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Tomorrow over on FoodGPS, I will cover some beer books that you should be reading.
But if you would like to catch-up on some past beer book reviews than follow the links to:
For the Love of Hops / Hop in the Saddle / Gueze & Kriek / The Allagash Cookbook (OK, this one is not a review)
I am feeling anxious because there is only 1 more 32 beer left in my ‘fridge now. But I am thankful to the fine folks at 32 Via dei Birrai for supplying me with such a generous amount of their finely calibrated beers.
That being said, we move on to Atra, A bit of a gusher when the cork popped but maybe that was me being too anxious. This is more a light Belgian amber. The flavors persist after each sip. I get some plum notes and raisin from this cola hued beer. Some zucchini notes too. Easy to drink.
Here is what their website describes the beer as….
“Appearance:
beige, compact, fine and persistent head; brown; fine perlage.
Bouquet:
roasted, with hints of coffee, chocolate, locust bean, walnut-flavoured liqueur, and touches of damp barrel staves, light liquorice, ripe medlar and caramel.
Flavour:
gently bitterish due to the roasted barley, which also imparts aromas of coffee, caramel and chocolate. Beer with typical Belgian light watery body.”
While most breweries seem to be shying away from sending their beer in the mail due to legal hassles on a state and Federal level. It looks like a brewery from Kent, Washington is bucking that trend!
Airways Brewing is shipping bottles and eventually cans of their beers including an anniversary ale (as I type this). Now you can get their stuff online via Let’s Pour too but maybe this will make other breweries think about selling via the interwebs.
April is the 4th month and in a bit of coincidence, there are 4 Firestone-Walker events this month as well.
Thursday, April 11th @7pm
City Tavern Culver City
Come drink FW beers and meet David Walker.
Friday, April 12th @7pm
The Federal Bar in NoHo
Come drink FW beers and meet David Walker
Thursday, April 18th @6pm (Q&A starts at 7pm)
Chloe’s inside the Pub at Golden Road
Meet Jeffers Richardson the Barrelmeister from Firestone
Wednesday, April 24th
Far Bar
A 4 course dinner pairing.
If you are a F-W fan (like I am) then these will be events to mark on your calendar
This Friday, April 12 at 6:30 pm. Another Epic Tasting hosted by Larry James will take place at the Four Points Sheraton aka The Beer Hotel “including three of the best Hoppy Session Beers, a Mystery Beer (you be the judge!) and Clown Shoes Beer – seven wicked good beers from Ipswich, Mass.”
You will only need to RSVP and pay $30 which includes all tastes and parking!
Three of the best hoppy session beers you’ll ever taste.
plus…
a Mystery Beer – put your beer judge hat on. What is it and where did it come from?
plus…
Clown Shoes Brewing
– Clementine
– Tramp Stamp
– Brash Item 9
– Muffin Top
– Chocolate Sombrero
– Vampire Slayer
– Porcine Unidragon
If you haven’t tried the Four Points yet, this unique tasting would be an ideal introduction to their hospitality.
Count me as a fan of Sierra Nevada hop bombs and also count me as one who isn’t super fond of Dogfish Head IPA’s. But I love that these two big regional breweries can collaborate from time to time. Life and Limb part one and it’s cousin Limb and Life were both really solid beers. So how does Rhizing Bines fare…..
Well it pours a light orange color. I get a big alcohol hit in the aroma and some dankness. I will have to compare it with the recent Celebrator beer magazine 25th Anniversary Imperial Pale since they both use the experimental 644 hop. The Celebrator beer was super boozy but the blueberry and citrus notes popped more. This beer was much more on the Dogfish Head side of the spectrum than the Sierra side. Uber malty with a slickness that coats the tongue. The hops are there and their fruit notes are underneath but I would prefer them in the forefront.
From Lowestoft, UK, comes the easternmost British brewery, Green Jack.
Here is what the importer Vanberg & DeWulf have to say about them, “All Green Jack beers are brewed with Flagon winter barley, all grown and malted in Norfolk (which Dunford says is in most growing seasons the best barley in the world.) Moreover all are fermented with the same four strains of English ale yeast which can be traced back over 100 years and use whole flower hops. 90 percent of production is cask, 10% in swing top bottles”
I will be on the look-out for these two offerings:
Trawlerboys
“A Full-bodied and a copper-coloured premium bitter brewed with English whole cone hops, rich and malty with fruity hop flavours. This Best Bitter has been named after the nickname of Lowestoft Town Football Club as Green Jacks new flagship brewery is opposite Lowestoft’s Crown Meadow stadium. The pump clip features the Lowestoft-built (1978) stern trawler the Boston Sea Stallion launched by none other than Mrs. Thatcher.”
Green Jack Rippa
“This 8.5% ABV English triple was named Supreme Champion Winter Beer of the UK by CAMRA in 2007, this is an amber ale redolent of peach and grape with an herbal, tropical bittersweet taste and a fruity bitter finish. RIPPA is brewed with pale ale malt, caramalt, maize, wheat, and sugar. UK Challenger hops lend a black pepper spice aroma, and Slovenian Celeia hops add bitterness.”
SO another Left Coast brewery is headed east. Green Flash Brewing Co. will open a new brewery in Virginia Beach. In short time, the Silva led operation has moved to a bigger facility in San Diego and now will create a sister site in Virginia.
The Virginia Beach operation should be brewing in the first part of 2015 though brewery openings are usually harder to pin down
This means fresh Palate Wrecker for the East Coast and maybe a collaborative brew as well!
Now Modern Times isn’t selling up in LA yet but if I saw these cans on a shelf tomorrow. I would stop and take a closer look. They give off a combination Mad Men meets right now vibe with a dash of old time NFL jersey look to them.
But this brewery is more than just catchy designs. They have landed some great talent from Lost Coast, Monkey Paw and Ballast Point to brew, run the tasting room and handle the barrels. This puts this brewery on my San Diego must visit list along with Societe.
And if you want to see Modern Times on your local beer seller’s shelves then head over to their Kickstarter page and pitch in!
“April’s topic from This is Why I’m Drunk is “Finding Beer Balance.” It’s a discussion I hope will offer a variety of responses as people consider their interests outside of finding the perfect pint.
Is beer your vice? Is beer your reward? Does beer really have to be either? Do you find lifestyle balance through work, hobbies, family or maybe even “Dry Days” like David Bascombe? There are a variety of ways to find balance.
These questions are simply a jumping-off point. No matter what your answer, I’d love for you to join us in April. ”
I have employed many different tactics so that I don’t “burn out” either myself or my palate.
– Beer Off-Days where I don’t have any beer.
– Having spirits (my favorite being gin) or wine instead of beer.
– Ordering lagers and pilsners instead of bigger choices on the menu board
And that doesn’t even take into consideration going to a movie or heading out to the beach or Farmer’s Market or other numerous (non-beer) activities.
But what I found works best is to simply curtail the amount of beer that I consume. For example, I recently went to a “One Night Stand” featuring Beachwood Brewing at one of my favorite Los Angeles craft beer spots, Beer Belly. Now, I could easily order three or four pints because Julian Shrago brews GABF winning beers.
But instead, I will either order a taster tray or just get one pint. When I do that, I leave wanting more and not not feeling like I had overdone it. Plus, if I order a smaller amount, I can leave a barstool for the next customer sooner and get home and watch Parks and Rec.
The younger me would want to sample every beer on the list but now that I know that there is no way that I can drink ALL of the great beers out there. And the side benefit is that I am now forced to slow down and really enjoy the craft beer that is in front of me and the more enjoyment I have the more “in balance” my life is.