Summer Beer Review: Bell's Oberon

Summer is here and that means the lightest of the seasonal beers are upon us - along with heat, beaches, and all that jazz. Summer seasonals runs the risk of being an offensively bland beer as less-talented brewers sacrifice flavor for drinkability. The better brewhouses, however, manage to pack a complex taste along with a balanced and light body. Bell's Oberon, I'm happy to report, is the later.

Bell's Oberon
Bell's Brewery
American Wheat Ale

B+ / 3.9
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

Pairs nicely a BBQ, friends, and a backyard.

Pours a hazy light orange with a white head. The aroma has a creamy orange and malted wheat. The flavor is a nice mix of spicy and citrus hops flavors from the Saaz with the sweet wheat for balance. That creates a pleasant balance of citrus fruit, mellow malts, and spicy/bitter hops - all in a great summer beer. What a deal.

Beer Review: I.C. Light - Not as bad as you'd think

It takes a lot for a good beer to surprise me. I set the bar pretty high for craft beer, so for me to really take notice, something basically has to be like a party in my mouth with everyone invited.

For corporate beers from the likes of Anheuser-Busch or Coors, however, I typically expect the worst. So when I tried a can of Pittsburgh's I.C. Light out of curiosity last night, I was pleasantly astonished when it didn't suck.

Here's what I thought of I.C. Light:

I.C. Light
Iron City Brewing Co. (Pittsburgh Brewing Co.)

C+ / 3.1
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5

I expected to be disgusted by some typical macro lager DMS (a chemical flaw that gives a cooked vegetable aroma and flavor)-riden mess, but this was a decent macro light beer, all things considered. Yeah, it was pretty watery, but the mouthfeel wasn't unpleasantly dry, bitter, or astringent light most other light beers. Instead this matched a slight lemon flavor with mild bready malts. Not a lot going on, but it's a light beer, what more do you?

Philadelphia Beer Hunting: Dock Street Brewing Co.

I was back in Philly this weekend for a couple non-beer related events but still able to squeeze in a few tasty beverages. To kick things off I grabbed pesto-veggie panini and sampler at Dock St. Brewing Co. At 20, it's one of the oldest craft breweries around, but unlike some that sold out and lost any creative edge (*cough* Pete's Wicked Ales *cough*). Sure they have a Bohemian pils for their mainstay, but I was able to catch Sudan Grass, a just released gluten-free beer brewed sorghum and buckwheat.

Here's what I thought.

Bohemian Pilsner
Czech Pilsner

B+ / 3.95
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4.5
In a word: underrated. This is a fantastic pilsner full of malt and hops flavor that should be recognized for it's deliciousness. The malt lends a sweet, bready and nutty flavor, and that's met by a sharp and spicy hops flavor and bitterness that leaves a long trail of an aftertaste. Great drinkability and full-flavored - give it a try.

Sudan Grass
Gluten-Free

B / 3.6
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4
The main elements here are a fruity, cider taste along with nutty malt-like notes. The flavor isn't terribly complex, but this beer succeeds because it nails the mouthfeel. It manages a balanced mix of sweet and bitter where most gluten-free beers are a cloyingly sweet mess. Worth a try if you've got Celiac's or are just curious.

Chamomileon
American Wheat Beer

B / 3.6
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5
I suppose this isn't a bad beer if you like chamomile, but it just reminded me of soap and scented candles. Otherwise this was a pretty nice wheat beer with subtle vanilla and orange flavors. Smooth, balanced, easy to drink, and like I said, if you're into chamomile, probably a great beer.

Satellite Stout
American Stout

B / 3.7
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5
This is certainly a beer for coffee lovers (Dock St. uses 50lbs of espresso beans per batch), but I don't know if it's a great pick for stout lovers. The flavor balance is heavily skewed towards the espresso, which while quite tasty, leaves very little room for the roasted malt flavors of the beer itself. This a nice drink and worth trying, but I'd have liked more beer flavor to put it bluntly.

Beer Review: Kasteel Bier Bruin

Yesterday was Eddy "The Cannibal" Merckx's birthday. While I have no relation to this great man besides a shared affinity for bicycles, I reveer him more than enough to waste some time watching men in spandex ride bikes while I drink Belgian beer (Eddy's Belgian).

Kasteel Bruin
Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck Castle Brewery
Belgian Quadrupel

Poured from a dusty green bottle - thanks to Taylor - of an unknown vintage, the bottle has a 08-2009 marking on it.

Right after the pour I get a slightly musty aroma, like it's been laid on its side and absorbed a little cork, or seen a little oak. Dark fruits also dominate with plum and date aromas and a little clove around the edges.

The appearance is a hazy brown with a quickly disappearing (acceptable for an 11% brew) tan head that leaves a little lacing. The flavor reminds me vaguely of plum wine for the smooth esters. I'm also tasting white grape and blueberry with the plum and dates. There's also a slight spiciness that could come from either noble hops of yeast phenols, either way they add a nice subtle layer.

Overall, this is a very good beer and incredibly smooth for the strength, but it doesn't quite have the awe-inspiring complexity of the great quads. Still, very much worth trying.

Homebrew: Irish Dry Stout (Like Guinness, but Better)

I'm testing out some new recipes and decided an Irish stout was in order. The Irish variety differ from the heartier American and British styles by having lower alcohol and lighter body. In general, it's a mix of smooth and bitter sensations with coffee and cocoa malt flavors.

Here's what I'm working with:

6# Marris Otter
12 oz. Flaked Barley
10 oz. Roasted Barley
6 oz. Chocolate Roast

1 oz. Amarillo (8% AA) @ 60 Min
1/2 tsp. Irish Moss @ 15 Min
Wyeast Irish Ale yeast

Mash @ 150F
OG: 1.050
Projected FG: 1.010
Actual FG: 1.013
ABV: 4.8%
IBU: 30

6/19/08 UPDATE: Finally transferred to secondary and its delicious. Very smooth cocoa flavor with a bitter baking chocolate and espresso aftertaste that really sticks. This should be a great beer.

Crimes Against Beer: Heineken Ignorance

While avoiding work earlier this week, a post on BeerAdvocate brought to light criminally ignorant beer knowledge being sold on the Heinekem website:

What is lager?
Lager is a generic name for all sorts of light-colored beers. The name comes from Germany and means “stored” beer. Strangely enough it is not brewed in Germany but is found almost exclusively in English-speaking countries.

Somewhere in the heavens The Beer Gods are crying. Off in Germany, brewers are spitting their lager in disgust. And me, well, I'm just shaking my head in disgust. This is why you let PR people handle vital information.

For anyone wondering, here's the skinny from Wikipedia:

Lager is distinguished from ale by its yeast. Lager yeast ferments at colder temperatures and flocculates on the bottom of the fermenting vessel, while ale yeast ferments at warmer temperatures and settles on the tops of fermentation tanks. The organism most often associated with lager brewing is Saccharomyces pastorianus, a close relative of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Basically it's one of two types of yeast strains used for making beer. It's still made in great abundance in Germany, as well as the rest of the world. In fact, I read recently that about 95% of all beer in the world is lager.

Here's a quick run-down of my take on the infamous green-bottled beer:

Heineken Lager
Heineken International
Euro Pale Lager

C / 2.95
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | drink: 3.5

When fresh and not skunked, this isn't too bad a beer. Unfortunately, the signature green bottles don't block out light like brown glass, and UV rays trash the beautiful hop oils. Otherwise it's inoffensive, light and a bit fruity. Not too much adjunct flavor or flaws like corny DMS, but also almost no trace of malt or hops. Easy drinking and I wouldn't refuse a free one, but it'll be a cold day in hell when I pay for one.

A Bacon-Wrapped Night

Mmm... Bacon...

Saturday night my house held Swinefest to honor a roommate that's heading back to LA to finish grad school. She's likes bacon, the rest of us like bacon, one thing led to another and the party turned into a bacon-wrapped throwdown. Deliciously distgusting, no?

For my part I made a couple dozen bacon-wrapped dates a la a recipe I picked up from Men's Health Living.

18 Medjool dates
18 Marcona Almonds
1/4 lb. bacon (9 strips)
1/4 lb. Valdeon cheese (I subbed St. Agur, any shhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifapeable blue works)

Pit the dates and stuff with an almond and cheese. Wrap with a half slice of bacon and hold together with a wood toothpick. Bake in an oven at 425F for 7-10 minutes.

Also available were bacon-wrapped hot dogs, jalepenos, shrimp, and asparagus. There was also non bacon-based foods, for the few non-bacon enthusiasts, and while they were damn tasty, they couldn't match the pork products.

Among the beers I paired with the bacon-wrapped victuals, I found Cane & Ebel from Two Brothers Brewing to be the best match. The bite of the citrus American hops with the rye spice tasted like it was just made for such a night.


Cane & Ebel
Two Brothers Brewing Co.

B+ / 3.95
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4

A dark red with an off-tan head, poor retention and little lacing. The aroma is very herbal with that rye spice. The flavor immediately reminds me of Red's Rye from Founder's, for obvious reasons. It's a big, but not too harsh citrus tang. As satisfying as any good IPA or hopped red ale, but with that wonderful rye twist to make it stand out. Worth a try. Quite tasty.