Bad things happen in threes...

My mother-in-law often says that bad things and deaths often happen in threes. Well, here is a good example. Looks like the folks over at soon to be MillerCoors are coming out with three new styles of Miller Lite ("never watered down, so you can raise it up" - whatever the hell that means). They will be releasing an amber, a blonde and a wheat beer. I can't imagine that these "craft-light beers" will be any good, but I guess there are two possible positives we can take from this:

1. A beer with Miller Lite on the label may actually taste like something
2. These three new beers might just convince some Miller Lite drinkers to try a few different beers styles.

Check out the whole article at:
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/business/216637.php

Bostonbeerman Podcasts

Here is the first of my Bostonbeerman podcasts - check it out in iTunes, it is enhanced with images.

I hope to have a new one in a couple of weeks.

If you don't have iTunes, you can also check it out and subscribe here.

Cheers,
Jim

Beer blogging hiatus

My apologies for the sad lack of posts over the summer and now into the fall. I have been swamped with work and a new, non-beer related teaching gig. I promise to get back on the blogging horse as soon as I can. I did manage to try 30 new beers on a 10 day trip to Scandinavia -- more when I return.

Prost!
Bostonbeerman

Session Five - Atmosphere for Enjoying Beer...

Session Five is all about great atmosphere when drinking beer. The guys over at Hop Talk suggested that we blog about our favorite beer experience--that is, great places to drink beer and our favorite people to drink it with.

My wife and I try to book one European trip each year and as a result, I have had some incredibly memorable beer experiences. The most recent was in Brugge, Belgium. I purchased four bottles of Westvleteren 12, three made the journey home, but I had to have one in situ. I sat in the window of my hotel room with my feet dangling down toward the canal and enjoyed each and every sip--the beer exceeded my expectations. That was a pretty amazing experience.

Other memorable pints include: the bottle of Corsendonk Abbey Pale Ale I drank on my wedding day while driving from the church to the reception in a Bentley; the Murphy's Stout I had in the middle of Killarney National Park in Ireland; a few pints of Samuel Smith's Extra Stout and fish and chips at the historic Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street in London (we pretty much had the place to ourselves); randomly finding Masala Mama IPA in Minnesota; and a pint and an Oude Jenever at the incredibly quaint, yet gritty t' Doktertje in Amsterdam (you can see some pics at bostonbeerman.com).

These were all amazingly unique beer experiences that I will probably never replicate, although I sure as hell hope I do some day. The beer and the atmosphere were great for each of these events and I experienced all but one of them with my best friend, my wife. The bottom line is that time shared with friends generally makes for the most memorable experiences.

For the last couple of years, my high school friends (and another good friend) and I have planned a late-summer weekend at my friends place on Biscay Pond in Bremen/Damariscotta, Maine. The location is amazing. The house is right on the pond and is perfect for kayaking, swimming, fishing, marathon Texas Hold'em poker tournaments, and of course drinking cold beer on the deck (actually we drink beer while doing all of the above listed activities). As an added bonus, the house is just a few miles from the ocean and the freshest seafood you can find.

We don't see each other nearly as often as we used to and the trip is just an opportunity to get together with the guys and act like jack-ass high school kids again. We pretty much just kick back, relax, and enjoy some juvenile buffoonery--most of our time is spent busting each other's balls about anything and everything. The one drawback is that the crew generally grabs Corona, Bud Light, or Coors Light as their drink of choice, which explains why I bring a case of Murphy's Stout. However, I think one of the boys has been converted and is slowly moving to the darkside. :)

One of the highlights of the trip is dinner at a great place called King Eider's Pub. My first time here was a fantastic surprise. The food is great, including some of the best crab cakes I have ever tasted, great burgers, and several fresh seafood specials. The atmosphere is very cozy--hardwood floors, low wood-beamed ceilings, brick, and a great little bar with just eight seats. The restaurant is in an historic building and broken into several sections (pub, dinning room and a great oyster bar), it feels very much like a comfortable home, and provides the perfect atmosphere for throwing a few back with your friends. The staff is very friendly and the service is great.

Damariscotta is a quaint fishing village over an hour from Portland, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked up at the taps and saw Ayinger Oktoberfest as well as some great local (Pemaquid Scottish Ale) and international beers. Then I took a peek at the beer menu and found Delirium Tremens, a few more locals, and an array of beers from Samuel Smith. To top it all off, they have a kick ass selection of single malt scotch, including a few "hidden treasures" with limited distribution. So there you have it, quaint atmosphere, good food, great friends, and some excellent beer, who could ask for more.

I could almost hear that classic old Lowenbrau jingle in the back of my head, "Here's to good friends, tonight is kind of special..."

Really Old Brown Dog Ale...

Smuttynose Old Brown Ale is a fantastic American Brown Ale that was inspired by Olive, the dog that graces the label. Unfortunately, Olive died on March 15, 2007, just a month after the release of Really Old Brown Dog Ale. If you are a dog person, the label image will just about bring you to tears.

Really Old Brown Dog Ale is part of Smuttynose Brewing Company’s impressive Big Beer Series. It is bottle conditioned–I cellared this one for about 4 months, but I have another that I am going to save until next year.

For those of you not from New England, Smuttynose is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The name comes from an island on the Maine/New Hampshire border. The label states: "Olive, iconic mascot and spirit guide of our brewery, first appeared on our Old Brown Dog label and has returned 13 years later, to pose for our Really Old Brown Dog, a luscious, malt-rich, full bodied old ale featuring deep notes of complex fruit. Much like our beloved Olive, this beer will mellow and age gracefully."

This beer has a rich garnet brown color that pours to a thin, tight head with decent Belgian lace. It has a very pleasant raisin and currant aroma with a touch of milk chocolate. The Really Old Brown Dog is medium-bodied with a nice, light carbonation, and it finishes with a tea-like dryness. Actually it is much drier than I had expected. Hop flavors develop more and more with each sip and help balance off the rich malt sweetness. It is pretty complex, with tastes of pear, plum, candy sugar, chocolate, caramel, pepper, and even the faintest touch of espresso at finish. This beer is 7.0% abv and I find it very smooth and drinkable.

While it is very good, I am anticipating that my second bottle with taste even better after an additional year. I am toasting Olive while I drink this one. My little beagle is curled up against my leg as I type--there really is nothing better in life than a great dog.

Here's to Olive.

Session Four - The Local...

Snekse over at Gastronomic Fight Club is hosting the beer blogger session this month. We were asked to review a local beer made within 150 miles of home. This was a tough call for me. My first thought was to choose one of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series sitting in my cellar--I have been very impressed with most of these beers. My next thought was Mercury Brewing Company. Their Ipswich Stout is amazing and Ipswich Ale is one of my favorite summer beers. Of course I could have chosen one of the great offerings at Cambridge Brewing Company or The Tap's Leather Lips IPA. All of these beers, well except for the Harpoon, are made within about 25 miles of my house.

However, I decided to choose a beer made just a couple more miles away in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It seems like I am always drinking this beer. I offer it in my beer appreciation classes, a good friend made sure it was available at his wedding last month, I went to a BBQ tonight and there it was, and I pretty much buy a case of it every other month. I love Smuttynose IPA. This unfiltered IPA has a very cool label that depicts a couple of old timers sitting on folding chairs in front of a trailer, kicking back and quaffing a killer beer...could this be a vision of my retirement!

The first sniff and first sip are all grapefruit hop goodness. This beer always tastes extremely fresh to me. Smuttynose IPA is a respectable 6.6% abv and pours to a beautiful orange gold color with a great big frothy head with lots of Belgian lace all the way down the glass. The hop flavors are citrusy, herbal, flowery, and piney. The first sip pretty much tastes like a freshly cut grapefruit. However, the bitterness fades into an interesting sweet caramel malt flavor. Overall, this beer is almost all hops. It is pretty dry at finish, but a very drinkable and remarkably refreshing IPA. Smuttynose just hit 15,ooo barrel production last year for the first time, so maybe you will see this beer at your local sometime real soon. If you do, put on a plaid shirt, grab a folding chair, and sit back and enjoy.

Milestones...

When is comes to beer, one of my mantras is "quality, not quantity." Numbers are usually not that important to me, unless I am on the golf course or picking my fantasy baseball team, but I am reaching a pretty big milestone.

No, not 40 years old, I have a few more to go before that. I am approaching my 1,500th beer tasted and rated. I have 35 more to go and I figure I will get there by late June. I try lots of beer and it can be hit and miss. I am looking for a tried and true homerun. Any suggestions....please leave a comment.