Beer & Me

One thing that Internet users like is lists. I’m not that fond of writing them but I try to give my users what they want. So from time to time I pull together a “top ten” list for my About.com site.

In this case I’m reconsidering my Top Ten German Beer Styles list. I included Kolsch, not because I’m such a fan of the style but because it’s relatively popular and has a compelling story. But it is also not very widely exported outside of Germany – or Koln (Cologne), come to think of it.

Anyway, I was reading today and came across a factoid that while I knew it I’d never considered it with respect to this list. Kolsch, which also refers to a dialect of German spoken around Koln, is a regional specific term. It was deliberately chosen by the brewers of the area to describe the beer that they make and they made it clear that they were not interested in seeing beers brewed elsewhere baring the same name. (Think Champagn or Scotch.) Obviously American brewers have chosen to ignore this.

And in my list I gave an American brewed Kolsch as a commercial example of the style. It is. And I think that this is more likely that one of my readers will be able to find it. So should I leave it or not? I tend to respect things like regional food names but I want to give my readers the information.

A-B and beer geeks like me rarely agree on what’s good beer. Usually the mere fact that a beer is brewed by Anheuser-Busch is a mark against it before it is even opened.

But three beers brewed by the beer giant recently impressed me. I waited a few days before posting my reviews but even so I found myself gushing about these beers. They aren’t really all that but they are major improvements from the makers of Bud Light Lime and Michelob Ultra. So I wound up heaping more praise on them than they deserve.

They do disprove my theory that a big corporation, specifically one with a board of directors can’t make good beer.

and the pumpkins can’t be far behind.

*Sigh* I just don’t know if I’m ready yet. Usually I love this time of year – cooler weather, turning leaves, more beer festivals than one can keep up with – and the annual harbingers of this season are the Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers that start hitting the shelves around now.

Celeste and I went out to eat tonight. When the waiter asked for our drinks order I asked what seasonal they had on tap. He cheerfully told me that they had just hooked up a Sam Adams Oktoberfest today.

I had one but just didn’t enjoy it like I have in past years. It’s a good example of the style but it was just kind of sweet and uninteresting to me tonight.

Luckily I had a six pack of Two Hearted Ale waiting for me in the refrigerator back home.

Well, just as promised, I tasted the Brother Thelonious Belgian Ale with dinner tonight. (Mushroom pizza for me and mushrooms and olives for my dear wife, since you asked.)

Anyway, it is exactly as tasty as advertised. It is a rich, full Belgian ale that is as good alone as with food. Here are my notes:

Deep mahagony in color – opaque. Thick, medium sized head. Sweet nose with hints of yeast, banana and apples. Big, rich, thick mouth-filling flavor with notes of fig, chocolate, banana bread and just a hint of coffee. Long lingering finish; a beer to savor. In a word smooth…

Oh, and Celeste like it, too.

I dropped into a local good beer shop earlier this week and found a brand new bottle. I’m a fan of Thelonious Monk’s music so I was drawn to the label.

Besides groovy packaging this Belgian strong dark ale is a beer with a mission. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will go to the Thelonious Institute. Its mission is “to offer the world’s most promising young musicians college level training by America’s jazz masters.”

Sounds like a worthy cause to me. I haven’t tried the beer yet but I’ll share my tasting notes here when I do. I’ve no doubt I’ll enjoy it; I have yet to be disappointed with anything made by North Coast Brewing Company.

It gives a whole new meaning to “big beer.”

Carlton, another “me, too” lager brewed in the Victoria, Australia, hit on an interesting marketing gimmick. Even for a macro-lager, an industry noted for interesting marketing if not very interesting beer, this was a remarkable move. During the morning commute a giant hot air balloon in the shape of a Carlton Draught pint, or pot to the Aussies, glass drifted over Melbourne.

Did you miss it? Well, not worries. If you live in Australia you’ll still have a few more chances to see it again. The balloon will fly again during the Australian Rules Football finals series before taking off for a tour of the country when Australians all over might very well be heard to say, “What’s that in the air? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, mate, just a giant pot of piss beer!”

Let me tell you about my day. I left the house at 7:45a which can be a jarring thing for someone who works at home. I had a 9a appoint with a local brewer just over an hour’s drive away.

Charleville not only brews beer but they have a vineyard and a nice selection of wines. With rising prices in every segment of the brewing industry they decided to try growing their own hops. Despite this being their first season for hops their results were impressive. I’ve been checking out their crop every few months and Jack, the owner, promised to call and let me know when they harvested. Today was the day.

So I packed up my camera and headed out. I’ve never seen hops harvested so I wanted to get a few shots and see if I could squeeze an article or two out of it. Even though they were learning the ropes themselves and the crop was remarkably smaller than bigger operations it was very interested and I had a great time.

As soon as I get them edited and picked through I’ll post some pictures from the day.