On the lite-er side

Considering myself a beer geek, as opposed to a beer snob, I am willing to try anything with hops, malt, yeast and water. That includes Lite beer and non alcohol beer. I’ve not been very successful at finding any with a good beer taste. Sure as heck not Bud Lite! (I guess I have a little beer snob in me). That changed this past month! I tried Heineken Premium Light and Heineken 0.0. Wow! For those days when you want a beer but have to drive, both of these were good. The 0.0 was, by far and away, the best NA I have tried. It scored a solid B on my scale. The Premium Light was also good tasting. I scored it a C+, good for a Lite beer. This past week, I thoroughly enjoyed a Grimm Lite. That was a good beer! I scored it a solid B, maybe a B+. It was a 4.2 abv compared to the Heineken Light‘s abv of 3.3. Grimm is from NY and Heineken is from The Netherlands. All three of these beers will be very refreshing on a hot day when you plan on drinking more than one.

Cheers!

Back on the road again!

Yipee!

First stop was at Terre Haute Brewing, oddly enough in Terre Haute, IN. We got there the day they reopened - the beer god’s were smiling! THB claims to be the second oldest brewery in the US. I couldn’t verify it on line but, who cares, the beer was great. Their Citragenesis, Madame Brown, Triple Berry Sour and Velvet Creme Stout all scored A’s! Great building and service. They were as happy to have me there as I was to be there!

After a wonderful several days with the kids and grands, we stopped at Brewdog USA, just outside of Columbus, OH, for lunch. The server said the brewery also contained a hotel. Sleep in a brewery? OK. There was a room available! Beer coolers and taps in the room! From now on, I can be reached c/o BrewDog USA! New standard for a brewery! Great venue, food, beer and service! I scored their Please Wash Your Hands Belgian Table beer and their Jet Black Heart Nitro with A’s. They had two no/low alcohol beers. I scored Faux Fox, a Berliner Weisse with an abv of 0.5 a AA!! Awesome. The Stout AF (alcohol free) was a B, for me. They were the two best no alcohol beers I have ever had. Makes you wonder why other brewers can’t pull it off!

One more gem found on this trip was Black Sappath, a 6.8 abv Milk Stout from Rahr and Sons (TX).
That was an AA!!

Safely back home, and healthy. We’ll hit the road again.

Cheers!

It looks promising!

As it appears things are finally opening back up, we will be hitting the road soon. Not sure how many brewpubs we will find open but the search will be fun.

I discovered a new beer style about a week ago! Who would have thought!

Grisette. A grisette is a refreshing, low alcohol beer with origins in Belgium. Grisettes are crisp, light-bodied, citrusy beers—brewed to be endlessly drinkable. It’s the type of beer you want to drink year round, but especially on a warm day on a patio or beach somewhere. It’s also a beer geek’s beer, based on its history and relative obscurity in today’s beer scene.

I stumbled on to Wild East’s Fluent. It was, indeed, refreshing. It’s ABV was a modest 4.5. The can said it was a petite saison. Sure enough, grisette turns out to be a subset of saison. An old dog learns a new beer! Incidentally, I rated it an A. I will certainly be watching for offerings from other brewers.

Another new discovery was a documentary called Poured in PA. This was a very enjoyable and interesting take on brewing in PA. Also, in production now is a Poured in PA series. Very entertaining and informative. It’s available on You Tube. No matter where you live, give it a watch!

Cheers!

Staying at home!

So, a couple of months into COVID-19. Way too much hype!!

Well, aided by a bout with Diverticulitis and being unable to drink beer because of the meds, I found out that my new Growler Werks growler, mentioned last month, will, indeed, keep beer fresh for three weeks. I love it!

So, how am I dealing with the stay at home order?  Well, I like to think I invented social distancing 60 years ago. It hasn’t been a problem! And, there have been some benefits - some breweries, trying to maintain sales, have begun shipping beer straight to consumers. I discovered Threes Brewing in NYC. They have Vliet, one of the best pilsners I have ever had that wasn’t from Czechia or Germany. Really enjoyed it. I’ll be trying more of their beer, and other breweries that now ship.

Additionally, just before the stay at home order, I made a trip to NC. My bounty included Fram Boos, Black Angel and Denouement from Wicked Weed. All sours and all great. WW is getting a lot of grief from the locals for selling out to the “big guys”. I didn’t like it either but, damn, it hasn’t affected their offerings. Good beer is good beer!

Stay happy and healthy!
Cheers!

The virus

As I write this I’m enjoying (well, drinking) a Corona. I’m amazed to see that so many ignorant people could think that this beer causes the virus! Dumb!
The worst thing about this virus is that people are buying up supplies and we are having bread shortages. Now we are having yeast shortages as people start baking their own bread. As people start making beer bread, will we have a beer shortage?? Now that is something to worry about!
Just invested in a growlerwerks Ukeg 64 growler. I love it!
It’s supposed to keep the beer fresh for three weeks. Not sure I’ll ever be able to prove that. Best I’ve done is to keep it for 10 days before it was gone. I’ve had it filled twice at Bent Run, first with their Pumpkin Pie Ale and then with their Common Man Pilsner. Both are A’s. Cheers!

Milestone achieved!

Well, it took longer to get there than I thought, and longer to get to than any of the other 1000 benchmarks, but I drank unique beer number 4000 today! It was Southern Tier’s Cherry Crush and they crushed it! I scored it an A. I doubt I will hit number 5000 as I rarely drink new beers at home anymore, just when we travel. Still it’s been a lot of tasty fun. I always think of the cloth that Adam and Renae Gilles  gave me which says, “Thank you, craft beer breweries, for making my drinking problem seem like a neat hobby.”  😂
Out of the 4000, the beers have come from 43 states and 73 countries. The highest alcohol content was Sam Adams 2015 Utopias at 28%. I started to count the individual breweries, but, at my age, I can’t waste that much time!
So sorry John Romero and Steve Swanson that you weren’t with me to share in this milestone! Blame it on Jordan with it’s pathetic three breweries! Had they been a beer drinking country it would have happened there! Cheers!

Israel/ Jordan Trip

I just returned from a trip to Israel and Jordan. It was a great trip full of more relevant history than I could ever imagine! Not quite so much from a beer perspective. Israel did have a number of breweries although the smaller representations were difficult to find.  Goldstar is the most popular and famous Israeli beer which dominates the Israeli beer market with 33% of beer consumers. This Israeli lager contains 4.9% alcohol. It was a pretty good lager.

Jem’s is more than just a brewery, Jem’s beer factory has six locations across the country, offering a variety of beers, tasting options, and some food to accompany the drinks. With seven different types of beer

Nesher - Hebrew for eagle, Nesher was the first Israeli brewery, and is still popular today.

Maccabee - Maccabee is a popular Israeli lager that’s favoured by approximately 11% of Israeli beer consumers. Their beer turned out to be my favorite.

Jordan, being predominantly Muslim, does not have much of a beer scene. In fact, there are only three breweries in Jordan and only two of them are legitimately Jordanian. Petra Lager, their best known beer, was akin to a Bud Lite. Carakale had a pretty good sour called Dead Sea-rious. But Jordan’s best beer was an Amstel Red, made in Jordan for Jordanians. So, for the Jordanian beer scene, I’ll say this - Jordan has some beautiful scenery!

Cheers!