I Just Realized!!!

My apologies for being so....well American! I have reviewed nothing but American made beers, save for the Red Stripe, and I am sure that some of you might think I am not using the resources made available to me.

Do not worry, I have 3 Belgian beers in reserve and a couple German beers as well. Not to mention the English beers I have yet to, well, purchase, but that will come with time.

Please don't typecast me into an all local proponent of beer, because I know good beer when I see one, or can see one, depending on the amount of good beer that I have consumed. I think I am going to make a point of it to review a Trappist beer next. I have Chimay Red, White and Blue in my cellar so just wait, they are coming!

Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale

Someone once said that too much of a good thing......is a good thing. And I have to say that I agree with that person in the case of the Sweetwater folks here in Atlanta. I really enjoyed the IPA so I figured, "What the heck? If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" What I mean by that is I have some of the Trappist beers in my "beer cellar" in my garage, thanks to David with his article, Aargh! Promoting Iced Beer (check it out), but I was really impressed with the IPA so I wanted to delve a little bit further into the Sweetwater repertoire with the 420 Extra Pale Ale. And I am happy to report that the Sweetwater folks are rather consistent.

Here we go with the aroma! It has a beautiful hop and floral aroma, not as prominent as the IPA, but kind of a toned down version of it. I also noticed a bit of a malty undertone, which went nicely with this beer.

420's color was a nice pale gold, which I thought held up to its name. It seems that some of the pale ales that I have had the pleasure of sampling did not come off as looking too pale at all.

The taste is what got me, though. It has a great hop flavor to it. But it is not as prominent as the IPA, which does make sense. What I loved about this beer was the malty taste of it, it seemed to balance out the hops just right. It had a toasty afterthought as well.

Would I recommend this beer? Only if you like good beer, so....duh! I am little disappointed to see the prices of some of my favorite beers starting to inch upward, and Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale is no exception. Most of you know that it was a bad year for hops, and that is definitely going to affect the price of your favorite beers. Oh well, it won't stop me. I actually drank this with a Boston butt pork steak (don't judge me) and some canned peas. Not your greatest meal, but it flowed!

Beer-O-Meter: Solid 18 pack

Sweetwater IPA

Victory is sweet! It is even sweeter with a great beer! Perhaps the best sports experience (that I can remember) was this year's Super Bowl with the Pats and Giants. It came down to the last minutes and the underdog pulled out a "W" for the big game. Now I am not a Pats or Giants fan, per say, but I really do appreciate some good football. What made this experience more enjoyable was the presence of a half keg of Sweetwater IPA. Sweetwater Brewing Company is an Atlanta, GA. brewery that definitely lives up to its name. It was founded in 1997 and has made an impact on the beer scene throughout the country. It was voted Small Brewery of the year at the Great American Beer Festival in 2002 and has gone on to receive recognition at the World Beer Cup as well! It is primarily available in Georgia, but is branching out its distribution to the surrounding southeastern states (sorry Yanks, but you do have some other fine beers not available down here).

It is my great pleasure to start off with the aroma of this beer. It smells like a citrus-y flower blooming on a warm spring day! Mix that with a prominent hops aroma and it makes for one dandy smell, kind of like honeysuckle....only not!

If this beer were a tall blond, there would be some rubberneckers out there! It has a pleasing amber tone to it, and gives a very nice head. Use a frosty mug to catch this nectar and you will see what I mean by that. Notice that it leaves a little residue on the glass once the head has subdued, kind of makes me feel like pouring some more (and you know I will)!

And finally, we talk taste. One word: ohmygod! This is a hopheads wet dream. The hops are prominent and the citrus flavor is more than noticeable. I would also venture to say that it has a sort of toasty lingering to it. In short, it makes for one damn fine beer!

Would I recommend this beer? Recommend? I am considering forcing this beer upon people. It makes me sad that so many people will go their whole lives without ever tasting this treat. It would be like not ever tasting honey. I am pretty sure this beer would go great with about anything edible, but I just had a spinach green salad with broccoli, carrots, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and pork loin strips marinated in a honey dijon sauce, all topped with a light honey mustard dressing. It was better than my first meal after boot camp, mostly in part due to the beer.

Beer-O-Meter: 24 pack -- possible Kegger

Hop Shortage, HomeBrewers Okay

It is a sad day indeed when you start to notice the price of your favorite beer begin to rise. It is even sadder when you know that it is going to get worse before it gets better.

Now every avid beer drinker is going to be affected by the hop shortage, in one way or another...be it your beer is a little pricier, or your beer is temporarily out of stock (God save us from such a day). So now is the time to start dabbling in the art of brewing your own beer. While brewers and micro-brewers will be grossly affected by this shortage, the home brewer is going to fare a little better. Since most of us brew in five gallon batches, the price of hops for this quantitatively small batch, considering the size of the batches for most brewers and micro-brewers, will not be that much higher than normal.

I would also like to take this opportunity to point out what the Boston Beer Co. is doing to help out the "little guy." Seen Through a Glass has an excellent article on exactly what Jim Koch is doing to help out other breweries that are feeling the hop shortage. The article is Hey , Craft Brewers: Who's Your Daddy?

Kegerator Etiquette

Hypothetical Situation...Let's just say that your good buddy/next door neighbor was blessed enough to receive the holy grail of Christmas presents, a kegerator....let's just say! Your buddy is so proud of his new toy/bestest friend in the whole world and he shows it off. Good for him, you would do the same!

However, he starts to realize that everyone is going to be drinking from it and he is going to be footing the bill. He contemplates a cover charge but, realistically, that only works downtown at the topless clubs. So, being the upstanding citizen and purveyor of fine beers that you are known to be, you offer to go half and half with him for his first keg, which coincidentally, is the fountain of happiness for a rather enjoyable party centered around the Super Bowl! Good Times were had by all!

Now it is two weeks after the Super Bowl and the keg that you helped purchase is sitting in a lonely garage, not to be drank except when the partial owner feels it necessary to drink! What do you do? He does drink with you when he feels it necessary to drink, and you are grateful for the good company and good beer! But what about those nights that he slips off to bed early after too many margaritas, and you have no choice but to dip into your own stash because he closes the garage door and your are still very thirsty?

-->Thirsty in Auburn

What is an IBU?

I recently had a friend ask me what an IBU was? It stands for International Bitterness Unit. In short, it is a rating for the bitterness associated with a beer. Me being a hophead, I enjoy a higher IBU in my beer. I can't think of anything better than a Double IPA which has an even higher IBU rating on the IBU scale.

And every beer that you will drink will have a rating on the IBU scale. For instance, your lambic beers and blonde ales have a very low rating on the scale, where an irish stout has a more significant IBU rating than other beers.

It is my opinion that this has a lot to do with what beers most people will drink. If someone does not like a bitter beer, they are not going to like the IPA's or stouts, but will drink your golden ales or lagers.

Yuengling is coming to Georgia

Recently, I was talking to my store of liqour owner, asking his opinion on some beers. We were on the topic of lagers, and he mentioned Yuengling. It was like a flash of bright light lit up in my head and then it all came back to me.

While stationed at MCAS Beaufort, SC, my pals and I would frequent the downtown strip and order up a couple of Yuenglings. We would watch the boats breeze by on the Broad River and it would be nothing but smooth sailing from there on out.

So back to the conversation between my liqour store pal and me, it dawned on me that I hadn't had a Yuengling in about 3 years. So I immediately told him to show me the way. He informed me that if I want one now, I was going to have to drive to the Carolinas to get one. But do not worry, Yuengling is coming to Georgia in a couple of months!! YUENGLING IS COMING TO GEORGIA!!!!

So guess what, as soon as they are available here in Georgia, I am running out to the store and buying this incredible beer. Has anyone had one in a while? Let me know what you think!

Red Stripe

I’m gonna fight ‘em off, a 7 nation army couldn’t hold me back! Oh wait, that's White Stripe. I just finished a pint (+) of the Jamaican Lager, Red Stripe, and I got to tell you, I am fairly impressed. Most people think of Bob Marley and his pastime, not beer (think about it), when they think of Jamaica, but this beer could possibly change that image. Red Stripe was first brewed by a soft drink manufacturer, Desnoes & Geddes, Ltd., in 1928. I guess they got tired of the caffeine headaches cola causes and figured if their beverage was going to cause a headache, it will be associated with a hangover!

Okay, let’s begin with the aroma. To me, this beer has a pretty noticeable malt smell to it. And it is coupled with a faint spicy aroma as well. Malt is not my favorite smell, but Red Stripe had a decent aroma. It kind of reminds me of the smell of a spicy beer brat, which is quite delectable!

The color of the beer was a pale gold. Nothing too spectacular about it, it looked just your average lager appearance.

However, the taste of Red Stripe is what got to me. I prefer the hoppier beers, but this beer had a pleasing dry and bitter taste to it. Coupled with the malty taste of it, it made for one fine tasting beer. I think that Bob Marley would have put down the blunt just long enough to enjoy a crisp, cold Red Stripe. Also, note the high carbonation, sort of stung the tongue on the way down!

Would I recommend this beer, absolutely! I thought it was a bit pricy, but still worth it. It goes great with a slightly crispy Frank’s Foot Long and some potato chips. This beer would be perfect for a picnic on a hot August day. Because let's face it, nothing makes a hot day better than a crisp, cold lager!

Beer-O-Meter: 12 pack

Bud Light

We have all had Bud Light because we have all been to the proverbial keg party at your college roommate’s best friend from high school’s girlfriend’s brother’s house. Not the one in the military but the one that dropped out of college and works at the record shop in downtown nowhere and rooms with his hip friends who work at a different record shop in the next town over. We have all done at least one keg stand to this beer since you truly aren’t a man unless you have done one(first and last time I was talked into that). Bud Light was actually introduced in 1982 as Budweiser light. I really had no idea because I was 3 at the time and although my dad let me take a couple swigs off his bottle when my mom wasn’t looking, I had no idea what the heck I was drinking, nor did I care. All that mattered was that I thought my dad thought I was cool!

Anyway, let’s start off with the aroma, or lack-of-a-roma as some may say. I would say that it has a slight malty aroma. But nothing really stands out with the smell, it smells like a traditional light domestic lager to me. However, I will say this, that slight malty aroma does intensify after it has been sitting in your girlfriends stomach for a couple of hours and decides to make its way back up. All you can really do is hold her hair and breathe and talk like you have a really stuffed up nose (“Cub on ‘honey, one more anth leth’s get you home!” and she replies, “RRRRRRALPH!). But that’s enough of that.

The color is your traditional pale yellow. However, one thing I really enjoy about Bud Light is the head after pouring. A chimp could essentially pour you a BL because the head does not really linger that long. It will go away pretty fast and that just makes for a smoother chug..chug..chug!

And now we talk about the taste. It tastes somewhat malty to me and a little dry, which isn’t really a bad thing at all. Some of the best beers I have ever had were as dry as a well in the Mojave Desert during a sand storm. What I do enjoy is the high carbonation of BL. It sort of bites your tongue as it flows down the gullet. However, it does seem a little watery but that is probably why it is the keg of choice since most anyone will be able to drink it.

Would I recommend this beer? Sure, if you do not have a taste for the finer beers in life and are looking for a quick buzz while playing anchorman with your beer drinking buds (no pun intended). It goes really well with buffalo style chicken wings because after eating a 3 alarm at Jeffrey's Sports Bar and Grill, you are going to need lots to drink, fast, and BL will allow you to guzzle ‘till your tongue's content! Very easy to get drunk with this beer, probably because of the watered down texture, so take it slow!

Beer-O-Meter: 40 oz – Sixer, somewhere in between there.

Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale

Okay, so the name jumps out at you a little bit. It should. The founders of the brewery, George Stranahan and Richard McIntyre, were acquaintances of the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, whom we all know as Raul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. With an associate like that, Flying Dog is not a very strange name at all. In fact, legend has it, that George and Richard were backpacking through the mountains when they swear they saw a “flying dog” heading towards their campsite (flyingdogales.com). I am not sure what exactly it was that they were drinking, but I would like to sample it!

So I would like to share with you what I believe to be the all around beer: Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale. I first stumbled upon this beauty on my way home from work one day. I stopped at a brand new store of liquor in Conyers Ga, Brown’s liquor store, and found this jewel from Denver. I thought to myself, “Hmmm…..could be fun??!?” So I purchased my first ‘sixer and haven’t looked back since.

Let’s start off with the smell. The first thing that I do when I pop the top of a FDCPA, is inhale that fine mist that circles up from the tip of the bottle. It has a very fruity aroma, the kind of aroma that many college kids think would make a fine cologne, and I must say that they would probably be right. However, it might be a little difficult ‘splainin to the cops that you ain’t been drinkin!

The next thing you will notice, after pouring your FDCPA into a tall, frosty mug right out of the freezer, is the color. It has a very pleasing amber-copper color to it. This might surprise a few of you because you’d think the name says it all, with pale being in the name, but it actually looks a little bit like a Killian’s. I apologize if I have blasphemed in some of your eyes!

But what makes this beer stand out from the rest, in my eyes of course, is the exceptional taste. Like I said, it has a fruity aroma, which can be tasted mildly, but the bitter hops will blow you away. It also has a sort of toffee taste, if you will, reminding me of a good brown ale like a Newcastle. And I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t enjoy a Newcastle (except for weenies, jk, but not really)!

Would I recommend this beer? Abso-frickin-lutely! It is a wonderfully tasting beer and if you have a taste for hops, it would definitely be right up your alley. It goes great with a N.Y. Strip, some asparagus, and a baked potato with ranch dressing instead of butter!

Beer-O-Meter: 24 pack

Welcome to the Beer Gazette!

I can't think of one drink in the history of mankind that has been appreciated as much as beer. According to Wikipedia, which we all know is fact (until someone rewrites it, that is), it is the oldest and most enjoyed alcoholic beverage in the world. The ancient Egyptians first stumbled upon the delectable treat known as beer in 6000 BC. And they got so drunk they decided to build triangular shaped buildings! I don't think that there is any other drink in this world that could unite so many people in such a common and ludicrous goal. But there you have it!

Awhile back, as I took a long pull off of my Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale, I thought to myself out loud for some reason (possibly too many beers), I absolutely love the brewing concoction we affectionately refer to as suds, the brew-ha-ha, bottled sunshine...and so on and so forth. So I took it upon myself to join a brewing club started by some of the greatest minds ever to scrape their knuckles on the ground. It is called Lithonia's Finest and it truly holds up to its name.

And I can't help but wonder why everyone doesn't enjoy the fine beverage known as beer. Okay, so beer is an acquired taste. And it is probably not for everyone, which I have no problem with (more beer for me).

Now I am considered somewhat of a hophead. I enjoy the subtle nuances that too many hops bring to the table. But I also enjoy the more hearty malts. However I am not going to stick to one type of beer, but select a beer to write about at random. I think that it is best to first scour the local supermarket, for all you "mainstreamers", then branch out into the tastier treats that can only be specially ordered by your handy dandy store of liquor for a "modest" fee. But I have to write about my personal favorite first. And that would be none other than Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale!