Catamount and Guinness 250 - Fun In The Sun (with beer of course)

So yesterday in the first true great summer day we had a little brewing party. It was a blast. We made a nice farmhouse ale and enjoyed 8 hours in the sun. If you have ever read anything about brewing you will know that the first rule of brewing is “Relax, have a home brew”. So in keeping up with the traditions of beer brewing, we drank. And drank, and drank.

First we drank a home brew (we had a nice bock & saison on tap).

Next we had a combination of Star Island Single by Smuttynose (http://www.smuttynose.com/beers/full_time_beers/star_island_single.html) . This is labeled a Session ale brewed with spices. The beer was OK, but I don’t agree with their categorization. I would say it is a simple summer ale. Nice on a hot day, but not something I would probably buy again.

Third we enjoyed some more home brews.

Fourth came the recent Irish immigrant – the Guinness 250 (http://www2.guinness.com/en-IE/Pages/250.aspx?me=ctdw3c55r12xa0i5neq3wf55) . This beer was released in the US only 1 week ago in celebration of Guinness’s 250^th anniversary. I really liked it. It was not crazy spectacular, but it was good.

Fifth round we went for something more stiff. Great Divide’s (http://www.greatdivide.com) Espresso Oak Age Yeti. It is a keeper. Strong and powerful and definitely a sipper. It would pare nicely with a desert.

Sixth round we went back to homebrew. Yummy.

Seventh round we went for another special. It was the Double IPA from the LongTrail Brew master Series. (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/94/48780 ).

The eighth was really water first, and than more homebrew.

Ninth we had a Harpoon 100 Barrel Series – Catamount Maple Wheat. I know, I know. Because I am right there with you. Maple in a beer. But it was goooooooood. I realize I had a few brews in me, but I thought it was subtle but spectacular. We unintentionally did save the best for last. (http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/index.cfm?cdid=124616&pid=28516)

Totally forgot to mention Black Albert and It's Alive

Last night we had this funky beer (I mean literally funky, as it was a Flemish sour ale or possibly just a sour ale) called It's Alive. The beer was OK, but the name rocked. I would totally order it again, not for the beer but for the wine.

AND....... just remembered that she learned a little trivia - the Black Albert brewed by the Struisse Brewery of Belgium references her favorite Maine (the entire state) bar. Ebenezer's Kezker Pub in Lovell Maine. I totally remember our friend Chris (the owner) telling us about it but totally blanked (or Blacked - sorry could not stop the pun from coming out) on it. It was so cool to see. Chris is such a great guy and his bar rocks, if anyone ever reads this blog if they take anything away from it - please take the suggestion to visit the pub.

www.ebenezerpub.com

Belgium Beer Bar Novare Rez SUCKS - Beers good – staff sucks – bad cask!!!!

So lat night I went to Novare Res in Portland Maine. Their beer selection is ridiculous, they have hundreds of beers to choose from which is awesome. What is not so awesome is how difficult it is to actually get one of those beers. Our waitress who was not nice or bright was so annoyingly absent from the main seating section. If you were able to track her down and put your order in with her, well she didn't always bring you your beers. She forgot on 2-3 separate occasions to bring us our beers and was not really surprised when she did forget. Kind of like the character Lisa Kudrow played on the 90's sitcom Mad About You.

Another puzzling thing about my night last night was that this Belgium beer bar doesn't carry Chouffe. also one of their cask conditioned beers was bad. Our waitress showed her lack of beer knowledge (and I understand that not everyone needs to be a beer geek like me, but don't work in a crazy beer bar and act like you know so much about beer when you don't) when she was overly rude when we had to send back the beer. She said that is how it should be served. We know what cask beer is like, we travel the world for cask beer, we go hunting for cask beer, and let me tell you, that beer was flat. Anyone that knows anything about cask will agree that beer you server like that needs to be drank in a very short period of time. That is why we don't have as much of it here in the US. Cask sitting around for weeks (as their 40 was last PM) is not always good.

Dogfish Head Red and White - A drink for beer and wine folks to enjoy

Well I may not be as regimented as I originally hoped at blogging, but I do think it is always worth the wait. This Saturday I tried Dogfish Head’s Red and White. And boy was it delicious. OMG. When it was being described I thought, oh no it is a barley wine, but it is nothing of the sort. Red & White is made with Pinto Noir juice (so it has a smooth aftertaste) and aged in oak barrels. So the ingredients and process are skewed towards wine, but it is still a beer. FANTASTIC. I would recommend it to everyone – beer and wine drinkers alike.

http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/red-white.htm

Passover is hard on beer lovers

This Passover has been unusually hard on this beer girl. Typically the time flies by and Passover is over before I know it. This year, not so much. As I sit on my couch on this cold and rainy day and we try and figure out what to do, I have to keep shooting down ideas because I can't drink any beer. I don't want to waste my $ or my time if I can only observe. So sad. BeerAdvocate has become a tease today. So what is a girl to do? IDK – anyone got any ideas? Let me know or I will end up wasting this entire Saturday.