365 different beers from 365 different breweries in 365 days with random musings on beer, food, music, sports, dogs and anything else interesting along the way
I should be in State College for the PSU vs. Illinois game, but I'm not and it blows. In light of my shitty situation, I give you a shitty beer review.
It's the Bohemia Cerveja Pilsen--a pilsener from Brazil. It poured a bright, clear gold color with a medium white head. It has lots of grains in the aroma with some grassy hops. The flavor is exactly what I think of when I drink mass produced beers. Sweet. Grainy. A little watery. White Bread. None of those are compliments.
The weather in Philadelphia was absurdly glorious today. A great day to drive with your windows open and your head in the breeze. You know.... like this:
Who let the dogs out?
The weather today felt more like San Diego than Philly, so I'll give you a beer from the West Coast to get in the proper mood. Tonight's review is Coronado Golden, a pilsner from Coronado Brewing. In the unnecessarily small glass (more on that later), it showed a pale straw color, with a thin white head. There are light aromas of grain and bread, and when you take a sip, you find a refreshing mix of easy malt sweetness, bread, grass, and grain with the tiniest bit of hop bitterness. Great beer for a sunny day... and from what I understand they get a few of those in San Diego.
Solid Gold
So Bainbridge Barrel House.... I get that it costs money to haul beer from San Diego some 2,750 miles to your front door. However, selling a ten ounce pour of a session beer for $6.50? That needs to be a bigger pour, guys. C'mon!
Thing to Think About Today:
A golden beer and some golden weather deserves some, what, maybe Black Gold from Soul Asylum? Sure! Great song to crank up when you roll down the windows. Try it yourself and see what I mean!
Beth: Well, you’re not just gonna DRIVE them around, are you? Don’t you think they’d at least need to be on ice or something?
Me: These still had skin on them. (barf) Wouldn't that smell?
Beth: We need more details, msn!
Sorry for the lip prints on the glass. Clearly I liked this one. It took me this much beer to remember to take a photograph!
And so it continues...where will the heads turn up next?
Now back to Texas Beer Week. Texas forever, y'all!
Today's installment features Austin Beerworks's Pearl Snap pilsner.
Sidebar: I've recently discovered a new joy in life. When visiting brewery websites, occasionally answer no to the "Are you 21?" question. Do it on Austin Beerwork's site. I dare you. You will be rewarded. Black Acre Brewingalso has a fun under 21 reward. What's going on, indeed!
Pearl Snap poured a golden color ale with a minimal white head. It had a pretty strong smell of hops for a pilsner or at least compared to the pilsners I remember drinking. It's very smooth with a slightly caramel hop profile. It finishes with a strong but not overwhelming bitterness.
I just registered for next year's bicycle trip through northern Belgium with BeerCycling. I. Am. Going. To. Belgium. IamgoingtoBelgium!!! I'm going to take a little break from writing to do the running man since 1. I know how to do it now and 2. I have some excess excitement to burn off! I've traveled overseas once in my life -- to Egypt. I'm pretty sure I'm more excited for this trip!
Other things rattling around my head...
Pitbull is a funny and articulate guy. I may have judged him too harshly after that awful Dr Pepper commercial Let's Have a Real Good Time.
I inadvertently demanded a promotion at work today. Lucky for me, they already know I'm crazy so this came as no surprise when I hit the ceiling over some nonsense.
I've also come to realize I don't care for pilsners. I like lagers, but for some reason the light lager isn't doing it for me. This is a confusing time for me because I just declared my love of Victory Brewing's Prima Pils. Odd.
Tonight's beer is the Jever Pilsener from Friesisches Brauhaus zu Jever in Germany. Jever is the original Friesland pilsner (ABV 4.9%) -- brewed in northern Germany with pure Friesian spring water and fresh Hallertau hops.
It pours a golden color with a wispy white head. It smells like skunky weed and Shredded Wheat. Seriously. Shredded Wheat. The taste is grassy and very sharp. There's something medicinal and sweet in there as well. Yeah. I think I've outgrown pilsners. I'd rate this one average.
Beer #272 Stiegl Pils / Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
It was a tremendously exciting way to kick off the weekend, with three rather important things happening all in the span of 10 minutes:
1. Walked to the front door of the house to find a box from Brooks Brothers, containing new shirts and socks. I love Brooks Brothers; it's sort of all I'm wearing these days. Looking forward to fall to start breaking out sweaters again.
2. A big black dog ran over to greet me. Ordinarily that would be great, but this dog had no owner, and no tags on her collar. Thankfully a neighbor had been chasing her and came equipped with a leash, which we used to walk this new and damp dog (she had been swimming in a stream near our house) to my fenced in back yard, where she stayed until an owner could be found. Happy ending to this one, as Ellie Mae (that's the dog, not my neighbor) is now home safe and sound!
3. I went to the man spa to get a haircut. It's my quiet time, with a little scalp & face massage thrown in for additional relaxation. It's the weekend, so you know I need to look all kinds of handsome.
And that, my friends, is how you kick start a weekend. Another good way is with beer, and tonight I give you the Stiegl Pils, by Stieglbrauerei. I had this one at a picnic, so I poured it into a plastic cup. Looked gold with a fluffy head due to my vigorous pour. There's a slightly sweet aroma, and flavors of grain, apple, and lemon, with a tiny hint of spice. Really nice and easy, and definitely a good summer picnic beer.
Picnic tested, picnic approved.
This brewery has been in operation since 1492. As in the same year Columbus summered on the Jersey Shore, people. Or, another way to think of it - this brewery had been in operation for 250 years when Mozart was born in Salzburg, the same town where you'll find Stieglbrauerei to this day. A little history lesson for you to think about there.
Thing to Think About Today: I'm just going to go ahead and assume that Mozart used to drink at this brewery way back when. Which of course, means there's only one possible thing to think about as we kick off this weekend. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this dose of Falco is for you!
For whatever reason, as I sit down to write something profound about the first Penn State game under Coach O'Brien, I managed to get The Second Week of Deer Camp stuck in my head. So there's that.
What are my hopes for today's game? Honestly to make the haters stop hating, but I realize the lofty nature of that wish. I want everyone wishing for the old days to stop it. Those days are over. Over. We have got to move on as an alumni group, as a student body, as human beings. This should have, could have, would have is not healthy.
It's a new day in Happy Valley. Let's all enjoy it and celebrate it. Let's have a real good time.
You know what's also a real good time? This crazy ass premium blackberry lager from Blue Dog Brewing called Shadow's Wild Black. The problem is that it's made by Anheuser Busch InBev. Oops. So I guess it's a 2 for 1 today.
The Wild Black is made with natural flavor and color from juice and has an ABV of 8%. Somehow InBev claims this one is brewed in Baldwinsville, New York. Honestly I did not have high hopes for a fruit lager. The color is a clear ruby with a thin ring of white head.
The smell is all blackberry - nothing else. It has a very strong aroma of fruit. The flavor is very boozy. There's a noticeable alcohol burn and it's almost schnapps like. But all that fruit flavor tastes natural...nothing artificial about it, which is great. The fruit and carbonation overpowers any hints of malt or hops. I will admit this one is unusual and I probably couldn't drink two in a row. That being said I did enjoy it. I shall rate it good.
Ugh. InBev. You kill me.
Now I'll tell you about the real beer for opening day. The Stiegl Pils is brewed in Austria. It pours a golden color with an off white head. I think it was leaving lacing but I couldn't really tell in the goofy plastic cup I was drinking out of. It smells rich and of grains. The taste reminds me slightly of melon with some hop bite. This is a nice beer. I'll rate it good.
Now I'm off to cheer on the white and blue because I've never stopped believing. Cheers!
And so, the offseason ends. Tomorrow, we pack the car and head for State College, and try to resume some level of normalcy, whatever that means. We typically keep it quiet on Friday, and then set up shop the moment the parking lot opens on Saturday. It's been a long off-season, and I can not wait for football to resume.
Tonight's beer is another that came on draft at TJ's in Paoli - this one is the Kissmeyer PilNZer from Kissmeyer Beer. In the glass you see a clear gold color with a thin head, and your nose picks up a light aroma filled with grain. The taste gives you wheat, but not much in the way of hops, and there's a metallic taste in there as well. Sort of like drinking a beer with a penny in the glass. This beer checks in at 5.5% ABV, although it certainly tastes much lighter than that. Looking for something light, or something from Denmark? Congrats, you've found your beer.
Hard to get info on this brewery, although it appears the force behind it is Anders Kissmeyer, who has apparently spent time both in Europe and America honing his craft. Have more info? Send it my way.
Thing to Think About Today:
One of the highlights of any debauchery filled college career is the road trip. You and your closest friends decide on an absurd destination, pack up the car, and head off in search of adventure and memories. One of my favorite road trips from back in the day was the Thursday before PSU played Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1994, when a group of decided that we should road trip out to the game. No tickets, but we wanted to see our undefeated team march on towards a national championship. Armed with a vague sense that we could probably sleep at our fraternity's chapter house and a night worth of beer pong, we made the call.. Seemed like a perfect idea, which is why eight of us executed it at midnight on Thursday, arriving in Ann Arbor at about 8am on Friday. After making lots of new friends on campus that night (read: no we didn't), we ended up running into someone's uncle (or something) on Saturday morning, who let us tailgate with him in his tv-equipped van (a big deal in 1994, mind you) just a few rows back of the stadium. Also important - free beer all day. When PSU locked away the win in the fourth quarter, the party was officially on, and every PSU fan leaving the stadium stopped by to celebrate.
Yes, we drove 400 miles through the night to watch a game on a 15" television. We could hear the plays happen before they scrolled by on our tiny screen. But that wasn't the point - we were able to live through an adventure, share an experience outside the norm, and come out unscathed on the other side. That, my friends, is exactly the point of the road trip.
So, your thing to think about today is of course Road Trip, a movie that tells the tale of a college student who treks across the country to see his long-distance girlfriend who attends another school. Why? Because he accidentally mailed her a sex tape of him with another girl. Hey, honest mistake - could happen to anyone. Hilarity ensues as Josh, played by Breckin Meyer, enlists two friends and a guy with a car to race to her campus before the tape gets delivered. This movie also features a great soundtrack, featuring Eels and Run-DMC. The quality of the clip below sucks, but the movie? Legendary. It's an appropriate review for tonight, as tomorrow... tomorrow we road trip......
Beer #206 Trumer Pils / Trumer Brauerei Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Busy and awesome day spent in Baltimore - first stop was the American Visionary Art Museum, which is home to some fantastic, weird, cool, and unusual art. Visionary art is basically works from untrained artists with a deep, personal connection to their work. In layman's terms, it's often produced by crazy people and is completely awesome. Saw the Barnes Museum with tons of Renoir and Matisse yesterday, and it was boring. Visionary art, particularly at this museum, is completely strange and wonderful. Second and last stop was Of Love and Regret, a bar opened by Brian Strumke, the brains behind Stillwater Ales. I've already put a Stillwater review in the books back for beer #46, so this was just a social call. Tried two beers: Perfect Crime, which is a collaboration between Stillwater and two other brewers, and Debutante, which is a collaboration between Stillwater and The Brewer's Art, which was beer #1 on this adventure. Both were completely delicious, but I think "delicious" can without a doubt be applied to everything on the draft list. If you're in Baltimore, try it. Easy enough.
You don't come here for Baltimore tourism, you come for the beer. Today's official beer is the Pils from Trumer Brauerei, which was a nightcap on the close of our beer vacation evening in San Francisco. It poured a clear gold with a lingering white head. You get an earthy aroma of grass and grain. When you take a sip, you get a taste of bread, with a touch of earthy hops and a clean, dry finish. If you're in the market for a pilsner, this is a great option.
Spooky pilsner picture..... thanks phone!
From the brief research I did, it seems Trumer was originally brewed in Austria (dating back to the 17th century), before a decision was made to also brew in the U.S. in 2003. Made in the U.S.A.? Works for me!
Thing to Think About Today:
I had an awesome day today, so let's close it out with a party. A Party In the U.S.A., as a matter of fact:
I am way impressed by the mad running skills and dedication of Gary and Kelli as they kicked ass at a hilly, woodsy 5K today. It was probably about 90 degrees when the race started and I'm pretty sure it was uphill both ways. I was spent carrying their water bottles. How they didn't keel over immediately after finishing is beyond me.
We celebrated with beer. Lots of beer. Beer at Victory Brewing, beer at TJ's Everyday. Perhaps more beer at home.
All that celebration resulted in tonight's beer review...Sierra Nevada's Summerfest. I think Sierra Nevada likes to make hoppy beer just because they can. Is that a California thing? I hope not. I'm not a fan of the "punch you in the neck, it's so hoppy" kind of beer.
The Summerfest is a crisp summer lager coming in at 5% ABV. It poured a clear golden color with a thin white head. It smelled of wheat and non-descript beer aroma. The taste was citrus, malt with a big hop tanginess. It's a good beer but not a style I gravitate toward.
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:
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....
Beer #53 Premium Pilsener / Brouwerij Martens, Bocholt, Belgium
In my book, 53 beers is a lot. And yet, we're only 14.5% of the way done with this adventure. I can confirm, in case anyone was wondering, that 365 days is a long time to do something every single day. However, we either get better each day or we get worse, we never stay the same. So let's get better today.
Today's beer is a break from the saisons, IPAs, and barley wines. We're going straight up pilsner today, and to no one's surprise this pours a clear gold color, with a thin, light head. The taste is light and fluffy, with some very very mild hop and barley flavor, with a nice clean finish. Whereas last night's beer was deeply complex, this is a walk in the park on a spring day - fitting, as today's weather sort of made it feel like a spring day. If you're ordering a pilsner, you're looking for something smooth and easy, not complex and thought provoking. So, if you're going for something easy, you might as well kick back something outside the norm, like this one. The ABV is 4.8%, which is higher than I would have guessed. Would pair nicely with spicy food, perhaps.
Damn, my phone takes shitty pictures
I've mentioned earlier that I'm fascinated with history, so it makes sense that I'm intrigued with this brewery perhaps more than the beer. I find it awesome and fascinating that Martens has been brewing beer since 1758. To put this another way, before America was a country. It's currently under management of the 8th generation to run the brewery. Maybe I'm fascinated with history because beyond my grandparents, and to a lesser degree my great-grandparents, I have no idea of my family history. In my mind, I'm heir to the throne in Iceland, or something similarly awesome. Seeing how I'm not attending many royal court functions in Reykjavik, maybe not.
Thing to Think About Today:
Seattle? Yeah, I'm not going there this week. Perhaps next week, maybe not any time soon. Easy come easy go. But, I've been planning the trip for some time, so let's go ahead and think about one of the great movies that uses Seattle for a backdrop - Singles. I'm at the tail end of Gen X, so much of the angst in this movie was lost on me. Everyone seemed so old and depressed in this movie, which didn't make sense to me when it first came out. Now that I'm older, I get the more subtle nuances of relationships, jobs, and friends.
Let's all think about my favorite scene from this movie, starring the wildly talented Jeremy Piven, and let's all enjoy his mad beat box skills:
Um, please disregard the dubbing of the dialogue into a different language. Hopefully that didn't distract you from the most awesome song in the Pearl Jam universe.
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:
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.
While I love a four day work week, starting it on a Tuesday is entirely too confusing. I spent the entire day remembering that it isn't Monday. It was like the movie Groundhog Day, only without slapstick comedy and a goofy love story.
Among the many things I did today were two major accomplishments. First I came up with a plan to plan for the Great Beer-venture of 2012. Second I learned that I will never utter the phrase "wall busting" party ever again. It even makes me uncomfortable typing it here.
***
Tonight I revisit my roots in a pint glass. Oh, yes, beer from Poland. (What did you think I was writing about???) If you can read Polish, I suggest checking out this link. If you don't, perhaps you'll want to visit Beer Advocate. I think I had the Klasyka Smaku and not the 100% Smaku. Apologies for my lack of Polish skills. My strengths in that arena are mispronouncing Merry Christmas or insulting you.
Zywiec is a mild pilsner. I'd call it a Budweiser with funny European character. Sorry, Polish brethern. It seemed well balanced -- not too hoppy and not too malty. It didn't have much of a scent and the flavor was rather...mild. I freely admit that I drank this one for the laughs.
