Hey Beerfans!
It’s Wednesday. This is the day of the week that most people consider hump day because it falls squarely in the middle of the work week and heralds the bisection of time between when we were last away from the trappings of work and when we’ll again celebrate freedom from employment toils. To me, it signals time to start thinking about a column for next week and what fine suds I’ll warehouse for my weekly foray to Hope where I have time to really sit and think about what’s being poured into my glass. I’ve been out doing a little research.
Oh, before I ramble on TOO far, do me a favor. If you blow off everything else, please scroll to the bottom and oblige my request for you help in keeping the beer column in the Anchorage Press alive. There are some dark clouds on the horizon…or at least I sense it.
Last night I went to the Moose’s Tooth with Ms. Fermento for a pie and some beer. I started with this month’s First Tap offering, which was Jack Straw Rye. This full-bodied, decent brew went down easily enough, was clean, and enough of the rye character (a dry, somewhat husky contribution to an otherwise malty beer) came through to add some real dimension to a base amber ale. And, “just because,” I had to have a Fairweather IPA. This moody shape-shifter is consistently inconsistent, but that’s the bonus; it’s always good, but always slightly different.
From there, I roared northwest to Café Amsterdam where I was delighted to discover many fine treats flowing from their no-crap lineup on tap.
Here’s what’s on:
Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s Greed
Petus Oud Bruin
Kassik’s Gold Nugget Hefeweizen
Brasserie De Rulles Triple
Hennepin Farmhouse Saison
Manger’s Irish Apple Cider
Delirium Tremens
Foret Organic Saison
Alaskan’s Boogie Bitter
Alaskan’s Heritage Coffee Brown Ale
Maredoseus 10
Avery Collaboration, Not Litigation Ale
I also got a sneak preview of Alaskan’s Raspberry Stout, another offering from the Rough Draft Series
At first, I thought that Alaskan’s Heritage Coffee Brown Ale was going to steal the show. This heady, delicious, infinitely-dimensional copper/brown brew seems to just magically evolve in the glass and tumbles over itself again and again through the life of the sample. There’s at least a dozen different beers within it. The nose is truly magic and changes again and again as the beer warms. I’m not going to heap too many accolades on it because I’ll probably mention it in next week’s Press column. The only advice I can give is don’t miss it. It’s on at Café and Humpy’s. I also sampled the Boogie Bitter, which I thoroughly enjoy because it sort of reminds me of pouring an Alaskan Pale and an Alaskan Summer Ale together, two beers that I thoroughly enjoy. I wasn’t particularly enamored of the Raspberry Stout. Some of the elements fight with each other and confuse my palate. Drinkers around me who also got a sneak preview actually said it first, and I had to agree.
The real no-shit, no miss beer in the Café lineup this week is the Foret Organic Saison. If you miss this beer on tap, you’re doing yourself a very serious disservice as a connoisseur of fine beer. I honestly believe that this is as close as what the brewer intended and far surpasses even the stellar quality of the bottled version we’ve been getting up here for some time. I tried to critically evaluate the beer, but it was so damned good, I kept getting lost in it. Typically when I evaluate a beer I hunker down and get into my BJCP mode and use a lot of objective, technical terms to describe my sensory experience. Try as I might, it just wouldn’t work. For example, here’s what I came up with for aroma:
“Oh, sweet springtime! I’m standing, facing the rising sun and the smell of tilled soil, and honeysuckle on the vine waft through me, followed by delicate flowers dancing in the breeze.”
And for flavor….
“A rainwater rinse through the honey barrel and blonde grain maturing on the vine. A dash of salt and pepper for spices and a bite of licorice for dessert. A sweet balance swirls from something other than soft and noble hops and just a thin slice of banana to round the meal out.
And, a stab at the beer’s appearance….
“A pulsating orange glow, like the sun behind hazy clouds. The sliver liner is a white/tan head…”
What the hell is THAT????? I was friggin’ LOST, man! I gave up at that point and resigned to the Mike Hartman Philosophy of Enjoying Beer: “Hey, can’t we just DRINK the beer?” I love it! Do NOT, do NOT, do NOT, miss this beer!
I didn’t budget enough liver to work my way through the Oud Bruin or the De Rulles, two beers I intend to return for.
Tonight might be Humpy’s if I don’t make the GNBC Picnic at Loughrey’s. You brew club members know what I’m talking about and for those of you that don’t, check out the GNBC Web Page for details at www.greatnorthernbrewers.org. If I do make Humpy’s before it’s gone, of particular interest to me this week are the Full Sail Nugget Special Red Ale and the Avery 14th Anniversary Ale because I haven’t had them yet.
Here’s what’s on uptown at Humpy’s:
Wheats / Fruits
Moose’s Tooth Wild Country Raspberry Wheat
Pyramid Apricot Ale
Pyramid Hefeweizen
Lindemans Framboise ###
Spire Dark & Dry Apple Cider #
Golden Ales/ Pilseners /
Alaskan Summer Kolsch
Midnight Sun Goldstrike Kolsch
Big Sky Summer Honey Ale
Amstel Light
Pale Ales / E.S.B.’s (medium hop bitterness)
Moose’s Tooth Polar Pale Ale
Full Sail Nugget Special Red Ale
Elysian `The Wise’ E.S.B.
Humpy’s Sockeye Red by Midnight Sun
Moose’s Tooth Fairweather I.P.A.
Elysian `Immortal’ I.P.A.
Fish Tale Organic I.P.A.
Great Divide Hercules Double I.P.A. # (9.1%)
Pike St. I.P.A.
Stone’s Arrogant Bastard
Specialties / Seasonal
Anchor Steam
Avery 14th Anniversary Ale # (9.46%)
Rogue
Rogue’s American Amber Ale
Belgian Ales
Midnight Sun Greed a Belgian Single #
Blue Moon Belgian White Wheat Ale
Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Ale ##
Strong Belgian Ales (Alcohol by Volume over 7.5%)
Bosteels Triple Karmeliet ### (8%)
Chimay Cing Cents Triple ### (8%)
Delirium Tremens ### (8.5%)
Gouden Carolus Classic ### (8%)
Liefmans Goudenband Brown ### (8%)
Unibroue Trois Pistoles ## (9%)
Urthel Hop-It
Amber Ales / Bocks /Dopplebocks/Scottish
Alaskan Amber Ale
Midnight Sun Oosik Amber Ale
Silver Gulch Copper Creek Amber Ale
Sleeping Lady Bravehart Scottish Ale
Brown Ales
Alaskan Heritage Coffee Brown Ale
Midnight Sun Kodiak Nut Brown Ale
Barleywines
Fish Tale Leviathan Barley Wine # (8%)
Porters / Stouts
Alaskan Smoked Porter
Deschutes Black
Full Sail top Sail Porter
Alaskan Raspberry Stout
Sleeping Lady Oatmeal Stout * (Cask Conditioned)
Guinness Stout *
Finally, if you haven’t noticed, the Anchorage Press is transitioning yet again. The rag was a little smaller last week. One glaring omission was Savage’s piece (I missed his twist), but overall there was less content. There hasn’t been an editorial for a long time. I’m not even sure there’s an editor at this point. For those of you that just rip the paper open to read MY piece (it’s sooooooooo flattering when you tell me that), did you know that the paper’s founding publishers, Nick and Maggie Coltman are gone? Robert Merowitz (I probably goofed the spelling) is gone (for the fourth, and probably final time). The paper continues to stumble around, grasping for identity, and recently I was asked what I thought about the future of my own column in the paper. Remember, the paper’s being published in the Valley now, and I’m not sure those folks share the same sentiments about beer as we do, and I’m not entirely sure where the question is coming from. If you folks like or dislike anything about the paper, the staff in
BNC Fermento
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