Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
As part of American Craft Beer Week, I tasted two from the Sacramento brewer, Rubicon.
First up was Monkey Knife Fight Pale Ale. Now usually, I am not impressed by Pale Ales. To me they all tend to blur together. This one stands above the masses. Has a slight spice taste and not too hoppy.
Second was the Purple. A helles-maibock. It’s a good solid beer but not very bold. This would be better served with food. Something spicy like good kung pao chicken.
In my travels this week, I came across a deal to good to pass up. A nice big bottle of St. Bernardus Christmas Ale on sale! $9.99 to be exact. So I snapped it up.
This doesn’t quite fill the winter warmer category but it does carry an alcohol punch to it. Surprisingly light and malty with a touch of spice to it. Personally, this would go great with turkey and cranberry and stuffing. But make sure to share it will catch up with you.
A new offering from the folks at Eel River Organic Brewing. They do quality stuff. This new offering with Acai seems trendy but may turn out to be good if they get the balance of wheat and fruit right.
…with Keelhauler, a Scottish style ale. I enjoy the Full Sail specials. They really let the brewers shine.
Trumer Pils is, in my humble opinion, the one true pilsner. The main reason for this is that most pilsners tend to have a tinny aftertaste. And that just rubs my palate the wrong way. Trumer is a solid refreshment from first sip to last. And in this age of seasonals and special beers, it is nice to see that they do the one beer. No imperial pils, no Christmas pils. And they have good distribution, though I would be interested to compare/contrast their Austrian version to the Berkeley version. When the weather in my neck of the woods turns scorching, I pick up a six-pack of Trumer and cool off.
Collaboration not Litigation. One of the reasons why I love the craft brewing movement is the open source code ethos that runs through it. New Belgium and Hair of the Dog make special beers for a bottle shop in Seattle. And Russian River in California and Avery in Colorado get together to make one great beer out of two great beers.
Laurelwood Espresso Stout. Coffee and beer works well together. Will need to wait for a chilly night though. Bright sunshine and stout don’t go together for me.
I sound like a broken record but I just got back from another beer tasting. Due to distributor snafu’s I got to select one of the beers to try. I selected the Poperings Hommel Ale. Excellent. Tastes like a lager. Crisp and clean. Great summer beer to have while watching the NBA playoffs or the start of the new baseball season. It is a Belgian. Small brewery that locally sources the hops and barley themselves.
The second one you should look for is a honey beer called Biekens. Strong at 7.5 alcohol but has a lovely touch of sweetness to it.
1500 Pale Ale from Drakes.
Very spendy but who could resist a beer made for and named for the brewer’s wife?
