Tasting lots of beer, brewing… nothing (for now)
A couple of things have happened in the past year that have given me a chance to spend more time tasting beers. The birth of my first child, and the buyout of a local liquor store. I’ll explain.
My wife and I had our first child, our daughter Molly, in May 2007. Since that day, I have not brewed. I haven’t had the time. At all. Really. However, I do find that I’m home a lot more. My wife and I eat at home far more than we used to, and I cook a lot more than I used to (PS - I have always enjoyed cooking). I need something to drink with dinner!
There used to be a liquor store near my house that carried some absurd number of beers that you could buy by the bottle. Unfortunately, their selection was rather inconsistent, and the freshness of the beer was sometimes questionable. After some time, it got so bad that I opted to travel the extra few miles to another place that had a pretty good selection, and was cheaper and fresher. I’m lucky to have two places anywhere near me that have such a good selection of beers.
But now, the old place up the block was taken over, and the guy handling the beer part of the operation (it’s a full-fledged liquor store) really seems to care about beer. Good beer. I’ve tried tons of beers. All of a sudden the shelves were bursting at the seams with beers I had asked about when the old owners had the place, and I got lame excuses about. They’ve also gone back to stocking bottled versions of those British beers that have started going to those pub draught cans that I don’t care for.
I’ve tried tons of stuff, and I’ve come to a few interesting conclusions over the past, say, six months or so:
1. Saison is the only Belgian style of beer that I really like. I’ve tried several over the years, and figured maybe I just wasn’t trying the right ones. Then I tried Chimay Bleue, which scored, like, a 100 on RateBeer, and I don’t like that either. It’s not that they’re not well made - I’m sure they are! The thing is that there’s this flavor in Belgian ales that is sort of a hallmark of Belgian ale, and it so happens that that flavor drives me nuts. I don’t like it. Saison, on the other hand, is unlike any other Belgian I’ve ever had. I’m so glad I found Saison. I only found it a couple of years ago, and I’ve *never* brewed it, but I’d really like to, because it’s probably among the lightest, most refreshing beers you can brew without lagering. While it’s true that it’s kind of a light, fizzy beer, this is a beer with bite, and bold, sometimes peppery flavors. Fantastic.
2. Rogue is not capable of making a bad beer. I tried their XS this year. It pours like old engine oil dripping into the pan. It’s intimidating to witness, but when you drink it, it’s just awesome. It’s amazing how they actually got the hops to pop in a beer like that. I’m also a big fan of their Brutal Bitter, and whatever they called their Christmas beer - I forget the name, but it has a pic of santa claus on it, and it totally rocks, and I’m not someone who normally buys beer with Santa on it 
There *are* beers I’m indifferent toward. Dead Guy Ale and their Hazelnut offering don’t do a whole lot for me, but I wouldn’t turn one down, either. Today I bought another bottle of the Brutal Bitter (very good, British-style, not as hoppy, fizzy, or clean as some of the more pronounced American-style Bitters), and I also noticed the Mocha Porter on the shelf. Because of the label’s coloring, I thought this was Rogue’s Juniper beer, but noticed the word “mocha” at the last second before I passed it by.
3. I”m not as big a hophead as I thought I was. Back in the mid-90’s, I thought I was a hop head. I was the only person I knew who drank anything like a craft beer. I loved (and still do) Sierra Nevada, and occasionally liked an Anchor Steam. If I was in a restaurant I’d try to find some interesting hoppy beer. In the mid-90’s there weren’t a lot of restaurants that had interesting, hoppy beers. I tended bar at a place that did for a while, and I tried dang near every beer in the place (they had about 60 beers there, which was a lot at the time). I loved Geary’s Pale Ale, Harpoon IPA, a couple of the Brooklyn Beers were good, Wild Goose IPA was pretty good too. None of these, however, can really be called “hoppy” anymore, though. Not with Stone Brewing, Dogfish Head, and others who seem to be attempting to see how far they can push their fans. All I have to say is this: when you have cottonmouth after drinking a 12 oz beer, there are too many hops in your beer.
4. My palate has matured somewhat. I like a lot of beers now that I didn’t care much for years ago. Malty beers used to *all* seem cloying and chewy to me. Nowadays, I love Belhaven’s Wee Heavy Scottish Ale, Schneider Aventinus Eisbock, and a few other beers on the maltier side of the fence.
5. I’m still not tired of Guinness Extra Stout. No pub draught for me. I still like the beer that, at the tender age of 15, I coined “ol’ rusty pipes”. I’m really happy to see all of the other stouts and porters on the market, because I love stouts and porters, but I’ll just as soon pick up a six pack of Extra Stout. Maybe it’s part nostalgia? As for the newer ones I’m now able to get my hands on, I’m finding that, if it says ‘porter’ on it, I’m probably going to like it. Surprisingly, the same is not true for stout. Black Douglas I found really just boring, for example. Also, Imperial stouts aren’t something I’m going to go out and get a six pack of, though Old Rasputin is pretty good stuff if I’m gonna have one bottle.
6. Germany makes great beers. Used to be I stuck strictly to American and British beers. Adventures into Belgians were sometimes painful (though I’m glad I went through it, because it’s how I found Saison), and I found that diving into the beers of other regions available to me were mostly pretty boring. For example, France doesn’t have much to offer in the way of beer. Again, I’m glad I got adventurous with beer, because I found, for example, that Poland makes lots of beer, and one brewery there even makes a pretty good porter (I’ll have to come back when I remember the name of it). But 99% of the beers I’ve tried from Africa, Japan, France, Slovakia, Russia, etc., are a good bit like Budweiser. Anyway, I’ve added Germany to the list of countries that I am officially a fan of in terms of their beer making. I’m not sure I’ve yet had a bad Hefeweizen, though they differ quite a lot. I’ve also tried the dunkels, and bocks, and lots of other German styles. I have to say that I don’t like all German beers, but the *reason* is that, within each German style, there’s so much variety that it’s almost impossible not to come across something you just don’t care for. I’m not a huge fan of the really heavy doppelbocks I’ve had, but I’ve had some interesting Rye bocks and lighter doppelbocks. The only German style for which I cannot find an example that I like is Marzen (a.k.a Oktoberfest). These beers exhibit that same hallmark flavor as some of the Belgian ales that drives me nuts. If someone knows what ingredient or process causes that flavor, or what chemical is the cause of that flavor, let me know so I can research ways of making sure it never gets into the beer I brew. I just can’t seem to acquire a taste for it!
So, that pretty much catches you up on what’s been going on beer-wise. What you might not know is that Matt got married, and they’re having a huge party in Maine, in July. Between now and then, the plan is to brew 4-6 batches of beer to bring up there with us. It should be quite an interesting early spring! I don’t believe there’s an official list of beers we’re going to brew, but for sure our Red Ale is going to make an appearance. We’ll probably also do a standard bitter. Aside from that, who the heck knows? I’d like to try doing a Saison for those at the party who like lighter beers, and a wheat beer for people who don’t like hops and like to put lemons in their beer and stuff. We haven’t talked about it much, so who knows what Matt has up his sleeve 
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