Working My Way Through the Best Beers...

Beer Doings No Responses »
Dec 142009

IMG_1246

In the picture above, you will see 10 beers. What makes these so special that they deserve a group picture like that? Well I’ll tell you. All 10 of these beers are on the Beer Advocate’s Best of BA guide. They are in the top 100 beers in the world based on BA’s ratings. I have decided to try my hardest to try every single one. A lot are very rare, as they aren’t distributed out of their own states. So I am starting with some of the more common ones that I just picked up at Half Time Beverage in Poughkeepsie. The list is always changing, but I am going to go off of the most current one for now. Here is what I have so far:

Stone Imperial Russian Stout from Stone Brewing Company. It has an A rating with over 1600 reviews, which is good enough for a ranking of #23.

St. Bernardus Abt 12 from Brouwerij St. Bernardus. It has an A rating with over 1500 reviews, for a ranking of #24 overall. I have reviewed this beer already, but I am still going to enjoy this one again.

Brute from Ithaca Brewing Company. An A rating with almost 140 reviews, ranked #57.

Duvel from Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat. An A rating with over 1700 reviews. Ranked at #58. I have had this before, but never reviewed.

Double Bastard Ale from Stone Brewing Company. It has an A rating with over 1200 reviews and ranked at #65. Another that I have had, but never reviewed.

Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic Brewing Company. An A rating with over 1300 reviews ranked at #66.

La Fin du Monde from Unibroue. An A rating with over 1700 reviews ranked at # 74. Had many a time, but never reviewed.

Aventinus from Private Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider. A rating with over 1400 reviews ranked at #75.

Stone Ruination IPA from Stone Brewing Company. An A rating with over 1800 reviews. Ranked #79.

Chocolate Stout from Rogue Ales. Another A rating with over 1300 reviews, coming in at #94.

So there you have it, 10% of the best beers in the world. I will begin reviewing them shortly. Until then, if you feel like it, please send me any of the other 90 beers on the list. I will thank you for it.

Posted by Greg at 7:46 pm

Damned to be consumed by me!

Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Reviews, Unibroue No Responses »
Dec 132009

Muahaha. Evil at it’s best. This review is dedicated to my evil skull tattoo.

Maudite is a Belgian dark strong ale. In English, La Maudite means “the damned”. Its name refers to the story “Chasse-Galerie”, in which, eight woodsmen pledged their souls to the devil to be given the ability to go home for the winter. As they were traveling home through the sky in a canoe, one man invoked the name of God so their souls would be protected. This enraged the devil and he forced the canoe to the earth. None of the woodsmen were seen again. The lesson of this story is, if you ever strike a deal with the devil, follow through, or you will crash into the earth in a canoe. Bada-bing…you will never be seen again…damned.

Now, I’m not totally sure where that ties into this delicious brew. But, it is damn good. It appears a hazy dark orange, and pours with a huge tan head that dies quickly. Dies…just like the poor woodsmen in the sky canoe, dropping to the bottom and disappearing, never to be seen again. It smells bready/yeasty and almost like a sweet dessert made with a light alcohol. The taste is awesome. It’s fruity, spicy and sweet with a little warming alcohol effect. And it was really interesting for me to find the hop finish as prominent as it was. It definitely hits all parts of the tongue. I give this 5 thumbs up. It’s drinkable in the sense that you could drink a lot of it and not realize how intoxicatingly good it is until you stand up. Bravo Unibroue! Your website sucks, but your beer is amazing!

We are beer drinkers. We are gluttonous and indulgent. Sin my friends, sin!! Drink this brew and I’ll see you  in hell, deliciously happy hell.

Posted by Clubby at 10:52 pm

Christmas

Uncategorized 2 Responses »
Dec 132009

Christmas is coming.

Posted by Dave at 5:23 pm

Investigating the Nature and Principles of Reality and Knowledge. Yum!

Brewery Ommegang, Quadruple, Reviews No Responses »
Dec 112009

Yes, I know it has been a while since I have contributed to the website. I’m sorry Greg. I have been quite busy with my MLB 07 the Show. My player, Joe Random, was sent down to AA and I was far too upset to be reviewing beers for a silly old website. There are more important things in life. There is knowledge to be learned, and reality to be lived. Poor Joe Random.

Anyway, there is a beer I would like to review. The name of this beer is Three Philosophers Belgian Style Blend by Ommegang. It is named after the famous painting by Giorgione. This painting, according to interpretation, did not show the three Magi facing Jesus’ grotto, as many in the homosexual community were hoping.  But, rather, represented the three stages of human thought. The Renaissance, the Muslim Expansion Age, and the Middle Ages.

This brew, as well, is art demonstrating different stages of delicious beer. A wonderful Quadrupel, a blend of a deliciously malty Belgian-style ale, and a classic Belgian cherry-lambic.

For the picture, I was trying to make amends for my absence. Considering there is one other person reading this, I made sure to include 2 big balls in the picture. You know you like it Greg, you grotto facer.

Poured into the biggest, yet most appropriate glass possible (see picture), with a 2-3 finger, extremely light tan head. Lacing was grand as we should expect from a brew of this caliber. The aroma was quite mouth watering. Easiest way to describe it would be, a spicy Belgian strong with a slight hint of cherry. The medium-heavy body is slightly filling (I’m fat…so it may fill others more quickly), but the slight warmth from the alcohol makes it hard to stop drinking on a chilly night such as this. It is spice, it is sweet but balanced, it is cherries and belgian grains! Yet, I hate to even mention cherries, as many beers I have had have overdone it with cherries, making it like childrens medicine. Ommegang does it to perfection. For a brew with a 9.8% ABV, it is scary how drinkable it is! It is absolutely delicious.BEER

Posted by Clubby at 1:42 am

Best When Fresh

Rants No Responses »
Dec 102009

Almost everything out in the universe has a Best By Date. We all abide by this date like if we don’t the world will get sucked into itself. Well hold on, because I just opened a bottle of Post Road Pumpkin Ale. And it’s past it’s prime. I looked at the date on the bottle, and it was covered in some dust. I wiped the dust away, and along with the dust went the date. I’m pretty sure it said March 2009. Guess what? It still tastes damn good. For us beer lovers, we all know that there are beers out there that can be aged. This isn’t technically one of them. It is 9 months past its freshness date. I don’t care. It’s still drinkable, I won’t die from it. I’ll admit though I do sometimes have problems with drinking beers that are past their freshness dates. Maybe it’s snobbery. I dunno. Case in point, my mom received a case of Stoudts beer from a friend who didn’t want it. It was I guess a variety pack. However, it had been in this lady’s basement for a few years, next to an oil burner. The bottles were covered in dust, dirt, mildew. Not appetizing. I refused to drink them. I was all hell bent on proving that they were no longer good to drink. They were about 4 years past the freshness date. No beer like that is going to be good anymore. The beer is now only good for drain pours, and I’ll use the bottles. After cracking a few open to pour, my dad was like I’ll drink them. No you won’t. They’re nasty. You’ll take a sip and dump the rest. Well, he drank them all. And actually enjoyed them. But then again, this is the guy who eats the stale bread that’s freezer burnt because no one else will touch it. Eww, this lettuce is brown and slimy. Give it to dad, he’ll eat it. The guy’s a garbage disposal. But back to my point. I believe a lot of sticking to freshness dates on beers and other consumables is mostly snobbery driven. It is driven into our heads that everything expires on a certain date, and to stay the frick away from it after that date. But you don’t know that until you actually taste it (in the case of beer. Most other foods will give it away they are bad with really awful smells). If I had the mentality that this beer was no longer good and just drained it because of a date, I wouldn’t be enjoying it right now. So stop being wasteful, and try that beer before you toss it because someone guessed a date it might possibly go bad on. Now if you’ll excuse me, I just uncovered some Halloween candy from 1998, and I think I might just know the person who would enjoy it.

Posted by Greg at 8:35 pm

Insanely Bad Elf. More Like Insanely Bad Beer! Zing! Bang! Boom!

English Strong Ale, Reviews, Ridgeway Brewing No Responses »
Sep 292009

So maybe this isn’t an insanely bad beer. I was really going for a catchy title. Mission accomplished. But I wasn’t even planning on writing anything on this beer when I started drinking it. However, after smelling it and tasting it, I had to. So follow along as I describe how this went from being a beer sitting in my cellar, to it’s journey to the fridge, to the pour into my glass, from my glass into my body, and then from my body out to my…Well, you know what happens to liquids after they are consumed. I’ll spare the details of that step.

Chapter 1

Insanely Bad Elf by Ridgeway Brewery began in my cellar sitting on my shelf and then I picked it up and stuck it the fridge.

Chapter 2

For a week it sat, waiting to be freed, to be enjoyed. And it was freed, but not really enjoyed. This was not the way it was meant to be for the Insanely Bad Elf.

Chapter 3

So I poured the beer into my glass, and noticed that the carbonation apparently did not exist. It looked like I was pouring brown water. I then took in the aroma. The first thought that came to mind was I was smelling nail polish remover. Maybe the flavor will be better. Eh, not so much I was quick to find out. Alcohol was very upfront and explosive. It is a very sweet beer, no carbonation, and very alcohol-y. Not much to enjoy about this. I was reading the label on the bottle, and it said “2007 Vintage”. This beer had 2 years to age, and it tasted like straight up alcohol? Damn, I can’t imagine drinking this fresh.

The one plus for this beer-11.2% ABV. Makes you loopy. Other than that, I personally would avoid it. I’m not into the overpowering alcohol. Some are. Try it for yourself. Thank you for reading my novel.

Posted by Greg at 6:51 pm

Mmmmmm......Spit Beer

Beer Doings, News No Responses »
Sep 102009

So we haven’t written anything in a while (what else is new?). I figured I gotta write about something, and it has to be beer related. I could always do a half assed review, Clubby or Dave could always post something while drunk, but that’s what we always do. So while I was at work, to avoid actually helping people, I was browsing the internet and came across an interesting article in the New York Times. And it just so happened to be about beer. It involved Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head (one of my heroes, along with Garrett Oliver, Charlie Papazian, Homer Simpson, and pretty much anyone who does something beer related).

What Mr. Calagione was doing was brewing a new crazy beer. Gasp! Almost unheard of, I know. Anyways, it involves a process which I have seen before on 2 of the greatest shows on the Travel Channel, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, and No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. Basically, some tribal people in different parts of the world create a supposedly tasty beverage by chewing corn, and spitting it out and letting it ferment. That’s right, these people pretty much regurgitate corn into a barrel, seal it up, let it ferment, then drink it. They drink saliva beer. Gross. Or is it?

According to the article, the process would be like making a normal beer, so the corn would go in the boil for at least an hour, thusly sterilizing it. Whether they actually do this in South America and those other countries, I don’t know. But boil or no boil, the fact that somebody was spitting in the beer would probably prohibit me from drinking it. Seriously, if the 3 of us were standing around spitting up in the mash tun, I think we would all probably throw up. And make everyone else in the vicinity throw up. Instead of creating an interesting beer we would probably recreate the scene of Lardass and the pie eating contest.

So I ask everyone, would you either make this beer or drink it given the chance? Leave a comment, let us know. Maybe we will try it sometime.

Posted by Greg at 6:22 pm

Just a quick thought...

Uncategorized No Responses »
Jul 242009

I recall a quote that inspired me throughout my adolescence. “You may run like Mays, but you hit like shit.” Lou Brock, Major League.
Mr. Lou Brock made it abruptly known to Willie Mays Hayes that just because he did one thing well did not make up for what he did not do so well. I appreciate the honesty used by Lou. I understand his reasoning and why he had to approach Willie the way he did. What I learned from this is that no matter how good you may think you are at something, if you are honest enough with yourself, you can always seek improvement.

Posted by Dave at 12:02 am

Greetings Strangers, It's Review Time!

Reviews, Tripel, Weyerbacher Brewing Co. No Responses »
Jul 092009

So have you been wondering where we have been? What? No? Why the hell not? You bastards! We’ve been busy. We haven’t brewed in a couple of months, haven’t reviewed any beers, we’ve drank a lot of beers however. Dave and Clubby are still cooking away at culinary school. So that brings me here. I’m thirsty. I grabbed a beer. I figured…What the hey, why not review it? So review I will, and I may be a bit rusty. So get your eyes ready to read my review of Weyerbacher Brewing Company’s Merry Monk’s Ale.

This beer pours a nice clear golden color with a nice white head, which quickly dissipates. Aroma is citrusy, with that distinct Belgian yeast. First initial taste is a nice warming alcohol. Fruity, sweet, malty, and some light hops come through with the taste. Nice carbonation, light body, crisp. Very nice.

Overall, a nice Belgian Tripel. Alcohol is warming, but not too overpowering. A typical Belgian Ale, very nice representation of the style. I would definitely drink this again.

Posted by Greg at 8:22 pm

To the Victor Belong the Spoils!

Beer Doings, Homebrews, News 1 Response »
May 182009

In this case, the victor is me, and the spoils are a blue ribbon and bragging rights. Clubby and I both brewed Saisons to enter into the High Plains Drafters Eight Seconds of Froth competition. We didn’t expect to win. What we really wanted was feedback and constructive criticism of our beers. Anytime you have BJCP judges judging your beer, you will get great feedback and constructive criticism. They are not out to make you feel like crap, but actually help you identify problems and hopefully make better beer. Anyways, that’s what we wanted. That, and to have a little competition between ourselves. Neither of us have brewed a Saison, so it was mostly just guess work formulating a recipe. Who would be the better brewmaster? Greg or Clubby? I figured we would place last and second last, not sure who would be the best worst brewer. We brewed both, shipped both off, and waited.

So I was lounging one night, and Clubby texts me. This is our conversation:

Clubby: Any news on the homebrew contest?

Greg: Not yet, I think it took a few weeks to hear from the last one

Clubby: I gotcha. I’m curious to see what one did better. Not for competition sake. Just to see what one was more of a classic Saison.

Greg: I hope I kicked your BLEEPING (censored for the kiddies) ASS (not a bad word)! I really want to make these again, using their suggestions

Clubby:Yea, we definitely have to. And you aren’t going to beat me!

Fast forward approximately 10 hours later, I checked the website to see, and sure enough the winners were posted. “OK, let me see who beat us in the Belgian and French Ale category.” HOLY CRAP!!! My name is in the first place spot! No Clubby in the 2 hole, 3 hole, and oddly placed 3.5 hole. I won! I beat that loser into the ground! I am the best homebrewer between the 2 of us! Wait until I rub this in his big, smooth face! So after all that exclaiming, I texted him the great news. I was actually in disbelief. How could I place 1st? Needless to say, Clubby acted professionally and congratulated me. I am happy that I won. So was he. So was everybody that I told. We always knew that we brew good beer, but to have people who don’t know you drink your beer, and give you positive feedback, it feels really good. Clubby still hasn’t received his scorcard yet, I am sure it’s on it’s way, but we’ll see how well he did. I think his was really good too, the only negative that I can really think of is lack of carbonation. We’ll just have to wait and see what the judges had to say.

For my scorecards, here’s what the judges had to say.

Final Assigned Score: 32/50

Judge 1 Experienced Non BJCP

Aroma 7/12: Moderate hop aroma, not a ton of fruit in aroma

Appearance 2/3: Hazy golden in color. Decent head retention

Flavor 10/20: Spicy, low malt character

Mouthfeel 4/5: light body, medium low alcohol, good high carbonation

Overall Impression 7/10: Overall pretty good, light spicy/earthy

Total 30/50

Judge 2 National BJCP

Aroma 7/12: Moderate fruitiness, very faint hops, (can’t decipher word)-good, slight mustiness

Appearance 2/3: milky pale orange, nice tight head

Flavor 14/20: nice spice & pepper, some coriander notes, missing the distinctive fruitiness. medium hop bitterness and restrained flavor. very low malt profile, slight solvent in (can’t decipher word)

Mouthfeel 4/5: nice jumpy CO2. medium body lightened up by CO2

Overall Impression 6/10: complex beer that can use some more fruitiness. Well made beer, no significant faults. a little tweaking will go a long way.

Total 33/50

So there you have it. My award winning beer. Feel free to congratulate me excessively and throw money at me to show your love and affection. When Clubby receives his results I’ll post them too, for all we know, he could have scored 2 points below me.

Posted by Greg at 5:19 pm
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