Monday Rant: Hide the Booze

I don't think I've ever noticed what I did Saturday night when I went in to grab a few drinks and dinner at one of my favorite local pubs. I always turn and squint at the calk board that lists whats on-tap and the ABV's of each offering is also etched alongside each brew. For whatever reason I love that they're always written sloppy. One of those traditional things I guess. Oh boy did I notice something. Something that is an odd, but dangerous trend that could be going on in craft beer.

At least half of the brews on the chalkboard were seven percent or above! Which led me to my next thought - I've seen this a lot of the places I frequent. It's not just an isolated thing. Brewers are putting out more potent brews. Brews that also seem to hide the alcohol quite well.

I mean we've all been there, even before we learned to take ABV's into account when selecting what we're drinking.  We've also had that time when we have a few with our dinner and wonder where that loose feeling came from. The we look at the ABV and said wow it sure didn't taste like it.

I remember when there was a big fuss over an article or column about the winification of craft beer. Well, seeing half of the beers offered close to eight or nine percent alcohol looks more like we're going a little closer towards liqour than we need to be. I'm alright with the current boldness of craft beer. We have plenty of brews that up the ABV scale just like the ones I saw on Saturday. I just hope that brewers don't go on another "let's out-do the other" phase as they've been so prone to do. How much farther do we really need to go? It's fine as is. Let's retain the status quo!

Beer Review: Southern Tier Krampus

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Nine percent

Appearance: This poured a deep copper color. After reading "Helles Lager" on the front of the label I was shocked to see something in the amber range pour out of this bottle. Fooled by that imperial word once again. The head had a thick and creamy appearance. It came off as very fluffy. Almost like clouds or a pillow. This, in turn, ended up leaving some thick and web-like lacing. It was tough to notice the carbonation bustling around, but a closer look unveiled it.

Smell: This was intensely sweet and spicy. It almost had a wintery smell to it. Quite reminiscent of a winter warmer. There was also a layer of intense malt character. This was probably responsible for some of the sweetness. It was almost like sweet candy.

Taste: This mainly had a dark and roasty profile to it. Kind of like overdone toast. It was also kind of tangy. There was a vigorous showing of hops towards the back that was mid-way to the rest of the way back. This tasted very out of place in the brew. My mouth was partially saturated by that hop flavor for the rest of the drink. Nothing really mixed well in this. Most flavors seemed out of place.

Overall Rating: 

When I think Helles Lager I think clear, gold and crisp. Maybe some cracker and malt tastes. Not dark, roasty and hops. Good lord. The beer has a lovely color and looks great, but I can't remember any drink in my life where I was as confused as when I had this. Nothing worked well together. It was almost as if each component of the taste  didn't belong there.

Beer Review: Lagunitas Lucky 13

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 8.65 percent

Appearance: Lucky 13 looked very much like a lucky beer (no pun intended) to have a vivid red color as this one did. It also had some orange-like highlights on the outer portions of the body. Overall, the body had a certain glisten to it. There was a foamy beige head of about two and a half inches that had amazing retention and web-like lacing. It eventually settled and remained at a quarter-inch layer of foam fueled by a ton of slowly rising carbonation bubbles.

Smell: I caught just a dash of caramel malt and that was the extent of what I got. Whatever else was present was heavily disguised by the intense hop aroma.

Taste: The taste profile sort of went in the same direction of the aroma. There was (once again) that dash of sweet caramel up front before a solid roasty profile. The hop bitterness seemed to dilute anything else that wanted to join in on the flavor party. This tasted more like an IPA than anything. This is supposed to be an imperial amber/red ale.

Overall Rating: 

I've become a big fan of the brews that come from this brewery. I was a bit disappointed with this. Just too many hops. Just intensely bitter. Not floral or citrusy. It's a beautiful-looking beer, though. Color glistened and the head was nice and foamy.

Monday Rant: Loose Speech

A few weeks ago I received a text from my girlfriend (whom is quite beer illiterate and admits this) that asked "what does the word imperial mean when referring to a beer?"

I've never claimed to be any form of a beer expert, but I actually had to consult my Oxford Companion to Beer for the answer to this due to seeing the word "Imperial" thrown onto just about every other beer name out there. Otherwise, you'd think it would come to you a lot quicker since you've drank plenty of beers coined as "Imperial."

After finding the entry in my Oxford Companion, I simply replied that it means that a beer named as such is intended to be set apart and bolder than others of the same type.

That night I went on thinking about (over a few beers, of course) how that enables anyone, even homebrewers that name their beers, to tell others that their brew is an "Imperial." I thought more of this subject yesterday after coming across something referring to an Imperial Pilsner. Something I've never heard of.

When i used to think of an Imperial, the first thinks to my head were darker brews such as stouts and porters. Some darker pumpkin beers could also be included. Now, it seems as if it's just a loose terms casually thrown around as a marketing ploy. Though, I could be wrong.

If an Imperial beer means that it's just bolder and set apart from its brethren then the circle of anything by said name is limitless. Is it not?