer has been sold.

 I can probably come up with about 50 posts for this topic, and since I'm way too late for the session this month and all I'm doing for the time being is working on job applications, cover letters, resumes, and a plot in a community garden I think I'll give it a shot.

I guess that the natural place to start this topic for a blog about a beer bottle collection would probably be with the bottles.

Back in the fall of 2010, my longtime friend Phin moved into an apartment owned and operated by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  The apartment that he moved into wasn't cleaned out particularly well, as there were a number of alcohol bottles left on display.

The bottle that stood out to us was called Sigmund Snopek's, a beer that was apparently brewed by Lakefront Brewery, just a few blocks from our apartment.  It gave us the idea to put more bottles on display.  Since then, we've moved into a new apartment (where we at one point had 99 bottles of beer on the wall), and then moved out of it after graduating college.  According to the Facebook Photo Album I made, we have at least 160 bottles in the collection (I think it's probably over 200, but I haven't uploaded a lot of the pictures yet.) 

We made a set of rules about putting bottles onto "The Wall", and have since come up with a number of unwritten rules.  Unfortunately, now that we're no longer living in that apartment, The Wall is currently a set of bags tucked back in a corner in my parents' storage room.

I have a tendency to rate beers a little differently than most, in that I break it down into rating the bottle and rating the beer itself.  For instance, a review that I'm planning on doing sometime in the near future is for a beer called Polygamy Porter.  It wasn't my favorite, but it wound up being put on display (translation: it was one of 34 beers to be on the front row of one of the two shelves) just because of the funny name and bottle art.

Anyway, moving out of the apartment was pretty rough on the collection, as not only are the bottles no longer on display, but a handful had to be thrown out since there was no room for them.  Fortunately though, most of those were watery macro lagers that we didn't really want anyway.  Not to mention, the political drama unfolding in the state left a number of the bottles on the boycott list.

Well, I'm rambling, so I think I'll end this post.  I'll be back tomorrow (or later tonight) with another long-winded post about some of the other beer-related goods I'm collecting.

My thoughts on the attack on Wisconsin craft beer

It's been a pretty crazy time for craft beer in the state of Wisconsin.  Faced with a situation where craft beer sales are growing fairly rapidly and macro sales are dwindling, it seems that MillerCoors is now attempting to put a halt to that growth in the name of defending themselves from Anheuser-Busch.

I will freely admit that I'm not a fan of Scott Walker, but I also feel that it's important to note that this is not a Republicans vs. Democrats issue.

Glenn Grothman (the Republican who called the Capitol protestors "slobs") and Bob Jauch (a Democrat from the northern part of the state) voted against passing the motion.  It has bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition.  By painting this as an evil plot by the Republicans, people are seriously damning the chances that this will be taken out of the budget bill or changed in anyway, as Republicans stand by Governor Walker.

My opinion is that removing this motion from the budget bill, then negotiating it to a point where it helps the state as a whole is something that all Wisconsin voters can agree is a good thing.  Protecting small businesses in a growing industry is a good thing, no matter what political affiliation you have.  Promoting products that are made in America by companies that are entirely based in America (unlike SAABMillerMolsonCoors or Anheuser-Busch Inbev) is also a good thing. 

If small brewers were truly made exempt by the motion?  I'd be all for it.  While I personally don't like MillerCoors products, the company still employs a good number of people in the state.  Anheuser-Busch does not.  As a result, I am perfectly fine with Miller protecting itself from A-B.  There's just no reason to throw a group that collectively makes up 6 percent of the market under the bus in the process. 

If you're in the state of Wisconsin, please help prevent this motion from becoming a part of the budget bill.  Contact your legislators and let them know you oppose this motion if Craft Brewers aren't protected

And to think, I was embarrassed to even post its name

On Tuesday, Phin saw single bottles of the Sam Adams Longshots series available in Whole Foods.  By Wednesday, they were gone.

Clearly, we needed to buy a six pack of these guys before we lost our chance.

Wednesday night I had a chance to try a couple of them: the Blackened Hops and the Honey B's Lavender Ale.

Blackened Hops:
Yikes, this one is not my style at all.  All I got was hops, hops and more hops.  I wound up getting to the point where I just had to drink it as fast as I could.  To someone who enjoys the American microbrewery style of hopping the shit out of everything, I can see how this would be a likable beer.  Frankly, I disliked it to the point where I can't even rate it.  It gets the first I that I've ever given.

Honey B's Lavender Ale:
I was nervous as hell when I opened this one.  I thought I was about to drink Bed Bath & Beyond in a bottle.  My nerves weren't really helped when I took a whiff of the beer and got...nothing.  No lavender, no honey, no hops or malts.  I truly couldn't smell anything.

I've always been a believer that the "aroma" wasn't really all that important in a beer because it's almost always very similar to taste, but I now realize my mistake.  If nothing else, the aroma lets you know what the hell you're about to get yourself into.  I took a sip and found that I actually liked this one.  It's got a pretty strong honey flavor, but that's a flavor that's always worked for me.  Combined with the light hops and the lavender flavor, this was a surprisingly good beer.  I give it a B.

Finally, tonight I drank the Friar Hop.  I was saving it for last because I anticipated it being my favorite, but as it turns out I actually liked Honey B's Lavender Ale better.  The beer is a Belgian Ale with an American twist--namely, the hops.  While a lot of hop heads get bored with the different Belgian style ales, I think it's best to leave them as they are.  The hops were interesting, but in my opinion they made things worse.  I give it a B-.

Have you had any beers from this or a prior Longshots series? What did you think of them? Let us know in the comments!

Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

Even as much as I have gotten sick of the giants of the beer industry, I have to give them credit.

They are very effective marketers (even when they run stupid campaigns like this.)

They make it a point to add gimmicks to their products, and they convince people that they make high quality beer.  

Breckenridge Brewery in Denver is launching a hilarious new ad campaign that's poking fun at the major beer companies (well, mostly at MillerCoors).

You can check out the commercials here.

We've got a bottle of Avalanche Ale in the collection, but we drank the six pack of it months ago and I didn't get a review done, so Phin and I decided that we'd head over to the liquor store and grab something else by them.  We went with the SummerBright Ale.  I downed my half of the six pack last night and sprinted to the liquor store 15 minutes before it closed to grab a six pack of their Vanilla Porter.  I had read some good things about it on Beerit, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

One of the things that I read about it was that it was a great dessert beer. That had me a little nervous, as I thought it'd wind up being a Summer Shandy-like. Fortunately, there are still qualities that I'd associate with beer in the brew, and in my opinion the combo of the sweet flavor in a porter really works.  Maybe for people who are bigger fans of the style, this one doesn't work, but I like it. 

I give it a B+.

Vanilla Porter on Beer Advocate
Vanilla Porter on RateBeer
Breckenridge's take on Vanilla Porter

Have you ever had Breckenridge Vanilla Porter? Agree with my take on it? Let us know in the comments!

I should have known better

Last night I made a terrible decision.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Memphis Grizzlies by 6 points in overtime, I told my roommate that I would "finish a beer by the end of every overtime".  We had done something similar during the epic six overtime game between Connecticut and Syracuse a couple years earlier, when the two of us and a couple other friends finished a game of beer pong during every overtime.

Given how ridiculous this series has been, I should have known better.  Thanks to a last second three pointer by Greivis Vasquez (who seemed to be throwing up a junk shot in hope of drawing a foul and getting 3 free throws), the Grizzlies were able to take the game into a second overtime period.  Nobody took control of overtime number 2, but fortunately the Thunder were able to finish it off and save my liver in the third overtime.


And on a side note, I absolutely called Vasquez taking that shot after Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo fouled out.

But anyway, my beer of choice last night was Bell's Oberon.  I didn't really start getting into the craft scene until August of this year when my roommate turned 21, so I missed my shot at Oberon last year.  But thanks to a well-placed ad (that will be the topic of a future article), I tried some at a local bar and loved it.  I threw one into a mixed six pack while I was at Woodman's, and my dad decided to get me a couple of six packs of it for my birthday.

While a lot of "beer snobs" don't like it because...well...they're hipsters and love to hate what's popular I guess, I think it's great.  (On that hipster comment: a lot of people I've talked to who don't like it cite "the fact that 'commoners' like it" as a main reason they're not big on it.)  I've had other beers that tried to mix traditional wheat beers with hops, but in my opinion they tend to make it all about the hops.  This one has a great balance of the two, and it's a good beer for almost any occasion.  It's a "lawnmower beer" that tastes good enough to be consumed one or two at a time.

In terms of overall quality, it's not as complex as a lot of others, but I don't really care.  It's a versatile beer that I think tastes absolutely great.  I give it an A.

Oberon on Beer Advocate
Oberon on RateBeer
Oberon on bellsbeer.com (it should be the first one that shows up)

An exception to the rules of The Wall

Found the bottle in my apartment's trash room.  Making an exception to the rules.  F.

Sorry, I can't do it

Moving on.

Cinco de Mayo (Part 2)

While the Whole Foods down the street has been pretty good to me in terms of my beer purchases, it also poses a major problem.  Namely, you have to read the hell out of the labels if you don't want to sit in line at the register for a beer that winds up being much more expensive than you thought.

I can't find my camera, this is not Bohemia

Back in November, Phin and I went to Whole Foods because he saw a 6-pack of Bohemia for 4.99.  We had no idea what Bohemia was at the time, as we were really just starting to get into beer, but we hadn't heard of it being a notoriously bad beer, so we decided to give it a shot.

We grabbed it and went to the cash register, where the cashier told us we owed over 7 dollars.  Turns out the 4.99 beer we thought we found was stocked where some mini-bottles of Corona were supposed to be.  Sadly, it took me about a dozen more incidents like that before I made it a point to look closely at the labels.  Yeah...I can be a slow learner sometimes.

Anyway, a few weeks later I was at Woodmans and found the six pack for 5.99.  It's still not as good as the price we originally thought we had found, but for basically a dollar a bottle, it worked for me.  I brought 3 of the Bohemias back to Milwaukee and we had them with what I'd call homemade "street tacos".

Of all of the Mexican beers I've had, Bohemia is one of my two favorites (the other being Dos Equis Amber, which I'll review shortly).  It goes down easy and tastes pretty good.  While it doesn't have the flavor that a lot of beer reviewers look for, I find it to be pretty solid, with the flavor that it does have being good, unlike a lot of other cheap beers *cough* Tecate*cough cough*.  Add to it the story about how we went about getting it and I'd give it a solid B.

Have you had Bohemia? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Cinco de Mayo (Part 1)

Cinco De Mayo!

What better day than today to get a handful of the Mexican beers in our collection reviewed?  September 27th you say? Shut up, know-it-all!

On my way back from a pretty brutal presentation in my Marketing Management class, I passed my old apartment.  The apartment is located just a couple blocks from a corner store that I remembered having a pretty good selection, so I figured I'd head over and take a look at what was there.

I realize that by now you've probably figured out what beer I'm reviewing and you've come to the conclusion that the corner store didn't have as good of a selection as I remembered.  You would be...incorrect.  The store does have a nice selection of beers, mainly Wisconsin brews and European imports.  However, I didn't have a lot of money on me since I wasn't really planning on buying anything that afternoon.  Due to the date and my wallet, I settled on Tecate.

Tecate is...a cheap adjunct lager.  I knew there was a reason I never bothered buying it before; even at 6.50 for a six pack it's not a particularly good deal, though I can't really complain.  I'm pretty sure the guy gave me a dollar too much change, so I wound up getting them for under a buck apiece.

There's not much flavor to this beer, it's an unoffensive beer that'll give you a buzz after drinking them for awhile.  There's definitely a time and place for a beer like it, but I'd rather have a few better tasting brews with more alcohol.  I give it a C.


Tecate on Beer Advocate
Tecate on RateBeer
Tecate.com

"What were you drinking when...?"

There are certain events that are so big that you remember forever exactly where you were when they happened.

I've only been 21 for a little over a year, and I already know that for a lot of these instances I'll remember exactly what I was drinking too.

Belgians know beer

On May 1, I was at Comet Cafe with my roommate when our waitress asked us if we'd like to go to the side of the restaurant that had a T.V.  We had been there many times and this had never happened, so we were a little puzzled.  While everyone else was reading that there was going to be a speech from President Obama about a "matter of national security", all we had heard was that the President was going to speak.  Obama had several speeches scheduled on nights we went to eat at Comet and none of them had ever generated as much of a reaction, so we decided to go check out what all the excitement was about.

We walked over to the other side of the restaurant right as the cameras cut to a shot of the President walking up to the podium.  Our jaws dropped as it was announced that the Navy Seals had killed bin Laden.

Anyway, on to the beer.  That night I drank a Delerium Tremens.  I'd had Nocturnum and loved it, so I figured I'd try another beer by the same brewery.

Tremens is a great Belgian Strong Pale Ale.  It's very smooth and has a pretty intricate fruit flavoring.  It's got a high alcohol content, but you'd never know that from the flavor of the beer.  This is one that would definitely qualify as "dangerous". 

After drinking Nocturnum, my expectations were high, and fortunately this beer was actually able to meet those expectations.  I would give it an A.  It's not going to get front shelf placement on The Wall because Nocturnum's already there and I like the label more, but it's a damn good beer.

Delerium Tremens on Beer Advocate
Delerium Tremens on RateBeer
Delerium's take on Tremens


And for the record, no: I didn't ever think I'd tag a post with both Delerium Tremens and Osama bin Laden.

Have you had Delerium Tremens? Agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

The marketing major in me just HAS to speak out

It seems like last night's post got me revved up to trash Miller.

Am I the only one who thinks the latest campaign for Miller Lite is ridiculous?

This is what I'm talking about:



First of all, if a bartender insulted me (no matter how strange my clothes were), she wouldn't get a tip, and she'd probably get a complaint against her.

Second, I can't actually figure out which beer they're saying Miller Lite has more taste than. Obviously, it'd seem they're aiming at Bud Light, but I don't think Miller actually has more taste than Bud.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the additional "taste" in Bud Light is awful and if I had to pick one of the two it'd be Miller. But Budweiser has more taste. The only beer I can think of with less taste than Miller is Keystone, and that's another MillerCoors product.

Thoughts on this Miller campaign? Got another beer ad you can't stand? Let us know in the comments

Best...Beer...EVER!

I know I'm going to regret this, but what the hell.

Tonight I got back from working the Milwaukee Bucks game feeling pretty exhausted.  It was already past eleven when I got back, and I had nothing in my stomach.  This wasn't a night meant for drinking a ton.  So I had a beer and hung out watching Dexter with the roommates.

Now it's time for another.  I really thought about going for a St. Bernardus White: it was originally meant to celebrate a Milwaukee Panther Horizon League Championship before Butler f**ked that up, then it was meant for VCU winning a national title before Butler f**ked that up.  I'm convinced that if I make it for a Butler national championship (hey, I'm pissed that they beat us, but you bet I'll be cheering for them over a cheat like Calhoun), the Bulldogs will f**k that up too.

But eventually, I decided to go in a completely different direction.  That same night that I was hoping to drink the St. Bernardus White, I bought a ridiculous amount of PBR for the potential celebration.  I brought it over to a buddy's house before the game, and he insisted that we do a shotgun together.  He didn't have any cans, so he offered a trade: one PBR for one Miller High Life.

I hate Miller High Life, but in the spirit of having a good time I made the trade anyway.  So now I have a bottle of it in my fridge.  What better way to dispose of it than to review it in a blog post?

I'm sorry, this has been basically my least favorite beer even before I started drinking the pricier stuff, so I'm not going to dignify it with a glass.

The aroma is...faint.  The taste follows the smell, and a trail of carbonation heads down toward my gut.  Wonderful.

Basically, my take on High Life is that it tries to be a "classy" beer and a "get drunk" beer at the same time.  That's not a good idea.  Basically, it's a more expensive, more carbonated version of Miller Lite.  I wouldn't call it much of a step up, as adding carbonation without adding much (if any) flavor doesn't automatically make a beer good.

If you're going to "splurge" on something more than the cheap stuff, I definitely wouldn't bother with this.  Fortunately it's not in my fridge anymore.  If I were to grade it in a taste test it'd probably be higher, but when taking price into account it winds up being a more expensive, worse version of Miller Lite I give it an F. 

A story I wanted to share

My buddy Spencer has been working his way to trying 1,000 different beers and documenting it on Facebook.  Recently, he reached the halfway point and decided to mark the occasion with a beer that is pretty special to him.  He was kind enough to let me share it with the blogosphere.

On May 27th, 2011, I was at 499 different kinds of beer that I had rated over the course of two and a half years.  About two weeks before, I had struck a deal with my dad, saying that when I reached 499, he would give me one of his bottles of Kingsbury.  Elated, I sampled over 25 beers in nine days to reach that magical moment.

Now, for those of you who do not know, Kingsbury was a beer that was discontinued by Strohs Brewery back on July 31, 1999.  Originally located in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, just 5 miles from my hometown of Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Newspaper from October 31, 1999 about Kingsbury closing up shop

 

Kingsbury Breweries Company was founded in 1847, originally going by the name of Kunz & Bleser Brewing Company.  Then, In 1926, the firm was sold to the Manitowoc Products Company, which went by the name of the Gutsch Brewery.  In 1933, they changed their name to Kingsbury Breweries Company.  The Kingsbury name originated during the Depression as a near-beer, due to the ban on alcohol during Prohibition, later resuming brewing operations when Prohibition was repealed. In 1933, Kingsbury Pale and Kingsbury Ale began to be produced.  Kingsbury's franchise brand was known as the "Aristocrat of Beer" and "Fit for a King."  Kingsbury's main offices remained in Manitowoc until 1963, when it merged with G. Heileman Brewing Company, which brewed and distributed Kingsbury label products until 1974. The Stroh Brewery Company later, after it bought the G. Heileman Brewing Company, brewed and distributed some Kingsbury labels. Stroh's ceased operation on July 31, 1999, and the Miller Brewing Company bought the Kingsbury Near Beer label, which is still brewed and distributed by Miller.

When I was younger, I remember going to the liquor store with my dad to buy cases of Kingsbury, which were sold in deposit bottles, quite often.  From what he can remember, it would cost him around $6 for a 24 pack of bottles when bringing in an empty case to exchange.  This led to the only time I can remember trying a Kingsbury.  Granted, I was only 7 or 8 years old, and it was just a sip, I hated it… mainly because I was young and didn’t like beer.  Other than that, I have no other memories of trying Kingsbury.

When my dad found out that they were going to be retiring this beer, he saved a couple of bottles for when he became a grandfather, back in October of 2000.  Then, by brother-in-law Gabe and my sister Heather found someone who had been storing bottles in the back of a cooler, wrapped up so that light didn’t damage the beer.  They bought him 12 bottles for what I believe was Father’s day two years ago, and after trying one to make sure it hadn’t gone bad, he packed them away in the back of his fridge to be consumed on a special occasion. 

Spencer and his dad enjoying Kingsbury

While this was not on his mind when he decided that, he had 7 bottles left when I approached number 500.  With my sisters Heather and Kim, and both of my parents downstairs at my dad’s bar, me and him cracked open two bottles.

The review of this beer will not be in this note.  Instead, it will be on the photo in a separate album (link provided below).  I will say this though, the beer was not skunky or off-smelling at all, and my dad said that it still tasted the way that he remembered.

Photo Album: http://goo.gl/Zr4kV

Beer Review: http://goo.gl/fnQP1

I love stories like these, as I can relate to them.  The common interest that my dad and I share about the beer companies that are as much about making a quality product as they are about improving their bottom line has lead to a number of great times.  Some of my best memories of the last *eh hem* we'll say "year" have involved sitting around a TV or a radio talking about sports, politics, and life while enjoying good beer.

If you have a Facebook, I definitely recommend checking out Spencer's Journey to 1000 Beers.  His collection is impressive.

The Session #50: What makes you buy someone's beer?

FINALLY!

I've been dying to get in on "The Session" for months now, but always drew a blank when it came time to write something up.

This time around, I'm ready for it.

This month's question is pretty basic: what makes you buy someone's beer?

Price is definitely a factor for me.  I'm a college kid who is currently looking at post-grad jobs paying in the range of $12-20,000 a year.  As much as I'd love to buy a 10 dollar bottle of beer, it's just not an option right now.  With that said, I don't find myself buying totally cheap stuff all that often, I just make sure that I'm not dropping 2 bucks a bottle for a six pack (or 4 pack, if that's how the company does it).

After price, I take into account style.  While I'm open to being a little adventurous, I know a few things about my palate.  I'm generally not a huge fan of darker beers.  Don't get me wrong--they're good--just typically a bit thicker and harder to drink.  But if they're done right, I get over that fact pretty quickly.  Additionally, American Style Pale Ales are not for me.  Once again, I can appreciate them, but they put an end to my night of drinking pretty quickly.

Next would probably be how difficult it is to find.  I just posted about a beer from Utah; odd stuff like that really draws me in. A part of the mission of The Wall is to find every bottle we can, so buying a beer I've never seen before takes precedence over buying one that we have on the wish list but can find in a number of places. 


Those beers that make up my wishlist?  They're usually from companies that I'm familiar with.  I tend to get a lot of beers from Wisconsin: Lakefront, Sprecher, New Glarus, Ale Asylum, and Capital (though I've pretty much maxed out on my hometown brew.)  Next comes other companies that I tend to like a lot: Bell's, Three Floyds, and New Belgium.  After that I'll head over to the higher end singles, where I'll often use Beer Advocate ratings and my personal tastes to find something for a special occasion.  That's how I wound up with a bottle of Piraat a couple weeks ago. 

So there you have it, that's my selection process.  So far, I haven't come away disappointed too often.

Let us know about your beer buying decision process in the comments.

Beer from Utah? Gotta have it!

Back in January, my roommate and I were looking for new beers to try in Whole Foods (uh oh...maybe I am a hipster after all?)  We came across a couple beers called "Wasatch [fill in the blank]".  After doing a little bit of research, we realized that these were beers made in Utah.

Utah.

The state where beers can't be sold in liquor or grocery stores unless they've got some ridiculously low alcohol content (I read 3.2, so that's the number I'll go with.)

Wasatch White Label

We automatically added a few of the different varieties they made to our wishlist.  One of those was Wasatch White Label: a Belgian White style beer that was 6% ABV.  Belgian whites are my favorite beers to drink while I'm sitting around the apartment watching TV or playing video games, and I definitely don't mind a beer with a little bit of a kick to it.  A couple weeks ago, I decided to spring for some.

The beer pours a pale yellow color with about a half a finger of head.  It's aroma isn't the best I've ever smelled from a white ale, but it's not bad either.  The flavor pretty much follows the smell: not as much of the orange/banana flavors as many of the witbiers that I've had, and a little bit of a spice flavoring to it.  Nonetheless, it was a pretty tasty beer that I definitely don't regret buying.

While it's not my favorite witbier, I definitely do like it.  I like my white ales to be a little more about the fruit flavorings, but this is still a very easy one to drink.  If you ask me, it's pretty shocking that the beer's alcohol content is 6%. I put down three of them pretty quickly and was feeling GREAT.

In terms of taste I'd probably give it a B-, but as always I've got my biases.  A beer from Utah that decides to push the boundaries gets at least a minor bump up in my eyes.  As a result, I'll give it a B.  I definitely plan on picking up a 6 of Devestator Doppelbock when I get a chance.

Have you had Wasatch White Label? Do you agree with my take?  Let us know in the comments!

Wasatch White Label on Beer Advocate
Wasatch White Label on RateBeer
Wasatch White Label according to its brewers

Finally, you can actually see what this blog is about

Finally got around to putting up a new background.

The picture isn't centered the best, and there are a handful of updates we're going to be making (we've had a bag full of backstock develop since the Super Bowl) but this is finally--clearly--a beer blog

Ending the hiatus

Once again, I'm back.

Starting with the Packers' Super Bowl win, everything went crazy in sports...and other things...in the state of Wisconsin. 

Hopefully I won't be quite as distracted going forward.

I guess I'll jump back into the game by announcing this: I'm officially a hipster. 

The new "get drunk" beer of the441

...a hipster who is a member of a business fraternity, prefers fast food to organic, wears nothing but tee shirts, and is obsessed with sports.

Haha, ok.  So maybe I'm not a hipster, but since my last post, the441's official "cheap, get drunk beer" has switched from Miller Lite to PBR.  MillerCoors' strong support of politics we don't like left the apartment in a flux.  Budweiser isn't an option, and most of the other cheap stuff tastes like something died in it.

We've been drinking PBR from time to time ever since we started going to the BBC on Wednesday nights for their $1 burgers, as $1 PBRs were also a part of the special.  Definitely not my favorite stuff, but certain occasions (like my school clinching a share of the Horizon League title along with the now-in-the-Final-Four Butler Bulldogs) call for large amounts of cheap beer.  From this point on, PBR is that beer for the guys in the441 

Now I'm off to convince the roommates to start writing.


In the mean time, feel free to let us know your favorite "get drunk" beer.

"Blog? What blog? The Packers are in the Super Bowl!"

After the NFC Championship game, Phin and I took a trip to Whole Foods Market to find him a beer to celebrate the victory.  While we were there we looked around at the micro selection and found some stuff we're interested in.

On a later trip, I picked up a four-pack of Ale Asylum Tripel Nova, only to find out that the Whole Foods on North and Prospect sucks at correctly placing price tags by its beer (but I'll get to that in a later post).  After finding that the beer cost four dollars more than it was listed at, I went back and found a four pack of Sprecher Abbey Triple. I had looked it up on Beer Advocate and wasn't blown away by it's B- rating, but I figured that I'd still like it as I'm a fan of the style and of Sprecher in general. 

I understand why the people at Beer Advocate didn't like the beer very much, as it's missing a certain kick that most beer snobs probably expect when they're drinking the style.  Nonetheless, I like it a lot.  It's maybe a little too sweet, but I still think it tastes good and masks the alcohol pretty well.

This is a beer I definitely plan on going back to when I'm looking for an easy to drink brew that gives a nice buzz at an affordable price.  I give it a B+.

Have you had Sprecher Abbey Triple?  Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Sprecher's take on Abbey Triple 
Abbey Triple on Beer Advocate
Abbey Triple on Rate Beer

The most resilient bottle in the collection

With the second bottle review on The Wall, I've decided to go with one of the bottles most likely to be removed.  Originally, Shock Top was grouped with Miller Chill, Point Special and all the other beers that never had a shot at making it into our Top 100.  After all, it's just Anheuser-Busch's version of Blue Moon.

From

We started to reconsider the decision when a Bud Light ad came on.  We have a rule in the441 that you can't drink after an Anheuser-Busch ad until you see an ad from any other beer company.  What we wound up doing was unintentionally boosting the value of Anheuser-Busch products.  I had a few bottles of Shock Top left from the six pack of it that I drank and we decided that since they're the same company, an ad from Anheuser-Busch can't be used as a reason not to drink Michelob.  Plus, if it were made by a different company I probably wouldn't consider Shock Top to be all that bad.

Someday, I intend to start homebrewing.  One of the expenses that comes with homebrewing is purchasing bottles.  While most products by MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch have twist-off tops, Shock Top has pry-offs.  I threw the bottle of Shock Top into a sink full of hot water and peeled the label right off.  Not only does the stuff allow us to maneuver around our drinking game rules, but it allows me to save money down the road!  Way to go Shock Top!  For that, we wound up cutting a beer that would probably be a lot higher on the list to keep it.

While Shock Top the beer is nothing exceptional, it's surprisingly useful.  I'd probably give the beer about a C, but factoring in everything it gets a B- from me.

Have you had Shock Top? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Beer of (NFC) Champions

My first experience with Blonde Doppelbock occurred when The Wall was in its infant stages.  I saw a couple in the fridge at my parents' house, and figured that I'd grab one and try it when I got to Milwaukee.  My dad told me that "it was one of his favorites, but it would probably be too strong for me."  He couldn't have been more wrong.

The first beer I truly loved

This past Halloween I went to State Street and made a stop at Opa, a little bar that's a favorite of a few friends of mine in Madison.  After that visit, I have my own reasons for loving the place: Capital Blonde Doppelbock for four dollars.  Up to that point, I hadn't really had beers that I felt tasted good enough that I would drink them even if they were non-alcoholic.  Capital Blonde changed that.  Getting it for 4 dollars (the same price that they sell Blue Moon for) was a ridiculous steal by bar pricing standards.  When I've seen Blonde in other bars it's typically between 5 and 6 dollars.

The bottle I got that night is the one on display on our wall (although according to some bartenders, taking the empty bottle might've been against the law because of open bottle laws? Oops)

After that, I had my dad keep an eye out for it at Woodman's (where Capital is far cheaper than any other beer.  He bought a six pack, along with what he thought was his house beer: Hacker Pschorr Weisse.  Unfortunately, it turns out that it was actually Hacker Pschorr's Oktoberfest.  He swapped four of the Blondes for Oktoberfests, thinking I wouldn't notice.  If he weren't helping me get through college debt-free, that might have been an unforgivable offense.

My favorite memory with Blonde came Sunday shortly after the NFC Championship Game.  Those two bottles that my dad was kind enough not to switch out for beer he thought sucked? I've been saving them since I got them in November.  I wanted to keep them for a special occasion, and I can't think of many days coming up that would be better to drink one of the bottles than in the aftermath of the NFC Championship.

All in all, Capital Blonde is my favorite beer.  I give it an A+

Next up? The Super Bowl.  Then (with a little luck) Bockfest 2011

Have you had Blonde Doppelbock? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Ok...so we started working on The Wall, but...

Well, Day 2 of reorganizing the wall wasn't quite as productive as Day 1.  We took pictures of maybe 12 or 15 beers and then the NFC Championship Game started.  After that, we were glued to the TV until Sam Shields (who is only about a year older than us--weird) put the final nail in the Bears' coffin.  After that we never got started working because, well...

The Packers are going to the Super Bowl!

All I can say is that celebratory Capital Blonde Doppelbock was heavenly.  Seriously.  I don't think I've ever enjoyed a beer as much as I enjoyed that one.  Hopefully I get to enjoy the other one I've stashed in my mini-fridge even more in two weeks.

Phin saw my reaction while he was drinking a He'Brew (don't get me wrong, he liked it) and decided that he wanted that feeling too.  As a result, we went to Whole Foods market.  He got a Chimay Red and I figured since we were there I'd grab a good beer too.  I went with an Orval.

Add in a couple of sandwiches from Toppers and we were both feeling pretty great. 

Holy shit, they're going to the Super Bowl!

All Wisconsin Beer Day

the441 will be celebrating All Wisconsin Beer Day in honor of today's NFC title game.

Here's what we've got in the fridge for the occasion:

Capital Blonde Doppelbock
Sprecher Winter Brew
Capital Winter Skal
O'so Hopdinger
Miller Lite
Sprecher Black Bavarian
O'so Rusy Red
Furthermore Hopperbolic
Capital Supper Club
Capital Weizen Doppelbock
Miller High Life (if it gets to that point, but it probably won't)

Go Packers!

Day 1 of reorganizing is in the books

Phin and I got back to the apartment yesterday.  That meant that it was time to (try to) reorganize the wall and add in the bottles we collected over break.

When you consider that I had an accident that made my break last longer than others and that my dad and I decided that a couple beers a night was healthier than taking narcotics, it goes without saying that I came back with a pretty nice haul.  Phin and I decided that if we're going to do this, we might as well do it right: we've been cataloging and taking pictures of every bottle in the collection before we placed them either under the sink or onto The Wall. 

It's taken longer than we expected.  Through one whole day of work, we managed to pick out the bottles that we had no desire to put on display, pick out the ones that were definitely going on display, and take pictures and document them all.  Right before going to bed, we picked out most of the "bubble" bottles that are going to make the cut until we find some better stuff. 

Today, we have to document and take pictures of the "bubble" bottles that we didn't record yesterday.  considering there are about 70 of them, the work is really not all that close to being done.

After that, you can expect to start seeing profiles of all the bottles in our collection, as well as a better looking blog that has pictures and a background photo that actually makes sense.  With all three roommates back in the apartment, you can also expect to see the other two start blogging sometime in the near future (...I hope).

Our Capital Brewery (non) tour

Today Phin and I headed over to Middleton, Wisconsin to tour Capital Brewery.

Unfortunately, today was their staff Christmas party so we couldn't do it.  Fortunately, the gift shop was still open.

Their prices are absurd.  I paid a dollar for a pint glass, while Phin got a large Weitzen glass for $2.30 and a snifter for $8.99 (plus a 20% off coupon).

Buy Capital six packs right now.  They're giving away tickets for free brewery tours and the gift shop coupons in most packs.

And on an unrelated note, today's the day!  When we get to Milwaukee, Phin and I will be adding 50-some beers to The Wall.  Not to mention, we'll have our cameras and the blog will be looking a whole lot nicer.


What are some of the best deals you've gotten on your beer related merchandise? Let us know in the comments!

Three Sheets has found a home

So it appears I'm a little late to the party...

Three Sheets will begin airing on Spike in February.

I first heard about Three Shets from a Beer Thread on an NBA message board.  After that, I started watching it on Hulu.  So far, I'm through the first three seasons of the show.  I like it; the host is entertaining and the content is interesting.  Unfortunately, all of the beer except for some featured in the Belgian episode and a few brewpub exlusives scattered throughout the episodes are pretty blah.  Zane, you travel to the other side of the world and drink a Corona? 

I understand that a reason for this is that the show is meant to expose people to beers they probably haven't heard of that are readily available in the U.S., but if you're going to expose people to the world of beer beyond Bud and MillerCoors you can do a hell of a lot better than Baltika 7, Birra Moretti and Stella Artois.

On top of that, it seems that Drinking Made Easy--a show about American bars, breweries and distilleries that Lampley started while Three Sheets was in limbo--is furthering the idea that America has bad beer.  In my hometown of Milwaukee, Sprecher and Lakefront are the top micros.  Drinking Made Easy--Milwaukee focused on the original breweries in the city: Pabst, Blatz, Schlitz...basically the cheap stuff that gives Milwaukee's micro scene a bad name.

With that said, I'm excited to have Three Sheets back on the air after Brew Masters seems to be on its last legs.

New additions to The Wall--1/10 to 1/16

Here are the new additions to the collection this week:

Ale Asylum
Mercy

Czechvar

Dogfish Head
60 Minute IPA

Flying Dog
Doggie Style

Magic Hat
Winter Seasonal

New Belgium
Abbey

Paulaner
Salvator Doppelbock

Sam Adams
Noble Pils

Sorry for the lack of posts last week, but I did a little bit more "collecting" than writing.

It's not really my typical style, but I went for a couple international beers this week.  The Czechvar was an obvious must if you've read the blog, but the Paulaner came from my second trip to Woodman's.

Have you had one of this week's additions to the wall? Anything we need to find? Let us know in the comment.

Review: Homeport Blonde, Scuttlebutt Brewery

I've had this review sitting in my drafts for awhile, so I figure I'll post it tonight.

Scuttlebutt has some interesting aesthetic qualities.  The name is different, as is the logo: a mermaid fixed over the letter S. It's a pretty cool bottle, I like it a lot.

I was surprised by what I found when I poured the beer.  "Homeport Blonde" and the low alcohol content suggest a lighter beer than this to me.  The beer has a dark golden color.  When I smelled it I got some citrus and floral smells. 

Like I expected based on the smell, it's stronger tasting than I expected for a beer that's only 4.6% alcohol by volume.  Still, it doesn't have a ton of flavor and is a pretty small step up from macro beers.

If you're looking for a drinkable beer, this is it.  Additionally, it's got a pretty cool bottle that will look good on the wall if it winds up making the cut.  With that said there's not a ton of flavor, so I would give it a C.

Have you had Homeport Blonde? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments.

Additional Info:
Homeport Blonde on Scuttlebutt Website
Homeport Blonde on Beer Advocate
Homeport Blonde on Rate Beer

The hunt for Capital Bockfest tickets

Every year at the end of February, Capital Brewery in Madison, Wisconsin hosts Bockfest.  It's a tribute to Blonde Doppelbock, Capital's award-winning limited release brew that is produced in the fall and just in time for spring.

Seeing as this will (hopefully) be my first Bock Fest, I'll let the people at Capital describe it for you:

"Bockfest features beer, food, music, "catching" fish, and our annual Running of the Blondes 1k race. Only 2,500 very lucky folks will attend Bockfest 2011. Wanna a cold one?"

This year, Bockfest will be taking place on Saturday, February 26.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that it is free, there are a limited number of tickets available for it.  Capital has provided five ways that you can get them.

5 ways to get your FREE Bockfest ticket:

Way #1: Get a room.
Book your hotel room for Bockfest 2011 weekend at one of the hotels listed below and you'll receive two complimentary tickets to Bockfest 2011.

• 
  608-831-6970
  Go To Website
• 
  Go To Website
• 
  608-831-2000
  Go To Website
• 
  608-664-5888
  Go To Website

Way #2: We're giving away 500 Bockfest tickets.

• WHEN: Wednesday, January 26th at 6:00pm
• WHAT: Bockfest Ticket Release Party
• WHERE: Capital Brewery Warehouse
         7734 Terrace Ave.
         Middleton, WI
• HEY: Limit 2 per person

Way #3:
If you show up for the Bockfest Ticket Release Party — but do not receive free tickets — you will be automatically entered into our Last Chance Drawing held Wednesday, February 9th.
Way #4:
Stay tuned to Triple MMM 105.5FM in Madison for Bockfest ticket giveaways.
Way #5:
We just might be crazy enough to give away Bockfest tickets on Facebook. So click here and follow us starting now.

UGH! As somebody who is from Madison, goes to school in Milwaukee and thinks that 105.5 sucks, I'm pretty pissed.  I'm relying completely on getting tickets through Facebook.

If you live in Madison and can bring several friends to the ticket release party, PLEASE let us know in the comments! (you don't need to sign up for Blogger to comment, just select "Name/URL")

For additional info about Blonde Doppelbock, Capital Brewery or Bockfest click here

A reaction to Mississippi's beer laws

Last week, a fellow beer blogger took the time to figure out the cost effectiveness of drinking higher alcohol content beers versus drinking lighter macro beers.

I wasn't too surprised to read her conclusion: "macro" beers with lower alcohol content are generally more cost effective for those who are drinking solely to get drunk.

So firstly, the idea that drinking extremely high ABV beers are somehow a cheaper way toget drunk is false. It doesn’t matter what size bottles you buy, the cost per oz of alcohol is clearly in the favor of the cheaper macro brews – who have gotten that price point based on volume. In the first example above, there isn’t a huge price differential in craft and micro (7 cents?) so I also decided to look further.

 She goes on to discuss the percentage of each purchase (a 12 pack of cans for the macro beers, a 6 pack of bottles for the lower alcohol craft beers and 2 bombers--22.9 ounce bottles--of "imperial" or higher alcohol content beer) that you would consume to consume a certain amount of alcohol.  This is where the low alcohol stuff comes out on top.  You would need to consume the entire purchase of craft beer or all but 0.9 ounces of the bombers, but you would still have a can of the macro beer remaining.

In other words, people who want to get drunk for cheap are probably not buying high alcohol content beer, and Mississippi is likely not accomplishing its goal by banning high alcohol content beers.  On top of that, other types of alcohol that have a higher alcohol content are unaffected by the laws. 

I'm in college, and believe it or not I've been to a few parties.  To this point, the only times I've seen craft beer, or even Blue Moon, at a "party" was at small gatherings that happened on weeknights.  When people want to get drunk they get Keystone, not Dogfish Head.

Bottom line: Mississippi is stupid.

Finding the REAL Budweiser

Awhile back, the441 voted unanimously to make finding Budweiser Budvar (known in the states as Czechvar) a priority, despite our rules that technically made anything "Budweiser" illegal. 

Budweiser Budvar is a Czech beer that began brewing in 1785, and began exporting it's beer to the United States in 1871.  Five years later, Anheuser-Busch began producing the Budweiser that Americans know today.  Shortly after that, the beer hating assholes wonderful people at  Anheuser-Busch trademarked the name in the United States and Canada.  Budweiser Budvar was forced to sell its product as Czechvar, and international naming rights battles began.

Hey, any enemy of Anheuser-Busch is a friend of ours.

I was at Woodman's West today and I found that they carry six packs of Czechvar.  I didn't have money to buy it because I was at Woodman's to buy food (I've been stealing my dad's Maibocks all week and my beer supply is still pretty well stocked, so I didn't need to buy anything) but they had quite a few six packs.  I don't think finding it will be very hard to do.

Next order of business? Finding a REAL bottle of Budweiser Budvar.  Who's up for a European vacation?

If that's not an option, we might try to find this little gem.

Have you had Czechvar? Got a beer for us to hunt for? Let us know in the comments!

New additions to The Wall--1/3 to 1/9

Here are the beers that have been added to the list this week:

Capital Brewery

Maibock

Goose Island

Demolition

 

Lakefront Brewery

Big Easy Imperial Maibock

This week, I pretty much stuck to a few beers I know I like.

Expect a crazy list once Phin gets back from his band's concert in Chicago.  I can't wait to get back to Milwaukee.  We're going to be adding at least 30 beers to the wall.

Have you tried any of the beers we're adding to The Wall this week? Let us know what you thought about them in the comments!

The Glassware 2--Great Dane Imperial Pint Glass

I'm pretty excited about the second installment of The Glassware.  Last night my dad and I went to The Great Dane Pub in Madison, Wisconsin.  I picked up a new glass:

A Great Dane Imperial Pint Glass

The Great Dane is a brewpub that makes its own beer, but I saw that they also have drinks like Strongbow.  Last night I had a Crop Circle Wheat.  It was a decent wheat beer (duh)--Belgian White.  It had a weird initial flavor

While it won't do me a ton of good to have a 20 ounce glass while I'm working on collecting bottles that have 12 ounces of beer in them, I'm eventually going to wind up buying growlers so I'll definitely have a purpose for it someday.

In the meantime, it'll be in a rotation with the three Milwaukee Panther glasses that I've been alternating while I'm home in Madison.

Phin and I are planning a couple Madison brewery tours before the end of the month, and it's pretty much standard practice to give away a pint glass at the tour, so expect a few more posts about The Glassware.

Let us know about your go-to glasses in the comments!

Brew Masters Cancelled

Well, so much for my attempted pimping of Brew Masters.

According to the Twitterverse, it looks like the Discovery Channel's show Brew Masters won't be returning for another season.

The Beer & Whiskey Brothers blog is the source of the commotion.

Well this just sucks.  I have it on good authority that Sam Calagione’s Brew Masters has been pulled from the air after just a handful of episodes.  It was good to see craft beer on TV while it lasted I guess. 
While the show was well-received by beer geeks, the general public was lukewarm about it.  I’m sure the fact that Brew Masters was moved from Sunday to Monday to Thursday didn’t help.
I’ve shared my thoughts about the things the show had working against it, but Don and I still hoped that it would be a hit, so it would pave the way for copycat shows, perhaps ones starring feuding brothers (one of whom is quite witty and handsome).
At any rate, we raise our glasses to Sam and the folks at Dogfish Head for giving it their best shot.  We hope that Dogfish Head will continue to prosper because of the attention the show brought them – they are a wonderful gateway into the universe of good beer.
I know that the craft beer world is better off for having Brew Masters on TV, I only wish the ride were much, much longer.
CLARIFICATION: There’s some conflicting info out there, so I want to clarify what we’re saying here.  There will be no new episodes shot, but Discovery may air the sixth and final episode this spring (it’s the “additional content” they say they’re working on) and possible rerun the series.  But there will be no new shows and for all intents and purposes the show is done. Which again is a huge bummer.

Changing the schedule multiple times didn't help the show.  I sometimes had trouble finding it when it was on and I was actively looking for it.

Oh well, I guess more shows about pawnshops, truck drivers and Alaska can fill it's spot and I can go back to ignoring the channel except for the occasional episode of MythBusters.

Beer Review: The Big O, O'so Brewing Company

Tonight I'm having the Big O by O'so Brewing Company.  

The bottle is pretty standard for O'so.  O'so labels are all different colored versions of the same basic label.  "O'SO BREWING COMPANY" over and over in the background with adjectives about the beer on it.  Decent, but nothing special

The beer had a sweet, orange aroma.  There's a little bit of a malty touch to it, but no real hop flavor.  That held true with the taste too.  The beer is pretty light and sweet with a hint of malt.  While that had a lot of people on Beer Advocate complaining, I don't think that this style of beer is supposed to be hoppy.  It's supposed to be a light, drinkable beer.

In my opinion, it's more of a summer/early fall beer.  Drinking it now is a little odd, but overall it's not bad.

If you're a fan of Blue Moon, this is a beer you should test out.  It's not a style that's for everybody, but it's a definite step up from the more well known "Micro".  While it's technically a Blonde Ale, I'm going to group it with Belgian Whites that it shares flavor with.  Personally, I liked John's Celebration Ale and Avery White Rascal better, but it's not bad.

I give it a C+.  It's definitely worth a try if you're a fan of Blue Moon and that style of beer, but it probably won't be a regular purchase.

Have you had The Big O? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments!

Additional Info:
The Big O on O'so
The Big O on Beer Advocate
The Big O on Rate Beer

Adventures with Beer: Woodman's West

For the second installment of Adventures with Beer, I'd like to talk about Woodman's West in Madison, Wisconsin. Woodman's is great for its ridiculous commercials, low prices, and EXCELLENT beer selection.

Woodman's has a huge selection of microbrews.  My camera cord is at my apartment in Milwaukee for the time being, but when I get a chance I'll upload a picture of the wall that's dedicated entirely to 12 oz. bottles of micros (or 16 oz. in Sprecher's case).  Across from this wall there's a section that has some larger sized bottles of micros, and a section of imports.

The selection for mixed six packs at Woodman's varies greatly from week to week.  Sometimes it's tough to find six bottles worth buying.  Other days (like today), not even the fact that The Wall excludes over 100 different types of beer from consideration can keep me from finding six I'm excited to try.

Today's haul included the following:

The Big O--O'so Brewing
Hopdinger--O'so
Doggie Style Pale Ale--Flying Dog
Hopalicious--Ale Asylum
Wisconsin Bock--New Glarus
Big Easy Imperial Maibock--Lakefront

I've had a couple of these before (Hopalicious and Wisconsin Bock), but we need the bottles on the wall so I jumped at the chance to pick them up.  Flying dog is a fun company that makes good beer, so that was a pretty easy decision.  I've been looking for The Big O for awhile, and Hopdinger sounds like it'll be a solid selection.  Finally, I live right down the street from Lakefront in Milwaukee and I tend to really like lighter bocks.  Plus, nothing says spring seasonal like 3 inches of fresh snow.

On one trip to the store, I really lucked out--somehow a few bottles of Raison D'Etre by Dogfish Head found their way into the mixed six selection.  A few weeks later I found out that those bottles were supposed to be $7.99.  Heh...whoops.

Woodman's West is Wisconsin's Mecca of beer; if you live in the state and love beer, you need to make at least one pilgrimage there in your life. 

Have you been to Woodman's West? Agree with my take? (That was a rhetorical question, of course you agree) Let us know in the comments!

A New Rule

I was planning on writing a review for Alpha King, but that's going to be delayed about 12 hours.  In the meantime, we've had a successful majority vote on a new rule

 If a single beer is purchased and consumed and the buyer thinks it's too awful to review, one of the other members of the house needs to purchase and try it out.  We'll eventually have profiles for all of the beers we've tried, and we don't want to have a faulty review because of a beer that was past its prime.

With that said: Phin and Derek, one of you is going to have to drink a Pilsner Urquell. For all I know, it's the style: I've had lots of beers similar to it that tasted like what I can only imagine using weed as a tea would taste like, but this one went too far.  The only beer I suffered nearly as much to finish was a Point Special, and I (unfortunately) purchased a 6-pack, so I know that stuff just sucks.

Hopefully it was either a bad beer or one of you likes the style better than me.

The Wall's Contents (mostly)

Here's a list of (almost) everything we have on The Wall.  The first tally was done awhile ago, and without moving a lot of the beers, so there's a lot of stuff that hasn't been added to the list.  When we all come back to Milwaukee following the Holiday break we'll have at least 30 new beers, so pretty much everything is going to have to come off the wall.  

The list is currently ordered by brand, rather than brewery.  We may change that in the future so all the BMC stuff is grouped together.

Ale Asylum

Ambergeddon

Mercy

Anchor Steam

Anchor Steam

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Asahi

Avery Brewing
White Rascal

Baltika

No. 3

No. 4

No. 5

No. 6

No. 7

No. 8

Bell’s

Amber Ale

Batch 9000

Two Hearted Ale

Big Sky

Moose Drool

Black Boss

Black Toad

Blue Moon

Blue Moon Belgian White

Harvest Moon

Honey Moon

Pale Moon

Bohemia Classica

Breckenridge

Avalanche Amber Ale

Capital

Autumnal Fire

Blonde Doppelbock

Capital Pilsner

Island Wheat

Oktoberfest

Supper Club

Tett Doppelbock

Weitzen Doppelbock

Winter Skal

Wisconsin Amber

Carlsberg

Coor’s

Light

Dead Guy Ale

Rogue

Dos Equis

Amber

Lager Especial

Franziskaner

Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Holy Moses White Ale

Hacker-Pschorr

Oktoberfest

Weisse

Heineken

Hoegaarden

Leinenkugel’s

Classic Amber

Honey Weiss

Original

Summer Shandy

Sunset Wheat

Red Lager

Michelob

Shiner Bock

Ultra

Miller

Genuine Draft

Lite

Chill

Millstream Brewing

John’s Celebration White Ale

Shockolade Bock

Milwaukee Brewing Company

Louie’s Demise

Solomon Juneau Pale Ale

Mike's Hard Lemonade (it's technically beer...haha)

New Belgium

Fat Tire

Hoptoberfest

Sunshine

Newcastle

New Glarus

Spotted Cow

Stone Soup

Red Stripe

Samuel Adams

Blackberry Witbier

Boston Lager

Oktoberfest

Summer Ale

Winter Lager

San Miguel

Sendik’s

White Shark Wheat

Sigmund Snowpeck’s

Southern Tier

Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale

Sprecher

Classic Amber

Hefe Weisse

Irish Stout

Oktoberfest

Winter Brew

           

Stella Artois

Are we missing your favorite? Have an issue with Mike's being on the list? Let us know in the comments!

Review: Bitches Brew, Dogfish Head

Today for the Packers final regular season game, co-author Phin was thoughtful enough to bring over a big bottle of Bitches Brew by Dogfish Head.  Bitches Brew is a limited release (it's been brewed twice), and it was the subject of the first episode of Brew Masters.  Brew Masters is a show on the Discovery channel about Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware and a lot of the really interesting things they do with beer.  If you like beer, you need to check it out.  I realize that most people who read this blog are probably well aware of the show, but I figure you'll be willing to put up with a few sentences for the sake spreading the knowledge. 

After the first episode of the show, the three of us at the 441 agreed that we needed to get this beer if we had a chance.  Fortunately, Phin found it while he was looking through bottles at Woodmans Supermarket in Madison, Wisconsin. 

The beer poured a very dark brown color.  Very little light makes it through the glass, with a red tint around the edges of the glass.  It formed a very thick brown head--about halfway through my second glass I let it sit for awhile, and the head that formed from hitting my glass against a glass coaster stayed for a good 20 minutes. 

The beer hits your tongue with the same coffee/chocolatey taste that it gives off in the aroma, but there's a hint of the honey flavor.  The aftertaste is the strong coffee flavor.  It's very syrupy going down, but still has a good deal of drinkability considering the style and alcohol content.

This is a damn good beer, easily the best I've reviewed so far.  It's not exactly my style of beer, but I still like it a lot.  The price tag makes it so that I probably won't be getting it again anytime soon, but if it were available at a bargain I'd buy it in a heartbeat, and it's something that I think any craft beer lover should give a chance at least once.  I give it an A-.

Have you had Bitches Brew? Do you agree with my take? Let us know in the comments.

Additional Info:
Dogfish Head Profile
Bitches Brew on Beer Advocate
Bitches Brew on Rate Beer

Adventures with beer: Brennan's Market

Some of the best beer adventures come when you're not even looking for the stuff.

Last week my dad came home from Brennan's Food Market in Madison, Wisconsin. He bought  a couple bricks of cheese, a pound of potato salad and a beer called Schockolade Bock made by Millstream Brewing in Amana, Iowa.  I asked him about it, since I haven't seen many (or maybe any) beers from Iowa when I've looked at the selection at grocery stores in Milwaukee.

He told me that when he was looking at the beer there, they had a lot of different stuff.  Naturally, I had to take a look.  We hopped in the car and headed over.  I came home with a mixed 6 pack of little known craft brews.  Included in the mixed 6 were 2 beers that I'm planning on buying pretty regularly when I get a chance.  The best part of Brennan's is that all of their interesting mixed six packs are just $7.99.

Here's a list of the stuff I got in my mixed six pack:

John's Generations White Ale by Millstream Brewing Co. (a very good white ale flavored with orange peel and coriander--think Blue Moon, but a lot better)
Avery Brewing's White Rascal (another that I really liked, a white ale made with orange peel and coriander, but completely different tasting than the standard "white ale" flavor)
Beltian White Ale by Harvest Moon (a good white ale, once again in the style of Blue Moon.  Worth a try)
Tommyknocker's Jack Whacker Wheat Ale (a good white ale flavored with lemongrass)
Wild Fly Ale by Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. (a decent Amber Ale...not sure why it's called a Pale Ale on Beer Advocate)
Scuttlebutt Homeport Blonde (a Blonde Ale, very drinkable...take that however you want, bu)

While the selection isn't the best it's certainly interesting, and some of the lesser known brews are damn good.  If you get a chance, I'd recommend you check out Brennan's.

Additional info:
Brennan's homepage...though there's nothing about the beer.

Let us know about your favorite Hidden Beer Spots in the comments!