Day 549: The National, Weyerbacher Riserva. What Are Things I Really Like?

Friday night we hit the Mann Music Center for the National show. The band is touring in support of their new album Trouble Will Find Me. While it hasn't been winning acclaim like some of their past albums have, I do highly recommend it.

I like music that stirs emotion and the National does just that. Matt Berninger (lead singer) has a voice that rattles my soul. It's deep, pensive and flows like honey--except when he's given to a bit of screaming. Then it's just raw emotion and I feel like I shouldn't be looking at him/listening to him. Watching him perform is mesmerizing. Where the music seems to flow out of the other members of the National, it's like it's battling with Berninger to get out. Or to stay in...I'm not sure which really.

Mr. Blog Named Brew and I debated whether this was one of the best shows we've seen and I was decidedly on the "YES!" side of that argument. Each song felt weighty...building to a point where it exploded in a fit of joy, anger, mind bending  lyrics and finished leaving me wanting more...waiting excitedly for the next song to start. Sweet release. Over and over. Song after song. 

That desire for more was repeated when I opened up this bottle of Weyerbacher Riserva (2012)--recently named the best new beer at The Philadelphia Inquirer's 2013 Brew-vitational, an annual competition for local beers.

Riserva is an American wild ale with raspberry purée added and aged in oak barrels. As soon as the cork came out of the bottle, I knew I was in for a treat. I believe the first words out of my mouth after the first sip were, "Holy hell this is good!"

It poured a hazy ruby-tinted brown ale with a small pale tan head. It has a fresh fruit smell that isn't sweet..more organic. There's definitely raspberry in the nose and a little wood too. The flavor is tart fruit and tart raspberry specifically. It has lots of prickly carbonation up front, then a little sharpness but it quickly mellows out and gets very smooth. It's fruity and woody and seriously one of the better beers I've had in recent memory. It's going in the top 25!

It also weighs in at a whopping 11.4% ABV. Amazingly you don't notice the booziness at all.

Beer stats
Style: American wild ale
ABV: 11.4%
IBUs: Unknown
Rating: Excellent

Previously reviewed from Weyerbacher
His review of Riserva, Double Simcoe IPA
My review of Merry Monks

Beer 362: Top 25 Recap and St. Sebastian Dark

With just five beer reviews to go, I figured it was time to revisit my Top 25. OK, so right now it's starting off as a Top 48.  Whatever. Let's see what has made the cut.  

• Cascade Sang Noir
• Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout
• Youngs Double Chocolate Stout 
• Left Hand Milk Stout
• Russian River Supplication
• Brasserie Trois Dames Sainte Ni Touche (flanders red ale)
• Brew Dog Old World IPASt. Peter's Old Style Porter
• The Alchemist Heady Topper (double IPA)
• Cantillon Gueuze
• Aspall's Perronelle Blush (cider)
• North Coast Scrimshaw (pilsner)
• de Troch Lambrucha (sour)
• 3 Monts Grande Reserve (biere de garde)
• Firestone Walker 14th Anniversary Ale
• Mestreechts Aajt Flanders Oud Bruin
• Revolution Cider
• Saison d'Erpe Mere
• Uncommon Brewers Baltic Porter
• Emelisse Imperial Russian Stout
• Leelanau's Good Golden Harbor (biere de garde)
• Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura (sour stout)
• Petrus Aged Pale 
•  Leipziger Gose
• Abbaye du Val-Dieu Grand Cru Belgian Abbey Ale
• Duchesse de Bourgogne Flanders Red Ale
• Ommegang Aphrodite (fruit beer)
• Anchorage Love Buzz Saison 
• 1809 Berlinerweisse
• Allagash Interlude (wild ale) 

Oh hell. I've been editing that list for 25 minutes now and am just going to live with a Top 30.  So there. Previous contenders for Top 25: 

Three Floyds Gumball Head (pale wheat ale)

'na Biretta Rossa (bock)

Caracole Nostradamus (Belgian strong dark ale)

Oskar Blues Gubna (imperial IPA)
LoverBeer Madamin (sour) I admited it tasted a bit watery compared to other sours

Duvel Belgian Golden Ale

Delirium Tremens  Making more room...

Ayinger Weizen Bock

Chimay Grande Reserve

St. Somewhere Saison Athene Off the list...the review wasn't as enthusiastic as others.

Saison Dupont   I've had more unique saisons.

Schneider Weisse Mein Grunes (saison)  Something else had to go.

Urthel Hibernus Quentum (tripel)

Birrificio Bruton 10 (abbey ale)

Jack's Cider

New  Holland Dragon's Milk (stout)

Crispin Cider

del Ducato L'Ultima Luna (barleywine)

Wandering Aengus Anthem Cherry (cider)

Tonight's beer, which is good but not Top 30 material, is the St. Sebastian Dark from Brouwerij Sterkens in Belgium.  It's a dubbel with a 6.2% ABV.  It poured a very dark brown with a big fluffy tan head.  It smells like malt. The flavor is mild...cola and malt.  It has a rich mouthfeel with slightly prickly carbonation. There's light fruit in there too. I find it interesting that as I near the end of year one, one of the final beers of the blog was in the same style as the first blog beer.  I loved that beer then and I still love it.  Cheers.

Beer 360: Counting Down and Getting Nostalgic with Young's Double Chocolate Stout

I'm shocked that I'm up to #360 today. I've said this before, but this year has flown by in a blur of beer bottles, cans and drafts. I realize I'm the one writing the posts and trust me I have double-checked my counting on more than one occasion. But, wow, where does time go? How is it #360 already? Final tallies are being compiled so I have tons of proof to mark the past year. But still. Seriously.

Tonight's beer made me nostalgic for my childhood. Yes, my childhood. Bear with me...this all makes sense in my head. I'm drinking a Luxury Double Chocolate Stout from Wells & Young. It is a milk stout brewed in England with a 5.2% ABV.


This one is right up there with Left Hand's milk stout. The Young's pours black as night with a full, cocoa color head. It smells of chocolate and lightly roasted malts. The flavor and carbonation combine to remind me of a fizzy chocolate soda. There are also notes of lightly roasted coffee in there along with a nice general nuttiness. It's sweet but not sugary and very easy to drink.

And you wonder how this relates to my childhood? My grandmother always had Faygo soda in the fridge. If you're familiar with this brand, you'll know they made the most ridiculous flavors of soda. My go to Faygo? The chocolate, of course.

Cheers!

Beer 338: Three Floyds Gumball Head

I bought myself a cashmere cape. It has a lot of buttons and I'm not sure how to put it on exactly. And here I thought I was smart.

One thing I do know is a good beer when I taste one. And the Gumball Head from Three Floyds Brewing is an awesome beer. It's brewed in Indiana and is an American pale wheat ale. I'm fortunate to have gotten my hands on this one. Three Floyds only distributes to Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Thanks to a good friend who was willing to part with one of his last bottles!



First off the artwork on the label is phenomenal. Next the aroma. So good. It smells of strong, rich citrus hop with some pineapple and peach mixed in. The flavor is citrus hops, wheat and peach. It has a solid hop profile and is a very flavorful wheat beer.

If you've ever said you don't think wheat beer is for you, definitely find yourself a Gumball Head. It'll change your mind. This is a great beer and I wish I had more. Cheers!

Beer 308: Jack's Cider and Some Plans

I'm not wasting any of this glorious autumn Saturday sitting in front of the computer so today's post will be short and sweet.

What would be more appropriate on a day like today than a Jack's Hard Cider? While only producing hard cider since 2008, the operation that produces Jack's has been in business since 1907. It's located in Biglerville (Pennsylvania) -- a part of the state that is apple mecca.

If you're ever looking for something to do in early October...this weekend in fact...head over to the national apple festival near Arendtsville (Pennsylvania). It is exactly what autumn is all about. We were there a few years ago and I nearly overdosed on apple-based foods and drinks. It was heaven! The street light covers were apple shaped! And since the festival isn't too far from Biglerville, where Jack's is produced, you might as well stop there too. Sounds like a plan to me...

Back to the cider review.


Jack's Cider pours a very, very pale shade of yellow. It has lots carbonation, which is refreshing and not overwhelming. The smell is sliced apples. The taste is tart and tangy with a bit of earthiness. The sweetness is very low. This may be one of the better ciders I've had.

I'll rate it great and bid you adieu. Cheers!

Beer 298: 'na Bireta Rossa and a Good Font

I'm such a sucker for a unique bottle. Throw in a good font and I'm all yours! That's pretty much how the decision to buy this beer went. Ooh. Cool bottle. Ooh! Look that font! Buy all the beer!

Anyways I digress. Brewed by Birrificio Ostiense Artigianale in Italy, the 'na Bireta Rossa is a German bock beer with a 6.3% ABV.


It poured a medium, hazy brown with a dense tan head. I could smell the caramel from a few feet away. Closer inspection revealed the aroma of figs. It drinks with a full, thick mouthfeel. It tastes of slightly toasted malt, earl grey tea and finishes with just the tiniest bit of hop bite. There's also some milk chocolate in there too.

The origins of Bock beer are interesting. Back in medieval days German monasteries would brew a strong beer for sustenance during their Lenten fasts. Some people believe the style has a pagan influence and should only be brewed during the sign of the Capricorn goat, hence the goat being associated with Bock beers. Basically, this beer was a symbol of better times to come and moving away from winter. I'll call it a symbol of better times as we move toward winter.

This is an excellent beer. Cheers!

Beer 297: Trois Dames and a Pimp Paw

"Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do." —J.D.Salinger

Case in point: Last evening as we're getting ready for bed, Picasso was following Mr. Blog Named Brew around in anticipation of his bedtime cookie.  Picasso likes to sit directly behind whoever has the cookie and lift his front paw and sort of point with his stubby little dachshund paw. 

Last night's routine launched me into a rendition of Keep Your Pimp Paw Strong sung to the melody of the Howard Stern tribute Keep Your Pimp Hand Strong.  Video here; you can skip to about 1:06 for the actual video and you don't need to watch past 1:30.

Picasso is a soulful singer but he does gravitate toward some violent lyrics.  He may have threatened to smack his bitch (Gary) up. There was also something about a milk bone... Lucky for me, Gary continues to be entertained by me so I have that going.

Tonight's beer is a Flanders red ale called Sainte Ni Touche from Brasserie Trois Dames in Switzerland.  It has an ABV of 9%.  It poured a hazy shade of chestnut with a thin off white head.  

The smell was a mild balsamic vinegar.  The flavor is tart with mineral chalkiness.  It's sour and dry and very refreshing and easy to drink.  

This is an excellent beer and kudos to TJ's Everyday for putting it on draft!  Cheers.

Beer 296: Brew Dog Old World IPA

I thought I'd pick something nice and easy -- straightforward even -- for my brewery tonight. Turns out I pick the punk rock, crazed brewers at Brew Dog.

From the Brew Dog website: BrewDog is a post Punk apocalyptic mother fu*ker of a craft brewery. Say goodbye to the corporate beer whores crazy for power and world domination. Swear allegiance to the uncompromising revolution. Taste the hops, live the dream. Learn to speak beer, love fruit and never forget you come from a long line of truth seekers, movers and warriors - the outlaw elite. Ride toward anarchy and caramel craziness. Let the sharp bitter finish rip you straight to the tits. Save up for a Luger, and drill the bastards.

So yeah...there's that.

The Old World poured a slightly hazy deep amber with a thick tan head. It has an earthy, toasted aroma that asks to be drank on a chill night like this. There's also some underlying sweetness in the scent as well.


It drinks with a full mouthfeel. The flavor reminds of of buttered toast at first. It's woody and has a nice strong hop bite. As it warms a bit, I'm getting a lot more malt and a lot less typical IPA character. (7.5% ABV)

If one is a hardcore IPA drinker, this may not be for you. If you're like me, you'll consider the Old World IPA an excellent beer.

Cheers!

Beer 285: St. Peter's Old Style Porter, Doubt and Confusion

Let me give you a little insight into what's been happening in my head for the past 48 hours. I've been freaking out about an event I'm planning in early October. I'm building a freaking party venue in the middle of a very large, grass field. I now know a nice restroom trailer will cost $3,600. A fancy tent upwards of $30,000. I'm helping plan electric hook ups and substations. Huh? I'm terrified I'll have to drive the garden cart. I know my building like the back of my hand. I am going to be so very far away from my building that night...
Then my friend Amanda tweets this message this morning...perfectly summing up my head space: Currently floating in that unnamed place between brief flickers of confidence, overwhelming inadequacy + all consuming self-doubt.
My brief flickers of confidence included a strong desire for someone to buy me this Oscar de la Renta dress...




...because I would rock that dress. And I promise I'll smile when I wear it!
Tonight's beer is the Old Style Porter from St. Peter's Brewery. I admit I was first attracted to it because of the cool bottle.




It's that yellow green glass that I usually associate with wine bottles. That paired with the fact that it was a porter pretty much guaranteed that it was coming home with me. It poured almost black with only the faintest bit of light infiltrating at the edges where a deep brown cola color was revealed. Its head was very thick and dense and tan. It's brewed in Suffolk, England at a site that dates back to 1280!
It smells of chocolate cream, licorice and toast. The taste is anise, vanilla and has a slight hop bite. At 5.1% ABV, it was very easy and enjoyable to drink. This is a very good beer.
Cheers!

Beer 281: Crispin Hard Cider

What a weekend. Great tailgate. Great Penn State football game. Great weather. The mornings feel like football weather and that makes me so very happy.


What doesn't make me happy? I am an old woman and absolutely EXHAUSTED by the tomfoolery of the weekend. As in the kids in the yard next door didn't wake me up even with all their ridiculous screaming. Why must kids scream on the top of their lungs over everything? Shut up.

You know what would be perfect on a day like today? Crispin Cider Company's Artisanal Reserve Honey Crisp hard cider. It's described on the label as smooth and crisp with organic honey (6.5% ABV). It poured the palest of yellows with a medium carbonation. It smells of fresh green earth and, obviously, apples.

The flavor is light, tart apple with hints of honey. It finishes semidry with a nice tartness. This is one of the better ciders I've had -- decidedly not sugary sweet with a good amount of tartness. Perfect for the early fall weather.

Now I'm going to go yell at kids to get off my lawn. Cheers!

Beer 276: The Gubna and September 11 Ramblings

I'm of the mind that if you're going to claim patriotism on one day, you really need to follow through the other 364 days. I'll also admit that I'm not the most patriotic person in the country. I've freely stated on more than one occasion that my fellow citizens embarrass me. Or so I thought.

Today started quite normal except for the fact that me and the Army of Dachshunds were on our own for wake up call, breakfast and the rest of the morning routine. Without someone else to trip over in the morning, I'm pretty efficient and found that me and the guys had time for breakfast outside. If you weren't out at 7am today, treat yourself to it tomorrow morning. It is GLORIOUS this week. I even remarked to Sal how beautiful and perfect it was. He agreed if that's what dropping a deuce in my flower bed means.

I headed off to work and that's when it hit me. It's September 11 and the day looked eerily similar to the one eleven years ago. Only I noticed how clear and so very blue the sky was much earlier...something I didn't notice eleven years ago until I was trying to figure out how to get from Philadelphia to my home. My mind wandered the way one's mind wanders when thinking about such a terrible event and I flipped on the radio for distraction. And that's when I turned into a patriotic blubbering mess.

God rest her soul...that Whitney Houston could sing the national anthem.

There was so much encouragement on the radio and online to spend time today doing something for someone else. Isn't that the way you should always conduct yourself? If you don't look out for others, do something kind for others, then doesn't that mean you're only looking out for yourself? And if you're only looking out for yourself, you're probably being a dick. And that goes against my philosophy of life: Don't be a dick.

So on this 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, don't be a dick and carry that with you from September 12 to September 10. You'll thank me for it.

My other advice for today...drink a Gubna from Oskar Blues Brewery. Gubna is an imperial IPA (10% ABV) brewed in Longmont, Colorado. The name of their tasting room is The Tasty Weasel. I've been there and it is awesome. Plus they do a great tour...very thorough.


The Gubna poured a deep, hazy orangey brown with a white head. It left lots of lacing inside the glass as I happily made my way to the bottom. The smell was a little off putting...kind of skunk-like. The taste is resinous and woody. It had some floral hop to it and a fantastic brown spiciness. I can't put my finger on the best word to describe the spice. Maybe something that goes into chili to give it a earthiness but not heat? Does that make sense to anyone? Hello?

Having been to Oskar Blues in person and having sampled many of their beers, I was surprised at how much I liked this one over all the others. I'll give the Gubna a very good.

Cheers!

Beer 271: Heady Topper and Naked Topper

I am strangely dumbfounded by the number of people I see driving around without shirts on. I could almost understand it on a warm Saturday afternoon. Maybe you just went swimming or worked outside all day...ok. But at 7:45am on a Thursday? In a car on the highway? That is just weird.

I'll contrast my musings on naked-on-toppers with a can of Heady Topper.

Brewed in Vermont by The Alchemist, Heady Topper is a double IPA with an ABV of 8%. The label suggested that I drink it from the can so I did. Evidently that preserves the hop aroma. The can also suggests avoiding being a d-bag by recycling the can. I have to assume that the brewer John Kimmich has something to do with these suggestions. That makes me really like him.

This beer also really makes me like John Kimmich. This beer makes me think he's a genius. It smells of pine and resin. Maybe some citrus? Curiosity got the better of me and I ended up pouring a tiny sample into a glass to find out what color it is. Bright golden yellow in fact.



The flavor is potent...to say the Heady-Topper is hoppy is an understatement. But it strikes a balance between lots of hops and the extreme punch you in the throat over-hopped beers. This double IPA finds the exact level of hop that makes a beer a winner in my book.

I also noted grapes and pineapple as I was savoring it and also remarked on the nice dry finish it had. This beer is best enjoyed fresh. I'm not sure how old this can is...definitely a few months since we took possession of it. Is it better closer to the canning date? Hopefully I'll luck into another can soon and will report back.

This is a very good beer. Go out and find yourself a friend in Vermont and enjoy one yourself. Sadly The Alchemist saves all the goodness for the citizens of Vermont exclusively. Cheers!

Beer 267: Three Things Including Caracole Nostradamus

I'm thinking about three things this gloomy Sunday.

1. There is a whole lot of you who read the blog and seemed genuinely interested in it. That is a pretty awesome feeling. Although best comment of the day goes to someone who doesn't read it. "I see that you write that blog. I don't read it. But I notice that you write it." I'm paraphrasing wildly but have to share because it cracked me up. I love brutal honesty.

2. Penn State football. Going into yesterday's game, there were times that I thought, of course, we're going to beat Ohio University. Who doesn't beat the Ohio University Bobcats? There were moments that I was convinced there was just too much pressure on a young team and we'd choke and spend the afternoon embarrassing ourselves.

The result was pretty overwhelmingly the latter but there were a lot of glimmers of hope. Those moments of clarity where things clicked and all was not lost. But the team couldn't string enough of those moments together and those darn Bobcats won the day. It is going to be a long season. It is going to be a roller coaster of a season. And I am going to love every moment of it.

3. Beer. Although for the past eight or so months, it's challenging to pinpoint a time when I'm not thinking about beer.

Today's beer: Caracole Nostradamus - a Belgian strong dark ale brewed in Belgium that weighs in at 9% ABV.


It poured an almost black brown color with a very thick, dense tan head. Based on the beer's smell, I knew I was going to love it. I may even have declared that I needed a spoon so I could eat the head like ice cream! It was creamy and tart sweet.

The smell was toasty bourbon with caramel and some spice. It drank with a medium mouthfeel that was lightened by the carbonation. The flavor had anise, roasted malt, caramel and molasses. As it warmed up a bit, hints of lemon and raisin came through. This is an excellent beer.

Cheers!

Beer 254: Cantillon Gueuze

I have not been kind to myself these past few days and it's catching up to me.  SourFest, extra spicy pad Thai, three courses of Creole deliciousness, every pickled vegetable known to mankind, chili for lunch and chili for dinner.  That sums up what I've consumed in the past three days. Perhaps it's not my allergies making my eyes itch like crazy...they just may be melting from the inside out from all the spiciness.  Tomorrow I swear I'm eating nothing but iceberg lettuce.

Saturday's SourFest kicked off with a Cantillon Gueuze. This is the holy grail of gueuzes. Check out the process to come up with a finished product here. That is a whole lot of care and craft and you can taste it in every sip!  The Cantillon Gueuze poured a bright beautiful gold color with a white head that settled down rather quickly.  It had a smell that was earth and minerals.  The taste was dry with lemon tartness.  There's mineral notes and some additional tart fruit...like a very green apple. It's very light to drink and the carbonation is perfection -- bubbly but not aggressive.

This is the standard bearer for the genre. Cheers!

Beer 250: Haters Gonna Hate, But Not on Urthel Tripel

Penn State dropped this tidbit of information in a PR release yesterday:

Penn State ranked among top 50 world universities

Wednesday, August 15, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has released its 2012 ranking of the top 100 world-class universities and has ranked Penn State at No. 49. Penn State is one of 53 highest-ranking institutions in the United States, 30 in Europe and 17 among Japan, Israel, Canada and Australia. Penn State is one of five Big Ten universities and one of only two Pennsylvania schools to make the top 50.

Researchers at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University conduct the annual ARWU ranking using six objectives. According to its website, these are: “the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.”

Researchers also break down rankings by some individual fields. Engineering at Penn State ranks 11th in the world, while Penn State’s social sciences ranks 23rd, economics and business is 33rd, physics is 37th and natural sciences/mathematics is 44th worldwide. Penn State mathematics, chemistry and life/ag sciences are in a group ranking of the top 51 to 75 programs in the world.

The complete ARWU list is here and detailed methodology can be found here.

But wait! The NCAA told me -- and the world -- that football was the only thing that mattered at Penn State.  How could our engineering program rank 11th in the world? IN THE WORLD!?! In a nation that is failing to educate its students in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math), how could Penn State be excelling like this? Perhaps it's because football is not the end all, be all.

Maybe, just maybe, Penn State should be lauded for having a cadre of educators who can impact the abysmal state of STEM education.  Perhaps everyone needs to lay off the Joe Paterno was a pedophile / kill Penn State football / fine the hell out of all of us rhetoric to step back and realize what an amazing institution Penn State is in the Commonwealth and the nation...and the world.

(puts her soapbox away and takes a chill pill...)

Tonight we're drinking multiple beers because I have nothing in my back pocket for use in a non-beer drinking emergency.  It's a scary place to be if you're writing about a new brewery every single night. I'm planning on rectifying that situation at TJ's in Paoli tonight.  I may also try to lure Gary into a little Quizzo.

For the review, let's talk Urthel Hibernus Quentum -- a tripel ale from De Leyerth Brouwerijen in Flanders, Belgium. It poured a hazy apricot color with a bit of head that was off white in color.  The nose is fruit and honey. The flavor is more rich and mellow honey. The mouthfeel is full. There's a strong malt profile but also a warm, straight out of the oven bread thing happening. The flavor also has some fruit to it, but there's also a tartness that I really like.  This tripel is just different enough to warrant a place in my top 25.

Interesting note: If you see a bottle of this anywhere, BUY IT. This beer was originally brewed as a seasonal beer and after a number of years has been retired. I have no idea where we bought this bottle.  Rats.

Cheers!

Beer 240: Aspall Perronelle's Blush

Having a name like mine leads to many, many mispronunciations. The most common is over-Italianizing it. Lately opentable.com has renamed me Marc. Odd but I go with it. Usually people don't willingly offer up a mispronunciation of their own name, but that's exactly what I did a few years ago. I was ordering a gift certificate and the gentleman asked for my name as it appeared on my credit card. I gave him my full name...he pauses. I suppose he was trying to figure out the spelling. His next question was, "Like the wine?". I don't know where my brain was at the time, but I figured sure like the wine. There had to be an Italian vineyard somewhere named Marcella, right?

Fast forward to this morning when I picked up a call at work. It was my dentist's office auto reminder calling about tomorrow's appointment for Marsala. Yup, just like the wine. You should always start the day with hysterical laughter. It makes the rest of the day so much better.

It's been a good day and I'm in the mood for something fun and fruity. I think the Perronelle's Blush from Aspall fits the bill nicely. Plus it's from England so I get the Olympic tie in as well.

Aspall has been brewing ciders for eight generations. Trust me. They definitely know what they're doing. Perronelle's Blush is an English draft cider blended with a dash of blackberry juice.


It's the perfect blend of sweet and tart. It's crisp apple with some wine-like characteristics. It pours a beautiful clear claret and is rather still in the glass. The aroma is very reminiscent of a good rosé. This is probably one of the best ciders I've had on this adventure. Cheers!

Beer 227: Little White Lies, Scrimshaw and Beer

You know that point during your doctor's appointment where they ask how much you drink? You say three to five drinks per week and the doctor multiplies it by a number that adds back what you took out because you didn't want to sound like a booze hound. Well today I told my doctor I drink every night and then volunteered that it's only really good craft beer because that makes it better and that it's also for my blog about beer. At least I didn't get a list of the local AA meetings.

And as if I needed to provide more evidence, this photo is of today's beer and my pregame snack.


What game am I pregaming for? Tuesday night dinner at Teresa's Next Door for their Russian River tap takeover. And you know how I feel about Russian River's beer!

So here I sit with my North Coast Scrimshaw pilsner biding my time until I can head over to Teresa's.

The Scrimshaw poured a deep golden color...a lot darker than a typical pilsner. It had a thick white head that stuck around and lots of carbonation. It smells grainy. I'm guessing that's the barley. The flavor is well rounded -- barley, hops, very clean and crisp. Some biscuit in the flavor as well.

I'm usually not a big fan of pilsners but this one is awesome. Since I don't think I have any others in my top 25, this one makes that list. And my wait for dinner got much, much better Cheers!

Beer 225: Lambrucha is for Me!

Today I'm drinking a crazy mash-up of Belgian ale and kombucha.  It's brewed by Brouwerij de Troch and imported by Vanberg & Dewulf. De Troch is in Belgium and Vanberg & Dewulf is in Cooperstown (NY).

From the Vanberg & Dewulf website:


Lambrucha is the first time that two different types of live yeast drinks have been blended together to create a completely new live yeast beverage. Lambrucha combines hand-selected house Lambics that are a minimum of one year old, and specially brewed organic Belgian kombucha.  Kombucha has been enjoyed in Central Asia for millennia. A deliciously tart effervescent beverage is created by pitching a mushroom into tea and letting it ferment. Kombucha is renowned for its pro-biotic, health-giving benefits. Lambic is the legendary spontaneously fermenting beer from the Senne River Valley in Belgium. Lambic contains some 500 different yeasts. Lambic is the signature contribution to brewing science practiced for centuries in Belgium.


At 3.5% alcohol by volume, Lambrucha certainly is closer to beer than tea—but we think it makes more sense to describe it as “two great yeast cultures, one great drink.”


(From Marci) It poured an opaque straw color with tons of bubbles and a full white head. It smells like brine -- actually reminds me of pickled vegetables -- and a bit herbal.  The taste is some serious lemon tartness.  In the background, there's a green, grassy taste...maybe even something mint.  The high carbonation level leaves a crisp, clean feeling in my mouth.  


The Lambrucha is definitely a unique beverage and I would guess that not everyone is going to love it. I've never had anything that tastes quite like it but I'm already in love with it.  And at 3.5% ABV, it is very sessionable, which I'm about to do. I wonder how mad Gary is going to be when I go steal his glass?

Cheers!

Beer 224: Wandering Aengus Cider

It's happy hour somewhere, isn't it? After hauling my sorry ass out of bed at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday to put in 24 miles on my bike and then running errands for the rest of the morning, think I deserve a mid afternoon beer...or cider.

The Anthem Cherry cider from Wandering Aengus Ciderworks is a magnificent cider.


It poured a bright and clear ruby color without any head. It smells like white wine, which is throwing me for a loop. Nothing about that color or the fact that it's made from apples would ever hint at such a dominant wine aroma. But there it is. Anthem is a traditional cider fermented on northwest cherries. It is tart -- very tart -- with just enough sweetness to make it delicious and quite easy to drink. There's underlying apple flavor with hints of cherry in the taste. It's super crisp. I love it.

Into the top 35 it goes! Cheers!

Beer 222: 3 Monts Grande Reserve

I am 100% addicted to Breaking Bad.  All this week it's been my singular focus.  Well that and beer, of course.  It's been all come home, eat dinner, write a post and glue myself to the television.  I imagine that season 4 will be in the bag in another couple of days and then it's a torturous year waiting for season 5 to be released on DVD or Netflix.  So with that in mind, here is your beer update for day 222.

We're visiting France on this review -- a country that doesn't scream beer to me.  The 3 Monts Grande Reserve from Brasserie de Saint Sylvestre is a biere de garde. It's a style that is becoming one of my favorites.  But this was no ordinary biere de garde...


















Check out that set up. I've never seen anything like that.  It was a giant, and I mean GIANT, staple/hinge hybrid craziness.  It had dented the cork and I'm not sure if that was intentional or unintentional.  Lucky for everyone involved no one lost an eye loosening that contraption.

















The 3 Monts Grande Reserve poured a not quite clear but not fully hazy amber liquid.  It had a very loose, slightly off white head and remnants of the head clung in puffy chunks all around the glass.  It smelled of sugar and malt and biscuits.  The taste was a bit peppery. It morphed into creamy malt with a bite at the end.  It also had some tart fruit notes and was just a tiny bit musty.  After all that it did manage to finish surprisingly crisp.

Realizing that my top 25 is now a top 35, I hesitate to add it to the list.  But I really, really enjoyed this beer. In it goes!

Cheers!