Catching Up on a Few Things

Not even two weeks in and my lazy ass has gone almost a week without posting an update (save bock review Vinnie e-mailed me that I spent a minute posting).

Responding to Vinnie's post on bocks, my amateur theory on bocks is that brewers/breweries that specialize in German-style beers produce the best of this style.  Metro Brewing and Capitol specialize in German styles and as such produce top-notch bocks in Metro's Generator Dopplebock and Capitol's Autumnal Fire and Blonde Doppelbock among others.  However, this is a style very perilous to having a boozy flavor if not supremely brewed and some of my favorites breweries (Great Lakes with Weizenbock, Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Bock) fell victim to this.

I Like My Dark Beers At Night

I quite enjoyed Deschutes's Hop in the Dark Cascadian Dark Ale.  Hop in the Dark has a strong rye taste with a subtle hop balance and is very drinkable for a dark beer.  Even though I missed out on Black Butte Porter, my Minnesota Deschutes haul with Hop in the Dark and Mirror Pond Pale Ale turned out to be very fruitful and well worth effort of bringing them home.

Random Google searching (a favorite pastime of mine) led me to this awesome food/bar review blog, Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing with the King.  It is more a food based blog but I'd suggest to the readers of MBB to check it out (especially if you have a soft spot for fried foods like I do).

Finally, I plan on taking my maiden voyage to the monthly BA event at Goose Island this Thursday.  I'll try to get a post up about it shortly afterward and look checking it out (and hope people enjoy some of the Surly I brought back from Minnesota voyage).

New Holland Golden Cap Saison, tap

For those of us that put all weekdays on relatively equal footing, Friday nights blow. When all you want is a pint to cap a late night at work, it's usually hard to find a suburban bar that hasn't transformed into The Friday Bar--crowded and clamorous; overtaxed barkeeps slinging Li[gh]t[e]s to scented people.

Fortunately, the Beacon in Forest Park is a reliable exception. It's off the beaten Madison St. path, so it mostly draws regulars and a good age-diverse crowd. Even on a Friday night, you can sit alone at the bar without looking like a creep (not to say I don't look like a creep anyway, for other reasons). The music is always good and never too loud, and they have about a dozen beers on tap, most of which are craft. And you know it's a True Pub© because they even have a bookshelf!

Golden Cap is very light, both in color and feel--translucent almost piss-yellow and easy to drink at a 1.5 to 2 ounce-per-sip. First whiff is flowery, a little fruity--pear or peach I think--and vaguely lemony. Compared to other saisons, Golden Cap is lighter on sweetness and more bitter, though not excessively hoppy. The dominant undertone is apple, especially on the finish. A little booziness crept in on a sip or two, but I may have just taken too big a swig on those.

Grade: A, for apple but also a reflection of the quality. Well, maybe only an A- or B+ on the latter, but in this era of grade inflation, who's to say what that is anymore. It's not the best I've ever had, but I love the style in general and would happily drink this again. Recommended as a good starter saison for someone who's never had one.

Bock to Basics

[written by Vinnie, posted by Zuch due to Vinnie's internet filter restrictions]

If asked to form a static rank of favorite beer styles, I don't think I could do it. Mood, season, time of day, and other such variables factor so heavily that I would find the task impossible. That said, any attempts at such a list would typically have bocks in the lower half (for taste, that is--not for pun-making). With a few notable exceptions--Capital's Autumnal Fire being the first--I find bocks to be too syrupy, too musty, or downright bland.

California probably isn't the place to go for good bocks, but after the nice things I had to say about Sierra Nevada on Sunday, I thought I'd try the 30th Anniversary Charlie, Fred, and Ken's Bock (yes, that's one beer) on Tuesday night and a Glissade last night. The Glissade is a golden bock, the Charlie more of an amber, but if you asked me which was which, I could only tell the Charlie by the overpowering boozy taste. Other than a little bit of the musty flavor, both beers are flavorless, odorless, and way too sweet to my tongue.

But rather than writing off these beers completely, I have to wonder whether it's just me. Maybe everyone's palate has its ageusic spots--something akin to color-blindness--and one of mine is whatever quality redeems the bock. If that's the case, I owe my sincerest apologies to Charlie, Fred, Ken, and any other brewers whose bocks I'll inevitably pan on this blog. In the meantime, I'll continue seeking out those rare ones that do stand out.

Metropolitan Krankshaft, bottle, poured into water glass

I came by mom and dad's house tonight to check out their Alaska photos and do some laundry (yes, I'm 26, fully employed, and have my own condo--thanks for asking).

I had two Krankshafts left in the fridge from the 4th, and now there is but one. Krankshaft is probably my favorite Metropolitan brew, though I'd recommend any of the others I've tried (Flywheel, Dynamo, Generator). Krankshaft is a Kölsch, one of my favorite--and one of the most under-appreciated--styles of beer. Krankshaft represents the style pretty well, though it's probably a bit sweeter than average.

If you're hammered, you could be convinced you're drinking champagne. But--as I'll repeat often--great beer is not to be wasted on the hammered. The aroma is very grapey, a little citrusy, and vaguely soapy. The grapeness dominates the start of the sip but gives way to the grain before finishing with the hop bitterness. You'll wanna inhale lightly on the sip--about an ounce and a half per--swish it back through your cheeks, and let it sheet across your tongue and down the hatch.

Grade: K, for krisp... or klean... or... whatever. I love this beer. Go get some.

Summer seasonal twofer: Sam Adams Summer Ale, bottle; and Sierra Nevada Summerfest, bottle, poured into pint glass

Below is a terribly photographed sketch of my D&D character. He doesn't have a name yet--I'm open to suggestions--but he's a cleric. An anarchist cleric. He has a mace and 17 wisdom points. He is not your father's clergyman.

Tonight was my maiden Dungeons and Dragons experience. At 26 years-old, the inner-weirdo I suppressed during my actual adolescence has come out in force, so when I was invited to join a D&D group, I couldn't resist.

I've always stereotyped D&D players as big Mountain Dew drinkers. Also teenagers. They are teenagers, ergo they drink Mountain Dew. Since all of us are over 25, we had beer. My contribution was Sam Adams Summer Ale. I normally wouldn't buy it, but I was in a hurry to get downtown for the start of the game and stopped at the first empty-looking liquor store I passed. Summer Ale was the only thing in the cooler I'd never tried.

My first sip was a flashback to Skippy's--the leftover keg beer, lemonade, and vodka concoction of Sundays past. Perhaps I'm being harsh; I never rate lemon-flavored beers well. Maybe they have some merit. Heck, I love a good hefe with a lemon, so it's not that I'm anti-lemon. Sam Adams seasonals are usually pretty good; Noble Pils and Octoberfest come to mind first. But I think Summer Ale is a lazy effort. Lemony! Refreshing! Hot weather! You'll drink! Blech. Give me something better.

Grade: H, for half-assed. This is a total throwaway to placate an easy market. Pure Lamesville.

After returning to my dog-sitting post in the burbs for the night, I poured myself a nightcapper, a Sierra Nevada Summertime.

Good old steady Sierra Nevada. They may not be the boldest innovators, but they do many types of beer very well, without succumbing to any of the ABV oneupmanship or extreme hopification nonsense. Summerfest is a no-frills light lager--refreshing, flavorful, good in big bubbly swigs. And no fucking lemons! (A little citrus in the aroma but nothing on taste.) There's no reason they couldn't market this year-round as Sierra Nevada Pilsner.

Grade: P, for prototypical. It was enjoyable, yet I could probably be fooled into thinking it's a Schlitz if you hid the bottle. This isn't a knock on either beer; I love Schlitz. Just keep that in mind when you consider the price disparity.

Biting From the Bad Apple

The authors of More Better Beer took a Thursday night excursion to the big city, checking out The Long Room and The Bad Apple.

We really need to invest in a digital camera

I'll cover the Long Room later but first and foremost want to highlight one of Chicago's best new bars. From closing time discussion with one of the owners (down in the trenches tending bar) and his softball stories from his time in L.A. to a tremendous tap list (at very nice prices), the Bad Apple instantly jumped to the forefront of my favorite beer bars.

After my typical start to the session with a buffet of hoppy beers (including my first experience with Dreadnaught) I was ready to lighten the mood a bit and tried out Left Coast's Tangerine Wheat.

So what, I like quality fruit beers

While my love for hoppy beers is typical of beer geeks I am off in my own little world with regards to fruit based brews. Though the brewers at Lost Coast wanted to de-emphasize the tangerine flavor in the beer it was blatantly obvious yet quite tasty (and mind you, I do not normally like tangerines).

Even with a low ABV I would not recommend drinking Tangerine Wheat in multiple doses as I believe the sweet flavor would be too much of a good thing. However, it worked well in the middle of my session and gave my tongue a much needed change-up and break from the hostile hop takeover.

After enjoying the Lost Coast offering I was glad to enjoy Matilda on tap for the first time (a bit ashamed to admit that as a proud Chicagoan and beer geek for more than a year now). Goose Island must have a small brewery in Brussels because they nail the Belgain style in multiple brews (also love Sofie and quite enjoyed Pere Jacques even before I was a full-fledged beer lover).

One-third of tremendous GI Belgian trio

Tremendously balanced, the citrusy notes of Matilda combine with the strength of the Belgian styled ale to form a masterpiece of the style. Dangerously drinkable, Matilda is quite accommodating in taste but sneaky strong with a 7.5% ABV, which makes this a good night cap to a session.

To end the night I made a call to an old friend, New Holland's Dragon Milk. A sweet stout that just so happens to pack a giant 9.0% ABV punch, this brew combines Mike Tyson's punching power with Money Mayweather's scientific skill in deftly knocking you on your ass.

One of my favorite stouts

Love the balance of sweetness and strong body and a great way to end your night (especially if you do not have to drive). Also, in an industry filled with creative names, Dragon's Milk is a great way to describe a beer that can knock even the strongest drinkers out, yet do so in such a sweet manner.

With great service, many tremendous offerings at excellent prices (i.e. GL Dortmunder Gold draft for $3.50), and an owner that engages with his customers, The Bad Apple is rapidly developing into one of Chicago's best beer bars.

One final thought, a quick MBB tip of the hat to The Long Room, a great bar in its own right and the place that exposed me to a coveted beer to try in Three Floyds powerful IPA Dreadnaught (worthy of all the hype and another great 3F offering).

From the complaint box: Pitchfork's beer debacle

Last weekend I attended the fifth annual Hipster Pride Parade Pitchfork Music Festival, as I've done every July since 2006. In the last five years, I've watched the festival grow from not-enough-bodies-to-make-a-crowd to not-enough-room-to-fit-the-bodies, and I can say that the expansion--aside from the Great Toilet Shortage of 2009--has been graceful, holding the event true to its original form.

Of course, as the festival has become more popular, it's become a bit more commercialized, but this has hardly been a problem. The vendors and organizations have, for the most part, remained local, and those that aren't--Whole Foods, The Onion, Amp, and Cliff being a few examples--at least fit with the festival's mantra (humor me). Ads were not plastered throughout the park; commercials were not shown on the video screens between sets. Everything was good as ever.

Everything except the Heineken.

I don't begrudge Pitchfork for trying to profit or hold down ticket costs. They should be doing this. But by booting a local staple for a mass-produced import, they're encroaching on dangerous territory. The festival had been serving Goose Island (312 and IPA) from the beginning, before every sports bar had a 312 tap and the president was delivering cases of Honkers to foreign dignitaries.

But this year, they served Heineken and--before it ran out halfway through the festival--Newcastle Summer Ale. (All I can say about Newcastle Summer Ale is, do not buy this beer.)

Goose Island's IPA is hardly among the best, and 312 is one of the worst wheat beers I've tried. I don't mind Heineken either. It's fine. I drank a few. With the mercury pushing 95 all weekend, it wasn't exactly beer-guzzling weather anyway.

This is not the point, however. The substitution of Goose Island for Heineken was a troubling signal. Are we losing Pitchfork as we know it? Or was the cost savings just too much to pass up? I wonder what kind of market research went into the decision; I know I wasn't the only one grumbling.

So to Pitchfork, I say: Find a way to make the Goose Island partnership work again. By next year. This is not just a matter of taste but of the festival's image. Don't damage that because--let's face it--the image is just as important as the music.

I hope they get the message. If not, so be it. It's just beer, and it's just some music festival. Life goes on.