CS Booze Club.

[Jester]

I have only two words today: beer shakes.

I'll let that sink for a moment.

Now I'll repeat it: beer shakes.

Not hangover shakes, where you drank so much the night before that you are trembling. But beer shakes, as in beverages. Milkshakes made with beer.

At first thought, it sounds gross. But then you have to think about how they are made, and what beer is used.

And this is not a random thought of mine. Oh no. This is something that a local gastropub is actually doing. Which I didn't even know about until today, when a friend mentioned it. To which I reacted much as you might expect: "Beer shakes? Say what?!?!?"

So, later this evening, I wandered down to said gastropub to check this out. And sure enough, they had three such concoctions on their menu.

Allow me to educate you on these wondrous creations:

There's the Buttery Creamsicle, made with butter pecan ice cream, Orange Blossom Pilsner, and candied bacon.

There's the Granny's Creamy Cider, made with Tahitian vanilla ice cream, Angry Orchard hard apple cider, and dried apple chips.

And finally, there's the Cerveza Con Leche, made with Cuban coffee ice cream, Left Hand Milk Stout, raspberries, and shaved chocolate. This is the one I tried tonight, as my desert after a lovely meal elsewhere.*

I won't say it was delicious, as the word "delicious" does not do this justice. It was heavenly, amazing, beautiful, lovely, ridiculous, awesome, and just stunning. It was weirdly brilliant and brilliantly weird. I can't wait to try the other two!


*(The irony of this is that this pub, along with another place in town, has the Left Hand Milk Stout on "nitro," which is basically the nitrogen system you'll see for Guinness at most bars, that aerates the beer and causes that cascading effect. LHMS is wonderfully tasty normally, but on nitro it elevates to a whole new level, and it is so delicious, airy, and creamy that I used to call it a "beer milkshake." Now, of course, I am going to have to find a new name for it!)

[thansal]

Now that I have never thought of trying.

Beer floats are, while not common, also not unknown (generally a stout with a scoop of vanilla).

However the stout + coffee ice cream sounds really amazing, I might just have to make that my self using my home made mocha ice cream....

[Jester]

It's funny that you should bring up beer floats, as I'm pretty sure I commented on this.

When I was back home in Phoenix in April, and my friends and I were pregaming in downtown Phoenix before the Diamondbacks' home opener, my friend (and fellow CSer) TTAZ got a New Belgian 1554. I first tried it with her the previous September when we went to Tombstone, and we both agreed that my idea that it would be awesome with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it was brilliant.

Well, in April, TTAZ didn't merely suggest it....she asked the bar if she could have just that concoction. And bless them, they did it! And we all tried it, and it was awesome.

So yeah, done the beer float. But the beer shake? Brilliant. Just utterly brilliant. At least the one I tried was. Haven't made it back there to try either of the other two.

Yet.

[Jester]

Time for a new beer! And this beer has a story.

Well, all beers have a story, I'm sure. Even this beer. But I don't know the story behind how this beer came to be. That's not the story I was referring to. No, the story I was referring to was how this beer came to be MINE. The story is not about the beer in general, but about the specific bottle of this beer, if you will.

So, there I am enjoying myself at one of the awesome craft beer bars we have down here. Talking to a lovely tourist couple, enjoying some beer and some beer talk (no, really!), and this guy comes up to the bar with one of their Big Bottles from the cooler. (And by Big Bottle, I mean a bomber of 25.4 ounces.) While the guy is waiting for the bartender, we start talking. I mention that I love the brewery in question (Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa), and while I have not actually tried the brew in question, I am sure it's a lovely beer. He asks me how much I think it costs. I guesstimate at around $17-$20. "Seems a little steep," says he. Yeah, well, it's a big bottle of craft beer, and you're buying it in a bar. In downtown Key West. Ya know...not your local liquor store in Delaware.

Finally the bartender comes up, and Bargain Hunter asks him how much the beer is. The bartender says he doesn't know, but guesstimates in the same ballpark as I had. Bargain Hunter grumbles that it seems a little steep, and Bartender basically tells him about what I had been thinking....welcome to Key West, shit ain't cheap, you're in a bar. I chime in, "Hey, out of curiousity, can you check the actual price for me? I may get a bottle of it myself." He does, and it turns out the Big Bottle is $17.

"Would you take ten dollars for it?" And now the bartender and myself are both staring at his nitwit.

BARTENDER: "Excuse me?"
BARGAIN HUNTER: "Can I get it for ten bucks?"
BARTENDER: "No. It's $17."
JESTER: "Dude, this isn't a Mexican bazaar. The prices are the prices."
BARTENDER: "Yeah, we don't do the whole haggling thing, pal."
BARGAIN HUNTER: "Well, that's just much more than I was expecting. I'll just put it back in the cooler then."
JESTER: "No you won't."
BARGAIN HUNTER: "What?"
JESTER: "You're not putting it back in the cooler. Leave it right there. If you don't want it, I'll take it."

And with that, Bargain Hunter left the bar to go be a tightwad somewhere else. I looked at the bartender. "Put that in the cooler till I'm done, then add it to my tab. That's going home with me." Smiling, the bartender just said, "Done," and did just that.

And that, my friends, is the story behind this beer. I sure do hope the beer is as good as the story!

So, without further ado (as we've had too much ado already), from Cigar City Brewing we have Batch 69 Double Cream Ale (9% ABV). In the glass it is quite clear, without any haziness of opacity, but it is a dark amber with a touch of brown, sort of the color of cream soda. Appropriate, I think. Looks delicious.

The nose is that of creamy beer. Fresh and light but with a hint of richness somewhere in there. Subtle, but definitely has my interest.

One word: Delicious.
Six more words: Bargain Hunter, you are an idiot.
Fifteen more words: Thank you for being such an idiot. Or I might never have found this beer.

Creamy, delicious, slightly rich but not overly heavy, hints of vanilla and brown sugar, but far more subtly than you would get in a brown ale.

Four more words: An adult cream soda.

Score: A creamy tasty 7.

[Jester]

Despite having tons of craft beer from the sales at the Beer Monger when it was closing, I still managed to pick up a few new ones yesterday. (The main beer monger at the Beer Monger's got a new job at a restaurant supply store that is going to start stocking craft beers and wines, and they put him in charge of that endeavor. So I had to stop in and check it out. It was, after all, the sociable thing to do.)

From Flying Dog Brewery, I have a bottle of Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout. Yes, folks, this is actually a beer brewed with oysters. Now, the beer monger has been afraid to try this, because he's not a huge dark beer fan, but he really, REALLY hates oysters. I love dark beer, I love oysters, and I love trying new things, even if they sound like a terrible idea. (I have some ex-girlfriends that prove that this is my philosophy.) I think this has a 40% chance of being brilliant, a 40% chance of being godawful, a 20% chance of being somewhere in between, and 0% chance of being boring.

Color is dark, dark black, with a slight hint of red if the light hits it a certain way.

I was expecting the nose to be terrible, and thought I detected something horrible when I poured it. I was prepared to comment on this, but honestly, when I stick my nose right over it, it smells like a lovely stout, dark and rich with notes of dark chocolate and roasted coffee. If there are oysters in here, they have not used their cologne.

On the plus side, I don't taste any oysters. That might have been weird. On the downside, I don't taste any oysters. That sure would have been interesting!

The taste actually follows up on what the nose promises: richness, maltiness, chocolate, roasted coffee, and some roasted malt adding some nuttiness to the taste that is not evident in the nose.

But...is it good? No. It is not good.

It is freakin' fantastic!

Brewers have brewed with things far odder than oysters (no, seriously!) and those beers have worked, so why shouldn't an oyster stout? As I said, I can't taste any oysters, but I think what the oyster is doing is making the other more standard stout flavors mellow out, but in a good way. They're not being muted, but merely softened, refined, and allowed to show how great they are without hitting you over the head with those tastes. And perhaps the natural sweetness of the oyster has taken some of the bitterness out of the stout as well, as it is hardly bitter at all--just enough bitterness to make it a well-rounded, well-balanced dark beer.

Would I drink this again? Yes. Would I pay for it? Yes. Would I seek it out? Again, yes. This is a top-notch beer from an under-hyped brewery that makes fantastic beers. [Bad pun alert!] Shucks, I can't stop drinking it!

Final score: 8 out of 10. Serious awesomeness at work here.

[Jester]

Southampton Publick House White (6.6% ABV): This is a "double white" version of a Belgian-style white ale, from Southampton Brewery in Southhampton, New York, and according to the label is brewed with coriander, orange and lemon peel.

The color is golden yellow, and it is somewhat hazy, as Belgian whites and German hefeweizens often are. The nose is subtle but pleasant, fresh and heathery, with an aroma of wheatiness that makes this wheat beer lover happy.

The taste is excellent, on par with some of the better Belgian whites I've had. Wheaty, fresh, light, and refreshing. Sadly, it is a bit indistinct, and doesn't really establish its flavor as unique or separate from anything I've had before. A good Belgian white, and worthy of drinking, but the beer equivalent of that nice guy whose face you can never remember after you've talked to him.

On the plus side, it does go really well with spicy food, as I was drinking it with some lovely venison jerky, and the pairing was great.

Still, the final score for this must remain a respectable, but forgettable, 6.

[Jester]

From Southern Tier Brewing in Lakewood, New York, I have 2X Stout, a double milk stout (7.5% ABV). The label says it's brewed with 2 kinds of hops and 3 kinds of malts. Sounds like a great beer for maltheads like me.

The color is, appropriately for this style beer, quite black. The nose is, appropriately for the label, very strong on roasted malt. It smells rich and malt, and has hints of cocoa hiding in the background as well.

And the taste is simply delicious. Malty, dark, fun, slightly bitter, rich, good chocolate element, with an aftertaste that is strong on mocha, this is just a good dark beer, and everything a dark beer should be.

Very tasty. Score: 7.

[Jester]

Well, shit. My computer decided that my being away from the computer too long was a "wrong" way to shut down windows, and basically erased everything I had typed up to that point. Thanks, laptop. You suck.

Okay, on a positive note: I am officially done with work for the next week, and will be enjoying Beercation III: My Backyard as Key West Brewfest enjoys their third annual run here, with more events than ever before. I'll spend the next several days enjoying beer seminars, beer classes, beer brunches, beer dinners, beer tastings, beer parties, etc., etc., etc.--you get the idea. And, in keeping with the spirit of said Brewfest, I am bound and determined to only drink quality craft beers, no macrobrews. And while avoiding the BudMillerCoors triumvirate is pretty easy for me, I am also going to avoid some of my regular beers, including Yuengling and Corona. And the only planned exception to this is Pacifico, which I will be drinking Tuesday night during my online Arizona Fantasy Football draft, as (A) it's tradition, (B) it's the last day of my beercation, and (3) Brewfest actually officially ends on Monday.

Now, I just was sampling a Samichlaus, an Austrian beer from Castle Brewing Eggenberg, and had written out a whole review of it. Now wiped out. Damn it. Quick recap: 14% beer with a good dark reddish brown color and interesting nose, rich sweet taste, a bit liquor-like in taste (probably due to the high alcohol content), decent, sweet, had to take some time to contemplate the score, as this is a beer that should not be rushed, and I felt the review should be the same. (Though of course the original review was far longer, as is my tendency.) My final score: 6.5. Good, but at times a bit cloying, and the sweetness can really get to you. But for such a sweet beer, pretty good. Hence the 6.5.

Now, since I need to clear some space out in my phone for Beercation reviews, here are some reviews of beers I've sampled lately:

From Clipper City Brewing in Baltimore Maryland we have Sea Nymph Summer Ale, part of Clipper City's Heavy Seas line. (Peg Leg Porter is another in the line, one I love dearly and have reviewed previously in this forum.) Sea Nymph is dark yellow to light amber in color, but it still has some character to its appearance. Its nose is light, fresh, and summery, with a hint of citrus. And it is a DELICIOUS summer ale. Many summer ales are heavy-handed with the citrus flavor, but Sea Nymph is light, refreshing, and well-balanced, with a good body, and a deftly added hint of citrus. While I am not normally a huge fan of summer ales, I love this beer, and it is my new favorite summer. Score: 7.5.

Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier (5.5% ABV): Light golden in color and hazy, this has a subtle nose that is slightly fruity. The taste is not nearly as subtle, with a rich blackberry flavor that is not overly fruity, and a decent taste to it, as it is not nearly as sweet as the SA Cherry Wheat. In the end, this is a good beer, though definitely not great. Score: 6.5.

Twisted Pine Rasperry Wheat (4.8% ABV): From Boulder, Colorado, this beer is light golden in color and slightly hazy, with a subtle and slightly wheaty nose that has a very slight hint of raspberry. The taste is that of watered down raspberry. Not horrible, but not very good. Even if it did not say so on the bottle, it would be quite clear that this was a beer that was brewed and then had raspberry flavor added, as opposed to one that was brewed with raspberries. Score: 4.

Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy (weiss beer with lemonade flavor)(4.2% ABV): Opaque yellow color, as appropriate for a cross between beer and lemonade. It has a subtle lemony fresh and citrusy nose. It is crisp, lemony, light, and refreshing. But (and I admit I am prejudiced here against shandies and the idea behind them), I can't really call it beer. It tastes more like a wine cooler or a Smirnoff Ice type drink. Don't get me wrong, it would be good for a hot day, but for someone else. Not really for me. Score: 5 for me, for not totally sucking as I thought it would (and as I think most shandies in general do). Others may enjoy it more.

Beck's Dark: Shockingly, I had never had this beer before. Go figger. It is dark brown in color with a slight translucence. The nose is that of dark roasted malt with a slight nuttiness to it. It has a light body with a roasted malt flavor with a hint of roasted nuts. Not too bad. Score: 6.

Estaminet: This Belgian pilsner is light yellow in color with a fresh heathery nose. I am not usually a huge fan of pilsners, but I found this one rather tasty, light but flavorful and absolutely delicious. Score: 7.

Fort Collins Brewing Chocolate Stout: Black in color, with a strong mocha nose, leaning more towards the coffee end of mocha than the chocolate end. It tastes of subtle roasted malts with coffee overtones and a hint of chocolate, as well as a slight nuttiness. I scored it a 6, because I think they misrepresented it by calling it a chocolate stout. I might have scored it higher if they had named it more appropriately. Tasty enough beer, but simply NOT a chocolate stout to me.

From Napa Smith, I tried Lost Dog Red Ale, which had a beautiful hazy orange-red color. The nose was rich, sweet, and smooth. While it was a bit sweet, overall it was quite tasty; rich and sweet, but tasty. Score: 6.5.

Harpoon Pumpkin: Appropriately for the style, this is dark orange in color, as well as hazy in appearance. The nose is strong with pumpkin spices. The taste is beyond delicious, as this medium-bodied beer brings flavorful and assertive pumpkin spice flavors to the fore. This is easily one of the best pumpkin beers I've ever had, perhaps second only to Shipyard's Pumpkinhead....and that is high praise indeed. Score: 8.5.

Toasted Coconut Porter (from Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville, South Carolina): Dark chocolatey brown and opaque, this looks yummy. It has a wonderfully rich nose with chocolate and coffee aromas. My exact comment upon my first taste: Wow, wow, wow, this is good. The flavor is amazing, a rich, full, sweet chocolate and brown sugar combination with a hint of bitter coffeeness for balance. The coconut is very subtle, giving some sweetness and roastiness to it. I didn't score it at the time, but this feels like it was a 7.5 to me, based upon my notes.

Kelly's Traditional Irish Hard Cider: Light yellow in color, with a nice subdued apple nose. This medium-bodied cider is decent, good but not great with a good apple flavor to it. Score: 6. It really doesn't rise that much above the crowd in the cider field to me.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." --Dean Martin. (This reminded me very much of my ex-fiance, for reasons that should be fairly obvious.)

[Jester]

Still need to post my beer reviews from Beercation III, but for now, simply trying a new beer while I am out and about in downtown Key West, at one of the local craft beer bars.

Southbound Brown, from Due South Brewery, which is apparently somewhere near Gainesville, Florida. I love brown ales, and I have to say, for a brown, this one is really, REALLY dark. Basically black. That is unexpected, to say the least. The nose is subtle but rich and smooth, hinting at brown sugar, cocoa, and chocolate.

Wow. This is some tasty beer! I honestly wasn't expecting that much, as another relatively new Florida brewery hugely disappointed me during Brewfest. But this...th is pretty nifty. Thick, rich, with tastes of dark brown sugar, toffee, cocoa, and even a hint of chocolate, but all well-balanced in a delightful brown.

Now, I am noticing as I get into the beer more that there is a slightly bitter aftertaste, but this is more than made up for by the general tastiness of the beer. So, is this a brown I would make a point of seeking out? Honestly, no. But would I drink it again? Sure. Would I order it again if it were in the bar I was in? Probably. Good beer. I gotta give it a 6.5.

[thansal]

Hey Jester, I thought you might get a kick out of this:

A new(ish) Event space/bar has opened up in Brooklyn called The Well. 60 lines, 2 casks, and a silly number of bottles:

Draft List
Bottle List

I haven't managed to make it there yet, but I'm looking for an excuse currently.


My only new drink to report on is one I found hilarious:
Shandy Carib Ginger (It's a Trinidad company). The description was terrible (Alcoholic ginger beer), and got me to order a bottle (as I was craving some ginger). Turns out it's a light lager mixed with ginger flavored (nope, no real ginger in there) soda, coming out to 1.2% ABV, and basically tasting like an ok Ginger ale. the kicker, for me, was that the final ingredient was capsicum, the only reason it had the ginger burn

That said, Monday night I had another ginger shandy that was delicious. La Chouffe Golden Ale, good ginger beer, and lime.

(And for the Pratchett fans, I did insist that my friends call me Big Mad Drongo :P)

[Jester]

Thansal, if those are the same people that make Carib Lager, I can't say I'm surprised, as Carib Lager is somewhere between terrible and awful, depending on whom you ask.

[thansal]

Thansal, if those are the same people that make Carib Lager, I can't say I'm surprised, as Carib Lager is somewhere between terrible and awful, depending on whom you ask.

Yup, same people, and supposedly the lager is in the shandy.

[Jester]

Normally I am opposed to shandies, as I believe that adding lemonade ruins beer. But I wouldn't be all the surprised if the shandy in question is better than the lager, as it would be completely and utterly impossible to make Carib Lager worse than it is.

Seriously, the stuff is wretched.

[KiaKat]

Domaine Philippe Tessier "La Porte Doree" Cour-Cheverny 2009

A white wine from the Loire Valley - Cour-Cheverny, to be exact. The grape is a little-known one, named Romorantin, which is a distant cousin of Chardonnay. The wines produced are usually very mineral, medium-bodied and reminiscent of Chablis. There's some cool history behind it that Wikipedia delves into.

I'm a natural wine nut. Most people who know me are aware of this. I love them not for the philosophy, but rather for the purity of their presentation. No manipulations here - even the yeasts are the natural ones that grow on the skin of the grape. The nose is sharp and pungent, reminding me of lemonade on a hot summer's day - that mix of grass, lemon, ice, and earthiness. There's even a hint of gunmetal.

The palate, now that's much more interesting. Round fruit, ranging from apple to pink grapefruit, with a heavy-handed dose of something citrus that I can't quite place. Blood orange, maybe? Something intense. The acids are perfectly balanced against the fruit, making the wine seem much lighter than it really is. Add in the gunpowder note, and it's really incredibly complex. The finish is almost purely white pepper, with a dose of cayenne.

This is an amazing wine. We've got it listed at $22, and honestly, it could sell for more. This is on par with some of our $30 Chablis.

[Jester]

Yet more proof that expensive does not automatically denote quality. I have had great wines/beers/spirits that weren't that expensive, and conversely, I have had expensive ones that weren't all that great.

And ain't it great when you can find a great drink that is not expensive? Myself, I'm a fan of such things.