Well I'm sitting here at the house, and I'm crashing hard. The only thing keeping me up is that I can't find my durn Atlas Shrugged. Anyway, we had a great beer dinner last night at Pappas Steakhouse, sponsored by Anheiser-Busch AKA Big Evil. I have stated many times that I could care less where the beer comes from, either big conglomorate or some nano-brewery out in the Hills. If it's good it's good. Review coming later.
Beer Log: Right now
State: A little tired, probably didn't eat enough today, need some liquid bread. Damn Weight Watchers.
Serafijn Belgian Pale Ale by the Achilles Microbrewery
We got this one from the rare beer monthly club. Pours with a huge head, I almost thought it was infected, which could be a good thing for a Belg. Beers has a light chardonney nose, with some caramel and jolly rancher coming through. This beer tastes just alright in my wine goblet. It has a moderate body, almost as smooth as an English Pale Ale, and only a pinch more flavor than an English Pale Ale. I get a pinch of sourness maybe from some wild yeast with a dry finish. They probably fermented this son-of-a-gun all the down to the white meat. Just kind of a musty water thing. 2 Stars
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
BeerBrotha Sports Review: Man U vs. MLS
So I had some great seats at the game last night to see Manchester United take on the MLS All-Stars at Reliant Stadium. The crowd was somewhere around 60% ManU fans. ManU had most of their younger players on the field, and those children TORCHED the MLS All-Stars 5-2. The Red Devils scored a goal in the first 28 seconds. Anyway, these children for Man U decided to let loose and bust our asses. They were doing all kinds of trickeration and foolishness. DAMN SHAME.
And because the MLS scheduler is a 12 year old, our best players had to fly in on a red-eye b/c they were playing in a Concacaf game the night before. So our best guys didn't play until about the last 12 minutes. The last couple years when the Dynamo were winning, we were playing games like every third day in the summertime: with Concacaf, Superliga, US Open, and of course the MLS. I'm talking we're in El Salvador, then LA, then Charleston, then Houston, then Puetro Rico. You are basically punished for winning.
Man U is so popular, even I have a ManU jersey before I even watched my first soccer game. One Man U dude even had a vuvuzela. I'm just glad we picked up a sixer of Negra Modelo for some poorman's tailgating just before the game. Although it was great to see a crowd of over 70,000, I just hope we get more attendance at Dynamo games point forward.
Everyone is putting a positive spin on the game for the MLS with such a huge crowd. Well, as long as we keep playing Man U, you will surly have 70K a game. For some reason the Dynamo can't even get a big crowd when we play those Mexican squads. Not sure what's going on here, but hopefully the new stadium downtown will do the trick.
And because the MLS scheduler is a 12 year old, our best players had to fly in on a red-eye b/c they were playing in a Concacaf game the night before. So our best guys didn't play until about the last 12 minutes. The last couple years when the Dynamo were winning, we were playing games like every third day in the summertime: with Concacaf, Superliga, US Open, and of course the MLS. I'm talking we're in El Salvador, then LA, then Charleston, then Houston, then Puetro Rico. You are basically punished for winning.
Man U is so popular, even I have a ManU jersey before I even watched my first soccer game. One Man U dude even had a vuvuzela. I'm just glad we picked up a sixer of Negra Modelo for some poorman's tailgating just before the game. Although it was great to see a crowd of over 70,000, I just hope we get more attendance at Dynamo games point forward.
Everyone is putting a positive spin on the game for the MLS with such a huge crowd. Well, as long as we keep playing Man U, you will surly have 70K a game. For some reason the Dynamo can't even get a big crowd when we play those Mexican squads. Not sure what's going on here, but hopefully the new stadium downtown will do the trick.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
What's in the cellar?
Thought I'd share with you all what's in the Beer Brotha's cellar. Being the geek I am, I convinced him that we needed an electronic catalog and proceeded to catalog ALL the beer in a Google Docs spreadsheet. You can see the inventory below. I'm looking to see if I can find an app for my phone that will let us do this inventory by scanning the bar codes on the bottles, but I haven't found a good one yet. If you know a good inventory app for Droid, let me know!
Waiter, there's poison in my Corona...
So I'm sitting here enjoying some Chinese food bereft of soy sauce while the baby is busting my chops and I get this email. I'm not a fan of Corona at all, seeing as how we have a 12 pack of Corona Light that has sat there for months. Anyway, check this out.
The Corona bottle sat on his counter for the next two weeks Yeager says, because Corona is one of his least favorite beers. He finally opened it during a going away party as the other drinks began to run low.
“I pulled it out and when I popped it there was no fizz and the cap was loose,” says Yeager. “Because this one didn’t have fizz you wonder if it went rancid or not, and I just kind of sniffed it and I went ‘Oh, that doesn’t smell like beer.’ ”
Yeager, a geochemist familiar with acids, realized it smelled like sulfuric acid – otherwise known as battery acid. He called a friend over who had the same reaction to the smell. Yeager poured the “beer” into the toilet and it foamed and fizzed, leaving “no question” in his mind it was sulfuric acid.
The Corona bottle sat on his counter for the next two weeks Yeager says, because Corona is one of his least favorite beers. He finally opened it during a going away party as the other drinks began to run low.
“I pulled it out and when I popped it there was no fizz and the cap was loose,” says Yeager. “Because this one didn’t have fizz you wonder if it went rancid or not, and I just kind of sniffed it and I went ‘Oh, that doesn’t smell like beer.’ ”
Yeager, a geochemist familiar with acids, realized it smelled like sulfuric acid – otherwise known as battery acid. He called a friend over who had the same reaction to the smell. Yeager poured the “beer” into the toilet and it foamed and fizzed, leaving “no question” in his mind it was sulfuric acid.
DAMMIT MAN. If they poisoned my least favorite beer in my cellar, that would only guarantee that one of my friend's would die at his own house party, as I am notorious for giving away the swill that comes my way. That's just mean man.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Diatribe: Rotating Taps
After a nice trip offshore I took the wife out to dinner at Mark's, this church they converted into a restaurant on Westheimer in the Montrose area. Before that we hit up Anvil, which we hadn't been to since the weekend they opened. The crowd at Anvil's was rather thick, we had to get seats at the far corner of the bar, back in the cut. The blackbooard had a few beers on it, all craft beer ofcourse. I like how they have the beer on tap, and the beer that will come on that tap line next right there. We just settled in long enough to grab a Hennepin before hopping over a couple blocks to Mark's.
The other night we found ourselves just shooting the breeze at the Petrol Station. I even had the burger with cheese and egg, AWESOME. The fries are even better. Those are man's french fries, for real men. Ran about 4 miles this morning at Memorial Park to kill that one. Enjoyed some great beer as well. Some Brother Thelonios and a few others. Same phenomena with the taps, when one beer went out, the owner put another on. Plenty of great IPAs and whantnot, you just never knew what was coming next. I think some bootlegger brown made it near the tail end of our time there. It made everything very... organic.
So now the question becomes, limited taps that rotate to whatever they've got in the back, or huge taphouse with over 50 beers on tap? As I ponder this question, it seems like we are rehashing the same arguments people have for Farmer's Markets versus Wal-Mart, the Mom and Pop restaurant versus Chili's, or even Fredericksburg versus Houston. Do we go for the small, random, whatever's in the back that day place, or the huge, land of plenty, type place. I'm still not sure. Maybe as long as either option keeps me swimming in craft beer, I'll take either one. But I do like the conversation you can have with the small guys. And I have no coherent conclusion to this post, so I'll end it here.
The other night we found ourselves just shooting the breeze at the Petrol Station. I even had the burger with cheese and egg, AWESOME. The fries are even better. Those are man's french fries, for real men. Ran about 4 miles this morning at Memorial Park to kill that one. Enjoyed some great beer as well. Some Brother Thelonios and a few others. Same phenomena with the taps, when one beer went out, the owner put another on. Plenty of great IPAs and whantnot, you just never knew what was coming next. I think some bootlegger brown made it near the tail end of our time there. It made everything very... organic.
So now the question becomes, limited taps that rotate to whatever they've got in the back, or huge taphouse with over 50 beers on tap? As I ponder this question, it seems like we are rehashing the same arguments people have for Farmer's Markets versus Wal-Mart, the Mom and Pop restaurant versus Chili's, or even Fredericksburg versus Houston. Do we go for the small, random, whatever's in the back that day place, or the huge, land of plenty, type place. I'm still not sure. Maybe as long as either option keeps me swimming in craft beer, I'll take either one. But I do like the conversation you can have with the small guys. And I have no coherent conclusion to this post, so I'll end it here.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Beer Twittering: Brewttering
The wife has been on me for a while to start tweeting about the beer. Well first off I think I should get a better phone. I'm the only guy on the planet that does not have a smartphone. I just didn't want to be that accesible. Anyway, I am fired up b/c I'm not twittering about beer (brewttering or bwittering) @beerbrotha
My first bwit was on Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout, my goto session beer . Though this particular can is a pinch sour. Whatever. One time for the Barley Wine guy for being my first follower.
I wonder how long before I can get 10,000 followers?
My first bwit was on Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout, my goto session beer . Though this particular can is a pinch sour. Whatever. One time for the Barley Wine guy for being my first follower.
I wonder how long before I can get 10,000 followers?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Some Old French Beer
I'm sitting here sipping some gatorade and just turned on Punisher Warzone on DVR. Just finished a huge steak the wife made for me with some alfredo and asparagus. I had this French beer one of the boys brought over months ago.
Beer Log: A few minutes ago
State: A little dehydrated after a nice run on the treads, just absorbing water
La Bete Dos Vosges
This beer advertises itself as DAMN, the PUNISHER IS STRAIGHT FUKCING THESE PEOPLE UP IN THIS ONE. SON OF A B!TCH! I am 5 minutes into this movie and he's already killed like 25 people. Frank Castle baby! Anyway this beer looked straight like apple cider, cloudy and copper, no head. DAMN THIS DUDE JUST POPPED HIS OWN NOSE BACK IN PLACE. Good sugar sweetness and light body. At first it's cool, but it quickly gets sickenly sweet and pineapply. Low carbonation probably from how long we aged it. Low hops. Just a sweet liquor like thing. 1 Star.
I liked the beers I had in Paris a lot better.
Beer Log: A few minutes ago
State: A little dehydrated after a nice run on the treads, just absorbing water
La Bete Dos Vosges
This beer advertises itself as DAMN, the PUNISHER IS STRAIGHT FUKCING THESE PEOPLE UP IN THIS ONE. SON OF A B!TCH! I am 5 minutes into this movie and he's already killed like 25 people. Frank Castle baby! Anyway this beer looked straight like apple cider, cloudy and copper, no head. DAMN THIS DUDE JUST POPPED HIS OWN NOSE BACK IN PLACE. Good sugar sweetness and light body. At first it's cool, but it quickly gets sickenly sweet and pineapply. Low carbonation probably from how long we aged it. Low hops. Just a sweet liquor like thing. 1 Star.
I liked the beers I had in Paris a lot better.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Oui Oui Misseur
Made it in late last from another trip offshore trying to get that oil, the kind that's still in the ground.
Beer Log: Right Now
State: Just got back from Massage Envy and finished off a turkey sandwich, eating some "Belgian Fries"
Le Fleur Misseur by New Belgium
There is a golden haze to this beer with a decent white head. The nose is rather sour with a sugar sweetness to it. Maybe some fruit. Tasting the beer I get a gritty sourness, I imagine this is that "horse blanket" taste people talk about with sour beers. High carbonation and a harsh vegetal/bret thing going on. One of those "purposefully infected" beers. There's a good hop presence as well. Overall I'm still working on acquiring this taste. It's great for cutting through the flavors of the fries with the Sweet Baby Ray's sauce. Maybe there's some honey in there like the website says, put I'm not getting it. No rating.
Beer Log: Right Now
State: Just got back from Massage Envy and finished off a turkey sandwich, eating some "Belgian Fries"
Le Fleur Misseur by New Belgium
There is a golden haze to this beer with a decent white head. The nose is rather sour with a sugar sweetness to it. Maybe some fruit. Tasting the beer I get a gritty sourness, I imagine this is that "horse blanket" taste people talk about with sour beers. High carbonation and a harsh vegetal/bret thing going on. One of those "purposefully infected" beers. There's a good hop presence as well. Overall I'm still working on acquiring this taste. It's great for cutting through the flavors of the fries with the Sweet Baby Ray's sauce. Maybe there's some honey in there like the website says, put I'm not getting it. No rating.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Beerbrotha Sports Review: LeBron James
Too bad I don't have my Cigar City beer or my Great Lakes beer chilling in the kegerator. As a Cleveland born guy, it's a shame, but whatever.
Beering in Freeport, Bahamas
So we went on this 7 day cruise with the family last month. It was one of those Carnival cruises that takes you to Gran Turks and Caicos and a couple of spots in the Bahamas. At first I didn't even plan on drinking beer at all on the cruise thinking that it would just be a BMC thing with maybe some Heineken. But damned if they didn't have plenty of Pilsner Urquell, Bodingtons, Grolsch, and Stella. Not exactly a Banana Nectarine Double Mocha CDA, but it'll due. I drank more Pilsner Urquell than I have probably PILSNER in general all my life (if you don't Miller Lite).
So after meandering around the caribbean, we finally make our way to Freeport. Basically this a great island which has plenty of nices homes and a lot of "the industry". I'm talking refineries , chemical plants, the works. Looked beautiful to me. Anyway they have this smallish outdoor mall like area selling all kinds of trinkets and whatnot, but I was mostly hoping to land on some of those lagers and stouts you here so much about.
The outdoor bars were selling Sands and Kalik at two bottles for 5 dollars. Both of which were pretty basic lagers, maybe a touch sweeter then the Pilsner Urquell, but not as much body. Great for the hot arse weather. And then we stumble on a little convenience store selling the stouts by the bottle. We grab a couple and head over to a Greek Restaurant of all places.
Beer Log: June 25, 2010
State: In Freeport, hot as all get-out
Royal Extra Stout (Carib brewery)
I was a little hesitant about bringing my own beer into the restaurant, so I drank this out of the bottle in the paper bag. No scent or color. Super strong sugar syrup sweetness, some moderate chocolate as well. The Trinis made this one smooth that's a pinch astringent. The body is velvety and somehow dry at the same time. No real hop presence to speak of. I think this is sweetest beer I've ever had. Low 3 Stars.
Strong Back Stout by Bahamiam Brewery
More balanced and beery (vegetal). Good hop presence buy not very stouty, at least compared to the Royal Extra Stout. Good refreshiness. With a pinch of chocolate and coffee, and even a slight citrus sourness, I'll give it a 3 Star.
So after meandering around the caribbean, we finally make our way to Freeport. Basically this a great island which has plenty of nices homes and a lot of "the industry". I'm talking refineries , chemical plants, the works. Looked beautiful to me. Anyway they have this smallish outdoor mall like area selling all kinds of trinkets and whatnot, but I was mostly hoping to land on some of those lagers and stouts you here so much about.
The outdoor bars were selling Sands and Kalik at two bottles for 5 dollars. Both of which were pretty basic lagers, maybe a touch sweeter then the Pilsner Urquell, but not as much body. Great for the hot arse weather. And then we stumble on a little convenience store selling the stouts by the bottle. We grab a couple and head over to a Greek Restaurant of all places.
Beer Log: June 25, 2010
State: In Freeport, hot as all get-out
Royal Extra Stout (Carib brewery)
I was a little hesitant about bringing my own beer into the restaurant, so I drank this out of the bottle in the paper bag. No scent or color. Super strong sugar syrup sweetness, some moderate chocolate as well. The Trinis made this one smooth that's a pinch astringent. The body is velvety and somehow dry at the same time. No real hop presence to speak of. I think this is sweetest beer I've ever had. Low 3 Stars.
Strong Back Stout by Bahamiam Brewery
More balanced and beery (vegetal). Good hop presence buy not very stouty, at least compared to the Royal Extra Stout. Good refreshiness. With a pinch of chocolate and coffee, and even a slight citrus sourness, I'll give it a 3 Star.
Oh and while I'm on it
Beer Log: Right now July 8, 2010
State: Eating Bison and Fries
Execellent caramel, cherry, sherry, chocolate nose. Slight visibility of the brown beer in the light, with strong creamy tan head. The beer taste is a light moderate body, nice chocolate/malt backbone, but a touch watery for me. But much better with the bison. Goes down smooth with a very quick finish, very low hop presence. It is at like 42 deg F, and knowing the British, this needs be around 60 deg F. So I'll chill out, finish my food, turn on the LeBron James show on ESPN, and try it again.
Fast forward an hour and this beer is much better and fuller at about 65 deg. I like smooth richness of the beer and how it all melds together with the chocolate and smokiness. Give it a high 3 Star.
Monday, July 5, 2010
16 Mile and Baird Beer
After suffering the disappointment of not making it out to Buffalo this weekend, we made up for it with some good fun at Houston Pavilions. Not to mention early stops at the Petrol Station and the Saucer. Reviews coming soon. But right now I am seriously behind.
Beer Log: the other day
16 Mile Amber Sun
Like how this one was in an aluminum bottle (that's right aluminum). Big head that's fizzy somehow. Sugar and Cinnamon malt nose. The taste is a good strong caramel malt, toasty lager, with an icky hop finish. The more I drink it the less the crappy aftertaste affects me and I just get that excellent big amber with the toast/English muffin character. Very balanced. 4 Stars. These guys hit the amber style out of the park, just need to clean up that aftertaste and I can see this one being one of the best beers I've had. A great pickup from our last trip to Maryland.
In keeping with the Asian style names, I'm sitting here hanging out with the wife and baby.
Beer Log: right now
Angry Boy Brown Ale by Baird Beer
The label is something like Picasso doing a Manga comic book. You wouldn't know by the name that this is a Japanese beer, but given the reputation of the lemony lagers the put out,
I don't blame them going to a pure English name. Real big head with a lemony caramel thing going on. Not sure if they meant that. Beer is a rather cloudy beer-bottle-brown. Beer has a thinner body than I like in the brown ales, but has a decent malt/choco thing going on. Maybe it's the hops but this beer is kinda lemony to me. About 60 seconds after my first drink and I get this sticky/chalky, lemon-sour aftertaste developing on my tongue. Doesn't work for me. It doesn't have much for me at all, and that aftertaste is just plain terrible. Maybe it was aged wrong, but on aftertaste alone this one is a 1 Star.
Magic Hat Odd Notion Series, Summer '10
As usual with MH, I have no clue what style this will be...
Decent head on a cloudy straw beer. The nose is a funky banana and sour. The beer is not as sour/bretty as the nose. Just a smooth low banana and malt wheat beer. I'm not getting the ginger that they are doing, but certainly spontaneously fermented. More of a funked Belgia wit. Low hops. Maybe it's the BBQ chicken I'm eating now, but this is kinda light for me, just enough sweetness and spiciness to keep it interesting. 2 Stars.
Lot's of work to do tomorrow morning, so can't do my normal IPA to end the beering on a good note. Holla
Beer Log: the other day
16 Mile Amber Sun
Like how this one was in an aluminum bottle (that's right aluminum). Big head that's fizzy somehow. Sugar and Cinnamon malt nose. The taste is a good strong caramel malt, toasty lager, with an icky hop finish. The more I drink it the less the crappy aftertaste affects me and I just get that excellent big amber with the toast/English muffin character. Very balanced. 4 Stars. These guys hit the amber style out of the park, just need to clean up that aftertaste and I can see this one being one of the best beers I've had. A great pickup from our last trip to Maryland.
In keeping with the Asian style names, I'm sitting here hanging out with the wife and baby.
Beer Log: right now
Angry Boy Brown Ale by Baird Beer
The label is something like Picasso doing a Manga comic book. You wouldn't know by the name that this is a Japanese beer, but given the reputation of the lemony lagers the put out,
I don't blame them going to a pure English name. Real big head with a lemony caramel thing going on. Not sure if they meant that. Beer is a rather cloudy beer-bottle-brown. Beer has a thinner body than I like in the brown ales, but has a decent malt/choco thing going on. Maybe it's the hops but this beer is kinda lemony to me. About 60 seconds after my first drink and I get this sticky/chalky, lemon-sour aftertaste developing on my tongue. Doesn't work for me. It doesn't have much for me at all, and that aftertaste is just plain terrible. Maybe it was aged wrong, but on aftertaste alone this one is a 1 Star.Magic Hat Odd Notion Series, Summer '10
As usual with MH, I have no clue what style this will be...
Decent head on a cloudy straw beer. The nose is a funky banana and sour. The beer is not as sour/bretty as the nose. Just a smooth low banana and malt wheat beer. I'm not getting the ginger that they are doing, but certainly spontaneously fermented. More of a funked Belgia wit. Low hops. Maybe it's the BBQ chicken I'm eating now, but this is kinda light for me, just enough sweetness and spiciness to keep it interesting. 2 Stars.
Lot's of work to do tomorrow morning, so can't do my normal IPA to end the beering on a good note. Holla
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