Episode 16: Doggie Style Pale Ale - What’s my mutha*** name

We're moving the blog, we'll keep this running for a while. You can view the full post at the new site.

Episode 15: Liberty Ale - An offer you can't refuse

We're moving the blog, we'll keep this running for a while. You can view the full post at the new site

Episode 14: Sam Adams Boston Ale - Back to Boston

Its been a few since we've posted a new show, but we are back with a vengeance this week with the start of our American Pale Ale (APA) series and Sam Adams Boston Ale. A widely distributed beer that everyone should be able to get, Sam Adams is a great first step in the series.

News

A news story from the great state of Wisconsin this week where breweries decided to reenact the Boston Tea Party by dumping a keg of their beer into the Milwaukee to protest new legislation regarding small brewers. I will be honest, I didn’t really read what the legislation was about, I was too upset over all the spilled beer.

A Little History Lesson...

• American pale ales come from British origins and its cousin the English pale ale.
• In general, this style is going to be a very balanced style, resulting in a not to hoppy, but not to malty taste.
• This in large part is a function of the ingredients
• When craft brewing started to gain some ground on the west coast, brewers wanted to give the public something that they enjoyed
• They decided to turn to British Ales, but could not afford to ship the ingredients from Britain

Sam Adams Boston Ale

• Weighing in at 4.94% ABV, this beer is very easy to find. In fact if you can’t find this beer, shame on you for six weeks
• More copper in color than the beers we looked at previously
• A balance taste, but much more pronounced hop or bitter flavor
• You can tell it is different than the lagers we have talked about, it's a bit heavier and has a definite aftertaste

Next week

Next week we will be talking about the Godfather of the craft brewing industry, Fritz Maytag and Anchor Brewing Company and his Liberty Ale. So be sure to tune in next week!

Episode 13: Unlucky

Well Jim was traveling this past week so we didn't record a show, so here is a non-show.

We'll be back next week with the start of our pale ale series. Take this time to catch up on the archives over in the sidebar, or even leave a comment and tell us your favorite Pale Ale so we can include it in our next series.

Episode 12: Gumballhead - I sat in gum

In this episode we look at our pinnacle Hefeweizen Gumballhead. It's brewed by Three Floyds and if you can get it buy it immediately. Also, Kurt, the lead singer of Spotus left us a mesage asking us to cover Dreamweaver Wheat from Troegs in PA, however since it isn’t widely distributed, we are going to skip that for now. However, we do want your suggestions on what Pale Ales to cover. Be a helpful hand and make our lives easy so we don’t have to come up with ideas. Just leave a comment to this post

News

Just in time for summer, the often mention Rustico has gotten in a little hot water with the state of Virgina for making beer Popsicles. Apparently you have to serve the beer as soon as it is poured in the state of VA, which makes freezing it on a stick kind of tough.

Gumballhead

• Made at Three Flyods Brewing Company in Munster, Indiana which is a rather small but well thought of brewery. It opened in 1996 in Hammond Indiana, but made the move to the new place in 2000 to increase capacity for their tasty beers.
• Distribution is small, only ten states; Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia , Wisconsin
• As for the beer, it is classified as an American Pale Wheat Ale, which is a little off from the hefeweizen class that we have been looking at, but we will call it close enough. It’s only about 4.8% abv and is not available year round.
• The taste, well is a little bit different than the past few that we have had here. It is a lot more hoppy, or bitter, in my opinion, which is something that you usually do not get in a wheat beer. However that being said, you also still have the banana aroma and some of the spice characteristics that we have seen the last few weeks.

Next Week

Well that wraps up our wheat series, although we may revisit it at some point in the future. Next week we are moving on to American Pale Ales, which is going to be a few more shows that normal. We will be starting with Michelob Pale Ale and working our way up from there. Or as Jim goes cross country to impress a girl, we may have to take the week off. Stay tuned.