Underwear, Socks and Beer

I know that it was the thing that was in a few Christmas holidays ago, but gift cards are still pretty popular as gifts. Hell, it's pretty much the only thing we ask for nowadays. They're pretty much the only thing my father buys for anyone in my family anymore.

I came across an unused gift card for American Eagle while sifting through one of my old computer bags the other morning. From my own recollection the card was from a previous relationship of mine. If you remember my posts about the Civil War Beer Series in Maryland, the same girl that was responsible for getting me some of that beer is the same reason I have this gift card in my possession. I guess I just saved it from Christmas, put it in the front compartment of this bag and forgot it was there with the magnificent plethora of gift cards I received this past year.

Now it's time for a little too much information. I decided to put this gift card to good use last night and bought some boxers on clearance. I try to do an hour of cardio twice each week and have noticed that everything wants to fall down. Hence, why I need medium everything. I also bought a few sets of socks. For the last three or so years I've worn almost nothing but black socks. So, this time I ordered a few pair that are neon green and turquoise blue. Maybe you can say I'm getting a bit more eccentric in terms of my sock selection?

"When the hell is he getting to the beer?"

You're probably also thinking that it's ironic that I used one of the last gifts from a previous relationship to buy underwear and socks. I know that's what it looks like, but given my current predicament I need anything that will cling to my damn waist.

Remember when you hated getting clothes as a Christmas or birthday gift? My uncle and I went at it every year. I hated getting one of those dreaded clothes boxes stuffed with underwear and socks. He went as far as to root for me to get clothes as I opened my gifts. He then proceeded to stand up and cheer when it was one of the infamous clothes boxes. I find it ironic that both of these clothing items are a clothing necessity as we grow older.

While I was hot in the online shopping department, I decided to acquire an interesting piece of drinkware. I settled on this. I've only ever seen a few of these glasses that are shaped like cans. The one I linked from Anderson Valley Brewing and another in the shop of Schlafly Beer in St. Louis. The Schlafly can glass was apparently taken off of the online store. So, I settled on the one from AVBC. Not that I was actually settling, but I really like the bear with the antlers on its beer labels that's pictured on the glass.

Just Pour It

Remember when I was all worked up about the Dogfish Head hybrid wine glass that was supposedly for hop-centered brews? I wasn't the only one, but to get to my point for this post the purpose behind my many rants about the ramming of such a glass down our throats is that it really doesn't matter to me what glass I'm drinking my beer out of.

Flute or Pokal? I drink, you decide.

With that said, I still am attracted to fancy beer glassware like a college kid that has his eyes set on a crush. A big part of that is because some glasses have history and stories behind them. Others have memories that tie us to them.

One of my best beer friends (the always mentioned Beer Snob Sr.) has an imperial pint Guinness glass that he stole from a pub in England. Prying it from his hands is a challenge. That's exactly what I mean. When my grandmother has some of us over for dinner there are two glasses there that I like consuming a beer from.

There's one of the old Duquesne Pilsener flutes along with an even older Miller Lite hybrid flute. I'm not sure exactly what the Miller one is. So, you can correct me if I'm wrong.

I obviously don't enjoy Miller Lite, but I have a deep affinity for that glass. Hey, I just love beer glasses. Sometimes the logo doesn't matter. Just what you put in it.

It's Come to This

I try to keep up with trends in the craft market as best I can. I seemed to have missed this one that I came across in a New York Times article pertaining to much bigger beer bottles than what consists most of the what's out there.

What this tells me is that we are pretty much snobbish wine drinkers. Now some of our brewers are trying to play it off as such. In my opinion a simple 12 oz. bottle of beer pairs exactly the same way with food as it would if you had one of the bigger bottles. I don't understand how the size of the bottle makes any kind of difference.

I do know two negative things about the bigger bottles. They're pricier and if the beer inside has a higher ABV, it can be a tough bottle to finish off. As the article states, you can't really save the rest for another session. I once bought two big bottles once and paid the same as I would have for a case of other beers.

I should have seen this coming a mile away. Breweries are coming out with glassware that they claim to be standards for styles and now this. For me, craft beer was all about freedom of drinking whatever the hell you wanted. Now I feel that certain breweries are trying to impose what it feels as the right course.

Sometimes it's a change of pace (in a nice way) to grab a big bottle of exotic beer. I just don't want it ending up one day as that being the only choice we have. Hope you are enjoying your new IPA glass. This is the business we've chosen.

Monday Rant: Still Can't Taste the Cold

Not long after I turned 21-years-old in college I became one of the many that were sucked in to the hype of knowing that cold beer is better beer. There was a local watering hole that would keep those tall beer mugs in a freezer or cooler to maintain that beautiful frost. I now look back upon those days and frown at my ignorance.

See the beauty you miss if the glass is covered in frost?

Even more ignorant on my behalf is the fact that Blue Moon was once awesome out of such mugs. Now, with a good number of notches in my beer tasting belt I know for sure that one of the only ways for me to enjoy a Blue Moon is to actually have it ice cold because it actually hides some of the flavor.

I do keep a freezer mug on hand in case of emergencies. By emergencies I mean you have company and you didn't put enough of a certain beer in the fridge to chill. I'm sure a lot of beer geeks out there like myself have found themselves in a similar situation. In my book only then is a freezer mug acceptable.

Still, the fact remains that there are people that make it a habit to drink beer from a frosted mug. It's perfectly alright for them to do so, but in my opinion the colder the beer is the less flavor you can get out of it and onto your palette.

Unlike the Coors Light commercials telling you to taste the cold, I believe a good beer should be consumed out of an unfrosted glass and enjoyed visually. It should be completely taken in like a significant other before you drink it. Notice the how the beer's flavor changes as it warms, too.

Monday Rant: Fragile Standards

I made one of the more ironic discoveries during my craft beer travels last Friday when I ventured to the new digs of East End Brewing Company. I was craving a growler of Monkey Boy Hefeweizen. I also had heard a lot about the currently tapped Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout. So, I picked up a growler of that as well.

After I made the purchase of the aforementioned growlers, I stumbled across the ironic discovery on my way out. On the rack of East End memorabilia was a card labeled "Fancy Schmancy Glass - $5.) I looked up at the rows of glasses and was excited to see East End Brewing branded snifters. Pardon me if my classification is wrong, but it's definitely a cross between a snifter and a tulip. Still, that's far from the point.

It was ironic to me being that the craft beer community has been engulfed in the Dogfish/Sierra Nevada wine and IPA glass controversy. To me, this cleverly-named piece of glassware was a microcosm of the happenings of the past week. It's called a fancy schmancy glass. So, the namesake could be poking fun at the way some of us beer drinkers are about our glassware. It also could not be the reason it's named as such. That's why I thought it was both brilliant and ironic. That and five dollars for a good glass is a bargain. I instantly bought it.

I'll be damned if I didn't drink both the hefeweizen and the stout out of it. I did and it was wonderful. I plan on probably drinking all kinds of styles out of this glass down the road because it really doesn't matter.

I've fallen in love with this glass just as I fell in love with the Libby craft brew set my girlfriend got me for a Christmas gift one year. For me, the fun and enjoyment of different types of craft beer is drinking it the way you want to. There isn't any set standard. I've drank IPA's and fruit beers from a tulip. Pilsners and dunkels from a flute glass. You can bet the farm that I'm going to drink all kinds of different styles from my new East End fancy schmancy glass because the brewer probably intended all of his brews to be drank from it. Now, that's a great standard to drink by.

Another Piece of the Puzzle

As Elaine Benes of Seinfeld fame would say, "And another piece of the puzzle falls into place." This new Dogfish/Sierra Nevada IPA glass keeps taking odder turns by the day. I don't particularly care for it or for the fact that its creators are hailing it as the new standard for drinking IPA's. Then again, I'm a really stubborn person.

Debate continues on Twitter concerning this new glass. I have a few more tidbits to share with any of you that haven't come across this information already. There was a small discourse I caught on my timeline yesterday. It looks as if this new IPA glass isn't as unprecedented as it's being made out to be.

.@brewkkake @blakex Funny. That brand is actually owns the company that DFH and SN "collaborated on the design" of their IPA glass with.
— Craft Pittsburgh Mag (@CraftPittsburgh) February 14, 2013

@dogfishbeer queencitydrinks.com/2013/02/14/bee…
— Blake Kunisch (@blakex) February 14, 2013

Dogfish replied to this exchange by saying that the stem is the same, but the bowl is actually different. Now, if you take that and read what Craft Pittsburgh posted through its Facebook feed you'll discover that Dogfish and Sierra Nevada possibly might have just updated an already-existing wine glass.

The Queen City Drinks link in the embedded tweet above includes a side-by-side comparison with the new glass and a shaker pint. The results are pretty much what I stated in yesterday's post. Visually appealing, but it's still the same beer in both glasses.

No Sympathy for the Smitten

As it usually is, (except in instances when everyone on your timeline tweets about idiotic television programming that you refuse to switch on) Twitter is a valuable source of information. It doesn't matter what your area of interest is. There's something to indulge in for everyone. Yesterday it was by this here Twitter account that I came across something interesting. Those of you in a big flourish for this new Dogfish/Sierra Nevada IPA glass might want to click "back" on your browsers.

What came first? The chicken or the egg? That Red Lobster glass and the new standard for IPA glassware look quite similar. Both have that etched stem to enhance your flow of carbonation and everything.

I don't feel sorry for anyone that immediately fronted the $9 plus shipping fees for the new IPA glass. If you really think the experience of drinking a certain type of beer is going to be dramatically increased because of the vessel you pour it into you need to think about returning to Earth soon. A glass can slightly change how a beer appears, feels or might even enhance the smell. It's not going to change the experience.

If you want it as a collector's item. That's great. That's why I wanted my Sam Adams "Perfect Pint" glass. I'm not really sure what a perfect pint even is, but it's got some nice curves and I can pick aromatic notes better out of it. Beers still taste exactly the same out of a shaker pint, though.

BEER GEEK TIP: If you ever want to get the carbonation going in your beer just swirl it in the glass.

Monday Rant: How Much Glassware Is Enough?

About a year ago, I stopped collecting empty beer bottles. The stop in which I held my collection was the back of my dresser, which is somewhat old-fashioned hence its length (I don't really know for sure if there's a technical name for this type of dresser, but I'm far from a furniture aficionado). I had a decent amount of room to display the bottles that I had saved over time.

It got to the point that as I tried more and more beers and procured bottles I wanted to keep that room to store said bottles became less and less. I eventually ended up throwing them away to save myself from appearing on a certain show on TLC.

Different glasses help in creating images like this one!

I've came into my next phase of super collecting and that's the phase of being obsessed with different types of beer glassware. I keep finding new ones and lack the actual room to harbor more. I just find it fascinating to have different glasses from different breweries (sometimes regardless if it's a shaker pint or not) along with different styles of glassware. It just makes for a slightly different experience with different beers.

I mean I really love having a few of the glasses that I do. I enjoy finally having found my Hoegaarden hexagonal glass. My Samuel Adams "Perfect Pint" glass is pretty darn close to being perfect for any beer. I have a Belgian Tulip from a Libbey glassware set that I use for pretty much any type of beer. It's always fun. There are also a few more out there I have my eye on like a Hofbrauhaus stein. Now, where to put all of these.

Monday Rant: Everything Tastes Odd From a Can

My apologies for the redundancy of the last two Monday Rants folks, but a few issues related to Miller Lite have just blown my mind. Last week I explained the stupidity of getting excited over the new release of Miller 64, this week it's the hilarity concerning Miller's new punch top can.

A punch top can. What a revelation to the beer industry. Now, frat boys across college campuses from here to the Pacific Ocean can now easily puncture the new perforated beer cans for a "smoother pour." Am I insane or is this "innovation" nothing but an easily shotgun-able beer?

How many more people are going to flock to crappy beer like sheep because the major American beer companies keep adding silly things to their cans and bottles? I'm so excited that your can or bottle turns blue when it's cold enough. Don't you realize that a good percentage of the beer's flavor is lost when you drink it extremely cold? At least let it get a bit closer to room temperature.

Hooray! Your favorite beer company crafted a bottle with scientific grooves in the stem to make your beer more fizzy! I prefer a natural head on my beer, not one with artificial help.

Now we have an easily-punched can that enables your beer to be poured smoother. Being a craft beer follower, I'm glad that craft breweries don't advertise the container its beer is being served in, but advertising the actual product it makes.

Why would you even want the beer to come out of the can easier and with increased speed? Can't you consume your beer at the normal consumption rate like the rest of the human race? Isn't the whole point of trying new beers to actually savor every drop and actually taste the concoction?

Good Lord, what's so great about a can anyways? Everything that's in a can just tastes odd from a can. At least pour it into a glass to relieve your tongue of the aluminum beating it's about to go through.