Is this a good idea? What with the hop shortage and all?
I vaguely recall reading about a worldwide hop shortage a few weeks back. The damned thing was threatening to kill all the microbreweries that weren’t savvy enough to lock in to a sweet weed deal with their hop dealer. Evidently Samuel Adams cuts a different deal and it’s probably a good thing.
I have a copy of Michael Jackson’s 500 Beers, which is sort of my bible when I go down to the local exotic grocer (Sunflower Market: http://www.sfmarkets.com/retailer/store_templates/shell_id_1.asp?storeID=69610B99DE2C416A84CC8693150E7216 Sunflower seems to be the only place close by that stocks at least a few of the obscure beers listed in Jackson’s book.) Anyhoo, I had a pile of gift certificates lying around (Thank you, honey. You’re a good wife.) so I buzzed on down there (with the book) to see what I could find. I did find a couple that are in Jackson’s book that I haven’t yet tried so I picked them up, along with a bottle of Young’s Chocolate Stout for fun.
I was about finished with my reconnaissance when I happened upon a display of Samuel Adams six packs; the standard stuff really: Boston Lager, Cream Stout, Black Lager…blah, blah blah…love them all but been there. Then, tucked behind a row of the regular stuff I found three or four little four packs of something different: Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. WELL, WELL, WELL. What’s this?
Here in the AZ, we don’t generally see the exotics unless we’re willing to go on a hunt. I stumbled on this by blind luck and you’d better bet I picked up a 4-pack.
It wasn’t cold when I purchased it so I rushed home and tossed a couple in the freezer. Quaffed the Chocolate Stout to kill a little time then cleared my palate on some pretzels before settling down with the Hallertau Imperial Pilsner (“HIP” from here on out.)
I’m no beer judge. Hell, I couldn’t judge black currant jelly at the county fair. But I think this beer is probably what good, over the counter beers used to taste like as recently as the 1940s and 1950s. You might remember. Back when restaurants displayed signs proclaiming “workers will be served first.” Before people started cutting corners with everything. I like it a lot.
As for reviews and whatnot, I’ll put a few links here so’s you can go see what better minds than mine have had to say about HIP.
I’m always really tempted to pirate material from Beer Advocate, but I’m just not enough of a weasel. (I especially like the way they finagle free beer to review. Very smart.) Go over there yourself and see what they had to say about HIP. Enjoy yourself over there and don’t forget who suggested you go over there in the first place:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/38591
Here’s what some posters over at Chowhound had to say a few months back:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/439217
Finally, here’s a nifty post from 2BeerGuys. They’ve even included a couple of links to other reviews of HIP – nice touch.
http://2beerguys.blogspot.com/2007/10/samuel-adams-hallertau-imperial-pilsner.html
Here’s a link to their new home, in case you want to see what’s new as well:
http://www.2beerguys.com/blog/
Think I'll go down there and rescue the other two or three 4-packs tomorrow. Never know when you'll have a chance to taste beer the way it must have tasted back in the day.
I vaguely recall reading about a worldwide hop shortage a few weeks back. The damned thing was threatening to kill all the microbreweries that weren’t savvy enough to lock in to a sweet weed deal with their hop dealer. Evidently Samuel Adams cuts a different deal and it’s probably a good thing.
I have a copy of Michael Jackson’s 500 Beers, which is sort of my bible when I go down to the local exotic grocer (Sunflower Market: http://www.sfmarkets.com/retailer/store_templates/shell_id_1.asp?storeID=69610B99DE2C416A84CC8693150E7216 Sunflower seems to be the only place close by that stocks at least a few of the obscure beers listed in Jackson’s book.) Anyhoo, I had a pile of gift certificates lying around (Thank you, honey. You’re a good wife.) so I buzzed on down there (with the book) to see what I could find. I did find a couple that are in Jackson’s book that I haven’t yet tried so I picked them up, along with a bottle of Young’s Chocolate Stout for fun.
I was about finished with my reconnaissance when I happened upon a display of Samuel Adams six packs; the standard stuff really: Boston Lager, Cream Stout, Black Lager…blah, blah blah…love them all but been there. Then, tucked behind a row of the regular stuff I found three or four little four packs of something different: Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. WELL, WELL, WELL. What’s this?
Here in the AZ, we don’t generally see the exotics unless we’re willing to go on a hunt. I stumbled on this by blind luck and you’d better bet I picked up a 4-pack.
It wasn’t cold when I purchased it so I rushed home and tossed a couple in the freezer. Quaffed the Chocolate Stout to kill a little time then cleared my palate on some pretzels before settling down with the Hallertau Imperial Pilsner (“HIP” from here on out.)
I’m no beer judge. Hell, I couldn’t judge black currant jelly at the county fair. But I think this beer is probably what good, over the counter beers used to taste like as recently as the 1940s and 1950s. You might remember. Back when restaurants displayed signs proclaiming “workers will be served first.” Before people started cutting corners with everything. I like it a lot.
As for reviews and whatnot, I’ll put a few links here so’s you can go see what better minds than mine have had to say about HIP.
I’m always really tempted to pirate material from Beer Advocate, but I’m just not enough of a weasel. (I especially like the way they finagle free beer to review. Very smart.) Go over there yourself and see what they had to say about HIP. Enjoy yourself over there and don’t forget who suggested you go over there in the first place:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/38591
Here’s what some posters over at Chowhound had to say a few months back:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/439217
Finally, here’s a nifty post from 2BeerGuys. They’ve even included a couple of links to other reviews of HIP – nice touch.
http://2beerguys.blogspot.com/2007/10/samuel-adams-hallertau-imperial-pilsner.html
Here’s a link to their new home, in case you want to see what’s new as well:
http://www.2beerguys.com/blog/
Think I'll go down there and rescue the other two or three 4-packs tomorrow. Never know when you'll have a chance to taste beer the way it must have tasted back in the day.
2 comments:
The Sunflower Markets by me (Chicago) didn't do too well. I work for the company that was their bread distributor here.
Classy place.
Also: Samuel Adams had more hops than they knew what to do with since they had contracts with the farmers. They actually sold a lot of their hops to micro brewers for cost! It was a fairly large news story a fewmonths back, in the beer blogosphere at least.
I like our Sunflower Market pretty well, but mostly buy beer there. They don't seem especially busy when I go in, but they've been at this location for a number of years so I suppose they're doing better here than in the Chicago area.
I had hear about Sam Adams' helping out by "sharing" some of their hops with other brewers - classy move if you ask me. Let's support Sam Adams for being such a good sport!
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