Beer Wars is great. If you really want to see how screwed up things are in the beer market, watch it.

Since another fellow poster was complaining about warm beer, this time on Facebook, I decided to post the suggested serving temp list from rate beer.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=479

Very cold (0-4C/32-39F): Any beer you don’t actually want to taste. Pale Lager, Malt Liquor, Canadian-style Golden Ale and Cream Ale, Low Alcohol, Canadian, American or Scandinavian-style Cider.



Cold (4-7C/39-45F): Hefeweizen, Kristalweizen, Kölsch, Premium Lager, Pilsner, Classic German Pilsner, Fruit Beer, brewpub-style Golden Ale, European Strong Lager, Berliner Weisse, Belgian White, American Dark Lager, sweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Duvel-types

Cool (8-12C/45-54F): American Pale Ale, Amber Ale, California Common, Dunkelweizen, Sweet Stout, Stout, Dry Stout, Porter, English-style Golden Ale, unsweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Faro, Belgian Ale, Bohemian Pilsner, Dunkel, Dortmunder/Helles, Vienna, Schwarzbier, Smoked, Altbier, Tripel, Irish Ale, French or Spanish-style Cider

Cellar (12-14C/54-57F): Bitter, Premium Bitter, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, English Pale Ale, English Strong Ale, Old Ale, Saison, Unblended Lambic, Flemish Sour Ale, Bière de Garde, Baltic Porter, Abbey Dubbel, Belgian Strong Ale, Weizen Bock, Bock, Foreign Stout, Zwickel/Keller/Landbier, Scottish Ale, Scotch Ale, American Strong Ale, Mild, English-style Cider

Warm (14-16C/57-61F): Barley Wine, Abt/Quadrupel, Imperial Stout, Imperial/Double IPA, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Mead

Hot (70C/158F): Quelque Chose, Liefmans Glühkriek, dark, spiced winter ales like Daleside Morocco Ale.

Because in America, we like beer cold, here are Esquire's 10 Best Canned Beers:

http://www.esquire.com/features/drinkin ... ers-062510

I'd drop PBR and that Minhas brand beer for a Ska Brewery product, a Big Sky Brewery product and/or something local like this:

http://www.craftcans.com/golden-frau-ho ... ng-company

Love Monk's Blood. Quality beer.

Nogne #100: American Barley Wine/Imperial IPA
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Our 100th batch, brewed for the enjoyment of the brewers, but popular demand forced us to release it commercially. Most enjoyable in a comfortable chair in front of a roaring fire.

Recommended serving temperature 16°C/61°F Ingredients: Maris Otter, wheat, and chocolate malt; Columbus, Chinook, and Centennial hops; English ale yeast, and our local Grimstad water.

23,5°P, 80 IBU, 10% ABV.

Even though the label says "Barley Wine" in the States, the brewery says it’s brewed to be an IIPA. The American label was a glitch. In Europe it’s sold as an IIPA.

I bought it thinking it was a Barley Wine and was a bit disappointed by the hoppiness until I discovered it is really an Imperial IPA. It certainly is a great Imperial IPA. The slight hint of chocolate malt adds a unique quality to the beer that is not normally present in standard American made Double IPA's. If they had really been going for a Barley Wine, I would have said they failed, since it was too hoppy and lacked the malty, syrupy liqueur quality one comes to expect from a great barley wine.

I also had this tonight as a session beer to follow up the Nogne #100:

Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Ale

This is a big honkin' barleywine appropriately named. At 9.86% ABV, it packs a wallop. Super tasty though if you like the bitterness of a super hoppy beer. Pours a beautiful reddish amber color, that when held up to the light is near impenetrable. Taste is smooth, with a grapefruit hoppy taste. It sticks to your tongue for awhile. Lovely little head, with some scant lacing. Definitely rec'd for this time of year as a sitting under a tree, looking at clouds beer.

I had Deesse Nocturne from Brasserie Dieu de Ciel last night on tap.
It is pretty damn good for an American Stout
It has a strong taste of black coffee, roasted malts and dark chocolate. It was very smooth for being quite dry in overall taste, like a black coffee with a hint of cocoa powder on top of it.

Boulder Beer Company 30th Anniversary Flashback American IPA/Indian Brown Ale

I had it with my dinner last night at a local Brewpub/NYC style pizza restaurant.


COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Flashback Anniversary Ale is an India Brown Ale with 6.8% ABV. This is the first beer we’ve made here that uses one single hop variety (Cascade) in the recipe in five separate additions. The fresh Cascade hop aroma and flavor is perfectly balanced with the dark roasted grains, making Flashback a very unique beer. We’re calling it an India Brown Ale to help illustrate its flavor to the consumer. It’s hoppy like an IPA but dark and roasty like a Brown Ale. Put them together and voila! Flashback at its finest

Widmer Brothers Tapping Party last night:



http://www.widmer.com/beer_w_series.aspx



http://www.widmer.com/beer_drifter.aspx

Last night:


Brasserie Dieu du Ciel Route des Epice: A Rye beer brewed with Peppercorns

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Routes des épices (French for "Spice Route") is a rye beer brewed with both black and green peppercorns. Initially, the beer reveals flavours of fresh grain and malt, which give it notes of chocolate, caramel, and fruit. The pepper flavour and aroma is fully revealed in the finish, which leaves a pleasant, spicy, tingling sensation on the tongue.



Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Origin: Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor completes the taste pallet of the gamma Carolus-beers. Name: "Hopsinjoor" is a wordplay to for one thing the several hops which were used, and on the other hand the typical character of Mechelen of Gouden Carolus: the figure "opsinjoor" is intertwined with the history of Mechelen (see: www.opsinjoorke.be/Opsinjoorke/opsinjoor.htm). Kind of hops: 4 types of hops are used: Golding, Spalt, Hallertau and Saaz. These hops were fractioned at several times in the cooking process in order to keep a maximum of aroma. Regarding to taste we can say that the beer has a gentle, but nevertheless bitter aftertaste. Gold-yellow colour. Hoppy aroma. 50 IBU / 18.6 Plato

Tonight:

Mikkeller East Kent Golding Single Hop IPA
Mikkeller Centennial Single Hop IPA

Holy shit good work people. Glad to see some actual writing in here.

So I just spent 11 days in Wisconsin drinking everything in sight. We were there for me and Busty to play a wedding reception, and for the wife and I to get the condo dressed up for Vacation Rental duty again - furniture procurement, shit fixin', cleaning, etc. The wife wants to stock a bunch of local micros for guests, where they get 6 free and then they can drink any more they want and we take it out of their deposit. So I went to the store and biked home (via burley trailer) 9 fucking cases, each different. Took me 3 trips. I know we got New Glarus's Spotted Cow and Totally Naked, Bell's 2 Hearted, then some from Lake Louie and Central Waters and Capital's new one, Supper Club. Anywho. The fridge was LOADED with good beer, and I really had to leave it alone for the guests, so I didn't even take a picture of it. I bought my own. Oh and shit, I saw Mojo! He was at the grocery store. Anywho, the beers.

Bell's - Oberon

If you haven't had it, buy it. Bell's summer wheatish / orangish offering, just an incredibly smooth, interesting beer. Every year I get all excited about it coming out, again and again. This was the first 6 pack I bought when I got to Wisconsin. A


Bell's Porter

Ok not for nothin' but this guy totally looks like me. I mean a LOT like me. The wife noticed and when she showed me, it kinda freaked me out. The beer is good, typical Bell's quality. I mean, fuck that looks just like me. A-

Capital Brewery - Supper Club

This is for your dad. Or at least my dad, and my father in law. It's a well-made nicer version of High Life. Very light, not a lot of hops, but still good and frankly when it's hotter than balls outside you will love this beer. The art sucked me in, and I drank a lot of them when we played the wedding too. If it's light beer yee'r after, this is hard to top. B+


Boulevard - Saison Brett

Ok it's official. My friend Ken is correct: we're witnessing a switch from the IPA era to the Belgian era. Every US brewery seems to be releasing either a Belgian or a Belgian - IPA hybrid. This was kicking around in Busty's backstock room and we chilled it down and drank it. Nothing special. Good, but just another belgian knockoff. B


Three Floyds - Alpha King

Between this and the Robert The Bruce, these guys have their shit together. Fuck me, this was a great draft beer. I had no label to read but it tasted like a double IPA, or perhaps an Imperial. It was malted either in one heavy session or two mediums, tasted like. LOTS of body, huge hop hit on both the early and late spectrums (bitter and sweet). I had to remember what kind of beer it was, hence the fingers. A


New Glarus - Hearty Hop

From the makers of Spotted Cow, a regular IPA offering. It's better than average, but not amazing. Solid, perky, dryish, enjoyable, not magical. B

Horney Goat - Some stupid sexual pun with "belgium" worked into it I think

Their beers suck. But their patio at the brewery is excellent. Also their taste sucks with regard to their marketing, branding, beer names, etc. It's like a big ol' twister came and picked up a white trash Florida brew pub and dropped it in Milwaukee, and they rebuilt the premises nicely but they still make the same shitty beers. All their beers taste like they start life as a Budweiser product and then someone gussy's them up with a couple of last minute additions. Fucking great porch though. C-

First, that is a brilliant idea, especially if you charge more than the store, but less than a bar. I know I for one would lose my whole deposit and not give a fuck....

Is that the KC based Boulevard Brewery? I like most of their stuff, and I love a good Saison -- the Sierra one is damned good if you ever find it.

From my BeerAdvocate rating:

Poured from bottle to standard pint glass

Appearance: Hazy golden amber

Smell: Citrus with honeydew. Very mild. You really have to stick your sniffer in to get a whiff.

Taste: Hoppy bitterness that recedes rather quickly to a bubblegum and honeydew flavor. Plum is definitely in there as well, as pointed out by many other reviewers.

Mouthful: Not much carbonation, and comes off a little watery for an American IPA.

Drinkability: If you are looking for an IPA, you might want to keep looking. This doesn't taste, nor feel like one. Its not horrendous, but its not great either.

Serving type: bottle

that's too funny.

I think it's $3 a bottle for the beer and $15 for white or red wine, and the beers are already chilled. The property manager comes by to turn the place over, takes inventory, emails megan and she deducts whatever's missing. I'll be interested to see what sells the most.

Keep us updated. Sounds pretty interesting.

Would you believe AK is merely a pale ale?! Their big IIPAs are Dreadnaught and the new Arctic Panzer Wolf. Anything that involves hops, FFF does it damn well!

A dose of fresh ginger roots added to the brewkettle creates an intriguing mix of ginger, malt-sweetness , and citruslike aromas and flavors Hoppy dryness is very subdued with ginger-sweet-spicey notes dominating throughout to the very finish.



Description:
Said to be one of the only primitive beers to survive in Western Europe, Sahti is a farmhouse ale with roots in Finland. First brewed by peasants in the 1500s, mashing (steeping of grains) went down in wooden barrels, and then that mash would be scooped into a hand-carved wooden trough (a kuurna) with a bed of juniper twigs that acted as a filter. The bung at the bottom of the kuurna would be pulled to allow the sweet wort (liquid infusion from the mash) to pass through the twig filter, followed by wort recirculation and a hot water sparge (rinsing of the grains), all of which created a juniper infusion of sorts.

Sahti is also referred to as being turbid, because the wort isn’t boiled after lautering (separation of spent grain and liquid), leaving loads of proteins behind, thus providing tremendous body. A low-flocculating Finnish baker’s yeast creates a cloudy unfiltered beer, with an abundance of sediment. Traditional Sahti is not typically hopped, so the task of balancing is left up to the juniper twigs, which impart an unusual resiny character and also act as a preservative. Some have compared Sahtis to German Hefeweizens, though we find them to be more akin to the Lambics of Belgium due to the exposure to wild yeast and bacteria, and its signature tartness.

Jesus Prom - those look really interesting. They may both taste like poo poo toothpaste but the setup is intriguing. That top one is japanese right? I've seen that owl on a bottle around here somewheres.

Yeah, the top one is from Kiuchi Brewery in Japan. I had their Japanese classic ale on tap at a local brew pub and then found most of their products at a store in Omaha I make a beer run to about every two months.
I wanted to try the Kataja Olut due to never having a sahti style beer before. It wasn't what I'd normally drink, but certainly no worst than most lambics or sour ales that I have tried recently.

Mikkeller Single Hop Warrior

Belgium brewery doing America IPAs. It's a really fruity beer with some late hops that manage to be neither extremely flavorful nor smooth. If you're the kind of guy who likes sliced fruit in your beer, you may enjoy the overt orange flavor. But other than that, it's pretty forgettable.