Baby Steps to Experimental Beers

I’ll admit that I’m not the most adventurous person when it comes to trying beer. I like my stouts, my porters and my IPAs. Sometimes I’ll buy a bottle of beer that I know will be good versus buying a Flying Dog Pearl Necklace with oysters that could very well taste like ass. I’m trying to get into the world of unique and experimental beers—I’m just taking baby steps. Lately, I’ve been looking for flavors that aren’t always featured in beers. Right now waiting to be tested is one beer with juniper and one with habaneros. I’ll try beer with oysters, bacon, and smoked pig’s head eventually, but let me take my damn time.

This first step on the road to experimental beers was a Chicory Stout from Dogfish Head Brewery. I know that chicory isn’t that strange of an ingredient, but let me take this victory.  Chicory root in case you don’t know what it is, is a common coffee substitute and additive (especially in New Orleans). The root is roasted, then ground, and adds an almost coffee-ish flavor to things…like beer.  Most people say that chicory is notably nuttier, woodier and a tad bitterer than coffee—at least that’s what Wikipedia told me. Some people say it’s really not like coffee at all. I kept this all in mind as I was drinking my Chicory Stout. 

I poured this into my new English Pub Glass and the brew was black with a fairly decent cream colored head. A woody/spicy/roasty/coffee-y smell could be detected right after the pour.

The taste predominately had black coffee flavor. The brew features organic Mexican coffee as well as the chicory, and it’s obvious which one they used more in the brewing process. The real hint of chicory comes after the black coffee flavor subsides and earthier and chocolatier notes pop out. Overall, I liked it but wished the black coffee taste was less in-your-face. Plus, the body was thinner than I was expecting after the initial head on the pour.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled for crazy beers to write about. Calling this chicory beer slightly experimental is a bit of a leap. If you have any suggestions for me, feel free leave the names in the comment box. If it wasn’t a potential awkward situation I would ask you to send me new beers to try, but this is the internet, and some things aren’t okay to do on the internet. 

Brace Yourself: Winter Beers are Coming

The Christmas beer season is upon us. I don’t care that Thanksgiving hasn’t happened yet. I don’t care that it’s technically “autumn.” I don’t care that I still see leaves on 40% of the trees surrounding my house. I like new things. And I love that a whole season of craft brews are starting to pop up on the shelves.

My kick-ass craft beer store Siciliano’s stocked their impressive shelf space with the first round of winter ales last week. This week I’m finally drinking them. There are a ton of seasonally spiced brews, so instead of bah-humbugging that it’s only November, start drinking instead.

Since Grand Rapids had some snow flakes today, my first beer of the winter season was a Yellow Snow IPA from Rogue brewing out of Oregon. Yes, I bought this beer because of the hilarious name. No, it did not taste like snow covered in piss.

Fun Fact: Yellow Snow IPA was first brewed for the 2000 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City

Yellow Snow IPA clocks in at pretty drinkable 6.5% ABV. This ale features Amarillo Hops. A definite bitterness was prominent start to finish—but it wasn’t too overwhelming. Grapefruit and lemon zest meshed well with the bitterness and kept the brew fairly complex. Other standout flavors included pine, earthy malt and a little floral essence. Although this IPA follows suit with classic bitterness, Yellow Snow IPA still manages to be slightly sweet and fruity. Just because it looks like pee from a dehydrated person doesn’t mean it has to taste like it. Nice job Rogue Ales, teaching people that appearances and names aren’t everything. We can all take a page out of Rogue's book.

I’ll also be reviewing winter beers that have NOTHING to do with urine this season. So, if you can’t stomach Yellow Snow stick around, I’ll have jollier brews to get you in the Christmas spirit. Tis the season—almost. 

Hops Candy

It's been less than a week since Halloween, which means all of the Halloween candy that you tried to avoid throughout the spooky season is now 50-75% off. If you haven't indulged and did not wake up in a pile of chocolate wrappers, good for you, way to have self-control. If you did eat your weight in chocolate over the weekend here's a different type of candy to try: candy made from hops.

I tried hop candy a while back and I'm still not sure what I make of it. Essentially it's just sugar with a bit of hop oil. I had a variety pack that featured multiple varieties of hops (Cascade, English East Kent Golding, Saaz, etc.). I tried a Cascade flavored candy about the size of a jolly rancher. It took a long time to disintegrate and I'm pretty sure it gave me my first cavity.

It was super sweet with a piney/floral hop taste that wasn't bad, but wasn't that good. I've also tasted malt extract and tried wort on it's own before, and I could pull out an unfinished wort essence. Somehow, the sweetness, bitterness and earthiness didn't quite fit together. I want to try another flavor of the hop candy because I'm curious...but at the same time I don't. I definitely would prefer to drink my beer rather than let the non-alcoholic flavorings rot my teeth.

This is a fairly harsh review and I blame the sugar hangover of the post-Halloween season. There are probably some craft beer lovers that would squeal with delight as they savor this candy. Also, this a pretty decent gift for beer-heads (are you thinking about Christmas? I am.) who might want to get the hops flavor without the buzz of a drinking a beer. At least try a piece or two before you swear it off forever. Basically what I'm saying is, If I get a cavity, you have to get a cavity too.  

You probably can't find these in typical candy stores, so your best chance at buying hop candy is from your favorite beer store.Typically a 4oz bags of the candy sell for roughly $5. Maybe your craft beer store will sell them individually so you can give it a test taste before investing in a whole bag. Then we can visit the dentist together. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Trick or Treat

It's Halloween and yes, there are roughly seven hundred pumpkin beers in the world, but I've already said my piece on pumpkin spice beer (as seen here: Pumpkin Beer?). So in the spirit of Halloween here's a little trick or treat action for you guys.

The Trick: I'm writing about whiskey today, not beer.
The Treat: it is whiskey and whiskey is delicious too—just in a different way.

I was doing some shopping at my friendly neighborhood Meijer the other day when I strayed from the beer aisle into the land of the hard stuff. It's Halloween after all, and a flask of whiskey fits better in my costume than 6 bottles of beer. Plus, when I'm not drinking beer I'm a bourbon or whiskey kind of girl and Halloween is the perfect time to warm up with whiskey. As I was gawking at all the whiskey, a bottom shelf bottle of Maple Mist caught my eye. First, it was only $9.99. Second, it was a blend of Maple Liquor and Canadian Whiskey. I was excited and immediately placed it into my empty cart. I've learned to simply ignore the judgmental stares from the shoppers around me.

Whiskey for all of your breakfast needs

I may be late to the party, but maple whiskey is so hot right now. Last year the en vogue flavor for whiskey was honey. Years before, cinnamon whiskey and cherry whiskey all had their five minutes of fame. This is the year of the Maple (it's go time Canada). If you're not as poor as I am, feel free to jump up a shelf or two when buying your maple whiskey. Crown Royal, Knob Creek, Hudson Whiskey, and Sweet Sippin' (which comes in a maple leaf bottle by the way) all make presumably superior versions of this fall friendly blended alcohol.

The Maple Mist made by Canadian Mist that I bought is pretty good, but I'm sure it can get even better. The bottle says the whiskey has notes of maple, salted caramel, toasted oak, and finished with a rich molasses flavor. Not quite. Maple Mist owes its maple flavor less to the maple tree and more to the sticky high-fructose pancake topper—but it's still drinkable. Another minor problem is the astringent whiskey taste towards the middle of a sip. Nonetheless, I still want to put Maple Mist into a flask, or mix it with apple cider, or pour it over my pancakes for a drunken breakfast.

I know it's not craft beer but think of the possibilities. You can add maple whiskey to eggnog, hot toddies, root beer, cocoa, coffee—the seasonal recipes es are endless. I'll get back to beer related topics ASAP but in the meanwhile, warm up after trick-or-tre-treating with this sweet spin on whiskey. stweewitwwaenme in thwt me, bu, latedet et

Rail Dog Smoked Black Lager

I write a ton about ales it's not a secret. But I have love for lagers too. In case you're not familiar with these beer types here's my little guide to both. Lagers and ales are two extremely broad categories for beer (I was once told to think of the two groups like white and red wine). The basic difference is the yeast for an ale is different than the yeast for a lager. Ales need yeast that thrive in warmer temperatures while the yeast used in lagers ferments better in cooler temperatures. Because of the colder temperatures, lagers have a longer brew cycle and a bit more of a mellow (but equally delicious) flavor. Make sense? Good.
Tonight I enjoyed a Rail Dog Smoked Black Lager.

That dog on the cap is just darling. Darling.

Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. out of Ohio makes this tasty black lager. On the bottle, Thirsty Dog tells me that the Rail Dog Smoked Black Lager has the most "complex grain bill" of any beer that they brew. The complexity is apparent and the grains take center stage in this brew. Unlike a typical porter or stout, the notes of chocolate/coffee in this Black Lager are a little more subdued. As I was pouring this beer into my glass, I was hit with a smoky/grainy aroma immediately. As I started drinking, the standout flavors came from the apple smoked grain as well as a slight roasted essence, like coffee or dark chocolate. Another big taste in this beer comes from the earthy and fruity hops. It was a fairly full-bodied lager that was super drinkable. This beer has an ABV of  6.7% that I could barely detect. Rail Dog Smoked Black Lager was really smooth and well balanced from start to finish. 9/10: would drink again and again.