EXTREME BEER!

Boston Beer Company, maker of the ubiquitous Sam Adams line of beers (not my personal fave, but to each his own) is releasing its $150 per bottle, 27% ABV Utopias—EXTREME BEERS! Note that one of my favorite brewers, Dogfish Head, is also mentioned in the article for its 22% offerings (which I would definitely try), and that the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is okay with it, "as long as it isn't marketed to minors." Hey, kids: why buy 12 cases of Natural Light when you could be passing one of THESE back and forth between you, your buddy and your prom dates? Come on, MADD. Anyway, the process is interesting, and the fact that it's cask-aged for 20 years suggests why they can charge beaucoup bucks for it. If anyone out there has tried it, give a holler (and lend me a few bucks, old pal?). (Hat tip: Ashley Bowles)

An excellent use for $7

The best thing about this is that you can drink beer out of it. Merry Christmas!

Beer for Thanksgiving dinner? You betcha!

Looking to try something a little different this year for the turkey feast? Try offering some different pairings of beer instead of wine with the traditional yams and cranberries. Check out the following article from Beer Advocate to get some ideas on how to bring out the full flavors of your bird and see that beer can be sophisticated too. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

http://beeradvocate.com/articles/240

Brew Notes from the Great White North

This article from the Toronto Star iterates something I've been saying for years: home brewers can make beer as good (and often better) than the big boys. A more meaningful insight (to home brewers) is to say that home brewers can make beer that's every bit as good as commercial craft brewers; many times I've enjoyed a Big Sky IPA and thought, our Bearded Man IPA is every bit as good as this, if not better (and I like Big Sky).

Anyway, this sounded like fun: 17 home brewers took over a brewery for a day and showed nearly 200 people how they ply their craft. Maybe Boulevard or Pony Express would be willing to open their doors to the KC homebrew community in such a manner—I'd show up, for sure.

Success from Albany, NY.

So I returned home from a week in Albany, NY this last Friday night having some moderate success finding good beer in between conference meetings. Difficult to do when you have no transportation and are staying at a hotel out by the airport. However, that being said, no trip to the Northeast would be complete without sampling beer from the oldest brewery in the U.S. - of course I am talking about Yuengling. The Traditional Lager to be exact. A nice rich-amber colored classic watered down American lager made for the masses. Still, it was beer and the atmosphere of Maxie's - the local bar along the airport strip - made up for any shortfalls (karaoke was an added bonus too).

Beyond Yuengling, the choices were few - typical domestics and even the International brews weren't too promising. Although when so close to Canada, how can you turn down a Labatt Blue or Molson's Gold? I was able to salvage the trip by paying a nice taxi driver obscene amounts of money to drive me to downtown Albany so that I could sample the fine beers made by C.H. Evan's Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station.

And fine beers they were I might add. From the copper colored and light bodied Scottish Light, a 70-shilling Scottish ale, to the very good traditional hoppy Pump Station Pale, and a nice fruity Bavarian Hefewiezen. But their best beer hands down is their Kick Ass Brown. Now I know what you are thinking, "Seriously Ben? A brown ale? You know...you are starting to sound a lot like Higgason. What are you going to start drinking next? A Raspberry Wheat at McCoy's?!" But in all truthfulness, this is a really, really, really good beer. Think a Brown with an IPA twist. So good in fact, this beer won Gold at the Great American Beer Festival not only in 2002, but also in 2003 AND 2008. Throw in a Gold medal for Brown in the World Beer Cup in 2008 and I think you start seeing this is not your typical Higgason Brown. A nice dark amber color with strong hoppy nose, with Crystal and Amarillo hops dominate but enough maltiness of a Brown. The only regret I have is the beers were so good, I stayed later than I should have and the local liquor stores had closed by the time I went off in search of Dogfish Head IPA. I quickly overcame my depression however when I opened the latest batch of M&B beers when I got home. More on those later.

Prelude to a Hoppy Thanksgiving

Sometimes I love surprises. For instance, today we're having the neighbors over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner, which is delightful in and of itself, doubly so because I got to cook a turkey (and enjoy leftovers, assuming there are any), triply so because it provided me with an excuse to visit the liquor store. But wait, the lovely wife said, don't you have a fridge downstairs stocked with delicious M&B beer? And I said yes, but it's SO good I don't want to drink it all at once; it's like M&Ms—you like them, but you don't eat a whole bag at one sitting. So then she said, okay, so you're only going to have one beer? So I said I don't like where this is going, see you in a few.

Long story short, I noticed something at Top Cellars that I'd never seen before: Lagunitas Brewing Company's Hop Stoopid, a name so stoopid it might offend me except that the beer is so hoptastically good. Apparently the owner at Top Cellars tried it and liked this insanely hoppy beer so much he decided to stock it. So if you're in the Olathe area and want to tantalize your taste buds with a fantastic hoppy California treat, check out Hop Stoopid. Next on my list: getting them to stock Green Flash. Stay tuned!

Steven's Point Cascade Pale Ale

Okay, so I have been a little lax in reviewing a few beers I've had lately to let's remedy that now. Last night I had Steven's Point Brewery's Cascade Pale Ale. It actually was the last of a six pack that has taken me about 5 months to finish. That should be an early indication of exactly how good (or not so good) this beer is. According to the Point's description, Point Cascade Pale Ale is handcrafted combining special top-fermenting yeast and a dry hopping process to create this truly classic American Pale Ale. The intriguing character is derived from generous quantities of the choicest Yakima Valley Cascade hops and the finest crystal, 2-row pale, and Munich malts. The result is a delicious American Pale Ale with a signature fragrant hop bouquet and soft malt palate. They even won a gold medal for this beer from the World Beer Championships in 1997 and 1998, a silver medal in 2008, won best pale ale of the midwest from the U.S. Beer Tasting Championships in 2008, and a bronze award from the World Beer Cup in 1996. Some pretty good accolades one would think.

This is the Point's attempt to garner some business from the hop heads of craft beer drinking, but American Pale Ales have come a long way since the late 1990s and this one falls far short in my humble opinion. First, the beer does have a nice color and holds a head well. It has a faint hop aroma, and some maltiness but falls far short on a hop flavor that is typical of beers in this category. It seems watered down to me and the bitterness is more fitting an audience of the masses - catering to the occasional adventurous Bud drinker. Point Brewery is one of the few larger brewers to make it through Prohibition years and has always brewed the classic American water down Pils. This is their attempt to re-invent themselves as a "craft" brewery. But to me this beer is far short from the golden standard of this category. I won't waste my money on this brew next time and instead if I am feeling the need for a good hoppy ale will go straight to the case with Sierra Nevada (or even better - open our Bearded Man APA!).

What does your beer say about YOU?

This interesting piece in Ad Age spotlights a study by a noted psychographic research company ties personality traits to beer choice. Key results: people who drink Blue Moon are socially liberal, sarcastic and snide; people who are socially conservative don't drink beer at all. Since I am a. socially conservative and b. known to hoist a pint now and again, I take these findings with a grain of salt, but still, interesting. Also: Bud drinkers use breath strips; Bud Light drinkers play the lottery; Michelob Ultra drinkers are narcissistic jerks; Corona drinkers like to party; and Heineken drinkers are also narcissistic jerks. Craft beer drinkers were difficult to pin down (fewer individuals=less statistically significant data) but apparently have lower levels of personal responsibility, don't stress about deadlines, etc. I meant to prepare an in-depth analysis of this category, but I started watching tv and then figured screw it. What is your type? What does it say about you? Chime in, y'all.

Stone Pillar Vineyard

So since moving into our new house a year ago this month, I have been steadily watching and admiring the small vineyard and winery expanding across the street from our subdivision. Stone Pillar Vineyard has been steadily expanding the number of grape vines on the approximately 3 acre plot of land and look to be adding several more next spring. I finally decided to google them to learn more of their operation. Looks like someone is living the dream. I wonder if they would be willing to start a side operation of brewing - perhaps a partnership with M&B?...hmmm...

The "Why Haven't I Tried This Before" Beer Review

I was downtown in KC last week, sitting at the impressively-endowed (with beer) Flying Saucer in the P&L district, trying to decide which of their dozens of beers on-tap I wanted to try—I was (as is so often the case) in the mood for something hoppy, and the gal behind the bar suggested a Bell's Two Hearted Ale. I thought, I've never had a Two Hearted, and I've always wanted to—why have I overlooked this for so long? I ordered one up and didn't suffer a moment's remorse—hoppy, crisp, perfect for Fall in KC. Check out Bell's story: they started in Kalamazoo, MI in 1985 with a 15-gallon stock pot! I can see into my future…