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.
American Craft Beer Week!!!
I did my small part by having THREE American Craft beers at the lovely Blue Palms Brewhouse.
First I had the new Lagunitas Correction Ale – quite nice a bit hoppy upfront that melts into a nice wheat type beer. Very good summer beer. Makes me wonder what the next new beer, Sumpin’ Sumpin’ is going to be like.
Then I had Ommegang’s Flanders Red – Sooo good! Sour and fruity with a great aroma. I could drink alot of this. Makes me want to drive to Cooperstown.
Lastly I had a taste of Stone’s Vanilla Bean Porter on cask. Interesting but overpowering vanilla. Lost the beer to the vanilla. Easy to drink but tastes like I am in the kitchen making cookies.
As usual the good people at Blue Palms have an excellent list of beer to try.
What's in the 'fridge
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.
American Craft Beer Week is on!!!
Today is the Kick-off for the 2009 celebrations. Go to this site to check out what is happening in your neck of the woods.
If you love beer, you will love this video
Go watch this video now!
Craft Beer Fest LA
Yesterday was the 1st of hopefully many more to come of the Craft Beer Fest Los Angeles. I was there as both fan and volunteer from 2pm to 10pm so this will be a longer than usual post so find a comfortable chair. I will break it up into sections to make for easier reading.
Section 1 – The beer!!
Not a bad brewery in the bunch. And most importantly for me, new stuff that I really wanted to try plus new stuff from some of my old favorites. Here is what I had…..
1. Siamese Twin from Uncommon Brewers
Light golden ale, very different fruity taste to it. This beer really grew on me.
2. Automatic # 1 from Blind Lady Ales
Light Belgian ale. Had a bit of a tinny taste to me. A little astringent.
3. Scotch Isle from Craftsman
Very nice. Dark and malty. Not my favorite style of beer but this is well done.
4. Black IPA from Stone
Very good. I love IPA’s and this is an excellent beer.
5. Golden State from Uncommon Brewers
Hazy color. Light and flavorful. Great on a summer day.
6. Cuvee Jeune from The Bruery
Had this at Blue Palms a week ago and had to get some more. Excellent sour taste.
7. IPA from Hangar 24
Another really solid IPA. Not a hop bomb but citrusy and not too acidic.
8. Warm Water Wheat from Port Brewing
This was a really good banany hefeweizen. I hope they bottle this it is one I would like to have more of.
What I didn’t get to try and wanted to..
TAPS – Belgian White (which was really popular)
Port Brewing – Pig Dog Pale Ale
Section 2 – The Beer Panel
Moderated by Christina Perozzi with Mark Jilg from Craftsman, Ryan Sweeney from The Verdugo, Larry James from Wine Warehouse, Steve Grossman from Sierra Nevada and Victor Novak from TAPS Brewery.
Quite the interesting cross section of the beer community. They were all quite optimistic and passionate about making craft beer and where we are compared to the past and where we may end up.
It was so heartening to hear what they were saying and I wish they could have gone on longer. One thing that I took away was that there seemed to be a feeling that it was inevitable that craft beer would do to BMC (BudMillerCoors) what Starbucks did to Folgers. To that I say Amen!
Section 3 – Behind the Bar
All I can say is, I had great fun being behind the bar. I had never done it before and I am sure it showed but it was great to hand beer over to the smiling faces on the other side. It was not long before I was sweating from avoiding fellow volunteers and going all the way from one side of the bar and back with four beers trying hard not to spill. Thanks to Kevin, Alex, Liz, Bob and Ben for allowing a rookie to help out.
Section 4 – Who was there
Jeremy from Eagle Rock Brewery
Tomm from the Celebrator
Tony from Craftsman
Joel from 826LA
Patrick from The Bruery
All in all a really great time. If you weren’t here this year plan on it next year.
Uncommon Brewers
Uncommon Brewers is a community-oriented organic microbrewery based in Santa Cruz. Incorporating traditional Belgian brewing techniques, cutting-edge innovation from the modern West Coast, and grounded in the principles of sustainability voiced by the Slow Food Movement, Uncommon Brewer’s goal is to make uncommon beers for uncommon people.
Their beers include:
Golden State Ale – a golden ale made with poppy seeds
Baltic Porter – brewed with anise
Siamese Twin – a Belgian double made with coriander, kaffir lime & lemongrass
Beer America.TV
I am not a big fan of the term Vlog (video blog) but there are some great beer sites that are exposing people to new beers and beer information. One that I just found (shame on me for not finding it sooner) is BeerAmerica.TV. They taste beer and give their reactions and reviews. They also talk about beer issues and give out beer tips on temperature. When you have ten minutes of free time check them out at http://beeramerica.tv/
Kinsale Brewing
Kinsale is a beautiful spot on the southern coast of Ireland. The type of place you visit then decide to stay longer. Great pubs, great food town, a wine museum and Kinsale Brewing. This is good solid pale ale country. Anyone who buys a six pack of Heineken or Stella would love this. I cannot recommend the town and the brewery highly enough. The photo below should sell you on going…
