Among things that DO suck:
Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale.
I had just had a Broken Halo IPA, which is pretty good. Not GREAT, mind you, but worth a sip. It probably just suffers next to Dogfish Head's 60 or 90 minute IPAs. (I can't seem to find Ruination IPA around here, which is what I was looking for.)
Then I poured a Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale.
Now, I love Belgian beers, and I love dopplebocks, and all things malty. Then, too, I enjoy IPAs, and all things hoppy. Probably the best order to drink them, if you are mixing the styles, is to have the super-bitter IPAs after the sweet malty bocks, barley wines, and the like. But I didn't do that this time.
And this "cask ale" is a crap ale. What was I thinking? Gawd. The label: "ALE AGED ON BOURBON BARREL OK AND VANILLA BEANS." Then I read the fine print: "Anhueser-Busch, Inc. St. Louis, Missouri".
It tastes... like cough syrup.
I don't think I can finish this. Who can I pawn it off to?
posted by Matt G @ 10:51 PM
5 Comments:
You didn't see the point of origin before you opened it, did you?
I'm gonna have to track down some Dogfish this week, I suppose. Maybe it'll stay in the fridge long enough for me to get one, since now Incubus #1 and his squeeze are here. I haven't gotten a single Shiner I've bought in months because of them.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Anyone else out there olde enough to remember Ballentine's pale ale?
OldeForce
Rabbit,
You KNOW I didn't.
I'm serious-- I've got 5 bottles of the crap that I'd give away to anyone over 21. Wonder if that guy on the corner with the cardboard sign and the 40 oz. in the bag would take it? Heh-- he'd probably read the label and say "Ah, HELL, no!"
Olde Force,
I never drank it, though I vaguely remember hearing of it when I was a kid.
Dad said that, back in his days of sport parachute jumping, the end-of-day drink of choice among his group of skydivers was Fallstaff, which, after a few pints, tended to come out "Fallfast."
I don't want the beer, but how 'bout a run down of some good ones?
I am supposed to drink one or two a day (I swear the Dr. told me too) and would like to find some "good stuff". I am just afraid of finding the type of stuff you have.
So how about a beer education?
There's a lot of good'ns. Are you a beer drinker?
There are four principle ingredients to proper beer:
1. Barley malt.
2. Yeast.
3. Hopps.
4. Water.
The malt and the yeast make the alcohol and the fermentation, but are also sweet. The hopps are the bittering agent. If you like bitter, aromatic, hoppy beers, you have no choice but to explore Inda Pale Ales (IPAs), which have lots of hops in the boil and more thrown into the cask (dry-hopping.).
If you like a maltier, sweeter beer, try the double bocks (dopplebocks), barley wines, and the like. Word of caution-- they're generally far stronger, and go to your head faster.
If you like yeasty flavored beers, try the fine British beers like Bass, Whitebread, Samuel Smith, and Old Speckled Hen.
Then there's beers that are mixtures, like Brown Ales (Newcastle), Stouts (Guinness), Porters (Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Tadcaster), which are darker and generally smooth.
Belgian beers use soured wurt that creates a little lactic acids, and they use special yeasts to get interesting esters. They consequently do crazy things like putting fruit into their beers, as in a Lambic. (Kriek)
The classic American style is an import of the Czech style from Pilsen-- it's a hoppy aroma, clear (very unusual in the 19th century, BTW) beer, with a very light touch. Most Americans find Czech pilsners too strong, though. One of the better American pilsners is Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
For hoppy goodness in a pilsner type that's imported, try Grolsch, in the green bottles.
For a superb treat of German bock or Munich bier that's much blonder than most people think of a bock being, try Jubel.
Have fun, and be responsible.
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