Let the Awards Begin!

Day #369 The Angel's Share / The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Previously from this brewery: Avant Garde Ale

I promised some awards, and I'm starting out with one of the landslide winners - but not in a good way.  First award for the 366 challenge is: Worst Label Art.

Really, from the minute I spotted this beer, it was only a question of who was going to finish in second place.  There are no other nominees in this category, in fact.  As craft beer continues to explode in popularity, branding is becoming an increasingly important aspect.  If you think about it, as shelves get more crowded with different beers and breweries, what a beer looks like is certainly going to be important to catch a buyer's eye.  I freely admit I buy wine primarily based on the label, so I'm sure people do this with beer.

With this in mind..... (drum roll please)... the title of Worst Label Art goes to: Laverstoke Park Farm. Their creepy, cartoon, drawn by a drunken seven year old label is without a doubt the worst thing I saw all year.  Shame, too, as I thought the beer was decent.  Note to craft brewers: if you drew your beer label in MS Paint, you did something tragically wrong.

Soooo not good.

With our first award taken care of, let's move on to tonight's beer, the Angel's Share from The Lost Abbey.  I had this one on draft at TJ's now mildly famous 9th anniversary party.  This of course means I was standing most of the day and gabbing with friends, so there's a reason why my notes consisted entirely of: "Chocolate, bourbon warmth, plum, fig, leather, delicious, spice, must have more."  I love bourbon, so anything aged in bourbon barrels is probably going to be right up my alley.  Despite my lack of notes, please just understand that if you see something from The Lost Abbey, just go ahead and buy it because I guarantee it's going to be good.

Couldn't find a table to put this on for a picture.

The name of this beer comes from the bourbon distilling process.  You see, the bourbon that evaporates in the barrel as the spirit ages is called "the angel's share."  Mmmm... bourbon.

Thing to Think About Today:
In the spirit of all things angelic, we're wrapping up Friday night with some Juice Newton and the always great tailgate song, Angel of the Morning.  What, you don't play Juice Newton at your tailgate?  Well....that means you're doing it wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNYF8MPCVmA

Cheerleaders, Help Me Out

Beer #82 Avant Garde Ale / The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA

Without a doubt, the highlight of today was the tip-off of our spring basketball league, made even better by the fact we opened with a win over our archrival.  Feels good to be back out on the court after not picking up the rock since Thanksgiving.  Whatever marginal amount of skills I had in my youth continue to erode, my body moves even more slowly than the glacially slow pace it moved at previously.  However, it's all good, as I managed to burn off some calories, vent some frustration, and scored more points than I had turnovers and fouls.  And our nemesis goes home to think about the curb-stomping they endured.  Can't ask for much more than that, right?

We celebrate tonight with the Avant Garde Ale from The Lost Abbey out of San Marcos, CA.  In the past days I've reviewed Dieu de Ciel! and La Trappe, and we're once again reviewing a brewery with religious ties, or at least a belief that brewing beer is a religion unto itself.  This Biere de Garde was a bottle we picked up in Wegmans a few weeks back, and it pours a hazy, amber sort of orange with a foamy white head.  The predominant aroma is of bread and when you take a sip there are notes of funk and lemony fruit, but nothing that overpowers the beer.  There's a dry finish and a subtle bitterness in there as well, and this beer grew on me more as I kept drinking (although one could possibly argue all beers taste better the more you drink).  This beer checks in at 7% ABV, which is helpful as I would certainly like to drink a number of these!  Definite winner here, and I look forward to visiting Lost Abbey this summer.  This is another brewery that Marci has crossed off her list, and in fact she too sampled the Avant Garde Ale.

Thing to Think About Today:
If we're dreaming about basketball, it's safe to say we have a basketball jones.  Wait, capital letters are needed here: We have a Basketball Jones!  As in, Basketball Jones, an animated 1974 short film by Cheech and Chong about Tyrone Shoelaces and his burning, unquenchable desire to shoot hoops.  Wait, Cheech and Chong?  Indeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIbp5C-5WXM

Goofy, yes.  Catchy, YES.  Star power?  YES.  Try George Harrison, Ronnie Spector, Darlene Love, Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston, Carole King, and Michelle Phillips as the band/back-up singers.  Huh?  If you're keeping score, Cheech & Chong got members of the Beatles, the Mamas and Papas, the Ronettes, and the horn section of the Rolling Stones in on this jam.  In fact, this unusual number peaked at #15 on the Billboard Top 100 back in the day.  Everyone seems to have a Basketball Jones, I suppose.  Get out there and shoot the J, people!!!

Beer 54: Lost Abbey Avant Garde Ale

This laptop is a piece of shit.  Like a giant piece of shit that crashes every 17 hours and takes whatever we're doing with it.  I can't blog directly in Blogger on my iPad because Blogger likes to crash.  Eff all of you.

So I had another fully realized post and now somehow it's gone.

***

The Lost Abbey Avant Garde Ale is good.  I opened the bottle and declared, "This smells like beer!"  It poured fairly true to this photo in terms of color.  It smelled like I want all my beer to smell.  Just plain good.  It tasted of hops, bread and something mildly sweet.  Other reviews named caramel but I'm not getting that.

Overall I think this one is a winner.  I'm looking forward to visiting The Lost Abbey in person later this year.  I promise a much better review at that point.

Cheers.  Meh.