Fourth of July

Amidst the cacophony of booms, pops, whistles, and explosions I was being lulled to sleep by the gentle hum of my Off! Clip-On.  Occasionally I would hear the jazz music escaping from my aging cell phone or the untimely death of an insect on my neighbor's bug zapper.  I was sitting on my deck enjoying the best the people of Crown Point had to offer in terms of fireworks purchases.  Watching thousands of dollars explode against the blackening night sky drowning out the stars I slowly sipped away at my Michelob Golden Draft.

This weekend, most of you probably threw and/or attended a wonderful summer cookout honoring the birth of our country.  And I'm assuming that most of these events included this blog's favorite beverage of choice.  I encountered a wide array during my weekend travels and found myself drinking the old standby more than anything else.  As it is more readily available to quench the thirst of the masses it was hardly a surprise.

Along the way I got to sit down and enjoy Hoppin' Frog's Fresh Hop IPA.  It was fantastic.  The color, just a little south of orange, and the aroma of fresh citrus fruit made it inviting on the 93 degree day.  The ale was smooth with only a slight hint of bitterness.  I probably liked it so much because the hop flavor was very muted.

I ended the weekend with the aforementioned Michelob Golden Draft.  My love affair with this beer cannot really be explained, mostly because I don't remember how it started.  This brew is not available in my area and has almost become seasonal in nature.  A very good friend of mine goes to Minnesota every June and picks me up a case every time.  I know it is available in the western suburbs of Chicago, but it isn't exactly a beer worth traveling for.  It is reminiscent of MGD or Budweiser but somehow just a little better.  In the past the best part about this beer was the can.  It was ribbed for his and her pleasure.  Maybe that's where the love affair began.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and was safe and sound.  If so inclined, please share your beer experience so I can be on the lookout for new brews to try.

Milk Stout

Brewer: Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont, Colorado
Alcohol Content: 6%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Dark and delicious, America's great milk stout will change your perception about what a stout can be. Preconceived notions are the blinders on the road to enlightenment. Udderly delightful."

Wilk's Take:
As I am a sucker for a good stout, I couldn't help but grab this bottle for my six pack variety pack.  It has been sitting in my refrigerator for a good, long while as I've been busy getting the house in order from all things construction.  The worst part is, I had been anxiously waiting for the right time to crack open this brew.  Milk stouts have become more and more popular with the advance of craft beers and they make a great dessert.  After a night of homemade pizza, I figured it would be perfect.

Left Hand did me wrong with TNT.  I was expecting great things with this offering and I was not disappointed.  The stout poured beautifully into my usual pint glass, which I discovered is not quite a pint.  The black hue was inviting and the liquid was far from thick.  As I drew in a deep breath my sense of smell detected an odor bordering on rubbing alcohol hidden beneath the milky bitterness of the beer.  It was sickeningly sweet in a way.

My first draw of the Milk Stout was so smooth and creamy.  A sweet undertone gave way to an intense coffee aftertaste that was further followed by the initial milkiness.  The sensation was phenomenal and kept the glass tilted at a 45 degree angle near my lips.

Left Hand has won me back with the delicious Milk Stout.  It indeed was the perfect dessert beer to cap off my night and I am looking forward to stocking my fridge with a couple bottles.

Suggestion: Add this to your stout collection without hesitation.  Even if you aren't a fan of dark beers you will be pleasantly surprised by the rich, creaminess that Milk Stout has to offer.  If you don't like coffee, avoid the black aftertaste.

Value: Part of my $2/bottle variety pack.  Well worth it.  Smooth, delicious, and 6%.

Michelle Factor:  Michelle grimaced upon taking her sip of Milk Stout thanks to the intense coffee flavor on the back end.  After a minute she discovered the milkiness underneath but was still not impressed.

Oberon Ale

Brewer: Bell's Brewery, Galesburg, Michigan
Alcohol Content: 5.8%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Bell's Oberon is a wheat ale fermented with Bell's signature house ale yeast, mixing a spicy hop character with mildly fruity aromas.  The addition of wheat malt lends a smooth mouthfeel, making it a classic summer beer."

Wilk's Take:
Bell's Brewery is one of the better known microbreweries in my neck of the woods.  I have had pints of Bell's Oberon before and already knew it to be a summer seasonal brew.  My encounters in the past in no way prepared me for this experience as my pints came straight from the bar.  Pouring Oberon out of a bottle was new to me.

There was nothing overly dramatic about pouring the beer into the glass.  Oberon is a darker shade of yellow than a pale ale or lager but equally transparent in appearance.  The worrisome thing in the glass to me were little flakes that were dancing precariously amongst the little bubbles of carbonation.  I have never seen anything like it before.  I'm wondering again if I've encountered a bad beer.  Maybe it's bottle conditioned and this is the result.  Not quite sure.

Oberon smells a little like a wheat beer.  The graininess that most wheats throw at you is very low-key with this brew.  There is no hop aroma either.  I was missing everything Bell's was telling me was there.  Then again, I hadn't tasted the beer yet either.  When I did I enjoyed it.  The bubbly liquid played beautifully on the tongue and the taste was crisp and refreshing.

Bell's certainly does not "wow" you with anything flashy in Oberon but it delivers what it promises: "a classic summer beer."  This can easily be in the cooler on the deck or on the table behind the grill and yield a clean, crisp "ahhhh" after consumption.

Suggestion: Bell's Oberon has always been a hit with the crowds I run with and I can't say I blame any of them.  If you just finished mowing your lawn in 90 degree heat, grab a Bell's Oberon and you won't be disappointed.

Value: This was still part of my variety pack so the bottle went for $2.  That's a great deal as the micro brew price tag would follow you into the bar.  Grab a six pack and I'm sure the per bottle price drops even more.  There is value to it because you don't want to stop at just one.

Michelle Factor:  I asked Michelle to take a drink and she politely declined.  If the past is any indication she would not have favored this beer.

Father's Day Southern Tier Trifecta

Special thanks to my brother Adrian for providing the three above beers to complement the Father's Day meal I had prepared.  He makes an annual trek to Western New York and always comes back with a full supply of Southern Tier brews.  After the so-so Porter that Southern Tier provided he was determined to prove the quality of the Southern Tier brand.  I'll play along.  Who can turn down free beer?

The Big Red is a nice Imperial Red Ale.  Certainly it poured like a red with a beautiful color that sit nicely in both of our glasses.  The big hop aroma attacked my nose and I knew this was a beer not to be messed with.  That really doesn't mean anything.  The beer was smooth and had a nice array of bitterness.  Southern Tier took great pride in the type of hop used for this beer.  They add a dry hop step to their brewing process akin to Sam Adams and their lager.  This beer was definitely better.  At 9% it also packed a punch.

The Farmer's Tan is an Imperial Pale Lager.  Now, I think it is silly to throw the word "Imperial" before any beer type, much like it's silly to throw the word "Senior" in front of a job title.  Miller Lite is a pale lager; ok, technically a light lager.  The only thing that Farmer's Tan has over Miller Lite is twice the alcohol and a heavier taste.  Now, it may have been the burger I was eating that affected this beer, but it was not good.

Finally we ended the evening splitting the Back Burner, a nice barleywine style ale.  It was good.  One thing in this trifecta is that Southern Tier loves their hops.  Back Burner had a subtle pineapple aroma and flavor that allowed the hops to be tempered so that the beer was palatable.  Much like the other beers, the alcohol content was around 9-10%.

Overall a good showing by Southern Tier.  2 out of 3 is not bad.  I'm hoping my brother can score the beer that they only offer the locals.  Hopefully they bottle it or he can grab a bomber at the pub.

Four Horsemen

Brewer: Mishawaka Brewing Company, Mishawaka, Indiana
Alcohol Content: Unknown

Official Description from Brewer:
None

Wilk's Take:
Sadly, in all my time at Notre Dame I never once made it to the Mishawaka Brewing Company's brewpub.  That will stay that way forever as the pub closed in December 2008 with the owners mostly laying the blame on a smoking ban and the recessing economy.  The brewery was to remain open with operations being moved to Elkhart.  It seems however, that the company is defunct or soon will be.  My research led me to discover that all the equipment was for sale.  This may be my only encounter with a brewery that was virtually in the backyard.

When I took the cap off the bottle I heard absolutely nothing but the clinking of the cap on my counter top.  I was nervous.  The ever inviting "pfft" that comes from opening a capped bottle was missing in action and I thought I may have encountered a previously unsealed beer.  I poured it however and discovered zero carbonation.  My worries continued as I raised the liquid to my nose and whiffed nothing but sour, almost rusty scent.  The copper brew in the glass was anything but my notion of an Irish Red.

My first sip of Four Horsemen was awful.  I was reminded of the sour beer I had in Newport with a distinct sour cherry taste to it.  Fear spread quickly, worried that my beer had spoiled somehow.  I took to my guys at Beer Advocate to see if my taste buds were experiencing exactly what they should.  I was missing a lot, but then as I read more reviews I decided the beer probably was intended to taste this way.  That didn't bode well for the beer.

The beer was missing hops.  I'm sure they were there, but there was no bitterness to speak of but that didn't make the brew any smoother.  Four Horsemen tastes like it was made with well water out of decaying copper piping.  The sour was a huge turn off to me and I barreled through the glass like a champion just so I can say I finished it.  In the end I regretted grabbing the bottle off the shelf.  Maybe it was good that I never went to the brewpub, it might have been a wasted trip.

Suggestion: Avoid it.  No need to spend money on a beer that you might not even be able to find any more.

Value: The $2 I spent on this bottle would have served me better if I bought a bomber of Natural Ice.

Michelle Factor:  Lack of bitterness and distinct beer flavor made Michelle actually enjoy this beer.  "I could definitely drink this."

Flossmoor Station Restaurant and Brewery

Ah the lunchtime beer.  Away from the stressful work day, for most just not for me these days, you kick back with a cold pint and wash your worries away with a frosty lager or ale.  Luckily, I was joined by some of the finest people on the planet and sat on the patio of Flossmoor Restaurant and Brewery and soaked in the best weather of the day discussing how great life was at the moment.

While dining with Brett at Three Floyd's some weeks back the bartender received a gift from his friends in Flossmoor.  Naturally, it perked my interest and I determined that I must visit a local brew for the sake of the blog naturally.  So I called up Brett and we dragged our wives to lunch to sample what Flossmoor had to offer.

The food was phenomenal.  I'm hardly surprised.  You have to assume that if someone takes the time to prepare a good beer they probably take the time to prepare good food.  Of course, we are here to talk about the beer.

From their available menu I selected three beers and grabbed a seasonal rye.  The rye was up first.  It was bold and had a hint of hop to it and was generally refreshing.  From there I really messed with my taste buds I ventured into their Panama Red Ale.  My affinity for ambers led me to hop heaven here.  Flossmoor describes Panama Red as "hoppy, robust yet smooth amber" and they are not lying.  It was great and went well with my meal.

I asked the server what the Flossmoor flagship beer was and she mentioned their IPA, but then told me they sell more of their Zephyr Golden Ale.  This is because it is the closest thing that resembles Miller Lite or Bud Light and apparently some less than adventurous patrons visit their brewpub than I would have thought.  The Golden is not very tasty.  The flavor is just a notch above those American lagers.

I finished with the Iron Horse Stout.  It is an oat stout that looked like motor oil, as it should, and tasted like pure magic, as it should.  I am certainly embellishing here.  As I've mentioned before when you have the best company the beer tastes that much better.

Stone IPA

Brewer: Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, California
Alcohol Content: 6.9%

Official Description from Brewer:
"To say that this gem of an IPA is "hoppy" would be putting it modestly --- and modesty is definitely not one of our strong suits.  Big hop flavor and big hop aroma.  What about hop bitterness you ask?  You bet!  We loaded glorious amounts of crisp and refreshing hop bitterness into this brew.  First the aroma delights, then the flavor moves us to rejoice aloud!  In fact it makes us feel downright poetic.   We hope it does for you too!"

Wilk's Take:
First and foremost, my apologies for the bad picture.  My photography skills are far from professional and I need some lesson in proper lighting.  Secondly, my first experience with Stone IPA came in the trek west.  It is the Todd's favorite beer and he keeps it in stock in his house.  I drank his Tecate before I ventured into the bottle of the IPA.  My memory of that encounter is a good one, but it could be the environment I was in and not so much the beer.

Stone has an issue with either hypocrisy or bipolar disorder, I'm not sure which yet.  Their Sublimely Self-Righteous talks about humility leading up to the eventually braggadocio, whereas the IPA just thrusts the boastfulness front and center.  I stress the importance of the description because it guides the drinker to a certain expectation.  Stone isn't entirely wrong in how they describe the IPA.  It certainly is crisp and has really intense hop aroma.  Rejoicing aloud?  Not so much.

Stone IPA pours invitingly.  The ale resembles the memory foam under my bed sheets in color and consistency.  It is cloudy, but it shouldn't put anyone off.  Remember, the Todd commented on the difference of west coast and Midwest hops.  The west coast hop tends to be grassy and grainy, whereas the Midwest hop flows more of citrus.  The IPA is bitter and crisp, yet seems to lack in refreshment.

Suggestion:  My IPA bias may be showing it's ugly head.  It is hop heavy and bitter but because it doesn't feel refreshing, I won't be stocking my fridge with it soon.  But, the Todd would tell you otherwise.

Value:  My 12oz bottle came in a variety pack of craft beers and came out to about $2.  I'll never turn down a $2 bottle of beer, so the value is right.  With the alcohol content, it's better than drinking a light lager.

Michelle Factor:  Michelle just finished four 12 hour shifts and clocked out before I could offer her a drink.  I'm telling you though, she's a hop head so let's say she'd like it, well at least she won't hate it.

Fresh Hop

Brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver, Colorado
Alcohol Content: 6.1%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Fresh Hop Pale Ale is brewed with fresh, whole cone hops from the Pacific Northwest.  We ship these 'wet' hops to Denver overnight and brew shortly after harvest, imparting an intensely grassy hop aroma and citrus hop flavor in a medium-bodied ale."

Wilk's Take:
For any purist reading this blog I realize that I poured a pale ale into a Guinness glass.  Behold, the world did not come to an end.  Regardless of the vessel I choose the beer tastes the same.  I do not worship at the beer glassware altar, at least not yet.

I love Great Divide.  I am never hesitant to heap praise on their beers.  Then I met Fresh Hop.  Great Divide description of the beer is pretty spot on.  I poured the ale specifically to avoid developing any head per Bamforth's suggestion.  I inhaled the aroma deeply and could barely make out the citrus from the hops but the grassy scent was very prominent.  The color was a beautiful dark orange but the liquid was cloudy.

Fresh Hop was smooth.  You could probably take down a glass in less than three minutes and not even realize it.  The taste was very blah, for lack of a description.  I wasn't impressed, nor was I necessarily disappointed.  I could not differentiate the taste of Fresh Hop from any other pale ale I've met in the past.  At 55 IBUs I was surprised to find that the only bite to the beer came in the aftertaste.  Then, only then did my taste buds take notice.

Suggestion: Eh, don't go out of your way to get Fresh Hop.  If you're a hop head you'll be sorely disappointed.  If you like a standard pale ale, feel free.

Value: Fresh Hop is brewed from October-December.  As a seasonal beer the price was $9 for a 22oz bomber.  I see no value as I can get Sierra Nevada Pale Ale any day of the week cheaper and I think it tastes better.

Michelle Factor:  Michelle wasn't impressed either.  She really did not care for the bitter aftertaste.  In her words, "that makes it distinctly beer."  To be honest, that means it wasn't hoppy enough.  I think the extra hops in Double-Wide created the sweetness that she was fond of.  Maybe Michelle is a hop head in disguise.  No wonder she hates porters and stouts!

"Beer is Proof God Loves Us"

Over 200 years of Chinese telephone has left many a historian crediting so-called famous words to some famous people.  If you are like me, you love pulling this gem from Benjamin Franklin out at your local watering hole to describe your love of beer and the approval of your love of beer by the Almighty.  If you are like me you will be disappointed to find out that Ben never said those words.  The quote in its entirety from a letter to the French economist Andre Morellet:

"Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy."

The usage of the quote here is the title of a book by Charles Bamforth with a subtitle of "Reaching for the Soul of Beer and Brewing."  Bamforth is a professor of beer.  I am not kidding.  He actually teaches classes related to beer brewing at UC Davis.  For years he worked for Bass and Anheuser Busch as a brewer.  The book is semi-autobiographical and also talks about the science of brewing.

I was excited when I first found this book because I was expecting a mutual desire for beer.  He loves beer, but not in the way you might think.  Bamforth contends that big brewers such as Busch and Miller are the excellence in beer brewing.  To be consistent in the quality of the beer outweighs the actual beer itself.  That's not to say Busch and Miller beers are bad, but they are distinctly mass produced.  Bamforth finds fault in the nuances of beer whereas I find it endearing.

Bamforth compares the American craft beer movement to his days visiting English pubs and relishing in the variety offered in England prior to the destruction of the beer industry at the hands of Margaret Thatcher.  He praises the likes of Charlie Papazian, father of the home brew movement, and especially lauds Ken Grossman and his creation of Sierra Nevada.  Ken Grossman for his obsession with quality control and environmental soundness and Charlie Papazian for the love of beer.  But he continues to relish in American lagers and the continuity of the big brew beers.

The book is a little disappointing.  Bamforth sets out to find the soul of beer and brewing and in the end admits that he would prefer to drink whiskey over beer.  His prowess at brewing beer and determining proper taste is simply a means to an end that he's built his career on.  There are only two takeaways from this book that I will remember forever: 1.) Cascade hops create the grapefruit scent in the IPAs; 2.) Foam in a beer is created from the pour of the beer and nothing else.  It is a byproduct only of consumption and does not occur naturally in beer; therefore why do we obsess over it?

Instead of trying to read someone else's search for the soul of beer, let's continue our journey together.

Double-Wide India Pale Ale

Brewer: Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, Missouri
Alcohol Content: 8.5%

Official Description from Brewer:
"The classic India Pale Ale is a traveler's beer, aggressively hopped to withstand the long, hot ocean voyage to the British East Indies.  Our Double-Wide I.P.A. also travels well, and is right at home in the most exotic ports of call of the Midwest.  While this modern-day prairie schooner may not resemble a graceful sailing sloop, our liberal hopping regimen does make her virtually 'twister-proof,'  Keep some in the cellar to enjoy while waiting for the all clear to sound."

Wilk's Take:
I promised you IPA, so here is an IPA.  I'm a perpetual fan of the corked beer.  Boulevard lured me in with this 750 mL bottle and the special Smokestack Series moniker.  You have to forgive my hesitation with hop beers.  Even after the wonderful trip out west and my introduction to some wonderful bitterness, I still approach IPAs with trepidation.

Double-Wide poured miserably.  It could be the fresh uncorking, it could be that I was rushed to enjoy a beer.  I was patient.  Titled my glass at a 45 and then straightened out at the half-way point.  This must have been my critical error because as you can see from the picture above half the glass was head.  The other half of the glass in the picture does not offer a true depiction of the liquid below.  It was a cloudy, rusty liquid that one might expect to extract from a sponge after wiping down a brass bar.  Not appealing to the eyes at all.  The head after the pour never disappeared.  From first sip to last gulp there was a continuous layer of foam residing at the top of my beer.

Hops are fickle in their taste.  Without researching the IBUs on this brew, you can tell that it probably hovers above 50.  For the sake of writing this I'm not going to look for the IBUs either.  The worst mistake I made with this beer is to actually let it sit on my tongue for longer than a heartbeat.  If you let Double-Wide linger and your breath warms the liquid you are left with the foulest, sourest taste you can imagine.  To then swallow the drink is a mark of intestinal fortitude.  When I walked away from that method however, it was a good beer to drink.

I was trying very hard to label the aroma I discovered when inhaling Double-Wide deeply after the pour.  I came up with an odd mixture of grapefruit, as I do in all IPAs, and believe it or not, citronella.  My first glass of Double-Wide was awful.  As I took drink after drink I was reminded of awful summer nights as a kid when I sprayed so much insect repellent on myself that I could taste it well into the night.  I feared that I might do the unthinkable and actually pour out the rest of the beer.  I quickly came to my senses and poured another glass.  Glasses two and three (remember 750mL) were a much more enjoyable experience.  Maybe the beer had time to breathe.  Either way, the bottle conditioned beer left some sediment at the bottom of glass number three.  Not unbearable, but a little disconcerting.

Suggestion:  If you are a hop head, drink with pleasure.  I'm sure this beer is right up your alley.  If you haven't ventured far from your safety beer, start smaller than this one.

Value: At $8 for a 750mL bottle and a nice 8.5% alcohol content you'll get your money's worth.  If you don't like hoppy beer, don't spend the money.

Michelle Factor:  For the first time ever, Michelle actually went for a second serving!!!  Considering this is a dramatic difference from the beers I thrust upon her in the past I was expecting a distinct difference in taste for her.  She indicated that the after taste lingers in the nose and mouth and you continue to taste the beer in the back of your throat long after you've swallowed it.  The after taste sold it.  Her first swallow led to the infamous Keystone Light bitter beer face of marketing campaigns long ago, but after a while she said that the taste was almost sweet and that the lingering beer on her palate made her crave more.  Of course, knowing the effect of actually consuming the beer was bad, she passed on a full glass.