The Alternative to Lite Beer

Beer #263 Guineu Riner, Ca l'Arenys, Valles de Torrella, Spain

Tonight was the last concert in Valley Forge Park for the summer, so a picnic dinner and some beer helped close out the season.  Added in a late night stop at TJ's for some additional blog beers.  Need to keep feeding the beast that is this project!

The beer for the night is one I actually had last week at TJ's, the Guineu Riner, a pale ale from Ca l'Arenys in Spain.  This beer has a light, hazy gold color with a fluffy white head.  The aroma has notes of grapefruit and grass, and the taste has a nice amount of hop bitterness, with some citrus in there as well.  It's very thin and easy drinking, and I think this would be a great, thirst quenching beer on a warm summer day.

Shiny!

One of the things that grabs you about this beer is that it's very flavorful, yet it has a very tiny 2.8% ABV.  You could literally drink this beer all day.  This is what infuriates me about macro brews - people say they want something light, yet don't realize or care they can drink something that doesn't taste like wet cardboard.  People just need to try harder!

Plus, this beer has a fun sleeping fox on their label.  Who doesn't want that?

It's a fox, not a cat.

Thing to Think About Today:
So, clearly my favorite movies about college tend to revolve around some legendary party guy doing epic party things in some absurdly glorious fashion.  This being said, it's also quite possible those are the only movies about college being made, but I guess there could be others.  I wouldn't know.

An underrated selection in this genre (in my opinion) happens to be Van Wilder.  To no one's surprise, this movie is the tale of a college veteran who only remains enrolled so he can... wait for it... throw parties and live the lifestyle.  All well and good during his seven years as an undergrad, until his father pulls the plug on his tuition payment, causing Wilder a bit of a problem.  A reporter from the school newspaper writes an article on Wilder (played by Ryan Reynolds) and his antics, during which our hero tries to woo the reporter (played by Tara Reid back when she was pretty) and steal her away from her boyfriend.  Hilarity ensues, but not before Wilder gets his act together and finally gets himself that diploma in the process.  Hooray!

In an awesome bit of casting, Tim Matheson plays Van Wilder's father - this is important because as you all know, Matheson also played the role of Eric Stratton in Animal House.  Another movie we just might be checking in on in this space.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K19UvDbuD0A

Beer 256: Guineu Riner and Kitten Mittens

Confession time: I hate promoted tweets on Twitter.  For whatever reason...mostly because I'm a child...I started replying to them with a quote from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  It's inappropriate and immature and eventually I imagine someone will get wise to me and I'll get banned from Twitter.  Can that happen?

Anyway imagine my delight when I got this reply earlier today:

Holy hell, someone has a sense of humor! So as I sit here giggling, I also do so with the knowledge that there are other lunatics out there with access to Twitter.  Thanks Ring Central Care. I needed that laugh!

***

Today's beer comes to me via Barcelona, Spain and TJ's in Paoli (PA).  Brewed by Ca L'Arenys, the Guineu Riner is a pale ale weighing in at a very respectable 2.8% ABV. Yes, that ABV is correct.  Despite the very low alcohol content, this beer packs a lot of flavor.  It pours a bright gold color with a full white head.  It has a very hop forward aroma.  The flavor is very perfumed, very strong on hops.  There are citrus pith notes along with bitter grass.  I also noticed some white grape underlying it all.

The brewers calls it a half pale ale.  I call it delicious.  It has a distinct tartness but is also incredibly smooth.  Like TJ's tweeted today, get it before it's gone!

Cheers.

Beer 132: Estrella Damm, Chicken and Malt Liquor

Today I flirted with my maximum caffeine and sugar intake limit.  My heart is not happy.  I've also been rapping to myself, "I live a life filled with awards and caffeine" a la Ludacris.  It would probably be less stressful if it were Luda's life filled with chicken and malt liquor.  He seems pretty chill.  Plus he has rims on his skates.

Oh, Ludacris. There is none better.

And now onto the beer.  Tonight I shall tell you about Estrella Damm.  Damm is right.  I poured it, went to take a photo and then forgot it on the shelf.  Then I remembered it, moved it to the kitchen and forgot it again.  After remembering it a second time, I took a sip and all it elicited was a hearty, "That's ok."  Perhaps my subconscious was telling me not to bother. 

The Estrella Damm is brewed in Spain.  The color was golden. The head off-white.  It is low on hop flavor and definitely has lots of malt smoothness.  Kind of grain flavored.  But it also has a strange metallic taste.  No distinct smell.  For a beer recipe as old as this one, I expected a lot more.  Instead I got nothing but disappointment. 

After writing this, I checked out what beeradvocate.com had to say about it.  The masses agree with me.  I'm off to Paramour to check out their offerings for the evening.  Hopefully I'll have something good to report tomorrow.

Cheers.

Take All the Damm Pictures You Want

Beer #129 Estrella Damm / Damm S.A., Barcelona, Spain

It's late, you don't really care what I have to say about things, and I'm tired.  But not too tired to read out on today's beer/brewery.  I'm drinking an Estrella Damm, from Damm S.A., a brewery in Spain.  It pours a clear pale gold in the glass with a wispy white head.  It gives off aromas of grain and grass, and has a clean, somewhat sweet but uncomplicated flavor.  It tastes like beer, which I guess a good thing when drinking a pilsner.  Grains, barley.  Really, I wish I had more for you, but this beer is what it is.  If you're looking for something other than a Miller Lite, grab an Estrella Damm.

Okay, pause for a Damm second.  I can't talk about the Damm beer any longer without referencing this amazing scene from National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBQ-vW6rz_Y

This brewery dates back to 1872, when August Kuentzman Damm emigrated to Spain and started brewing beer.  If you didn't know, estrella translates to star.  Another interesting fact about this brewery is they've partnered with Ferran Adrià, the head chef at El Bulli, to collaborate on a special brew.  This is a big deal, as El Bulli is universally regarded as one of the (if not THE) best restaurants in the world.

Thing to Think About Today:
I've already got you thinking about some classic 80's movies (and no, Vegas Vacation isn't one, but the first two Vacation movies are legendary).  So I'll change course completely and get you thinking about the other thing going through my head when I think about this beer (besides the dam tour).  Onyx.  Onyx?  Yes, those angry early 90's rappers and their quasi-hit song, Slam.  Rhymes with Damm?  Don't act like you don't remember this one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ADgCeYJMN4&ob=av2e

DAMM!  (doo doo do, doo doo do)

Now, are there any dam questions?