Sunday, March 13, 2011

Beering on a Diet

Warning - Beer - Not a low calorie beverage.

As well it shouldn't be.

As a man that is dieting but also loves his beer, I have made a decision.   The decision is that I will sacrifice my calories from food so that I can enjoy a good quality brew on most days.  Coors Light and the ever popular Bud Light (which kind of blows my mind) are only good if your goal is to get loaded pretty heavily, but no self respecting beer drinker should be caught dead drinking them at your Neighborhood Applebee's with dinner.

96% of your "light" beers not only cut the calories from their nectar, but cuts the flavor.  If you do not believe me, do a side by side comparison for yourself.  You can do this with any beer that has a light counterpart.  You will have trouble, though, finding a light beer from your favorite craft brewery, because they know as well as I do.  Beer was made to be enjoyed.  Beer was not made to be worried about.  It is to be loved and cherished.  Avoid light beer as much as you can.  Until Wednesday Drink On Beer Drinker.  Drink On!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Taste of Smell

I know. I know...

I said I was going to do a double review last weekend and I didn't.  Granted.  On Wednesday of last week I didn't realize I was going to get attacked by a wicked cold.  Not Winning.  So a week has passed and I can now taste again and so I wanted to share with you a new brew (to me) introduced to me by my co-wort Josh Follweiler.  From the Great Lakes Brewery the "Elliot Ness" Amber Lager drinks very much like an amber ale, but has a surprise when you delve further into it.

Pouring it you you get super nice coloring with the head an inviting cream color and a clear deep amber, almost brown, brew. Appearance is definitely the best category at a 4 out of 5.

The nose of the beer is faint.  Since it is a lager, Josh and I had the brew chilled.  The malts shared little of their aroma and the Noble hops smelled a bit floral.  No yeast came through.  However when the beer got a chance to warm a bit in the glass, the malt's biscuity and toasty character began to come to the forefront of the nose.  Aroma 8 out of 15.

The taste of the beer is a bit misleading.  With the roasty character of the malts, I expected a subtle sweetness with some big roasty notes, but unfortunately it was not to be.  The front of the taste was weaker than expected  The Noble hops did their job giving a crisp bitterness on the backside of the taste.  The alcohol added to the flavor nicely, but the damage had been done.  Again, as the beer warmed more of the nutty notes came through. The taste score is the downfall of the brew - 17 out of 25

The feel of the lager was nice.  Somewhat creamy with slight round carbonation lent itself to a nice medium bodied feel.  The finish was not as clean as I would have expected with the advertisement of the Noble hops.  3 out of 5.

The beer looked and tasted like an amber ale, but the beer as a lager left me needing more.  Total score 32 out of 50.



As we go forward, I am going to pick up some nice spring seasonals to review so you know what to pick up and what to avoid as the mercury starts to climb.  In the mean time check out past reviews to get your fix.  Thanks to Mr. Follweiller for his recommendation.  And for now, Drink on Beer Drinker.  Drink ON!!!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Beer on a Budget

First my soapbox and then to the goodies:  I am an educator.  I am a 2nd Year Educator.  That means I am low man on the totem pole, but my lack of experience by no means reflects a lack of quality (above quality to tell you the truth) teaching.  And because I am a young teacher, I am first to go when budget cuts start to pull teachers jobs.  Scary!!  We are also under paid, and in Anna's efforts to find ways to save money, I said I would give up my TV as long as she let me have my beer.  And that got me thinking, how well will I do with living on a beer budget. 

I am going to try to keep it to a six pack every two weeks.  And my thoughts when I made this decision was, "What the HELL AM I THINKING?"  And like Charlie Sheen, I had to convince myself that I am "bi-winning."  In my first effort to save money, I tried to maximize my beer tastings while keeping to my "six-pack" limit.  At my local Harris Teeter (closest and best beer selection) I checked prices first.  I then compared equally priced beers, and then checked my preference list and found my oasis. 

I purchased a sixer of Natty Greene's Buckshot, replacing two of the bottles with Highland Brewery Gaelic Ale.  I know, "But Randy, you aren't supporting Highland by purchasing the triad brew :("  I am calling shenanigans!!!  If I review the two beers, you good people are going to out and buy the beer (if it is worth a damn) and thus more support for both small breweries.  Don't give me that moral brow beating.  Life is about beer drinking.  They will get their dollar.

In an effort to repay my debt, this weekend will be a double review.  Both these breweries will get their just rewards and you will get the quality feed back you have come to appreciate from this blog.  Also I am beginning to acquire the equipment to begin my home brewing excursion.  If you know anyone with hand-me-down home brewing equipment, have them shoot me an email or comment on this blog.  Check back on Saturday afternoon to get a boss-review of the Highland Gaelic Ale and on Sunday a fresh review will be posted of the Buckshot from here in G-Boro.

In the mean time, WHAT DO YOU DRINK ON A BUDGET?  And as always, Drink On, Beer Drinker.  Drink On.