Oatmeal Porter - Highland Brewing Co

This week’s entry is one of the main reasons I started my blog. Not necessarily this beer or style but rather what it represents. I don’t know or remember having this beer or this style of beer but also can’t believe I haven’t had it. If I did have it I have no idea what it was like or even if I liked it. So, BAM! I thought writing my thoughts down would help me with these situations. Well, I tried that and never really kept up with it. But, creating a blog and hopefully having readers would force me to keep up with it, so far so good ha.

So here we go with the style I have been wanting to try for a some time now (even if I have tried it before I don’t recall it). So, Oatmeal Porter – Highland Brewing Co it is.

It pours very dark as expected for a porter with a nice thick dense beige head that sticks around for a while. You can smell the roasted malts and a hint of some rich coffee tones. The taste gives you a medium mouthfeel with a bit of semi-sweet chocolate bitterness but finishing very smooth. Not as silky smooth as a Guinness but very close. Overall I’m sad that I don’t remember this beer/style as I like it a lot, maybe I haven’t ever had it, who knows. So with this effectively being my first oatmeal porter, I have nothing to compare it with but I will definitely try other oatmeal porters/stouts. Very easy to drink with a lot of flavors going on.

The Georgia glass is in tribute to the fact that the Dawgs released their dept chart yesterday for the 2010 Football season and to be honest I’ll use any excuse to talk UGA football. Only 133 more days till kick off baby. But right now it’s time for America’s past time, Baseball, tee-ball to be exact with my middle son having a game tonight, go #16 and go WhiteSox.

Bonus Link! Warning…not safe for the minors out there or the too easily offended! There is now way I could allow this link to go unmentioned. (H/T to JF for this one).Don’t know if this beer is any good but this commercial is, too bad it will never be aired on anything other than YouTube. Have fun with that one friends.

FourBoysBrewPub!

Wild Blue Lager

Whoa what a week. I started a running program a few weeks ago and my knees have officially waged war against the rest of my body, they refuse to work and are trying to sabotage my brain, it sure isn’t easy getting old. On a better note, my boss treated me to a round of golf Wednesday afternoon, which didn’t help the knee war but was better than the running. He also provided me with this week’s beer review. Now, before I get to the review let me first say I will try just about any beer, no matter what it is made with or from, peaches, cherries, blueberries, rice, wheat, etc… But I have a hard time trying anything from AB/Inbev but decided to take my boss’ advice and try…

Wild Blue Lager – Blue Dawg Brewing**, Baldwinsville, NY

** Two things wrong with this –

1. DAWG is to be used only by us southerners, not them D@MN Yankees (I married one so I can say that).

2. Blue Dawg Brewing is a group within Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (says so right on the website).

Ok, so here I go, kicking, screaming, scratching, and clawing, nah it isn’t really that hard to get me to try a beer.

Well, as you hopefully can see by the picture, it pours a, um, how shall I say, oh, purple rose color and has a thin pinkish head. Really, purple beer, now I’ve heard of green beer on St Patrick’s Day, but purple, hmm I’m kind of scared. It smells very similar to a cheap wine you used to drink in high school; you know the one from somebody’s farm or something. Well the first taste is about the same, pretty much just like a cheap fruity wine that my wife would like. Hey, there’s an idea, let’s see what the wife thinks. Ok, she likes it and doesn’t really like beer but says, and I quote “this is probably the worst beer you have ever had isn’t it”. You get a slight taste of alcohol, once again similar to what wine gives you. Well what else can I say; this ain’t any beer that a self respecting beer connoisseur would like. Man how am I going to break it to my boss, hmm, I know, I’ll just tell him I couldn’t find any. Nah, he isn’t the best judge of beers anyway as his last recommended beer was almost just as bad and I rag him about it every chance I get, this will just add to the ammunition.

On a better side of things, I got to see some high school baseball this evening and even saw my nephew hit his first ever homerun. So even if your boss recommends you try a really bad beer, life is still good, just let the wife finish it and grab yourself a real beer my friend.

Speaking of baseball, check out this link to see where your favorite team got it’s mascot from, or go here to see some really good beers. I’m not sure how much faith I have in some of these judges though. I brew my own beer every blue moon or two and had a bad batch. For the life of me couldn’t figure out what was wrong. “Hey, enter that skunky beer in one of those contest” says my buddy, “they will tell you what is wrong”. Well, not exactly, they kind of liked it and gave me a good score. Oh well, I can always ship them the remaining case and they can have a party on me. Cheers my friend.



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Peachtree Pale Ale

So with my beer review stock reduced to just two choices thanks to my brother-in-law from last Friday, I find this(which was to be reviewed tonight) yesterday at one of my many daily blogs I follow, so now I have only one beer to choose from. Not much of a choice is it? Oh well, kind of fitting that I review a Georgia beer since it is Masters Week and all, Yeah you know that big golf tournament they hold every spring in Augusta GA., the one that every single human should attend at least once in their lifetime, not necessarily for the golf but the sheer beauty of the entire facility over there. I have had the pleasure of going about a dozen times and I find myself in awe every time I step inside those gates. I even tried like heck to name my third son Robert Jones Kimball, ‘cause you know Robert (Bobby) Jones was the man behind the Masters. My first two sons were named after Georgia sports figures so it would fit right in; but the wife put the axe on that. Although he still got a cool name and it was still after a Georgia athlete, an Atlanta Brave nicknamed Maddog to be exact, kind of cool when the wife lets you name your kids, thanks Red. I have even been to Augusta National in the fall and winter (unfortunately for work not to play) when the golf tournament was long gone or far from starting and it was still just as perfect, perfect I tell you. But enough of that, this isn’t a golf blog (I’ll save those stories for my book) it’s a beer blog. So I give you beer fans –

Red Brick Peachtree Pale Ale – American Style Pale Ale from Atlanta Brewing Co.

Interesting tid-bit on the name, when I first started brewing beer 3-4 years ago, the first batch of red ale I brewed I called Red Brick Ale, then I saw that Atlanta Brewing Co had that name for themselves, oh well, it’s not like I was going to be the next Jim Koch or anything, (he is the founder of Sam Adams for those not as geeky about beer as moi).

The first scent through me for a loop, at first I thought it might be a bad batch cause it smelled slightly ruined. Then I remembered that I cleaned my beer fridge the other day and the glass my still smell of cleaner. Grab a fresh glass and transfer beer and ahh, that’s better. Nice floral hop tones but not over powering, almost no malt but that is to be expected in an American Pale Ale. The pour is a cloudy orange with a nice thick head, kind of odd to have a pale ale be cloudy but whatever. Very light mouthfeel and very refreshing with a good bit of hops kicking in right at the end, really crisp for an ale. All in all a standard American pale ale, not too much malt mixed with a good dose of hops. Fairly easy to drink, especially when it is as nice outside as it is right now, mid 70’s and not a cloud in the sky. Might have to make this a regular in the beer fridge, or at least rotate them in every few months. So go have a beer for me, or better yet, if you’re in the Greenville SC area, check out Top of the Hops beer festival this weekend. Cheers my friend.

FourBoysBrewPub!

Highland Brewing Co - Gaelic Ale

So it’s Good Friday….well I don’t know about you but I thought all Friday’s were good. I made the best of my day off, I went hiking at Sprewell Bluff on the Flint River in Thomaston GA today and it was awesome. Then to finish my day off I grilled some chicken quarters and drank some beer, Yuengling to be exact. If only these people would realize to joy of beer, they might be a little less angry.

Today on this Friday I bring you a beer from another great hiking spot, Ashville, NC. and Highland Brewing Co’s Gaelic Ale.

It pours a very nice ruby brown with a thick beige head. It smells of roasted malts with just a hint of hops, very well balanced I must say. The taste is also very well balanced, malty sweetness at the beginning followed by some light hop flavors, which is also why I prefer amber ale over pale ale any day, not a big fan of big hops in my beer. To me, malts and how they are roasted and used is what makes a beer, anybody can add tons of hops. I like my beer just a little on the malty side and this fits that bill perfect.

So, I hope everyone else had a Good Friday and will also have a Happy Easter. Cheers and relax, springtime is here and the Masters and the Braves start next week, life is good is I don’t say so myself.

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Saranac Brown Ale

Alrighty then, with my laptop all better now and my fridge working for 10 days straight, I bring you fine people

Saranac Brown Ale by Matt Brewing Co. 

Brown Ales are probably my favorite style, they provide a nice balance between malts and hops but each having their own say in how the final taste comes out.

The pour is a nice, brown with a hint of red color and thick head that settles to a thin cap that leaves plenty of lacing. The hops take most of the scent but mix very well with the malt, definitely how a beer should smell. Lets you know you’ll be enjoying a full complement of flavors without knocking you over. First sip gives you a sweetness one would expect that slowly gives way to the hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is lighter than I expected but that just makes it easier to consume. This may be a bad thing if you only have one in the fridge like me. The only down side may be the slight, and I mean slight, astringent after taste this beer leaves behind. So it gets 1.8 thumbs up instead of 2, but who’s keeping score.

Usually I finish writing and posting the review way before I finish the beer, but this one is already ¾ of the way gone. Still have to edit the photo and post, hmmm. Long week + good beer = empty glass, life’s rough ain’t it. So go ahead and join me in this toast to life fellow beer friend and have a pint on me, you can even send me the bill, I’ll pay for it, I promise. I wouldn’t kid about something like this. Cheers!



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Allagash White

OK, what is it with me and electronics? First my 'beer fridge' died week before last then yesterday my hard drive in my laptop bit the dust, WTH! So to pass my misory I enjoyed a plate of wings at Wild Wing Cafe and had a 'Black and Tan' followed by a nice surprise, a 'black and blue' (Guinness and Blue Moon).

I normally don't like Blue Moon as I find it too sweet, but mixed with Guinness it makes for a very smooth, creamy beer with just a hint of citrus sweetness. So it gets two thumbs up from the ole fourboysbrewpub himself.

Well, today I figured I would continue the Belgain wit theme with :

Allagash White by Allagash Brewing Co.

First, I normally say no to beers with twist of caps but I had heard good things about this beer so why not right? Well, there was no twisting this cap, I had to use a bottle opener. Good sign or bad sign? We shall see. Plus, any beer with pouring directions on the bottle has to be worth trying cause at least they think enough of their beer to tell you the proper way to pour to ensure the most satisfaction.

The head is decent but didn't stick around too long. The color is a cloudy orange, imagine 1 part sweet tea and 2 parts orange juice, just how an unfiltered wheat should be. The scent is a good bit of orange peel and spice mixed in, definitely a beer for the spring time. You can taste the orange but it's not overpowering with sweetness. The spices balance things out very nicely. Oh why didn't I buy a six pack? This will be a nice beer to unwind with after a long spring day in the yard. It might even replace the Margarita for the daily beach drink, who knows.

So life ain't so bad, even if I have to occasionally kick start the beer fridge and rebuild my laptop come Monday cause there is always good beer to be had right?


FourBoysBrewPub

St Patrick's day surprise - McSorley's Irish Black Lager

Bonus Review Alert! Bonus Review Alert!


Ok, so I normally do my reviews on Friday, the first two were on Saturday but the norm has become for me to do it on Friday. But I thought today would be a great day to post a special review, it being St Patrick’s Day and all, I would go a get an Irish beer and give it a review. Well, when I did some research on some Irsih beers, I became disappointed, you see, St. Patrick wasn’t Irish, had no ties to beer and Patrick wasn’t even his real name. Well now I had to find out the real deal, why the Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (more so than the rest of the world), what was his real name and why March 17th. Maybe I missed this in grade school or sleep through it in high school, either way that was a long time ago, so I venture on.

So, you can check out the real story here or here or even here. Just think, If I were writing reviews in the 80’s or 90’s I would have to go to the library or at least find the encyclopedia to find out all this cool information, but not in this age of the internet. Hey, will my kids even know what a library is? Anyway, this isn’t a history blog; oh no it is a blog about beer so here we go with:

McSorley’s Irish Black Lager (Product of the USA), St Patrick wasn’t Irish so why should this beer be?

It pours black just as advertised but with little to no head which is odd for any Irish style beer but maybe my glass was dirty. Not dirty as in yuck, don’t drink out of it, but just not beer clean. Dish detergents, especially dish washer detergents can ruin a beer head. So maybe this one snuck in the dish washer when I wasn’t looking. The sniff gives me a familiar scent but one I can’t quit determine, I then pick up a little bit of roasted malts, and maybe a slight hint of liquorice. The initial taste and mouth feel are a very strange sensation for a beer, almost cola like just before the liquorice hits you at the very end. I’m not that familiar with a Black Lagers so I also picked up the Sam Adams Black Lager and will compare the two. Unlike must black/dark beers this isn’t landing heavy on the ol’ stomach, which is nice, although I don’t think I could drink more than one or two per sitting.

This beer works for me as a nice mid-week surprise review. Thanks St. Paddy even if you didn’t have any big historic connection to beer. Cheers everyone!



FourBoysBrewReveiw

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UPDATE: OK, so a few readers are saying I left them not knowing my opinion of the beer. Let's just say I will not go out of my way to get it. If it is all someone has to offer me, fine, I'll drink it. If they have anything else I'll probably opt for the other. Sorry McSorley, this was just kind of a flat, non-interesting beer.
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