Atlanta Beer "Snob"

Great Divide Brewing Tap Room

2012-02-14T12:33:00.002-05:00

1st stop on the my magical mystery Denver beer and ski tour was the Great Divide Brewing Tap Room near downtown Denver. Pretty east place to find, lots of on street parking around. We got there about 3pm on a Friday and the place was already pretty packed out. Nice tap room, good looking bar in the front with a few tables and a view of the brewery in the back. Beer was ridiculously cheap. I got the Smoked Baltic Porter and my buddy got the Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. I think they were both $3?!?! Both beers were awesome. Smoked Baltic Porter may be my new favorite type of beer. First one I had was Left Hand Brewing's Fade to Black #2 last year. The Great Divide take on the style is amazing. Dark, smooth, just a bit smokey, a tad spicy at the end. Wow, pure love in a glass. Have to start messing around with lager yeast now so I can clone one of these. We skipped the brewery tour since we had several other stops. We did great a growler of the Smoked Baltic Porter to go, fills were about $8 and the growler was around $5. A great little place and was the perfect kick off to the rest of our day.

Great Divide Tap Room Rating: 5 pints out of 5
Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter: 4.5 pints out of 5

Happy Drinking!!

Home at last!

2012-02-13T16:28:00.004-05:00

Got back to Atlanta safe and sound. So jealous of the folks in Colorado and the Denver area especially. 20+ great craft breweries within an hours drive plus several great local distilleries. Wow. A great trip and tons to write about.

Last breweries we hit in Fort Collins:

Odells
Fort Collins Brewery
Equinox Brewing
Coopersmiths Brewpub

Wish we had gotten the time to hit up New Belgium and Funkwerks but the timing just didn't work out.

Reviews of all to come little by little over the next few weeks.

Happy Drinking!!

Heading home...

2012-02-09T20:03:00.003-05:00

So my trip to Vail to go skiing is coming to an end. I should have a good write up of some of the beers that I have gotten to taste while out here in the coming weeks. Breweries that I have gone to so far are:

Great Divide
Wynkoop Brewing
Strange Brewing Company
Renegade Brewing Company
Stranahans Colorado Whiskey
Breckenridge Brewery and BBQ

Also plan on hitting Odels and New Belgian tomorrow before my flight.

Tons of great beers at all these breweries plus a few seeds have been planted on styles I need to try to brew. I'll try to get up a few reviews a week until I can get through all of them!

Happy Drinking!!

Red Brick HopLanta Review

2012-02-02T10:53:00.003-05:00

Saw this at the store and figured I would give it a shot. Poured a nice orangey color, a good and light head. Smelled like an IPA. Good and smooth for a IPA, a little woodsy. Not as floral as most west coast IPAs. Similar to Dogfish Head 60 Minute. In fact I actually like this one better than 60 min. HopLanta just has a bit more pop to it than 60 minute. All in all a decent IPA, may not become a mainstay in the fridge but a nice change up for every now and again. I'll give it a 3 pints out of 5.

Happy Drinking!!

Dunkelweizen Kegged Up

2012-01-31T08:57:00.003-05:00

Got the Dunkelweizen Kegged up last night. Should be able to grab a few sips before heading out to Colorado this weekend. Final Gravity clocked in at 1.014 and 4.7% abv. Not too bad considering the stuck sparge. I think next time I brew this one, with the addition of rice hulls, I should be able to kick the abv% up just a tad, but really 4.7% is pretty dead on where I wanted to end up. It smells just right for a nice wheat based beer. Looking forward to giving it a try.

Happy Drinking!!

When is a Ski Trip not a Ski Trip?

2012-01-25T08:00:00.002-05:00

When there are 8 breweries between you and the mountain! So the Atlanta Beer "Snob" will be heading out west to hit the ski slopes of Vail, CO the first week of February. Heading out there with a good friend Ken (of guy who drank the entire Christmas beer selection from the belgian bar at Brick Store fame). As it would happen, any time I head to a new place I am always looking for new beer to try. We get into Denver around 2pm in the afternoon and really have nothing to do except drive to Vail. So, I started looking for breweries to visit while in Denver. I have since come to the determination that if I ever have to move from Atlanta, Denver is on my list to move to. Heck 20 or something breweries and distilleries within a hours drive? Yes please! So a quick list of the ones we are trying to go when we first get to Denver:

Great Divide
Wynkoop
Strange Brewing
Breckenridge Brewery and BBQ (probably grab dinner here)
Renegade Brewery
Stranahans Colorado Whiskey
Wit's End Brewing Company

So 6 breweries and a distillery. I plan to stock up on beer from the breweries since it should be cheaper than buying it at a liquor store out in Vail.

On the way back after skiing we are playing it by ear and are going to try to head north of Denver a bit (Ft. Collins, Boulder, Loveland, Longmount ect.) and hit a brewery or two before having to head to the airport. We may need to find a UPS store to ship so beer back!

I'll keep everyone up to date on what I try while out there.

Happy Drinking!!

Quick Resturant Review: Hi Life in Norcross

2012-01-23T08:00:00.004-05:00

My wife and I got a nice date night out (thanks to the in-laws for looking after the boys!) and tried a new place just around the corner from were we live. Hi Life is the name of the restaurant. From the outside it looks a bit diveish? It was suggested to us by my sister-in-law who did a business lunch there. We stepped inside and were immediately greeted by a nice low key interior, kind of American laid back bistro/pub kind of thing. The host and waitress were both very nice and knowledgeable. Very large wine list, good selection of beer on tap (Guinness, Blue Moon, Sweetwater 420 and IPA, Pernoi and Stella, no american light lagers here!) and a very extensive cocktail list. I stated with a Sweetwater 420 and my wife ordered a Cosmo. She stated that the Cosmo was very well done, this planted a small seed in my head for an upcoming cocktail order to verify the ability of the bartender. Anyway, we ordered salads, she got the wedge and I the arugula. Both amazing, the wedge was a nice change up from most as it used boston lettuce instead of iceberg. I could have just eaten my arugula salad it was so good, usually not a fan of pecans, but the way the ones on the salad were toasted was great. Main course, I went with the Guinness and Coffee braised short ribs (came with greens and mascarpone mashed potatoes) and my wife with the Friday night special, 2 Maine Lobster Tails with the claw and knuckle meat, yukon gold mashed potatoes and broccolini. Both entrees were amazing! Short ribs done perfectly and the lobster was great.

Now, my little challenge to the bartender. I ordered a Manhattan with dinner. Why? Well I have a love/hate relationship with Manhattans. A lot of places really don't take the time to make them correctly. Most bars will just make a bourbon martini, i.e. bourbon with some dry vermouth and a cherry thrown in. I can tell when they are made like this just by the look and taste of the dry vermouth. The real way to make a good Manhattan is to use sweet vermouth (preferably red) and a dash or 5 of bitters. My all time favorite Manhattan place is the Bluegrass Tavern in Lexington Ky (187 different types of Bourbon!!!!!). Absolutely perfection in a glass. They also make a mean old fashioned but back to the Manhattan at Hi Life. The first clue they knew what they were doing, she asked what kind of bourbon (I choose Bookers) and asked if I wanted it on the rocks or straight up, not many places ask this when you order a Manhattan. Anyway, I got it straight up, it came out in the correct cocktail glass and I knew just by the look it was right. A very good Manhattan using the correct sweet vermouth and a hint of bitters. If I was going to nit pick and would have liked a few more dashes of bitters but thats just my taste.

So, in closing, Hi Life is a great little laid back hidden spot in a strip mall near Norcross. Great atmosphere, great wait staff, great food, great drinks one heck of a menu and very well priced. For dinner you good go all out and have a $50+ per plate dinner or hang and the bar and order a pizza or burger for a happy hour. I will definitely be heading back the Hi Life sooner rather than later!

Happy Drinking!!

Chirstmas Beer Review

2012-01-21T10:14:00.003-05:00

Hit up the Brick Store the weekend before Christmas to finally try to drink my way through the Belgian Bar. The beers on tap were:

ST. BERNARDUS CHRISTMAS
CORSENDONK CHRISTMAS
GOUDEN CAROLOUS NOEL
SCALDIS NOEL (12% Quad)
DERANKE PERE NOEL
CHRISTMAS LEROY
N'ICE CHOUFFE
AVEC LES BONS VOEUX

The Christmas Leroy was tapped out by the time I got there. It was replaced by Samichlaus Bier. Started out with the Deranke Pere Noel then hit the Samichlaus. Got a little lucky (un-lucky?) with the Samichlaus pour. As per Brick Store custom, the majority of the beers on draft are served in the brand specific glass, the Samichalaus was no exception. Poured in a great looking tulip glass with a pour mark of 0.2L. Ok, so the pour was supposed to be 0.2L, the wonderful bartendress pretty much topped it full, closer to 0.5L. So a great thing right? Well yes and no. Samichlaus kicks in at a nigh near illegal in Georgia 14%abv! Yeah, 17 or so ounces of high gravity wonderment. Sweet, smooth, warming. Just wonderful. I wish I had saved this one until last since it pretty much blew out my pallet (and my senses, still on an empty stomach when I drank it!). So I also worked through the N'ice Couffee, St. Bernardus and the Corsendonk. I finished the night with a cellared bottle of Monstre Rouge, a Flanders Red brewed in collaboration between Terrapin and De Proef. My buddy did make it through all 8 of the drafts and was somehow still standing at the end of the night.

For anyone in the Southeast that can make it to the Brick Store from late November to Christmas I highly suggest you head over to Brick Store and try some of the amazing Winter/Christmas beers on draft upstairs at the belgian bar.

Happy Drinking!!

Rainy Day = Brew Day

2012-01-09T07:55:00.002-05:00

Had a tennis match rained out yesterday so not much else left to do but brew! Decided to give the Dunkelweizen a go. Everything went pretty well but I did run into my first stuck sparge. Guess I'll add some rice hulls to my buy list next time I make a wheat beer. Even with the stuck sparge, I hit a good middle road OG of 1.050. With a good ferment it should put my final gravity somewhere in the 5% range which is about what I was hoping. My recipe is below:

Grain Bill:
5 lbs. - Wheat Malt
2 lb. - Munich Malt
2 lb. - Vienna Malt
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (60L)
1/4 lb. - Chocolate Malt

Hops:
.5oz Hallertau (60 min)
.5oz Tettnanger (30 min)

75 Minute Boil
Mash for a little over a hour at 155F.

Using White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Yeast

Long Time No Beer?

2012-01-04T15:10:00.002-05:00

Wow, let that year and a half blow by quick. Let's see, I've drank a lot of great beer since the last post. Enjoyed working my way through the Brick Store Belgian Bar Christmas Beers last month. Planning a ski trip next month that will also just happen to take me by several great breweries in the Denver area. Still doing the homebrew thing. Have really progressed in the quality of my brews. Last two in particular, a big hoppy Irish Red/Red IPA was amazing and the follow up Smoked Stout was pretty good. Planning on brewing in the next week or two, going to brew up the Red IPA again and give a Dunkelweizen a shoot. Hope they turn out.

Happy Drinking and Happy New Year!

Alaska Brewing Smoked Porter

2010-06-17T08:31:00.003-04:00

Wow. Glad I got my hands on this beer. I had read several articles on it and jumped on the chance to have my in-laws pick me up a bottle while they were up in Alaska. A little back story, I really like Porters. Tend to like them better than most Stouts. I know there is a fine line between the two but if I have two to chose from I usually end up liking a Porter more than a Stout. Not really sure why, Porters seem to be a bit rougher, more complex, deeper? Stouts are nice but some can be a little too smooth (for yet another sidebar, Russian Imperial Stouts are a whole other beast, same goes for Baltic Porters). So back to the beer in hand, Alaska Brewing Smoked Porter. What is not to like about this beer? Its a Porter, its a smoked beer, its from Alaska. Wow it is good. Deep black with a very nice deep brown and bubbly head. Get the smoked malt flavor up front, a tiny bite to go with the roasted flavors. Not really coffee or chocolate flavors but ..ummmmm. Can't really explain the taste. Just dang good. To paraphrase Ferris, If you have the means sometime, I highly suggested picking one up, it is just so choice. I'll give it 4.5 out of 5 pints. Probably my number 2 Porter/Stout overall. Sliding in just behind Stone's Russian Imperial Stout.

What else is in the fridge right now....hmmm let's see. A few bottles of Southern Tier IPA (very good, not too hoppy, nice and drinkable), Serra Nevada Glissade (A Golden Bock, ok, has a funky flavor in the middle I can't place and that I'm not to fond of), Alaska Brewing Co. Amber (very nice, review up shortly) and I have a mixed 6er from Dundees that I will be trying to attend the virtual tasting of this afternoon with the head brewer.

That seems to be it for now. Two posts in a week, what is the world coming too.....

Happy Drinking!

Long Time, No See...

2010-06-09T21:49:00.003-04:00

Wow, has it been since January since I posted last? Yikes, my bad folks. I could throw out tons of excuses but I won't. Just too much going on. Plenty of good news on the Beer front. Went to a Brooklyn Beer dinner at Taco Mac here in Atlanta, good stuff and neat to find out about the way the company started. Got the kegerator disassembled for a good cleaning before I get ready to hook up some new homebrew. I should be brewing a wheat and maybe a nice Pale Ale this summer. Football schedule came out and I guess I need to come up with a warm weather breakfast beer, first 4 games are nooners, fun. I have been invited to virtual tasting next week hosted by the head brewmaster of Dundee, Jim McDermott. Now if I can only find a way to drink a few beers at work for the 3pm tasting. I also was contacted about reviewing a few new beers coming over from Ireland. Strangford Lough Brewing Company is sending me a few samples to try out. Really looking forward to those, love me some Irish beer.

Ok, what have I been drinking? Nothing too remarkable has crossed my lips. I did try the new Oskar Blues Gubna IPA. Really good, very floral, lots of grapefruit. Hides the 10%abv well and is not too bitter for a big IPA. Also had the latest Terrapin Side Project 10, Captain Crunkels Black IPA, I really liked it but talked to several people that didn't care for it. Lots of Coors Light has found its way in and out of the fridge. Actually found myself grabbing a cider a few nights ago while working on the car and finding the fridge empty of beer! I do have a few good things waiting to be opened at the moment. A buddy got me a bottle of Dogfish Head Rason 'de Extra, I'll give that one a shoot this weekend. He also rescued my collection of Terrapin Side Project Bottles. I thought I had all of them but #1, came to find out that I had thrown away my last bottle of #8, Pumpkinfest. He found me an extra in his stash, excellent.

What else? My in-laws made another west coast trip and brought back a small but very nice haul for me to try. Alaska Brewing Company Smoked Porter and Amber and a bottle of Russian River Pliny the Elder. Really looking forward to these. I did have one of the Ambers earlier this week and it was quite good. I'll write up a longer review this weekend to go along with the Smoked Porter and Pliny the Elder reviews.

Seeing that I am getting some interesting hits from industry types I am going to do everything in my power to up my post rate. Hopefully once a week. For now, I'm just glad to be writing this. As always, Happy Drinking!

A Few Book Reviews...

2010-01-26T11:26:00.004-05:00

I know I mentioned a few post back a few books that I had picked up over the holidays to keep me entertained while traveling. Figure I will fill in the blanks a bit more and try my best to review a few of the beer related books I have had my nose in recently.

"The Naked Pint" By Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune
My folks got me this book for Christmas and I think I plowed through it in about 3 days. A great book for either a beginner beer connoisseur or the seasoned extreme beer fanatic. Nice tasting notes, list beers in chapters starting with beers new comers should try and escalating to advanced beers that will challenge any palate. Has a great section on Trappist Beers. A few great lists are included (a great beers you must drink before you die list) as well as cooking with beer and a nice little introduction section to homebrewing. A must have in my mind for the learned beer drinker. A great gift for someone who is just starting to explore craft beer. If I had to rate it on my pints system it gets a perfect 5 pints out of 5.

"Beer Hunter, Whiskey Chaser" By Various Authors
"The Naked Pint" actually lead me to this book. It is a book put together by several world class beer and spirits writers as a tribute to the late great beer and spirits writer Michael Jackson. A great collection of stories, articles and musings on Micheal's two favorite passions, Beer and Scotch Whisky. The book tends to lean a little more to the Whisky side but all of the articles included are a great read. I am not quite done with it but am glad that I picked it up. Learned some neat things about both Scotch and beer. All of the proceeds from the book go to the Parkinson's Disease Society (UK), so it all goes to a good cause. Check it out, 4.5 pints out of 5.

"Beer" by Michael Jackson
Just getting into this book. Tasting notes and descriptions of several hundred beers to drink around the world. Really looking forward to the section on Belgium. Michael also wrote a beer book devoted just to the beers of Belgium, one that I will have to track down and buy someday. Can't really rate it yet as I am about 50 pages in but it is entertaining and informative so far.

"The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" 2nd ed by Charles Papazian
An older edition that was passed down to me by a fellow homebrewer. A great resource for starting out homebrewing. Has a lot of great recipes in it and does a good job explaining how to go from partial mash brewing to full extract brewing. This is the best of several homebrewing books that I have acquired and will be my go to when I take the plunge on my first all grain batch of beer.

Magazines:
I am an avid reader of two beer related magazines, "Beer Advocate" and "Zymurgy".

I have mentioned "Beer Advocate" several times, it is the monthly publication to go along with the excellent Beer Advocate website. The website is a great resource for finding good beer near you and the magazine always has great writings about craft beer. I usually tear through the mag from front to back the day it gets in.

"Zymurgy" is the official publication of the American Homebrewers Association. An extremely well put together publication. Always has some great homebrew recipes to try, official beer judge tasting notes, good calendar section and great articles about beer styles and what is going on in general in the craft beer scene. If you are thinking of getting into homebrewing this mag is a must pull next time you are at the bookstore, I have always been able to find it at the big megabook stores.

Well that is all for now. Trying to slowly work my way through the majority of my cellared beer. There may be one or two bottles that make it through the purge (North Coast Old Stock '08 and DFH 120 I'm looking at you) but I look forward to comparing the aged beer reviews to my initial ones. I also look forward to the restocking trip that I am slowly planning in my head. Also hope to get back into the homebrewing swing when I get my basement put back together and the kegerator back functional!

As always, Happy Drinking!

What is in a Name?

2010-01-22T08:42:00.001-05:00

There has been much discussion by beer drinkers on the web about beer snobbery. A recent article in one of my favorite beer publications, Beer Advocate discussed the term. Just looking at the definition of the word snob tells you all you need to know.

"Snob" - One who blatantly imitates, fawningly admires, or vulgarly seeks association with those regarded as social superiors or one who tends to rebuff, avoid, or ignore those regarded as inferior, one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge and taste.

The article suggested the term "beer geek" as more appropriate for someone who loves beer and wants to spread their knowledge of craft beer to others. I can agree to that.

So, why do I call my self the Atlanta Beer Snob? Well it all started as a joke in college. Back at a time when all my roommates were drinking Natural Light, Bud Light, Miller Lite, Icehouse, Milwaukee's Best ect. I could be seen sneaking in a Newcastle Brown Ale, Bass or Sam Adams into my beer fridge. Yes it sat alongside my case of Coors Light but for some reason my buddies termed me the beer snob of the house. Thus the term just stuck. I don't see my self as a true snob when it comes to beer. I don't look down my nose at anyone for what they are drinking but I will try to help them find a craft brew they would like. I guess I am more of just a beer lover who wants to see everyone open up to what beer can be! It is always fun to watch someone try their first big beer and see their reaction when they realize just what good beer can taste like.

Anyways, I'll be sticking with the snob in the name but am going to throw some quotation marks around it since it was more a jokng name given in good fun rather than a condescending term meant to describe one as thinking they are too good for common beer.

As always, Happy Drinking!

Ritz Carlton Buckhead Beer and Cheese Pairing Intro

2010-01-20T20:02:00.002-05:00

I had a great opportunity to visit the Lobby Lounge at the Ritz in Buckhead last week. I was invited to come try out their new beer and cheese pairing menu that they are going to rolling out to the public. I had a great time, got to try a few new beers and meet some great people. So one to the event....

I got there a bit early (maybe 4:30ish?) due to not really knowing how long my commute from my real job would take. Walked around the Ritz a bit to kill some time and was really impressed with the place, much nicer than the Ritz in Beaver Creek Colorado that I grabbed a beer at last month, alas that is another story for another time. Anyway, I got to meet Sandra Ryder (who invited me in the first place), Carlos Casals (Restaurant Chef at the Ritz) and Robert Evans (Dining Room Sommelier). I had a great time chatting with them about my thoughts on beer and getting to here their thoughts on the new menu.

Beers they have picked out for the menu are all brewed by Rogue (a great start for any craft beer menu) and they are each paired with a cheese from Rogue Creamery (no relation to the brewery). There were also a jams and jellies from a local producer by the name Fairywood Thicket. The presentation was spot on and I could not wait to try what they had picked out.

First Beer was the Morimoto Soba Ale. A very light ale. Extremely smooth all over. Faint malt sweetness, Pilsner like but with out the crispness. A perfect beer to pair with sushi or fish. Flavor dulled out a bit as the beer warms up but had a nice distinct nuttiness when first poured. Good head retention with nice lacing as it thinned out. Very light straw coloring. Wouldn't mind trying this beer brewed with some Lager yeast. The cheese that it was paired with was the Morimoto Soba Ale Cheddar. A pretty strong cheese that I thought overpowered the beer. You could taste the nuttiness added by the beer but the fact that it was cheddar just made it a bit too strong for the beer. That aside a nice start to the tasting, I'll give the beer 3 pints out of 5. Again the perfect lighter beer for sushi and much more delicate food.

Second beer was the Hazelnut Brown Nectar. I new I was in for a treat the minute that this beer was poured. Deep reddish brown color with an off-white head. A slight roasted nut hint on the smell. The first taste was amazing. I already love amaretto so I was looking forward to seeing just how much this beer tasted like hazelnuts. Wow. Big sweet malty start but that dulls quickly as a very odd sensation moves down the side of your mouth and tongue. Hazelnut all over the place. Not overpowering but just right. Leads to a nice spicy hop finish that sneaks in after you have already swallowed your sip. A very cool brew. Paired perfectly with the Smokey Blue Cheese. These two were meant for each other. Beer cuts the bite of the blue perfectly and the cheese cuts the heat and spiciness of the beer. This pairing was nailed, best of the night. Loved it. Loved the beer, loved the cheese. I'll give the beer 4 pints out of 5.

Last beer was already a favorite of mine, the Chocolate Stout. Hope you like chocolate and coffee with this beer. Funny that I like this beer and a lot of other stouts because I really don't care for coffee, eh? Anyway, this is a very dark beer, no light making it through this one. Espresso like aroma. Big time roasted malt flavor. Extremely well balanced and very smooth, no off flavors hiding under the coffee and chocolate notes. A good slightly bitter finish. Hides its alcohol very well. Nice nice smooth and very drinkable stout. Good anytime for me, but some non-stout lovers would like this one with their desert as the chocolate notes and bitterness will stand up to a lot of sweet deserts. This was paired with a Chocolate Stout Cheddar. Pretty interesting cheese in its own right. creamy like any good cheddar but with some sneaky bitterness and a really cool chocolate aftertaste. Paired great with the beer, both very well balanced. Robert did ask me if I thought that this beer would go well with anything else, I suggested a small piece of dark chocolate would be a perfect pairing with both cheese and the Stout. An old fav on the beer side gets 3.4 pints out of 5.

The jellys and jams they served afterward are a whole other story. Wow. Pecan Jelly, Pepper Jelly, Apple/Rosemerry Jelly! Just wow. Going to have to hunt these down a buy me some. I thought a great combo was the Smoked Blue and the Rosemerry Jelly, pair those with a nice American Pale Ale and you have a knock out.

Anyway, I feel very honored that I was invited to this event. Kind of coll to be there alongside a writer for the AJC, one from a wine and food magazine and one from Atlanta Magazine (I think...). It was a very nice event and I think that the Ritz has a very nice pairing menu for those looking to think outside the box a bit and try a new craft beer instead of a wine. If you want a nice place to take a date that likes beer or just a great place to grab a few afterwork drinks give the Ritz a shoot!

I plan on having a few more new beer reviews up this weekend along with a few trips I am planning in my head! As always, Happy Drinking!

A New Year and some New Beers!

2010-01-13T07:33:00.002-05:00

The last year has had a bunch of changes for me. Drank a lot of new beers, gave big batch homebrewing a try and am slowly getting better at it, oh and my wife and I had twins. Thus the posting has been a bit down in the last few months. Not much time to seek out exciting new beers when you are chasing two kids around the house. Alas, I am going to delve back into the world of beer blogdom feet first. I am going to commit to getting at least two posts up a week. They could be about beer, they could be about brew news, who knows? I am also going to try to learn a bit more about my favorite beverage this year, I plan on studying to take the Beer Judge Certification Program and I am going to look into taking the Beer Cicerone (think beer sommelier) test. I also have some big plans for the homebrew side, planning out my first all grain batch sometime for the spring.

Another interesting thing that has happened in the last few months has been a slight change in my beer palate. I am still a huge fan of big hoppy IPAs but I don't know if I can still call my self a true Hop Head. Lately I have been seeking out a nice balanced Pale Ale or a nice big Porter instead of ordering an IPA. I am not sure if I just have not come across any really good IPAs lately or if I have moved on from my Hop Head Stage.

A few reading suggestions for the audience, pick up "The Naked Pint" and "Beer Hunter, Whiskey Chaser". Both excellent books.

I do have a neat outing to go to this week. I have been invited to the roll out of the new Beer and Cheese menu at the Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead here in Atlanta. Looking forward to the evening and seeing what beers that plan to keep on hand. Should be a fun time and a good kicking off point for the new year!

Happy Drinking!

Homebrew Update!

2009-10-02T13:40:00.001-04:00

Been reading up on homebrewing recently and looking forward to trying out a few of my own recipe ideas. Latest batch of the HopNog turned out ok. I messed up the carbonation. I plan on modifying one of my kegs for cask conditioning, going to shorted up the pick up tube just a bit in order not to pick up the spent yeast. Also plan on using Irish Moss and Isinglass with the next brew, see if those help clear up the beer a bit. Regardless, the HopNog was still a sucess at the Georgia Tech v. UNC football tailgate. Me and two buddies plowed through almost half the keg in the 2 and half hours of the tailgate. Had the rain not showed up and put a stop to our post game tailgate I am pretty sure the keg would have been floated. My cooler set up worked quite nice, beer stayed nice and cold (I'll post some pictures after the next home game). We did get a few comments on the keg set up. One lady stopped and asked my wife "What is that thing?". "A Keg", Kelly replied, "A Keg? You mean of Beer?" the lady responded. "Yep" Kelly told her, "My Husband makes his own beer". "You can do that?" the clueless one then said. Wow.....

I have narrowed the next brew down to a few styles. Planning on having it ready for the Georgia Tech v. Virginia Tech football game, it happens to be homecoming so hoping to make a good one for all my old college buddies to try out. I am thinking either an English Bitter or a California Common. Regardless it is going to be called "Hokie Stomp Ale" or "Bitter Hokie Ale" or something along those lines. I think it is going to come down to what my local homebrew shop has in stock this Friday when I swing by.

I'll keep everyone updated on the brewing progress.

Return of the Beer Snob: Review Blowout!

2009-10-01T16:01:00.001-04:00

Here we go, my Beer Review Blowout. Just a sampling of the notable beers that I have tasted over the last two months. Still have a bunch left over from my west coast haul that I need to officially review.

New Belgian 1554 Enlightened Black Ale:

Sweet aroma, smells of cherries, chocolate and maybe a hint of currant.
Pour a nice dark amber color, slightly cream colored head, sticky with good retention.
Sweet and malty, you can really taste and feel the carbonation. Semi-sweet chocolate notes with a hint of a hops towards the end. Too much carbonation? Seems to overpower the beer when you first sip it and that leaves the rest feeling pretty flat. I don't know, just something seems a bit off in the balance of this beer. Not bad but nothing I will seek out in the future.
2.5 pints out of 5

Hopworks Urban Brewery Organic IPA:

Aroma: Sweet, notes of tangerine and a bit of pine.
Color: Slightly cloudy orange gold. Nice big head and very sticky with nice lacing. Really grabs the glass.
Taste: Orange right up front the the hop bitterness hits. Hops are very nice, hang around in your mouth for quite a while after you finish your sip. Good piny note at the finish. Fruit taste at start may be a tad too much, no real malt flavor to cut the fruitiness. A nice IPA but tastes a tad too much like a hoppy fruit beer to me.
3.5 pints out of 5.

Rogue Yellow Snow IPA:

Nice smooth start with a perfect hop finish. Pours bright clear yellow gold (guess what it looks like....) Very stick head. Could not pick up too much of the aroma as my nose was stuffed up. Subtle malt flavors give way to wonderful floral hoppy bitterness. Absolutely wonderful. When the brew warms a bit the fruityness in the middle of the taste really comes out and ads to the overall taste of the beer. Best Rogue brew I've had. Not a big fan of Dead Guy Ale, I do like the Old Crustacian Barley Wine. Really sad that this is yet another amazing West Coast IPA that I can't get in Georgia.
4.5 out of 5 Pints

Terrapin Side Project #6 90 Shelling Scotch Ale:

Ok, here goes another Terrapin Side Project review (loyal readers will know I have a love/hate relationship with Spike's experimental brews).
The 90 Shelling pours a nice dark reddish brown. Large persistent head, very fluffy. Sweet and bready aroma. Very nice sweet malt flavor up front with some nice spicyness mixed in. Full body and a bit chewy, both what I would expect from a big Scotch Ale. Smooth drinking, perfect carbonation for the style, not too much but just enough to help the aroma. A very nice interpreation of a Wee Heavy style Scottish Ale (One of my favorite styles that is rarely brewed well). Well done, add this one to my love list from Terrapin.
3.4 out of 5 pints.

Terrapin Side Project #7 Maggie's Farmhouse Ale:

Another Side Project? Yes, I am that backed up in reviews (Side Project #8 is already out and I plan on picking some up this weekend).
Pours and looks a bit like a Belgian White Ale. Fruity and Light in smell. A definante Belgian influence. Spicy and smooth, maybe a hint of cinnamon or coriander? Light malt notes, no hops hanging around this brew. A very nice white belgian style beer.
3.5 out of 5 pints

Looks like Terrapin is starting to hit on all cylinders with the Side Projects. I think the first few they where just trying too hard and trying to mix too many different things. Looking forward to the #8 Pumpkinfest.

Ninkasi Brewing Company Tricerahops Double IPA:

Mildly fruity, some nuttiness in the aroma, can't quite nail it down. You can smell the hops right off the bat, like standing in a pine forest. Bitter hops all over the place! Is there anything else in this Hopbomb? Orange/copper colored. Sticky lacing in the head. Starts with a hint of malt and then the hops shoves it right out of the way. Good little floral note, arpicot? Not overwhelming, cuts the bitterness just enough. Alcohol content is well hidden in this smooth drinking Double IPA (8.8% ABV). Another awesome west coast brew that I feel honored to have been able to try.
4 out of 5 Pints.

There you have it, possibly the longest post I've ever done. Don't worry folks, more to come!

Hello? Is this thing on?

2009-09-30T15:57:00.001-04:00

Sorry about the month plus long hiatus. Life has been a bit hectic, between the twins, work, football season, and a bunch of other stuff you faithful Atlanta Beer Snob just has not had much time to write. Now, that does not mean I have not been drinking my favorite libation. Have had a few good beers and a few bad in the last few weeks, reviews will be up this week.

Why the sudden spare time? Well I am in Manhattan Kansas for the week on a work related project and have some spare time. Manhattan is home to a recommended brew pub (Little Apple) that I plan to haunt tonight. Looking forward to sampling a few of there brews.

West Coast Brews...

2009-08-03T08:19:00.002-04:00

My in-laws just got back from a cross country road trip. Along the way they stopped and picked me up a few choice west coast beers that are unavailable here in the deep south. I'll be reviewing them here in the next week or two. Already gave two Deschutes Brewery beers a go. Their standard IPA, Inversion and the new seasonal IPA Red Chair IPA. So keep an eye out for a few updates in the next few days about so new brews.

Happy Drinking.

Where is the Beer Snob: Part Deux

2009-07-31T09:06:00.002-04:00

Well to tell the truth the Beer Snob has not been drinking too much lately. Not much new beer has crossed my lips in the last few weeks and the fermenters sit abandoned and dusty in the basement, waiting to receive there next batch of wort goodness. I am reading a few homebrew books and do plan on firing up the cooker sometime after my beach trip next week. I'll get the HopNog IPA ready for the first football game. I am really looking forward to my first all grain brew, I'm shooting for sometime in September to do it. I found a nice double ipa recipe that I want to give a shoot. The Irish Stout kit may have to wait until the late fall.

On the beer sampling front, I am continuing to make my way through my beer reserves before buying any thing new. I am down to a 6er of Hopslam, a Guinness 250 or 3, four North Coast '08 Old Stock Ales (pretty sure one or two of these is going to stay in the cellar), 1 Dogfish Head Barleywine, a few Terrapin Side Projects (Roggen, Monks Rervenge and a 90 Shilling) and an Allagash Creuax. After that it comes down to finishing the 2/3 of a torpedo keg of Monk's Revenge I have left and the 12 or so old homebrew bottles. Wish me luck!

Happy Drinking!

Drinking for a good Cause

2009-07-14T16:52:00.002-04:00

I was contacted by Taco Mac about a nice opportunity to help out a good cause while enjoying a nice brew. Terrapin Brewing is going to be releasing a double white ale, "Reunion '09". The release will be July 24th at all Taco Mac locations. Profits generated by the beer will be donated to The Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research (www.imbcr.org.). It is a great cause so head out to the Mac on the 24th and order up a brew to help with Cancer research. Official Release is below....

Taco Mac locations will offer a Terrapin Brewing-produced commemorative Double White Ale in support of the 2009 Beer of Hope Campaign.

ATLANTA (July 9, 2009) –A shared interest in promoting American craft breweries and a desire to give back led Atlanta-based Taco Mac to join forces with Seattle-based SBS Imports to promote this year’s Beer of Hope offering. Reunion ’09, a double white ale produced by Athens, Georgia’s Terrapin Brewery, will be available on draft at all Georgia Taco Mac locations beginning July 24.

The Reunion: A Beer for Hope fundraising campaign is in its third year. Profits generated by the sale of Reunion ’09 ale will be donated by SBS to The Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research (www.imbcr.org.). Customers who wish to make individual gifts to the institute will find information on how to do so in all Taco Mac locations.

The partnership between Taco Mac, SBS Imports and Terrapin Brewery was a natural fit, said Fred Crudder, Taco Mac’s beverage director. “Taco Mac is known as the place for Georgia’s specialty beer lovers, and Alan Shapiro, founder of SBS, is considered a pioneer of the craft beer movement,” Crudder says. “Spike Bukowski, brewmaster for Terrapin Brewing Company, has a reputation for being a mad scientist of brewing—very creative, very innovative.”

The limited edition Reunion ’09 ale promises to be as refreshing as Bukowski’s approach to brewing. The Belgian-style double white ale’s flavor pairs a hint of spiciness with citrus notes delivered via dried orange peels used in the brewing process. “It will go well with almost any dish,” said Crudder, whose personal recommendations include Taco Mac’s Bistro Salad or Monterey Chicken Salad.

About Reunion Beer

Reunion is a beer for hope. Conceived by old friends and colleagues, Pete Slosberg, Alan Shapiro, and Virginia MacLean, Reunion celebrates the life and cause of those suffering from Multiple Myeloma, an aggressive cancer effecting bone marrow. The proceeds go to support the work of Dr. Jim Berenson at the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research (IMBCR). For more information or to make a donation, please visit www.reunionbeer.com.

The Atlanta Beer Snobs Top Ten Breweries

2009-07-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

Had a good heated discussion during my Thursday Night Drinking club. Everyone ranked there top 5 breweries. I decided to expand my list to a top ten, here you go...

1. Bear Republic Brewing
2. Stone Brewing
3. Dogfishhead
4. Bells Brewery
5. Victory
6. Ommegang
7. Allagash
8. Sweetwater
9. Thomas Creek
10. Guinness

There you go. What are yours?

Brewing News!

2009-07-13T16:27:00.002-04:00

A very generous friend that I work with me donated some more equipment to my brewing efforts. I now am in possession of 1 more primary fermenter, two glass secondary fermenters, a custom built sparge bucket, a few more airlocks and a whole bunch of old homebrewing magazines and recipes. Looking forward to digging into all the stuff and I guess I really don't have any excuse to get into a habit of brewing a few times a month!

Review: Dogfish Head Black and Blue

2009-07-13T09:16:00.002-04:00

I have started clearing out the cellaring fridge. I decided it was time to drink some of the few cases of beer I have sitting around instead of buying more! Anyway, I think I picked this bottle up last spring during my trip to Delaware. This ale is dubbed as a raspberry and blueberry packed brew. It pours very dark with a hint of red to the color. The you can smell the berries as soon as you open the bottle. I guess that is where the first problem arose for me about this beer. I know some people look down there noses at "fruit" beers but there are some I tend to like. One of the best I ever had was a blueberry brew from Sea Dog brewing in Maine. Upon my first sip of the Black and Blue I came away pretty disappointed. There was a hint of the fruit flavor but most overwhelming was the alcohol kick on the tail end. I guess I thought there was going to be a much bigger fruit taste to this brew and I was not ready for the burn at the end. Maybe this one is best sampled when it is fresh. I'll give it 1.5 out of 5.

Happy Drinking!

Where is the Beer Snob?

2009-07-12T16:15:00.000-04:00

I'm here. I know it has been a bit since I posted but life got in the way for a bit. Still getting used to work and taking care of the kids. I promise to have a few good reviews this week as well as a brewing update so stay tuned!

Thursday Night Drinking Club

2009-06-14T16:27:00.002-04:00

Hit up Taco Mac Ellard Thursday night to work on the passport card a bit, up to 98 total. Only 27 more until I can get the 20oz members mug. Anyway, tried out a few new beers.

Atlanta Brewing Company Red Brick Blonde: Darn good beer. Seemed perfect for sitting outside for a summer bbq. Nice and light, very smooth. A nice summer option if you are not a big fan of wheat beers. 3 out of 5

Bell's Amber Ale: Dang, do these guys make a bad or even slightly average beer? If they do I have yet to taste it. A damn fine amber. A bit fruity and sweet, excellent toasty in the middle, hint of hops on the end. Dang, this is what I was expecting Fat Tire to taste like the way people raved about it but Bell's Amber blows fat tire away. One of the best Amber's I've ever had. 4 out of 5.

Four + Brewing, Uinta Monkshine Belgian Pale Ale: Yeah that is the whole name. Much more than a mouthfull witch is less than I can say about the beer itself. I went out on a limb to try this one. My first mistake was ordering a Belgian style ale from a brewery in Utah, the second mistake was not realizing that the beer was 4%abv until after I started drinking it. Tasted like a Lite beer version of a Belgian. Had the yeast type flavor of a Belgian but that was about it. Ugh. Not recommended at all. 1.5 out of 5.

French Broad Brewing - 13 Rebels ESB Ale Review

2009-06-10T20:45:00.002-04:00

Picked up a 22 oz bomber of this last week figuring I would give a nice regional beer a chance. I had heard of French Broad brewing before but this was the first one of thier beers that I had seen for sale in Georgia. So here goes....

Poured a very nice deep copper with a slight hint of red to the color. A light and lacy head. Nice toasty malt aroma, maybe a slight bit of molasses. Good and smooth to start, nice bitter note fading into a smooth sweet malt middle. A tad bitter at the finish leading to a strange piny aftertaste when the beer was cold. Once this one warmer up a bit the piny aftertaste disapeared and ended up being a bit more floral. Very smooth drinking. If the finsh was cleaned up a bit this would be a darn good beer. As it is, this is a pretty decent beer and does make me want to try a few more French Broad Brewing offerings. I'll give it 2.5 pints out of 5.

Happy Drinking!!

4th of July Stout Anyone?

2009-06-09T13:02:00.002-04:00

On the homebrew front, I ordered my 22 quart brew pot today. Hoping it gets here sometime next week. Figure I may try brewing sometime late next week. I'll give my Irish Stout a shoot. I want to make sure I have something ready by July 4th. The HopNog IPA is too good so I'm saving it for football season. So, with that thought I sure hope a nice cold stout will go well during a hot day at the pool.

Figure I might start a little neighborhood tradition with this next brew session. I figure if I do it on a Friday afternoon, invite everyone over and ask them to pick up a random 6-pack they have never had before, and sit around drink and brew.

Anyways, more beer reviews coming tonight and tomorrow.

Happy Drinking!!

Beer of the Week: New Belgian Fat Tire Amber Ale Review

2009-06-08T21:21:00.004-04:00

Ok, new feature here from the Beer Snob, my beer of the week. Picked up a 22oz bomber of the new to GA Fat Tire Amber Ale. I have heard greatthings about all things New Belgian and decided I needed to give it a try for myself. The three launch beers for Georgia are the flagship Fat Tire Amber Ale, the 1554 (a black ale) and the Mothership Wit (a wheat beer). I went with the Flagship Fat Tire to start.

A very nice pour, nice clear coppery amber color with a big foamy head. Sweet malt notes in the smell. Some burt biscuit type notes as well. Very sweet and malty to start, loses its kick very fast and fizzles out towards the finish. Very dull after the malt bomb start. A hint of hops at the end? No bitterness at all. Smooth to a fault I would say. I was expecting a little something more to hit me. I am very disappointed. You get a great hit of flavor when you first sip it and then.....nothing. Very odd. Atlanta Brewing Companies Red Brick Ale hits very simliar to start but then packs some nice roasted malt flavor and a good hop aroma. Fat Tire leaves me very wanting and much perplexed in the big talk I have heard about it. Hopefully the 1554 that I bought is much better. I can't recommend Fat Tire to anyone. 1.5 pints out of 5.

I'll have another few random beer reviews this week (Thomas Creek Deep Water Dopplebock Lager and Terrapin 90 Shelling). Happy Drinking!!

Tons of Beer Reviews! (Terrapin 30 Strong, Ommegang Rouge, Landshark, Kona Longboard, Bell's Oberon)

2009-05-29T13:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, have a few quick reviews to hit.

Kona Longboard Lager: A very fine example of an American Lager. If you like Budweiser and want to take a leap of faith to try another great American lager pick up some Kona. Very refreshing, a nice slight hop note. Pretty good. I'll drink it if offered but won't go out of my way to hunt it down. 3 out of 5.

Landshark Lager: Picked some up for a cook out that we went to on Saturday night. Quite good. A bit crisper than the Kona. Think of it as an American version of Corona with no need to add a lime. 3 out of 5.

Ommegang Rouge: Mmmmm a flemish sour. Excellent. I have to fine somewhere that stocks this in bottles. A wonderful deep red pour. Looks almost like dark red wine. An amazing fruity aroma but with a weird tilt to it. You smell fruit and flowers but there is also a hint of the funkyness to come. Sweet and smooth to start, sour and tart to finish. Love it. 4.5 out of 5.

Terrapin 30 Strong: Terrapin's 30th anniversary Taco Mac beer. Wow, tons going on. Maltbomb but a hop bomb at the same time? Looks like a lager? Huh? Really smooth too. Can't believe it has 8.8% abv. If you can get to a Taco Mac to try it before it is gone I highly suggest it.

Bell's Oberon: I have heard so much about this beer I didn't think that there was any way that it could live up to the hype. I was wrong. Best American Wheat beer I've ever had. Wow, just the right amount of fruityness, a tad bit of funkyness left from the yeast, right amount of hops to add flavor yet keep it drinkable. I need to pick up a few 6ers before the summer is over. 4.5 out of 5.

Well those are the quick reviews for now. Hope to have more in the next few weeks along with my beer of the week reviews. 'Til then, Happy Drinking!

Guinness 250 Review

2009-05-28T15:30:00.000-04:00

Ok, my long awaited Guinness 250 review is finally ready. I was the first to buy any at the Total Wine store in the perimeter area of Atlanta. I tried to buy some the day it came out but could not find a store that stocked any. I was not even sure if Total Wine had it until I asked. It ended up taking myself and two guys at the store 15 minutes to find where it was stocked. The problem being that we where looking for the standard black Guinness packaging and the 250 was shipped in cream colored boxes. Once it was located I picked out 2 6 packs (about $8.00 each) and was on my way.

So how was the beer? It is pretty good. The label and advertising sum it up as well as I can. Guinness says this beer is brewed to be crisper and more refreshing than Guinness Draft. Well it is. It is a tad lighter and not quite as bitter. Easier to drink for someone who has never had a stout. It is a fine beer and a bit closer to some of the microbrew porters that have become pretty popular. If you like Guinness then 250 a try, won't be around forever so try it now before it disappears for good. I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5. I'll buy some more next time I'm over at Total Wine.

Japan brewing/Asahi Super "Dry"

2009-05-28T12:52:00.002-04:00

Here is my old college chum Jeremy's take on beer in Japan.....

Note: Jeremy is an invited blogger to Atlanta Beer Snob. He normally posts at iTooglefm on issues related to music, information retrieval, signal processing, and science.

Japan does not have a very long beer-brewing tradition and many past laws make it difficult for new tastes to emerge. Japan is dominated by four major breweries: Asahi, Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo, which also makes Yebisu. Beyond these four, choices are rare to come by for a couple reasons. First, until a few years ago, laws prevented anyone from establishing a brewery unless they could produce on a large scale, which meant a significant investment was needed to have a full-fledged operation. Second, home-brewing is almost non-existent (again, in large part due to laws). However, Japan does have an upside: very liberal drinking laws. Beer is sold anywhere, including vending machines in train stations, etc. Just don't drink and drive (but if you are in Tokyo, you shouldn't drive anyway). Most restaurants will serve only one type of beer, but this trend is decreasing now that American restaurants are starting to serve a better variety in Japan.

Probably the one Americans are most familiar with is Asahi. For this review, I'll give my thoughts on Asahi Super "Dry." I'm not really sure why Dry is quotation marks and Super is not in quotation marks. For that matter, I'm not really sure Super applies. Like most Japanese beers, it's a fairly generic take on beer. Ask a general beer drinker to picture a beer and you'll probably get people thinking about this beer. Lots of head, light yellow color, clear complexion. Probably not bad if you are sitting out on a deck watching football, and just want to have beer without thinking about it. It's kind of amazing that this was the best result of the Dry Wars. However, it was the beer that drove Kirin from a virtual monopoly. This also paved the way for the microbrews that are now just starting to take hold in The Land of the Rising Sun.

Homebrew Weisbier Review

2009-05-27T11:55:00.002-04:00

I got my Weisbier kegged up over the weekend and debuted it down at our neighborhood pool on Memorial day. Along with the new brew I gave my new travel keg kit a try out. I figured this would be a good run for the rest of the summer and for football tailgating this fall. First let's talk about the beer.

It turned out a good bit darker than I was expecting. It looked a lot closer to a brown ale than a lighter wheat beer as I was expecting. It poured well with a decent head that tended to stick around quite a while. Nice crisp and very smooth at the start. A very cool lemon flavor and a slight hop touch to finish. Really nice. It really was a ton better than I expected. Everyone really liked it and I will have to brew this one again a few times this summer. If this had come out of a bottle I would give it a 3.5 out of 5. Pleasantly redrinkable, no aftertaste, a perfect beer for sitting by the pool all day.

The travel keg system also performed without any hiccups. Only mistake I made was attaching the gas connection before I had the CO2 cartridge plugged in and releasing all the pressure I had in the keg initially. No worries though, the little 16g CO2 cartridges did there job. I went through 3 during the afternoon and almost floated the keg, there may be 3 or 4 beers left in the bottom. If I had not lost the initial charge on the keg 3 would have been more than enough to dispense all the beer. I also have a design in my head on how to keep the keg cool during tailgating. I am going to hack up one of my coolers that I really don't like. I'll remove the hinged lid, cut a hole in it just large enough to fit around the keg. I'll get some pictures of the whole rig when I put it all together in the next week or two.

I do have some site related news. Since I have been a bit of a slacker when comes to new beer reviews I am going to do my best to review a new beer a week for the rest of the summer. I also am going to have a few new reviews in the next few days as well as a beer drinkers guide to Japan and Taiwan. Hope you guys enjoy! As always, Happy Drinking!

Found a beer for the wife...

2009-05-22T09:32:00.002-04:00

Kelly and I finally got a chance to grab a nice dinner alone. We went to Leon's Full Service in Decatur. It is owned by the same guys that own the Brick Store just around the corner. Neat little place, may have the coolest looking bar in town. Good beer menu, a little bit of everything. Food was excellent. I grabbed a Belgian IPA, pretty good, nice hop note but for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. My second beer was a Sour. I have become a huge fan of this style of beer, really complex. Sour, sweet, bitter, smooth all in one sip, very cool stuff but it is a love it or hate it style. I convinced Kelly to take a sip and was surprised that she really liked it. Guess I will have to try and brew a sour up sometime in the coming months.

I have a bunch of beers to review (Guinness 250, Yuengling Black and Tan, Kona Longboard, Terrapin 30, Bells Oberon and more) a long with a trip report about where to drink in Ann Arbor, MI. Bear with me, I'll get them up soon! 'Till then, Happy Drinking!

Bell's is almost here!

2009-05-11T22:19:00.003-04:00

It is official, I received my first pre-order request for Bell's beer. It lands here in the Empire State of the South on Tuesday May 19th! Sweet! Taco Mac is having a release party and Tower will have a few of there beers ready for the initial roll out. If you live in Georgia and have not had a Bell's beer I suggest that you pick up any sixer that you can find. I am saddened that the Two Hearted IPA is not one of the initial beers but Hopslam and Oberon are so I look forward to restocking my Hopslam supply.

So this is what no sleep feels like....

2009-05-05T16:36:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update, the twins are doing fine and I have not yet had a chance to get a few new beer reviews up. I found Guinness 250 at Total Wine, I was the first person to buy it. I'll have a full write up on it in the next few days. First impression was made when my dad loaded up the cooler and snuck a few into the hospital to celebrate. It is good.

That is about it for now, hoping to some good posts up in the next few days. Happy Drinking!

Raise a toast to Two New Beer Snobs!

2009-05-01T16:49:00.004-04:00

Well good news, the twins arrived Thursday at 2:30pm and 2:31pm. James "Tripp" Robert Garrison III and Benjamin Tanner Garrison are doing just fine. Mom and Dad are proud to welcome a few new beer snobs to the world. Tripp is in the "B" hat and Tanner is in the "A" hat. Both boys are named after their Grandfathers.

Raise a Pint Tonight.....

2009-04-24T14:59:00.002-04:00

Yep, Guinness 250th anniversary Stout makes its debut today. If you see it on draft somewhere give ti a shoot. I plan on picking up a 6 pack on the way home tonight and see what I think of it.

Picked up a 6er of Breckenridge Brewery's Pandora's Bock yesterday. Quite good, very sweet malt note, nice and smooth, just enough hint of hops at the end to cut the sweetness. Nice deep reddish brown color too. A nice all around beer.

Turns out I may not buy the new brew kettle from Wally world. Read some reviews and people have good things to say about it but apparently it warns you not to use it over anything above medium heat. I'm guessing my propane burner would qualify as a but more than medium heat. Did some digging and I have decided it looks like I need a Stainless Boiling Pot. Found a few and they look pretty heavy duty and perfect for cooking up my brew. I'll try to get one on order here in the next few days, I really want to brew again soon. Looking forward to trying my first stout.

Looks like a great weekend here in the SE for some porch sittin', grillin' and beer drinking so get out and enjoy the nice spring weather before it gets too hot.

Happy Drinking!

Just a quick update....

2009-04-22T14:38:00.002-04:00

Got my confirmation that I am in the Guinness 250!

Sometime in the next month or so I am going to try to get a calendar feature set up to keep track of the beer goings on in and around Atlanta. Figure I can put local beer dinners, special beer releases, when I plan on brewing and the like on there.

Still waiting on my Asian correspondent to get back to me on if they drink beer in Japan. Although he is probably to busy discussing things that make no sense to my at his conference.

My brewing is currently on hold until I get my hands on a bigger brew pot. I have the size and material picked out (22 quart, Stainless Steel) now I just have to find it. Wal-mart has them but I think I might try this little restaurant supply store that is right around the corner from work.

Spent some time looking through the cellaring fridge last night. Getting a bit thin. I am going to open a DFH 120 when the twins are born. Need to head down to the new beer store here in Atlanta (Hop City) to pick up some new brews. I also need to make an SC road trip to find some more Bear Republic beers.

Plan is still to tap the Monk's Revenge soon.

That is about it for now. 'Till next time, as always, Happy Drinking!

The Guinness 250

2009-04-20T08:23:00.003-04:00

Well I received an interesting package Saturday afternoon. Not expecting to see the FedEx man leaving a decent sized box on my doorstep I was a bit puzzled when I picked it up and saw that it was addressed to me. I had been expecting another baby gift from a far off relative but I got quite another surprise when I ripped into the box. Out falls a small metal key chain bottle opener. Interesting gift for a new baby I thought. I picked it up and realized it was a Guinness bottle opener. Hmmm. No way did they send me stuff Saturday delivery, I just told them I was honored to be picked as one of the Guinness 250 a few days before (if you are just tuning it, the Guinness 250 are the 250 biggest Guinness fans in the US, I was chosen!). But yes, this package was my welcome gift to the Guinness 250! Inside there was some pretty sweet swag. The aforementioned key chain bottle opener, a larger bar quality bottle opener, a few Guinness coasters and the object that had required the box be so big to begin with. An extremely cool Guinness Rugby shirt. Black and cream colored (gee I wonder why they picked those colors) with some pretty cool stitching on the front, a Guinness 250 patch near the bottom left and the number 1759 in red on the back. I'll have to take a few pictures and put them up when I get the chance. The shirt is cool but it was far from the best thing in the package. Inside a black folder in the package there was a letter congratulating me for being picked to be one of the Guinness 250, hand signed by Fergal Murray! Also a very cool certificate showing me being an official member of the Guinness 250! I am getting both of those framed and up in bar ASAP. There was an email to officially sign up for the group, I've done this and can't wait to hear what else is in store! Anyways, that is about it for now. Happy Drinking!

More Guinness news! (I'm a big fan!)

2009-04-15T17:30:00.000-04:00

For any loyal readers that remember my chance to interview Fegal Murray (head brewmaster of Guinness) I have a little follow up. Because of the write up (and a whole lot of luck on my part) I have been selected by Guinness as on of the 250 biggest Guinness fans in the USA! Wow, I would like to thank the academy, my producers, my co-stars...ect ect.... Anyway I am pretty amazed. Sounds like I will get a bottle or two of the new 250th Anniversary Guinness Stout (A US only brew and the first new Guinness Stout brewed in close to 40 years) that should be making its ways in beer stores near you some time soon. I'll keep everyone updated on what it means to be one of the 250 biggest Guinness fans in the USA! I can't wait, it should be fun.

Happy Drinking!

Brew News and more!

2009-04-14T17:22:00.003-04:00

Well, I still have not tapped the Monk's Revenge but man am I looking forward to it. Had another one of my bottles the other night and I think this is going to be wicked on draft.

Hit up Brew Depot last week with my dad. Picked up a new air lock and some more brew kits. I picked another HopNog because I liked the first so much. This one has a slightly different hop schedule so I'll have to see if I can taste the difference. I also got an Irish Stout and a Wiezenbier. Figure I'll brew up the Stout right after the primary is free from the Hopnog and then brew the Wiezenbier up for the opening of our neighborhood pool. I figure I will christen the travel tap with the Wiezenbier, looking forward to being able to take homebrew to football games in the fall.

I also hit up the local Taco Mac for lunch with the padre. He had never been and I figured it would be a good way to continue his education and induction in to the wide world of craft and extreme beer. I am starting to order more off the bottle menu to help fill up my Passport list. I've had most of the stuff that the Ellard location has on tap so I went for some Thomas Creek beer. Story behind Thomas Creek, they are the largest microbrewery in South Carolina. I had heard of them from my trip to the NC mountains over MLK weekend. Anyway, I got the Pumphouse Porter to start. A very good dark porter. Good coffee flavor and some nice sweet maltyness to balance. There is a good hop note at the end and if really tastes good. Off the cuff I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5 pints. Second beer was going to be the Class 5 IPA but there was none to be had in the fridge so I went with the Appalachian Amber Ale. Very nice! A wonderful floral note, great taste. Great all around, I will buy this again if I ever see it. 4 pints out of 5. My dad got to try Sweetwater Dank Tank Ron Burgandy and the Stone IPA. He really liked the Stone IPA and tried to trade the Ron Burgandy for my porter.

That is about it for now. I need to buy a new stock pot to brew in. I am moving my brewing out doors and will start using my good propane cooker set up so that I can control the heat a bit better. Figure I'll brew the next batch of HopNog sometime in the next few weeks when I am taking time off for the twins birth! Anyways, as always, happy drinking!

Five Great Anerican Beers?

2009-04-08T07:37:00.003-04:00

Ok, my buddy who is spending this month in Japan and should be writing up a short report in the next few weeks for me (hint, hint there Reed) sent me this link:

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2009/04/five-great-american-beers.html#comments

A pretty good article but I thought I would include my thoughts from my e-mail response to him...

You are going to hat me because I've had 4 of those. World Wide Stout is incredible, just flat out amazing. One of the best 2 or 3 beers I've ever had. Too bad we can't get it here in Georgia. Have to see if we can find it up in Michigan for Joey's wedding. The Weyerbacher is ok, I prefer Dogfish Heads punkin better. They messed up the description of the Terrapin Gamma Ray, it is not a wheat beer but a wheatwine, totally different. Also too bad that you can't buy the stuff anymore since it was a limited release. I have one bottle left but know where I can get a few more, I'll pick you up one. Again they screw up on the Oskar Ten Fidy, it is not draft only, I bought a 6 pack last week. Ten FIDY is the darkest stout/porter I've ever had. Pours like motor oil but is pretty tasty. Can't get the last one here in the ATL.

This article is why I like yet loathe Paste at the same time. Decent articles but no research is ever put into them. Just seems the writers are kind of hacks half the time but they do write about interesting subjects. Also, if he wanted to pick the 5 great American beers he has to include something from California. As far as I am concerned the best thing California (damn, every time I write that word I get the scene from the wizard stuck in my head where the little kid says "California", anyway back to the rant) has ever done was to kick start the craft/extreme beer movement in the US. Sure Sam Adams did it on the east coast and Dogfish Head does some nice things these days but some of the stuff that the brewerys in CA and the northwest do are amazing. They pretty much invented the Double and Triple IPA style, the Russian Imperial Stout, Coffe Stout, Vanilla Porter, American Pale Ale (Not that Budweiser American ale shit), XPA and rejuvenated the barleywine stlye all pretty much on there own. Anyway that is just my 8 cents.

Concerning the New Job? Yeah it was April 1st, I wish I had a brewery job to brag about. Other news on the kegerator front, I think I finally got it balanced and pouring right. Installed a new regulator and new beer line and got the first clear and non-foamy pour off my HopNog keg, damn that is some good beer. I need to get back to the homebrew store to get a few more kits. If they have another HopNog kit I'll pick that up along with a stout or porter and a hefe. That is it for now, Happy Drinking!

New Job!!

2009-04-01T11:54:00.001-04:00

Ok, some pretty exciting news here for the beer snob. I was offered a job working for a local brewery! They liked my blog and decided they could use another hand brewing and spreading the news about their beer! Hell yeah. I'll follow up a bit more about this tomorrow....

Terrapin Side Project #5: Monk's Revenge Review

2009-03-30T11:47:00.002-04:00

Ok, been a bit since my last post. Last week was a bit odd. We had an industry audit going on at work and the twins tried to escape a few weeks early from my wife so I spent a few days shuttling back and forth between work and the hospital.

Anyway, on to the beer. I was lucky enough to pre-order some of the new Terrapin Side Project that came out last week. Up to this point I had been pretty underwhelmed by this series of beers. #3 Gamma Ray Wheatwine was nice but #4 and #2 (Dos Cocas Chocolate Porter and The Rauchbier) both left a bit to be desired. Not so the #5, appropriately called Monk's Revenge. Anyway, it is billed as a Belgian Style Double IPA. Terrapin says it is a mix of the malt profile from a Belgian Triple with the Hop profile of an American Double IPA. I really don't care because it is soooo damn good. Reminds me very much of an Allagash Triple but with a tad more hops. Packs a pretty good punch too coming in a 9.6% abv and 99IBUs. Thing is though, the hops are nicely hidden and this does not seem like a beer with close to a 100 ibu rating. Very nice and malty up front, has a bit of the Belgian funk going on in the middle which I really enjoy. A very smooth finish with the hop aroma lingering for a bit in you mouth.

If you can get your hands on a bottle of this give it a shot. I was lucky enough to snag a 1/6 barrel keg! Plan on letting it rest for a bit and tapping it some time late spring. I'll give this Terrapin Side Project 4.5 out of 5 pints. Well done, they finally took a crazy idea and knocked it out of the park.

Big Beer News! Bells coming to Georgia!

2009-03-18T11:55:00.002-04:00

Well it is going to be a banner weekend for the beer snob and friends. I have friday off and plan to celebrate the opening round of March Madness by tapping my keg of HopNog homebrew. Really looking forward to it. Have to keep track of how long it lasts but I doubt it will make it to Sunday.

Beer is getting interesting here in Georgia. Taco Mac has a special Sweetwater brew on draft for the next week or so, Ron Burgundy. It is a 30th anniversary beer brewed just for Taco Mac. Terrapin and Atlanta Brewing will also be making special beers.

Biggest news in my mind is that New Belgian and Bells are on their way to GA! Bells!!! Sweet. Should be here this summer. I can see my beer being permanently stocked with Two Hearted Ale for the foreseeable future, I am giddy with the news. Now if someone will get off their butt and get Bear Republic here in GA I can drink in piece.

Anyway, I'll take a few pics and let everyone know how the HopNog turned out. I also may have some guest posts up about the beer scene in the Far East (Yes Reed I may have you tell me a bit about beer in Japan). 'Till then..

Happy Drinking!!

Big drinking ahead...

2009-03-09T22:20:00.002-04:00

Well there is now a deadline set to when the twins are going to show up at the latest. April 30th. I guess I have to get some good drinking in before then. Plan on having the Hopnog kegged up middle of next week and ready for consumption for the opening rounds of the NCAA tourney. I also have to help plan our neighborhood H.O.R.S.E poker tourney (I'm a co-founder of the tournament). This will be the 2nd year we have had this be one of the 4 majors in the Lockridge Forrest Sport Fishing and Gaming Association poker tour. The 4 majors include the aforementioned HORSE tourney, the Stud Poker Championship, the Gran Poupon Tourney (dealer calls) and the Tournament of Champions. You have to have won one of the other majors to be able to enter the tourney of champions. Luckily I am now eligible to play in the TOC due to my win in the Gran Poupon tourney this past January.

I am also kicking around the idea of buying either a really good bottle of port or of Champagne for when the kids are born. Figure I will try to keep it until they are 21 and then share it with them.

Not much real beer news right now. I should have the rearranged kegerator set-up this weekend. I'll review the Hopnog as soon as I give it a try.

Happy Drinking!

Mantuary of the Month, January 2009!

2009-03-02T08:44:00.001-05:00

Don't know if any of my readers make it over to The Mantuary. It is a pretty good site about all things manly. Anyway, my basement bar was voted Mantuary of the Month for January 2009! Check out the article.

Off to the land of Bourbon....

2009-02-26T07:35:00.002-05:00

Heading up to Lexington, KY for a low key bachelor party this weekend. Basically it is just myself and a few buddies from college going. Why Lexington? Well it is pretty central for everyone that is going and one of our friends lives in Lexington so the lodging is free, always a plus. We will be hitting the bourbon trail tomorrow. Plan on visiting at least Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, Makers Mark and Heaven Hill. Should be a good day. I am sure Friday night will involve some beer in one way or another. I'm looking forward to it because I'm hoping to find Bells on tap. Saturday will involve some recovery in the morning followed by the Kentucky v. LSU basketball game in the afternoon and then more beer and liquor that night. Just hope we can all make it to Sunday in one piece. Anyways that is about it for now...

Happy Drinking!

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Review

2009-02-25T13:00:00.002-05:00

Just a quick hit on this review. Gave this beer a shoot a few nights ago after a grueling tennis match. A buddy left me one as a "victory" beer. It has been documented that I am not a big fan of Sierra Nevada. Not sure what it is but their beers and I just don't get along for some reason. This one was ok. Didn't really stack up to my standards as far as a barleywine. It had a decent hop note in the middle and was a tad sweet but nothing really stood out. I want a barleywine to stand up and announce what it is. This one really tasted much closer to just a strong dark ale. I'll happily drink it if handed to me for free but I don't really think I will go out of my way to buy or order this one anytime soon (unless I need it for my Taco Mac passport card). Anyway, maybe it is a good introduction to barleywines if you have never had one and want to wade in to the pool instead of jumping right in with a big one (Rouge Old Crustacean come on down!). I'll give this one a 2.5 pints out of 5.

Happy Drinking!

Miller Lite has hops is in it?

2009-02-25T09:14:00.002-05:00

Don't know if anyone has seen one of the newer Miller Lite ads on tv yet, I couldn't find it posted anywhere on the net. The ad celebrates the fact that Miller ads hops not once, not twice, but three tims during the brewing process of Miller Lite, and that ads to the great pilsner taste of Miller Lite. Huh? There are hops in Miller Lite? Could have fooled me. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Miller Lite (see my Cheap Beer Manifesto here) but trying to sell Miller Lite on the amount of hops in it is like trying to sell O'Doul's because it has some alcohol in it. The regular lite beer drinker don't know what hops smell or taste like. They figure, hey its got hops, it has to be better than brand X. Ok, but don't go trying to sell your beer off the success of the craft movements use of liberal amounts of hops. Rant over....

Happy Drinking!

More Guinness Please.....

2009-02-24T09:05:00.002-05:00

A nice gallery of pictures from the Perfect Pour Competition from the local fish wrapper.

Introduced my mom of all people to Guinness this past weekend. We hit up Ted's Montana Grill on Saturday (mmmmm, bison burger....). I ordered up a Guinness and order her up a Sweetwater 420. She asked if Guinness was any good, I responded by not believing she had never had a Guinness. I knew she would like it since she drinks her coffee black. Let her have a sip and she was sold, asked if I wanted to trade beers. I kindly refused but told her to make my dad buy 6 pack of Guinness so they could properly celebrate St. Patrick's day in Savannah.

That is all for now. Happy Drinking!

Weekend Brewing

2009-02-23T15:10:00.002-05:00

Ended up doing a little brewing Sunday morning. What a nice way to start the morning, hovering over a boiling pot with the wondrous smell of hops wafting throughout the house. The brew in question is Hopnog. A nice uber-hopped homebrew kit. I think the IBUs should come in around 75+ and the ABV is supposed to be right at 7%, very nice. Took a quick taste when cooling the wort and the concentrated bitterness puckered my lips....yum! Anyway, it is resting quite nicely in the fermentor, the yeast eating away at the sugars and producing lovely alcohol. Really looking forward to this one. My first big hoppy IPA and the first new tap on the new kegerator set up. Should be a nice way to spend the first weekend of March Madness, watching basketball and trying to finish a keg of homebrew!

Interview with Fergal Murray : Head Brewmaster at Guinness and judge at the Guinness Perfect Pour Contest

2009-02-17T11:15:00.005-05:00

As I teased yesterday I had the honor of getting about 10 minutes to talk to Fergal Murray. The man, the myth, the legendary head brewmaster at Guinness. Got to speak with him before the Guinness Perfect Pour contest held at Taco Mac here in Atlanta. The field started with 40+ bartenders and slowly whittled its way down to one.

I guess I can start with a little background for Fergal. He got his first job at Guinness in the early '80s working as a research chemist. He decided he wanted to be a bit more involved in the brewing process so he enrolled at the Institute of Brewing in London and received his Master Brewing degree. Since 1995 he has been the head brewmaster for Guinness.

On to the interview.....

First thing I asked Fergal was "Why Guinness?" He summed it up pretty well in one word, "Passion". He talked of the passion for the "nectar" as he kept calling it. He made a great point that is there another beer in the world where you would have a pouring contest for? He was very passionate for Guinness the brand and Guinness the Beer.

We then went on to talk about "What is the perfect pint?". Apparently there are a few tricks to pouring a good pint. Fergal made sure to point out that not just anyone can pour a good pint. A few rules and pointers: the spout never touches the glass or beer, glass in left hand while working the tap with the right, glass should start at 45 degrees to the tap, pull tap towards you on first fill, first fill should be 3/4 to 4/5 full, let it settle a bit but you really don't have to let it settle all the way out (you get a better head if you don't let it settle all the way), place glass directly under tap for second pour, push tap forward for second pour, fill just over rim leaving a nice "dome" on top. Sounds easy right? Well any spillage your out, place the logo facing the wrong way and your get points off, have bad luck with a few big bubbles in the head and you out.... Anyway you get the point, it is a little tricky to truly pour a perfect pint. That is until you watch Fergal pour perfect pint after perfect pint. Heck you think this was part of his job or something.....

I asked if he had any words of advice for someone who wanted to get started in brewing. Fergal had some great points on this. He said it was great to see new takes on beer and that it is nice that someone can go from homebrewing into brewing for a brewpub pretty easily but he noted that small scale brewers can learn a lot from large breweries. There is something to the consistency that large scale brewers (Guinness, Bud, Amstel ect.). The fact that you can go all over the world, order a Guinness draft and you know what to expect. He mentioned that the processes that they use are the same since Guinness was first brewed. His advice was if you really want to get into brewing to try starting in a large commercial brewery for a bit. Pick up how things are done on the large scale and use that to really learn how to make a truly consistent product, something that can be extremely difficult for a brewpub or homebrewer. That and attending a brewing school can't hurt.

I asked what other beers he likes besides Guinness. He likes Smithwicks but usually tries to have something different. He likes to try the local beers and see what new types of things are going on. He said good things about Sweetwater here in Atlanta. He liked that the craft brew scene pushes the limits of what beer can do and invents new beer and comes up with new takes on old styles. I think Fergal is a beer lover who happens to have the perfect job. He did mention that Guinness is coming out with an exclusive beer for the American market. It is being brewed to celebrate their 250th anniversary. He said it should start showing up here in the states in April!

We talked a bit about how he got interested in Guinness. Again it went back to the passion people have towards the beer. When he was working as a chemist for Guinness he saw just how much people loved the beer and how much he had grown to love and decided he wanted to get involved in brewing it. From there things lead to him getting the most envious job in the world.

Fergal and I talked about a few other things but I think I hit the high notes. He is an amazing guy that just flat out loves Guinness. What an amazing job he has, you would think it is all fun and games (judging pouring contests, showing up at St. Pats day parades, just getting to work at St. James Gate and in the Gravity Bar in Dublin) but there has to be a lot of stress that comes with being responsible for making sure that Guinness stays great. Hey, that is stress I think I could deal with, maybe over a pint or three Guinness....

A last shout out to the winner of the Pour-off. Karen from Meehans Public House won. She had been to the finals the last three years but come up just short each time. She finally broke through with a great pout on the second pour in the finals (first pour was a tie thus a pour-off ensued) and with a little help from her competitor who just overfilled his glass and had some spillage.

Anyway it was an amazing night, I plan on going again next year. Trying to come up with someway that I can sneak into the competition. You think they would let a little know blogger compete? Who knows, if I get it maybe I can win, after all I did learn how to pour from Fergal!

Happy Drinking!!

Valentines Wine Tasting and some other big news.

2009-02-16T10:26:00.003-05:00

My wife Kelly and I attended a neighborhood wine tasting on Valentines Day. Had a great time and tried some excellent wines. How can a beer snob like wine you ask? Well I do, it just isn't my first choice of beverage. The few wine tastings that I have been to really helped me pick out wines that I like and have allowed me to be confident in ordering a good glass when out to dinner. I rarely go buy a bottle of wine for home consumption though I do have a soft spot for a good bottle of port. Anyway, we got all dressed up, I in my tuxedo and my wife in the only black dress that will fit her at the moment (note to new readers, she is pregnant with twins that are due in April). The tasting started out with 2 types of sparkling wine (Kel had a few small sips then switched to water), then moved on to a Chardonnay, then a Merlot, then a Port and finished an amazing Silver Oak Cabernet. All in all they where all great wines. I did speak with our wine guy at length (he works at the beverage store around the corner and has done tasting for us 2 or 3 times) about possibly doing a beer tasting this fall. He seemed game and we had a nice time talking about all the new beers that are now available here in Georgia.

Now for the big news. I am going to have a very interesting interview to post here in the next two days. I will be interviewing Guinness Brewmaster Fergal Murray! Make sure to stop back by in the next day or two for the interview and my thoughts on getting to meet the legend!

The Beer Snob gets reaquainted with an old Friend...

2009-02-11T14:30:00.004-05:00

Few goings on as of late. I began the rearranging of my kegerator set-up. Decided I was sick and tired of foamy beer and constantly having to rebalance the CO2 pressure in my system. So, I am moving the fridge to get it right next to where the taps are mounted in the wall. Sure, I loose some storage space in the basement but it is a small price to pay for good beer. I just need to drill a few new holes and get the air circulation system set back up and I will be good to go. In the process of this move I discovered a possible culprit behind my foamy homebrew. The CO2 inlet valve on the corny (actually it is a firestone keg but very similar) keg is leaky. When I unhooked the air line to move the keg out of the fridge you could hear the pressure leaking out of the keg. Not a big problem, I'll just buy a few spare parts when I order my second corny keg from the intertubes. I want to get all this done in the next few weeks so I can have it up and running for March Madness. I may pick up another commercial 1/6 keg for the tourney as well. Figure I will be done with the Pale Ale by then so I need to brew up my next batch of homebrew. Figure I may tackle it in the next week or two.

So, who is this old friend that I became reacquainted with recently? Well that friend is Pabst Blue Ribbon. Yep, the original cheap and newly hip beer. Had a can last night at trivia and was left quite satisfied. PBR really is one of my all time favs. Yeah it's cheap but I really do like the way it tastes. I'll take a PBR anytime. I do refuse to buy it in bottles, preferring to stick with the 16oz tall boy packaging. Figure I'll have to go pick up a 12 pack or so this weekend. I wonder if they sell it in 1/6 kegs?

A few upcoming beer notes. Going to watch the Duke v. UNC basketball game tonight at Taco Mac. Hope to grab a pint of the ultra-rare Sierra Nevada Hopsecret 393. Only 8 kegs made it anywhere outside of California and they are all here in GA. Only one is being tapped tonight so I hope there is a little left when I get there.

Happy Drinking!

Bells Hopslam Review!!!

2009-01-28T17:00:00.006-05:00

I had talked about Bells beer in my previous post. Well I find myself on the road again this week and just popped in to another Total Wine store to pick up a sixer of Bells Two Hearted Ale (my new favorite beer). Anyway, they have it in the chilled section, figure I'll have one while doing a bit of work and haul the rest home to Atlanta. As I am getting ready to checkout I turn around to find a few light green colored cases of beer. What did I find? Nothing other than 4 cases of Bells Hopslam. Why is this a big deal? Well, Hopslam is a very limited release beer from Bells that everyone over on the Beer message boards has been raving over (yeah, there are boards that talk only about beer, heck your reading a blog about beer so don't act that surprised). Anyway, most of it has been bought up and I didn't find any when I was down in Florida so I had given up hope of getting to try this magic elixir. Haha! Not so, here it is right in front of me. Do I buy just a 6 pack? Nope, picked up a whole case (So, of you want some hopslam, there is about 3 cases left at the Total Wine near UNC Charlotte). Leave the case in the back of my car save one beer. Take it up to the hotel to chill in the fridge overnight.

Fast forward 24 or so hours and I find myself sitting here sipping on said Hopslam. It is a quite amazing beer. So here is my Bells Hopslam review.

I do have to take exception to the description it gives itself, "A Biting, bitter, tongue bruiser of an ale. With a name like Hopslam, what did you expect?". My reasoning? I don't think it is that bitter. 90 min, Victory Hop Wallop (which is back out now, guess that is even more beer for me to buy, along with Sweetwater Happy Ending), Stone Ruination and a few others pack a much larger bitter hop bite. Maybe I am just used to the hop bite and it really takes a huge IBU to kick my palette. Anyway, it is still an amazing beer. Very floral aroma, thus you know it is packed with hops. The bitterness is more up front. Hops hit leadoff here, no malt to speak of. The interesting bit of this beer is the finish. You would expect the hop bitterness to follow all the way through to the end but you get a quite pleasant citrus note at the end. It is just sooooo smooth it, really it is. What Bells has done is brew a very sneaky big beer. Kind of like in golf where some guys are "sneaky" long, this beer is sneaky big. It is 10% abv, it sure doesn't taste like that. Hopslam really is the kind of beer you could drink three or four in a row in 40 mins after mowing the lawn on a hot day and not think any thing of it. That is until you try to stand up and fall flat on your ass. Overall this is just a Wow beer. Please Bells, I beg you to start selling beer in Georiga!!! I think this one is an add to the hall of fame, maybe. I'll have to mull that over the rest of the case I have! I'll give it 4.5 pints out of 5. (Ukrainian judge deducted .5 a pint for the slightly misleading description)

Happy Drinking!

Out of State Beer Adventures....

2009-01-23T15:24:00.002-05:00

I was in the Ft. Lauderdale area Wednesday night and Thursday for work reasons. While I was there I figured I would try to scope out a few good beer stores and grab a few bottles of stuff I can't get here in Georgia. With the help of the directory on Beer Advocate I located 2 promising stores withing a 5 minute drive of my hotel. Keg and Case World and Total Wine. Stopped at Keg and Case World first. They had a great selection of Belgians and the guy manning the counter was very helpful. The main goal of this trip was to track down any and all Bells beers that I could find. He did tell me they have had trouble getting Bells in since the distributor changed, bummer. I did track down some Dogfish Old School Barleywine, looks very promising, and a sixer of Highland Kashmir IPA (yes I can get that here but I did want to have a few beers later and didn't really feel like hitting a 15% barleywine on a business trip). Next stop was Total wine. This place was huge and 90% wine but had a nice selection of import and craft brews. You could build your own six pack from their very nice single bottle selection. Again, tons of Belgians and American craft brews all well organized. Ended up picking up a 6er of Bells Two Heart (My new fav IPA) and a 4 pack of Sam Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. Love the Bells, I'll have a bit more of a write up about it next week. Had never heard of the Sam Adams but I am glad I picked it up, it is rather amazing. Extremely hoppy (woohoo!) but very smooth at the same time, again a full review is coming.

I took my well bought loot back to the hotel and had 2 or 3 while watching the UNC/Clemson bball game. The next morning I packed all the beer in my suitcase using my time tested method of wrapping in newspaper and padding with clothes. I have done this several times and never had a bottle break (knock on wood) during transit. So I got to thinking, what does it say about someone who FLYS beer back from far away places he has visited? I don't know really. I think of it as expanding my brew knowledge, trying new things that I can't get at home. Sure it may be extreme to lug beer back from New York or Maine or Virginia or South Florida or Illinois or even somewhere as close as North Carolina. But the fact that I can travel to all these places and see beer brands and styles that I have never heard before says great things about the American and world wide craft brew market. More and more places and people are opening up to the huge variety of beer out there. The more the merrier I say. Let them drink a West Coast IPA, let them try a Funky Wild Yeast Belgian, try a nice dark Coffee Stout. Who knows, they may just like it.

Happy Drinking!

The Beer Snob meets a dry county and finds an oasis...

2009-01-19T10:35:00.003-05:00

Took a nice weekend trip to the Western North Carolina Mountains this weekend. This is an annual trip that we have been making with the in-laws for as long as I have known them and it introduces some interesting challeges for the beer drinker. We stay in Sapphire Valley which is located just east of Cashiers, NC. Beautiful country that has one problem, it is a dry county. No beer, no wine, and no liquor. In the past the only was to get beer was to buy it from one of the members only bars (which we are a member of) and pay way too much or drive almost an hour to some other county that does sell beer. Well this trip added a new option. On our drive up I noticed signs for the Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company. I thought this was odd with the whole dry county thing. Turns out the Restaurant is located just up the hill from where we were staying, it is at the Sapphire Mountain golf course. We decided to give it a shoot Saturday afternoon, see what they had on draft and watch a little basketball. It is a great looking place, plenty of seating (there was a nice deck over looking part of the golf course and has an amazing mountain vista but it was a bit cool to sit outside), the bar is beautiful. They had 10 micros on tap, no macro brews here (WooHooo! Yes you could get a Miller Lite in a bottle or to go but it really wasn't advertised). A good selection: Dogfish 90, Bells Two Hearted Ale, Rouge Dead Guy, A house Amber, A house Pilsner, Thomas Creek Deep Water Dopplebock, Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning, Magic Hat #9 and 2 others that I can't think of. The house beers where brewed by Thomas Creek in Greenville, SC and where both very good. The amber ale was especially great. I also tried the Bells Two Hearted Ale (Now #2 on my list of breweries who I wish would sell beer in GA) and the Thomas Creek Dopplebock. They also had a great selection of crafts in bottles. Heck they had North Coast Old Stock on sale for $4 (it was left over from a beer dinner they had hosted) a bottle! Had a great time talking to a few of the regulars and to the bar tenders. There where probably close to 15-20 folks in the bar, which I guess is pretty good for the off-season. I hope the place does well and is around next time I am in the area. Food looked great although we didn't order anything. They also offered to-go beer and wine. The prices where very fair, a bit more than here in Atlanta but I would expect that. Picked out a 6er of the Bells Two Hearted to take home. Glad to see more and more places popping up and supporting the American Craft Beer industry. Anyway, if you are in the Cashiers/Highlands, NC area and want to visit a great beer bar with some great food give Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company a try, you will not be disappointed that you stopped.

Happy Drinking!

New Year, a new beer....

2009-01-05T10:59:00.002-05:00

Got back from the land of 3.2 beer (Utah) in one piece. I will say I was pleasantly surprised in the beer selection in the land of Mormon. Tried a few very tasty brews at the Wasach Brewing Company including an excellent Christmas Ale. There was an upstairs "private" club where I am guessing you pay a nominal membership fee and can get in on the high gravity beer (much like the bars in dry counties across the SE US). Picked up 2 sixers of Full Sail Brewing's IPA. A very nice IPA, just right for a post skiing refreshment.

Went to visit the folks in Savannah and ran across a great new bar. The Distillery was suggested by my father of all people. Apparently my fondness of all things beer have begun to rub off on him. He remembered a review about it that he had read in the local fish wrapper so we decided to check it out. Nice open layout in an interesting location. Plenty of seats at the bar and tables and booths for those there to eat or meet up in larger groups. Food menu was quite good, even had a whole "cheap" food section that included grilled cheese sandwiches and PB&J's. Everything on in the cheap section was $5 or less and you could add a 22oz PBR to your order for a buck! On the high end beer side, they have 21 taps of all craft beer. You won't find Bud or Miller on draft (you will find it in a bottle if you must). They had a great selection on draft, all my favs where there: Dogfish, Victory, Stone, Moon River ect. I was very happy to see that the Stone selection they had on draft was Arrogant Bastard (excellent). I order one, my dad picked the Dogfish 90min, brother Will chose the 60min and I ordered Mom a Victory Prima Pils. Everyone was quite pleased. I think I have turned my whole family into Hop heads. Mom drinks beer (Corona or Coors Light) but had never had a big beer (Arrogant Bastard) or really any good craft beer (Prima Pils, one of the best). She really liked the Prima and even liked the AB, she even commented that she couldn't believe I like some of the beer I drink (Finished the night off with an Oskar Blues 1050) but don't drink coffee. Eh, most coffee isn't as good as the beer and doesn't have alcohol in it! Anyway, that is it for now. New beer reviews will be coming as well as an in depth review of my Pale Ale homebrew.

Random Grumblings

2008-12-18T13:18:00.002-05:00

Carbonated the homebrew last night. It is mighty tasty but needs a bit more carbonation, comes off tasting a tad flat. I am storing it at a high pressure right now and am going to shake it a bit more tonight to try to get more CO2 in solution.

I have a sports rant that I need to get off my chest (sports and beer do go together). Ended up watching some the Boston v. Atlanta NBA game last night and remembered why I hate watching basketball and usually refuse to watch it until March Madness, and even then I usually only watch the opening rounds. Out of every sport, the officiating in basketball (and the NBA in particular) is horrendous. Sure in football holding is never called and WR get too many pass interference calls but usually the refs do a pretty good job. Same can be said for hockey, baseball, soccer and pretty much every other sport except basketball. The idea of what constitutes a foul is pretty open to debate and half the time you can't even pick the call out. Star players get a lot more calls to go there way than the league minimum guys. The game gets so choppy when the crew decides to make a call every time down the court, ugh. Several times last night star player "a" would make a drive towards the basket and would pull up for a nice fade away jumper. More than once the defender didn't even challenge the shoot and was still called for a foul. ?? I dunno, I guess I wish they would let the players run a preseason game where they called the fouls themselves pick up ball style. Hell, back in college, unless you where thrown to the ground, held NFL style or bleeding there wasn't a foul.

A good beer from A-B? Can it be?

2008-12-17T13:55:00.003-05:00

Went to the grocery store with the wife this past weekend and took a quick stroll down the beer aisle just to see what seasonals where to be had. Picked up a 6er of Red Hook Winter Hook. A very nice winter lager, not too spicy, hops are just right. The 6er that really caught my eye was Michelob Winters Bourbon Cask Ale. I thought, hmmm, a Winter Seasonal craft brew from the makers of Michelob Ultra? Let's give it a try and if it terrible I'll have something to feed my key lime tree. Got home and popped one open and poured. Poured a nice deep brown/copper color. Took a sniff, huh do I actually smell a hint of bourbon, a nice vanilla note? No it can't be, this stuff is brewed by Anheuser-Busch right? Took a sip, wow this stuff is actually good. Took another sip, huh this stuff is really great. In fact this is the best "Bourbon" beer I've ever had. Now, in all truth I don't know how much actual Bourbon was used in the making of this beer but there has to be some because the taste is there but in the background. It lets the maltyness and the vanilla (that it is also aged with) do most of the work and then fills in the gaps. The perfect place for bourbon to be in a beer. In all the other Bourbon aged beers I have had (and oaked beers to a lesser extent) it feels like I am drinking fizzy bourbon, it is used to cover up the taste of an inferior beer. I will have to hand it to the folks at Michelob, in my opinion they knocked this one out of the park for a macro brew. A good introduction to a craft beer style for the masses. Maybe some random Bud drinker will pick up a 6 pack of this and be impressed enough to give some other interesting styles a shoot. If even one Bud drinker is converted over to the world of beer with taste because of this brew then that is a great thing. I'll give this one 3.5 out of 5.

Happy Drinking!

Corny Keg is full and ready to go....

2008-12-16T10:38:00.003-05:00

Got the corny keg cleaned and sanitized last night, also ran some sanitizer through the beer line to clean out the Miller Lite that it had been hooked up to. The pony of Miller Lite is still pretty full, I plan on taking it up to a Poker tourney a guy in the neighborhood is hosting after the first of the year. The keg of Sweetwater IPA is on its last legs, I can't believe it is still pouring. Got the English Pale Ale into the keg and put it in the fridge for it to cool down to allow me to start force carbonating it, using the pressurize and shake method my buddy suggested. Figure I will try that either tonight or tomorrow, looking forward to giving this brew a try.

I took a quick picture of the current kegerator set-up:

You can see the Miller Lite Pony, Sweetwater IPA Torpedo and the Corney Keg in the back. Underneath the stand I built I store what is left of my 2 previous homebrews, only a few of the lagers left and about 16 or so of the IPAs. Looking at this makes me realize I could go to a 3 keg system if I really wanted to but I doubt it will ever be this full again. Most likely I will keep 1 keg of homebrew and one torpedo keg on draft most of the time. It is good to know if I ever had a huge bash that I can fit a 1/2 barrel keg + a 1/6 barrel keg and a corny in there if need be. Anyways, I hope to have a review of the English Pale Ale in a day or two. Until then, Happy Drinking!

Kegging Commences...

2008-12-15T15:27:00.002-05:00

Hit the beer equipment store this weekend. Picked up a nice used Corny keg and a new beer kit. Got the keg all cleaned out last night and plan on getting the beer into it tonight. I'll let it chill for a bit and plan on getting it carbonated either Tuesday or Wednesday night. It will be nice to have to celebrate the New Year. The new beer kit is some mega hopped brew, can't remember the name but I think it topped the IBU chart somewhere around 50 or 60, yummy. Figure I will brew this up sometime in late January.

Quick Update and some quick reviews

2008-12-11T07:34:00.003-05:00

Moved the homebrew over to the secondary fermenter yesterday. A few more days in there and then I have to figure out how if I want to bottle or keg it before I head out of town for the holidays.

Some quick beer reviews of brews I have tried in the past few weeks:

Serra Nevada Celebration: Yuck, strange hop note. Almost undrinkable 1/2 pint of 5
Anchor Christmas: Nice and spicy but not over the top, a nice seasonal. 3 out of 5
Sweetwater Festive: Another nice dark seasonal, more hoppy than the Anchor. 3.5 of 5
Goose Neck IPA: Not all that Hoppy for an IPA, seemed closer to a hoppy lager. 2.5 of 5
Goose Neck Honnker: Ugh, too sweet and very bland, glad I only tried a sample. 1 of 5
Great Lakes Christmas: Very nice, best Christmas brew I've had to date. A nice sweet malt start, very mild spiciness and a hint of hops to end. Very drinkable. 4 of 5

The Perfect Thanksgiving Weekend....

2008-12-01T09:56:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I can't say that mine could have gone any better than it did. Had a great Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family on Friday. Drank a few Sam Adams Light while frying the turkey (Now 4 years with no major disasters or injuries!), also sampled a Yuengling Light for the first time. Not a bad brew, a good full tasting light beer, I can see this becoming a tennis party staple.

Got up Friday morning, drove my TR6 around a bit with mi padre. We went to check out a 1964 Land Rover Series IIa that I was interested in, turned out to be a rust bucket so no dice. Played golf that afternoon, weather was perfect. Played poorly on the front nine, broke out a cigar on the back and played much better. Won a few bucks and had a nice pint of Guinness in the clubhouse after the round, always a pleasure.

Got up Saturday, figured I had a few hours to kill before the UGA v. Georgia Tech football game, why not try brewing some beer. Brewed my first big batch o' beer, it went well with no issues. Beer is now sitting quietly in my basement while the yeast does its magic. That gives me about 2-3 weeks to find a used pepsi keg to put the finished product in.

The weekend was capped off by the wonderful results of "Clean, Old Fashioned Hate", GT 48 - UGA 45. Best game I have seen in a while, just glad it ended in a Yellow Jacket win. Spent the rest of Saturday drinking off my kegs (Sweetwater IPA, been trying to kill that keg for a few weekends but it refuses to die...) and watching football. Sunday was spent doing nothing and basking in the glow of a wonderful few days.

I'll keep everyone up to date on the fermenting progress and my search for a keg, until then...

Happy Drinking!!

New Yorker Interviews Dogfish Head Founder

2008-11-18T13:57:00.001-05:00

A nice (but long) interview with the founder of Dogfish Head Brewing. A good read if you just happen to be a wee bit of a beer geek.

Link Here

My first IPA, a look back....

2008-11-13T15:51:00.002-05:00

Hello, my name is Jim and I am a hop head. Here is my tale of how I got hooked on the wonderful flower that does amazing things to beer....

Thing is, I remember the place but I can't for the life of me remember the exact brew (as opposed to the first beer I had in high school, a Bud Ice Light..yum, but I digress that is another story). I had been exposed to big beers for the first time in '04 when the state of GA changed laws to allow high gravity beers to be sold. This exposed me to a few Belgians that where very nice but I still had yet to really expand my range of beers that I would buy. Back then one would find my beer fridge stocked with Miller Lite, Rolling Rock, the occasional Sam Adams or Bass and maybe some other random but nothing crazy. Keep in mind, this being right after the laws changed not many big California beers where to be found in the Peach State. Anyways, I went on buying my usual brews with a big Belgian brew thrown in for adventure. This all changed on fateful night in Columbus, OH.

Fast forward from that legendary night at the Brick store in the summer of '04 (the full telling includes me forcing my friend Jeremy to watch Dr. Strangelove for the first time and a very ill fated purchase of a bottle of Scotch) to the Spring of '06. I was stuck in Columbus, OH for work and myself and a fellow engineer decided to blow off some steam (being stuck in Columbus for 2 extra days because Delta keeps canceling your flight home will do this to you). We walked to a nice little Brewpub place around the corner from the hotel and ordered up a round. I accidentally order an IPA, I believe I was trying to order something close to Bass and figured India Pale Ale/Pale Ale was the same thing. Damn glad I made that mistake. I was floored with the first sip. My taste buds being assaulted on all sides, my brain swimming, overloaded from the input coming from my mouth. The floral note, the extreme bitterness, wow! First reaction after I regained control of my bodily functions was, damn that was bitter but for some reason I really like it! That first sip started me down the path to becoming hooked on the hop. I just can't get enough, maybe that is why you will find me looking at IBUs on beer more than worrying about ABVs. That first sip lead me to buy any beer that had IPA listed on the bottle, opened my eyes to lots of other smaller brewers who really know how to push the limits. That sip lead to my homebrewing, the installation of my kegerator and my writing on this blog.

This all goes to show what might happen if you decide to give different beer types a shoot. The worst that can happen is you won't like it, so you choke it down and order something different. There are hundreds of different takes on about as many different styles of beer. Next time you saddle up to a bar, order something you've never had before. Even better, order something you have never heard of before, who knows where it may lead.

Happy drinking!

Thursday Night Drinking Club plus some Beer Reviews

2008-11-07T07:16:00.004-05:00

Hit up my local Taco Mac last night. Thursday nights are pint glass night, you buy the beer of the month and get a nice pint glass to take home. November beer of the month was Terrapin India Style Brown Ale (review below), came with a pretty cool Terrapin glass. Also got to work on my Passport card a bit (a beer drinking list a Taco Mac, once you have had x number of unique beers you get free stuff ect.) and try a few new brew out, here are the reviews!

Terrapin India Style Brown Ale:
Ok, my love/hate relationship with Terrapin is well documented on this site. I find some of their beers absolutely amazing while others are just plain boring. So I really wasn't expecting much going into trying this beer. Pours a very dark brown with a small head. Good aroma, picked up a hint of hoppyness (a good thing, most of the Terrapin beers that I have really liked are the uber hopped ones). A very smooth mouth feel. The right amount of malt at the start, a hint of burnt toast and a nice slightly hoppy finish. Wow, I really liked this one. I guess my best comparisons would be if you took a Newcastle Brown Ale and mixed it with a Dogfish 60 min. A very nice brew, extremely drinkable and a definite change of pace. I can see picking up a sixer for a party. I'll give it 3 pints out of 5.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA:
First Weyerbacher brew I have tried. I have heard good things and this nice Double IPA meet my expectations. A very rich deep orange/copper beer with pretty good head retention. The hops hit you as soon as you stick your nose in the glass. Very smooth but kind of bland to start and then the hops hit hard. A bit overwhelming at first but by my second and third sip I was looking forward to the onslaught. Didn't really stand out from some of the other big doubles I have had, it did cover the 9% abv very well. A good IPA sure, but would I go out of my way to order it again? Maybe, but there are other doubles ahead of it that I prefer. 2.7 pints out of 5.

Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster:
Ok, just above I gushed a bit over my love for Terrapins India Style Brown Ale, unfortunately I also spoke of the love/hate I have come to find I have for Terrapin as a whole. Welp here is where the hate part comes in, although hate is a bit strong I was really more extremely disappointed in this brew. As a card carrying hop head (ok, no card but maybe I should make some....) I was expecting great things from a brew called "Big Hoppy Monster". In the past most brews that have used a form of the word "hops" in the title have please me quite well. Two of the best examples would be Victory's Hop Devil and Hop Wallop beers, both awesome brews with tons o' hops in them. Now, I knew something may be amiss when I got the beer and it was a very deep dark red/ruby color. I was expecting something closer to the deep orange/copper hue of most "hoppy" beers. It looked much more like an Octoberfest brew, a beer that repeat readers will know I am not that fond of. So, I put the beer to my lips and take a sip. Malt bomb up front, kind of rough really. So I tasted the malt, waiting for the hops to hit.....still waiting.....still waiting....Where the hell did the hops go? Maybe a hint at the end but the maltyness is so overwhelming that you don't notice any bitterness or floral notes from the hops that are supposedly in this beer. Again, a Terrapin beer that is not what it advertises its self as. I'll keep trying Terrapin beers because I know I'll find some great ones (Rye PA, Rye Squared, Gamma Ray, Golden Ale, Hop Shortage), but I also know I'll find some duds like this one (and the RoggenRauch, Oak Rye). I'll give it 1.8 pints out of 5.

Budweiser American Ale:
Yep, I tried it. It was my last beer of the night, I was driving and didn't want another 8%abv brew. My buddy that I was watching the football with said he had tried it and it wasn't bad, so I figured what the heck. Well, I knew something was amiss when our waitress (Tori, a very cool chick) asked if I was sure I really wanted to order it, never had a waitress chastise my choice of beer before. Looked pretty good in the glass and that was about it. Dear lord this brew is a mess. Yeah, it's an Ale with plenty of malt up front but what kind of grain bill are the brewers in St. Louis using? Very odd after taste that hung around, no hops at all could be smelled/tasted. The malt flavor was all over the range from kind of sweet to sour and almost rotten tasting. I would have rather had a standard Bud heavy than this swill. Ugh, not a good beer to end the night on. I struggled to finish it, chasing each gulp with a pull on the water glass and a mouth full of french fries. 0 pints out of 5, In my opinion this beer is almost undrinkable.

Those are the reviews for the day. Found two brews I liked, one that was disappointing but drinkable and one that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I'm sure I'll have a few more after the weekend.

Happy Drinking!

Beer Review: Terrapin Side Project #3 Gamma Ray Wheatwine, Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA

2008-11-05T08:07:00.003-05:00

Picked up a few new treats at the local last week. Kind of stumbled upon the Terrapin Gamma Ray, I had been meaning to look for it but never got over to Tower, I was pleasantly surprised that Beverage World had it so I bought the last two bottles! Spotted the Breck 471 IPA while picking up a 4 pack of Dogfish 90 min, figured it never hurts to try a new IPA. On to the reviews...

Terrapin Side Project #3, Gamma Ray Wheatwine:
My first wheatwine. I have become a hug fan of Barleywines in the past year, my fav being the mega hopped Rouge Old Crustacean. From what I knew of Wheatwines going in, they are rare and tend to be lighter than a barleywine, closer to a Heffe beer (yep). The Gamma Ray poured a dark orange, had a very cool "glow" to it. Very opaque, could not see through it. Head built quickly but flattened almost as quick, not much carbonation sticking around in this beer. Picked up very fruity and sweet notes in the smell, honey, a hint of hops.... Very smooth in the mouth. Honey again but you can also taste the hint of yeasteyness (not a word, I know, more of a feeling). Almost like an uberheffe on steroids. Alcohol (11%abv) hits in the end and lets you know it is there. A very nice beer, more of a fall brew than your standard wheat beer, wish I had found this earlier and been able to stock up more. A big improvement over the last Side Project that I tried, the ill-fated Roggenrauchbier. If you like Heffe and like Barleywines then give this unique style a try next time you get a chance. I'll give it 3.5 pints out of 5.

Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA:
Listed as a double hopped IPA on the bottle, this one sucked me in the minute I saw it on the shelf. One, I love every beer I have ever tried from Breckenridge Brewery, these guys make some outstanding beers and may rank in my top 3 favorite breweries (Stone, Bear Republic, Victory, Allagash, Rouge, Breckenridge, Dogfish, Ommegang....Ok so I like a lot of breweries and Breck is on par with the best). Two, if you have read this blog with any regularity you know I can't turn down an IPA. So how is Brecks interpretation of a big IPA? Fantastic! Has everything going for it, tons of hops that hit you in waves. I think they use 3 or 4 different types of hops and you can tell. In most big IPAs the hops hit you all at once (not a bad thing) but in this one they all come out with slightly different favors and notes. At 70 IBUs it isn't anywhere near some of the other huge 100+ IBU IPAs but for some reason it seems like that 70 should be higher. Smooth and a tad sweet in the start to help get you ready for the hop onslaught that is about to hit your taste buds. The complexity of the hops does a great job hiding the fact that this is a 9.2% abv beer. I couldn't believe it when I checked the bottle and saw it hid that much alcohol. Wow. Color was a great deep copper-orange whit a wonderful bright white head. Very sticky head that hung out on the glass and laced quite nicely. This IPA immediately jumps near the top of the list on must buy IPAs for me. I figure a fridge full of this, Dogfish 90 min and Victory Hop Wallop would make me a very happy hop head. 4.5 pints out of 5.

That is it for now. Tons of new brews are showing up here in the Atl and I am having a hard time keeping up. Some exciting new brews and good news to come in the next few days!

Happy Drinking!

Back from Vegas beer report...

2008-10-29T14:05:00.004-04:00

Got back in from Vegas Monday night. Had a great long weekend, got to surprise my wife's grandmother for her 80th birthday. I did decently well playing craps and blackjack. I even won a round of Bingo much to the dismay of the regulars in the room. Not much doing on the beer front in Vegas. I didn't make it back to the Burger Bar for beer by the boot. The only random beer I got to try while out in Vegas was at the Hofbrau House. This place is supposed to simulate at German beer hall and beer garden. They had a nice Octoberfest on tap that was nothing like the dark OCtoberfests you get here in the states. It was a much lighter beer, more like a Helles than a Marzen style. Very smooth but it packed a wollop. They didn't have the exact abv published, only stated it was over 6%. I would put it in the 6.5 to 7% range. Of course I ordered the 1 liter mug and labored through the first, ordered a 2nd and only got 2/3 of the way through. Just too much beer and food. It was funny to see my wife's cousin (life time Budweiser drinker) go after the Octoberfest. I don't think he realized it was about double the abv of his standard brew! Anyways, that is it for now.

Gone for the weekend, again...

2008-10-23T10:21:00.001-04:00

but this time it's inVEGAS Baby!

Michigan Beer Reviews.....

2008-10-20T13:27:00.002-04:00

Headed up Michigan way this past weekend to visit a good college friend of mine. We spent the weekend watching football, drinking beer and pigging out on some good home cooked food. Even got a few hours to brew up some Coffee Porter on Sunday. Tried a few new beers and an old favorite while there. Had some sort of local brew IPA Friday night at dinner, wasn't bad but didn't blow my head off or really have a truly unique taste. My buddies Heffe homebrew that he had on tap was quite nice. A good balanced taste, perfect amount of yeast floating around, a nice malty note up front but not too sweet, good carbonation and a nice mouth feel. A well done brew, hope my first foray into large batch homebrewing/kegging turns out as good.

In anticipation of eating lots of BBQ and watching football on Saturday we picked up some random beers at the local package store. I about fell over when I noticed they had Dogfish Head 120 on sale. Had to pick up a bottle, pretty well priced too at $10.67 per bottle (I paid $10 even at the brewery). Also picked up a sixer of Dogfish Punkin. A nice fall brew, I liked it better than any Oktoberfest I've had this year. I find most Oktoberfest beer to be way too malty for my taste, I usually get excited to buy a 12 pack then get 2 beers in and realize how much I really don't like the style. The Dogfish Punkin had just the right amount of malt sweetness, brown sugar note, a tad of cinnamon spice to it to make it an extremely smooth and drinkable ale. Hides the 7% abv very nicely as well. Better than any other Pumpkin Ale that I have tried, most are way too over the top.

Ended the Saturday evening festivities chowing down on some wonderfully smoked pulled pork, baked beans, corn bread and a wicked Guinness Chocolate cake that someone brought. Wow, good meal, good beer and good friends. Cant' beat that, well except that my buddies fiance decided to cook southern style biscuits and gravy (big fluffy buttermilk biscuits and white sausage gravy) for breakfast the next morning, double wow. The perfect hangover cure! And to think, she grew up in Michigan....

Last thing I got a chance to do before having to hop a plane back to the ATL was help out brew up some more beer. The heffe pretty much got killed at the party Saturday. It was nice to kind of walk through all the steps of brewing a big batch before I give it a go myself. I can't wait to give it a try, just need to do a little inventory and make sure I have a few of the little things to make everything go smoothly!

Too sick to drink?

2008-10-14T13:37:00.002-04:00

Question: Can you be too sick to drink?

Answer: Ohh yeah.

Spent the weekend at my first completely sober Georgia Tech football game since....well I'm actually not sure if I have ever attended a GT game and not had at least 2 or 3 beers. I think I made it through about half of a Magic Hat Hocus Pocus before I tapped out. Picked up a wicked head cold flu thing on Thursday and had no energy what so ever. Picked a heck of a game not to drink either. Sitting through the torture that was GT's 10-7 win over Gardner-Webb was unbearable. At least we won.

Hopefully I will be on the mend and my sense of taste will have returned by this coming weekend. I will be spending it in the scenic hamlet of Ann Arbor, MI. Visiting a good college buddy of mine. The plan at the moment is to brew beer, drink beer, eat pulled pork and watch football. A taxing schedule I know. Hopefully I can review some of his homebrew and maybe get my hands on some unknown Northern beers...

Happy Drinking!

Stone has Arrived!!

2008-09-26T11:58:00.002-04:00

So I stop in my local beer store on the way home yesterday (Been fridge was empty! But I needed some walking around beer for the weekend, can't drag those kegs with me), I figured I would see if they has a sixer of the Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale that I had the night before. I have to pass the high grav/rare beer section on my way to the coolers so I figured I would stop to see what they had. Some nice additions that I did not buy, Dogfish Pumpkin, a few new belgians, Ommegang Chocolate something or other and then I saw it. They have gotten Stone Brewing in! Sweet! Stone just entered the GA market this week and have some great beers I have talked about before. This leaves Bear Republic as the one brew that I love that I can't get here in GA. Anyway, grabbed a bomber each of the Arrogant Bastard Ale and Ruination IPA. Looking forward to enjoying them this weekend!

Quick Beer Reviews: Radeberger Pilsner and Kona Fire Rock

2008-09-25T14:00:00.003-04:00

Grabbed dinner and some beer at the monthly pub crawl that I set up for the MINI club that I am a member of. We meet at Six Feet Under, a nice little joint that serves good seafood and has a pretty decent beer menu. Tried the Radeberger Pilsner first. Was not impressed. It tasted like a pilsner, nothing amazing about it. Not near as good as Pilsner Urquell but better than some of the American Marco Brews trying to pass themselves off as Pilsners. Would I order it again? Nah, a rather forgettable brew.

For my 2nd choice I decided to try another brew that I have been meaning to give a try. Kona (Yes they brew beer in Hawaii) has just recently shown up here in Georgia (did I mention that Yeungling is coming is December!) and I had not yet sampled any other their brews. There was a wheat brew and the Fire Rock Pale Ale on the menu, seeing as we where sitting outside and it was getting a bit nippy I went with the Pale Ale. A very good brew. Nice and flavorful, a good hop kick but not to the scale of an IPA. Nice and dark color. I'll have to grab a sixer or a sample pack and give Kona a more in depth review in the near future. Give it a try if you can find it at your local or the closest liquor store.

Heinzelmännchen Brewery in Sylva, NC

2008-09-15T14:29:00.002-04:00

Took in the Western Carolina v. Liberty football game this weekend in scenic Cullowhee, NC. By far the prettiest vistas of any football stadium that I have ever been to. Great views up and down the valley that WCU is located in from the stadium. Stopped in the Heinzelmännchen Brewery before the game to top off two growlers that I had purchased their back in the spring. Went with their new Dunkel Wies and the Kilted Gnome Scottish Style Ale (had this last spring). The Dunkel was excellent, sweet and smooth with a hint of hops. Very refreshing for a dark beer and perfect for cooling the mouth during the hot hours of the tailgate. The Kilted Gnome is a high grav (7.5%) and they have changed the recipe a bit from the spring. It is now a bit sweeter up front and has a nice hoppy and warming finish. If you are ever stranded in Western North Carolina and need a microbrewery fix make sure to stop in to Heinzelmännchen. Dieter and his wife Sheryl run the place and are very helpful. Samples of each beer style plus their root beer and birch beer offerings are available as are pretzels and a big selection of mustard. This is a must stop for me if I am anywhere near Sylva. Check out their website for directions and more info!

B Double E Double R U N

2008-09-05T14:20:00.001-04:00

Ok, I really don't need any more beer seeing as I have two pretty full kegs in the basement but I plan on hitting the Beer Store this weekend to pick up a few new brews. Plan on picking up a least a case more of the Victory Hop Wallop (love this stuff). Also, going hunting for Terripan Big Hoppy Monster and their latest side project release. Plus I'm always on the lookout for North Coast Old Stock and any Stone Brewing Beer when they get here (Late this month). Happy hunting fellow Beer Snobs.

The Beer Snobs Official Beer Bocce Rules

2008-09-05T13:55:00.002-04:00

So you like Bocce and have always wondered, how can incorporate drinking into this game? Look no further!

The Atlanta Beer Snobs Rules to Beer Bocce
(as passed on to me through the Chi Phi Fraternity at Georgia Tech)

Equipment Needed:
Bocce Set (Any set will do but for all terrain bocce a cheap set is best)
Dixie Cup
Duct Tape (Always handy to have for when a player throws a ball that lands on a man-hole and cracks in two)
Beer (each player must have a beer in hand during play)

Players:
2-8

Teams:
2 but can be split up other ways.

Field of Play:
Pretty much anywhere with grass or dirt. If a players ball hits a building, concrete, man-hole, sidewalk, street, chair, person, car ect. then that person must pay homage to the bocce gods by taking a generous chug of what ever they are drinking. If a ball is damaged during the game. Player damaging said ball must finish the game with the damaged ball. Player must also play any future games with the same ball (see duct tape above).

Rules:

1. Split players into teams
2. Decide which team will throw the Pepe (jack, pallino, the little target ball) to start.
3. Member from opposite team must "cup" the Pepe. This involves placing a Dixie cup over the top of the Pepe, preferably done in a semi-hilarious manner. In other words, make us laugh.
4. Team who threw the Pepe has the option to have first or last toss.
5. Once order is decided teams alternate throwing the large balls towards the Pepe.
6. If anyone knocks the Dixie cup completely off the Pepe, play is suspended until all players of the opposite team have finished their beer and returned with a full beer.
7. Once all throws have been completed tally the score.
8. A team scores points by having the closest balls to the Pepe. Example: If Team A has the closest ball and Team B has the next closest then Team A scores one point. If A has 2 balls closer than B they score 2 points ect. Only one Team will score points peer Pepe toss. Games are played to 10, 15, 21 points. It doesn't really matter, decide on a ending point when you start.
9. Starting the next round: Player with the ball nearest the Pepe throws the Pepe for the next round, player with the ball farthest from the Pepe has to place the Dixie Cup. If these are the same player than the player from the team that did not point and having the next farthest ball away will cup.

There are the rules. Go pick up a bocce set at Wally World or Target and give it a try at your next tailgate.

Both Taps up and Running

2008-08-29T20:29:00.002-04:00

Picked up a Pony Keg of Miller Lite and a Torpedo Keg of Sweetwater IPA today. Getting set for College Football season which kicks off its first full Saturday slate of games tomorrow. Figure the kegs should get me and any football watching friends through the next month or two. Miller Lite will be for the masses while I will reserve the Sweetwater for myself and a select few. I did have to slightly modify the door of the kegerator to fit both kegs (cut out one of the shelves). But everything fits and is gased up! Happy Opening Weekend!

The Atlanta Beer Snob's Guide to Tailgating UPDATED!

2008-08-22T14:17:00.004-04:00

Ok, college football season is right around the corner and me being a responsible football fanatic could not let the season start without a slight preview as to how I do things when I tailgate and pre-game.

First:

What time to arrive for the tailgate?

Easy, as early as possible. Doesn't matter if it is a noon start or an 8pm start. Get there at 8am. My wife always complained about this until I pointed out that I only get to do this maybe 5 times a year and that she secretly enjoyed it anyways. I know 12 hours of tailgating may seem like forever but if you have planned correctly then it will go by in a hurry.

Where to tailgate?

As they say in real estate is all come down to location, location, location. If you can go and scope out your chosen spot a week before the game. Know where you are going to park, how bad is traffic going to be getting there, where are the nearest bathrooms, where are the nearest power outlets, and are there going to be plenty of other like minded fans in the area? All of these are very important in picking out a spot. For my Georgia Tech tailgates we have used pretty much the same spot for the last 5 years. Nice open green space, easy place to park, good access to bathrooms and power outlets and a good (but not overcrowded) number of other Tech folks that tailgate in the same area (many happen to have been tailgating there just as long as us). For away games pre-tailgating scouting and some inside information is a must. If you know someone who has been to games a (fill in the blank) stadium before, ask them the best places for an away fan to tailgate. Used local knowledge to our advantage for tailgating prior to the GT vs. Auburn game in 2005. Knew where we could park and found out that you could stake out your tailgate spot Friday afternoon before the game.

Food?

Yes. We split is up with our group. Menu can vary but usually involves grilling, meat, chili, more grilling, more meat ect. Breakfast can be bagels or you can cook if you really want to get into the spirit. Always bring post-game snacks as well.

Beer and other Refreshments?

Depends on your taste. We have recently moved towards higher class beer for our tailgates since we are not looking to pound a case before the game. So pick something that meets your tastes but that isn't too heavy. As for in game drinking, Bourbon or Tennessee Whiskey are the best bets.

Passing the Time Pre-Game?

Ok, there is a lot you can do to pass the 8 or so hours you may have before the game. A Semi-Athletic game helps pass the time and keeps you a bit active to ward off and alcohol induced sleepiness. Tossing the football around is ok but you can't hold a beer while doing it. Instead I prefer Beer Bocce. What is Beer Bocce you may ask? Well my definition of Beer Bocce (I'll post some instructions later) is a game that was introduced to me through my fraternity in college. Needless to say the rules are pretty loose and it involves plenty of drinking. Imagine bocce but with consequences. Other games that are acceptable: Sack Toss (I refuse to call it Cornhole), Beer Pong (Tricky on windy days), Ladder Ball , and any other game that can be played holding a beer.

Most important thing to remember about game day, pace yourself. You want to make it to the game and remember most of it!

Victory Hop Wallop Review

2008-08-22T13:47:00.002-04:00

Picked up a six pack of this on my monthly beer run yesterday. Only Victory beer I really have any experience with is their HopDevil IPA. A very good beer, well balanced and very drinkable for an IPA. Figured that I would give this one a try. My first thoughts when reading over the bottle where why would Victory make a year-round IPA and then a seasonal one, they can't be that different can they? I was a bit wrong and that point. Where DHF 90 minute is a bit more of an evolution from the 60 min the Hop Wallop is more a complete reinvention from the HopDevil. Whoa, you can smell the hops as soon as you open the bottle. Pours actually a tad lighter in color than the HopDevil, mostly dark golden color with a hint of copper. Nice full head that sticks around for a bit and hangs to the side of the glass while drinking. Did I mention it reaks of hops? Floral notes, a hint of pine just hits you when you stick a nose in to get a sniff. Taste is amazing as well. Again the hops are extremely dominate, barley a notice of malt and the alcohol (8.5%) is only noticeable at the very end. Nice bitter and aggressive to start and finishes with a more mellow bite. If you are a hop head then the mouth feel is excellent, you can feel this beer hanging around in every nook and cranny in your mouth. I plan on stocking up on this stuff while available this winter so that I can make it through next spring and summer with an adequate supply. An excellent brew. 4.5 pints out of 5. This definitely pushes me to try the rest of Victory's beers.

Magic Hat in Atlanta! Stone on its Way!

2008-08-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

Wow, I put up a review about #9 and state that I can't buy it in Georgia. Well, what to my surprise to I spy at my local beer store yesterday (while picking up some Rogue Old Crustacean and Allagash Triple Reserve) but Magic Hat Beer! Sweet! They had 3 or 4 types. #9, Hocus Pocus, Circus Boy and maybe one other, a sample pack was also hiding in the beer cooler. Didn't pick any up this trip but I am going to grab some as soon as I get back from the beach. #9 may become my high-end tailgating beer for this season!

Also found out that Stone Brewing is going to start selling beer in GA, first shipments expected middle of September! Now all I need is Bear Republic to get here and I will be a very happy drinker.

Homebrew IPA Review

2008-08-19T08:10:00.002-04:00

My homebrewed IPA has had a bit more time to rest the last few weeks. I decided last night to pop another open and give it a true review.

Pours a dark brownish copper color, very clear. Good carbonation with pour. Fizzy head to start that sticks around for a bit. Slightly floral aroma with a hint of honey. Taste has changed the most from my first try a few weeks ago. Seems to have mellowed out a bit. Hops bitterness is still up front but more manageable, honey sweetness has dulled a bit but that is a god thing. Much more complex finish now, sweet and smooth. It really doesn't taste like an IPA, more like a Pale Ale with a bit more hops than usual. Maybe like a Bass with a hint of honey and a few more hops. If all the beers I end up brewing turn out this good then I will be a happy guy. I'll give the homebrew 3.5 pints out of 5.

New Beers in the Cellar, a new Season on the Horizon...

2008-08-18T11:33:00.003-04:00

Added a whole bunch of new Beers to the cellar fridge this weekend. Most brought back from my trip to New York. I really wish I could find Stone and Bear Republic beers here in GA. Closest for Bear is SC and Stone would be Knoxville area. Dang it. Maybe someday GA will update its beer buying law to something closer to its Wine law, allowing folks to order beer from out of state and bypass the distributors. For now it just means I have to keep an eye out for both whenever I am on the road.

My sister-in-law gave Kel and I a nice small wine fridge. It now resides out on top of the beer fridge in the garage. That puts our fridge count at 5 (Beer Fridge, Kegerator, Cellar Fridge, Wine Fridge, Food Fridge) and 4 of the 5 are dedicated to storing alcohol. Hmmm, maybe we have a slight problem, nah.

We also just reorganized our basement storage area, put in a whole bunch of new shelving and cabinets. So my brewing equipment now has a true place to live instead of underneath my garage workbench. My collectible liquor bottles and our other hooch now lives in a lockable cabinet, hopefully putting the kibosh on anymore bottle thefts.

Exciting times abound. Football season is upcoming and that also marks the arrival of cooler weather. This combined with a trip to Ann Arbor sometime in the next few months (Visit to a college buddy and avid home brewer) should lead to my first big batch of homebrew, and then the eventual kegging of said beer. Football tailgates also mark the return of "Fall", "Fall" being the codeword for the best football drink of all, the Bourbon and Coke. So in the next few weeks expect some new beer reviews plus the Atlanta Beer Snobs College Football Tailgating Guide. Should be fun.....

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA Review

2008-08-13T17:09:00.004-04:00

I really like this beer. Had for the first time on tap in Virginia. Thanks to Beer Advocate and some of their online beer store guides I found a good beer store near where I am staying this week. Since NY state does not have an abv limit I wanted to find a store that might have some of my high abv favs that I can't get in GA. I was hoping for Dogfish Head 120 Min IPA but found some other favorites, Bear Republic being one of these. Got 2 bottle of Racer 5, a bottle of Bear Republic Hop Rob Ale and then a few bottles of Stone Brewing beer. Here is the Racer 5 review:

Pours a deep orangish copper color. Hazy in clarity. Nice white head forms right away. Very good head retention for the first few minutes, it then settles down to a nice lacing on top of the beer. A good floral smell, hops are right up front. Maybe a little fruity note, apricot, maybe hint of orange? Mouth feel, slightly sweet start but the hops kick in almost right away. Oily feel going through the mouth. Good bitter hops note but not too much, alcohol (7%) is well hidden but does help balance out the hops, you do feel the hops on your teeth between sips. All in all I had forgotten how much I love this beer. May need to stack it up against the 90 min when I get home in a battle royal for my top IPA. If you are a hop and IPA fanatic then go get one of some Racer 5, a supreme example of a West Coast IPA. I have got to figure out a way to get this stuff in GA. 4/2 pints out of 5.

Magic Hat #9 Review

2008-08-12T22:31:00.003-04:00

Ok, picked up a sixer of this brew which is not available in GA. I have had it before at the Capital Ale House in VA. It markets itself as not quite a Pale Ale. I would say they are pretty close with that description. Pours a light copper color. Pretty good head that settles out quickly. You can pick up a bit of fruitiness in the smell. Almost hefe like but a tad sweeter? (After having a few I noticed the bottle said it was brewed with essence of apricot) Good mouth feel. A sweet note, but not a maltyone. Very odd but pleasant. A short hop note up front but no bitterness to be had (darn!) Lingers in the mouth a while, a slight oily feel once done. There is something about this beer I can't really put my finger on. It isn't a pale ale but shouldn't really be called a fruit beer either. Maybe an SPA, Sweet Pale Ale? It is a refreshing drinking beer and a tad mysterious as it says on the bottle. If I could get it in GA it would be a semi-regular feature for when I was in a mood for a darker ale but not on a hop bender. If you like Pale Ales but are not a Hop Head (or if you are and want to try something interesting) and you find this on tap, give it a shoot. I'll give it 3 pint out of 5.

IPA is done plus a few Beer Reviews

2008-08-04T09:40:00.002-04:00

Gave one of my homebrew IPAs a shoot last night. It is ok, decent hop taste but with a strange hop bitterness, could be the fact that it was a hop extract and not fresh hops used in the brewing. I can taste the honey that I added, actually gives the beer a pretty nice balance with the bitterness that I am not sure would be there otherwise. Pretty smooth, very fizzy carbonation. I am going to let the rest age for a few more weeks and see if anything changes.

Tried three new brews while out on my Carolina swing this week:

First was an XPA (extra pale ale) but I don't remember who brewed it. Was not impressed, very dull taste, just not much there.

Second was the Highland Kashmir IPA, yes I saw this on the menu and remembered my Gaelic Ale experience so I had to order it. Wow, an impressive IPA. This may replace the Dogfish 60 minute as my favorite regular IPA. Very floral smell, great feel in the mouth. Big hops kick. Darker in color than most IPA (almost Bass colored). Going to have to get a 6er of this stuff to give a more in depth review.

Last was Foothills Brewing IPA. Eh, it was pretty good. Probably suffered from having come right after the very impressive Highland offering. Not very hoppy, color was much lighter than the Kashmir. A good beer but nothing stood out about it.

Beer Review: Rogue Old Crustacean and Allagash Tripel Reserve

2008-07-28T08:44:00.002-04:00

Ok, spent the weekend in the N.GA mountains with my folks. Had a great time fishing, playing a little golf and just relaxing. Decided to stop by Tower to pick up a few new beers for the weekend. The gems that I picked up will most definitely make return appearances to the beer fridge and to the cellaring fridge.

First up, Rogue Old Crustacean Aged XS line (Barleywine).

This came in a nice 750ml ceramic bottle with gate close top. I don't remember the year, I'll have to check the bottle. Poured very thick. Very dark brown with a nice creamy head. Great aroma, hops all over the place. A bit of a sweet note on the nose as well. The taste of this beer was perfect. Nice smooth start, a little sweet, kind of fruity but then the hops kick in. Wow, great hop note. Balances the malt sweetness perfectly and complements the alcohol zing and warmth nicely. Not a beer for those who don't like hops. A neat take on the barleywine. This one will be heading for the cellar very soon! I also have the feeling that it will make an appearance in my hall of fame.

Allagash Tripel Reserve

I usually trend towards darker more aggressive beers but decided to give this one a shot. Sure glad I did! Pours a hazy orange, nice white lacey head. Smells fruity with some yeast tones, more like a bakery smell. Taste is very nice. Smooth, ohh so smooth. Not too sweet, very flavorful. Alcohol is well masked, this definitely does not taste like a beer with 9% ABV. Carbonation is perfect, just the right amount to add to the experience. My wife even tried this one and liked it (she hates beer, only one she has ever liked was some Hefewiezen we got on draft at Brick Store). This beer did undergo an interesting transformation when I let it warm up. When very cold it is a much fruitier beer, once warmed the fruit sweetness was dulled a bit and you could pick a bit of the warmth brought on by the alcohol. Either way this too is a great beer and a good introduction into the land of the Belgian Tripel.

IPA in Bottles and a Beer and Concert Review

2008-07-23T08:14:00.004-04:00

Got my IPA bottled up this past weekend. Now I have to wait for a few weeks to let it carbonate. Looking forward to trying it out. I may go ahead and get the Bock Beer kit that I bought going so that it may be ready for football season. Also picked up a bunch of brewing equipment from a good friend from my car club (Thanks Laura!). So I now have all the right stuff to tackle a big batch. May be a few weeks, I'll keep everyone posted right here.

Went to a pretty great concert last night with a college buddy of mine. Stopped by his place for dinner before hand (His girlfriend cooked fried chicken, very excellent) and he had a stash of Highland Gaelic Ale. Been a while since I had tried this beer. I immediately reminded myself not to pass over a few of Highlands offerings next time I frequent the local beer store. A nice thick head, slightly brown in color. Beer color is a great dark brown, almost a deep ruby. Very malty flavor, sweet up front. A touch of hops to balance it out and keep it from being overly sweet. Very smooth and extremely drinkable. A great beer that I am glad I rediscovered.

The Concert: Old 97's
Where: Variety Playhouse

This was the first show I had ever seen at the Variety Playhouse. The venue reviews I read before hand showed people either loved or hated the place. I fall in the former, this is a great place to see a show! Parking is cheap ($5) beer is a good price and the size is just right. Plenty of room to stand in the front and tons of seating on the sides, back and in the balcony. Went to the show only expecting two bands, Sleepercar and the Old 97's. Got a very pleasant surprise when there was a second opening band, The Spring Standards. Wow, best opening band I've ever seen. A trio consisting of Two guys on guitar or bass and a girl on percussion. The guys also played either a hi-hat or bass drum while strumming (and sometimes a harmonica) and the girl also happened to play keyboards, some sort of wind recorder thingy and sang lead on several songs. Try to name me one other female lead vocalist that plays percussion! Vocal harmonies where amazing, energy was great and the songs where perfect. They played a strange combination of bluesy, folky, little dash of gospel, countrified new rock with hints of some emo working its way in there. Just wow. Picked up their brand new EP, No One Will Know after the show. Check these guys out at their myspace, www.myspace.com/thespringstandards

Sleepercar played a great set. Very high energy. Hit all the songs off of their new CD, West Texas. They even threw in a cover of a Flying Burrito Brothers cover near the end of the set. They are a neat combination of Snow Patrol with a little Wilco thrown in and a big influence from the Old 97's. Check them out on their myspace, http://www.myspace.com/sleepercarwesttexas

Headliner the Old 97's did not disappoint. Huge energy throughout a big set. Band sounded great, songs where awesome and the crowd really seemed to get into it. I am pretty sure they played for almost 2 solid hours. You can check them out here: http://www.old97s.com/

This show has vaulted into my top 3 concerts of all time (For review, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live in Savannah, GA on 2/13/96 is #1 and Radiohead Live in Atlanta this year is #2). Two amazing opening acts that put on incredible sets that should have been hard to follow but Old 97's stepped up their game and delivered. Keep and eye on all these bands, The Spring Standards, Sleepercar and the Old 97's. I am sure you will hear of them again.

Wordle...

2008-07-18T12:33:00.003-04:00

A pretty neat application that I stumbled across. Takes all the word from a page or anything and makes some graphical "art" out of them. Check out the art for this site below....

title="Wordle: Beer Blog"> src="http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/75405/Beer_Blog"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"
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New Mini Fridge

2008-07-16T15:11:00.000-04:00

Picked up a new Mini Fridge at Sears today (yeah gift cards). It is plenty big to hold the beers that I want to store long term. This will let me set this fridge temp to 50-55 degrees and only use the kegerator fridge when I have beer on tap. When I get it unpacked and set up I will post some pictures.

My Basement Bar

2008-07-11T08:41:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures of my basement bar set up. You will find me down here most Saturdays and Sundays in the fall watching football and enjoying a brew. The brick finish on 3 of the walls is painted, took about 3 years to really finish everything up and get it to where I feel like I am actually done. When we moved in there was a wall that split the room into a pool room and a storage area. Wall ran where the metal poles are in the pictures.

I have 5 neon signs that I have acquired either from ebay or gifts. Also have a ton of metal signs, a few non-neon light up signs and lots of other pictures up on the walls.

The Taps and Bar:

I had been hunting for some sort of bar to use and came across this piece at the big antiques mart here in Atlanta. As you can see the top folds out for a nice work area and there is plenty of space underneath for glassware and liquor storage. I am working on trying to find a key to fit the locks so that it can be locked up if needed. Only thing I can figure is it used to be some type of desk. Folks we got it from where not really sure what it was used for only that it looks to be custom made and maybe 100 years old or so. Whatever it was made for doesn't matter to me because it works perfect for my bar, exact right size and height for the taps and fits in well with the rest of the basement. Picked up the granite top cheap from a place near where I work, it was a scrape piece they where able to cut to size and polish up for me.

Dart Board:

TV, Stereo and Record Player:

Georgia Tech Corner with a piece of goalpost from the 1999 GT 51 v UGa 48 game.

The Kegerator:

I can fit a 1/2 barrel easily in there and I think I can squeeze a 1/6 in next to it. Most of the time I'll be running either several homebrew kegs, a few 1/6 barrels or a 1/4 and a 1/6 barrel. The blower at the top cycles cool air from the fridge through the pipe that the beer lines run through. Only problem with my set up is that my line run is 5-6 feet. Mean I have to use a bit higher pressure and had to install the blower to keep the lines cool. It has worked great now that I worked a few bugs out.

This is also where I store/cellar my beer. I really want to find an old mini fridge that I can put in the basement to store the cellared beer a bit warmer (50-55 degrees) than I keep the keg fridge, I'll keep my eyes out for a yard sale.

Bottling?

2008-07-10T10:01:00.002-04:00

My IPA should be finished in the next week. I plan on checking it tonight to see if it has finished fermenting. Next step is to clean out all my bottles and then fill them up to condition!

On the new Beers tried front, I gave Great Divides Barleywine a try. Not bad, I probably would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't July 4th, I hadn't drank my weight in cheap beer by the pool all day, I wasn't smoking a cigar, and I wasn't losing at poker. Either way, I seem to remember liking it enough that next trip to Tower I plan on picking up another bottle and giving it a proper review!

Amercian Devil IPA is fermenting and a Dogfish Head Immort Ale Review

2008-06-30T09:05:00.002-04:00

Got my American Devil IPA brewed up and put in the fermenter on Thursday. I was sitting around after work and a little bored so I figured I would get cooking. Added about 3/4 cup of some honey to add a little sweetness to the flavor and kick the alcohol content up a tad. The malt and hop extract smelled pretty awful. I hope the beer tastes better than that smell! It should take about 2-3 weeks for it to ferment. After that I will bottle it up in a few 12oz bottles and at least one growler, then it should be another 2 weeks for conditioning. So I should have the beer review for this in a little over a month, looking forward to it. I am planning on brewing up the English Pale Ale towards the end of the month. A friend in my car club has a bunch of brewing equipment that she hasn't used in years that she is going to give to me! The only condition is that I give her some of the beer I brew, I would call that a good swap.

On to the Review!
Dogfish Head Immort Ale:
The dogfish site says this is a beer that is brewed with peat smoked barley, juniper berries, honey and maple syrup and then aged in oak barrels. Sounded like just the type of beer I would either love or hate (So far my opinion of barrel aged beers has not been all that great). This being a Dogfish brew though lead me to be excited. On first pour the beer has a nice slightly brown head, beer is dark golden brown. Has a very nice vanilla note with a hint a maple in the smell. Taste is excellent, very smooth. Maple flavor comes out and you get a hint of smokiness which is a very nice balance to the sweetness of the maple. When I first poured this it was probably too cold because towards the end of my tasting, when the beer warmed, several new flavors came out. The oak spiciness really asserted itself as well as a very slight hop note at the end. I liked it cold but I loved this beer when it hit its prime serving temp. I plan on cellaring a few of these (it is only available once a year) and buying a few more for immediate enjoyment. This is going to be a great beer for the fall. Guess I plan on buying out any that are left at my local beer merchant! If you can take strong ales and are looking for a beginner barrel aged beer, then keep an eye out for this one. I'll give it 4 1/2 pints out of 5.

Homebrewing...

2008-06-26T16:43:00.002-04:00

Planning on doing some homebrewing this weekend. I bought an IPA kit for my Mr. Beer. Pretty easy to brew so I figure that I will at least get that one in the fermenter. If I have the time I am going to try to brew up my big English Pale ale kit. If I get them done I'll update everyone as to how it went on Monday!

Beer Review: Abita IPA, JW Dundees Sample Pack, Great Divide Hercules Double IPA, Terrapin RoggenRauchBier

2008-06-24T07:04:00.004-04:00

Ok, some quick beer reviews:

Abita IPA:
Not a bad IPA, good color. Smooth up front with a little hint of sweetness. Hop flavor comes on rather strong at the end. All in all a very good IPA, stands up to some of my favorites (Sweetwater IPA, Dogfish 90 minute).

JW Dundees Sample Pack:
This came with 2 of each of the following: Honey Brown, American Lager, Pale Ale, Pale Bock, IPA, and a Hefewiezen. Here are the ones I have tried.
American Lager: Not all that impressed. Pretty bland, some sweet malt but not much else there.
IPA: A good IPA, nice hop finish, not too overwhelming. Probably a good intro IPA.
Pale Bock: This one surprised my. Never heard of a Pale Bock before so I was a bit wary. Very smooth with some nice roasted malt flavors to start and some great hop flavors to finish. Almost like a very dark IPA. A neat beer and the most drinkable of the sampler pack so far.

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA:
A big IPA. I would put this on par with my standard big IPA, Dogfish Head 90 Minute. Not as sweet as the Dogfish, hides it's alcohol content better (9.1% abv). Smell is not quite as floral as the 90, color a bit redder and darker, hops are nicely balanced in the end. Finish bitterness not near as in your face as the 90. A great "big" IPA. I'll buy it again.

Terrapin RoggenRauchBier (Side Project #2):
The only RauchBier (Literally Smoke Beer in German) I can compare this too is Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen. The Marzen was very up front with the smoke smell and flavor. My bartendress described it as "Smells like Bacon", and it did. Very smokey, some hints of hickory and maple and right in your face about it. The Terrapin is a bit different. On first smell the smokeyness is hard to pick out. If you didn't know what a Rauchbier was I think it would be very hard to put a description to the smell. Pours very dark brown, maybe a hint darker than Newcastle. Good smooth flavor, more like a brown ale as well with very little to no smoke flavor in the beer. Good clean finish. A nice beer but for a Rauchbier I was expecting much more smoke flavor so this is a bit of a let down for me.

Cheap Beer

2008-06-19T07:54:00.003-04:00

I know this blog is titled Beer Snob and I guess I am a bit of a beer snob but there is a time and place to drink cheap beer. Though I do trend towards good beer I do buy my fare share of low end beer. I have a soft spot for the stuff since it was all I drank until I saw the light of better beer (and got a job and was thus able to afford good beer). So, I give you my times to drink cheap beer:

If you are in college then there really is no other beer than what we referred to as "Finest, cheapest". In a bar? Gimmie what ever the cheapest stuff coming out of the tap is that night. Usually this ends up being Coors/Bud/Miller Lite although we had some interesting selections around GT when I was in college. Best bet was Limerick Junctions Wednesday Night Special. Back in my day it was a beer new to the US, the special was $4.50 pitchers of Amstel Light! You could get food, drink for a few hours and leave with a tab of around $15 a person. All in all a great deal. For house parties the beers of choice ranged from Lighthouse, to Bud products and on to Natural Light. None taste all that good but for alcohol consumption they do their jobs. We did have fans of two odd beers back in school. Landmark and Schafer. Ugh, both the bottom of the barrel beer wise, but hey you could get a case of Landmark for $8!

When do I drink cheap beer now that I am out of school and have money to afford good beer? I'll keep a few in the fridge for when I am doing yardwork. My fav for quenching a thirst after mowing the lawn or playing tennis is Rolling Rock Light. Pretty good taste, very smooth and works best when served very cold on a hot day. For parties I'll stock usually stock up on Miller Light Bottles, a good standard (If I'm going high class for the party then Amstel Light is the choice). For the pool I upscale things a bit. No bottles so I have gotten in the habit of drinking Heineken Light. No cheap but not really high end either.

There are very few beers that I have avoided. You won't find me turning down a beer just because it is cheap. Iron City, PBR (a guilty pleasure actually, best enjoyed out of a 16 or 22oz can), Lighthouse ect. are all acceptable beers. In fact, the only beer that I can remember flat out refusing to finish was a Milwaukee's Best Light that a fraternity buddy of mine gave me. It was all he had in his fridge and it was terrible. I think I took two sips and decided to stay sober that night, yuck.

Those are my thoughts on cheap beer. Drink up if it is what you like but go out on a limb every now and then and try something new. But make sure you keep a few stashed in the fridge for the right time.

Favorite Cheap Beers:
Yuengling
Miller Light
Rolling Rock Light
Pabst Blue Ribbon

New Blog!

2008-06-18T08:32:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Starting up a new blog about one of my favorite hobbies, drinking beer! Why a start a beer blog? Well I have always been a bit of a beer snob. I was the guy in the fraternity in college always trying new and different beers (back then it was radical to buy anything other than Natural Light, Bud Light or Miller Lite). Over the years this has transformed into a true appreciation of the many different types of beer that are out there. This really hit home when the State of Georgia changed the law capping the amount of alcohol in beer from 6% to 14% in 2004. A good friend of mine and I celebrated the occasion at Brick Store Pub in Decatur. The experience of trying some really amazing Belgian and other beers for the first time was incredible. Opened my eyes to what other neat styles of beer there are out there waiting for me to try them.

So, my idea behind this blog is to keep my readers up to date on what crazy beers are out there. I'll keep track of what is in my beer fridge, what I am cellaring for later consumption and what I have on tap in my basement bar (I'll post some pictures later this week, the jest of it is that I built out my basement to look and feel like some of the hole in the wall bars in Savannah, GA. Wood flooring, walls look like distressed red brick, neon signs, pool table, big TV, and a bar with two taps). I am also slowly getting into home brewing so I will keep everyone up to date on what styles I'm making and how they turned out. All in all I am looking forward to sharing my beer experiences with everyone!