New Beers Resolutions - 2011

Instead of putting out my beer & blog related resolutions this year, I thought I'd just take a moment to reflect on some favorite beer related things that went down in 2011. Maybe I'll get to the resolutions later, although I prefer to only make empty promises to myself instead of the public at large.

This New Years Eve I find myself rocking a night alone at home, sporting a party dress (with sweatpants underneath for warmth and fashion reasons, obviously) and enjoying some beers that I feel represent (in one way or another) the theme of my night.

First round tonight is the Ridgeway Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout. Not only is this beer super delicious but the description alone would pique anyone's interest:

"Yet another bummed-out holiday? Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout is liquid consolation. It's a deep, rich, sweetly rewarding stout to take the edge off of that grim family gathering, that cheerless annual festival of alienation. This brew is as dark as it gets, as black as the lump of coal you'll be getting for Christmas. Because, let's face it, you've been pretty bad this year."

It's got a sweet, spicy nose to it and I think they really nailed the taste. This is honestly one of the best stouts I've had, I wish it was available all year round (Christmas in July anyone?). Lots of complex flavors with a medium body, it's very intriguing but highly sessionable as well. As much as an 8% ABV beer can be anyways. Had a strong lingering mouth feel that isn't overly bitter. We still have one left in the fridge masquerading as a Reinbeer but that one has MGD's name written all over it. Picked up an extra bottle at World Beers, especially for tonight.

And now for a few 2011 bests & faves...

Best Beer Related Swag (won, bought or found)
-New Belgium Fat Tire Patagonia laptop/messenger bag (won at Parkway's New Belgium Brewers night)
-Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project "Stay Pretty and Drink Real Beer" T-shirt
-Hydro Flask Insulated Stainless Steel Growlers from Bitter Root Brewing Company. These things are awesome, we have 2 at home in different sizes. Advertised as keeping stuff hot for 12 hours and keeping it cold for 24... not a lie. These are ahhhhhmazing for collecting beer when traveling.
-Sweatshirt from Local Option in Chicago, IL. It's got a giant embroidered skull on the back. Was a mid-trip pressie from MGD and I wear it anywhere without people commenting on it.

Best Homebrews (from Beer Shares)
-Morgan Alexander's very own Pliny the Elder replica brew: Pliny Killer. Should be up to version 8 by now, delicious as ever. He basically nailed it and some even prefer it to Pliny...
-Matt Lacroix's Cranberry Beer (still holds a special place in my heart and mouthhole)

 Best New Brewery Experiences*
-Three Floyds (Munster, IN)
*There were loads of new breweries I visited in 2011. Yet after I put Three Floyds on the list, I had a very hard time putting anything else up with it. I typed & deleted several times when I finally decided that Three Floyds stands alone as the best brewery experience I had in 2011. There were many other amazing ones, but nothing compared to and at the level of Three Floyds. We went 3 times in 2 days. It was absolutely phenomenal.

Finally finished up my moment with the Lump of Coal Stout and have moved on to a lighter beer, although it's similarly strong (7.7%): Southern Tier's Old Man Winter Ale. It's bitterness doesn't linger in the end and the hoppiness is both fragrant and refreshing. It tastes... bright. That's the best way I can describe it. Plus it's one of the most well bodied IPAs that I've ever tasted. The Southern Tier Old Man is currently standing in for my favorite old man (due to obvious similarities) on this New Years Eve, since MGD is currently outta town. I only call him old (you can't though and because he's really not) because of our age difference, it gives me happies.

 While I was searching for an Old Man pic I stumbled across what can only be described as heavenly mouth deliciousness that is SO the future of my bottle of Southern Tier Creme Brulee.

More favorites...

Best Festivals
-Strange Brewfest (crazy weird beers and a weekend full of revelry)
-Tacoma Craft Beer Fest (gorgeous day, beer a flowin', amazing friends... ultimate experience that still brings a smile to my face)
- WBC Brewers Fest (keg tosses, mini-golf putting for holidays and super-success for Wingman Brewers)

Best Beer Related Moments
-TCBF Lady Fwends: A group of gals came up to ask if I was the pissed liBEERian and then proceeded to tell me what big fans they were of the blog. I loved meeting them all and was beyond flattered at everything they had to say. They made my entire day/week/year/everything. It was a total 'moment' that I won't forget and feel blessed to meet and hang out with some truly great people.
-Bootlegger House Party: MGD's cross country trip resulted in some awesome beers arriving at our house upon his return. We threw a bootlegger party for some friends so everyone could try some brews you can't normally get in these here parts. We had fire, food, beer, good friends and sunshine. Couldn't be a better day and was followed up by a dip in the lake!

Just popped open some bubbly to get ready to be ringing in 2012. Had to start early because I have a big bottle all to myself. By bubbly I am referring to the  Weihenstephaner/Sam Adams Infinium Ale that came in a big ole gorgeous bottle. This may very well be an instance where I judged a beer by it's bottle, which is absolutely gorgeous. It reminds me of some Victorian Circus font or something. Love love love.

If I had bothered to do my research about this being a Belgian Strong Ale, I probably would have opted for opening some cellar beer or another to celebrate the occasion instead of throwing down about $23 for this guy. The aroma is heavy on the sweet and syrupy side and then counteracted by the finish which was a bit barnyardy & had a heavy yeast flavor. I'm having a kind of 'meh' feeling over it which is only exacerbated when I glance over and see how much of the beer is left. I had hoped to like it a bit more after it warmed, but no dice.

It is fairly champagney and I think those who like Belgian Strong Ales may enjoy this brew. I just need to try and remember next year that I really don't like champagne all that much unless it's in a glass with OJ. It's times like these where it's important to keep in mind that this is what trying new beers is all about, ya love some and others ya don't. Regardless, I'm happy I tried it.

Resolutions

-52 books with 52 beers in 52 weeks: That pretty much says it all. A spin-off of a friend's 2012 challenge with beer included. Will work on reading/reviewing a book and then pair it with a beer every week. Plus it makes the whole 'liBEERian' thing all relevant like.
-Directions: Have toyed with the idea of dropping the blog off and on over the last 6mths, for a variety of reasons. I am hoping to figure out what I want this blog to be, nail down some consistency and timelines and try to make that happen. Having this blog should create mostly fun, not stress.
-Beer: Well I certainly drink enough of it and I'd like to work on becoming more educated. About different characteristics of beers, the process, everything. I hope the 52/52/52 thing will help get me started on reviewing beers and maybe 2012 will lead to an adventure in home brewing.

Goodbye 2011 and thank you for the fun ride!

Hello 2012 and all the promise you hold!

Grabbing the essentials, a trusty minon and I'm off!

the pissed liBEERian

Confused about U.S. things like the rest of us? At least get the beer part sorted out for yourself.

The article below was published in Birmingham Weekly on 10/14/10. It contains some pretty interesting ideas for working your way through a few different styles and brewing companies to get a better understanding for American beer.  I've had 3 out of the 10 beers listed (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Stone Arrogant Bastard & the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA) so apparently I better get busy on the others if I want to round out my beer knowledge.

How to Understand American Beer

"As recently as the 1970s, America was the butt of jokes in world beer culture. There were only a few dozen breweries, all producing little more than straw-colored lagers with minimal flavor. Today, our country boasts over 1,600 breweries leading the world in creativity and quality in brewing. To better understand that transformation, I propose drinking ten different beers that illustrate the nature of modern American beer. Not all in one sitting.

1. The first beer in this round of exploratory drinking absolutely has to be Anchor Steam Beer. In the early 1970s, steam beer was the only style of beer indigenous to North America. I’d argue that in the last few decades Americans have created quite a few new styles, but steam beer is the godfather of them all and today’s craft brewers owe a debt of gratitude to Anchor for persevering through the darkest days of brewing on this continent.

2. Second on your beer tour should be Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, the first American pale ale ever brewed. The key point to learn from this beer is that it set the standard for American brewers amping up traditional English styles with extra hops and alcohol. The same pattern would lead to the American IPA, the double IPA, the American brown ale, and the American barley wine. Those categories now boast thousands of examples across the country, and it really all started in 1980 with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

3. After you ponder how three decades ago Americans took UK brewing traditions and created new styles of beer, toast the inspiration coming full circle with a BrewDog Punk IPA. BrewDog is a Scottish craft brewery that is heavily inspired by American craft brewing culture. Thirty years ago it was radical for American brewers to brew traditional Scottish ales. Today it’s radical for a Scottish brewery to produce an American-style IPA. And this influence continues to spread across the world.

4. Not only have we taken European beer styles in new directions, we have also perfected European beers in their original form. A great example of this is Allagash FOUR. It features four malts, four hops, four sugars, and four yeast strains, and it is every bit the equal of any quadruple brewed by any brewer in Belgium. Who needs to buy imports when beer as good or better is being brewed right here in the USA?

5. I’ll tell you who needs imports: me. While Americans have mastered almost every beer style known to man and created more than a few of our own, there are some European beers that we have yet to surpass, and Cantillon Saint Lamvinus is one of them. No one would argue Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River is not a virtuoso in the field of brewing sour beers. But he still has not surpassed the mastery of the brewers and blenders at Cantillon, who have been perfecting the art of lambic brewing for over 100 years. As far as we’ve come, Belgium’s traditional lambic producers still have some secrets Americans have yet to uncover.

6. Next up is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Not only is Boston Lager at the top of the heap when it comes to sales of American craft beer, the Samuel Adams brand deserves credit for keeping American craft beer alive during the late 90s, when the initial craft boom looked to many to be a fad that had passed. Lots of craft breweries from the first big wave folded, but Samuel Adams continued to grow and proved the segment had staying power.

7. Whiskey barrel-aged beer is entirely an American invention, and the brewery that started it all was Goose Island with their Bourbon County Brand Stout way back in 1992. And it’s still recognized as being among the best there is. Sip this one from a snifter and carefully ponder American creativity at its finest.

8. Although imperial stouts were not invented by Americans, the modern obsession with them started here. The phenomenon of crazed hordes traveling hundreds of miles for a chance at buying six bottles of one beer started with Three Floyds Dark Lord Imperial Stout. The beer debuted in 2004 and has hovered near the top of BeerAdvocate’s list of top beers in the world for most of its existence. It’s only available at the brewery, and only on one day a year. That day has turned into a massive beer festival with thousands of attendees who all bring and share beer. And it has spawned several very successful copycat events all centered around rare, hard to obtain imperial stouts. We have Three Floyds to thank.

9. I think nothing is more emblematic of modern Americans’ perspective on craft beer than our love of absurdly-hopped beers. And the most iconic example of that theme is Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. It was created by Sam Calagione, now the most recognizable spokesman for American craft brewing. 90 Minute is unique in that it doesn’t feature just two or three hop additions that are common for most beers; it is continuously hopped for a full 90 minutes during the boil. It’s nuts, it’s delicious, and no European brewer would ever have dreamed of such a thing.

10. And finally, the last beer you must drink to understand modern American brewing is Stone Arrogant Bastard. It was one of the first beers to defy classification to such a degree that a new catch-all category was created for it, American strong ale. It’s a robust 7% ABV, amber in color with a thick caramel malt backbone, and intensely hoppy. But the most American thing about it is the self-righteous diatribe screen-printed on every bottle, explaining how most drinkers aren’t worthy of the beer because they’ve wasted their lives drinking fizzy yellow light beer. American brewing is dosed with a lot of hubris and attitude, and Arrogant Bastard is the epitome of that."

Learning is growing & variety is the spice of life.

the pissed liBEERian