Purchased from Bell’s Eccentric Cafe’s beer store in Kalamazoo, Michigan during my recent Chicago/Milwaukee MLB trip.
Category Archives: Drink
I’ve Got a Plan
If blogs were children I’d have had my babies taken from me long ago. I enjoy being able to say I’m Canada’s longest active blogger, but that puts me in a place where I’m required to be active. Perhaps it’s time to give it one last kick while focusing on the things I’m really passionate about, rather than the nonsense that is marketing and social media. They’re great for work but the world doesn’t need another social media douchebag filling you in on their thoughts on what Google+ means for Facebook.
So that said, yesterday marked my 1,000th different beer tried. The quest began in the summer of 2006 when I picked up beer for my friend, Craig’s, party. I grabbed a case of Waterloo Dark because it was dark and had a pig on the label, and I was sure to give it a try. After only knowing mass-produced pale lagers this was an epiphany, and the journey began. Five years later I hoisted a bottle of Mikkeller Koppi Coffee IPA with some close friends last night to ring in the accomplishment. But, in the words of the great Chubbs Peterson: “We’ve only just begun.” Hopefully the next five years brings at least 1,000 more, and more importantly, the chance to start making my own. I’ve got some ideas and some plans and I fully intend to make them a reality. So join me, won’t you? I predict sporadic ventures into some of my other passions – God, guitar and baseball – but either way I’ll do my best to entertain. Again.
If a blog is 16 years old, how long is that in human years, anyways?
Now drinking: Samuel Adams Imperial White
Now watching: Masterchef
Beer 13 of 28: Nørrebro Bryghus Little Korkny Ale
The Beer: A 12.25% Barley Wine from København, Denmark
The Location: Jay’s place
It was a glass of lasts as we prepared to pour this one. I’d only been able to find three of the Nørrebro Bryghus beers and this would be our final sample of them tonight. Additionally, as we were now hitting 2:30 in the morning, this would prove to be our final beer of the night. By now we had landed on a final version of “Waiting for the Sun” and had run through “Tall Trees” by Matt Mays & El Torpedo and “Down By the River” by Neil Young. Fingers were sore, eyes were tired and sleep was soon. Not too soon, we grabbed our Korknys and headed for the couch to catch an episode of ‘Man vs. Food’, always a great way to end over eight hours of food, beer and guitar. At $22 for a 650ml bottle it was probably a good way to end things.
The pour was a bit silly, looking remarkably like a natural apple cider, completely opaque and lacking in anything resembling head. The aroma is sweet, caramel, brown sugar and booze, very inviting. The taste was quite sweet, lots of caramel and brown sugar, lots of booze and stone fruits. Extremely well done for a barley wine, sweeter than might be common but balanced and tasty. A good conclusion to a good night that saw me almost race through the halfway mark only four days into the month!
Beer 12 of 28: Southern Tier Crème Brûlée Stout
The Beer: A 9.2% Imperial Stout from Lakewood, NY
The Location: Jay’s place
Not a new one for me, but not one to turn down if you’ve tried it. Every June our friends across the border at Southern Tier produce this bomber of dessert, a lactose-infused “Imperial Milk Stout” that functions less as a beer and more as a communal post-dinner digestif. The first time I’d had it I served it at a family dinner as the accompaniment to the final course – a bread pudding made of brioche and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, amongst many more traditional ingredients, and it was a hit. Who was I to turn down another sample?
There’s probably not enough space or attention span to really get into what this beer is. It owns perhaps the greatest aroma of any beer you’ve witnessed, a jaw-dropping dead ringer for crème brûlée with rich caramel, cream and burnt sugar. It’s an experience unto itself. It’s possibly the richest, creamiest beer you’ve tried, halfway to a syrup as it pours into a snifter (recommended!) and awe-inspiring in its sweet, amazing flavour. For almost $10 a bottle I’m sure many have passed it by – take it from me, work this good is worth every penny.
Beer 11 of 28: Founders Breakfast Stout
The Beer: An 8.3% IPA from Grand Rapids, MI
The Location: Jay’s place
Kurt was pretty excited to share this one with me, knowing I’m essentially one of the world’s biggest stout whores. Since taking the plunge and trying a Guinness I’ve gone about not only trying to track down every beer I can, but specifically as many different stouts as possible. Discussions of the greatest stouts will invariably, at some point, involve the words Founders Breakfast Stout.
Why breakfast stout? Simple: The use of breakfast ingredients in the making of it. In this particular case it’s flaked oats and both Sumatra and Kona coffee, alongside a dollop of chocolate. The pour was near jet black, thick and viscous, with a tan head on top. The most noticeable thing in both the aroma and taste is that Sumatra and Kona coffee, a boatload of it. Balancing that is a sweetness from the chocolate and malts, all of it in a great, thick mouthfeel. A solid stout, just as I’d hoped.