Quite the Foursome

Getting the important announcement right out of the way up front, I must remind you that the next Tweetup at Celebration Town Tavern is one week from today TONIGHT! and there will be another beer flight to sample.  Check out what you have to look forward to upon your arrival.

On my most recent visit, I settled in at the end of the inside bar next to Bill with a handful of numbers (mostly from The Wife) to choose our beers from.  Before getting started I was reminded that the additions to the Beer Club list would be arriving soon.  In fact, as this post goes up the new brews will already be available.  Be sure to stop in to try a Lagunitas Pils, Left Hand 400lb. Monkey, Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat, Stone Ruination, Stone Pale Ale, Ommegang Three Philosophers, Ommegang Hennepin, Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, Ipswitch Ale, and some Smuttynose Porter.  I think that is the list of incoming beers, though be sure to tell me if I forgot something!  Of course adding beers means that some also had to come off the list, so a moment of silence please for those long lost brews.

Maybe there was a reason I sat near this.

After last week’s tasting experiment I was hoping for something really nice to start the day off, but the numbers dictated a Heineken (number 33 via The Wife) to kick things off.  I poured a light golden color and has a light grainy/corn aroma.  It has some grainy flavor up front but the crispness is pretty harsh and finishes with a bit of a minerally note.  The high carbonation adds some additional bite to that whole equation.  Since this is another beer that needs to be really cold, it does not get better as it warms and the glass empties.

Heineken

Now this one certainly has more flavor than it’s Light counterpart, but I don’t think that helps at all.  It actually hurts it a bit since the flavor that it does have is not very good.  With that I gave it the same grade as the Heineken Light (2).  This one just arrives at that grade in a different way.  Bill was slightly up the scale, giving it a 2.5.  Without much flavor I don’t think it would serve as much more than water when paired with an intensely flavored dish, but the carbonation and crispness would offset some fried or spicy food fairly well.  Some rich shellfish would also pair very well.

Next up was a Dos Equis (number 25 via The Wife) and another pretty mild beer drinking experience.  Since we were not that excited to repeat our Heineken experience, Bill and I split a bottle.  It poured a pale golden color with a tall white head and had a somewhat unpleasant corn-like aroma to it.  The flavor was very, very mild overall with some faint sweetness to it.  Without any real flavor(s) it was not unpleasant and was very clean drinking.

Dos Equis

Now I would choose this beer over Heineken if given the choice, but only because it does not have the harshness not because it is much better.  This is another one of those beers that needs to be out in the sun, on a beach somewhere as an alternative to drinking water.  It is certainly not something I would sit at a bar with.  We both have it a grade of 2 since it was not terrible, but is not nearly something that we would order again if given the choice.  This would pair similarly to the Heineken and go pretty well with fried or spicy foods, though I would not suggest the shellfish

The third beer was an Old Speckled Hen (number 62 via The Wife) and was another that we decided to split a bottle of.  It poured an amber color with a slight white head, though it slushed up a bit with the iced glass.  It had an oddly sweet aroma that seemed to have aromas of plant material and an almost medicine-like nose.  It has an earthy malt flavor (though pretty mild flavor overall) and finishes a bit dry.  Though the initial sip was pretty bad (as I made a face), but it did get slightly better as I drank it.

Old Speckled Hen

Though it did get better as the glass emptied I was glad to only have half a bottle to get through.  The body of the beer makes it go down easy, but there was something about the flavor that really did not work for me.  I believe that Bill did not actually give it a grade, but rather said that it was “below my lowest grade to date” and “I would rather drink nothing if given the choice.”  In my dilemma of beer with no flavor or beer with flavor that I don’t like, I initially gave it a 2.  A few moments later I settled on a 1.5 after taking the price into consideration ($5 versus $4 for each of the first two).  Not enjoying it that much makes it hard to pair with food, but it probably would work well with some baked or broiled or maybe grilled fish.

Since I had a leftover number from @KegWorks that just happened to correspond with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, we decided to close the day with a favor to our taste buds.  It poured a medium amber color and had a frothy white head.  The aroma is lightly hoppy with nice floral and citrus notes and some nice maltiness in back.  The flavor has an even floral and citrus hoppiness throughout with a nice toasted malty background.  The finish is nice and clean with some lingering hop flavors.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

This beer was certainly a good way to finish the day after the first three brews and is definitely a good go to beer to sit at the bar with.  Bill gave it a solid 4 and I was comfortable with a grade of 4 as well and would probably even lean a bit higher (good value at $4).  I think that this beer would pair well with a range of things like chicken dishes and those with some moderately flavored cheeses (burgers and such).

So on to the closing remarks for today.  A big thank you goes to Danielle for being good company and for chatting about beer with us.  It was also nice as usual to see Bill Bona and it was great for him to send us in the direction of Rubens and the guys from Schenck and Corona. It was also good to hear that Rich enjoyed the berry pie delivery.  All in all it was a nice afternoon with some really nice people.

For those keeping track, that is now 29 down and 70 to go!

Stay tuned . . .