Election Season, et al.

So things are going nuts in the beer world. NUTS, I tells you. Especially here in Massachusetts, where we are taking up a potentially very expensive ballot question next week. Specifically, a yes vote repeals the inclusion of alcohol under the MA state sales tax (which stands currently at 6.5%) if the alcohol in question has already been subjected to the MA state excise tax (which is a little more complicated). The measure was passed in 2009 as a budget-balancing measure, and supporters of the repeal have argued that it encourages drinkers, particularly those within driving distance of the New Hampshire border, to drive there to buy alcohol, since New Hampshire has no sales tax. WBUR recently did a great story that drew me to look closer at the excise tax, which is assessed by volume and alcohol content, rather than retail price. It's really low. Seriously. So I honestly don't have a problem with the sales tax being assessed on top of it, particularly if used to fund programs I don't want to see cut.

NPR just did an interesting story on Mexican Beer Dermatitis, which causes unsightly red splotches, swelling, and pain that lasts for weeks or even months. All because we have been conditioned to put a wedge of lime in our beer, and do so in places that encourage sun exposure and discourage washing the lime juice off of our hands. So basically, this is skin ceviche. Gross. I thought the Men of the Square Table disposed of this a long time ago.

Speaking of American macrolagers of dubious flavor content, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals just rejected an appeal to reinstate the antitrust lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch Inbev for, essentially, being too damn big. Interestingly, the 8th Circuit sits in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of Anheuser-Busch. Nah, it's probably nothing.

Turning to beer packaging, The Lost Abbey Brewery of Southern California has gotten a stern talking-to by the Wiccan community regarding its label for Witch's Wit, a summer Belgian-style wheat beer. The contention, as reported in the New York Times is that the label either glorifies anti-witch imagery, or promotes violence against women. I am dubious of both allegations, but particularly the latter. Wrote one protestor, “Can you imagine them showing a black person being lynched or a Jewish person going to the oven? Such images are simply not tolerated in our society anymore (thank the Goddess) and this one should not be, either.” The last documented lynching occurred in 1946 (unless you believe Clarence Thomas). The holocaust ended with liberation in 1945. Burning fell out of favor as an execution method in the 18th century. Sidenote: it was not until 1878 that it was officially classified as cruel and unusual punishment. See Wilkerson v. Utah, 99 U.S. 130 (1878). So really, I don't see the hubbub. But apparently they're going to change their label. Since I collect beer labels, if anyone out there finds a bottle of this [it's pretty out of date, being a summer beer], please let me know. :)

Finally, a useful link: How to Give Your Beer the Right Glass and a Proper Pour. Great stuff.

Good, Better, Weird.

So I've managed to find a few haunts for really interesting beer. Cambridge Wine & Spirits will even sell me a single, which is great because sometimes I want to try an interesting beer I've heard about (ahem, Dogfish Head Punkin'') but am thrilled not to have the other five sitting in my fridge for the rest of eternity. I also get a chance to find a large variety, ranging from things I've ogled on menus or old favorites I'm always happy to see again.

It's great to find Young's Double Chocolate Stout in a bottle. Usually, I'm accustomed to seeing this in cans, but bottles hold more. I'm already a huge fan of this beer. It's dark and well-roasted, with hints of malt sweetness and a deep, velvety creaminess.
The chocolate flavor came out a lot more in the bottle than in the can, and it's joined by sweet vanilla, raisin, and a curious smoothness (think Guinness, but with a lot more depth). I was reminded of a tootsie roll, and if it weren't getting so cold outside, this might go well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream floated in it.

Mussels, bread, cheese, and beer

Even better was the Ommegang Abbey Ale. We tried this with a giant pot of mussels steamed in white wine and aromatic vegetables. It's delicious, with beautiful depth of fruit, caramel, and a bit of citrus. Ommegang is a seriously strong beer (8.5% ABV), but it's a perfect bottle shared between two. The flavor is unrepentantly alcoholic, but there are a lot of additional layers on top as well: great yeast, malt, plum, and caramel round out a very rich and enjoyable glass. It's pretty aggressively carbonated, which has the effect of drying out each sip to a refreshing finish despite what was surprisingly sugary start to each sip. Ommegang is wonderfully complex, with a healthy buzz to boot. We found it to have gone really well with the celery and parsley notes of the mussels, as well as with the salty and buttery steaming liquid. It was also delicious with sauteed mushrooms and brie slathered on slices of baguette, but was rather wretched with olives. Just so's you know.

Werewolf Beer. Not good, but not bad. Lobster Lovers, to the right, is bad.

Finally, the weird. Werewolf is an offering from Lithuanian brewery Rinkuškiu Alaus Darykla. And it is, along with its sister beer, Lobster Lovers, a total gimmick beer. But given how totally crappy Lobster Lover was, I was really surprised how not-totally-crappy this was. Good really isn't a word for this beer: it's still pretty off. But unlike Lobster Lover, which was basically a 9.5% ABV combination of PBR and vodka (somebody get marketing on the phone!), Werewolf was dark, had an interesting malt flavor and some bitterness as well. It's tough to drink a whole bottle of this (the bottle had an extra neck-hanger advertisement with "8.2%!" emblazoned upon it) but it was surprisingly not crappy. Surprise food pairing: Lipton onion soup dip made with sour cream - the bitterness in the Werewolf cuts through the creaminess of the dip, while the malt accentuates the artificial caramelized sweetness of the onions. I totally bought the Lobster Lover for its ridiculous label (why yes, I read Above The Law), and now this. A quick (and haphazard) perusal of their English website mentions neither of these abominations: apparently they are for idiot Americans only.

I should mention, incidentally, The Daily Beast's list of the 50 least fattening beers. None of these beers is worth drinking. Ever. Ew.

Roast Beast

I love Fall. As a New Englander, I was raised on the magic of watching leaves turn fantastic colors and the smell of burning leaf piles across the suburban landscape. What I really love about Fall is that the lower temperatures make it less of a bummer to turn on the oven and roast. Summer grilling is fun and whatnot, but only a hearty hunk of roast beast brings back all of the warmth of home. I apologize for my absence - several large projects intruded onto my time. I won't let it happen again.

I should mention, by the way, that the warmth of home thing is a total fiction - as an Asian-American, the closest my parents got to roasting on a regular basis was, maybe, a turkey at Thanksgiving, and reheating a giant honey-baked ham for Christmas. Dad's steamed fish and a big pile of authentic chow mein - that's comfort food.

But yes, roasting. I've loved roasting things since my time in the UK, where I first made a personal friendship with my butcher and discovered that meat didn't necessarily have to come in flat slices from the supermarket. So when my girlfriend and I figured on dinner options last weekend, we decided a roast would be right to christen the season. And where there is a nice English roast (with Yorkshire pudding, natch), there must be dark English beer.

Fuller's London Porter - A delicious dark beer.

I've always been a fan of Fuller's London Pride - I find incredibly drinkable, and has been a favorite since my time in the UK. This time, I tried Fuller's London Porter, which was deliciously dark. It pours ink-black, with a very shy tan head. It's got a light aroma and a flavor of full bitterness that tastes almost of burnt sugar caramel. Its great malt foundation gives way to coffee and chocolate notes. It went beautifully with sharp cheddar, as it was like a slice of toast in beer form. Most porters are a little too smooth and sweet, but this had a very pleasant and refreshing astringency at the end of each sip. The whole package gets even better when the beer warms slightly and approaches a proper serving temperature.

Roast Dinner, with Nut Brown Ale

Of course, we ended up drinking the London Porter well before the roast itself was done, being as we are gluttons. Thankfully, we had purchased a backup in the form of a Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale. This is a prime specimen of an English brown ale, with absolutely fantastic malt flavors and wonderfully subtle bitterness. We could not have been more pleased. The yeasty ale was a perfect match with the delicious Yorkshire pudding, while the malty caramel sweetness worked as a counterpoint to the deliciously salty crust of the beef roast. I could say maybe that the peas and roasted potatoes and onions picked up the herbal grassiness of the beer, but that's total crap - it was just good eating.

Saison du Buff. Paid $3.45. Overpaid.

I should mention also that we tried a the Saison du Buff, a special beer collaboration by Stone (Escondido, CA), Dogfish Head (Rehoboth Beach, DE), and Victory (Downington, PA). A saison beer is generally low-alcohol and very refreshing, to reflect a beer that could be drunk as a mid-day refresher during the Belgian late summer harvest season without completely wrecking the imbiber, but modern Saison beers are generally around 6%, which this one was. "Buff" is an acronym, for "Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor," but for once, I wish that they had exercised some restraint. This is brewed with the haunting combination of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, but all I got was the sage. It's a cloudy golden beer, with a light fluffy head and a distinctly floral nose. The herbage comes through at the back of the nose, which is dominated by a musty passionfruit aroma and sweet citrus hop notes. Sadly, the flavor is entirely different, with a lot of sage and bitter hops. Wet sage really dominates, and it's not terribly attractive as a beer flavorant: sage is a wonderful herb, but when it's mistreated, it can smell almost moldy - that's a lot of what I tasted here. The thyme and rosemary disappear, and what's left smells like roses that have been left too long in the vase, or old lady. It's pretty gross, and I don't recommend it.

Beers with animal names

West Coast here, many apologies for the long absence my good friends and fellow beer-lovers. I started a new job last Monday and I’ve been settling in at work and had depressingly little to drink. That all changed this weekend though, as I enjoyed both the Blind Pig by Russian River Brewing Co. and the Shark Attack by Port Brewing Co. while watching my Hawkeyes beat Penn State.



First up, the Blind Pig. I must admit, I picked up the Blind Pig because it shares its name with a bar in the town where I went to law school. The Blind Pig is an IPA with 72 IBUs and 6.1% ABV. Russian River Brewing Company is one of those breweries on the West Coast whose star has been rising for a while, and with beer like this you can see why. It poured out a dusky, straw color with mild carbonation. The Blind Pig has a floral and hoppy nose. It’s fairly bitter, with lots of pine, hops, and alcohol in the mouth and a strong vegetal finish. The Blind Pig isn’t the best IPA I’ve ever had, but it was very solid, and based on it I’ll be drinking more of the Russian River Brewing Co.’s stuff in the near future.

Next up was the Shark Attack by Port Brewing Company. The Shark Attack was described on the bottle as a “double red ale,” whatever that means. It clocks in at 9% ABV and poured with a beautiful hazelnut color and nice foam. The nose is apples and ramen flavor-packet, make of that what you will. It has a very syrupy mouth feel, and tastes like cider with notes of apples, yeast, and cinnamon but ends with a bracing alcohol finish. The strong malt flavor overtakes the “hoppiness” you might expect from a red ale. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoying beer, and paired quite well with the pizza and football. The Shark Attack is definitely worth checking out for the unique taste and feel.