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Beer 14
Name: New Grist
Brewery: Lakefront Brewery
Location: Milwakee, Wisconsin
Brewing Since: 1986
Website: http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com
Sight: Golden, Pilsner colored.
Scent: Reminds me more of my visit to the Jack Daniels distillery than it does to a beer brewery. Maybe its the sorghum.
Texture: Light but not without flavor. Maybe its the rice.
Taste: A bit like Bud but also a bit different. In that difference lies the flavor. Maybe that’s the sorghum I taste.
Thoughts: I started off wondering what is sorghum. Perhaps you would have started there as well. Its a grass and when you (I) go down the path of thinking about brewing beer with things besides barley, you (I) start to ask yourself at what point does beer stop being beer and start being something else... My digressive conclusion is that its not the ingredients or the amount of alcohol more than it is the process.
How to Drink: Really, its not bad. If (IF [IF]) I was in the mood for a Budweiser, I would go get one of these instead. So should you. I could imagine going to get a six pack of this beer every once in a while.
Beer 13
Name: Abbey Ale
Brewery: Abita Brewery
Location: Abita Springs, LA
Brewing Since: 1986
Website: http://www.abita.com
Sight: Dark amber with clumpy white head.
Scent: Mmmm yeasty, mmmm spicy.
Texture: Full bodied and frothy.
Taste: Sweet but not overly so, light bitterness, excellent Belgian flavors.
Thoughts: Its a good Belgian-style Abbey Dubbel. I’ve had better but not many as authentic. I like that they donate 25 cents from each bottle bought to a local monastery.
How to Drink: Wait until you are in the mood for a thick, full bodied Belgian… on the eve of a large, local, Belgian beer festival, perhaps?
50 craft beers, 50 states. It has been almost exactly two months since beer one and I am close as I can get to being a quarter of the way through my quest. I have created a little map to highlight my adventures through the craft beers of this country. It wasn’t as apparent to me just how far I have to go until after I finished the map. The states in red I have completed, the states in white (or gray, depending) I have yet to conquer (and of course by “conquer” I mean “try one craft beer produced in that state that I have not yet had”)!
Beer 12
Name: Squall IPA
Brewery: Dogfish Head Brewery
Location: Milton, DE
Brewing Since: 1995
Website: http://www.dogfish.com
Sight: Golden color, wonderful thin layer of white head.
Scent: Oh smell that hoppy goodness!
Texture: Bubbly but contained. Large body.
Taste: 90 minutes + bottle conditioned + unfiltered = stupendous.
Thoughts: Everything you might (read: I do) love about the 90 Minute IPA but somehow, in some way, better. Perhaps its the synergy created by Rouges Gallery and Dogfish Head becoming “friends.” Cool label, too.
How to Drink: I think this beer would be good any day of the year, any time of the day. Its good like that. How should you drink it? E-mmediately! It doesn’t matter, do it now. Valentine’s Day, in the middle of dinner with your wife — OK to drink. April Fools Day, just after Jell-Oing your co-worker’s stapler, OK to drink. June 12, as your child takes his first steps — OK to drink. August 29, your grandmother’s 95th birthday lunch buffet, OK to drink. October 16, passing mile 14 during the Baltimore Marathon — OK to drink. December 24, midnight vigil mass at your local church, OK to drink. Do you see how versatile and wonderful this beer is?
Beer 11
Name: Colossus
Brewery: Du Claw Brewing Company
Location: Baltimore, MD
Brewing Since: 1996
Website: http://www.duclaw.com
Sight: A little bit brown, a little bit red, a little bit amber. Or, as I called it, “Brember.”
Scent: Age… sweet age.
Texture: FULL bodied alright. It hands around the back of my mouth for a while after the swallow, the sweetness hangs around the front of my mouth longer.
Taste: Surprisingly sweet. The bitter end is overwhelmed by the sweetness throughout.
Thoughts: This beer is finger lickin’ good. Especially when you drink your beer from a cup formed by your hands like I do and then lick your fingers.
How to Drink: Channel a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Hugh Heffner: Put on your finest red silk robe. Light the candles in your study. Sit, legs crossed, in your highest backed chair. Put your feet up, relax, and be sure to swirl the beer in your cognac glass before each sip.
Beer 10
Name: 2 Turtle Doves
Brewery: The Bruery
Location: Orange County, CA
Brewing Since: Top Secret, Apparently
Website: http://www.thebruery.com
Sight: Black… yep, black.
Scent: Banana? Coffee? Nutty? Turtle Dove? Yes, yes, yes, yes… and maybe some dark malts too.
Texture: Its so silky smooth on the top of my mouth. It coats my tongue like Pepto-Bismol. Yum!
Taste: Similar to the smells, as you might guess. Oh, and there’s just the tip of bitterness and the end.
Thoughts: I like it. Dark and complex, it leaves a lot to the imagination.
How to Drink: Wait around your house until WJZ tells you a snow storm is on its way the likes of which Marty Bass has never seen. Six hours into the storm, put on as many clothes as possible and trek through the wind and accumulating snow to your local liquor store. Purchase a bottle of this beer. Pay and proceed home. Try not to slip on the way back. Once home, play The Office and 30 Rock from your DVR, sit back, and enjoy this beer.
Beer 9
Name: Mogul Madness Ale
Brewery: Rouge Ales
Location: Portland, OR
Brewing Since: 1989
Website: http://www.rouge.com
Sight: Deep, dark, amber.
Scent: Malts and more malts.
Texture: Medium bodied, fizzy in the back of my mouth.
Taste: Slightly bitter, slightly modified malts.
Thoughts: Its Rouge so you know what you’re getting. I like it. It claims to be aggressively hopped but I just don’t know about that.
How to Drink: Make yourself look as much like the guy on the label as you can. Literally. I’m talking long hair, moustache, beard, the matching turquoise skis, ski poles, sweater, and goggle set. I don’t care how long it takes you. Then you must attach your skis and poles to you back in a criss-cross formation while standing under an arch on which are painted turquoise grains and hops, and find a classic pot belly stein to drink out of. Oh yeah, it has to be snowing, too. Then and only then can you properly enjoy this winter ale. Alternatively, if you like to snowboard, you could try to dress up like that little snowboarder to the right of “ROUGE” (not pictured). Either way is probably fine.
 Beer 8
Name: Wild Devil Ale
Brewery: Victory Brewing Company
Location: Downingtown, PA
Brewing Since: 1996
Website: http://www.victorybeer.com
Sight: Lots of head, “wild” even. Dark golden color.
Scent: Honestly… it smells like urine… but only from up close. Maybe it’s the yeast.
Texture: Bubbly but not without body.
Taste: Bitter (not like urine [I'd imagine]) but the subtle hop flavor finds its way through.
Thoughts: Pennsylvania, where to start? I hate picking just one beer from states that have so much to offer. I always feel like I’m missing something better. I like that Victory snuck a Belgian flag onto the logo and I like what they are trying to do here, with the wild yeast, but I think that it takes a way from the goodness that is Hop Devil. The back of the label claims that this beer may contain “greak funk.” I think they got it right.
How to Drink: Avec moules et frites.
Beer 7
Name: Really Old Brown Dog Ale
Brewery: Smuttynose Brewing Company
Location: Portsmouth, NH
Brewing Since: 1994
Website: http://www.smuttynose.com/
Sight: Brown, teasing amber.
Scent: Lovely floral aromas, and more than I would expect from this type of ale.
Texture: Hits the back of your mouth with the force only an aged ale can bring.
Taste: An old ale on the border of barleywine. You can really smell it once the head subsides.
Thoughts: I’ve never had regular Old Brown Dog that I can remember. I didn’t see anywhere how much longer this beer is aged.
How to Drink: It would go great with your ass in a comfortable yellow chair and your hand on the head of an old brown dog. Not on the beach though, maybe in your library or study… assuming you live in the “Clue” house.
Beer 6
Name: Ginger Wheat
Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
Location: Boston, MA
Brewing Since: 1986
Website: http://www.harpoonbrewery.com
Sight: Crisp golden color with excellent clarity.
Scent: Strong fresh smelling (almost to a fault), reminds me of a “clean bathroom” or “summer breeze” or some other natural sounding manufactured scent.
Texture: Light and bubbly.
Taste: Yup, there is definitely ginger in this beer.
Thoughts: If nothing else, its original. Is Harpoon trying to confuse people? Is this a ginger ale or ginger ale? Is this a ginger beer or ginger beer? My guess why neither the word “beer” nor the word “ale” appears in the title is so that Harpoon can dodge the lawyers from Canada Dry and Goslings. I hated this beer when I popped the cap but loved it by the time the bottle was empty.
How to Drink: You probably want to go to Cluck-U or your local wingery and get the wings with the hottest sauce possible (or just pour Sriracha on anything you have at home). When your mouth is so hot you fear closing it lest your tongue spontaneously combust, take a long sip of this Ginger Wheat.
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