Days of the Beer, July 3

The beer for today is Boulder Mojo IPA.

On July 3, 1971, Jim Morrison died. He was best known as the lead singer of The Doors. He was also known as the Lizard King and Mr. Mojo Risin'.

Mr. Mojo Risin is an anagram for Jim Morrison.

It was in the song L.A. Woman, that Jim Morrison mentioned Mr. Mojo Risin'.

In the song Roadhouse Blues, Morrison displayed his love for beer, by proclaiming

Well, I woke up this morning
And I got myself a beer.
Well, I woke up this morning
And I got myself a beer.

The future's uncertain
And the end is always near.

The description of Boulder Mojo IPA is:

Mo-Jo: 1: A magic spell or charm; magical power; 2. Herbaceous ale that summons hop attacks.

Pale in color but packed with flavor, MoJo reflects the perfect balance of hop bitterness and malt character. The unique Amarillo hop adds a slight citrus flavor to an ultra-crisp dry finish.

So, get your Mojo Rising when you wake up and get a beer, and thanks for those songs that I actually like by the Doors; Jim Morrison. Here's to you.

I had this beer on March 10, 2007. It is also available on draft currently at Seven Saints.

Days of the Beer, July 2 (revisited)

Check out Smitty's blog. Chamberlain Pale Ale Revisited.

When I first tried Chamberlain Pale Ale, I made a commitment to drink it again on the anniversary of the 20th Maine’s big fight at Gettysburg. Today, I’ve done just that and I'm glad I did, because it reminds me of two things: this is an outstanding beer, and history is an amazing thing.

He picks a Date and a beer for that date, and actually managed to have the beer!

Chamberlain Pale Ale, on July 2. It's a beer match!

Beer Review, Arcadia Extra Special Bitter

Well, we made it to Radio Maria, and there was a new guy behind the bar that we didn't recognize. Chris (the normal guy) was limping around serving (he apparently hurt his leg playing softball; I said he looked like Dracula holding his cape up while dragging his leg behind). Kriddy and I didn't plan on staying there long, we were gonna go elsewhere to watch the Cubs (as RM has no tv's, we were gonna go to 7S to finish the night off and watch the game).

Kriddy started out ordering the DarkHorse Schwarzbier. I went with the Arcadia Extra Special Bitter (which may or may not be the Lake Superior ESB).

This one came out a honey color, like a gold with tints of amber. I've noticed that beers served at Radio Maria don't have a smell. This is because (sadly) the beer glass is too full (I believe). There's no room for the aroma to sit, it comes off the glass and dissipates into the air, before you have a chance to smell it. After drinking it down to a lower level it had a malty aroma. This beer didn't have much carbonation in the feel, but was somewhat drying.

The initial taste was caramel and sweet, a hint of bitter, not a massive "bitter beer face"... just a hint. It's an ESB, not an APA. It didn't have a strong hoppy taste to it, it was a well balanced malt flavor. As it warmed there was a hint of citrus. It finished very dry, and seemed to dry my lips as I drank it. the 5.5% ABV wasn't noticeable at all.

After finishing this, I went with an Arcadia Scotch Ale (I originally had one on May 8, 2007) It came out rather dark. When it was presented, I said "That's a scotch?" (the bar makes it look purple, but it was dark). This "Scotch" was as dark, but not quite as opaque as Kriddy's black bier. I thought initially it smelled of sawdust, Kriddy said grape. It felt dark, but thin (if that makes any sense... can something FEEL dark?). The taste was grape HUGE GRAPE on the front of the tongue. It also had some smoke and caramel... and is that butterscotch? In a scotch... go figure.

It stuck to the tongue like syrup, but didn't have any of the consistency of syrup, which was weird. It seemed to make my saliva thicker... almost phlegm-y. It was an ok beer. Other than having it just to say I had it, I'm not sure when I'd drink it again (at the year and 2 months rate, it'll be September of '09). I didn't realize I'd had this before, which is why I photographed it and took tasting note.

I followed that up with a beer that I thought I had before, but didn't, so no notes, and no picture. It was the Kulmbacher Eisbock. It comes in a shiny bottle. Kriddy originally asked what the beer was, and I said I didn't know, then after looking at the bottle for a second (from a distance) I thought it looked like frost, and figured it to be an Eis beer. So yay, I was right. It was malty. That's all I remember.

At some point during the evening, the Champaign Urbana Beer Club showed up. So we sat and chatted with Noah and Nancy for a while. They had just come from Jupiters, where apparently there's half price pizza after 9, and prior to that they were at Mike and Molly's, for the happy hour.

Beer Review, Cisk Extra Lager

I drank quite a bit of beer last night, and was able to review most of them. I started the night around 6 p.m. with a Cisk Extra Lager.

This one poured clear, a honey yellow, with a surprisingly resilient head. I expected it it dissipate quickly, but it stuck. It even produced a little bit of Belgian Lace. It smelled sweet, and pilsner-y. It felt fizzy and surprisingly heavy on the tongue.

It tasted sweet at first, with a little bit of bitter. It finished sour, and somewhat drying. As it warmed there were hints of caramel and maybe some butter or margarine (I can't believe it's not butter).

It wasn't that refreshing. I thought it was relatively temperate in the house, Kriddy thought it felt warm, and that surprised me that this wasn't the thirst quencher, I'd have hoped it would be. It was ok, but I think I enjoyed the can and not "extra" more.

After finishing this, we headed to our usual Tuesday starting joint of Hooters. There was no trivia, but we watched Wipeout. I started there with a bottle of Shocktop (it reminded me of dishsoap; too bad... I'm a "beer guy" with a Mohawk and if I liked it, I could probably advertise for them... :( ), then followed it up with a Boulevard Pale. Then we headed to Radio Maria.

... to be continued...

Days of the Beer, July 2

The beer for today is Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen.

On July 2, 1947, an object that the Army Air force later said was a weather balloon crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. Eyewitness accounts gave rise to speculation it might have been an alien spacecraft. The Air Force started recovery of the material on July 7. On July 8, the Roswell Army Air field issued a press release stating that they had recovered a "flying disc" from a ranch. Later that day, the commanding general stated that they had recovered a weather balloon.

The whole incident was mostly ignored for about 30 years, until Stanton Friedman interviews a guy who was involved in the recovery, who claimed there was a coverup.

As for the beer, according to the brewery,

UFO Hefeweizen is an American unfiltered wheat beer. Perhaps UFO’s initial sensory perception is also its most prominent: a cloudy golden color and a dense, frothy head. The yeast, which has not been filtered out, accounts for the cloudiness of UFO. Wheat malt tends to create a larger head than barley malt, the cereal grain most often used in brewing. When served in a traditional wheat beer glass with a lemon, UFO presents an appealing and distinctive visual image.

The aroma has a faint but clear citrus-like character. This is produced by the special yeast and accounts for the Bavarian tradition of serving hefeweizens with a lemon. The lemon accentuates the yeast’s fruity, tart fragrance. UFO has a soft mouthfeel and a refreshing, light body. The wheat malts and subtle hopping give the beer a mild, delicate flavor. UFO has a clean finish. Unlike some imported hefeweizens, UFO does not have the spicy, tropical flavors typical of European-brewed style.

The overall character is a cloudy appearance with a citrus-like aroma, light body, and clean finish. Serve with a lemon.

Harpoon is out of Boston. I had their UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen on Oct. 4, 2007.

So bust out your conspiracy theories, clean off your governmental coverup stories, and toss back a Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen.

(not my picture)

Beer Review; Hoppin Frog Silk Porter

Last night after losing two softball games by one run each (man did that suck) Kriddy and I went to Crane Alley to grab a bite, drink a beer, and watch the Cubs.

Kriddy had a Barley Island Brass Knuckles Oatmeal Stout (one of her favorite beers) and used that to wash down a turkey sammich. I wasn't as hungry, so I just had a cup of cream of carrot and celery soup. They had just ran out of 3 Floyds Gumball Head on draft, and had hooked up 3 Floyds Alpha King, so I had a pint of that. The beer went GREAT with the soup. It was almost as though they were made for one another. Kriddy didn't like the look of the soup, and was expecting to hate it; in fact she probably did dislike it, until she washed it down with the Alpha King. The soup itself looked almost like the stuff that was left at the bottom of a bucket after you get done brewing beer. It was almost as thick, and had green and orange chunks from the vegetables (it reminded me more of the gunk from when I brewed a pumpkin ale; due to the carrot). I really enjoyed the soup, but it was even better with the beer. I tried to get Kai to taste it, but he said he was allergic to carrots... and celery, so he couldn't.

After finishing the Alpha King, I ordered a Hopping Frog Silk Porter.

According to their website:

Dark, robust and silky-smooth, with many flavors of roasted, toasted and caramel malts. Porter is an old-world beer style, so popular that it helped start the industrial revolution. Taste the history.

On Ratebeer, it's in the 93rd Percentile. On Beer Advocate it rates a B+. I didn't like it as much as the others did.

It poured relatively flat, and almost looked like a soda; Kai said it looked like a flat coke. It was a little darker than a coke, but it seemed soda-y. There were some swirls of foam on top but they didn't stick around long. It smelled of grape and raisin PERIOD. All I got was wine smelling fruit.

It had no carbonation in the feel, and seemed flat, again, like a stale soda. It wasn't syrupy and seemed rather thin. It tasted of grape. There was a little chocolate, and maybe a little smoke flavor, but it seemed dominated by the vinous flavor. The label said roasty, toasty, caramelly... I got none of that.

It just wasn't that great of a beer experience for me. My notes say "I haveta drink a 22 of this?" I'm sure there are people who will like this beer, but it's not for me. Kriddy didn't like it much either. Kai was surprised by the flavor. He was going to be doing the writeup for their table-tents, and said he may have to change the description, which would help sell it. If you went in to this beer expecting an Edmund Fitzgerald, or a Gonzo, you'll be very disappointed.

I'm a HUGE fan of B.O.R.I.S the Crusher and the Hoppin Frog IPA's, so I was surprised that I didn't enjoy this one.

Days of the Beer, July 1

The beer for today is Butt Monkey Chimp Chiller Ale.

On July 1, 1858, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace both read their papers on evolution to the Linnean Society. The society is the world's premier society for the study of taxonomy and natural history. It was founded in 1788, and is based in London.

Evolution is the process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next.

The title of the joint presentation was On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. It was based on On The Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type, by Wallace and Extract from an unpublished Work on Species by Darwin.

Darwin started as a geologist, and went on a five-year voyage to learn. During that time, he investigated the transmutation of species and made his theory of natural selection in 1838. It wasn't until 1858, when Wallace sent him an essay with a similar theory, that they both published their theories on July 1.

Wallace did his work in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago. His biggest contributions to evolutionary theory was the concept of warning coloration in animals and the Wallace effect (which seems to have something to do with exchange of genes).

As for the beer: I had it March 3, 2007 at 11:15 a.m. I have no idea how I acquired the bottle. I don't remember it being too horrible. But there are some pretty nasty reviews of it.

Beer Advocate has it as a C-. Rate Beer has it as a 5th percentile.

So, if Darwin and Wallace are correct, and this beer wants to survive, it's going to have to shed some of the undesirable traits and develop some new ones. Maybe someday this bad monkey beer will evolve into a good human beer. We'll only have to wait millions of years for that to happen.