Saint Arnold Altared Amber

Here at Pub Hub out here in Katy. Feeling good that I didn't have to drag so much ass to the inner loop for this beer. For those not in Houston, the Movable yeast series is a series of beer from Saint Arnold where they take their regular line-up of beers with the same malt and hops bill, but with different yeast. The first one I found OK, the Lawnmower with a German Hef yeast.

Beer log: Right now

Saint Arnold Amber

Nice toasty amber ale flavor. The aroma is a touch more metallic than I remember. High carbo out of the bottle, good and tingly. Light moderate hop aftertaste. Has a nice amber color to it, maybe some chill haze but that could be from just bottle storage and whatnot. I always like that English Muffin thing and whatnot.

Saint Arnold Altared Amber

Finally. Ooh that's a nice clear amber color (on draft) with a strong belgian clove and banana nose. Taste is rather belgiany. The American hops with the belgian ester yeast flavor kinda reminds me of those American-Belgo IPA I like so much, just toned down a little bit. Very tasty. Has a nice mixture with the harsh hops and whatnot that sits well on some sips and not so well on others. The body is a touch smoother and the carbo is a little less choppy, but of course that could be attributed to the difference b/t draft and bottle. I lose some of the English muffin and malt character that I get with the unaltered amber until the beer warms up. I would consider the regular Amber of this one if I had to choose which one they continued to keep in rotation.

I'll need to grab a bottle somewhere, but it seems like a stronger version of (dare I say it) Stella Artois. Getting a sampler of Stella right now...

Stella Artois
Crystal clear and simple. Oh no, not even close. Tastes like the Budweiser Movable Yeast series. I can see the belgo influence in Stella, but it won't work. Forget I mentioned it.

Overall impression: I still find it amazing that yeast has THAT much affect on a beer. If someone told me they put some clove in this beer, I would have believed it. 3 Stars for both the regular and altared ambers, though I prefer the regular amber. Keep 'em coming baby.

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.

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

Beering in Long Island: Brickhouse Brewery

The day after Christmas the wife and I hop in the car to drive from the Baltimore area to knee deep in Long Island, in Holbrook. It rained most of the way and I think I spent more money in tolls than Gasoline just getting through Delaware. The anal rape that is the northeastern toll road scene is ridiculous. It had to add a good HOUR to the trip, having to slow down every time the highway went over a damn puddle.

So we get there and have a late lunch at the Brickhouse Brewery in downtown Patchogue. I'm loving how our travels in beer have taken us now to Long Island, just a couple months after places like Oktoberfest. Looking for local beers and breweries a fantastic extra dimensions and a sense of fun for what could be the most mundane of trips.

We get seated in the back what damn sure is a brick structure, plenty of murals on the wall of probably what Patchogue looked like back in the olden days. Reading the history of the brewpub, we learn that this location was a dry goods store in the 1800s and was even a stop on the Underground railroad. How great is that.

I ordered up the meatball hero and some crab cakes while the wife gets a cheeseburger, and it's game time with a six beer sampler. I left my little notepad on the plane home, so hopefully I can remember all of this...

Street Light

Your basic light pilsner with a decent amount of toasty malt and hops. Like most samplers, I don't get much of a head and thus much of a scent. But everytime I try to smell these beers, I get the cinnamon from the pumpkin spice beer on the corner of the sampler tray, so everything is a little off. But a nice introductory beer for BMC drinkers.

Boys Red

Reddish amber color with a great malt, toast, and lightly hopped. Probably one of the better ambers I've ever head. Certainly the best on the menu.

Fresh Hop Kitty

At first sip I go this heavy headed beer to be a lighter cascadey hopped English IPA, but on the subsequent drinking the strength came out as it warmed up. Certainly a very American IPA and almost West Coast strength. Something I'll rarely get much of on the East coast. Very well done.

Nitro Boom Stout

Strong roasty coffee nose and flavor. They nitro'd this one, so it was very smooth and low carbonation. I think this would be a great one for those that drink coffee and claim they don't like beer. The bitterness reminded me of pure unsweetened chocolate, not the candy bar version.

Blitzen

A jacked up beer that had a lot going on, pretty complex and cinnamon sweet. Memory fading...

Pumpkin Spice

A smooth beer, probably poured with nitro, that had cinnamon sprinkled on it. Orange colored with a lasting white head and cinnamon all over it. For some reason, whenever I taste straight cinnamon I get the taste of dirt. It needs to be cooked or something. Regardless, somewhere under that cinnamon was a wheat beer with some pumpkin garnishment. Not bad at all.

Later on while still working on my hero, I got the Blue Point Toasted Lager, the local microbrewery. Fantastic area right? If there's one style I love, it's toasty Amber lagers. And this one did not dissapoint. Light malt, toast, but not quite English Muffiny like the Bud Am Ale. Loving it.

Great spot overall. We were looking for the steps where they hid the runaway slaves in the underground railroad, but they said you have to be in the brewhouse to see it. Oh well. I just love the spot, food was fantastic, very nice High 3 Star beer. Wish we could get some of that down here in Houston, though we'd probably have it an an old Plantation house or something.

American Ale Revisited

My first official revisit and it's a Budweiser beer. I'm working in the American of industries (the Oil Industry) which sometimes means you'll be in a place with no alcohol on July 4th. Such is how I find myself now. In honor of the country we call home, let's revisit my review of Budweiser American Ale on September 30, 2008.

For the record, I like it a lot better now than I did back then, and actually would drink it instead of Abita Amber and most Shiner beers. Amazing how things evolve. Enjoy...





I'm sitting here wondering what the people of Atlanta and the Carolinas think about offshore drilling as they push their car into the gas station. I came back from offshore yesterday and made a stop at Marcello's, a wine store next to University of Louisiana-Lafayette (Ooh La La). Go Cajuns. This place is fantastic, as they have a killer beer selection. And what's better, they had their Oktoberfest and Fall Beer RIGHT UP FRONT in a display. And being that Louisiana has some cool laws, I could buy beer by the bottle.





I noticed something we had been waiting for for a while now, and I'm going for it right away even though Cascade hops and I are on the outs. Bud is pouring a lot of marketing into their Am Ale. And the title seems appropriate as it has great alliteration and everyone knows they are now owned by the Belgians. This is America Baby (see video below).





Budweiser American Ale


I can smell that malt in the bottle. Pouring into a pilsner glass with a slight cup at the top. Skrong orangish white head on a amber colored beer. Smells of malt and citrusy hops. I am digging this smell. I first notice a light maltiness and emptiness (like their light beers), then the low cascade hops and some citrus, and the finish is rather bready. Medium bodied beer. Not bad man. Go you. That emptiness gets me about 2/3 toward the back of the palette. When I say empty, I'm talking about nothing but water. The more I drink it, the more I'm getting those hops in there, almost like a slightly strong blonde pale ale or just a slightly hopped amber, which it probably is. Another drink and "English muffin" pops into my head like the Craft Beer Podcast guys. I don't see myself ordering it over anything like my other basic 3 Star beers but it is light years ahead of 2 Starers like Bud Light, Bud, MGD, etc. 3 Stars. Just to have a mega beer on the list, I may put this one on my Tailgating beers, if the Texans would ever have a home game.





The mental game can get me though. You pour this beer in a bottle that says "Northcoast" or "Shiner", and I'll admit I would probably think more of it.





I can really appreciate that Budweiser is putting some money in a craft beer. But I think the megas are digging their own graves with putting such a push behind craft beer (even light versions). The evolution of a beerman is starting with basic swill, trying a craft beer on a whim (everyone else is drinking it at a random happy hour), getting curious about what else is out there, and then going on a Craft Beer sampling tour. Once you hit that last stage, you'll rarely ever drink megaswill again. You ain't gonna be drinking a Brother Thelonius and then picking up a Keystone Light. Even with these lighter craft beers, how long before someone drinking this Amber Ale picks up an Abita Amber. Or someone slugging down a Miller Chill grabs a Negra Modelo. All it takes is a couple good ones, and Miller/Bud lose another loyal customer. Maybe it's just me. Go America!!!

We're not Hitchhiking anymore... We're RIDING!

All this travel. It doens't even feel like I've been moving around that much until I write it all down on this blog. Oh well.

Beer Log: February 28, 2009
State: At the House

Abita Andygator
Oh the beer travels. I got this 22 ouncer the last time I was in Louisiana. I'm really rooting for Abita to up the game. Their seasonals have been pretty bland in my opinion. This one is actually a doppelbock. I could retype how they came up with the name of this beer, but I think they could do it better than me. Light straw colored doppelbock, oh behave. Kinda sour and fruity nose coming from a strong offwhite head. It kinda has that light oktoberfest Munich malt caramel nose, and it's kinda lager veggie nose. Maybe not exactly true to style with that caramel, but whatever. Head is taking its SWEET time going down. After waiting it out, I get a nice robust sweetness on my tongue. I was expecting a little sourness in the flavor but it didn't show up. This thing feel great on the tongue. It tastes very German, like a Spaten, not the Optimator but their other brews. It has just enough strength to be a DB but could pass for an Oktoberfest in a different bottle. How about you take the Shiner 99 (a great Helles Lager) and up the caramel a few notches. And since I love Shiner 99, the Gator gets 4 Stars.

Troeg's Amber Ale
Barrelling through our beers picked up from travelling, I got this Troegs when last in Maryland. Smell has a floral hops with some alcohol. Copper color with a weak white head. Upon tasting, I get a flash of hops in a velvety body that reminds me of French bread. The aftertaste is a biting hop (maybe Cascade-ish) but doesn't last very long. 3 Stars. The hop aftertaste lasts longer the more you drink it.





I wonder how you pronounce "troeg" anyway. The "O" in the name has the two dots over it. I wonder if it's like my favorite cartoon character Ren Hoek. Either way, who couldn't use a little SPACE MADNESS!







While we're here, let me slide in one more Troegs I had on March 3.

Troegs Nugget Nectar
State: Eating spicy spaghetti.
This is a slightly red amber color. And OH smell those hops. Flowery and citrusy nose with a great caramel malt backbone. Tasting it and OH WOW! Nice hops strength but no bite. Awesome. Nice plum and caramel on the back end of the tongue. It finishes uber-clean. Slight aftertaste of hops, 4 Star. There is some beady, and it is just plain super hoppy. It reminds me of the Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner.

Back Home: Sorta... Purity!!!

Well, I made it off the platform and have decided to stop in Lafayette while letting the Tropical Storm make its way north of I-10. No sense in driving in this mess if I don't have to. A little Googling reveals a chain of restaurants called Zea Rotisserie and Grill. Turns out they get their beer brewed out of the Heiner Brau brewery. It's not exactly a brewpub, but it's close e-damn-nough. I have some time before I'm going to see my cousin who works out of Lafayette, so I make my way to Zea.

The decor is nice, and it feels great getting out of the heat. The menu has four microbrewed beers available with suggestions for food pairings. I would like to take their advice, but screw that, I make up my own pairing lunch.

Zea Amber Lager

State: starving, haven't had a beer in over 2 weeks, ordered Hummus with Pita bread.

I figured hummus would go well with the amber lager, and I loved it. It could have been that I hadn't had a drink in over 2 weeks, but the beer was great. It served as an excellent foil with hummus, in that both the food and the beer tasted like the first bite/sip throughout the whole experience. They brought it out in a bottle with a frosted pilsner glass. It has a nice bready malt scent with a little caramel in there, almost syrupy when the head vanishes. Brown/red in color and clear. Light malt taste, medium body, and medium bready taste on the aftertaste. Low carbonation (excellent) yet I'll say moderately drinkable. The hummus is excellent. I was thinking this stuff tastes like purity law beer , and sure enough it is. Very well done. High 3 stars. It's the next day and I still want this one again.

When I say purity law, I am referring to the German law that beer can only have barely, yeast, water, and hops. Beer brewed in this style is typically very clean, very crisp, and very good pure beer. As much as I like the creativity of guys like Dogfish, Sam Adams, etc, there is something to be said for a brewery that puts all its energy in the four basic ingredients. It's great craft beer without the cloves, cinnamon sticks, raissonettes, rice, cane, ubu, watermelon, blood, chicken feathers, wine, candy sugar etc.

Category 5 American Pale Ale

The aptly named Pale Ale was something I was looking forward to since walking in. I order this with one of the signature Rotisserie chicken dishes (that says spicy on the menu). Another bottle with a frosted pilsner glass. Low head with my vigorous pour. Similar color as the last beer. There is a light maltiness on the nose (hmm no hops). I can taste the Cascade bite hops late, but it's kinda unbalanced. A little icky on the aftertaste as well. I don't know if they should have used Cascade by itself. The Rotis Chicken has arrived. The beer tastes a little better and balanced as it warms up a bit (figures). Near the end it got much better, but the chicken wasn't all the spicy, though very very good. Probably Munich specialty malt, which is what I think the other one had in it. It's basically like the amber lager, but with Cascade. At 45 degrees, it's a 3 star. At bone chilling cold, they can keep it.

The waitress convinced me to get the bread pudding for desert, and I ordered their...

Pontchartrain Porter

Another frosted glass. Not much of a smell, but I did notice that inside of the glass was COATED with bubbles. Means they did not rinse this glass thoroughly, and the soap residue probably killed the head on this one. It's dark brown and tastes like a dark Munich malt with low hops. Not much of a compliment to the bread pudding, which was very sweet. In fact, it was a bad idea to order any desert with this one. I won't give this one a rating just yet, as I had it with the bread pudding, and it just overwhelmed whatever flavor was in the Porter. Lord knows I'll be in Louisiana enough to try it again.

Overall, the place was fantastic. Food was great, beer was pretty good. I'm hope to try it again with some other food, and maybe they'll have some seasonals. Seems like Munich malt is their house specialty malt. Cool beans. I was a little miffed that they kept bringing out frosted glasses, but I can understand the marketing, as it is hot as balls out there, and cold beer is just what the doctor ordered.

You Guys can go to Hell, I'm going to Texas!

June 21, 2008

State: Hungry, watching a movie.

Ah the Alamo Drafthouse http://www.drafthouse.com/. Is there anything better than drinking craft beer while watching a movie? I don't know if I'll EVER go to a different theater in the city. For one, NO ONE under the age of 21 is even allowed anywhere near the theater, so you don't have to worry about teenyboppers talking all through the movie. What's better is that this is only slightly stadium seating, which means all the guys who take movies too seriously will not show up either, as they can get better seat styles at other regular theaters. The wife and I checked out the New Incredible Hulk movie and I down three new beers.

First off, what in the hell are they doing with another Incredible Hulk movie. The first one just came out like 5 minutes ago. Granted this new one was a shyteload better, but still. Keep in mind, this is not a sequel, just a new introduction to the Hulk. I do love how they spun this Hulk to have something to do with the Captain America super soldier formula. So many plotlines can come from that Super Soldier formula. But on to the beer.

Drafthouse Amber

This one is brewed in Austin, TX at the original Alamo Drafthouse. Nice. Don't worry, I got this one before the movie started, so I could see the beer. A little dark brown. Smell has a little bread and butter, with a slight malt, true to amber form is such a thing exists. Low malt with a quick finish, balanced hops. Medium carbonation and moderate drinkability. This is what I expect from an amber. Nice stuff. Head has some lace with a medium body. Oh yeah.

Stone IPA

Finally I'm getting a Stone, which the west coast guys all rant about. Straw color and clear. A good finger of head. We got it on draft, so the head had some time to die down before the waiter brought it to me. Oh yes, they have waiters in the theatre, so you can order beer without having to miss any of the movie. Scrong hops smell, but not all Cascade. Tastes of very high hops with high malts to balance, very smooth. Low carbonation and low bitterness on the aftertaste. Light to medium body with maybe a little citrus coming through as it warmed up. I can see I'm going to have to clone this one.

Beering in New Orleans: Part 1

And now I get to my New Orleans trip in my notebook. I attended a conference in New Orleans over Memorial Weekend. There is nothing like travelling on Expense. So I set up my beertinerary to try and go to Abita, but all their beers are available at the corner stores. For better or worse, you can buy single bottles of beer at the corner store, slap it in a plastic cup, and drink it right there on the street. I was so blown when the guy a Gordon Beirsch asked me if I wanted my beer TO GO. And what's more, the corner stores on Canal Street have a beer selection that's better than the Kroger. They may have just as much selection as a basic HEB. All in single bottles as well. So throughout my trip in NO, I bought several Abitas and Dixie Beers from the stores, and drank them out of plastic cups either at the hotel room or just milling about. I even hit up the brewpub in the French Quarter.

I would also like to send a special shoutout to NOLA Brewing, a new microbrewery in New Orleans. I called them up asking about a tasting room and though they weren't open yet, the guy on the phone was a great help in finding not only some good beering, but good restaurants to eat at as well.

For the record, I still do not have the heart to visit the Lower 9th Ward or the harder hit areas of NO. As a Katrina evac myself (my wife and I lived in Ocean Springs, MS just outside of Biloxi when the storm hit), I cannot look at the yet worse state New Orleans is in. And how they could re-elect Ray Nagin just makes me vomit in my own mouth. I get so pissed off I can barely speak about it without a LONG string of obscenities coming out of my mouth. It could drive a man to drink. Speaking of which :)

May 23rd, 2008
Abita Amber (got it on draft, in a plastic cup)
Picked up this joint a little bar on a Riverboat restaurant. They only had two taps, but I hadn't had this one before. If you'll recall from my earlier posts, I was NOT impressed with Abita Beer and Turbodog. But here we go. It has an amber-auburn color, go figure, and is pretty clear. First taste if of high breadiness, nice medium body, medium carbonation. As it warms up (and it warmed up quickly in the heat and in my plastic cup), you get a nice cool maltiness. I'd say this was a very good session beer. The slight offwhite head remained the entire time. Very good stuff as I sit outside overlooking the old Mississippi river.

Abita Purple Haze
Negros chat up this beer quite a bit, so I had to cop this one at the store on the way back from the boat. Straw color slightly hazy, strong white head. Slight fruity and sour smell. Kinda like raspberry. The first taste is kinda empty at first, then I notice the light body, high carbonation, and low raspberry flavor. It moderately drinkable. It has low hops and low on the wheat. I really expected more out of this one.