Monday Rant: Blessed With Beer?

I'm a Catholic and certainly a terrible one at that. I've probably gone to mass voluntarily twice in the past calendar year. What brought me to church grounds this past weekend was the annual church festival. There I found myself drinking a beer on the very hillside in which I played games and completed activities when I was in preschool. For me, it was also ironic that I was drinking alcohol on church grounds as someone that's a very stubborn Catholic.

A lot of us craft beer folk wouldn't approve of the small selection that was at this festival. It consisted of Coors Light, George Killian's Irish Red and Blue Moon. It was quite hot on Saturday. So, I decided to pitch in and get a beer. After all I certainly wanted to consume a beer on church property! I decided that a Blue Moon was the  best choice (what an oxymoron) of the three, but the keg was kicked. Thus, I settle for the Irish Red.

While I was sitting on the hillside I naturally thought what would happen if there was a small craft selection available at the church festival. It seemed as if money was being made. One beer was already gone for the night. Then I looked around at the people that were attending this festival. Mostly middle-aged people that lived here in Munhall.

If it came to be one of these years, most of these people are so familiar with the concept of Blue Moon, etc being the new age of beer that they might not have any idea what the more exotic selections would be like. That means less sales. It's a sad thing to think about if you're among us that really enjoy the different brews. Like it or not, that's just reality.

Personally, I've accepted the fact that I might not ever see some of my favorite beers at a church festival. At least the one at my parish. I won't lose sleep over it. Maybe it's one of those "society is broken" kind of things? I can't blame many middle-aged people that see well-done commercials like this Blue Moon one and assume that it's some of the best beer around. Especially if they don't do much outside of their local municipalities.

 

Monday Rant: What the Hell is on Your Face?

I remember exactly where I was when I came up with the idea to do this series of posts at the beginning of each week. I was sitting in Slippery Rock University's Bailey Library ready to write about something concerning my feelings towards malt liquor. Well, it looks like the Monday Rant that I write each week has spread a few wings.

Justin over at Justin's Brew Review, one of my online beer friends, has taken it upon himself to partake in the young tradition of writing beer rants. His subject? Miller Lite's claim of having a beer that's "triple hops brewed."

For the last few years I've found myself confused when hearing such a phrase during Miller Light commercials on television. I'm sure you have, too. The ironic thing is that the majority of us craft folk had to have Miller Lite at some point to know that it's not really that tasty. To be honest, I don't see where the hell they were going when they decided to start throwing that phrase out there. I don't get a sense of much hops at all with my experiences with Miller Lite. To quote one of my uncles, it tastes more like rusty water.

I have a friend that is a blue collar person. He enjoys drinking Miller Lite, Blue Moon etc. To each his own. I once took him to a local craft pub. He had about three beers. One of which I remember being Oskar Blues G'Knight. The other was called Farmer's Tan, but I don't remember who made it. About half way through this drinking session my friend developed a runny nose. He started sneezing. He also had hives break out on his face and neck.

It turns out he is allergic to hops. Go figure. Triple hopped? More like triple riced. The good news is that he ended up actually appreciating some craft offerings.
 

Beer Review: Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.2 percent

Appearance: Summer Honey Wheat is a lovely chroma of golden honey. I've never seen any other beer that was meant to resemble honey come anywhere near as close as this one does. The body has a severe unfiltered look to it as you can see just about anything through it. I feared initially that it would taste watered down. The beer's head is bubbly, yet very thin.

Smell: With any beer that features honey, you expect the aroma to be floral and that's exactly what I got with this one. With the floral scent comes the sweetness of the honey and the wheat comes right behind that. Extremely appetizing. I also got the slightest scent of oranges or orange peel.

Taste: I wasn't expecting to have a party on my taste buds like I did when I took a sip of Summer Honey Wheat. I could have sworn that I was drinking honey on a biscuit, in a glass. This beer had a heavenly taste. The sweetness of the honey and the wheatiness of the rest of the body rocked my world.

Overall Rating: 

I've been really hard on Coors/Blue Moon Brewing Co. over the years, but I'm a man that gives credit when it's due. This beer tastes and smelled amazing. The only thing I'd prefer to be different is some extra thickness to the beer's body. I'm used to be disappointed with Blue Moon's seasonal lineups, but this one was a knock out of the park.