I cannot get over how wonderful the Harvest Beer Festival was, and my hat's off to the Michigan Brewers Guild for pulling off a wonderful event. Actually, it was cold enough there that I'd better keep my hat on. Despite being a chilly, blustery day at Eastern Market in Detroit, with some intervals of rain that mostly stayed light, the festival was amazing, with 38 Michigan micro's offering samples of over 200 beers. And nearly 2,500 people feeling the craft brewed love. Heaven!
I did a write up in Examiner.com. Check it out here!
Next stout review coming soon... mmmmm, stout.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Michigan stouts: Arcadia Cocoa Loco
Arcadia Brewing Co. is a Battle Creek brewery specializing in British-style ales. I don't know that their Cocoa Loco stout is really "British-style," but it is an interpretation and expansion that is well worth drinking! I picked up a single at Arbor Farms for $2.79, and it is fairly widely available.
This deep, dark, brown-black stout pours quietly, with a fairly thin, reluctant, caramel-colored head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is roasty-burnt, with a strong blackstrap molasses presence mixing with coffee, all against a background of chocolate that promises some pretty glorious flavor. There’s a touch of alcohol aroma, too, in this 7.0% ABV stout.
The brew is assertively bitter followed quickly by a wash of chocolate. There is plenty of coffee here, roasted to dark, fragrant perfection. The carbonation is fairly small, a bit more noticeable than I thought it would be when the beer poured so quietly, but it’s no distraction. This beer has a medium body, less heavy than I expected.
In the finish, there’s a bit of alcohol and associated warming. Later in the long, pleasant finish, a vanilla note springs forward, superb and worth waiting for. It took considerable time to form, so pause awhile over this brew. As it warms, it doesn’t sweeten much, and the flavors continue to deepen. This is an unabashedly burnt-roasted, coffee-inflected, chocolaty beer.
Cocoa Loco is an outstanding, big beer, completely worth lingering over. It would make a wonderful after-dinner drink. It’s made with chocolate malts, cocoa nibs, and 63% cacao bittersweet chocolate, as well as molasses and lactose. Arcadia describes it as a “triple chocolate milk stout.” Well said indeed.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Harvest Beer Festival: October 24, Eastern Market!
The Michigan Brewers Guild's inaugural Harvest Beer Festival is coming up October 24, 1:00-6:00 p.m., at Eastern Market in Detroit. It looks to be an amazing event. Click here for details and a slew of links to sponsors, participating breweries, etc. I hope to see you there.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Ann Arbor Craft Beer Examiner
Apparently, the page is up and running. Visit at www.examiner.com/x-27116-Ann-Arbor-Craft-Beer-Examiner! Thanks, and enjoy!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Good Beer, and Good Beer News
As I write this, I'm feeling like dreck due to a head cold that hit late last night. I had hoped to continue my stout reviews, but that will have to wait a few days. A beer doesn't sound like the best idea right about now.
I did want to mention a couple of things, though. First, I went out to dinner last night with a friend who was in town to visit his folks (he grew up here). He wanted to go to Cottage Inn Restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised to find two excellent craft beers on their "special" list. One was Magic Hat's #9, a terrific beer from Vermont that my friend, Sean, tipped me off to. Turns out it's not hard to get here -- in fact, I saw a six pack at Kroger the other day -- but finding it on tap was very nice. Luckily, I was drinking it before my cold set in, though by the end of the evening I knew I was coming down with something. I won't review it here other than to say it's got a nice combo of floral, bitter, and fruit flavors and was a joy to drink. The brewery describes it as "not quite pale ale," and that was about right.
The other beer on tap was Bell's Best Brown, which is always delicious -- or at least it was supposed to be available. My friend ordered a pint only to be told that they were still finishing up the last keg of Oberon. Now, that didn't necessarily say much for its freshness, perhaps, but my friend was more than happy to have one last pint of Oberon before it disappears into hibernation. I'm guessing the Best Brown will be tapped soon. I'll admit that I never thought of Cottage Inn as a place to grab a craft beer, but I'm happy to have been proved wrong.
On a completely different note, I've been selected to be the Ann Arbor Craft Beer Examiner for the Detroit edition of Examiner.com. Once my articles are up and running, I'll post more info here. Some content will overlap with this blog, and some won't. I will be continuing the Michigan stout series at both venues. For Examiner.com, I'll write beer reviews, tip readers off to beer-related events, and get a chance to explore and write about Michigan's brewing community and rich craft beer offerings. Please stop by and check it out. And if you have any tips, please send them my way!
I did want to mention a couple of things, though. First, I went out to dinner last night with a friend who was in town to visit his folks (he grew up here). He wanted to go to Cottage Inn Restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised to find two excellent craft beers on their "special" list. One was Magic Hat's #9, a terrific beer from Vermont that my friend, Sean, tipped me off to. Turns out it's not hard to get here -- in fact, I saw a six pack at Kroger the other day -- but finding it on tap was very nice. Luckily, I was drinking it before my cold set in, though by the end of the evening I knew I was coming down with something. I won't review it here other than to say it's got a nice combo of floral, bitter, and fruit flavors and was a joy to drink. The brewery describes it as "not quite pale ale," and that was about right.
The other beer on tap was Bell's Best Brown, which is always delicious -- or at least it was supposed to be available. My friend ordered a pint only to be told that they were still finishing up the last keg of Oberon. Now, that didn't necessarily say much for its freshness, perhaps, but my friend was more than happy to have one last pint of Oberon before it disappears into hibernation. I'm guessing the Best Brown will be tapped soon. I'll admit that I never thought of Cottage Inn as a place to grab a craft beer, but I'm happy to have been proved wrong.
On a completely different note, I've been selected to be the Ann Arbor Craft Beer Examiner for the Detroit edition of Examiner.com. Once my articles are up and running, I'll post more info here. Some content will overlap with this blog, and some won't. I will be continuing the Michigan stout series at both venues. For Examiner.com, I'll write beer reviews, tip readers off to beer-related events, and get a chance to explore and write about Michigan's brewing community and rich craft beer offerings. Please stop by and check it out. And if you have any tips, please send them my way!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Orange. Banana. Beer.
Just a quick entry to comment on Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, their golden-orange, cloudy hefeweizen. Obviously, it's not from around here, but it's not that hard to find and certainly isn't one of their more popular brews. Sierra Nevada is known for their pale ale, of course, but this brew is worth a mention. Maybe it's my way of bidding final farewell to summer. Sigh.
The label recommends pouring 2/3 of the bottle into a glass, swirling the rest, and then pouring the remainder into the glass, since yeast is suspended in the brew. It forms a big head that recedes pretty quickly to soft peaks and then a nice layer of foam with a touch of laciness on the glass.
The aroma struck me as mostly orange with a touch of banana. As for the taste, it's a whole lot of banana with subtle spice notes, followed with a nice bitterness, a touch of sweetness that doesn't quite balance it out, and a finish that sees the bitterness soften and disappear pretty quickly, mingling with fruit and leaving a bit of malty breadiness at the end. As I was getting to the end of my glass, I noticed a new taste: a distinct cinnamon quality at the back end that was really quite good. A nice surprise.
I'd drink this beer on its own or with food that isn't too salty or otherwise strong. It wouldn't take much to overpower the flavors of this beer. That's not to say it's not flavorful. It certainly is, but the flavors are delicate, and the interplay between them is subtle.
The label recommends pouring 2/3 of the bottle into a glass, swirling the rest, and then pouring the remainder into the glass, since yeast is suspended in the brew. It forms a big head that recedes pretty quickly to soft peaks and then a nice layer of foam with a touch of laciness on the glass.
The aroma struck me as mostly orange with a touch of banana. As for the taste, it's a whole lot of banana with subtle spice notes, followed with a nice bitterness, a touch of sweetness that doesn't quite balance it out, and a finish that sees the bitterness soften and disappear pretty quickly, mingling with fruit and leaving a bit of malty breadiness at the end. As I was getting to the end of my glass, I noticed a new taste: a distinct cinnamon quality at the back end that was really quite good. A nice surprise.
I'd drink this beer on its own or with food that isn't too salty or otherwise strong. It wouldn't take much to overpower the flavors of this beer. That's not to say it's not flavorful. It certainly is, but the flavors are delicate, and the interplay between them is subtle.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Michigan Stouts: Bell's Special Double Cream Stout
My beer tastes shift with the seasons, and with the cold, rainy weather that's set in, I want stout. Dark, rich, roasty, bitter, creamy stout. Now, I enjoy stout year-round, but it's this time of year that the urges really get going. So, I went off to Arbor Farms, where I like their collection of singles and the fact that they put useful little "Made in Michigan" flags on the shelves below the Michigan beers for quick reference, and bought several different Michigan stouts. I'll be reviewing them one at a time. Today: Bell's Special Double Cream Stout. It's available seasonally November to March.
Of course, Bell's is a truly beloved brewery in Michigan. They do a lot of different styles quite well, and many Michiganders mark the true start of summer by when Bell's Oberon becomes available on tap. In fact, Oberon is inevitably the seasonal tap during the summer at good bars. Served with a slice of orange, it's like a pint of sunshine. We do love our Bell's.
It sure isn't Oberon season any more. I need something with more heft, and this double cream stout fits the bill. It has a creamy head the color of strong coffee with a touch of milk. The head dissipates fairly quickly to a thin foam. The brew is a molasses color: almost black. The aroma is strong and complex, with a slight sour note that's not unpleasant. Kind of fruity and initially hard to place. As I took it in, it struck me as a cherry note. Some chocolate and coffee aroma, too.
The flavor screams coffee! Oh, the coffee! Lots of stouts have coffee flavors, but this one is impressive. It's really strong in the finish and combines beautifully with dark chocolate. That touch of cherry is there, too, toward the front end. This stout is impressively long in the finish, with coffee and chocolate that won't quit and stay delicious for a long time -- as opposed to some long finishes that, well, don't stay pleasant. That dark chocolate flavor is really assertive. If you've often heard about chocolate notes in beer but haven't been able to detect them, try this one. Can't miss it here. The beer sweetens considerably as it warms, but coffee remains the dominant flavor, along with that dark chocolate, and the result is a nicely balanced, creamy, delicious beer, with a rich mouth feel.
6.1% abv. The single was $2.19 at Arbor Farms. Enjoy!
Of course, Bell's is a truly beloved brewery in Michigan. They do a lot of different styles quite well, and many Michiganders mark the true start of summer by when Bell's Oberon becomes available on tap. In fact, Oberon is inevitably the seasonal tap during the summer at good bars. Served with a slice of orange, it's like a pint of sunshine. We do love our Bell's.
It sure isn't Oberon season any more. I need something with more heft, and this double cream stout fits the bill. It has a creamy head the color of strong coffee with a touch of milk. The head dissipates fairly quickly to a thin foam. The brew is a molasses color: almost black. The aroma is strong and complex, with a slight sour note that's not unpleasant. Kind of fruity and initially hard to place. As I took it in, it struck me as a cherry note. Some chocolate and coffee aroma, too.
The flavor screams coffee! Oh, the coffee! Lots of stouts have coffee flavors, but this one is impressive. It's really strong in the finish and combines beautifully with dark chocolate. That touch of cherry is there, too, toward the front end. This stout is impressively long in the finish, with coffee and chocolate that won't quit and stay delicious for a long time -- as opposed to some long finishes that, well, don't stay pleasant. That dark chocolate flavor is really assertive. If you've often heard about chocolate notes in beer but haven't been able to detect them, try this one. Can't miss it here. The beer sweetens considerably as it warms, but coffee remains the dominant flavor, along with that dark chocolate, and the result is a nicely balanced, creamy, delicious beer, with a rich mouth feel.
6.1% abv. The single was $2.19 at Arbor Farms. Enjoy!
Damn the Torpedoes!
Sierra Nevada isn't a regional brewery by any means, and many are already familiar with their beers, but I did want to toss in a mention of their Torpedo IPA. I have a certain fondness for that brewery, since my mom lived in Chico, CA, for a number of years. I've had the good fortune of tossing back a few at their pub, and it's well worth a visit. Just getting the beers on tap at the peak of freshness while sitting up at the bar, admiring the dark wood and beautiful stained glass of the company logo, makes for a fine afternoon or evening.
Their Torpedo IPA earns its moniker by exploding on impact with your tongue. You remember learning as a kid how different regions of the tongue are specialized for different flavors? This is a back of the tongue beer from the start. Huge flavor, pronounced bitterness. As it warmed, a balancing sweetness peeked out. Medium thick head. Medium-fine carbonation; nothing distracting there. Flowery aroma. Smooths in the finish. Like with most beers, I'd recommend letting it warm a bit before drinking, though I'll admit it's plain hard to wait once it's poured.
This is a 7.2% abv beer and widely available. I picked it up at Arbor Farms Market as a single. A big but eminently drinkable beer. It would stand up well to strong food flavors and complement them nicely.
Their Torpedo IPA earns its moniker by exploding on impact with your tongue. You remember learning as a kid how different regions of the tongue are specialized for different flavors? This is a back of the tongue beer from the start. Huge flavor, pronounced bitterness. As it warmed, a balancing sweetness peeked out. Medium thick head. Medium-fine carbonation; nothing distracting there. Flowery aroma. Smooths in the finish. Like with most beers, I'd recommend letting it warm a bit before drinking, though I'll admit it's plain hard to wait once it's poured.
This is a 7.2% abv beer and widely available. I picked it up at Arbor Farms Market as a single. A big but eminently drinkable beer. It would stand up well to strong food flavors and complement them nicely.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Spontaneous Beer Bliss
Three weeks have passed, but I'm still savoring the pleasure of joining one of my oldest and dearest friends, Sean, for an evening at the Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland. The trip came about unexpectedly. Sean had sent an e-mail a week before: he was going to Cleveland on business and asked me about Great Lakes Brewing because he saw that I'm a fan of theirs on Facebook. I turned rhapsodic about their excellent beer and beautiful restaurant, though it had been years since I had last been to the restaurant itself. Then his next message noted that I live only three hours from there. I glanced over the schedule, cleared it with my family, and we were on.
Great Lakes makes a pretty impressive variety of terrific beer, with a nice selection of seasonals and pub exclusives as well as their "family" of five beers that are always available: Dortmunder Gold Lager, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Burning River Pale Ale, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, and Commodore Perry IPA. Like many craft breweries, though, they also feature some great eats and are seriously dedicated to their community and the environment. The pub features fresh food from local, organic ingredients, including some grown on the company's own section of a farm in Bath, Ohio. It's a company to feel good about. And did I mention that they make great beer?
Sean and I had a blast. We each ordered flights, which were generous and beautiful to look at. In fact, several other patrons eyed the flights and admired the colors of those 5 oz pours of all nine beers they had available that night: the five flagships as well as Oktoberfest, Grassroots Ale (a saison), The Stein Bach (a pale bock; pub exclusive), and Nosferatu stock ale. Other than the bock, the other seasonals are available as 4- or 6-packs.
This post isn't about the food or intended to be a review of the beers. It's too many weeks ago to do any of that in detail. Suffice it to say that all of the beers were impressive. The Stein Bach was a bit too sweet for us but was nevertheless a nice example of its type -- I prefer their Rockefeller Bock, also a pub exclusive that I had many years ago and still remember as a bit more balanced. The Nosferatu blew our socks off as an amazing, complex, and delicious beer with a noticeable alcohol taste. The porter is an outstanding one, rich with coffee and chocolate. I'll review Great Lakes beers from time to time here. And the food was terrific, fresh and popping with flavor, including the burgers we had. Even the fries were excellent. But I won't go on about that, either.
Instead, as is already becoming apparent in this blog, I'm thinking about the totality of the experience. Sean and I are close, really close, but we live far apart and hadn't seen each other in about six years. We've known each other nearly forever. We share a lot of interests. In fact, he's the St. Petersburg, FL, Craft Beer Examiner. And we share even more history: too many fun times to count, close calls, tough times and triumphs, growing up together and all the craziness that involves, celebrations of marriages and kids and accomplishments. The chance to spend time together on the spur of the moment, go to the gorgeous and historic pub belonging to one of my favorite breweries, and just catch up, drink amazing beer, and eat well was simply priceless. It seems obvious, but I'll say it anyway: the food and beer tasted better hanging out there with Sean than they would have had I been alone or if I had been with just about anyone else. Going to the Great Lakes Brewery pub would always be great. But that night, it was a peak experience.
Great Lakes makes a pretty impressive variety of terrific beer, with a nice selection of seasonals and pub exclusives as well as their "family" of five beers that are always available: Dortmunder Gold Lager, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Burning River Pale Ale, Eliot Ness Amber Lager, and Commodore Perry IPA. Like many craft breweries, though, they also feature some great eats and are seriously dedicated to their community and the environment. The pub features fresh food from local, organic ingredients, including some grown on the company's own section of a farm in Bath, Ohio. It's a company to feel good about. And did I mention that they make great beer?
Sean and I had a blast. We each ordered flights, which were generous and beautiful to look at. In fact, several other patrons eyed the flights and admired the colors of those 5 oz pours of all nine beers they had available that night: the five flagships as well as Oktoberfest, Grassroots Ale (a saison), The Stein Bach (a pale bock; pub exclusive), and Nosferatu stock ale. Other than the bock, the other seasonals are available as 4- or 6-packs.
This post isn't about the food or intended to be a review of the beers. It's too many weeks ago to do any of that in detail. Suffice it to say that all of the beers were impressive. The Stein Bach was a bit too sweet for us but was nevertheless a nice example of its type -- I prefer their Rockefeller Bock, also a pub exclusive that I had many years ago and still remember as a bit more balanced. The Nosferatu blew our socks off as an amazing, complex, and delicious beer with a noticeable alcohol taste. The porter is an outstanding one, rich with coffee and chocolate. I'll review Great Lakes beers from time to time here. And the food was terrific, fresh and popping with flavor, including the burgers we had. Even the fries were excellent. But I won't go on about that, either.
Instead, as is already becoming apparent in this blog, I'm thinking about the totality of the experience. Sean and I are close, really close, but we live far apart and hadn't seen each other in about six years. We've known each other nearly forever. We share a lot of interests. In fact, he's the St. Petersburg, FL, Craft Beer Examiner. And we share even more history: too many fun times to count, close calls, tough times and triumphs, growing up together and all the craziness that involves, celebrations of marriages and kids and accomplishments. The chance to spend time together on the spur of the moment, go to the gorgeous and historic pub belonging to one of my favorite breweries, and just catch up, drink amazing beer, and eat well was simply priceless. It seems obvious, but I'll say it anyway: the food and beer tasted better hanging out there with Sean than they would have had I been alone or if I had been with just about anyone else. Going to the Great Lakes Brewery pub would always be great. But that night, it was a peak experience.
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