CS Booze Club.

[Jester]

Another gifted beer from NC.

Red Oak Amber Lager, from Red Oak Brewing in Whitsett, NC (5.0% ABV): The color is unmistakably red. Sort of brick-like. The nose is delicious, fresh, slightly sweet, very inviting. The beer is sweeter than I expected. No amber bite whatsoever. That being said, it is still quite delicious. Definitely a red, not an amber. Smooth, sweet, drinkable. Kind of a cream soda thing going on here. Would go well with barbecue. Sadly, I have no barbecue here to munch on. Still, lovely beer. 6.5.

[Jester]

I've tried a lot of beer over the last few years, especially since a World of Beer opened last year a block from where I work. And I have lots of notes in my phone on a lot of beers I have not gotten around to posting here. Literally hundreds.

But don't worry, today is not the day I upload all of those. Rather, from my experience, I thought I'd give y'all my "ABC's of Beer," as it were. A quick romp through the alphabet of beer, from my experience at least. Perhaps it can be a handy shopping guide for some of you.

A. Abita Amber. Fantastic and delicious beer from Louisiana, great for any occasion.
B. Breckenridge Vanilla Porter. Delicious and sweet, a great dessert beer from Colorado.
C. Cigar City Maduro. Fantastic brown from those geniuses in Tampa. Don't let the can throw you, this stuff is awesome.
D. Due South Caramel Cream Ale out of Miami. I could drink this stuff all day.
E. Erdinger Hefeweizen Dark. More German goodness, this is a lovely hefedunkel (mix of hefeweizen and dunkel, which is a brownish ale).
F. Funky Buddha Nib Smuggler. This chocolate porter from Boca Raton is among the best dessert beers of all time.
G. Guinness. The nectar of the gods. The Irish gave this gift to the world, and we can never repay them enough.
H. Hacker-Pschorr Hefeweizen. This German brewery has given us the best hefeweizen I've ever had.
I. Innis & Gunn Rum Cask Aged Beer. I&G is one of my favorite breweries, and their stuff is amazing. Proof that those guys in Scotland can downright brew.
J. Julius Echter Hefeweizen. A classic German hefe.
K. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. From those geniuses at Lexington Brewing comes one of the best American beers you'll ever have. Thank you, Kentucky!
L. Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat. A delicious fruit beer from a great California brewery, this is basically a beermosa. Almost everything I've tried from Lost Coast has been top notch.
M. Magic Hat Hex. This Vermont beer is hands down my favorite Oktoberfest of all time. Sadly, they haven't been making it the last couple years, in favor of other things they've been experimenting with. Hopefully, they'll bring it back.
N. New Belgium 1554. My hatred of this Colorado brewery for their crappy Fat Tire and Sunshine Wheat is well known. But even I have to tip my hat to them for their masterful 1554. Dark, chocolatey, and utter delicious. Hard for me to believe the same people make this and that....other stuff.
O. Ommegang Witte. A classic Witte out of New York.
P. Paulaner Hefeweizen. Another classic German hefe. Not to be missed.
Q. Quilmes. The best beer I've ever had that started with the letter Q. Coincidentally, the only beer I've ever had that started with the letter Q. So technically, I guess it's also the worst beer I've ever had that stated with the letter Q.
R. Rogue Mocha Porter. A classic out of Oregon.
S. Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale. This English brewery makes many quality brews, but their nut brown sets the standard by which all other nut browns must be judged.
T. Theakston's Old Peculier. Not a typo, that's how this English brewery spells the name of this utterly fantastic beer.
U. Unibroue La Fin du Monde. Literally translated, the name of this French Canadian beer is The End of the World. And you really should try it before the actual end of the world.
V. Victory Golden Monkey. I am not a fan of a lot of what Victory produces. But the Golden Monkey may be the best beer to ever come out if Pennsylvania.
W. Weihenstephaner Korbinian dopplebock. My favorite beer ever, from my favorite brewery. As the oldest brewery in the world, and one that's been brewing almost a thousand years, they've figured out a few things.
X. Xingu black beer. A delicious light-bodied but dark-colored flavorful beer from Brazil.
Y. Young's Double Chocolate Stout. A classic chocolate beer out of England.
Z. Zywiec Lager. Fantastic Polish beer. Their Baltic Porter is top notch as well.

This list is far from complete. There are tons of other worthy beers, and some letters gave me some trouble as there were so many excellent candidates. (Except Q. Fuck you, Q.) And yes, a lot on the list are Florida beers and may not be available in your area. But who knows? You may yet see some of them get more distribution.

It was with a heavy heart that I did not out any Arizona beers on this list. Not that they aren't worthy. Many of them certainly are. But to date, I know of no Arizona breweries that are distributing much outside of Arizona, so I left them off. And on, and on, and on I could go.

But there you have it. A beer for every letter. Well, almost every letter. Will someone please brew a decent beer that starts with Q?

[sms001]

But there you have it. A beer for every letter.

Thanks Jester. Nice eclectic list.

[Jester]

From Left Hand Brewing Company in Colorado, it's their Fade to Black Series. This one is Volume 5, their Black Rye Ale (7.8% ABV). The color is, well, black. Which is good, considering the name of the series and of the beer. If it were ruby red or golden, I'd be worried! The nose is rich and malty. As is the taste: rich, malty, the right amount of bitterness...very damn tasty. Heavy, but tasty. Definitely not a beer for the Mich Ultra crowd. This beer is heavy-handed and seems damn proud of it. Not a beer for people just trying dark beer for the first time. But for dark beer fans, a worthy addition to their repertoire. 8.0.

[Jester]

Throwback Thursday? Hell with that. It's New Beer Thursday!

I have high hopes for this one, as it's from Iceland. I've only ever tried a few beers from Iceland before, but they were all awesome, and all from the same brewer, Einstok.

This new beer is from Olvisholt Brugghus. I'm no expert in Icelandic, but I'm pretty sure that roughly translates to "Elvis's Home Brewing."* If the King made it, I would hope it would be really, really good. And what did Elvis give us? Lava Smoked Imperial Stout. With a bottle weighing in at almost 26 ounces, and an ABV of 9.4%, this beer is not joking around.

The initial pour backs that up. I've often talked about beers that pour like motor oil. Well, Lava doesn't pour like motor oil; motor oil pours like Lava.

The color is about as black as any beer I've seen. I'm pretty sure it's actually trapping light for use later. The nose continues the Kingly treatment; it's subtle, but rich and malty, with distinctive notes of freshly ground coffee and bitter dark chocolate, and just a whiff of smoke.

Ever have one of those beers that promised you everything from the name, color, and nose, only to let you down where it counts, in the taste department? Yeah? Well, fuck those beers, because Lava is clearly not one of them. It is very smooth and malty, a little less rich on the tongue than on the nose, but no less satisfying. Tastes of dark chocolate, roasted malt, and a hint of coffee combine for a rich sweetness, balanced by just the right amount of bitter counterpunch and that aforementioned bit of smoke.

This is a beer drinker's beer's beer. (That was not a typo.) Do you like Michelob Ultra? Coors Light? Bud Light? Anything low carb? Then this beer is not for you, as it will laugh at you, kick you in the crotch, then go build a sports car from scrap metal in the garbage dumpster to drive away and find someone worthy of drinking it. You remember the puppets from that movie from Team America? Yeah, they modeled their attitude on Lava.

Is this the best dark beer I've ever had? No. But is it among the best dark beers I've ever had? Oh, HELL yes! This is a beer worth finding, buying, and drinking. Or finding, holding on to for a while until a special day or event, and then drinking. With people you love, who love dark beer, who love you.

Score: 9 out of 10. Lava's not perfect, but then, neither was the King. But both are so damn close!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go drink the rest of this massive bottle while watching a Clint Eastwood movie (Joe Kidd, if you're wondering) and arm wrestling a bear.

Just kidding. I already beat the bear.



*Honestly, I don't know a word of Icelandic, and I haven't got the foggiest frickin' clue what this translates to in English. So anyone who took that seriously, please remember, my name IS Jester!

[sms001]

Brugghus seems like 'brew house' so maybe Olvisholt is a proper name? Anyway, great write-up J., I'll definitely be on the lookout for this one.

[Jester]

Oh, I'm sure that's what it means. I was just being a goof.

Other than my infatuation with the beer, of course, which really is excellent. Not cheap, though....I think I paid about $15 for that big bomber bottle of it. And you basically get two glasses out of the bottle.

Also look for Einstok. Seriously good beer, all of their varieties that I've tried. Hell, at this point, if it's from Iceland, I'm gonna try it. About the only other countries I'd say that for would be Germany and Scotland.

[Jester]

So my friend Six send me a couple of bottles of beer (both bottles were the same beer) all the way from Cape Cod, where he lives. But it's not a Massachusetts beer, oh no. That would make far too much sense. It's a Trappist Ale, all the way from.....wait a minute....it IS a Massachusetts beer! But the label says Trappist Ale, and those can only be made in monasteries, most of them in Belgium. But somehow, one particular Massachusetts monastery (St. Joseph's Abbey, if you were wondering) got permission to brew, bottle, label, and sell their beer as Trappist Ale. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first and only North American Trappist Ale. Oh, those crazy New Worlders!

Spencer American Trappist Ale (6.5% ABV): dark golden amber, almost orange in color, and rather hazy in appearance, with a white frothy head. The nose is subtle, sweet, and fruity, all in a very pleasant way. Wow. That is delicious! A lot of Belgian beers, including Trappist Ales, are just too damn sweet for me. But this is a very well-balanced brew, slightly fruity, slightly sweet, with notes of wheat and honey. A lot of people would scoff at the idea of an American Trappist Ale. But clearly whoever decides such things had been impressed enough by the monks at St. Joseph's to let them be disgusted a Trappist monastery, a high honor indeed. And those Yankee monks pulled it off. I score it a 7.5 out of 10.

My only real regret about this is that I only put one of the two bottles my friend sent me into the fridge. Of course, the upside to that is that I can save the other one for some future time.


Amusing Side Note About Drinking Beer:

Some of you may picture me, Mr. Beer Snob, sitting here typing up my beer reviews while studying my beers closely in special beer glasses. And all of that is true....except for the glasses. With few exceptions,* I prefer me beer in just regular old pint glasses. Just about all of the ones I taste and review at home are drunk from such honest beer vessels. And even more amusingly, about half of my pint glasses are from large American breweries. The glass I'm drinking the Spencer in this review from, for example, is a Coors Light NFL pint glass. Maybe I just like the irony.

*There are a few exceptions, as stated. The first is hefeweizen glasses, which are those tall, tapered glasses, sort of like rounded pilsner glasses. Drinking hefeweizens out of those glasses just feels right. The second is beer steins. German beers are great out of those, and honestly, what doesn't feel great about drinking a goo beer, German or otherwise, out of a big old stein that, if needed, could be used as a blunt weapon? (Once the beer in it has all been drunk, of course.) The third exception is bar policy glasses. These are glasses that certain bars may deem certain beers should be served in, for size or ABV issues. For example, at my friendly local World of Beer, certain high alcohol beers are served in snifters. While I normally would never drink beer out of a snifter, I am not going to argue with the bartenders about what their bosses have told them....when it's draft beer. Because, ya see, high alcohol beers are served in smaller portions, hence the snifters. But if I order a BOTTLE of a high ABV beer, damn it, I still want my pint glass. Luckily, I have much of the local WoB staff trained well with this particular quirk of mine. The last and only other exception is practicality. If the only glass I can drink beer from is a wine glass, it's still better than not drinking beer, and if it's a good beer, it's still better than drinking it straight from the bottle.

[Victory Sabre]

Had to go to a clearance swamp in Wisconsin after the family thing, so thus, I had to get some beers as well (I was also trying to find something I can smuggle to Jester next week as well. Still working on that project).

Since it's Easter, I decided to drink a Milwaukee Brewing Co. Hop Happy India Pale Ale (get it hop. I know - bad joke).

It comes in a 16 oz can and is 7.5% ABV.

It's hoppy and ok, but nothing beyond that. I like it, but won't go out of my way to get it again.

[Jester]

Vic, give it up. You're not gonna be able to smuggle anything my way. It's just not gonna happen.

However, while you're here, I can introduce you to some new beers.

Next Tuesday, right?

[Victory Sabre]

Correct, and I'll figure something out.

[Jester]

Good luck with that. Don't say I didn't warn you.

PM me. Let me know when your boat will be arriving and leaving, and when you'll be coming ashore, and I'll figure out a few things to do (beers, breakfast, beers, other things, beers.....)

[Victory Sabre]

Will do Jester.

My review tonight is a fairly common beer - Carona Extra. After starting my day at 5am and going from central MN to LaCrosse WI and back by 3:30, with nuerous planned stops, it is very delicious. it's perfect for me tonight.

[Jester]

Corona Extra? Really? As if any beer drinker here has never had a Corona.

Don't make me fire you, Vic!

[Victory Sabre]

Well, I decided to go to happy hour, and am completing the Cinco de Mayo mini tour so drinking the common Mexican stuff. I do have another beer at home that I haven't reviewed yet. I'll review it Wednesday.