CS Booze Club.

[Jester]

Waiting on my friends to get their shit together (and for Neets' mother to arrive to babysit my seven year old niece), figured I'd post about some other beers I've tried this trip.

At the Atlanta airport waiting for my connection to Phoenix, faced with limited options, I figured "why not?" and tried a Michelob Original Lager. The color is the typical pale yellow of American lagers. However, the nose is slightly sweet and honeyish. The taste is not spectacular, but is good, and the beer does have a decent body. Surprisingly, this is not typical American macrobrew swill. It's good for a hot day, but not overly memorable....but of course is an excellent alternative to the typical BuMiCo. I give it slightly above average 5.5.

Back on the home front last night, Golf Boy and I picked up some beer for the three of us to enjoy (Bear had been put to bed), and included in the soiree were two was one none of us had tried before. (Well, we bought three new ones, but only tried one last night, in addition to some Samuel Adams Black Lagers, which are always great.) Last night's new beverage was Sunset Amber from Grand Canyon Brewing. It was dark reddish amber, a noticeable bit darker than the typical amber. A subtle, bitey, but interesting amber-esque nose was followed up by a rather nice amber; while it was slightly sweet, it still had the characteristic amber bite. Tasty and drinkable, this was a not-great-but-pretty-good amber option. Score it a 6.

Better than the Miller Lite I had...

Well, we would hope so!

[Jester]

Today's theme is "happy accident." We've all had this happen, where something happened that was totally unintended or unplanned, and it ended up working out extremely well.

Today's happy accident involved a bar.

Yes, I know. Shocking.

In any case, I was meeting a friend in Tempe, and she had picked the complex, and suggested I pick one of the bars within said complex, the theory being that I am from Tempe and should know these things more than her, as she lives in north Phoenix.

Of course, the problem with that logic is that this particular shopping complex is relatively new, and was built after I had been in Key West for quite some time. And I had only ever been there once or twice....about as many times as she had, actually. But, since I was going there to get some booze for the weekend fun with the family anyway, I figured, "why not?" I get to said shopping complex, and seeing a bar I had wanted to try previously just a couple doors down from the liquor store I was heading to, texted my friend and told her to meet me there. Went in to the liquor store, found everything I needed, came out, walked down two doors to the selected bar....only to find out it would not open for another 90 minutes.

Well, fuck.

I looked around. A chain bar/restaurant. Meh. Another chain bar/restaurant. More meh. So I took a small stroll....and found a pub that I had never heard of. So, even if it's a chain, it was something new. Looked decent enough--and more importantly it was actually OPEN--so texted my friend with the new rendezvous point.

And what a happy accident this turned out to be. This bar that I had never heard of, and never been to, had over FIFTY beers on draft, the vast majority of them craft beers (they only had Miller Lite in bottles, for example!), they did beer sample flights, and happy hour was just about to kick off.

Well, spank me with a wet noodle and call me Bertha...this was my kind of place!

Following are reviews of some of the beers I tried there. And I tried only the ones I had never heard of...which of their 50+ offerings, there were only five I had never tried (or even heard of), 4 of which I tried. (I MAY have had one of them before, not completely certain, but the other 3, certainly not.)

Devil's Ale (5.5% ABV), from San Tan Brewing (Chandler, AZ): Amber brown in color and translucent, Devil's Ale has a slightly hoppy, slightly caramel nose. And a nice amber bite. This is a quality amber. Bitey, but drinkable and very tasty. If I had to compare it to another beer, I would say it is sort of like an Abita Amber on steroids. Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Nimbus Nut Brown Ale (5.0% ABV), from Nimbus Brewing (Tucson, AZ). While I have heard of San Tan and Papago (see below), and may have once tried the Devil's Ale, I had never even HEARD of Nimbus. Of course, since they are a Tuscon brewery, and probably don't have as much distribution in the Phoenix area as the others, that is not all that surprising. Dark brown with ruby red highlights, this beer is almost (but not quite) opaque. The nose is malty with a hint of coffee (although my companion thought it was a lot more coffee-ish than that, but as with many things, individual impressions on beer will vary). I should point out that the coffee note is rather unusual for a nut brown. I know I have never known a nut brown to veer into that particular area before. The body of this beer is a bit thin, but the flavor more than makes up for it, as it is spectacular. Malty, as nut browns should be, with a hint of coffee, making it happily unusual. Score it an 8.

Elsie's Irish Coffee Stout (5.5% ABV), Papago Brewing (Scottsdale, AZ): The color is, to put it simply, black on black. The nose is VERY predominantly coffee, more than most stouts I've had. (The beer menu said that this beer is made with Irish cream-soaked coffee beans, incidentally.) This immediately raised a red flag with me, as while I like SOME coffee notes in my beers, I don't really like coffee itself, and too much of this flavor can really ruin a beer for me. And while this beer is somewhat tasty, that is exactly what happened...it was too damn coffee-ish for me. Coffee fans will probably love it. I myself did not. I score it a 4, but can see others like it more, and admit that if I was not so anti-coffee, I probably would have scored it closer to 6.

NOTE: Most of you will notice, as my bartender did, that my three beer flight above happened to be an all-Arizona flight. This was not intentional, and I didn't even notice this at first (I had no idea Nimbus was an Arizona brewery), but the fact is I had tried just about everything else on their beer menu (other than some IPA's, which generally don't appeal to me. The good news is that this shows that Arizona is a serious craft beer state. The bad news is that I don't think any of these are available outside of Arizona, which means if these sound good to you but you ain't here, you're screwed.

A couple other things I sampled:

Wyder's Dry Pear Cider (4.5% ABV). Wyder's is listed as being from Canada, but is apparently made in Vermont under contract to the parent company, based in Vancouver. Which means a lot of you can probably get it if you aren't in the desert. I always thought Woodchuck Pear Cider was really light in color, but Wyder's takes it a step further, as this stuff was as clear as water or vodka. Honestly, if someone put a glass of this down in front of you, you would think it WAS water. Astounding clarity, really. The nose is smooth, sweet, and peary. The taste mirrors the nose, being smooth, tasty, peary, and sweet, but with a nice slightly sour or tart counterpunch. My companion LOVED this, and downed a couple pints of it. I score it a 7, but I suspect she would have scored it even higher. One of the better ciders I've ever had.

Czech Style Pilsner (5.3% ABV), Lagunitas Brewing (Petalumas, California): light amber in color, with a lightly honeyed nose. The taste of sweet honey is very forward on the taste, but it had what was to me an unpleasantly bitter finish that pretty much ruined it for me. This was one of the bartender's favorite beers, but it just didn't do it for me. 4, but would have been higher if that aftertaste wasn't there.

So, Jester, if we are in the Phoenix area and want to sample this wonderful pub, what's it called and where do I find it? Well, my friends, this was the Thirsty Lion Pub, in Tempe Market Place, on McClintock between the 202 Freeway and University Boulevard. Helluva place, with really good food, too. Ask for Kalee at the bar. She is awesome.

[Jester]

So I stayed at home tonight, working on some dishes for the family gathering this weekend at the parents' house. It was....interesting.

The black bean and corn salsa went fine...until I realized I had forgotten to buy the jar of medium salsa that goes in it. It was tempting to use some of the HUGE VAT of picante sauce my friends have here, but it just seemed to thin and not chunky enough for me. And as it is normally constituted, this dish is a winner. So...I'll get the salsa at some point and add it in. Of course, had I not delayed and procrastinated once I got home, I would have realized this sooner, and gone out and gotten the jar of salsa. But....whatever. Another thing I would have gotten is a can opener that freakin' works for my friends. They have two...they both suck great big donkey balls. I am going to buy them a new one, just because they NEED one.

The pasta salad went swimmingly well. Made some on the fly modifications, but overall, no complaints.

And then I got to the chilled asparagus and green bean platter. I had planned to cook them, chill them, and serve them with a sauce drizzled over them and some lovely cotija cheese (Mexican parmesan, basically) sprinkled over them. First, I completely (and incompetently) butchered the sauce. Chances are I'll just make something on the fly at Mom's, or see if my sister The Witch has any suggestions. And after that debacle, and because I have to wake up somewhat early in the morning, and because I still had to clean up Neets' and Golf Boy's kitchen, I said "Bag this!" and stopped bothering with the asparagus and beans, and stuffed them back in the fridge, to be dealt with Saturday.

Grr...so frustrated. So, of course, it's TIME FOR A NEW BEER! (You knew this was leading somewhere, right?)

Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Oregon). It pours blacker than a starless night, but not as thick as some beers this dark. A nice creamy head appears on top. The nose is an interesting blend of malt, cocoa, coffee, chocolate, and probably one or two other things I'm missing. The taste is classic porter. A bit heavier on the coffee than the other flavors I mentioned, but it is all there, smooth, dark, roasty, and yummy. Yes, the coffee is evident, but now as I dive further into this beer, I am getting more of a roasted malt as well. I have had better porters...but not a lot of them. My only complaint is it is a bit thin in body for a porter. 7.5.

(Note on pronunciation: The name of the brewery, at least as far as I've always heard it from the bartenders who serve their beers, is pronounced "duh shoots." For those not familiar with small mountains out here in the west, butte is pronounced "beaut." As in the word beauty without the final y.)

[blas]

What I've been doing lately is once every couple of weeks, I stop by the liquor store after work and visit the giant shelf of the sample sized bottles (or, shot sized, I should say, each bottle has one "shot" of whatever you want. Literally, anything you can think of).

I always get Kahlua, sometimes I get Baileys and Skyy Vodka, and the last time, I bought one called Kinky Liquor (fruit vodka distilled 5x). That one I will probably save to mix with an orange soda or a juice of some kind.

My favorite is making a shake/malt with ice cream, choc syrup and milk, and adding Kahlua. You can add Baileys and vodka if you want, but I found to recreate the mudslides I love at Applebees so much, they only add Kahlua.

[Dilorenzo]

I do need to get back to the buying the good beer thing. Things have been so screwed up lately I haven't even had the energy for that.

I even sank so low as to buy a six pack of Genesee. It... certainly wasn't as bad as I was expecting, which is the best you can say for $0.50 a can.

[KiaKat]

I haven't been posting because I've been tasting... professionally.

Before you think it's all fun and games, at my last tasting I tried over 100 different wines from 9 different countries. By the end of the day, my tongue had gone numb.

But I met some of my winemaking idols. Totally worth it.

On Wednesday, I go to another distributor's portfolio tasting. Should be interesting...

[Jester]

The Holy Grail.

There comes a time in just about everyone's life where they are seeking something they've heard about, but it is either so rare, so expensive, or so seemingly mythical that they don't believe they will ever find it. Oftentimes they don't. But every now and then, they do. Rarely does the Holy Grail live up to the person's expectations. But every now and then, it does.

I am about to find out if this is one of those moments.

Yes, this is a thread about booze. But I am a drinker, and more to the point, a lover of fine beers. (Fine rums too, but that is not what this is about.) And there is a beer that exists that I've heard rumors about for a few months now. Even before I heard about it, I dreamed of a similar concoction. And when I actually started to hear about it, I thought it was mere rumor, a myth, a bedtime story that brewers told their children and their children's children. And lo and behold, I recently found out that it did exist. It was real. This was not the Easter Bunny, it was not a leprechaun, it was not an honest politician or a clean and sober Lindsay Lohan. This was REAL!

And wonder of wonders, it founds its way to my little out-of-the-way island, where we often cannot get such wonders, and are limited to what the Distributor Overlords will send down US1 to our humble little drinking village. It even found its way to one of my favorite bars. And I found out about this happy event....when I was 2600 miles away.

What to do? I left a message on Facebook with the bar's owner (whom I know) to save me one, but he never got back to me. I had no idea how many of these he had, nor if he would be getting any more in. Sometimes, such things go, never to return. And if you miss the opportunity to snatch it, much like Keyzer Soze....poof...it's gone.

But fortune smiled upon this young beer aficionado, for a couple I am friends with who frequent that bar messaged that they were there to try that beer, and invited me to join them. When informed I was in the desert, they offered to purchase one for me and have it awaiting my return.

And so it came to pass that I sit here now, typing this in anticipation of a beer that I have long hoped for, and finally have in my possession. There are many craft beers that I have bought before this still awaiting my attention in my refrigerator, but when you receive that which you have so long sought, you do not bother yourself with such details.

By now you are probably wondering what is so special about this beer? When you hear the name, you will understand, my friends. You will understand.

The beer in question, this Grail I have so long sought for, which I believed to be but myth, rumor, and fantasy, which is now in my possession, was brewed by Rogue Ales and is.....

Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale.

I'll say that again.

Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale.

Yes, the very idea makes my head swim too. A bacon beer? Better yet, a bacon maple doughnut beer? The Beer Gods have been smoking something weird, methinks, and yet something wonderful as well. I knew as soon as I heard about this beer that I had to have it. It would be mine. Oh yes...it WOULD be mine.

Of course, with that kind of introduction, disappointment seems inevitable.

Let's find out together.

First I should point out the packaging. It comes in a large bomber size bottle, which itself is not that odd...other than the fact that the bottle is bright pink. Pepto Bismol pink. Doughnut frosting pink. Yes, THAT pink.

The appearance of the beer itself is not that unusual. A dark brown honey in color, it looks promising.

The nose is pure maple doughnut. I should point out that, in addition to being an avid lover of both beer and bacon, my favorite kind of doughnut is maple-glazed. And there is no mistaking the blatant maple aroma coming out of my glass.

Quite honestly, my mouth is watering. So now, onward, to either glorious rapture or crushing disappointment.

Interesting.

While I was told about this, I didn't expect it. It is very....smoky.

VERY smoky.

Which you don't get at all on the nose.

Better taste it again for further review.

Smoky bacon-ness with a hint of sweet. Like, say, when you might dip your bacon in your maple syrup during a pancake breakfast. But the sweetness goes away much faster here, and leaves you with a lot of smoke on your palate. Not unpleasantly so...but it takes a bit of adjustment.

What's that? By Hops, you're right. I SHOULD taste it some more to further unlock its mysteries.

This is by far the most unique beer I have ever had.

It is not the best beer I've ever had. I've had much better, much richer, much more refined beer.

It is also not the weirdest beer I've ever had. I've had some strange concoctions, my friends. Some of them were clearly the result of minds gone mad.

But this is the most unique. Not just because of the flavor profile, which is clearly a result of a brewer's acid trip with Johnny Depp. But because this odd flavor profile, this oversmoked liquid Dali painting of a brew actually....works.

Not everyone will like it. My one friend did not. But I do.

It is strange. And weird. And inspiring. And dreadful. And bizarre. And wonderful. And confusing. And, well, TASTY.

I had hoped for more balance in the flavors. In that I was disappointed. But despite that, despite the lack of utter rapture from having finally tasted this beer, I have to say I am pretty damn well impressed.

Clearly this is not an everyday beer. Not even a regular beer. But it is an occasional beer. One that would work well with, oh, I dunno...pancakes and bacon perhaps. Don't laugh...it wouldn't even be close to my first breakfast beer. (Beer goes well with eggs. Really!)

In the end, this is a beer that does not take itself too seriously, as so many beers do. And I have had some "serious" smoked beers that not only failed, they failed miserably. Luckily for them, I cannot remember their names at the moment. (But they know who they are.) It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it just has some quirky honest playground FUN.

And in the end, isn't that what beer is supposed to be about? Fun? It is for me. I love fun and whimsy and silliness. Why else would I have had the nickname Jester for the last 20+ years? Why else would I be known as the guy who sticks strips of bacon in his Bloody Marys? (Besides the fact that that really does work.) Why else would I get paid to get people drunk, as I do as a bartender? To get paid to make people laugh, as I do as a magician?

This is the most fun beer I've ever had, and consequently, the most fun beer review I've ever done. This beer will probably not win awards, conquer nations, or rescue the damsel in distress. It will, however, heckle the awards ceremony, toilet paper the national monuments, and give the princess a noogie.

Normally in these reviews, I score the beers on a scale of 10. And I could well give it a score of 8.75985455489 on that scale. But such a mundane rating system seems just too boring for this beer. So I have to do things a bit differently today. On the Pac-Man bonus fruit scale, this thing is a Q-bert.

"But Jester....Q-bert had nothing to do with Pac-Man!"

Precisely.

And on that note, I can think of no better beer than to drink as I go read Gravekeeper's last official work post. Fun for fun!

[Divra]

I work as a bartender, and make my own liqueurs and flavored spirits. It's kind of ironic, considering the fact that I haven't drunk alcohol in over two years. I still love my job, and I love my hobby. My friends laugh at me, but I like to say that some people by model plane kits, put them together, paint them and show them off to their friends. I do the same thing, but my medium is booze.

My piece de resistánce is a rhubarb and cinnamon liqueur, which has achieved near legendary status in my hometown. Approximately 25% ABV and no "bite" whatsoever. Just a smooth, fruity and slightly spicy flavour.

[Jester]

When I first read that you made your own liqueurs, I cringed at the possibilities. Then I read what your masterpiece (so far) was, and I thought, "Wow, that sounds very, very tasty!" I look forward to trying it one day!

[Jester]

So two things going on in my drinking life.

1. A regular at The Bar, who I've known a while, told me a while back that her boyfriend belongs to a beer of the month club, wherein he receives a mixed twelve pack each month of craft beers. Well, he doesn't always like all of them, and they pile up in their fridge, and she wanted to know if I would take them off their hands.

Free craft beer? Well, oookaaaayy...if you INSIST.

Anyway, this conversation went back and forth for weeks, with her saying she'd drop the beers off at my house, and my saying I'd have no problem swinging by to pick them up. Why this back and forth? I live in New Town, but work in Old Town (downtown). She lives in Old Town, literally walking distance from my bar, but works in New Town, just minutes from my apartment. And she kept meaning to bring them by my apartment, but what she apparently forgot was she works a Monday to Friday job, and my schedule is also Monday to Friday. Meaning we both have weekends off. Meaning I am never at my apartment when she is working. (She has an office job, not a bar job.) But the other day she was in the bar with her friend, another regular (and former bartender at my bar), and said she wanted to drop the beer off at The Bar, but knew I usually rode my bike to work. Now, I am going to be getting a large basket attached to the back of my bike, which will make such things easier, but at the moment getting 12 bottles of beer home 3.5 miles on my bike, not that easy. (I would DO it of course, but it would be a pain.) I told her that I would be more than happy to drive back downtown with my truck to pick up the beers after I got home. Oh no, she didn't want to make me bike all the way home only to drive back downtown.

At which point both her friend and I were looking at her with a look. I'm sorry, but you're giving me free craft beer. I am pretty sure I don't mind one bit making a little effort to come get them. After all, you're giving me free craft beer.

So I biked home, got in my truck, got to her place, and got the beer. And made it abundantly clear that anytime she wanted more space in her fridge, I'd be MORE than happy to help clear out the excess craft beer. At which point she asked if I wanted to help her clean out extra lasagne and such, as she often made too much. Duh...I was pretty much raised on Italian food, which I told her. Free craft beer? Free homemade lasagne? Um, DUH? Sign me up!

So I was familiar with two of the beers (four bottles total), but the other 3-5 beers (comprising 8 bottles) are completely new to me, and WILL be getting reviews. And most of them seem to be my kind of beer, too!

2. For a while now I've been seeing those mini-kegs in the stores, ya know, the kind that fit in your fridge and are about the size of cinder blocks? Yeah, those. Well, usually I see Heineken (which I despise), but I have also seen some others, and today for the hell of it, I picked up one of those mini-kegs of Newcastle Brown Ale. Basically five liters of draft Newcastle in my fridge. I was curious how it would be, as I have had Newcastle in both bottle and draft form in the bars, and wondered how the mini-keg beer would taste.

Well, while the directions are rather confusing, once I got the beer tapped, it's pretty tasty, if a bit foamier than the Newcastle I am normally used to. And the tap drips a bit after each pour, but a simple wipe with a paper towel seems to clear that up. I kind of like this idea, pouring draft beer in my house without investing in a Keg-erator. And this one pours from the top, without needing to tilt it (like a regular keg), though I have seen others, such as Spaten Premium, where you tap the keg from the bottom, like you would a drink cooler.

All in all, I am a fan.

[Jester]

Suggestion if you get one of those mini-kegs of beer: make sure you don't somehow completely miss the glass and send a long stream of beer right onto your kitchen floor. Not that I would know anything about doing something that utterly stupid....

[fireheart]

I've been reading the posts and the first thing I did after reading about Bacon beer was look it up.

Aaaaaaand nowhere in Australia carries it *pouts*.

[Jester]

It's hard enough to find in the U.S. Is any of Rogue's line even available in Australia? If it is, hopefully the Voodoo will eventually make it to Oz. If not....well....don't know what to tell you. But I DO know that Voodoo is NOT the only beer involving bacon. I've heard tell of others.....

[dalesys]

... send a long stream of beer right onto your kitchen floor...

The positive side is that the floor has been licked clean...

[Jester]

No. No it hasn't. While I love beer, even if my kitchen floor were spotless--and it's not--I would not lick beer off the floor. I may not have many standards, but I do have SOME.

And it's not just because I still had a full mini-keg of Newcastle in my fridge, PLUS plenty of craft beer in my fridge and pantry. If that were my very last beer, I STILL would not have licked it up off the floor.

I mean, we all know I love beer....but let's not get carried away here!