Slacker

Wow! Way to not post anything in almost 2 years, Dry Pint. I'm sorry that I've been such a slacker. One of my resolutions is to have more follow-through. Another one is to document all of the beers I try over the year. I may not be able to give them a full review, but I thought it'd be nice to see how adventurous I have been when I look back at the end of the year.

I know that there are iphone/android apps for this type of documentation. I actually had Beer Cloud for all of 2 minutes before I decided that it was more trouble than it was worth. I mean, I have a beer blog, why don't I just dust it off and use it?! Along with chronicling my beer adventures this year, I also want to make note of my crafting achievements. These two passions will intersect soon, as D and I are on our way to pick out our home-brewing equipment today.

Since we're only 5 days into the new year, my lists will be short and sweet. I promise to try my hardest to keep up with this the whole year!

Beers since January 1, 2011:

• Infinium - Sam Adams came out with this specialty brew in November 2010. It is a beer and champagne hybrid. Dry and slightly fruity with a nice head and champagne-like bubbles. I would link you to the Sam Adam's site, but I feel strongly about not redirecting you to a website that makes you complete two age verification pages before you can read any content.
  
• Stone's 14th anniversary Emperial IPA - This tasty IPA is a must. Stone has yet to disappoint me and if you are passionate about IPAs then you need to get your hands on a bottle of this.
• Left Hand Milk Stout - This is by far my favorite go-to beer.
  
• Elk Mountain Brewing - D and I visited this brewery/tasting room in Parker yesterday. I had a to-die-for Vanilla Caramel Porter. I loved this porter so much that I brought home a growler of it. It was mildly sweet, not overly syrupy or sugary, with a nice porter mouth feel and finish. It is a holiday brew, but a lot of people are trying to convince the owner/ head brew master to brew another batch. I also had the Elk Horn Oatmeal Stout. This was a nice, well-rounded stout that was not too heavy.

Crafts since January 1, 2011

• I really want to include all of the neat things I made for gift in December, but I won't.
  
• Crocheted - A Miami Dolphins beanie. Man, their team colors do NOT look that great when crocheted together. It technically was a birthday/Christmas present, but I didn't actually finish it until Monday.
• Crocheted - A lilac windowpane scarf. Also a Christmas present that didn't get finished until Monday.
  
• Crocheted - A tea pot cozy for my little black Japanese tea pot. It's kind of ugly, but it keeps my tea warm! I may work up another one in a different color scheme.

That is it for now. Not bad for the first 5 days of the year, right? We are headed off to Dry Dock and the brew Hut in Aurora this afternoon! I look forward to chronicling many more beers and crafts throughout the year.

Brewer's Association Releases Top 50 List

The top 50 craft brewers contain no less than five Colorado beers:

#3 - New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins, CO

#32 - Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville, CO

#34 - Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins, CO

#40 - Breckenridge Brewery Denver, CO

#46 - Boulder Beer Co. Boulder, CO

I'm sad that the Fort Collins Brewery didn't make that list. Out of all of the breweries up north, it's our favorite. They have an outstanding tasting room. You get to sample 6-8 beers for $4. Odell charges much more for much less. New Belgium is great because their tastings are free but it's always crowded. I'm sure it drums up good buisness from the college kids though.

Wil and I went up to Ft. Collins to do the brewery tours (Odell, NB and FCB) two months ago. I should have posted sooner but... eh, you don't come here for excuses! Since FCB was our favorite, I'll post pics from out tasting.

FCB's fancy interior!

The tasting list that day included: Major Tom's Pomegranate Wheat, Retro Red, Rocky Mountain I.P.A., Z Lager, Kidd Lager and a really kcik-ass Chocolate Stout.

I had two favorites; Major Tom's and the Retro Red. Major Tom's is blonde, Like can't-walk-and-chew-gum-but-finished-high-school-anyways kind of blonde. It's bright and sparkling with a tartness that can be atributed to the fact that it is brewed with real pomegranates. If you find this in your liquor store, snag a sixer. I promiss it will dazzle you.

Major Tom's Pomegranate Wheat - ABV: 5.2%

The Retro Red came as a surprise. I was expecting something... well, I'm not sure what I was expecting. It took me by surprise, I can say that much. It was malty, nutty and very well balanced with just a hit of hops behind it. I've never had a disappointing FCB beer and this one was no different. I haven't been able to find this in my liquor store yet, but if I do I'm going to serve it with a nice piece of BBQ chicken and some sweet corn.

Retro Red - ABV:5.3%

So, since I've been such a slacker it's now your turn to tell me what you've been drinking. The weather is warming up, the grass needs to be mowed, the meat needs to be grilled... what beer is accompaning your springtime activities?

Bye Bye 3.2 Beer

Read the article here: Denver Post

On a side note, sorry I haven't put up any new posts but it has been a tough couple of weeks. D and I just hit 3 breweries in Ft. Collins last week though, so expect a 3 part update soon!

Helpful Tips For Serving Your Beer

Don't go chugging that $20 corked bottle - beer deserves to be savored. The following are some general guidelines for optimum specialty beer enjoyment!

Temperature (Some Like It Too Cold)-
Americans like their beer cold, but frigid temps chill your taste buds and prevent you from appreciating the complex flavors of many ales and lagers. Typically, ales should be served around 50*f and even closer to 60*f for barleywine and strong ale. Let your bottle sit for about a half hour after you pull it out of the fridge, so that it has a little time to warm up. If your beer hasn't been cooled yet, stick it in a bucket with ice water for 15-20 minutes.

Pouring (Foam Is Good)-
Beer was meant to foam! If you pour it all down the side of the glass, its carbonation won't be properly released and you'll end up swallowing all of the gas *buuurp*. Hold the glass at a 45-degree angle and slowly pour down the side. After the glass is 1/3 full, straighten the glass and pour your beer into the middle, rising the bottle smoothly away from the glass.
A Belgian golden ale or saison will often produce a massive, pillowy head. That's part of its character.
Unfiltered beer often has a yeast bed at the bottom of the bottle. It's perfectly fine to drink, but if you want to avoid pouring it into your glass, leave an ounce of beer in the bottle.

Tasting (Just Like A First Date, Ok, Maybe The Third)-
Slow down and enjoy your beer. Use your eyes to examine the color, the body, the head. Use your nose to appreciate the aroma. Remember, much of your sense of taste is enhanced through your sense of smell.
Use your palate to savor the flavor. Sip and let the beer flood every part of your mouth. Consider how it tastes on each section of your tongue (Remember learning about which part of the tongue tastes what flavor? Use that knowledge, make your third-grade teacher proud!), consider how it feels against your cheeks. Breathe out and detect more flavors.
Don't forget to swallow (that'swhatshesaid!) because this is beer after all, not wine.

Adapted from the Serving section of Christmas Beer by Don Russell

So, tell me what you think so far? What is helping you? What is making you cringe? Give me some feedback so I can make this pleasurable for the both of us! *snicker snicker* But really, leave me some comments.

New Year's Eve Part Deux

**Sorry for the never ending paragraphs, the format is not doing what I tell it to :( **

So... here it is, the 11th of January already and I have yet to post part two of our New Year's beer selection. I'm such a slacker!

We had a pretty realxing night. Ventured over to the new ramen restaurant for dinner... I won't be going back there. Everything was pre-cooked (even though we were the only customers there) and slimey. Honestly, how hard is it to fry up a fresh dumpling?! Anyways, after dinner we went on an excursion to find cigars to complement our beer for the evening. One closed shop (complete with Panama hats), one head shop and one hilarious mispronunciation of "Devon's" later, we acquire some semi-cheap but very smokable cigars. Oh, we also picked up a Dirty 30 of PBR. I know! What can I say, I'm a good girlfriend. D had a good point, "Why do we want to waste good beer on drunk taste buds?". Now armed with the PBR and cigars, we head home to indulge in some Z-rate movies on Netflix and good beer (to start with).

I chose to start our evening with La Fin Du Monde by Unibroue. Translated, it means "The end of the world". Well, I thought it was fitting. I also kept pronouncing the brewer as "unibrow" (I know... I'm weird) This beer has been patiently sitting in my refrigerator since September, just waiting for the perfect moment to expose it's world-ending flavor. On new year's eve, it struck. Oh my. This was a sexy beer. Rawr. Who would have expected a blond triple temptress to come in such a unsuspecting bottle? Not me, that's for certain. She was also a knockout at 9% abv. which will explain some choices later on in the post. The beer takes on champagne like qualities; very tiny bubbles with a tart taste and a dry mouth-feel. I would rather serve this at a dinner party than any wine. It's just that good. I'd even go as far as a solid 9.7 out of 10. If you see this in the liquor store, (probably on a shelf, since it's refermented in the bottle) then buy it. Never mind the price tag, it is worth every penny. About 900 pennies, give or take.

Let me just say that subscribing to Netflix was the greatest idea ever. We watched a couple of things that night. Some stand-up and a couple of movies. The most notable movie would have been Terror Firmer. Its pretty much a Troma movie within a making of a Troma movie. Horribly campy and filled with blood, Ron Jeremy and pickles. Oh the pickles!!! This set us off on a search to watch the worst movies ever made, which naturally include Plan 9 From Outer Space. *Sigh* How can you not love Ed Wood?! And Vampira!! I digress, check them out for yourself. I promise you'll at least laugh, if not fall in love with classically crappy movies.

Once we finshed Terror Firmer (to the glee of Wil, he's not a fan) we decided to try another seasonal beer out of the book. We went with Old Jubilation from Avery. After many giggles and the sexy-bitch-in-a-bottle, the Old Jubilation didn't get much love. I only took two pictures of it (both of the bottle lable) and served it as is. If you've ever asked me if I wanted a glass for my beer, then you know that my response will usually be "It comes in it's own glass!". So that's how I served it, in it's own glass. I like Colorado beers. I don't think I'll ever be able to move out of CO just because we have so many great breweries. Avery is a Boulder beer but it doesn't taste like hippies. Old Jubilation is a seasonal beer, brewed as an English Strong Ale. It was another nutty beer, this time it was a hint of hazelnut. There were also undertones of mocha and chocolate. This is a tasty beer and if you can still find it, you should grab a sixer. With an 8% abv., it goes down nicely and would compliment a chocolaty dessert. Overall, I think I'd give it a 7ish out of 10.

After our "good" beers, we devolved to PBR and a honey'd tobacco cigar to actually ring in the new year. I must be getting old when a grand total of 4 beers makes me fall asleep during the greatest show ever: The Office. Yes, the American version. Yes, it was on Netflix. I would never fall asleep at 8 o'clock on a Thursday night!!

I hope the beginning of 2009 was good for you and that you were surrounded by people you love doing questionable things!

New Year's Eve - Part 1

D and I headed out west to Idaho Springs to have lunch at the Tommyknocker Brewery. I love Tommyknocker. Sitting right next to the brew tanks, smelling the hops and consuming the most awesome pesto and mozzarella buffalo burger ever was the best way to start ringing in the new year. TK had some special beers on tap; Spleen Cleaver and an oak aged Butt Head. We ordered a Spleen Cleaver to start with while we contemplated our lunch choices.

Pardon the cell phone pic. I forgot to grab the camera on the way out of the house. Luckily, someone (not me) has a spiffy phone with a decent camera built in. The Spleen Cleaver arrived and boy was I shocked! When you pick a beer solely based on the name written on a whiteboard, you never know what you're gonna get. It was dark. Really dark. Can't-see-through-it dark. A Scottish ale if I've ever seen one. I was in love after the first sip. Slightly smoky, with a touch of caramel-y goodness and a hint of coffee on the finish. It complimented my lunch like a true Scottish gentleman- leaving me full and satisfied. Definitely a 9.10001 out of 10.

After we digested for a bit, D and I picked another brew off of the whiteboard. Oak-aged Butt Head Bock was next on our agenda. I was a taken back a bit when the Butt Head came out in 10 oz glasses, which just screams "tasty beer!! drink me!!". Trust me, I was there. I heard it.

Again, the cell phone saves the day. This was beautiful: full of oak undertones, highly carbonated, slightly citrus-y and briming of hops. The doppelbock was full of flavor and alcohol, 8.1% to be exact. It's probably a good thing that they don't sever this as a full pint or we would have had to walk it off. Absolutely delicious, I would give it an 8.9 out of 10.

We decided to grab some growlers. You know, those 64 oz jugs? We filled one with Spleen Cleaver and one with regular Butt Head. We went for a little walk anyways once we left the brewery because I was full.

Stay tuned for part deux of the New Year's Eve festivities!

Big Shot and Nazis on Motorcycles

As promised, last night we cracked open the Big Shot from The Fort Collins Brewery. The winter warmer, a brown ale in this case, was the perfect accompaniment to the new electric blanket on the couch. While all snuggled in with the Big Shot, we turned on Last Crusade. Could the night get any better? I think not.

First things first, the beer. Big Shot Seasonal Ale was delightfully crisp and spicy, with a hint of nuttiness. I'm inclined to call it walnuty. It poured beautifully, resulting in a clear caramel color with a thick fluffy head that clung to the side of the glass, leaving a line of demarcation all the way down. Like a little timeline in a glass. With a 6.5% abv, it was just the right mix of flavor and alcohol for a mellow night with Dr. Jones.

Big Shot led to a couple of revelations while we watched Indy and the Last Crusade.

• Dr. Elsa Schneider is hot... waaaay hotter than Willie Scott.
• Ford and Connery are funny as hell.
• There is nothing worse than a pack of Nazis on motorcycles.
• except for a pack or werewolf Nazis on motorcycles,
• or maybe a pack of transsexual werewolf Nazis on motorcycles.

I would definitely give Big Shot as a gift. It isn't overwhelmingly unique. It doesn't demand a sophisticated palate, nor does it scream "drink me with with $50 steak!" when you pour it. I hate when my beer screams at me. Overall I would give it a score of 6.7485 out of 10.

Please note that my glass is the one on the right, the "I enjoy drinking beer." glass that I won at the Great American Beer Festival this year. How did I win you ask? The Onion was there, handing out swag to people with good stupid human tricks. Well, slightly less than sober, D and I toddle over to the booth to show them my trick. Um... touch my nose with my tongue? Nope, not good enough, seen it too many times. *Light bulb!* Pick my nose with my tongue?! Bingo. I'm now the proud owner of some stickers and a pint glass. Hooray beer!