Bitter Me Baby!

Beer Log: December 29, 2007
State: Hungry

Back in the Baltimore area trying to try a few more beers before we make it back to Houston, and there you have the guys right next to Camden Yards, jolly good Wharf Rat. You'd think a guy like me who works for the British would be able to handle an onslaught of English Bitter. It was after this experience that I wanted to get myself acclimated to bitter beers, and eventually find some of the hoppiest stuff out there. I may have already found it with that Thunderbird (shouts out to LSU), but we'll keep trying dammit.

We understand that the Rats may be moving location or going to pure distribution, so we had to get 'er done all in that day. Totally broke my rules of tasting no more than 3 beers in one sitting. But here we go with that 11 beers, all bitter as successful black woman forced to marry an illegal immigrant. This stuff is BITTER man. The beer was bitter, the Ravens fans were bitter, my nephew was bitter. The waiter looks like he knows what's going on, which is a must. Of course they are in the business of making money, but I wouldn't recommend trying more than 4 of these at times.

Blonde Ale
Very Clear, medium bitter for a Blonde Ale. Light carbonation, with a light body. Kinda a vegetal (is that a word?), which reminds me of a lager.

Cream Ale
Light malty scent. Medium body & bitter, smooth beer with a strong ale drinkability.

The fish and chips have shown up. They actually ain't bitter.

SW1 Amber
Not Shawn Wayans from In Living Color. it had some mal scent with astrong lacy head. Medium bitterness but a nice quick finish.

Best Bitter
weak head with a sweet smell. Very smooth and full bodied (yes), with med/high bitter. Low carbo. Another smell made me think of aroma hops

3 Lions
Long live the Crown. Dark amber color, witha strong head. Caramel notes in the scent, full bodied, medium maltiness, medium bitter, with a loooooooooong lasting aftertaste.

I'm a little nervous about something called Extra Special Bitter. I hadn't made it to the "Britain" section of my beer book, so I'm thinking it's supposed be eating away at the glass.

ESB
Slight mal, medium body. High bitter, and I count a 60 second finsih. Had a nice malt balance.

Iron Man Pale Ale
Oh my God, we are just NOW getting to the Pale ales? Slight malty cent, wiht a quick finish. Smooth and frothy. Some bitterness but I'll concede, at this point my tongue is probably imploding.

Mad Monk
Buttery tast, light slippery body, strong head. Deep brown color, and dry aftertaste

Porter (Pagan)
Kinda like Smoke, that Mortal Kombat 3 character. Very bitter and dry, with a quick finish

Black Friar
Black color, with a brown head. malty scent. Taste is smooth with a dry finish. Buttery and light carbo. Coffee-like.

And we're done. Well, that was interesting. They know how to do bitter, but I've tasted some IPAs that I like a bit better. They were getting it done on bitters, and have no qualms about taking chances with all those bitter beers. Good for them and good for us looking for bitter beers. Hopefully next time I make it up to Baltimore, I hope I can jump the end of this list and get a full glass going.