Almost Caught Up, Go Blonde

I like my beer like I like my women: blond that goes down quick.

July 16, 2008


State; Cooling down, taste of clams in my mouth
Actually I'm an Imperial IPA man, but I love that line. Yes, I made that one up myself.

I'm back at the Sauce, and I am at a loss as to which style to sample. I'm still pretty far from the 200 beers needed to get a plate on the wall, so I'm still drinking the beers on the Fire Sale. This means I'm going for the New Belgium seasonal, Springboard. The lady tells me that this is a blonde ale, so blonde ales it is for the night.

I had some crappy clams and pasta at an Italian place down the street, but whatever. We called a happy hour for a few of the guys, calling it the "Oil and Gas Boys" happy hour. Since our happy hour, the price of oil has gone down by about $23, so check us out man.

New Belgium Springboard
Big fan of the New Belgians. I drank a considerable amount of Fat Tire during football season last year. This one is a little cloudy and orange-yellow straw color. Smells a little estery like a wheat beer. High carbonation (like a wheat beer), but with a sudden pleasant sweetness with a dry finish. A little hard to get down though. The sweetness is fruity, yet slightly malty and bready. Another taste and I say the fruit is like apple. It's seems more a wheat beer than a blond ale. With the bread, I say it's like one of those Apple Muffins you can get out of the vending machine. The head is white with some decent lace. A little bitter on the AT. The more I drink it, the more I can taste the Blonde Ale-ness coming out, as well as a touch of spice. Very nice beer, 3 stars.

Real Ale Fireman #4
Been looking forward to trying this one. She poured it in a tall wheat glass. Strong white head, straw clear color. Head is lacy too. Not much of a smell. Bready taste with med-low carbonation. Low hops with a very quick finish, no real aftertaste. A little buttery the more I get into it with some of that emptiness. I love the quick finish however. I'm noticing some spice as I get more used to it, but not as bready. 3 stars.

Coopers Sparkling Ale
I actually used a Coopers kit for my first homebrew, which I need to formally review some time. The can said "Lager" though the instructions had it ferment at around 70 degrees. This one was slightly cloudy with a straw color. White low head. Good basic yet sudden maltiness, then a vegetal flavor like the homebrew "lager" I brewed. The second draught is a little empty, then vegetal. A little wet and rough on the aftertaste. I wrote down "worst of the night". 2 stars.

For clarification, when I say "empty" I'm talking almost watery or just plain liquid. In other words, I not getting any flavor one way or the other, kinda of like the light beers.

These beers are pretty good, and I do enjoy a good blonde ale in the right condition. I'll say the Springboard was the best, followed by Fireman and then Coopers rounding out the rear. Good experience overall and the happy hour was pretty fun as well.