The Craft Beer Exchange
Volume 2 Issue 2 December 19, 2011
One of the best things about this blog/newsletter/waste of time is honesty. For instance, I’m not embarrassed to say that I just spent 10 minutes trying to find some deep quote or song lyric on the interwebs to open up the newsletter. Alright, it was more like 20 minutes, and I am a little embarrassed, but I said it anyway. Instead of coming up with some witty banter, I thought a poignant piece of prose would actually make this, the opening and hardest part of the newsletter, easier to write. I was, in fact, cheating. Cheating on you, and cheating on myself. The point is, I wasn’t able to find anything fitting enough to describe the newsletter, the group, the number six, or that we’re at it again (although I thought I was close when I was perusing the lyrics of a Janet Jackson song by the same name.) So screw it, right. So I was unsuccessful in finding some beautiful peace of modern literature that would have opened up the #CBE6 with a bang. So what if I couldn’t find a motto or quote that would have summed up another striking trip to Brewers Outlet. So what? It’s not like finding a quote was going to force anyone’s hand into leaving a comment on the page. There are only about 6 people that actually read this anyway. Right?
Anyway, #CBE6 went old school, and not the Dogfish Head barleywine type of Olde School. I’m talking about he school they burnt down to build the old school. We went all wild up in Brewers Outlet (and by we I mean everyone but me.) Surprisingly, the all wild card showdown only netted us 4 IPA’s. 1 Pils, an Imperial Stout, a Belgian, and a 2700 year old Wine/Mead/Fruit/Spice/Ancient Ale. Balance my people; balance. I’m super impressed.
“We’ve come a long long way together,
Through the hard times and the good,
I have to celebrate you baby,
I have to praise you like I should”
– Fatboy Slim
(Yes! Finally) @TheCBEOfficial
And now on with the show…
Selections:
Let’s go right after the Dogfish Midas Touch. I was kind of surprised to learn that this is only our third selection from this Delaware brewery. I read somewhere recently that they are now the 12th largest brewery in the US. This a blog, that as noted previously, only has 6 or so readers, so don’t expect me to site that fact. This isn’t a post grad writing class. With the crazy story on this one, I was expecting a slightly better description from the DFH website. Instead I got this…
This was the first beer in our Ancient Ales series.
This sweet yet dry beer is made with ingredients found in 2,700-year-old drinking vessels from the tomb of King Midas. Somewhere between wine and mead, Midas will please the chardonnay and beer drinker alike.
I mean, they went back in time by scraping dirt out of drinking vessels. Had some wacky scientist analyze the dirt inside those vessels, indentifying ingredients, and whatnot. And then made a beer based on those findings. And instead of bragging about it like normal people, the go with “somewhere between wine and mead.” Whatever. I’ve had it, it’s awesome, it’s going to be great on Christmas morning, and you guys will probably enjoy it because it packs a 9.0% abv punch.
I was not shocked at all to discover that this next beer, is the 5th selection we’ve had from this CA brewery. Lagunitas Czech Style Pilsner, or simply PILS. All other marketing departments take note…
Czech Style Pilsner
Like Adam and Eve, Issac and Ishmael,Mao and Confuscious, Good and Evil, Day and Night, Hittites and Visigoths, John and Lorena, or Groucho and Moe, Ales and Lagers are as different as can be. Still, we must love each other for who they are, seperately but equally, with liberty, and justice, for all. Cheers!
Now that ladies and gentlemen (I’m stretching, I know there are not any female readers,) is how you describe a mother F’n beer. I also leave the grammatical and spelling errors in the Lagunitas description, because I find them endearing, and also because the Good Lord knows that there are always several in my newsletters. I like to think of them as editorial content. I had one of these last night, and it was delish. Crisp, tasty, nice bite, and not over-the-top. And I enjoyed it for what it was.
I don’t know if anyone noticed this, but Paul Revere is on the can riding a motorcycle. Shit does not get anymore bad ass than that. Nothing says FU more to the Brits than Paul Revere on a motorcycle. 21st Amendment Back in Black IPA is the AC/DC of beers. That pun was too easy to make, and you can’t be mad at me for not passing on it. This newsletter doesn’t write itself, but when it does, I have to take the opportunity. This is our first canned selection, and after I had one last night, the contest for my favorite selection of #CBE6 was over. I mean, it’s Paul Revere on a motorcycle, announcing the British are coming… In A Can!
Inspired by Paul Revere's midnight ride, we rebelled against the British style IPA, embraced the more aggressive American version and then recast it in bold, brave, defiant black. Our Black IPA is a Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of the expected.
Back in Black is our newest year-round beer available now in six pack cans and on draft. Brewed like an American IPA but with the addition of rich, dark malts, this beer has all the flavor and hop character you expect with a smooth, mellow finish.
https://www.kotisdesign.com/estore/buy.asp?job_num=22444&product_num=66&estore=21st-amendment&category=Unisex+Apparel They’re only 18 bucks and make great Christmas presents. Now someone text my wife, tell her I write a blog about a beer swap, and I’ve included a good gift idea, and if she orders it tomorrow before noon, with express delivery for Saturday, she can still sneak it under the tree. Thank you Santa.
There is a good reason I put the Back in Black IPA and Old Heathen next to each other in this issue. Unable to make the actual #CBE6 because of a last minute call, I had to put my faith in @G_o_o_d_y to make my selection. And the dude did not disappoint. Credit where credit is due, he knocked my request out of the park, and the only downside was I had to load my beer up in two paper bags because the bottles did not fit in the tiny cases that the 21st Amendment cans came in.
Rich, velvety and deliciously complex, Old Heathen (8.0% ABV) is a truly distinctive stout. We use seven types of malt and two varieties of hops to bring forth this big brew.
I have not had one of these in a long while, and am looking forward to the December days when it is not 60 degrees outside to drink one. http://weyerbacher.com/ would be a great CBE outing. The brewery reminds me of a little garage, in the middle of nowhere Easton, where you can mix a case of their awesome beers. I usually fill mine up with Merry Monks and Double Simcoe.
Anything about monkeys is pretty awesome. I’ve never had our next selection, but I am definitely excited about trying it. The http://www.lefthandbrewing.com/ website is pretty cool, and mildly trippy (h3tty.) I would recommend at least a couple beers before you go check it out. It has this to say about the 400 lb Monkey…
WHY DOES THE WORLD NEED ANOTHER IPA?
Because this one ain't like them others.
We use hops of a different color, earthy and herbal, well-balanced by bready malt. The result? An English-style IPA that separates itself from the ubiquitous bunch. Cartloads of bitter monkeys flinging wasteful amounts of bananas into the jungle . . .we're so done with that.
This is kind of cliché, but I don’t really know what else to say. I don’t have any good 400 lb Monkey stories, this is only the second beer I’ve ever known to be named after a monkey. Are gorillas monkeys technically, because in that case, it’s three. This, Golden Monkey and Silverback. Huh, I guess I was able to come up with some filler.
http://www.leffe.com/en/beer/leffe-blond now this is a website. Nice relaxing music, tells me what foods pair best with this beer, a guy reads the description to me so I don’t have to. I’m enamored. Wait… I can’t copy or paste anything. Well that sucks, F this website…
ELEGANT
Leffe Blond is the flagship of Leffe. The unique recipe is the fruit of centuries of experience in the art of brewing, which brings a broad palette of aromas into balance. It is elegant, smooth and fruity, and it has a spicy aftertaste with a hint of bitter orange. It’s light, sunny colour is due to the use of pale malt. Leffe Blond contains 6.6% alcohol and fits excellently with a wide variety of dishes. It is best at a temperature of 5° to 6°. A thirst-quenching aperitif, for those relaxing moments with friends and family.
Well, now I’m sick of this music, I can’t believe I had to retype the entire description, and do you have any idea where to find the degree symbol? Well, now I do. In all seriousness, this is a pretty solid blond, I also had one of these last night, and I enjoyed it. But now that I know the website is so annoying, I think I enjoyed it a little less then I actually remember it.
This website sucks too. It’s making me dizzy. Let me copy this description over for you word for word…
This highly hopped California style Pale Ale showcases the brewer’s art of balancing malt and hop characteristics. A generous addition of Munich malts balances the bittering from Chinook hops, and Cascade hops round out the flavor profile.
This is another one that I cannot remember having. Lost Coast does make some very good beers. I’m a fan of their Downtown Brown and Great White. I don’t see how this one can be bad. It has all of the words that you like to see when someone describes an IPA… “Highly Hopped,” “Generous Additions,” “California style,” “bittering,” etc.
Dead serious. This is what it says on the website…
A medium-bodied and well hopped India pale ale with a dry, fruity finish.
Woah, Great Lakes marketing department, easy with all the words. I’m pretty sure this Google Blogger Thingy has a max amount of characters I’m allowed to use. They also have this though, and they have it for all of their beers, which I think is pretty damn cool… http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/uploads/Beer/WEB%20Profile%20Comm%20Perry%202012.pdf It pretty much has all of the information you could ever need on this beer, so I’ll just let Great Lakes be the wordsmith for this one. This is also the last beer for #CBE6 and I have to get over to King of Prussia because I haven’t gotten a present for my wife yet. All suggestions can be sent to @SKeithJ on “The Twitter.”
The Back Pages:
Just a quick note, because I’m sure your going to analyze every single bit of the newsletter. Beer Advocate has decided in all their infinite wisdom to change their rating system. They’ve abandoned the letter rating system, and have gone to a 100 point numbered system similar to Rate Beer. So now all of the beers that the members of Ba have rated will show up in their usually deflated form in numbers instead of letters.
One holdout... Are you legally not allowed to go on Twitter? Seriously?
CBE5point1 Selection Sheet:
Brewery | Beer | CBE Member | ABV | Ba | RB |
Dogfish Head | Midas Touch | @gang_greeny | 9% | 84 | 93 |
Lagunitas | Pilsner | @pppantalones | 6.2% | 82 | 75 |
21st Amendment | Back In Black | @G_o_o_d_y | 6.8% | 83 | 94 |
Left Hand | 400 lb Monkey | @stavypapa | 6.8% | 81 | 75 |
Leffe | Blond | RA | 6.6% | 82 | 87 |
Weyerbacher | Old Heathen | @SKJ131W8th | 8% | 88 | 98 |
Lost Coast | Indica IPA | @Mitch295_ | 5.9% | 86 | 98 |
Great Lakes | Commodore Perry | @Grifo79 | 7.5% | 88 | 94 |
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