Beer 42: Infinium or Snowbound in Berwyn

The great beer-venture to Troeg's Brewery and the Brass Rail deli and bottle shop have been postponed due to inclement weather. I suppose it's better to be safe than to have some jackass end my beer blogging mission early due to his inability to drive in snow and ice. I hate being responsible.

Since my day has been limited to reading random stuff online and building two sets of shelves, I'm not feeling all that inspired to write anything creative.

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I should have had a Pupperoni!

I had been hearing a lot about Infinium lately but never encountered it at any of the bottle shops I frequent. I lucked out a couple of weeks ago and decided today was the day to sample it. Infinium is a collaboration between Sam Adams and Weihenstephan. The bottle is labeled ale and it poured amber  with a nice white head.

The smell reminded me of raisins and apricots. That smell carried through to the taste but I also got licorice and figs. It also has a nice spice and a hint of tartness.  It is billed as biere de champagne but what I'm drinking doesn't give me anything that could be compared to champagne.  I'd expect dryness and the Infinium is not delivering.  Now that I've drank more of it, it is leaving a slightly soapy aftertaste.  You know how some beers get better as you drink them?  This isn't going to be one of them.

I wish I had paid more attention to what I paid for this one...because it was definitely too much.  Perhaps I need to start a potential bottom 25.  Sorry Sam Adams, despite having all the history of the world's oldest brewery (that would be Weihenstephan), you didn't seem to learn anything.  More research also reveals that I probably should have drank it from a tall, thin pilsner or even a champagne flute.

Oh well, kids. Guess I lost this round...here's to a Beer 43 being a winner!

Snow, Beer, Snow.

Beer #42  Infinium / The Boston Beer Company, Boston MA
And finally, winter has arrived to our corner of the world.  Quite frankly, I'm fine with a little snow on the ground; particularly when my to-do list today consists of putting a shelf together for the garage (to store our beer) and... that's about it.  So, that leaves plenty of time for catching up on some reading, lounging, and beer.  Shaping up to be a great day in the neighborhood.

Your beer for the day comes from a brewery that most everyone is familiar with.  Yes, these are the Sam Adams guys.  We're definitely staying away from macro-beers (Bud, Miller, Heineken, etc), so this offering is about as close as you're going to come to the mass produced world of beer.  This brewer should maybe get more credit than they do - they helped spark the craft brew revolution back in the mid-80's, and they continue to put out some adventurous new offerings.  Enough about that, let's get to the rundown on this beer: Boston Beer partnered with German brewer Weihenstephan to create this unique new style.  It comes in a champagne-esque bottle and is highly carbonated with a biscuit aroma and a dry finish.  The taste has some vague fruit notes (Orange? Apple? Pear?) with some heavy malt flavor, along with a solid 10.3% ABV.   It's unusual, and definitely not what you expect from Sam Adams.  I wish it had a bit more fruit flavor or sweetness to it, to be honest.

Thing to Think About Today:
Our plan today was going to be meeting friends for lunch and then drinks at Troegs Brewery.  The snow & ice storm forced us to scrap that plan.  So, in the spirit of a snow day, I encourage you all to think about snow.  No, not the powdery white stuff that falls down from the sky.  Today we're thinking about Snow, the powdery white reggae-rapper who fell off the face of the earth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtILxBszyf8

Everybody sing along:  Infor-MER!  Mumble mumble yamma yama mumble yamma, a licky boom boom down......

Beer #24: Harpoon Cranberry Ale

After spending 95% of the past two weeks out of the office, I knew today was going to be a challenge.  Sitting behind a desk all day with my To Do List leering at me was exhausting and I am spent.  I figured I'd look to my Q&A a Day journal for some inspiration for the day and today's question made me even more tired:  What are you reading right now?

I'm currently attempting to read Life, the Keith Richards' biography and the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs.  Could I have selected two bigger books to attempt?  I would be more productive using them as free weights during my pilates/cardio workouts.  But as you may be surmising, I like to go big or go home.

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Today's beer is Harpoon's Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale.  I'm not sure how this beer even got in my fridge.  Typically I'm surprised by something acquired during the summer stockpiling beers for the blog.  But with a name that includes harvest and cranberry, I'm betting this is a more recent acquisition.  And I'll admit it's been a pleasant one so far.

Grateful Harvest is best described as a typical amber ale with a slightly darker color and, of course, the addition of a tart cranberry flavor.  I think it's better straight out of the bottle versus the pint glass I used.  There's something about the scent I don't like.  The cranberry flavor is not overpowering -- in fact, I could use a bit more cranberry.   Malts and cranberries -- now that's a Thanksgiving tradition I can support!

Sidebar:  Is anyone getting bounced out of these brewery websites for not entering a birthday that makes them 21 years or older?  I've found writing this blog and doing my research quite enjoyable minus the constant entering of my birthday.  What a silly, tedious task!

Until tomorrow...