Pun's Top 5!

So I apologize for the delay, but here is my much awaited (by the one or two people who regularly read this blog) top 5 beers...also a dynamic list.

1. Spaten Oktoberfest
2. Aventinus
3. New Glarus Belgian Red
4. Weihenstephaner Korbinian Dopplebock
5. Four Peaks Brewery RAJ IPA

It is not surprising that my top 5 is similar to Justin's, but there are a few differences...I could keep going as there are so many tasty beers out there. Going local, the papago orange blossom is good, but almost too sweet. Firestone Walker is putting out some good beers, the double barrel ale is awesome. I really want to check out the John Henry 3 lick spiker ale but have yet to find it...anyway that's my list and I'm sure I will have some additions and subtractions once Justin finally sends me some good brews from his area...Oh yeah and another honorable mention is the goose island matilda...I'm out.

"I think we brewed a f-ing wine cooler." (2South Brewing update)

Our first foray into the world of brewing is now being consumed by those of you closest to the source. 2South Brewing InagurALE (my name; probably not original) actually turned out drinkable. This is shocking as our early samples led us to believe the batch was tainted and would be completely undrinkable. In reality, we made a very decent (albeit generic) pale ale.

Our second attempt at brewing got a little more adventurous. We made a flitered wheat beer that we decided to spike with about five pounds of frozen organic raspberries during the fermentation process. As kids with severe A.D.D. are wont to do, we sampled this beer far before it was supposed to be ready. Our reaction? "I think we brewed a fucking wine cooler." It's not terrible, but the raspberries raped this beer of any wheat purity it could have had. No matter though- it SHOULD settle down in the coming weeks as it bottle ferments.

For any of you who are interested in sampling our wares, leave me a comment. Bottles will be sent to you, free of charge.

Next up: A vanilla bean-laced oatmeal stout. Yeah, we're going to bite off my new favorite beer cocktail.

Stay tuned...

Beer Tasting, Volume XI

Apologies for the hiatus, people. Spent too much time palling around with the hard-A lately, and, let's be honest- that's not good for anyone. Back to the beer...

Beer: Breckenridge Brewery's Oatmeal Stout and Breckenridge Brewery's Remarkable Vanilla Porter

Style: Oatmeal Stout and Porter

Consumption Method: Two 12 oz. bottles, split, and combined in a pint glass.

Alkyhol Content: 4.95% and 4.7%

Label: I wouldn't call any of Breckenridge designs "badass" but I like their branding and logo work. Their label designs really do have a "Denver" feel to them. I may be brainwashed, but I don't care.

Why Did I Buy This Beer and What the Hell Did I Do to It? Okay, so I've had each of these beers before. On their own they are both fantastic representatives of their respective styles. I prefer an oatmeal stout to be served on nitrogen, but the Breckenridge model is so creamy and low carbonated that if I were more intoxicated I may not notice. It's also not a very sweet stout, which I like, but find hard to drink more than a couple of. The Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout is one of the more bitter stouts I've had- a pronounced hop flavor (rare in a stout, in my opinion) and bitter black coffee aftertaste lend to this. I love the Vanilla Porter by itself- the real Madagascar vanilla beans impart an aroma and richness so intoxicating that I almost don't need to drink this beer to get drunk. I also love real vanilla flavoring because it's incredibly rich without being cloying. However, vanilla is such a dominant flavor and aroma that, to me, gets very tiring and very overwhelming very quickly. So much so that I couldn't distinguish anything about the porter part of the Vanilla Porter (I was actually okay with that- I'm not a big porter fan). In any case, I thought I could make each of these beers better simply by mating them. Now what happened when these beers made sweet vanilla-y love in my pint glass? Read on...

Is This Beer Any Good? My resulting beer cocktail was fucking awesome. Let me just take an opportunity and pat myself on the back for this one. The boisterous vanilla was cut nicely by the bitter hops and coffee producing something akin to an alcoholic vanilla latte. These beers are infinitely more drinkable together than they are apart. Sure, I lose some of the characteristics of the individual styles, but I think that porters and stouts are so similar (with their dark roasted malts, chocolatey notes, and smokiness) that I was able to get away with this one.I think I will start drinking this mixture in the morning.

This Beer Would Pair Well With: Breakfast, bitter chocolate, cherries, and girls.

More on Sierra Nevada: http://www.breckenridgebrewery.com

Conclusion: I'm honestly ready to put this beer alongside your Black and Tan, Black and Blue, Snakebite, and whatever the hell else all the cool kids drink. I just wish the stout was on nitro because it would stay separated from the porter. They are ALMOST the same color, so I'd love to see if it made a difference. Anyway, best beer cocktail I've ever made.

Top 5 Beers (A Dynamic List)

As of Friday 10/2, here are my Top 5 Favorite Beers of All-Time, ranked in order of preference:

1.) Bells Two Hearted Ale

2.) New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

3.) Spaten Oktoberfest

4.) Aventinus

5.) Sierra Nevada 2009 Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale

Honorable mentions that could crack the top 5 at any time, depending on mood: Bells Hopslam (the only IPA where I can detect hints of pineapple), New Belgium Hoptober, New Glarus Spotted Cow (best session beer ever), St. Bernardus Abt 12, Paulaner Hefe-weizen (only on draft in Germany), Four Peaks Oatmeal Stout (creamy nitrogen goodness!).

This list is sure to change. Check back often.

Pun, your top 5?

Beer Tasting, Volume X

Beer: Sierra Nevada 2009 Southern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale. A little wordy, eh Sierra Nevada?

Style: "Wet Hop" Pale Ale. The phrase "wet hop" does not endear this beer to the casual drinker. However, to me, this is most intriguing phrase I've seen on a bottle in a long, long time. In the case of this beer, the hops are boiling in the brew kettle within one week after being picked to create the freshest well-hopped pale ale possible. Due to the timing of this release, Sierra Nevada had to source hops from Australia as that is the only place on Earth (apparently) where hops are growing in the spring. So, this beer gives a solid middle finger to locavores in the name of freshness. And they succeed pretty well. Read on...

Consumption Method: Fat 24 oz. bottle poured into a pint glass. I really like this bottle. It has girth.

Alkyhol Content: 6.7%

Label: The label sort of looks like an old scroll and has a lot of information about how the beer came to be. I like a label to be informative, but I also like it to be badass. However, Sierra Nevada is consistent in their design and I respect them for that. I can't fault this label as a result.

Why Did I Buy This Beer? Again, I must mention Sierra Nevada's consistency. They have been brewing fantastic pale ales for almost as long as I've been alive. I make it a point to try all of their ales as I am never let down. In fact, I would pick their Torpedo IPA as one of the best beer values on the market. I believe I paid $8 for a six pack of one of the top 5 IPAs that I've ever tried. However, this review isn't about their Torpedo. It's about the 2009 Southern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale...

Is This Beer Any Good? Hell yes it's good. It's fucking scrumptulescent. It's the best beer I've had from Sierra Nevada. Where the Torpedo IPA has a slightly more alcoholic and bitter hop bite, the SHHWHA is perfectly balanced. The malt is not too sweet, the hops not too biting. In fact, I think I like this beer so much because the malt is so subdued that it's almost bitter and the hops are so fresh that they are almost sweet. This is the first ale of any type where I have gotten this sensation and I find it to be awesome. It's sort of like being attracted to a woman more for her personality than her looks. It's quite the rare thing, but when it happens, it's beautiful. I think I found my ale soulmate. I am in love with this beer, but I am still in lust with others (coughtwoheartedcough), which is why I can not name it my Favorite Beer Ever. I can put it in my top 5 though.

This Beer Would Pair Well With: Food-wise I would have to say Iberico ham and arugula, mostly because that's what I'm craving after drinking this beer. Otherwise I would say that this beer would pair really well with sexytime. Sexytime with the woman who has a great personality.

The Experts Speak: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/52679

More on Sierra Nevada: http://www.sierranevada.com/ (beautiful website- copious amounts of hops)

Conclusion: Top 5 beer, no question. This poses a problem, however: I need to revisit my Top 5. Look for a new post with my current favorites.

Beer Tasting, Volume IX

Beer: New Belgium Lips of Faith (Transatlantique Kriek)
Style: Lambic ale with Polish cherries
Bottle: 22 oz.
Alcohol Content: 8%

I want to be upfront with you. This will be a tad bit different from my other beer reviews. There are a few reasons for this. One being I have had few large, high alcohol content beers already tonight. Two being I was watching the new Transformers movie. If you have not seen this movie, you can still follow along but it might catch you off guard. Also, I will be referencing an awesome Wisconsin brewery as well.

Now. If you haven't seen the new transformers, I recommend it. Lots of action from the start. As well as Megan Fox. She is extremely hot and she runs in slow motion(more on that later). Now while watching this movie and drinking this beer, I did realize one thing. There is another really hot chick in this movie( don't know her name but she is in the beginning). Even though she turns out to be a decepticon (evil robot for you non-transformers watchers) I would still totally tap that robot ass. That chick was hot.

Ok..On to the beer. This is a cherry beer. I generally like all things New Belgium, however this is not one of them. I paid over $15.00 for one bottle of this beer. It was money wasted. This beer was a collaboration with Brewerij Boon of Belgium. I also generally like all things Belgium. This is not one of them. Sam Adams (another of my favorite breweries) also puts out a cherry beer. The cherry wheat, this is another beer you should save your money on. GROSS!

If you either A) live in the midwest (a close drive to Wisconsin) or B) plan to visit the midwest(a close drive to Wisconsin) then you are in luck. Make it a point to get the best cherry beer on the planet (or at least in the Continental U.S.) New Glarus Belgian Red is the beer for you. This beer is fruity yes, but so worth trading in a few points on the man scale. I got to taste this beer in draft form, while eating beer cheese soup and cheese curds(apparently Wisconsonites like cheese). This is the cherry beer on HGH. This beer drops cherry bombs on your taste buds. I would sell my dogs nut sacks for this beer (side note, we are neutering my dogs in a few weeks and if you want them I will trade for this beer). Ok maybe not that crazy but still...you get the point. If you are reading this blog, you either know me(and my love for all things good beer) or my friend Justin ( and his love for all things good beer). We are cut from the same cloth!

I choose to close this review on an awesome note. First, I will not pay for this beer again. Yes, if someone gives it to me I would probably drink it again. It is definitely better than anything the big 3 can put out (with the exception of Blue Moon as I dig that beer)... Let me end with this. If New Glarus Belgian Red is the Megan Fox running in slow motion of cherry beers, then New Belgium Lips of Faith is the Rosanne Barr dancing to German Death Metal...Enjoy that mental image because I am out like a fat kid in dodgeball!