Beer 334: Gritty's Best Brown Ale

A bottle of Delsym, box of Mucinex D, a course of prednisone and a small inhaler later, I'm still sick. And tired. Sick and tired. Ha. And I'd love to have the last week of my life back. But thank god for doctors who don't need to see you before prescribing more drugs. I'm happily curled up in my pajamas with the first dose of antibiotics on board!

All this drug consumption is definitely cutting into my drinking time. Suck it, cold. I've got work to do.

At least I didn't waste a good beer on my drug-addled self tonight. I would not recommend Gritty's Best Brown Ale by the Gritty McDuff's Brewing Company out of Portland, Maine.


It poured a reddish mahogany color ale with a tan head. The aroma is rich malts and very buttery. The flavor on the other hand is nonexistent. It's very thin and water like. There's a strange rubbery chemical thing happening. If I think about it really hard, I could make myself taste that buttery malt. But then it disappears and I'm left with a thin, watery blech in my glass.

This is a poor beer. It's so bad that I have to think there's something wrong with it, right? I guess I should be on the look out for other Gritty McDuff beers to see if there are redeeming ones.

Cheers.

Beer 326: Stevens Point Brewery

I'm currently playing Halloween Scrooge and not handing out candy to the neighborhood children and glowering at them from my darkened windows. We got burned by those darn kids the first year we moved into this house and I've never forgiven them. Why, you may ask?

Because I went all Martha Stewart that first year. I invested hours assembling individual bags of candy with cute little hand tied bows, decorating, redecorating after the squirrels ate my pumpkins, donning my best vampire teeth. And for what? All the kids trick or treated at 4pm and I got home from work at 6pm! Imagine how it makes my blood boil that there are scores of witches, ballerinas, Batmen and an Elmo running around at 8pm. Perhaps next year, my pretties!

And in one of the stranger transitions I've made on this blog, we're changing gears to talk Stevens Point Brewery and their Nude Beach summer wheat. It's brewed in Wisconsin and has an ABV of 5.1%.



It poured a hazy golden color with a very fluffy white head. It smells of yeast and bread and a little plastic wrap. Yeah, I thought that was odd too. The taste is watery and thin. Sweet orange. Grains. All together too thin.

The Nude Beach is average at best. Those are words I never thought I'd type. Cheers!

Beer 264: Gaffel Kolsch and a Good Day

Ever have one of those days where you just get shit done? That was me...or I should say is me today. The productivity continues into the evening hours. Dinner is on the table. A new beer is in my glass. I have ideas for this weekend's posts. Two loads of laundry are done. I hung a bulletin board.

Although I just realized the guys haven't been fed. A clue should have been this...


















...chasing me every time I moved. Sorry, guys! (He has a tail. It was just wagging too fast for the camera!)

Onto the beer! It's the Gaffel Kolsch from Privatbrauerei Gaffel Becker and Company. That's in Germany if you couldn't guess from the name. This kolsch has an ABV of 4.8%...making it very drinkable. I'm a big fan of the kolsch style, but this one isn't doing it for me.


It poured a bright clear gold with very little head. It smells a little skunk-like. Did I get a bad bottle? It has a nice full mouthfeel but a very bitter taste. Again did my bottle turn? I'm not loving this one.

After writing this, I went to read other reviews. I really think I got a bad bottle. The other reviews note honey, floral hops, grass. Hmmm....I need to start a list of beers to revisit. This may be one of the first.

Cheers!