Leinenkugel’s – Red Lager
After multiple recommendations from at least three people, I've decided to give Leinenkugel's a shot. All they had at the supermarket was their Red Ale, so thats what I've got for today. I personally would say its more of an amber color, but I suppose I can see some red in there. Flavor wise, I'd say its a bit more bitter than most of the stuff I normally drink. That bitterness is actually most of the flavor I get out of this one. I suppose it reminds me of a slightly stronger bass ale, which kinda makes me want to try and make a 'black and tan' with it. If you've never had a 'black and tan' by the way, you need to get off your lazy, callow ass and go order one from your favorite drinkery.
Honestly there's really not a whole lot else to say. This isn't a bad choice, it just wouldn't be my first ... or second ... or really even fifth. Actually i can think of about 10 - 15 beers I'd rather have than this. But don't let that dissuade you, I think you should expand your pallet and taste as many beers as possible. Though I recommend sticking with one or maybe two in a sitting, that way you can really get to know them before moving on.
Also, on a side note, I've recently discovered the benefits of rudely slurping. I think I listed to a radio show a while ago where some coffee and tea tasters slurped their respective beverages in order to create a mist in their mouth allowing it to hit all their taste buds at once without overwhelming them. This might get you some dirty looks in a bar, but if you're drinking alone (go ahead, I won't judge you) then i say slurp away if its a new beer. You'd be surprised how much more flavor you experience.
Anywho, this unexciting bitter red lager scores around a 4.8
Ommegang – Ommegeddon
So I decided to take my own advice and gradually make my way through everything Ommegang offers. I actually went to the store today planning on purchasing "Three Philosophers" by these guys, but instead I bought a nice big bottle of Ommegeddon. Why did I forgo philosophic enlightenment to try something that sounds like it may bring about the apocalypses? Well because the picture on the label is of a nuke going off and because it also calls itself "funkhouse ale". I mean just the nuke would've sold me, but the "funkhouse" on top of that just seals the deal. And don't you dare tell me some crap about not judging a beer by it's label, what the hell else am I supposed to judge it by if I can't pop it open and taste it in the store? I mean, if I do that I'd probably get arrested. Are you trying to get me arrested? Asshole.
Anyway part of what I love about Ommegang brews is that you can cellar them! Just like wine, only better cause it's beer! I don't have a cellared collection at the moment as I'm planning on moving back to New England soon, but once I settle down I plan on starting a nice beer cellar. And you can bet Ommegang will be the predominant brewery represented in there. I don't think I've actually written anything about this beer in particular yet, so here goes:
Ommegeddon has a bit of a bite to it, but not too harsh. If you don't expect it, it can be a little weird at first, but it gets a lot milder sip after sip (maybe that has something to do with the 8% ALC/VOL). If you look at the side of the bottle, they've explained a little about the ingredients that went into this creation: They say it's "a Belgian-style ale with a twist; a dose of Brettanomyces yeast, and a blast of dry-hopping." They claim that this process begot the name "Ommegeddon", which represents the time when the forces of light and dark will battle for domination of the world. This almost brings a tear to my eye. Its like poetry in a bottle.
So after reading that, those of you who don't brew beer may ask yourself; what's "dry-hopping"? I'm glad you asked that. Dry-hopping is simply adding hops at a different point in the brewing process. Thats not to say that they don't also add hops at the normal time (while boiling the wort), they just add more hops once the wort has cooled. The point of "dry-hopping" is that you can add a whole lot more flavor to your brew since a lot of oils in your hops are not boiled off in the process of making the wort. The trade off is that this is going to add that bit of bite we've got here in Ommegeddon, but like I said, its not overpowering.
Well I'm going to leave it at that and go enjoy the rest of my pint of Ommegeddon, which gets a 7.5 by the way.
