My only Christmas card was from a brewery... and beer reviews

OK, that's a lie, but I liked the sound of it. In truth, I actually got two Christmas cards. One was from Boulevard Brewing Co, the other from a great Runner's World editor who I wrote this recent article on training during your lunch break. And lest you think I'm unloved (if you cared), most cards still go to my family.

In the spirit of the holiday season, here are a couple Christmas surprises I've had in the form of surprisingly good beer. I included my score's deviation from the mean. Mickey's and Kirin both normall average a C- score on BeerAdvocate.com.

Mickey's
SABMiller
American Malt Liquor

C+ / 3.05
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | drink: 3.5
rDev: +15.1%

Drank straight from the wide-mouth, green stubby bottle - as it was meant to be. This beer is surprisingly not bad. I think there's some truth to the bottle's "Fine Malt Liquor" label. Because as far as malt liquor goes, this isn't that far behind Rogue fancy-pants Dad's Little Helper. In terms of flavor, this beer reminds me of a dull PBR. It just has gentle bready malts behind a vague sweetness. Completely drinkable and inoffensive. Worth a try, just because it's Mickey's.

Kirin Ichiban
Kirin Brewery Company
Japanese Rice Lager

B- / 3.4
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5
rDev: +23.8%

Ordered a bottle with sushi and soup at the Japanese place at DTW airport. This beer masters the style just like Bud Light and the American light lager. This isn't a delicious beer in the grand scheme of thing, but for a Japanese rice lager, it's quite nice. Unfortunately, right off the bat this beer has an odd rubber aroma, but that quickly fades to leave a very clean beer. The malt has a subtle toasted bread flavor and there's a hint of spicy hops. Very drinkable and worth a try next time you sit down for sushi.

Beer Reviews: Fall = Dark Beer = Yum

It's still the holidays. Which means we're all busy buying stuff, training for holiday parties, and trying to wrap up our work. Work hard, play hard, yes? Well here are a couple fine beers for when it's time to play.

High Tide Fresh Hop IPA
Port Brewing Company / Pizza Port
American IPA

A- / 4.1
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

Appeared a hazy gold with a short head and lacing. This was a great, bright, and drinkable IPA. Not quite as complex as some of the great fresh hop beers I've had, like Sierra Nevada, but a little more sessionable. The aroma and flavor focused on fruity citrus with a few hits of earth spice and pine. But for the most part this beer was all about the orange, lime, and grapefruit hops. Delicious. Drink it if you can find it.

Batemans XXXB
Batemans Brewery
Extra Special Bitter

B+ / 4
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

Grabbed a bottle at Abe's Cold Beer for $5. A little pricey, but worth trying if you're into the style. It poured a mostly clear amber-red with a short white head and lacing. The aroma and flavor are very true to style with slightly creamy and fruity yeast character or subtle toasted bread malts. It finished with a herbal and peppercorn hops bite that provides more balance than bitterness. All in all a tasty and very sessionable beer. It's a shame the damn stuff is so expensive.

Stupid ideas and beer: The 24 Hour Cyclocross Race

This has been a big fall. I've gone through with not one, but two really stupid athletic feats and lived report back on how stupid it was. Last Thursday and Friday I rode around in circles on a friend's backyard cyclocross course with 15 other oddballs. Thanks to recent rain, most the course was simply a long 2-inch-deep track of sticky peanut butter mud.

No, the mud wasn't nutritious and delicious. It felt like peanut butter that's just been pulled from a fridge. It's both incredibly had to move while still sticking to everything. I had a nice system down when ever time I carried my bike I'd rip the gobs of mud and leaves out from behind the brakes. Yes, this was fun.

Dan K was kind enough to put together a video of the event. You can check it out on his blog. All in all, this was actually a lot more fun that my 6-hour half-walking marathon that went off under blue skies and far more comfortable level. Maybe it's because riding along side friends at an unsanctioned backyard 24-hour race is simply a lot more fun that being lost in a crowd of 10,000 rando's.

I ended up 3rd on the day and figure I probably spent somewhere between 14 and 16 hours on the course. Only 8 of the 16 competitors made it to the end and among the non-finishers were an Olympic track racer, national masters mountain bike champ, and one of the top 10 24-hour racers in the country. Maybe they just had too much sense to continue. When I look at the finishers, we've got a couple guys that drank more than a case of beer a piece (one beer per lap), an Army vet that rolled cigarettes between laps, and a guy that tends to pee himself when he's having a good time. You tell me who the winners are.

See more of Douglas Benedict's race photo's here.

Drinking Local: Leinenkugel Big Eddy and Flat Earth Rode Hearing

After the seeing family and friends thing, my favorite part of visiting home is drinking all the new local beers I've been missing. Being from Minneapolis, there's never a shortage of good beer and here are a couple favorites from my recent trip for turkey day. One is an odd Belgian style brewing by a tiny St. Paul brewery, and the other is craft brew mainstay brewed at a Miller plant.

Rode Hearing
Flat Earth Brewing
Flanders Red Ale

A- / 4.1
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

On-tap at the Nile (where the heck was Al?), served in a Kasteel goblet. Appears a slightly hazy red-amber, with emphasis on the red, and a short, white head.

Damn, this beer could be straight out of Belgium for all I know upon tasting. Seriously, someone made this in St. Paul? This style-accuracy by American breweries is very hard to come by in sour ales and I think this puts Flat Earth up in the elite class of Jolly Pumpkin and Russian River.

At first it reminds me of Rodenbach Classic for similar sour fruits that don't hit you over the head with funk. As I sip more, I realize these flavors are gentler and more drinkable. It reminds me of the drinkability of Goudenband on-tap. I'm tasting tangy lemon rind and oak with a bit of sweet cherries. Oh man, this is good. I suppose it could be more complex, but I'm very satisfied.

Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout
http://www.leinie.com/av.html
Russian Imperial Stout

A / 4.3
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5

On-tap at Stub & Herb's for only $5 a pint. Get it while you can. Appears a pitch black with a short tan head, no lacing.

This immediately reminds me of Surly Darkness. Not because they taste identical, but because its the most similar RIS I've had in terms of a smooth body and esters. It starts out with a mild dry cocoa note and then dives into a mix of chocolate-covered berries and hoppy citrus rind. It finishes with a big caramel-coated espresso bitterness (with some hops character mixed in) and medium-weight body that makes this all the more drinkable. It's a shame this beer will soon be extinct. Easily the best beer Leiny's ever made and one of the best RIS's I've had. Definitely a favorite.

After the Turkey: Summit ESB Reviewed

After the talk about fancy-pants Belgians, I actually ended up drinking one of my local favorites, Summit ESB, on Thanksgiving. Naturally, I gave thanks to my cousin Pete that day for bringing it over. The ESB (extra special (or strong) bitter) style isn't something you see often, but it's a real treat in the right situation. The blend of super-smooth caramel malts with herbal and spicy hops make a great companion to turkey dinner, or a long night at your favorite pub.

Names in the beer would are often deceiving, whether the mean to be or not. Young's Double Chocolate Stout, while generally tasty, is barely chocolate and the double of nothing that I can imagine. So I feel I should mention that The Extra Special/Strong Bitter style is rarely more bitter than a pale ale and usually no stronger than six percent ABV. It's really just an amber ale with English yeast character - creamy, fruity flavors - and a bit of hops for balance. All in all, a great session beer.

Summit ESB
Summit Brewing Co.
Extra Special/Strong Bitter

B+ / 3.8
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 4.5

I'm always never quite sure what I'll get from a new Summit offering. Sure, it'll at least be decent, but they've been known to very occasionally kick out some real good stuff. I'd say this falls in with their best.

A nice red color with white head. A rather unfortunate aroma at first, however, smells like adjunct was used to lighten the body. Later hops start to pull through. Interesting flavor, burnt caramel of scottish ale with a good bitter kick to balance it, this tastes like a winner. Body is a litter light, but this is very drinkable. Try it out, I like it better than the Summit EPA and IPA.