Spectre’s Sayings

Charlie Papazian, the Beer Examiner, reports that New Belgium Brewing and Elysian are going to begin to brew on each others’ premises.

I tried New Belgium’s Fat Tire Amber Ale for the first time last night. It had a very strong, very pleasant floral hop aroma, but there was very little bitterness to the taste. The copper-colored brew had a smooth, substantial mouthfeel, and a simple but not unpleasant taste. I quite liked it.

I drank one of those 22 oz. “bomber” bottles. I had rather disturbing dreams last night.

Anheuser-Busch being sold to InBev for $52B - Yahoo News

George Will corrects Investor’s Business Daily about just how essential beer is.

Oddly enough, I didn’t blog during the month of July last year, so I don’t have any year-old beer reviews to link to. Sorry!

This dark-amber-colored beer has a nice head, albeit smaller than most wheat beers. It had a pleasant aroma and a nice flavor. I was actually preoccupied with other matters while I drank this beer, so, unfortunately I can’t give a more detailed review. But I did like it, and will probably drink it again.

How Bronze Age man enjoyed his pint, from BBC News.

Update: Here’s a link to the website of the lads who did the experiment.

Tour Bell’s Brewery Inc.

“The hoppiest kölsch I’ve ever had,” is how I thought of New Holland Brewing’s Lucid. It’s similar to other kölsches I’ve had - light, refreshing - but there’s a definite hoppy floral aroma that made me wonder whether I’d picked up a pale ale by mistake. Not to worry, however. It wasn’t bitter at all, although you could detect the hops bitterness if you looked for it.

Not bad.

Update: this is my 150th post in the “Beer” category.

I had a Flying Dog’s In Heat Wheat Hefeweizen Ale the other night. Like a German hefeweizen, it had a big head. Unlike a German hefeweizen, it didn’t last long. It had a nice, fruity flavor, reddish-amber color, and was quite refreshing. A great summer beer.

Mmmm, yummy!

Due to the fluidity of national borders, St. Ephrem’s birthplace, Nisibis, is no longer in Syria, but is the present-day Turkish town of Nusaybin. I’ve never had a Turkish beer. Can anyone recommend one?

Today is the Feast of St. Norbert. The founder of the Premonstratensians was born in Xanten, on the left bank of the Rhine river, so appropriate beers for today would be from Germany. Might I suggest an Altbier?

Last year - in June of 2007 - I reviewed beers from:

• Fuller, Smith, and Turner - Fuller’s London Pride
• J.W. Dundee - Amber Lager and Pale Bock
• Arcadia Ales - Whitsun Ale and Amber Ale
• Sierra Nevada - Summerfest Beer

Two words: too sour. Smelled doughy and grainy, and the flavor was way too sour. No noticeable hop aroma or flavor.

Millstream has put out some really lovely beers. But this isn’t one of them. Give this one a pass.

About the same color as a nut brown ale, this lager has a small head and nice lacing. The aroma is very nice: sweet-smelling, with hints of cloves and fruit, it kind of smelled like a Belgian dark strong ale.

It’s a beer with a substantial mouthfeel, as would be expected with a doppelbock, but it’s pretty smooth-drinking. It doesn’t tend to linger on the tongue after swallowing.

There’s a big, malty taste, but the hops are quite noticeable, especially at the finish. On one swallow, I happened to swish the beer in my mouth, and was rewarded with blast of carbonation coming out of solution, as well as the taste of alcohol hotness - as if this was a young big beer. This beer has an ABV of 7.2%, so I’m not entirely sure whether I should be surprised at that.

I’m not usually a fan of the bock beer styles, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I’d definitely drink it again.