Hot Weather Ramblings

We had some fun at my nephew’s birthday party yesterday – he’s only a couple years younger than me, but he’s seen a lot more, I’ll wager. For the fun of it, I picked up some Boulder Brewing Never Summer Ale and some Deschutes Inversion IPA. Given that the room was filled with a bunch of displaced Coloradoans, I’m not surprised that the Never Summer Ale went over a bit bigger. Nevertheless, I’m left with a couple and I’m tossing them back as I jot this post.

I am surprised to see this is their version of a winter seasonal…wha’? It’s really good and I think I’ve blogged it before so I won’t go much into it except to say it’s malty, tastes like bread and finishes dry.

I just like the name – Never Summer Ale – because it conjures up images of a past life spent in Colorado, and a failed attempt at a second life there after military service. You can’t go back folks. But you can pine away, living off the false recollection of what a place was and will never be again. What I do know is that it’s hotter than hell here at Beer Rant HQ and it’s significantly cooler up in the high country in a little place called Clear Creek County, Colorado.

On the other hand, come December, some place with a name like “Winterhaven” will seem awfully nice, too. It brings to mind something that a very wise fellow told me when I was in the army: “As a rule, man’s a fool. When it’s hot, he wants it not, when it’s not, he wants it hot.” (That guy rose to the rank of major general. I think he’s pretty smart.)

Cut ‘em Some Slack
I think we give the macro brewers too much grief – they probably don’t notice anyway – but we’re a bit hypocritical when it comes to the standards we set for the Miller/Coors/Bud conglomerates versus what we let some of the small fry get away with. Budweiser was excoriated for calling one of their beers “drinkable” in a recent ad campaign. Well, since the advent of that little goof, and the resulting web explosion, I’ve begun paying more attention to what the so-called micro-and craft-brewers are printing on their labels. I see the same sort of inane glittering generalities on labels from craft brewers as well, including the likes of Dogfish Head, too, folks. They characterize their Indian Brown Ale as “clean,” which I take to mean it’s not brewed with water taken from the Ganges River. (C’mon folks. If we’re going to set a standard, let’s have it apply to everyone or just drop it.)

The Dating Game
Speaking of labels: the last issue of Beer magazine had a rather inept article explaining how to read a beer label. (Thank heaven those nice folks at Coors have come up with those temperature sensitive labels so we know when our beer is cold, and thank heaven for the editors of Beer magazine, who will help us decipher the mysterious world of beer labels.) One of the label characteristics covered in the piece was date stamping or freshness dating. Well, again, I’ve begun paying more attention to beer labels lately and I have to say that freshness dates only work if you (meaning the brewers) actually use them. I recently encountered a label (Lost Coast Brewing Raspberry Brown Ale) whereon none of the months of manufacture were “notched.” What am I to take this to mean? It’s a bit like buying a new car battery and not punching the month and year of sale. (Grease monkeys will know what I’m talking about.) Bottom line: Freshness dating is a joke, in both the macro and micro brewing worlds. If consistency isn’t the be all, end all of brewing and beer drinking, then why the hell do we even care when a beer was “born”? Likewise, if we’re going to have a dating system, then let’s stick to it.

Gosh. I didn’t really intend to go all Beer Jerk in this post. I’m really just cranky because of the heat. All the Never Summer Ale is gone. I’ve had a Deschutes Inversion IPA and a Michelob something-or-other and I’m feeling a little better now.

Happy Birthday Dane!

Beer Magazine: An Amateur’s Appraisal

I’m sort of in the market for a decent beer-related periodical. I want a decent value for my buck and I’m hoping to find something that I’ll enjoy reading – if not cover-to-cover, then nearly cover-to-cover. I pick up the odd copy of beer magazines when I see them. I’ve got the March 2009 issue of All About Beer and the July-August 2008 issue of Draft.

More recently, I picked up the July-August issue of Beer. This is actually my second copy of Beer magazine; I have the September-October 2008 issue sitting on the shelf, too. There may be a couple reasons why I’ve got two issues of Beer when I’ve only got one each of the others: Beer is more widely available and their magazines always sport some hot chick on the cover. (Yeah, I notice these things.)

But frankly, I’m still trying to decide where to send my subscription money and that’s a conversation for another time. Perhaps when I finally decide, I’ll make a post that spells out the reasoning behind my choice.

Meantime, I’d like to touch briefly on the good and the bad in the current issue of Beer magazine. No question, Beer magazine is aimed at a younger demographic that mine. The text is full of references to testicles, tits, and farts. The article format is an odd hybrid of the old USA Today, block section, microwave-cooking style aimed at busy folks with short attention spans. Okay, that’s fine. I’ve got a short attention span but as I’m getting older, I find that an organized, coherent format is always reassuring.

In the current (July-August) issue, I especially liked the Beer Anatomy segment dealing with Rauchbiers, that smoky style of beer that reportedly originated in Bamburg, Germany, centuries ago. I’ve enjoyed every smoked beer I’ve tried so far but my list is fairly short (Aecht Schlenkerla, Alaskan Smoked Porter and Stone Smoked Porter come to mind and the only three I remember trying to date). This article was informative, with really good tips on serving temperatures as well as terrific background on the variations of smoked beers. Noticeably absent from their list of common smoked beers was Alaskan Smoked Porter. I’d be curious to know if a brewer’s advertising history has anything to do with their odds of appearing on such a list.

Other highlights: I always enjoy the advertising because it gives me a notion of what to expect in the way of coming attractions. I really like the Taste Test section because, in addition to rating beers, they’ve gone the extra mile and included maps indicating what beers are available in what states. I like the beer models, too.

Now the downside. (Where I go all Beer Jerk.) I’m not a writer so I’m probably the least qualified person to be giving writing tips or criticisms. On the other hand, I am an experienced reader, which should qualify me to point out pointless dreck when I read it. The article entitled “Beer Worth Waiting For” is a hopeless hash of haphazard hooey. The piece is evidently about special release parties that brewers throw to bring out their limited release beers, but it’s too inside baseball to be of any use to me. I’m probably not hip enough to understand some of the references but I think I’m more in the loop listening to an hour of Howard Stern than I was trying to read this nonsensical piece. I’ll just end it there and assume the author was drunk when she wrote the article, the editor was drunk when he accepted the article and that, in order to preserve the natural order of things, I should have been drunk when I read the article.

That’s it folks. You didn’t ask for it, but there it is. Based on style, content and format, I’d have to say that Beer magazine is not high on the list of beer magazines for which I’d pay to have a subscription, but I’ve yet to fully explore the other options. I’m hoping to get something that’s monthly, inexpensive, reasonably educated but not snooty. I’ll keep looking.

Lagunitas Little Sumpin' sumpin' Ale

I’d planned to save this one for a post in praise of the “manager’s special” but since this is a limited release beer, I figure I may want to make note promptly, lest I lose track of this little gem and never get it done.

I’m also prompted into action by a nifty – and recent – post at Bobs Beer Reviews. (It’s like that feeling you get when you see your neighbor out mowing his lawn; you suddenly feel you should probably be doing the same. For the record, my neighbor’s lawns all look better than mine.)

I stumbled onto this beer amidst a cart full of orphaned singles at the local Sunflower Market. Thankfully, I bought two of them. Having never tried any of Lagunitas’ beers, I figured it best to start out small.

Here’s the dope on this Little Sumpin’ sumpin’Ale:
Smells like an IPA, and pours a gold bronze color with a weak head. Distinctly grapefruit tasting, and to me this is an IPA in taste and style. The rather high abv isn’t too noticeable and I deem this beer to be “very good.” I’ll buy this one again, if I can find it before it’s gone. Odds are, she’ll hop back into that sporty hot rod of hers and be down the road too soon.

Here’s what some other bloggers had to say about this seasonal tramp:

Beer Tastes

Daily Brew HaHa

WTF is Mick Drinking? (WTF, indeed.)

Finally, the Lagunitas website. Their page for Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ doesn’t refer to it as an IPA, but more than a few web references I’ve seen refer to it as an IPA, which is where I place this one on the style meter. (For those of you checking the gages.)

The air conditioning is out here at Beer Rant HQ. Don’t know how long Mrs. Beer Rant and I will remain here if the temperature keeps climbing. Weep for us, and then ask us why the hell we’re still living in the damned desert.

In Praise of the Gimme' Glass

It seems that Odell Brewing Company has broken into the Arizona marketplace. Color me colossally clueless but I’d been lumbering along on the assumption that they were already here. Geesh. I’d sampled some of their beer while visiting my sister in Denver last year and I suppose I’d just figured I could find them back here in the desert any darned time I wanted.

My son-in-law and I made a quick jaunt to Sunflower Market the Saturday before Father’s day, hoping to score something strange for the weekend. My son-in-law is on a porter kick of late and I can’t say I object in any way. Shucks, when I was that age, living in a barracks on the edge of Texas, I took a shine to Michelob Dark and probably figured I was a real progressive! At least my young marine friend is branching out in ways I’d never dreamed of at that age.

Anyhoo, as we perused the beer cabinet, a couple of lasses beckoned us to their wobbly card table display by asking, “would you like a sample?”

Sample? Beer? Beer sample? Hell yeah said we!

Long story short: Hensley Distributing has evidently taken on Odell Brewing Company as a client. I bought a six-pack of the IPA and a six-pack of the Pale Ale while my son-in-law opted for the tried and true Deschutes Black Butte Porter…I told you he was on a porter kick.

In the end, our new friends from Hensley gave us each an Odell’s pint glass and after quaffing a few beers in mine, I’ll set it proudly on the shelf next to a few others, most of which I’ve paid for. Ah, there’s something special about free beer swag!

Maybe I'll actually get 'round to posting a review of the Odell beers we bought that day.

Happy Father's Day!

Just a quick post, really. Just to wish every dad out there a happy Father’s Day. And if you’re lucky enough to still have your dad around, be sure to hug his neck real tight and wish him all the best, too. We only get one dad; take good care of yours so he’ll last a long, long time.


I think I’m having Chamberlain Pale Ale and spaghetti with Italian sausage later today. It’s gonna be nice. Two daughters, three granddaughters and one grandson close at hand. (Oh, and a couple of son-in-laws, too. It’s their special day as well.)

Cheers!

(Love you and miss you, dad.)

Beer Moment: For Openers...So Long, Buddy.

I spent part of last Saturday helping my best friend Jon load his possessions into a pickup truck for his move to Oregon. I’m sad to see him go, but happy that he’s moving to some place cooler and thrilled that he’s going to enjoy a vastly deserved retirement in close proximity to his son.

For fun, I brought a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Summerfest and a six-pack of Four Peak’s Kilt Lifter, mostly for his son and I, because Jon doesn’t drink much. The process of packing and sorting a lifetime of possessions was a bit stressful for Jon and I’ll admit he probably could have used more than just the swig or two of Summerfest that he had.

At one point as we stood in the driveway looking for a way to pop open one of the Sierra Nevada’s, my eye lit upon a nifty old bottle opener hanging in the shed. It proved handy and, having asked Jon if I could have it, and having been told that I could, I dropped the thing in my pocket. It’s cool. It’s a Schmidt’s Beer opener and it’s already proven its worth back here at Beer Rant HQ.

I miss my buddy Jon. I’ve already called him (at 12 noon I managed to wake him from a nap) to see how he’s doing and he seems to be unwinding from the packing and moving. Temperature there the day I called was in the 70’s. Must be nice.

The bottle opener now hangs in my garage and when I see it, or use it, I’ll think of Jon who’s living someplace cooler now and deserves every bit of happiness he can get. Hope he’ll keep a spot on the floor open for me if it ever gets too hot down here!

(The Kilt Lifter went back to Oregon with Jon’s son. I hope he likes it.)

The Macros Were Micros Once, Too.

Let’s face it, beer is an acquired taste. I don’t recall anyone remembering their first stolen beer (c’mon, we all stole our first beer) as, “light, refreshing, with a thin but prominent mouth feel,” or “hoppy with a dry finish.” Only after we season a bit and after we start making a living so we can buy our beer do we somehow begin to think ourselves too good for the Coors and Millers of the world. Frankly, we transform into Beer Knerds or Beer Knazis.

I’ve already noted that the takeaway message I got from the documentary Beer Wars was that we all need to support our local craft brewers. The lesson fairly blared from the screen. But much more subtle and perhaps unintended, was the notion that the likes of Coors and Budweiser, Pabst and Miller all started out as microbreweries with one arm tied behind their back as their immigrant founders struggled to establish their place in the market, all the while trying to strangle the competition with the one free arm.

I helped put Miller Brewing where it is today but I rarely drink Miller these days. I was raised just up the road from Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado and they hold a special place in my heart, but again, I don’t buy as much Coors product as I used to. I rarely buy Budweiser because I never cared for Bud products and I think the current raft of Clydesdale horsey ads are stupid. Nevertheless, I do from time to time have the occasional bottle of macro-brewed product, usually because it’s being offered at a party or it comes at a ridiculously low price. I’m just not so proud that I’ll ever say, “I’ll go without before I drink a Coors, or a Miller, or a Bud.” Besides, under certain circumstances, it doesn’t matter what the beer is; even if it's not great, it’s just good enough.