Days of the Beer, September 8

The Beer for today is Great Lakes Moondog ESB.

On September 8, 1999, Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin) died. He was a composer, musician, poet and instrument inventor. Moondog was blind and chose to live on the streets of New York for 20 years.

From the late 1940s until 1974, Moondog was a street musician and poet in New York. He was famed for his viking clothing that he wore, including a horned helmet.

Moondog's music has been released from 1953's Moondog and His Friends; to 2005's Bracelli und Moondog. A track performed by him "Stamping Ground" can be found on The Big Lebowski Soundtrack, track 7.

The beer wasn't named for Moondog the musician, but for the Moondog Coronation Ball (March 21, 1952) but there's already a beer planned for that day.

About the beer:

Extra Special Bitter: Originated in Britain in the 1700s, the term "bitter" always means pale or translucent in British terms. This style is also referred to as a session beer because its lower alcohol content allows one to consume more in a session.
Named after the 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball held at the Cleveland Arena, what many consider the first "rock and roll" concert.

So go get an Extra Special Bitter for an extra special blind musician, "The Viking of 6th Avenue".

Days of the Beer, September 7

The beer for today is Sweetwater Road Trip.

On September 7, 1864, during the American Civil War, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered the city of Atlanta Georgia to be evacuated.

You might remember, Atlanta wasn't a very large city at the beginning of the Civil War, with a population of just under 10,000. It was an important city that was a rail hub connecting several other cities with the sea.

On September 2, 1864, the mayor of Atlanta and some other pro-union citizens surrendered the city to Sherman. Sherman made his headquarters in the city on September 7, and ordered the civilians in Atlanta to evacuate. They occupied the city for several months, then ordered it burned to the ground on November 11 (more on this in the future, I'm guessing).

Sweetwater Brewery is located in Atlanta.

Road trips are carefree adventures that usually take unexpected twists, like when we created this beer. It started out as a Pilsner recipe, but halfway through it blew a tire and Ale yeast was put on as the spare. The result was so good, it never could have been planned!

So, in honor/memory, ridicule of those Atlantan's who were ordered evacuated and put on a Road Trip, have yourself a Sweetwater Road Trip.

Beer Reviews, Nils Oscar Kalasöl; New Glarus Smoke on the Porter

Last night, had two beers that were new to me, the first was New Glarus Unplugged Smoke on the Porter.

This beer was outstanding. It poured dark brown, and looked porter-y. It had light brown foam, that clung around for a while. It smelled like cooking bratwurst on the grill. It felt thick, from the bubbles, but not effervescent (the bubbles didn't pop). It was really kinda thick. It tasted smokey, and meaty.

It was a great beer, really good with a cheese quesadilla.

The second beer was Nils Oscar Kalasöl. This beer poured amber to light brown. It had a decent head that was clingy. It smelled of toasted malt, with maybe a little soap.

It felt thin and fizzy, and tasted spiced, with some vegetable. It was soapy, malty, salty and birrery and tart.

I didn't really enjoy this beer, it wasn't for me. The more I drank it the more I liked it, but it still wasn't the one for me. I could probably enjoy it after a 6 pack, but I don't have that kind of time.

Here's what the brewer has to say:

This beer has its orgin in the Bavarian beer type 'festbier' or 'oktoberfestbier'. Like 'festbier' and 'vienna style beer', Nils Oscar Kalasöl is of a somewhat darker type. The Nils Oscar kalasöl is produced with both münchenermalt, dark caramelmalt, chocolatmalt and some roasted barley. The choice of hops is a mix of four kinds where the most characteristic are brittish fuggles, american cascade and czech saaz.

It´s a rounded beer with a mildly roasted breadish character. It can be recommended together with heavy foods. like joints of roast meat, spicy stews and broiled meat.

Oddly, I was thinking vienna lager. Of the two (or four review today) I think the New Glarus was my favorite. I hate to grade beers, because that's so much on perspective, but the Smoke on the Porter was way better than the others.

The NG I got from Jay. The Nils Oscar I got from West Lakeview Liquor. The last two, I got at Crane Alley.

Beer Review, t Smisje Catherine The Great Imperial Stout

Prior to having the Cuvee Alex le Rouge, I had a t'Smis'je Catherine the Great Imperial Stout. This one is by De Rogenboorg in Brugge Belgium. It clocks in at 10% ABV.

This one looks pretty in that picture, but I assure you, the picture doesn't do it justice. This beer isn't an imperial stout. It's hardly a brown in color. It comes in the same kind of bottle as gulden draak. It's not black, it looks brown, as you can see, there's a decent amount of head. It pours very thin, and you can see through it.

It smells vegetably, there's no hops or malt in the nose. It felt thin, but also warm, due to the alcohol. 10% wasn't hidden in this one, like in the Alex the rouge. It tasted bitter. I was looking for some sort of familiar imperial stout flavor, like chocolate, coffee, vanilla, but none of that was there. It's got some tea, and some toasted bread, maybe some raisin... but nothing that makes me think Imperial Stout.

As I drank this I thought, If I made this beer, I couldn't call it a stout, let alone an Imperial Stout, hell, I couldn't call it a porter.

This would have gone better if it was called a winter warmer. It was more of a spiced beer than a stout. This was not the beer for me.

Beer Review BFM Jurassian Imperial Stout La Cuvée Alex le Rouge

La Cuvée Alex le Rouge is by Brasserie Des Franches Montagnes, in Switzerland.

Before we begin, here's the description:

Silver medal at Soleure's extreme beer fest 2007. An extreme black beer whose nose goes toward pepper, vanilla, ashes, tobacco and fresh hops. It reaches the palate all in softness, but quickly becomes intensely bitter, though not very dry. Long and satisfying finish.
This Cuvée was created in the honor of the Jurrassian revolutionist Alex Le Rouge. Enjoy this wonderful Cuvée at about 10°-12° Celsius (50°-53°F), with a crunch of bitter Chocolate or a Cigar. Cuvée Alex Le Rouge can be sequestrated for a few years in a cellar. Ingredients: water, barley malts, hops, cane sugar, yeast, Serawak pepper, Russia tea, Bourbon vanilla.

From their website:

Médaille d’argent aux Concours suisse des bières extrêmes, Soleure 2007.

Cette cuvée est une Jurassian Imperial Stout, une bière extrême
couleur ébène, mousse café au lait, nez partagé entre des notes poivrées,
vanillées, empyreumatiques et de houblon frais. Au palais, son attaque douce
fait vite place à une amertume, puissante sans être sèche, qui intensifie
les arômes de bouche. Finale légèrement brûlante et très longue.

Après plusieurs années de garde, cette cuvée limitée se dégustera
avec un bon cigare.

Lets see what beer words we know... medal... swiss, extreme beer 2007.. black beer... vanilla... Palate .. bouquet.. keeping... cigar.

ok... so that's most of the stuff from above. whoo hoo, I almost know French... so what do I think of this beer?

Yes, it was black, it had a dark brown head. The bubbles looked like big pieces of pepper. The bottle is very cool, a short grolsch style (I kept the capper). I smelled, well, complex, there was some vegetal smell (mostly) also some chocolate and coffee, the pepper and vanilla wasn't in the smell. It felt thin, it didn't burn like a 10.276% ABV beer would/should.

It did have a little alcohol taste. But also a lot of the vegetable (which is normally celery) flavor. It had a little of the pepper flavor, alont with some vanillay. As it warmed, there was a little cherry tartness in the flavor. It says it was brewed with pepper, but I get more of a pepper spice in many hefeweizen beers.

All in all, it wasn't that great of a beer. It was better than the one I had before it (see above), but still wasn't that great. If I didn't go in expecting Imperial Stout, I might have enjoyed it more. Damn those expectations!!!

This beer is available at Crane Alley. If you are interested.

Days of the Beer, September 6

The beer for today is Ale Asylum Hopalicious Pale Ale.

On September 6, 1976, Soviet Air Force pilot Lt. Viktor Belenko landed his MiG-25 in Hakodate, Japan. U.S. president Gerald Ford offered Belenko asylum, and a trust fund was set up for him. The U.S. interrogated him for 5 months, and then employed him as a consultant for years after.

His plane was disassembled, and examined then returned to the U.S.S.R. in thirty crates. Belenko did bring a manual, however the Japanese government didn't allow the U.S. to keep the plane, or fly it. They only allowed ground tests of the radar and engines.

As for the beer:

Eleven separate additions of cascade hops give this American pale ale its lush citrus aroma and bold hop flavor without crazy bitterness.

Ale Asylum is a brewery in Madison, Wisconsin. I've been there twice, the first on our May Beer Crawl, the second we parked there and rode the bus to the Great Taste of the Midwest. Kriddy and I split a pint of this beer before we got on the bus. The beer is available in 6 packs around Madison and Milwaukee, and it is on draft in many places around there also.

So, if you are like Lt. Viktor Belenko, and are seeking Ale Asylum, you'll have to go to Madison or Milwaukee.

Ale Asylum does not have a Russian Imperial Stout in their lineup, so you will be able to escape Russian Tyranny there.

The Session #19 Deutsches Bier

Those wacky Germans.

You probably already know my feelings on the German Purity Law, Rob even linked to it. So I won't go back into it, EXCEPT...

My favorite style of German beer is Weizen, or wheat beer. I really like weizens, hefe- kristal- berliner- dunkel-... I dig them all, but just plain old everyday hefeweizens are my favorite Germanic Beer.

One of my favorites is Hacker Pschorr. My buddy Jim's newest favorite beer is Konig Ludwig. He discovered he liked weizens at Elevator Brewery in Columbus, Ohio. He never really noticed the light banana flavor before, and fell in love with their Heifer-wiezen. The last time we were in C-bus, we went to a bar named Bodega that had Konig Ludwig on draft, so he had one of those and fell in love. He hasn't been able to find that one near his home, so he's been traveling nearly a 100 mile round trip to Springfield, Il to purchase 6 packs of it. That's love. I remember back when Billy Barooz in C-U had Konig Ludwig on draft... then it got replaced by Blue Moon, I cried.

Since there's a lot of love going on, let me say I hate having these great beers fruited. The essence of the beer is in the nose, these beers have clove, banana, and other spices in the smell, that when a lemon or orange wedge is put down turns the beer into orange juice (it also kills the head). Most people around here, wouldn't know that there's banana or clove in them, as it's all been killed by the fruit. (But I digress into pet peeves; more on why I hate the reinheitsgebot!)

Wheat beer (my favorite style of German beer) doesn't really fit into the law. Barley, Hops, Water (yeast) no where is wheat allowed. Except... the reinheitsgebot's 4 ingredients only cover lagers; wheat beers are normally ales. So there you go.

The Session is a monthly event for the beer blogging community which was started by Stan Hieronymus at Appellation Beer. On the first Friday of each month, all participating bloggers write about a predetermined topic. Each month a different blog is chosen to host The Session, choose the topic, and post a roundup of all the responses received. For more info on The Session, check out the Brookston Beer Bulletin’s nice archive page.