On most occasions I would be sure to have some good craft beer, if not local beer on hand and/or available when visitors are in from out of town. Unfortunately for Bill’s friend Brian, who was visiting from California, this was not most occasions.
Unlike previous visits there was no help from Twitter or using the NFL Draft to help pick the numbers of the beers for the day. Bill and I had decided the previous week to cross three beers off in (almost) one gulp by doing a blind flight of Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite. Because of their popularity and familiarity, there was not much need to do individual reviews for each of these. Brian’s visit gave us another needed body for the experiment.
The exam begins.
As mentioned in the announcement for the next Tweetup, Rich was nice enough to help us out with putting the tasting together and Dawn was smart enough not to participate. Rich poured the beers out of our sight and presented the samples on paddles for us to try and guess which was which. Offhand I cannot remember the last time I had any of those beers, but it has certainly been a few years. Since none of the three brews were commonly found in Bill’s or Brian’s fridge either, we really only had (somewhat) fond memories to guide us to the correct answers.
After the three of us wrote down our answers on separate pieces of paper, Rich gave the final verdicts. Bill was incorrect as he had the Coors Light correct, but the other two switched. Having the Miller Lite correct and the other two switched left Brian incorrect as well. Digging deep into the back of my brain to pull out the memories of the lingering flavors of Miller Lite and not enjoying Coors Light at all, I was the only one of us to pick all three correctly. I did not even have to bribe Rich as this was the day before I smuggled some pie to him in case there were any more blind tastings in our future. Whether I should be proud of blindly identifying them or not, you tell me.
Do we look like we are deep in thought?
Before I could even ask Bill what his grades were for the three beers on the paddle I believe his statement was something like “They are all ones.” He also might have been saying that as he reached for a bite of food to rescue his palate. As I reveal my grades for each, I will explain my thought process a bit. The Miller Lite was my favorite of the three, though favorite is certainly relative here. I would put it on par with the Heineken Light as a beer with no significant flavor that I can stomach, so it gets a 2. There are other 2’s already evaluated where the beer had lots of flavor that I did not enjoy, which I still think I would prefer to no flavor at all. The Bud Light was next in line, so by default I will give that a 1.5 so it can stay slightly ahead of the Coors Light that lands at a solid 1. I know many, many people who enjoy these beers, but they are just not for me (if I get to choose).
Moving on from our experiment, Bill and I honored Brian’s visit more appropriately by going with a West Coast beer, Rogue’s Dead Guy Ale (number 21). Brian got his local beer by going with an Orange Blossom Pilsner (which he quite enjoyed). The Dead Guy poured a coppery amber color and has a lightly sweet aroma. There is good toasted flavor up front followed by some nice bitterness from the middle through the finish. It also finished with some astringency/dryness. I do like this beer, but it seems that I enjoy it a little less each time I have it. However I also remember enjoying it more when on draft.
A Dead Guy anyone?
Almost any beer that we followed the initial flight with would have been received well by our taste buds. Bill quickly gave it a solid 3 and I settled on a 3ish with the “ish” pushing it in the direction of a 3.5. Either way I think I could easily pair it with some shellfish since the dryness would be a bit of a palate cleanser and would let the flavor of the food shine through.
Not knowing where the beer choice would go from there we deferred the pick to Rich and he chose number 70, which was a Railbender Ale (Erie Brewing Co.). It poured a deep amber color and had a light aroma overall, though with a slight smoky/roasted character. The carbonation was a bit low, but that actually gave it a nice mouthfeel and made it easy drinking when in combination with the dark caramelly flavor.
Railbenders for all!
Since I enjoyed this beer a bit more than the Dead Guy and since it was actually cheaper ($4 compared to $5 for Dead Guy), I gave it a solid 3.5. Bill felt much the same, giving it somewhere in the 3.5 to 4 range. This was another beer that I likely would not have tried on my own and I was pleasantly surprised. It certainly is a malty beer and fairly sweet, so I would lean toward pairing it with red meat as I think it would dominate lighter seafood dishes.
So what to do for a closing remark for today? I should definitely say thank you to Brian for being a good sport about the tasting experiment and for the nice beer and sports discussion as we sat together for that time. After that, certainly a big thank you goes to Rich for helping us out and being good company. I should also say that if beer is not your thing be sure to ask Rich about his exceptional creations via his mixology skills. As much as I focus on the beer, there is something at CTT for everyone.
For those keeping track, that is now 25 down and 74 to go!
Stay tuned . . .
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