Bizarro Brew

The Ann Arbor Brewers Guild made their second Bizarro Brew, which premiered at the Corner last Wednesday. This beer was made up of stuff that people brought with them, the entire list of which can be found here.

I was anxiously waiting for this beer because it just looked so insane that I knew it was going to be really good or really bad. I mean, Peeps and jerk rub and spruce under the mash screen and rosemary and ginger??? ...the fuck??? But it worked! Oh people my people, it worked!

Cindy, Dede, Jeff and I posse'd up and headed out on Wednesday evening. The Bizarro beer looked like this:



As you can see, the head of the beer is oh so creamy. I dare say it's the creamiest head that I've ever had on a beer...I actually poked my finger in it and licked it off. I just thought of something--maybe the Peeps had something to do with this?

The nose was sprucey. The smell was gentle spruce tree...not like the little Christmas tree air fresheners that the freaky guy in Seven had hanging over his bed, but a real nice and easy smell.

The taste of the first beer that I had had hints of something spicy (maybe the jerk rub?), hops and orange. The second one that I had had less of a cinnamon taste and more of the orange taste. It was a very mild, easy drinking beer. Light on the tongue, smooth going on. I was surprised when I heard it was over 7% alcohol; it was lucky that I learned this information though, as I was the driver that night!

This is a fabulous beer born of creativity, collaboration and community. If there is any left, get yourself some!

Strong Ale Tasting at Arbor Brewing Company

A couple of weeks ago, Jeff and I attended the monthly beer tasting at Arbor Brewing Company. Acknowledging that February in Michigan well, sucks ass, the folks at ABC kindly provided us with rooms full of strong, wonderful ale.

To recap, I am going off the notes that I took plus the notes given to me in the pamphlet that one picks up when one enters the tasting. If you have tried any of these, please share your thoughts with me in the comments!

Dark Horse Scotty Karate Scotch Ale: One cold night, the Beer Chick, Mr. Beer Chick, Jeff and I were at Ashley's. A friend of the BCs ordered a scotch flight which, not being a scotch drinker myself, both terrified and delighted me. Somehow, someone also got this scotch ale and, for reasons unknown to me, I did not get to try it. Finally, I got my chance at the tasting! It was way lighter than I thought it would be...I guess I thought it would taste like real scotch and be kinda heavy? Maybe? Anyone? It was very smooth, with a hit of apple and cinnamon.

Bell's Third Coast Old Ale--I have yet to have a bad beer from Bell's. This barleywine style ale has a hoppy nose and hoppy taste, mixed with a nice fruit flavor. It earned a :) from me, which means I liked it.

Avery Salvation: Got another :) Apricot and peach aromas...yum....

Avery the Reverand Belgian Quad: Earned a "it's good" from Jeff (which, in Jeff-speak means it's dy-no-mite!). I am not a Belgian fan, so I only had a sip.

Lagunitas Lucky 13 Imperial Amber: This beer is pronounced La-goo-nee-tas. I wrote that in the margin because I have trouble pronouncing certain words, and this happens to be one of them. Wonderful amber--full, sweet, milky caramelly buttery yummy-y.

Grain D'Orge Belzebub: I wrote "not as heavy as I thought it'd be". I can see how I might think that, given its 13% alcohol (lowered from 15%). Intense "alcohol" flavor, but as I said, not as heavy as I thought it'd be!!!!

De Dolle Brouwers Stille Nacht: I didn't try this one, but I found out that it translates to "silent night" so, in the margin I wrote "something Jeff never has". Ha ha ha ha ha! I crack me up.

Stone Brewing Arrogant Bastard: Another :)!! Grapefruit and bitter hoppy taste, smooth and easy drinking.

Unibroue 17 & Trois Pistoles: The 17 got a :), because I liked the nose (spices, hops, flowers) and a nice, bubbly body. The Trois Pistoles got a :( because I found it "too Belgiany" and as I said above, I do not like Belgian beers.

Arcadia Cereal Killer Barleywine: What a beautiful color! Kind of a Rock'n'Rye color, IIRC. Nice caramel and cherry taste.

Avery Hog Heaven Barleywine: Billed as a "hops lovers delight", and yes oh yes, it was! I am a hop head and this had a nice nose and excellent hoppy taste.

JW Lees Harvest Ale Aged in Calvados Casks: This beer said (well, okay, the beer wasn't talking to me, but it's label said) that it should be kept in the cellar for 5-10 years. This one was in the cellar for less time, and it showed. It was a little young and too sweet. Like many fine beers, I'm sure it will improve with age.

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So, that's the latest tasting. It did bring some joy into my otherwise dreary mid-February life and really, isn't that what it's all about???

Brewtopia!

In case anyone in the NYC area is reading this, a non-profit near and dear to the Beer Chicks needs your help. One Brick is pouring beer at Brewtopia at Pier 92 inNYC on October 31 and November 31 AND will be a beneficiary of the event! Volunteers get a t-shirt and get to check out a really cool event for free. Costumes are welcomed, and it could be the start of a fun Halloween out on the town! Help a great organization, have fun, play some tricks, get some treats... could you ask for a better Halloween?

Get more info here: One Brick and Brewtopia.

And speaking of Halloween, right now I'm enjoying Great Lakes Brewing's Nosferatu- the vampire beer! I was warned that it's strong, and they weren't kidding. At 8% ABV, it is a buttkicker! That being said, it is TASTY. The dark red ale is a gorgeous color, hoppy and rich, with a nice balance and smooth finish. I wish it was available year round!

Drink Michigan Beer

This weekend was (finally) the Michigan Brewer's Guild Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti, our chance to truly try a bunch of Michigan beers. We weren't disappointed! I also handed out a few ChicksDigBeer business cards on Saturday. Hopefully more like-minded women will be willing to write about their favorite beers as well. (Drop me a note if you're interested!)

51 breweries brought 330 beers in 60 different styles- not bad for ONE state! All the breweries were located in 4 big "pavilion" type tents with the exception of the Brewer's Guild's Michigan Grand Crew Saison, which had a stand-alone tent. The Grand Crew is the annual collaboration between all the members of the Brewer's Guild and it was quite tasty!

I sampled a whopping SIXTEEN beers on Saturday, some I liked a lot more (and drank more of) than others. M and I had a discussion with a couple other attendees about regional differences and how it's difficult to judge whether a beer is good when you've never tasted anything like it before. Sure, you can tell someone whether you personally like it, but when it comes down to whether it deserves the awards it may have won it isn't so simple. Best example: in NorCal, I never once tasted (or for that matter recall hearing about) a sour beer, but there were a LOT of them at the fest. A couple of breweries specialized in sours and one offered "Ancient Ales". It would have been fun to try everything, or at least one beer from every brewery, but that would take far more than an afternoon.

That being said, of the 16 I tried, here's a list of my favorites. I was a little surprised by my top two: a rye IPA and a Scotch Ale. (ME???) They were just spectacular beers!

• Michigan Brewing Company Rye IPA - wow. I don't see this beer mentioned on their website, but I hope I'll be able to find it again!
• Old Hat Brewery Scotch Ale. Another wow, and I don't often like Scotch Ales!
• Black Lotus Brewing Company Detroit Hip Hops IPA. Of course I had to have an IPA at the top of my list!
• Michigan Brewer's Guild Grand Crew Saison. See above- this is the collaboration brew.
  
• Founder's Brewing Co. Red's Rye IPA- yeah, another one! Who knew?

In addition to the food and wine offered, there was also the added entertainment provided by people watching and wondering where some of the beer names came from! The brewery that had a female mannequin rigged up with beertaps coming out of her breasts was pretty amusing too. Some of the more intriguing names (and concepts):

• Grapes & Grains of Wrath Porter Shiraz (Fort Street Brewery)
  
• When Monks Get Drunk Belgian Imperial IPA (Fort Street Brewery)
• Quit Jerkin' My Ferkin Real Ale (King Brewing Company)
  
• Haar der Zeige (Hair of the Goat) Maibock (Grizzly Peak)
  
• A Few Schillings Too Many Wee Heavy (Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.)
  
• Norm's Raggedy Ass IPA (Big Rock Chop & Brewhouse)

Judging by the quality of the Summer Beer Fest, I can't wait for the Winter Fest: February 28, 2009 in Grand Rapids. Bring it on!

Super Fat Tuesday

Super Fat Tuesday is now one for the books, and it looks like nearly everything and anyone I voted for lost. *sigh*

But on the upside, I got to have some yummy New Orleans style grub and beer last night! San Jose is blessed to have a wonderful little New Orleans joint called the Poor House Bistro. In honor of the big day, they had a crawfish boil, king cake, and a Meters tribute band called the Montegos. M had a BBQ shrimp po'boy for dinner, I had some jambalaya, and each had a pint of Abita TurboDog. YUM! Out on the patio, where the band was playing, we noticed that they also had Dixie Blackened Voodoo in bottles, so I had to have one of those as well (thank goodness they are up and running again, post-Katrina!!). M decided to try Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Ale, which I can't say I cared for. I guess after the smoothness of the Turbodog and the Voodoo, the bittersweet taste of the barleywine style ale just didn't work for me.

Regardless, good beer, good food, good music... all that was missing was the parades!

First February Friday = Beer!

Welcome to the first post to Chicks Dig Beer. As mentioned in the "about" section, this was the brainchild of Julie and Amy at a beer festival in San Mateo, California. It took awhile to get going, but at long last, a beer blog for women!

Since the idea was conceived, I've been paying more attention to the beers I've tried, taking notes and even photos sometimes. Unfortunately, I don't have notes on most of the beers I tried on my South American honeymoon, but I *do* have some photos and will post them at some point.

For my first post, I'm going to talk about tonight's "beer du jour": Rogue "Santa's Private Reserve Ale" from Newport, Oregon's Rogue Ales. It's a seasonal (duh) that I didn't get to try initially because my husband DRANK IT ALL! LOL Luckily I found one last bottle on clearance at BevMo, and am enjoying it right now. It's a hoppy, dark brown ale, very smooth... almost TOO smooth! I tend to like my beers with a little more "bite", but I definitely cannot complain.