The Beer Log: 2007
Submitted by Cosgrove on Mon, 01/08/2007 - 08:19
Tags:
- (25 Mar) Sam Adams White Ale, 12 oz draft (x2)
- (25 Mar) Yuengling Lager, 12 oz. draft (x2)
- (22 Mar) Yuengling Black & Tan, 12 oz. bottle (x2)
- (22 Mar) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, 12 oz. bottle
- (21 Mar) Dogfish Head Immort Ale '03, 12 oz. bottle [Oddly flat at the outset, but once it opens up it transforms into a rich vanilla bomb with little indication of the copious alcohol; the time did this one up nicely]
- (19 Mar) Wittekerke Bergian Wheat Ale, 12 oz. can
- (17 Mar) Yuengling Black & Tan, 12 oz. bottle (x2)
- (17 Mar) Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale '06, 12 oz. bottle [What the hell happened to this beer? It used to be real nice, but now it's weak and barely quaffable.]
- (17 Mar) Yuengling Lager, 22 oz. bottle [Solid standby in the cheap-domestic category]
- (17 Mar) Wittekerke Belgian Wheat Ale, 12 oz. can
- (16 Mar) New England Brewing Company Three Judges Barleywine '04
- (13 Mar) Saranac Chocolate Amber Ale, 12 oz. bottle
- (13 Mar) Moylan Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale, 22 oz. bottle
- (12 Mar) Oskar Blues Old Chub Scotch Ale, 12 oz. can
- (9 Mar) Yuengling Black & Tan, 12 oz. bottle
- (9 Mar) Tuborg Danish Lager, 12 oz. bottle
- (7 Mar) Maredsous 8, 11.2 oz. bottle
- (7 Mar) Maredsous 10, 11.2 oz. bottle
- (6 Mar) Southampton May Bock, 22 oz. bottle
- (5 Mar) Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA, 22 oz. bottle [Initially quite good, with a strong, sharp hop wallop, but finishes with the odd, coppery taste I associate with mediocre, poorly-balanced pales]
- (4 Mar) Taj Mahal Lager, 22 oz. bottle
- (3 Mar) Yuengling Black & Tan, 12 oz. bottle (x2)
- (6 Feb-2 Mar) Lots of stuff, some of which I remember, most of which I don't. Memory hole + laziness = imperfect list. :-(
- (5 Feb) Spanish Peaks Black Dog Ale, 1 oz. sample [Better than expected - this brewery's Honey Raspberry Ale is in my bottom five beers of all time - but still nothing special]
- (5 Feb) Peak Brewing Organic Nut Brown Ale, 1 oz. sample [Bland brews like this are what give organic product a bad name. Stick with Wolaver's.]
- (5 Feb) The Hartford Better Beer Co. Arch Amber Awesome Ale, 1 oz. sample [Calling this weak amber 'awesome' is something of a reckless exaggeration, at least to this IPA/stout-loving palate]
- (4 Feb) Saranac Bock Dark Lager, 12 oz. bottle [*shrug*]
- (4 Feb) Guinness Extra Stout, 16 oz. draft
- (3 Feb) Guinness Extra Stout, 12 oz. bottle
- (2 Feb) Yuengling Black & Tan, 12 oz. bottle
- (2 Feb) Brahma Beer, 12 oz. bottle [Like what Corona what be if Corona aspired to be a real beer]
- (1 Feb) Great Divide Hercules Double IPA, 12 oz. bottle [Surprisingly mellow given its ABV and IBU level -- I'd quaffed three-quarters of the bottle before realizing it. These guys are doing some special stuff, it seems, and I wish their beer was easier to find.]
- (31 Jan) Bass Pale Ale, 12 oz. bottle (x2)
- (30 Jan) Boulder Planet Porter, 12 oz. bottle [Rich, highly drinkable porter]
- (29 Jan) Smuttynose Winter Ale '05, 12 oz. bottle [Strange, apparently a hybrid between a winter porter and a smoke beer - whatever it is, it's unsuccessful]
- (29 Jan) Saranac Belgian Style Ale, 12 oz. bottle [Weak-kneed junk]
- (28 Jan) Captain Lawrence Double IPA, 16 oz. draft
- (27 Jan) Tuborg Danish Ale, 12 oz. bottle
- (27 Jan) Yuengling Black & Tan, 12 oz. bottle
- (26 Jan) Sam Adams Double Bock '05, 12 oz. bottle [My second favorite Sam seasonal behind the Octoberfest, and coming along nicely a year on]
- (23 Jan) Yuengling Black & Tan, 12 oz. bottle (2x)
- (22 Jan) Kasteel Gouden Triple d'Or Belgian Ale, 11.2 oz bottle [Sneaky strong ale; modest flavor but the 11% ABV wallops you halfway through]
- (22 Jan) Beamish Irish Stout, 16 oz. can
- (21 Jan) Saranac Black Forest Bavarian Style Beer, 12 oz. bottle [Don't know about Bavaria, but this is one of Saranac's better offerings]
- (20 Jan) Forgotten Belgian blonde, 25 oz. bottle [Sharp, pleasing ale; wish I could remember its name - I'll figure it out, though]
- (19 Jan) Kapittel Watou Pater Abbey Ale, 11.2 oz. bottle [Tinny, flaccid excuse for an abbey ale - I actually kinda hope that this bottle was skunked, 'cause I'd hate to think that it's actually supposed to taste like that]
- (19 Jan) Rock Art American Red Ale, 12 oz. bottle [Not bad]
- (18 Jan) Tuborg Danish Ale, 12 oz. bottle
- (18 Jan) Captain Lawrence Double IPA, 16 oz. draft [Imposing yet enticing big-hop ale; I think I'm starting to like this brewery]
- (13 Jan) Rogue Dad's Little Helper Malt Liquor, 22 oz. bottle [A dubious achievement: A first-rate brewery applying all their expertise and know-how to perfectly recreate the kind of really cheap beer their fathers drank. Not that I necessarily dislike Pabst Blue Ribbon, but I don't wanna be paying five bucks a bottle for it, ya know?]
- (12 Jan) Brookyln Brewery Brooklyner Weisse Beer, 12 oz. bottle [Nice front, nice finish, but where's the middle?]
- (11 Jan) Tuborg Danish Ale, 12 oz. bottle
- (10 Jan) Rock Art Mountain Holidays in Vermont Rich Creamy Bock Lager '06, 22 oz. bottle [Rich and creamy, indeed; fades midway through, as this brewery's beers are apt to do, but still pretty good]
- (9 Jan) De Dolle Arabier, 11.6 oz bottle [Sharp, fizzy ale, similar to a Belgian blonde; quite enjoyable]
- (9 Jan) Killian's Irish Red Lager, 12 oz. bottle [A solid perennial]
- (8 Jan) Stone Coast Batch 420 India Pale Ale, 12 oz. bottle [Nothing special]
- (8 Jan) Amstel Light, 12 oz. bottle [Better than Heineken, at least]
- (8 Jan) Avery India Pale Ale, 2 oz. sample [Solid IPA]
- (8 Jan) Avery White Rascal Belgian-Style Wheat Ale, 2 oz. sample [Weak white ale; isn't this brewery better than half-assed efforts like this?]
- (7 Jan) Samuel Smith Pale Ale, 12 oz. bottle [Unusual pale ale, mild on the hops and possessing a unique, almost smoky/coppery aftertaste; not my favorite Sam Smith, but a decent quaff]
- (6 Jan) Samuel Adams Holiday Porter, 12 oz. bottle [Sturdy porter, modest but likeable; the best thing about Sam's Winter Variety Pack]
- (3 Jan) St. Bernardus Abt 12, 12 oz. bottle [Rich, velvet-smooth, tasty as get-out: I think I'm in love!]
- (3 Jan) Saranac Imperial IPA, 12 oz. bottle [Hop monster!]
- (2 Jan) Unnamed homebrew IPA, indeterminate sample [One of our salespeople created a homebrew for a contest and was nice enough to let us try it. It was pretty good for a first effort -- a little mild for my tastes but possessing a decent balance of hops and alcohol]
Author Comments:
Bold = Beat up your best friend to drink it
Italics = Beat up the guy who made it
Most beers will fall in between those two designations -- an unmarked entry could still be well-liked, or it could be undistinguished. All listed sample sizes are estimates (I'm not so obsessive that I have to measure my samples).
Also, because I tend to buy my beer in mass quantities, there's a third classification that I'll run up on a couple times a year:
Red = Spoilt, skunky or otherwise undrinkable for reasons not pertaining to quality
Now, let's continue with the liquid worship...
Cloned From:
I think I drank my St. Bernardus too cold. It was smooth, but the flavors weren't there. It didn't taste like anything, really. I should've let it warm up to get more of the flavors. The problem with my fridge is there's some stuff I want to keep really cold and then there's beer. I guess I need a special beer fridge.
That will happen -- of all the styles of beer I've been privy to, I've found that abbey ales have their flavors repressed the most by a chill. I keep mine in a fridge, but before drinkin', I let 'em warm up a bit. (It helps that I'm a sipper and not a quaffer.)
With all the big-ABV beers I've been sampling this winter, I've become much more of a sipper than a quaffer.
Did you see my Beer-A-Day Challenge on LJ? I'm going to see if I can try 365 new beers this year, one a day. I have a bit of catching up to do, but I'm on it.
That's a hell of a challenge, man. Are there even 365 beers available in your area that you haven't tried yet? I'll be following the progress with anticipation, of course... :-)
I forgot to tell you that I drank my bottle of Westvleteren 12 on New Year's Eve ... afterwards, I had to smoke a cigarette.
Tol' ya, didn't I?
Dude...don't tell me you haven't had a beer since 3/25.
Nah, I don't update this anymore. I can't keep up with my own anal tendencies. Bleah.
It's funny, I don't find Corona and Brahma all that different - I'm a fan of both, and I find them interchangable. Perhaps I just have yet to be proper connoisseur of Latin beers.
Might I recommend Strongbow? It's a current favorite of mine - it's not too sweet, and not too dry, and it has a very cool, crisp, refreshing taste. It's only good on tap - pretty mediocre in a bottle, and awful in a can (and only good cold - it's perhaps the worst beer around to drink warm).