The BeerBlogger - Ep. 5 - Gray's Autumn Ale, Leinenkugel's Baltic Porter

Drink... For Your Health

The health benefits of enjoying wine have been widely reported over the years.  But what about beer?  Well, although much of the mainstream media have ignored the amazing health benefits of beer, doctors and health professionals have been busy proving what it can do for you! 

All of these studies found that drinking beer in moderation had overall positive effects.  The studies determined that 1 beer a day was good, but 2 beers a day is better (I could have told you that!)  But the key to the study is moderation!  There were no additional health benefits to drinking more than 2 per day. 

Heart Health - Heart disease is the #1 killer in America; more people die of heart disease every year than AIDS and all cancers combined!  Ok, enough of the scary stuff!  Here's the good news; Drinking 1 to 2 servings of beer per day can decrease your risk of heart disease by 31%.  Those same 1 to 2 beers will decrease your chance of a heart attack or developing a cardiovascular disease by 25% to 40%.

Diabities - A study performed at Harvard in 2001 found that drinking 1 to 2 beers a day can reduce the risk of developing Type 2 Diabities by 25%.

Kidneys - Swigging the suds 1 to 2 times per day can help reduce the likelihood of kidney stones by 40%. 

Brain & Memory - A 2009 study found that the magic formula of drinking 1 to 2 servings of beer per day helped lower the risk of memory decline in older patients by 20%, and those people tested 18 months "younger" on memory tests. 

Beer.  The fountain of youth.  May your cup runneth over!

So there you have it!  Beer when consumed in moderation, can do amazing things for your body.  The other important factor in these studies was to drink craft beers.  The big time breweries filter most of the beneficial ingredients out of the beer that they sell you at cheap prices.  So pick up a six pack of the stuff that retails for more than $3.99 - it's ok, you can handle it. 

Imagine how much we would spend on a vitamin or wonder drug that could do all of the things that beer can do.  Better health is just a beer away!

The Beerblogger - Ep. 4 November 2012 - Silent Edition New Glarus Imperi...

Imperial Invasion

I mentioned in my last video, Imperial Stout was brewed in England for the Imperial court of Queen Catherine II in Russia.  That was a long time ago, nowadays anyone can enjoy the dark royal brew.  If you've never tried it before; the taste could be compared to a strong flavored coffee drink from your favorite over priced gourmet coffee place.  Imperial Stout is not for the faint of heart!  It can be between 8 and 15% alcohol.  Think of that for a minute - drinking a single Imperial Stout would be like drinking 3 or 4 American "Lite" beers.  They tend to be big on dark, rich flavors.  Lots of roasty, toasty tastes - espresso, toasted caramel, dark chocolate, toffee, and currants are typical flavor profiles you can find.  Many breweries offset the dark and bitter flavors with sweet flavors like cherries or raspberries. 

When most people think of stout, they think of the stout - Guinness.  Like there are many different styles of beer; there are differnt styles of stout. 

Dry Stout - Not a lot of carbonation, a thick, long lasting head, some bitterness, virtually no hop aroma.  Guinness is a good representation of this style.

Sweet Stout - or milk stout tends to have a taste of lightly roasted coffee - Young's Double Chocolate Stout is a good example of this style.

Foreign Stout - A more hop flavored stout created specially for export, tend to have higher alcohol content.  Lion Stout from Sri Lanka is a great example of foreign stout.

The Beer Blogger - Ep. 3 - November 2012 - Dogfish Head "Bitches Brew"

The Season of the Bitch

I've finally found it!  After seeing Dogfish Head brewery featured on Discovery Channel's "Brew Masters" it became apparent how great of a brewery they are.  Sam Calagione - founder and president of Dogfish Head brewery in Delaware, has consistently dared to brew very, very different beers.  Take for example their "Midas Touch" which they took residual chemical samples of broken pottery vessels from the tomb of King Midas - and brewed a beer based on the chemical analysis.  Their popular (and delicious) "Chicory Stout" brewed with roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John's Wort, and licorice root.  Or, the amazing crazy beer "Pangaea" with ingredients from all seven continents. 

Think of that the next time you're drinking a domestic "Lite" beer!  I'VE FINALLY FOUND IT!  Dogfish Head's masterpiece "Bitches Brew".  Brewed in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Miles Davis' seminal album of the same title.  I looked and looked around my usual bottle shops - nothing.  I had talked to an acquaintance who had tried it (for $30) EPIC!  But I couldn't find it anywhere!  A recent road trip and a little bit of serendipity, and I found a bottle for $13.99 in all places a mall!

The Beer Blogger - Ep. 2 - September 2012 - Capital Brewery Autumnal Fire

Catching Up

Since the last post I've been trying as many Oktoberfest beers as possible.  For those of you who don't know - Oktoberfest (or Marzen) style beers are generally more full bodied, made with more malt, have a more aggresive hop profile and generally higher alcohol content.  The Oktoberfest beers historically were brewed in early spring and left in the cellars until they were brought out for Oktoberfest during the last week in September, leading up to the German Reunification Day that falls on  October 3rd. 
Ok, so that's your history lesson; and now on to the beer. 

New Glarus Staghorn - I'm biased when it comes to New Glarus because everything they do is great.  This beer had a really smoky malt taste and left kind of a warmth after drinking - overall great beer.
Rating: 4/5

Hinterland Oktoberfest - Never tried anything from this brewery out of Green Bay.  Beer came in pint bottles.  More hop taste in this beer as compared to other Oktoberfest beers. 
Rating: 3/5

Capital Brewery Oktoberfest - Much darker tasting malt profile on this one, great smooth finish with an almost sweet aftertaste.  Nice!
Rating: 4/5

Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest - Kind of a dulled down and sweeter malt taste, gently hopped.  An Oktoberfest reccomended for the first time Marzen drinker.
Rating: 3/5

Sprecher Oktoberfest - Not sure what was going on when they made this one.  Tastes more like an IPA than anything else.  No thank you!
Rating: 2/5

Samuel Adams Oktoberfest - Outstanding!  Great hop to malt balance.  Very drinkable, not overpowering.  Really smooth with a sweet aftertaste.
Rating: 5/5

The Beer Blogger - Ep. 1 - August 2012 - Samuel Adams Spring Ale, Schlaf...

The tasting of the first!

The first beer that I set aside was a Samuel Adams Spring Ale.  I think it was sometime in either 2004 or 2005, thus making the beer that I am about to drink at least 7 years old!  Most craft brewers suggest that the beer be cooled to 55 degrees farenheit to enjoy the full flavor potential of the beer.  I like mine a little bit colder than that, 55 degrees is pretty warm in terms of beer for my tastes.  I refridgerated it overnight and then took it out of the fridge to warm back up to about 48 degrees.  The label on the bottle neck reads as follows

Samuel Adams Spring Ale celebrates fresh American ale.  This rich golden ale, brewed in the Kolsch style, is complex and flavorful, with hand-selected Spalt Spalt and Kent Goldings hops.  Welcome spring with family, friends and Samuel Adams Spring Ale.  Cheers! - Jim Koch

I remember the ale as one of my first craft beers and I enjoyed it when I originally tried it.  Similar to a Witbeir (think Blue Moon) but with more of a crisp hop spiciness to it.  There is quite a bit of sediment on the bottom that I will try to not disturb when I pour it.

A brief introduciton

So, I'm a collector.  Throughout various stages of my life I have collected; cards, stamps, comics, coins, books, rocks, soda cans, movies, toys, autographs, sports memorabilia among other things...  So naturally with a love for beer, I started collecting bottles of beer - full bottles.  The idea was that I would buy at least 2 bottles of each different beer that I would try, drink one and save one for display.  It worked great for a while, but having a wife and young children didn't lend the beer bottle collection much of an area to display them properly.  So, I moved my collection of about 200 domestic and imported beer bottles to the basement.  Now what?  So all of these bottles have been sitting around - some of them for 10 years, what was I going to to with them?  I got rid of a few of the common ones - Miller Lite, MGD, Bud, Coors, Guinness, etc.  Those had more than likely gone bad in the first few months of storage.  But I couldn't bring myself to just throw the rest of them away, many were obtained on trips to regional breweries and many of them were "one off" beers that were either a one shot deal with no intention of brewing them again, or some sort of special celebration or seasonal beer.  I tried donating my collection to various beer museums and regular museums but none of them wanted my collection since it was too new.  I tried to bring some of the more rare ones to consignment shops in the area, but none of them wanted anything to do with them.  I tried to sell all of them on Craigslist for as low as $20, still no takers! 

So, It has come to this - I will one by one drink each one and post the results on here.  I plan on starting with the beers that I think will have not benefited from cellaring - like the domestic lite beers, hop forward beers (IPA's), and some of the other lighter fare that I hung on to for whatever reason.  Then I will gradually work up to the beers that I think will have turned out the best, and share my tasting experience on here.