Old and Cold

Day #713 Old Rasputin / North Coast Brewing Company, Fort Bragg, CA
Previously from this brewery:

Hustle day, as tomorrow is the last home game in the 2013 Penn State football season.  Hard to believe that we're closing out another season of football and tailgating; feels like it just started.  This season has definitely not gone according to plan, but I guess that's about par for the course.  I do hope the stadium is somewhat filled, and the seniors go out with a win.  They deserve it.  We all deserve a win.

Keeping up with the trend of old beers that spent a good, long time in the fridge and equally old reviews, today's offering is a bottle of Old Rasputin from North Coast.  Black hue with a fluffy tan head, aromas of roasted malt and coffee, and flavors of malt, chocolate, cola, and tons of roasted malt.  Smooth and silky texture, too.  Little too much coffee for me to be a fan, but I can appreciate that this is a well made beer.

From Russia, with suds

Thing to Think About Today:
Old Rasputin gets you the Four Tops, and Same Old Song.  Because nothing says "indestructible Russian mystic" like some smooth Motown.  Just enjoy and don't think about it too much.  Have a good Friday, all....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS2nWLz-AbE

Sigh.

Beer #708 PranQster / North Coast Brewing Company, Fort Bragg, CA
Previously from this brewery:  yes, indeed

Today started early and is ending later than I wanted, with a free tow truck ride in the middle (thanks, car!). Let's just pretend today didn't entirely happen and just talk about beer, okay?

Thanks.

Tonight's pour is a bottle of PranQster, a Belgian pale ale from North Coast Brewing.  You see a dark gold color with next to no head, and you pick up aromas of banana and clove.  When you take a sip, you get fruit esters, banana, some light clove, and mild peppery spice on the finish.  Really enjoyable beer, and well worth your effort if you see it on a shelf or tap handle near you.

No pranks

Thing to Think About Today:
Short and sweet.  Tom Petty, Breakdown, in honor of my car and its ever so finicky transmission.  Fitting. See you soon.... although hopefully I see my car again sooner.

Day 698: North Coast Pranqster

That is the North Coast Pranqster, a Belgian style golden ale. It pours a nice, bright gold color with very little to no head. It smells of bread dough but not much else. (Not sure if that's the beer's fault. I'm suffering some major allergies right now.) The flavor is grassy with a fizzy, yeasty tang. It has a big, round mouthfeel. There's also a good amount of pepper with hints of lemon. I wish there was another one waiting for me in the fridge tonight.

Beer stats

Style: Belgian style golden ale

ABV: 7.56%

IBUs: 20

Rating: Great

Previously reviewed from North Coast

Brother Thelonius (abbey ale)

More Brother Thelonius

Scrimshaw review from me and a Scrimshaw from the Mr. 

Day 640: North Coast Brother Thelonious

I would really like to ask the people involved in the three separate accidents I saw on a quarter mile stretch of my commute what happened. The accidents appeared to be completely unrelated to each other. The weather was perfectly fine. Did someone forget how to drive? Were they caused by one of the dicks I encounter on a pretty regular basis who can't be bothered with speed limits, turn signals, ability to read traffic signs and common courtesy? I suppose I'll never know.

Instead of ruminating on how it took me 90 minutes to travel 17 miles, let's talk beer.

This is North Coast Brewing Company's Brother Thelonious Belgian style abbey ale from the American Artisan Series. For every bottle sold, North Coast makes a donation to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in support of jazz education. I'm drinking beer. I'm doing good. My day is totally turned around!

It poured a ruby-tinged deep brown ale with a medium tan head. It smells of molasses and roasted, dark fruit. The flavor is interesting...cinnamon, plums, bitter chocolate. Every few sips the dark plummy part tasted a bit more on the unripe side. There's lots of complexity to this beer. And despite all that flavor, it had a thin mouthfeel and was easy to drink.

Beer Stats
Style: Belgian style abbey ale
ABV: 9.4%
IBUs: 32
Rating: Good

Previously from North Coast
Scrimshaw review from me, a Scrimshaw from the Mr. and his take on Brother Thelonious

Jazzy

Day #561 Brother Thelonious / North Coast Brewing Company, Fort Bragg, CA
Previously from this brewery: Scrimshaw, and more Scrimshaw

Wrapping up the weekend and my brain has nothing to say today.  Guess I used up all of my thoughts in trying to figure out Marion Barry vs. marionberry in yesterday's post.

Closing things out this weekend with a bottle of Brother Thelonious from North Coast Brewing.  This Belgian strong dark ale pours with a bright mahogany hue and a wispy white head.  Your nose finds aromas of malt and plums, and when you take a sip you get flavors of plum, apple, bread, and candi sugar.  Very interesting flavor, almost verging towards a barley wine sort of vibe.  Maybe not the best way to quench your thirst on a warm summer day, but certainly worth a try.

Jazz hands!

From their website: "North Coast Brewing Co. is proud to partner with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in support of Jazz education. The Brewery makes a donation to the Institute for every bottle of Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale sold."  See?  Buying beer is good for society!

Thing to Think About Today:
A beer that supports jazz music education obviously warrants some jazz in this space, but in an effort to continually keep you on your toes, I'm going to use a mashup of legendary jazz pianist Count Basie...... and non-jazz legend Busta Rhymes.  Trust me, it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4Z524p2Pbs

"Wooo hah!"

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!

Whales and Motown

Beer #44 Scrimshaw  / North Coast Brewing Company, Fort Bragg, CA
Keeping it brief today.  Still sad about yesterday's news, and trying to get my hustle on today.  Right into the beers:

Today's sample comes from North Coast, their Scrimshaw Pilsner.  Scrimshaw, of course, is art made from the bones or teeth of whales.  Thankfully, no whales were involved in the production of this beer.  This beer has a nice hops/barley taste, with some floral notes sneaking in.  Although not very complex, this is a good beer - nice and easy drinking.  I could definitely seeing this beer make an appearance at a tailgate next summer/fall.

Thing to Think About Today:
Probably should have used Moby Dick (one of my favorite books) for the thing to think about today, but I felt  like I was a little too hard on Detroit in my earlier post.  Obviously, a lot of great music came out of Motown through the years.  More recently from Detroit, Mayer Hawthorne has appeared on the scene delivering a contemporary take on that old sound.  And he does so very well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAxBdYM8opg

How can you listen to that and not feel good?  Great summer time music, that song.  We were fortunate to catch him live two years ago at The Roots Picnic, and he's fantastic.  Check him out if you get the chance.