Apologies

Dear Reader,

I apologize. I am a miserable human being. For an entire month, I have made no new posts. Before you draw and quarter me, please know that I was drinking beer. I just didn't have time to write about it. I promise to make it up to you with a barrage of new posts in the coming days.

Check back in the next few days to read about my experience with Lazy Dog Cafe's  house brews, Karl Strauss' Full Suit, New Belgium's 2 Degrees Below Zero, Sam Adams' Revolutionary Ale, and many more.

Sam Adams Rustic Saison Review: Enjoying a Good Saison at an Urban Hipster Oasis

Confronted with a mammoth beer list last night at Haven Gastropub in Orange, CA, my eyes fell upon a familiar name: Sam Adams. The words that followed though were a surprise. Rustic Saison? Saison's are Belgian wheat beers that typically have fruity and sour characteristics. They enjoyed a long, proud history refreshing farm workers in the fields of southern Belgium and have begun a Renaissance here in the US thanks to their more complex character than the standard wheat beers typically available. I have recently grown very fond of saisons as I attempt to drag myself away from the IPA well.

Haven, the aforementioned pub, is a bit of an aberration in Orange County, full of urban hipsters, gypsies, and even the occasional Furry mixing with the Chapman University clientele. The food at Haven was quite good. The flat bread Margherita Pizza was fantastic, and no one complained about the lamb burgers. My wife had mac n' cheese, because that's how she rolls. Since it had cheese, I guarantee that she loved it. The most impressive thing though about Haven was the beer list, which bursts at the seems with hugely expensive, limited edition brews. I am poor; so after admiring the list, I set it aside and asked for the Rustic Saison Sammy.

The waitress served the beer to me in one of the fancy Belgian strong ale glasses, which seems to be license to charge as much for one small pour as 7 Eleven normally charges for an entire six pack, but I digress. The color looked golden and hazy, as one should expect from a saison. The beer tickled my nose with citrus and delighted my tongue with pepper, spices, and just a hint of sourness. Though not the absolute best saison I've ever drunk, I'd have no trouble recommending this saison to any Blue Moon drinker looking to expand his horizons.

-Ryan

Style: Wheat Ale/Saison
ABV: 4.35%
Availability: Nationwide. Look for it in the Summer Styles Variety Pack

Other beers that may interest you:
Sam Adams' Rustic Saison
De Proef Brewerij's Saison Imperiale
Odanata Beer Company's Saison Ale

Ridiculous Beer Marketing: Miller Lite - "Triple Hops Brewed?"

Here is one of Miller's ridiculous commercials. I won't get into the nerdy reasons why, but brewers almost invariably add hops three times to the brew kettle. To claim that adding hops three times makes Miller unique is akin to my claiming that breathing oxygen makes me a unique human. Such a claim is patently absurd. Great job Miller. Keep up the good work.

-Ryan

Eel River Acai Berry Wheat Review: What the hell is Acai berry and why is it in my beer?

Eel River's Acai Wheat

I admit it; I'm being hypocritical, but Eel River nearly lost me before I even tried this beer. I hate fruit in my beer. To me, beer and fruit go together like Israelis and Palestinians. Eel River did not just go local farmers' market for this particular fruit either. The brewery went all the way to the Amazon for this nearly unpronounceable flavor adjunct. I don't mean to complain, but I suspect that Eel River chose Acai berry not for its flavor characteristics, but for its marketing potential to hipsters.

The beer itself poured golden and cloudy, with no hint of pink food coloring. The berry aroma hit my nose immediately, which was a bit of a surprise considering the lack of berry color. The taste was tart, not sweet, and filled with berry. The beer finished with a strong wheat presence.

The overall effect of the Acai berry and wheat partnership was refreshment. Despite the organic hippy nonsense on the label, I like this beer.

-Ryan

Style: Wheat Ale/Fruit Beer
ABV: 4.0%
Availability: Specialty stores nationwide

Great Divide Hibernation Ale Review: Can Ryan Find Anything in this Beer to Complain About?

Hibernation Ale: Is year round
too much to ask?

Great Divide Brewing Company has produced an outstanding strong English-style ale with Hibernation. This beer is truly difficult to complain about, but I'll try. The beer pours a dark brown with a light tan head, which dissipated cleanly. The aroma was a nice balance of maltiness and hops, quite pleasant. Failing to disappoint, the Hibernation also balanced well on the tongue, but with a bit of a bitter, hoppy punch. I found something to complain about! Supposedly, Great Divide dry hops this beer, but I didn't detect the usual strong hop aromas that come from dry hopping. Another thing that I don't like: Hibernation is a winter seasonal. Do not buy this beer if you value strong dry-hopped aromas or if you like good ale!


-Ryan

Style: English Brown Ale
ABV: 8.7%
Availability: Nationwide with a few exceptions, such as Utah, which hates beer and America

Wisdom from the Beer Snarks

Miller Lite cannot claim to be "triple hops brewed" until we can taste hops.

The Beer Snarks attempt to inspire (insult) you to drink craft beer

Let me begin by saying something nice about macro lagers. You should sit. Coors, Budweiser, and Miller Genuine Draft are incredibly consistent. The taste, color, and smell never change from can to can. Every time you open a nearly freezing can of one of the Big Three macro brews you get exactly the same experience. Congratulations to the brewmasters. Consistency is difficult, and they have mastered it.

Thankfully, America is a land of extremes. Thousands of American craft brewers make the best beers in the world, in a dizzying array of varieties. However, the standard lagers of the international brewing giants SABMiller, AB InBev, and Molson Coors dominate the market in the US and around the world. How do we account for this situation? Marketing plays some role without doubt. Who would drink Coors Light were it not the “Coldest tasting beer in the world?” Who would drink Budweiser if it did not come from the urethra of a Clydesdale? Who would drink Miller Light if it were more filling, not less? Probably no one.

America’s obsession with macro lagers is not due solely to marketing marketing, complacency plays some role as well. Most beer drinkers have grown accustomed to the American Pilsener style. It tastes familiar, gets them drunk, and doesn’t cost too much. Most Americans are also too lazy and too unadventurous to try something new.

Unless you are a frat boy looking to get drunk as cheaply as possible, put down the Miller. The true path to the High Life does not involve aluminum-clad fizzy water. Start experimenting with some craft brews. Go to a local brew pub, Bev Mo, Total Wine, or even the supermarket and pick out a beer that you haven’t tried before. Be adventurous. Craft brewers are artists and craftsmen. They make incredible beers from the classic to the radical. You will find a beer, possibly dozens, that you like. On the other hand, macro breweries have worked for decades to design their products to offend as few people as possible. Would you rather drink a beer that you are used to or a beer that you love?

I am not telling you to drink craft brews because of any devotion to Gaea-centered, organic hippiness. I am not telling you to drink craft beers because I want you to support small, fair-trade, sustainable eco-breweries. I am telling you to drink craft beer because it tastes better.

-Ryan

Wisdom from the Beer Snarks

Never trust a man holding a light beer.

Koshihikari Echigo Beer Review: A Drinkable Beer from Japan, If You Can Stomach the Price

Koshihikari Echigo Beer

Echigo Beer Company, Nigata, Japan

http://www.echigo-beer.jp/

Echigo Beer: Not as
bad as you'd expect.

I have never had a Japanese beer that I enjoyed. Ever. The Japanese are to beer what the Germans are to sashimi. There is no denying that the Japanese have a predilection for tasteless, dry lagers. They seem to make nothing else. They have no business in the beer business, which is why Echigo Beer was such a surprise. It definitely was not as horrible as I expected. The pale straw colored, lightly carbonated lager was sweet on the tongue and dry on the finish. The interplay between the sweetness and the dryness made for a more pleasant drinking experience than expected from a Japanese beer. The beer was still nearly body-less, however, with no head. If Japan began to make beers only of this quality and higher, the country could eventually, possibly crawl its way out of the League of Shame. Not at this price though, the beer cost me $8 for a 12 oz. bottle at Tokyo Table in Irvine, CA.


-Ryan

Style: Rice Lager

ABV: 5%

Available: California, Arizona, Nevada, Massachusetts, New York City

Beer Valley Leafer Madness Review: A Taste Bud Ass Kicking

Leafer Madness

Beer Valley Brewing Company, Ontario, OR

http://www.beervalleybrewing.com

Leafer Madness: A nice taste bud
ass-kicking if you can get it.

Leafer Madness is quite possible the bitterest liquid I have ever drunk. I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, the name practically shouts that some serious herbage was involved in the brewing of this beer. The beer exploded from the bottle, soaking me and the floor. Once I got it into a glass, Leafer Madness poured a deep golden color, but somehow confused my taste buds into thinking that some roasted grains lurked under the bitter barrage of more than 100 IBUs. The bitterness stayed with me after each sip. Don’t start an evening of beer tasting with this beer; you won't taste anything else for the rest of the night. The head was long-lasting and tightly woven with tiny bubbles. The aroma provided a hint of sweetness and a gale of American hops. At 9.0% ABV, this beer puts lightweights like me on our asses.

-Ryan

Style: Imperial IPA

ABV: 9.0%

Available: Total Wine, Bev Mo, and specialty shops on the west coast only