PICKLETINI!!!

Because fuck you, that's why.

Mead is not Beer

The bottle says "Maple Mead 7 - 08" and so it isn't even mead, but that doesn't make it any less like beer than if it was mead. I don't remember if I had anything to do with the making of this beast, but Joe blessed us with a bottle anyway.

I couldn't wait the extra month to make it an even three years, but I probably wouldn't notice a year difference, let alone a month. I remember this at bottling time, and it was thin and didn't show much promise to my untrained palette.

After a nearly three year sulk in a dark cabinet, I'm pleased with the result. It has a gentle and sweet nose, with no hint of maple. I can't remember the last time I drank white wine, but this is sort of similar to what I remember. It's just sweet enough to balance the refreshing bitterness, and it has a nice dry finish. It's a fine apéritif. It's still a bit on the thin side, but it's certainly complex enough, and wonderfully refreshing after a lovely unemployed walk.

What the hell happened to everyone?

South of the Border - North of My Expectations

In keeping with my habit of posting cheap beer when blog activity is low, I offer Trader Joe's new beer, La Playa Lager. Light, cheap ($4/6pk.), and slightly above average ABV for the style of 4.6%. Tastes kinda like Corona, but I think it's much easier to drink, which is either disturbing or awesome, depending on your point of view. Please enjoy it responsibly.

Malta Madness

I saw this stuff in the super market and decided to read the ingredients since "malt" is in the name. It turned out to be carbonated wort with sugar. It even has hops. It tastes exactly like wort, but it's too sweet. I figured I should brew it, but googled it first and people already have, with less-than-amazing results, so I'll skip it.

It did make me want to brew something with weird ingredients though, like crap I have around the house which have nothing to do with regular beer brewing. This, therefore, is not a post about beer.

My name is not Joe.

I'm In Trouble

So Yard House just opened its first east coast location, mere minutes from my home. This could be very dangerous, and delicious. First foray, Stone Smoked Porter. Possibly the best porter I've tasted. And I'm only one beer in.

My name is Joe.

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA

So it's been a few weeks. I blame my brother, John Six Pack, for having a bachelor party which sadly put me off even the thought of beer for a substantial time afterward. Although at said party I tried the new Sam Adams seasonal and was whelmed. Not overwhelmed, nor underwhelmed, but moderately whelmed. Anyway...

This entry's product is the Racer 5 IPA by Bear Republic Brewery in California. As the label states, it's an IPA, and it certainly wouldn't be described as anything else. It's trying really hard to be one of those hop-head legends like Dogfish Head or Victory produce, but it falls a little short. It's aggressive on the Chinook hops and includes a few other varieties (all beginning with the letter "C" oddly enough).

The aroma is flowery and hoppy, with nary a trace of malt to it, providing no counterbalance to the hops. The color is right for an IPA but I prefer a bit of something besides hop juice, which is what this brew tasted like to me. I enjoy an aggressively hopped brew, and have brewed a few in my past, but honestly, this had little else to offer. This beer has won many awards and was highly recommended to me by the gal working in Whole Foods, but still, I'm unimpressed. If you really like flowery hops and you don't really like the rest of beer, give it a try.

I didn't intend to come off sounding so negative about this beer, because I did drink them all and enjoyed them, though I wouldn't buy it again, I wouldn't turn one down if it were offered to me. The beer, and all of Bear Republic's offerings, are non-vegan, utilizing gelatin in the product.

The movie that best represents this beer is, to me, The Boondock Saints. The film is, I guess, technically a gangster movie, like this is technically an IPA. It hits all the notes it's supposed to, but if you're looking for something representative of the style, and something that makes you want to keep coming back, you'll be disappointed. With that said, there's going to be a certain person who's looking for only one defining characteristic of the style (in the beer, hops; in the film, ridiculous amounts of people being shot), and that person will probably keep coming back satisfied. My name is Joe.

Next up, the Massachusetts entry, Mayflower Brewing Company's Golden Ale.

The States

So I reviewed what I've reviewed and discovered I have not repeated any states yet, so I'm going to go ahead and try to get all 50 states this year.

So far: Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Missouri, Rhode Island, New York, Delaware, Maine, and coming up next, California. Next beer, by the way, is the Racer 5 IPA from the Bear Republic Brewery, recommended as "the best IPA I've ever head" by the helpful gal in Whole Foods. So that'll be 8 states down, 42 to go, and I might have to re-do Missouri, on account of A-B not really being in the spirit of the quest.