Chimay Ale – Blue
The beautiful thing about having a beer blog is that if I'm bored, I can drink and call it work! Even if I'm alone! And its not pathetic! Well maybe a little, but we're all a little pathetic...
But I digress. On to the Beer! And what a beer!!! I actually lied in my last post, I did leave one of the four beers I bought today to chance, and this is that beer. Over the past few years I've heard a lot of people talk about this stuff, but I never actually got around to trying it. That's partially due to the cost. This stuff isn't cheap! I think I paid $4.50 for an 11oz bottle in the supermarket. Anyway, this is easily the most complex beer I've had on this blog to date. Just the aroma makes my mouth water. My wine knowledge base is a bit lacking, but after decanting this it smells like a sweet desert wine. Its by no means a refreshing sort of beer you'd want to sit by the pool and drink on a hot summer day, but something about it makes it perfect for a brisk evening in front of a fire. Unlike some other beers I've had (I'm looking at you, Moe's Backroom Lager), Chimay starts off strong with an alluring smell and follows up with an equally full flavor. I feel that at this point I should stress that this is not the type of beer one should binge on. Grab yourself some vitamin P for something like that (Pabst Blue Ribbon - tastes a little better than piss, and it gets the job done on a budget). I feel like if I tried to pound one of these, or followed it up with a shot or three, I'd be making a few visits to the throne in short order. Like I said, this is a sipping beer. RESPECT IT, DAMN IT! After all, you paid almost $5 bucks for this dinky little bottle, make it last more than a few minutes.
Ok enough on how to drink it. Although one last tip may be not to overchill this stuff. Treat it almost like a dry red wine. Have it a bit chilled if you must, but let it approach room temperature. When you chill a beer, you really lose a lot of the flavor in it. Now I'm not completely opposed to that. After all, an awful lot of American beer could use a little flavor masking. But when you want to taste all there is to taste in a beer, room temperature is the way to go.
Alright I'm done telling you how to drink. But if you pour one of these into a frosted mug, so help me God I will find you....
Alright so this entry is getting a little on the long and preachy side so I think I'll call it here.
Simply put, this stuff tastes amazing. If you're looking for something to sit back and enjoy, maybe with a sweet tipped cigar, this is your beer. Notice I used the singular "beer". Enjoy one, after two I think you'll probably start to lose your appreciation for it.
Sorry Boddington's you've been trumped. Chimay Blue gets a 9.2 (rhyming is intentional)
St. Peter’s – English Ale
So I've decided to try and go for a decent beer streak. And to do this, I've also decided to cheat and buy several beers I already know I like. In this case, my chosen beer is St. Peter's English Ale. It's a little hard to find, but it's well worth the effort once you get your hands on one. This is by far one of the most refreshing beers I've ever had. It has a very distinct, almost mildly skunky flavor at first, but it soon fades and finishes very smoothly. Which is weird I suppose, since most beer starts smooth and finishes a bit on the bitter side. Other than that there's really not a whole lot thats incredibly unique about this ale, aside from the fact that it's brewed with all the right proportions for the perfect amount of time. And with just the right amount of carbonation to tickle your tongue (shut up I'm not gay; its an apt phrase in this case) St. Peter really hit the ball out of the park on this one.
So with nothing incredibly special about this beer, save it's incredible deliciousness, it gets a 7.8
Boddingtons – Pub Ale
One of my all time favorites. If you've never had a Boddington's , go out right now and buy one. I don't care if it's 8:30am and you're at work, take an early lunch and go get one. Tell your boss I said its ok. I'll write you a note if I have to. This stuff is like drinking velvet, only its liquid and won't make you pass out when it exits though you're pee hole. If you love a bubbly beer, this stuff may not be for you. When you pop it open, the little doohicky inside releases compressed air into the ale which is supposed to mimic the 'hand pulled' method used in old English Pubs (I got that off the back of the can). This essentially just mixes air with the ale as it pours from a tap. There's really no carbonation to speak of once its settled in your glass, but it really is a thing of beauty. I sometimes describe this as a lighter relative to Guinness.
The ale itself is thick and creamy, with an even thicker head. Taste wise, its very hard to describe. Its a very neutral flavor; neither bitter nor sweet. Maybe something like a cream soda, but with no sugar or carbonation. Its really just perfect. Almost the exact opposite of "Moe's Backroom Lager".
I almost feel unworthy to assign this a rating. In a way, a beer like this transcends numerical values ... but in another way it gets a 9
Tap Room No. 21 – Moe’s Backroom Lager
So I went to the grocery store today and decided that since I write a beer blog, why not buy some beer? Makes sense, right? I thought so too. Anyway this place didn't have a very good selection, but they still had some stuff I hadn't had before. So after a few minutes of browsing, I settled on Moe's Backroom Lager by Tap Room No 21. Why did I decide to go with this particular brand? Well for one, the top of the bottle has a little tag line about celebrating the repeal of prohibition in 1933, and I thought hell, prohibition must have sucked. I'm glad I didn't have to go through it. Maybe I'll buy this beer.
But anyway, on to the tasting.
The most noticeable thing about this beer by far is the odor. Not in a bad way, mind you. It actually smells like a hard cider, or maybe even a bit like a sweet white wine. So with my mouth watering in anticipation of a full spectrum of sweet and spicy flavors I took my first sip, and was immediately let down. I was really hoping to break my recent string of bad reviews, but I guess I shouldn't have left it to chance. This beer sucks. Plain and simple. This is the manifestation of piss poor American beer. It's weak, watery and all around flavorless. Perhaps it really is a throw back to what people brewed in backrooms during prohibition; making beer with whatever they could find. Adding in cheap hops and supplementing with rice and anything else they could find that ferments. I can't even finish this stuff. I'm gonna go dump it out and get something to clear that taste out of my mouth. This stuff gets a 0.5
Shame on you, Tap Room No. 21
Samuel Adams – Cranberry Lambic
So as I've said in the past, I'm not a fan of frilly extras in my beer. On the other hand, I'm a big fan of wheat beer. So what Sam Adams has essentially done in this case is take the eternal struggle between good and evil, and bottle it. And as one might expect, evil smells bad. Upon decanting this liquefied conflict, one is struck by a pungent odor. This is no doubt the result of rotting fruit ruining a perfectly good wheat beer. As it turns out, that foul odor is simply an extension of a foul taste. Its actually not terrible as long as you block your nose and swallow immediately. God forbid you let this potion come in contact with the sour receptors on the outside edges of your tongue, cause this stuff gets a whole lot worse.
So as I sit here writing this, I can't help but wonder; "what the hell is lambic"? You might be wondering the same thing. A little research tells us that a Lambic is actually a very distinct type of beer originally from a difficult to pronounce region in Belgium. What makes this type of beer quite unique is the fact that it is the result of spontaneous fermentation. So instead of carefully monitoring how much and what type of yeast goes into the wort, the lazy ass brewers of a lambic leave it exposed to the open air and pray that God grants it an immaculate fermentation. I suspect that in this case, the brewers also encouraged raccoons to swim in the wort by adding rotten meat to the mix while it sat waiting to receive it's divine yeast. Apparently this odd fermentation process is what gives this beer its uniquely sour aftertaste. Why anyone would intentionally go for this is beyond me.
So all in all, this stuff isn't too bad as long as you drink it quick and don't let it touch the edges of your tongue (seriously). It may also help to drink a few decent brews before diving into one of these.
So to my new lambic companion (at least until i pee you out); you get a 2