26 November 2022

1714. BrewDog It's a Beaut!

BrewDog has done it again!
Pairing with a media that I love - this time it's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation".
So, I popped the movie on the iPad, and opened up the beer to enjoy while I'm watching.
I've also got some Christmas-themed "Christmas Vacation" chocolates to pair the beer with (even though I'm not a big chocolate fan, I wanted to try the pairing...).

The beer is a decent stout.
The toffee gives it a nice sugary-sweet taste on the front.
Sadly, the backend of this beer is very dry - which I assume comes from the pecan flavor.
I usually don't mind pecans, they're okay - but the aftertaste this beer leaves is kind of blah to me.

Overall, I think the good outweighs the bad in this beer.
The full-stout with sweetness is enjoyable, and I can deal with the flavor I don't like.
As the beer has been warming up, it's definitely hitting the mouth a little different, in a good way.  The dry aftertaste is still present, but it doesn't seem as powerful as it originally was out of the can.






24 November 2022

1713. Chilly Water German Pilsner

I haven't had a Chilly Water beer since 2017.
I just kind of stopped caring for them, and wouldn't go out of my way to try them.
I used to see them at the SoBro liquor store when I lived down that way, but I never had the urge to buy anything from them.  
This year, I was at the Maier's house for Thanksgiving, and another one of their guests brought this beer from Chilly Water.  After pouring his first pint, he offered the rest of the can to me, so I accepted it, so that I could give it a try.

It's a standard pilsner.  It was light and crisp and tasty.  I enjoyed it, in small doses.
Out of his four cans, I got the last 4 ounces from each pour, so over a couple of hours, I amassed about one full can.  I was glad to drink it, and it tasted fine, but it's not something that I will ever go out of my way to buy for myself.  Still happy that Chilly Water impressed me, maybe I need to keep a closer eye on them.




23 November 2022

Two Roots Brewing Helles

I'm at Union Jack in Broad Ripple, and asked which NA Beers they carry.
I got three options from Two Roots (which I've never heard of) two of the three were IPAs, so I went with the Helles.

It was fine.  Nothing special, but very drinkable.  Light and easy to drink, but not a lot of flavor.

So, I've tried to look into where Two Roots is from - and I think it might be from Indiana?
Their WEBSITE doesn't have any address or office listed - but it's only available in central Indiana - like only around Indianapolis.  So, I have to assume it's some kind of side project of a brewery here in town?

I drank a number of these, while eating a very tasty breakfast and watched the Germany match with about 25 other Germany fans. It was a great gathering - despite the terrible showing by Die Mannschaft.




13 November 2022

1712. Sea Dog Blue Paw

I've never had anything from Sea Dog - but the name jumped out at me while I was walking the aisles of Total Wine yesterday.  I needed three single cans, one for the Pacers games, one for SNL, and one for the Colts game that's about to kickoff.  When I saw the blue can, and then the name of the beer included "blue" - I knew it was a sign, that this was my Colts Beer for today.

Unlike yesterday's "juice" cherry beer - this actually tastes like a high quality ale, with a solid blueberry taste to it.  It's a little drier that I would expect, but that's combated by the fruity blueberry flavor.  It's not tart at all, just blueberry.

Let's hope this "blue" beer can ward away any Colts blues, and Jeff Saturday can somehow figure out a way to get us a win today.  GO COLTS!




12 November 2022

1711. Voodoo Oh Mama

When I was at Total Wine today, I was looking at their single cans, and as soon as I saw the STYX logo, I knew I needed this beer, I didn't even care what style of beer it was going to be.

I'm happy it turned out to be a Golden Ale, and I'm happy it tastes pretty good.
It packs a really powerful malty punch up front, it's not as light and easy as it looks, and it's a little more dry in backend then I prefer, but I still really like the beer.

And that makes sense, as this beer comes from the same brewery that gives me the AMAZING Lacto-Kooler (Beer #1629).  My personal sadness comes from knowing they are a Pittsburgh brewery, and the Oh Mama can discusses how this song is used at Heinz Field during Steelers games.  Sigh.

But tonight, I'm getting myself pumped up for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, while I'm cranking STYX in my kitchen - because THE GOAT DAVE CHAPPELLE is hosting SNL tonight.  So, I've got a few minutes to go, while I continue to enjoy this golden-deliciousness.



1710. Rhinegeist Night Glow

Tonight is the first night that the Pacers are wearing their disgusting City Edition Jerseys, and knowing that I'm going to have to look at them for the next two hours, I knew I needed a beer for the game tonight.

Rhinegeist is high on my list of favorite breweries, but is THIS even a beer?
It literally tastes like cherry juice, with the smallest bit of carbonation.

It's a good drink, but it doesn't even come close to resembling beer, at all.
Not in the flavor, not in the body, nothing.
I really like the flavor.  It's cherry, and it's mildly tart.
It's easy to drink, and has zero bitterness or bite to it.  
It's literally juice, in my opinion.
It's really tasty juice, but I don't know how this is an ale.




07 November 2022

1709. Terre Haute Madame Brown Ale

I've only had one other beer from Terre Haute Brewing Company, and it was just okay.
This time of the year, I really enjoy Brown Ales, their heavier body just makes them delicious to drink outside on a fall/winter evening - and I used to love drinking them around my former bonfire.

It's my last beer I bought over the weekend, and I saved it for tonight to drink during the Pacers game.

This Brown Ale is good.
It's exactly what I want and expect from this style of beer.
The flavor is good, the malty flavor is good, it's got a minor bit of sweetness, and a hint of chocolate in there.  
As I said, it's exactly what I expected, and I wasn't let down.




06 November 2022

1708. Black Dog My Girl Strawberry

This is my "Colts Beer" for this week.
And every week I remember that I no longer have a Colts pint glass, and I need to fix that.  I wonder if I will remember before the season ends?  Since I don't have a Colts glass, and the Colts are playing outside of Boston today, I'm using my Cheers pint glass that I got when I visited the original Bull & Finch Pub, many many years ago - when Jason lived in Boston.  Jason and his brother Dave are at the game today.  I was supposed to be with them, but you know - life has been rough recently.  So, I've told them to have a good time, but that I hope their team lets them down.

To the beer:
This is my first ever beer from Black Dog, and they're only about 45 minutes from me, so someday I need to go give them a visit.
Reading the label of the beer - it sounds like they did the exact same thing that Big Woods did with their Six Foot Blonde (Beer #192) when they altered it into Strawberry Six Foot Blonde (Beer #1308).

My review of this beer is basically the same - despite never having the My Girl original version.
This beer is light, its refreshing, its easy to drink, and the strawberry flavor is subtle.  This is a good summer beer.  It's November, but feels like summer outside today, so I guess this is appopriate.







1707. Urban Artifact Teak

It's time for Weekend Update!
So, like Prairie Artisan, Urban Artifact does a lot of stuff that I really enjoy.
They do a lot of good sours, and this is one of them.
The can says it includes TWO WHOLE limes!
LIME!  Super Lime Flavor!
This beer is really good, for the intense tart lime flavor.
It's light and crisp, goes down really easy, hits that powerful punch of lime upfront, and mellows out with the lingering guava flavor.

Lots of fun Oprah/Batman jokes, Kyrie and Kanye get made fun of...  
It's been a good Weekend Update so far.

It's fruity, I enjoy it!






05 November 2022

1706. Prairie Artisan Cocoa Berry

It's been a week since I had a beer, and it's been eight days since I added a new one.
So, I took a road trip today and learned my (former) favorite liquor store no longer sells beer singles, which sucks - they always had a large area where I could easily make two mix-n-match six packs.  They have also quit selling bombers - and they used to have an entire aisle of delicious bombers, where I would go for special occasions.  Well, that's over, so I don't think I'll ever go back there.  Luckily, my Beer Brother John long ago introduced me to Parti Pack, and they do sell by the single.  John warned me that they don't have as much as Pre-COVID, and that's sadly true.  But, I was still able to put together four new beers, and tonight, I'm opening the one I'm most intrigued by.

Prairie Artisan never fails.  I've loved everything I've tried from them.

So, I'm watching SNL.  Amy Schumer is the host tonight, and as always, I'm just waiting for the Weekend Update.  I really love Colin and Che.  

Back to the beer.  There is SO MUCH going on here.
Maybe too much?
Lemon and Lime.  Also Orange.  Raspberry and Blueberry.  Also Grapefruit.
Cacao Nibs and Marshmallow.  
It's an imperial - but it doesn't feel like it.  It goes down smooth and easy, with a little tart, and the Grapefruit flavor really stands out above everything else.

Cecily Strong is in the opening sketch.  I'm a big fan of hers.  For many reasons.

So, the beer smells fruity, it goes down like a light ale, the grapefruit flavor hits hard, and then the cacao lingers in the aftertaste.  I planned on only one beer tonight, but two-thirds of this one has been drank while I was trying to figure out the flavors.  This is an imperial?  Maybe I will feel it later.  Maybe I'll crack open a second beer when it gets to the Weekend Update?