Pabst Blue Ribbon
Brewery: Pabst Brewing Company
Where: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Style: American Adjunct Lager
IBU: N/A
ABV: 4.74%
Being the extra cool guy that I am, people have been asking me... "Hey John... What's your new year's resolution gonna be this year?" It's always a tough question for me, but this year, I believe I have the answer. For those of you who follow this blog with any regularity, you know that I enjoy really great beers. But really great beers are also really expensive beers. I typically spend anywhere between $3 and $30 for some of the bottles you have seen sampled in this blog. Well, times are tough and money is short. I'm giving up the life of the beer snob and getting back to basics. For what I spend on a typical bottle of beer, I can buy a sixer of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Lots of bottles equal the price of a 12-pack, and some even as much as a case of this true piece of Americana you see before you.
This classic example of an American Adjunct Lager poured with a beautiful golden hue and a thick foamy head. This head quickly subsided, which is a good thing. Once all that foam went away, I could actually see what I was drinking. I didn't have to imagine what it looked like through all that foam and I didn't get the 'got beer' mustache that I'm often seen sporting around town. The beer doesn't have a strong aroma, which is once again a good thing. I can still smell whatever I might be eating at the time without the beer getting in the way. This beer is best served at temperatures near 32°. The colder this beer is, the less it smells and tastes like urine, which is another good thing. Colder is better.
From the can:
This is the ORIGINAL Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. Nature's choicest products provide its perfectflavor. Only the finest of hops and grains are used. Selected as America's Best in 1893.
That's pretty impressive I guess. I'm not sure how many beers you could buy in the US in 1893, but I know I have now sampled the best of the bunch. Also according to the can, Pabst Brewing Company was established in Milwaukee in 1844. It only took them 49 years to win that award!
As with any other great beer, you have to consider the food pairing options that are available to you. For Pabst Blue Ribbon, I would suggest serving it at the stated 32° with other fine American cuisine such as Vienna Sausages, saltine crackers, and Cheez Whiz. If you want to create something truly phenomenal, drop a Slim Jim in the can with the beer to spice it up a little.
Until next time...
Duvel Belgian Golden Ale
Brewery: Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV
Where: Belgium
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
IBU: N/A
ABV: 8.5%
I guess it's about time to have another look at a nice Belgian Ale... This choice was inspired by a photo I saw from a friend on Facebook the other day of a 6-liter bottle of this ale! I didn't realize from the photo that the bottle was quite that large because it was sitting beside a couple 3-liter bottles of Chimay Blue...
But anyway... Here's another fine example of a Belgian Strong Ale. This beer pours with the classic blonde color and the thick foamy head from the higher levels of carbonation present in this drink. This beer also has a slightly higher presence of hops than most Belgians I am used to, but it remains within the prescribed limits and also provides a very crisp drink with the awesome fruity notes that are common from the yeast strains used to produce these beers. At 8.5% alcohol by volume, this beer falls slightly on the lower side of the style, but it has a phenomenal flavor. I highly recommend adding this beer to your Belgian tasting regimen if you haven't already!
He’Brew Jewbelation Twelve
Brewery: Shmaltz Brewing Company
Where: Saratoga Springs, NY
Style: American Brown Ale
IBU: N/A
ABV: 12.0%
Here's a beer that I have been sitting on for quite a while. Beers of this nature tend to be most excellent when aged for an extended time, so I have had this bottle tucked away on the shelf for 10 or 11 months now. The American Brown Ale classificaiton given to this beer by beeradvocate.com might not be quite on the mark. Packaged as a 12th Anniversary Ale, this beer is brewed with 12 malts and 12 hops, which is quite a recipe in my opinion. As I poured it into the glass, my first impression was a stout or porter with the rich dark color and the chocolate-like creamy head that was produced. The aroma has a characteristic roastiness to it as does the flavor. At 12% alcohol, this is yet another beer that should be pulled from the fridge about 30 minutes before you are ready to drink.
As for the aging I mentioned, I believe that process allows the malt complexity of a beer to really shine through, and it has done just that in this beer. This is the exact kind of beer I like to sip through on a cold and windy day, which is what I'm planning to do with this one as it sits on the desk in front of me :)
I'm still unable to locate a bottle of the Coney Island Albino Python. That is the only remaining beer I have to sample from the Coney Island line of craft brews from Shmaltz. If any of my reader friends can locate a bottle of this for me, I'd be greatly in debt!
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Where: Chico, CA
Style: American IPA
IBU: 65
ABV: 6.8%
Thanksgiving Day... I nice day to take a ride with Sierra Nevada's Celebration Fresh Hop Ale... I picked up a big 24-oz bomber of this brew in a local grocery store cooler the other day and decided to chill it for today's tasting run. Speaking of... I have too much beer sitting around here. I have 65 different bottles of beer that need to be sampled and logged in this blog. I have been through a spell of buying beer when I see it and not drinking any of it, so I hope to have a daily tasting for the next two months or so in order to clear the shelves. I have quite a few really nice beers along with some more run-of-the-mill samples to work through...
This Celebration Ale is a nice big fat American IPA that just bowled me over with hop aroma when I poured from the bottle. The hops in this recipe include Chinook for bittering and the lovely combination of Cascade and Centennial for flavor and aroma. This hop trilogy is a true staple of the American ales, especially those from the west coast. The grain bill consists of "two-row pale and English caramel" malts which is also a rather standard 'generic' bill for a pale ale or india pale ale, but Sierra Nevada's combination comes together for a brew that has an excellent body, flavor, aroma, and all-around 'welcome to winter' experience. From the website:
The long, cold nights of winter are a little brighter
with Celebration® Ale. Wonderfully robust and rich, Celebration® Ale
is dry-hopped for a lively, intense aroma. Brewed especially for
the holidays, it is perfect for a festive gathering or for a quiet
evening at home.
Sierra Nevada, like a few of my other favorite breweries, seems to have a difficult time making a beer that I don't like. Give this one a whirl... Cya tomorrow!
Natty Greene’s Guilford Golden Ale
Brewery: Natty Greene's Brewing Co.
Where: Greensboro, North Carolina
Beer: Guilford Golden Ale
Style: American Blonde Ale
IBU:N/A
ABV: 3.8%
Here's another excellent example of a good American Blonde Ale. This is my first sampling of anything from Natty Greene's Brewing Company on this blog, but I think this is an excellent starter. I love blonde ales, and this one is no exception. This beer poured with a light golden color and a reasonably foamy head. The beer has a slightly richer body than most of the blondes I have tried, which may result from the use of Maris Otter pale malt in the recipe. Breaking from the tradition of most American Blonde Ales, this beer is made with East Kent Goldings hops instead of the standard fare of Cascade or Centennial hops that many would expect of this style. At 3.8% ABV, it also fits the "lawnmower beer" category quite nicely. You can sip on this stuff all day long without becoming incapacitated in the least :) My only disappointment is that their website doesn't go into any detail about their beers. Maybe in the future...
Homebrew – Dark Warrior Imperial Stout
Brewery: Homebrewed
Where: Hickory, NC
Beer: Dark Warrior Imperial Stout
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
IBU: 80 IBU
ABV: 10.1%
Out of all the homebrews I have made since I got into all-grain brewing, I believe this one is my overall favorite so far. This is almost perfect in regards to my goals with this beer. I had some problems with the fermentation process of this beer and thought I was going to have to toss it out. I'm glad I didn't. With a little extra effort and patience, I managed to get the fermentation complete and the results seem to be outstanding at this point. This beer also won a bronze medal in the Olde Hickory Brewery Pro-Am this past summer. Here's the goodness that went into this 5.5 gallon brew:
14 lbs Pale 2-row malt
1.1 lbs Roasted Barley
1.0 lb Victory Malt
1.0 lb Dark Wheat Malt
0.75 lb Flaked Oats
0.6 lb Black Patent Malt
0.5 lb Black Barley
0.5 lb Cara-pils malt
0.5 lb Crystal Malt (120L)
0.5 lb Crystal Malt (60L)
1.0 lb Molasses (secret ingredient) ;)
1.0 oz Warrior Hops (15.8%) @ 90 minutes
1.0 oz Warrior Hops (15.8%) @ 60 minutes
1.0 liter yeast starter with SafAle American Ale #S-05
That's a monster grain bill for a 5.5 gallon batch of beer. This recipe was also an excellent learning experience for me. I had never brewed a batch this size that had 21.5 lbs of grain in it. That, along with the combination of grains I used, actually needed to be handled a little differently in the mash. My next batch of this beer will have some minor modifications to the grain bill and the mash process to smooth out the process.
As far as the beer taste is concerned, I'm pumped about this one. All these dark malts along with the molasses create a flavor symphony that I can't really begin to describe. All I can tell you is that I love it! So, next time I post an invite to come up and have some beer, you better come on up and help me get rid of this one. As of today, only four 12-ounce bottles of this one have been opened. I'm saving it for cold weather.
Cheers!
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