Hordeum: We were all feeling a bit shagged and fagged and fashed, it having been an evening of some small energy expenditure, O my Brothers. So we got rid of the auto and stopped off at the Korova for a nightcap…
Slouch: 3 Floyds Moloko! I’ve waited a long time for you, and now you’re mine. Great job, Hordeum! How were you able to secure a bottle of this famed Milk Stout, O Brother? And what the heck is a Moloko?
Hordeum: Initiative comes to thems that wait. There was me, that is Hordeum, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold Moloko-plus, Moloko plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
Slouch: Hmmm… you got it at a milk bar? Do you drink there often? Doesn’t seem like your kind of place. What’s the clientele like? Read the rest of this entry »
Peter Amor and Pete Brown. Drinking beer and being British.
If you don’t know who Pete Brown is, you should. Named the “Beer Writer of the Year” in 2009 by the British Guild of Beer Writers*, Brown writes from a deep well of beerly knowledge with his trademark effortless, engaging prose. Even if you have little experience with the traditional British beer and real ale that he predominantly writes about, his talents as an author and storyteller make him a must-read. He’s written three full-length books thus far with his best being the brilliant Hops and Glory in which Brown actually sails from Burton-on-Trent, England (home of Bass Ale) to India with a barrel of IPA in order to retrace the historical journey of the ubiquitous and much-loved beer style. Of course, if you’d prefer not to plunk down cash on a book, you can always follow his blog for free at petebrown.blogspot.com. But before you make his far superior blog your homepage instead of Aleheads.com, remember that Brown’s not an American and therefore he hates our freedom and our football and our Krispy Kreme milkshakes. Read the rest of this entry »
Collaborations are all the rage in craft beer right now, and can take many forms. For example, with the recent Stone/ Troegs Cherry Chocolate Stout project, all the brewing took place at Stone’s facility due to the distance between the breweries as well as Stone’s far greater size, resources, and infrastructure. In the case of the famous Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, Russian River and Avery simply combined two existing brews in the name of craft beer brotherhood. Yet another option has been taken by Larry Sidor of Deschutes Brewery and Steven Pauwels of Boulevard Brewing Company- using Boulevard’s expertise with Belgian Wit beers and Deschutes’ mastery of West Coast hop varietals, the two master brewers set out to create not just a new beer, but a whole new style- the “White IPA“. Brewing from the same recipe, each facility released an offering with distinct packaging to their distribution networks. Herr Hordeum was kind enough to send along a bomber of the Boulevard effort, which I tackled with gusto yesterday evening. So it begs the question: did they succeed in brewing a distinct new beer style?
Answer: the hell if I know? Beer styles are necessary for competitions in which guidelines are needed by which to judge the success of a brewer in producing desired attributes, but in the end they are but arbitrary designations created by primates with an insatiable need to categorize, analyze, and compare the world around them. If Larry and Steven say it’s a new beer style, then I certainly won’t argue. What I do know is that the Deschutes/ Boulevard Conflux/ Collaboration White IPA incorporates elements of Wit and India Pale Ale in a considered manner to produce a complex offering that is more than the sum of its parts. Read the rest of this entry »
NOTES: 22 oz. bomber. I was psyched to see this limited edition Troegs in my local bottle shop. My local beermonger pointed it out, saying “this won’t last long.”
I think he’s right on a number of levels.
STYLE: Imperial Pale Ale
ABV: 7.5%
APPEARANCE: Golden, straw. Nothing dramatic or rich. Extremely clear. Looks like it could be any old pale ale.
HEAD: Two fingers at the beginning of the pour. Looked promising, but it dissipated within minutes.
Maybe you love craft beer, but aren’t sure that you love it “enough”. Maybe you find yourself thinking about Dubbels and IPAs “most” of the time, but you still have pesky thoughts about work and family rattling around in your head. Maybe you’ve replaced all of the faucets in your home with draft beer, but still have one in the laundry room that dispenses water. If any of these scenarios describe you, you’re not quite an Alehead yet. But you’re close!
So how can you “really” tell when you’ve made that all-important transition from “garden variety pompous beer snob” to “all-out Alehead”? Simple…if the following 50 items describe you, then congratulations, my friend, you just might be an Alehead! Read the rest of this entry »
OK, let’s get the obvious part out of the way. Being an Alehead is incredible. It’s the best thing ever. Aleheads get to bore unwary patrons of the tap rooms and bottle shops we frequent with extended dissertations on the positives and negatives of various beer styles (while often hoping desperately that the bore-ee doesn’t realize that we probably don’t actually know what we’re talking about). We get to spend inappropriate and irresponsible portions of their salaries on beer. Once in a while we may get to visit a favorite brewery, or even chat with a brew master (which, in the land of the Aleheads, is essentially like having a one-on-one conversation with god herself). Finding a group of fellow Aleheads to tool around with makes the experience all that much better, because we can nerd out over email with a bunch of people who actually want to talk about the same shit we do. Though obviously we only read their emails so we can reply with something better/funnier/more clever/more impressive (one-upsmanship is a major Alehead characteristic). But, faithful readers, I come to you today with a cautionary message. It is right to aspire to be an Alehead (or even an alehead). It will enrich your life in myriad ways. However I believe it is time to disabuse you of the notion that being an Alehead is all sunshine and pumpkin pie. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, being an Alehead sometimes requires great sacrifices. And sometimes, just sometimes, it completely sucks.
This is not a post about the best beer on Earth, since no such thing exists. There is rarely, if ever, a “best” anything. Was Michael Jordan the “best” basketball player ever? Wouldn’t LeBron James crush him one-on-one? Is Citizen Kane the “best” movie of all time? It’s a tour-de-force…but I’d still rather watch Shawshank. Is the Bible the “best” book ever? Are you kidding me? Who wrote that shit? It’s awful.* Read the rest of this entry »
Here at Aleheads we love big beers, new takes on classic styles, and bold brewing philosophies that favor innovation over convention. Our guest tonight is Jason Lavery; his brewery in Erie, PA was built around those same ideals. If you live outside of western Pennsylvania, chances are that you haven’t had a chance to try Lavery’s beers yet- but looking at the exciting brews coming out of this young ale factory, that is bound to change. Rejecting the notion that every brewery needs to trot out the same cookie-cutter styles to be financially viable, Lavery brews the kind of beers Aleheads like to drink; from his flagship Imperial Red Ale to his insanely strong and uber-hopped Imperial French summer seasonal, this is a brewery that we’ll be watching closely. Jason was nice enough to sit down with us for almost an hour, giving us the lowdown on starting a brewery built around your own vision, how he creates his distinctive beers, and much more. So sidle up, order a pint, and meet Jason Lavery of Lavery Brewing Company.
I like beer, you like beer, we all like beer. No, seriously, I know we all like beer. With roughly 439 trillion websites dedicated solely to the world of pornography, there has to be some compelling reason that you keep reading this lowly little blog instead of wandering off. Not to say you don’t like porn – You just like beer too. You know who else likes beer? Brewers! They love the stuff. Brewers love beer so much that, get this, they like to brew beer with other brewers! Nothing says you love your craft more than giving up some personal control of your product and sharing ideas with a direct competitor. That’s collaboration my friend, and it’s taking the beer-world by storm. Read the rest of this entry »
About a year ago, I went on my first-ever brewery road trip. It was August of 2010, and I was on the first paid vacation that I’d ever had as a working adult. Since then, I’ve taken a trip through the breweries of southwestern Michigan, which I covered in great detail for this blog, but the August 2010 trip was in pre-Alehead days. It was a sprawling voyage through southeastern Wisconsin, and it included a LOT of good beer. Read the rest of this entry »
Of beer producing countries, the Philippines doesn’t end up high on many Aleheads’ lists. Perhaps because there are only two breweries (both macros), and perhaps Manny Pachiao just hasn’t marketed strongly enough to US markets. While the craft beer revolution hasn’t caught on yet in the Philippines, it wasn’t going to keep me from drinking beer for ten weeks.*
*if you were wondering why I had been absent for the site, here is the reason… ok, I know no one even noticed I was gone
Of the two breweries, San Miguel by far dominates the country, and their pale swill is found everywhere. They produce three widely available brews, and several more I never even came across, but supposedly exist. Read the rest of this entry »
Boulevard Brewing really is a somewhat underrated ale factory that, in recent years, has gained some well-earned acclaim for the entries into its Smokestack Series of big beers. The Kansas City brewery can really be summed up in a word: dependable. I’d had this beer one time before and it made a good impression, so I picked up another one as part of a mixed six pack. Having just finished it, I wish I had picked up even more.
Boulevard Dark Truth Imperial Stout
ABV: A palette-numbing 9.7%
NOTES: 12 oz bottle, poured into a tulip. Note THIS: “Dark Truth” is a totally boss name for a stout. Awesome label too. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ll be brief. Well, I’ll at least be as brief as any of us Aleheads can be. Lord knows we love to ramble on endlessly about the most useless of subjects. Some say that’s a strong suit, the ability to profess wildly opinionated views on topics that we feel passionate about. Others may say we just like to talk to ourselves, which is completely true in my case. Since we’re speaking of me, my favorite topic, there’s one more thing that I like to do when it comes to beer and opinions. I like to make absurdly outlandish statements with no backing about what I consider to be the best this, the best that, the top 10 of whatever the hell I feel like talking about. Subjectivity is the key here. Who doesn’t like to throw out statements that receive immediate argument? I know I do. So, with that in mind, let me drop this one on you. Lagunitas Brewery is the best brewery in the country. Want to argue? Read on. Read the rest of this entry »
“[Massachusetts] commission officials will hold several regulatory hearings across the state focusing on how to develop common-sense regulations that will promote…and help create jobs in the state’s growing craft-brewing industry.”
-Steve Grossman, MA State Treasurer
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Common-sense regulations to promote craft beer? The audacity? What happened to the the tried-and-true method of developing labyrinthine, draconian laws to make life as difficult as possible for small craft breweries? Massachusetts, you’re not following the script!!! Read the rest of this entry »
My how those three words go beautifully together. Duvel – The classic Belgian Strong Pale. Triple – No matter how you slice it, it’s three times that of a single. I’ll just assume that’s good. Hop – Better than a skip and far superior to a jump, but in our world, it’s what gets us out of bed in the morning. Come to think of it, hops are probably the reason we’re still in bed this morning (And the grain, yeast, and water that helped to wash those hop oils down I suppose). Even though those three small words may not seem like much to most folks, they sure as hell roped me into a pricey purchase at the local purveyor of suds. This shit better be good. Read the rest of this entry »
SLOUCH: Hey, world! I don’t think I’ve ever had Cantillon. In a related note, if it’s so great, why do we never talk about it?
DOC: They’re hands down the best pure Lambic brewers in the world, no competition. We don’t talk about them because they brew lambics, they’re not located in the US, and they don’t make IPA’s.
Here’s your shopping list:
Kriek – Easiest to find, pretty approachable. You will never touch a Lindemans again after trying this (Which is a very, very good thing). Rose de Gambrinus – Tart raspberries, but lighter than most of their sours. Fou’ Foune – If you like sour patch kids, you’ll love this.
If you like Geuze grab whatever you find – They do get pretty pricey though depending on the aging. The straight up Bruocsella is the one you’ll usually find, but they’re all pretty good. Again, only if you like Geuze though. If you’re only lukewarm about the style you might want to stay away. It would be the equivalent of someone that thinks they like beer because they drink Blue Moon on occasion, so they order up a Hop Stoopid. You have to really like Geuze to appreciate a Cantillon Geuze, otherwise it will taste like complete shit.
And, as always, never end the night with a Lambic or Flemish Red. Unless your wife likes to clean vomit off the shower curtain.
SLOUCH: Thanks Doc. Don’t worry about this Missus, she’s seen worse.
Today is IPA Day. What exactly does that mean? I have no idea. But the blogosphere is abuzz with excitement for this celebration of craft beer and the Aleheads are not above a little bandwagon-jumping.
IPA Day is the brainchild of Ashley Routson (aka: The Beer Wench) and Ryan Ross (Karl Strauss marketing maven), two influential bloggers who developed the concept as a massive, grassroots, social media-based paean to the craft beer movement. Essentially, it just means that there will be lots of tweeting and blogging about beer today. And honestly…that’s just fine with the Aleheads. Read the rest of this entry »
This past weekend (one I’d been anticipating for quite some time), I had the privilege of attending the 24th annual Oregon Brewers Festival. Held in Portland’s beautiful Waterfront Park along the Willamette River on the last full weekend in July (weekend meaning Thurs-Sun), this festival is the crown jewel of the Northwest’s beer festival calendar. This year 84 breweries were present and accounted for from all over the country, though of course Western (and particularly Northwestern) breweries made up the lion’s share of the attendees. Naturally, Portland being the beer culture Mecca that it is, 84 slots wasn’t enough to satisfy everyone. Fortunately Belmont Station, a stellar bottle shop I’ve mentioned before, threw its own Fringe Fest tasting event for some excellent Oregon breweries who weren’t present at OBF. Sadly I didn’t make it to that this year, but here’s hoping I plan better next summer! Regardless, I couldn’t possibly complain that I was in any way deprived considering the incredible roster of beers that were available to sample at the big event.
Hordeum: We were all feeling a bit shagged and fagged and fashed, it having been an evening of some small energy expenditure, O my Brothers. So we got rid of the auto and stopped off at the Korova for a nightcap…
Posted by Slouch Sixpack 
