A Short Review of Beer: Pacifico

Hello readers!

Sorry things have been dead around here for the past few months. There's been alot going on in my life. I'll get the details written out at some point when I have the time and energy.

Since today was my birthday (yes, it really is), one of the goodies I got was a mix-n-match six pack of beers. I picked out a few that I'd seen and wanted to try out, including this classic Mexican beer, Pacifico. My husband had told me about this beer as he'd drank it in Mexico when he was working there in the early '90s as part of a group that built night clubs (discotecas, as they're called in Spanish) along the eastern shores of the Sea of Cortez (AKA Gulf of California) in Sonora and Sinaloa. It was not his favorite beer, but it was better than drinking the water when something was needed to wash down the bags of boiled shrimp purchased from roadside vendors.

Got a new phone for my birthday. This is one of the ways I tested out the new camera on it

Like many Mexican beers, Pacifico goes back to the beginning of the 20th Century. Based out of the city of Mazatlan, the brewery, like many others from around this time period, was started by German immigrants who brought beer making skills and techniques with them from Europe. Their brewery, Cerveceria del Pacifico, got its name from Mazatlan's location as a Pacific port city and bears the city's lighthouse rock as part of its logo. The style of the beer is classified as a pilsner-style lager, according to the company's website.

What makes Pacifico stand out among the many Mexican beers that made their way into American bars and liquor stores was that it was introduced to the US by a group of surfers from southern California who took a surfing trip to Mexico in the 1970s and upon discovering the local brew in Mazatlan, they brought several cases with them back to California. Needless to say, it was a different time and Pacifico beer was well received in this country.

As for the beer itself, Pacifico has a light taste and a clear gold color. It's not watery, however. There is some body to it. The alcohol content is also pretty low, around 4.5%. It's a good hot-weather beer and something you can enjoy with boiled shrimp, tacos, barbecue, etc because of its mild taste.

Even though my husband didn't care much for it, I rather enjoyed Pacifico. While Grupo Modelo is not my favorite brewing company in Mexico (they make the infamous Coronas and Negro Modelo beers), they did alright when they consolidated and got Cerveceria del Pacifico. I will definitely be buying this again.

As always, please enjoy responsibly.

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A Short Review of Beer: Niksicko

Happy Sunday, dear readers!

After a miserable Mass this evening at the Carmelite church, thanks to a long-winded and rambling priest, I needed something to help me unwind. I reached into the fridge and pulled out my last Serbian beer, Niksicko.

"Niksic beer". Pic found here

Niksicko (pron. "nick-sheech-ko") actually comes from Montenegro. Its name means "From Niksic", which is the city in which this beer's brewery, Pivara Trebjesa, is based. In production since 1896, Niksicko was a staple beer of my childhood. I can remember it being served at parties and festivals. In fact, Niksicko was my late godfather's favorite beer. My grandmother, despite running a militantly dry household, always bought a few bottles for him whenever she had him over for lunch.

After popping the cap off, I took a sip. I noticed a slightly sour smell, and I was disappointed with the taste of the beer. It was watery, almost like piss. Yes, its a lager, but I've had much better lagers than this (see: Jelen)! I wonder if the beer wasn't stale. Despite conventional wisdom surrounding alcohol, beer doesn't always get better with age.

The verdict on this beer is: undetermined! While I was disappointed by this initial tasting, I think it was a one-off bad one. I'd have to try it again to see if there's a difference in taste. My godfather was many things, but one thing he was not was someone with bad taste in alcohol! Though the stuff contributed to his eventual demise, he always made it a point to drink good quality liquors because his European upbringing valued quality over everything else.

For more information about Nikisco and its brewery, Trebjesa, check out their English-language Wikipedia page here (Serbian language website here)

As always, please drink responsibly.

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A Short Review of Beer: Jelen

Hello, dear readers! How has your weekend been?

Today, I reached a milestone. For the first time in my life, I had Serbian beer!

My camera flash kind of obscures the label, but it says "Jelen Beer, original recipe". The Jaegermeister deer has nothing on the Jelen buck

After my husband brought home some fried chicken, I decided that I should pair with it one of my Serbian beers that I bought at the Euro mart. After a friend surprised me a few weeks ago with some home brewed beer that a friend of his made and some Benedictine beers from the home monastery in Nursia, Italy, it was high time to make room in the fridge because it's getting pretty crowded in there. I picked the first beer I saw, which happened to be Jelen.

Jelen beer was a staple of my childhood. I remembered seeing it served at parties and festivals while I was growing up in the Chicago area, with its large Serbian community to serve as the market. Its name means "deer" in Serbian, and its label features a howling buck. Jelen an old, well established beer brand, going back to 1756 when it began being brewed at the Apatinska Pivara (Apatin Brewery), which is located in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. The brewery is named after the town it was built in, Apatin.

As my husband arranged the fried chicken on plates for us to eat, I took a sip of Jelen and was literally almost blown away by the taste of it. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! It went down smoothly and had a very pleasant malty taste with a bit of body to it. I couldn't tell what kind of beer it was, however, because it wasn't listed on the label. My husband guessed it to be a lager (and he was right), and he too found it pleasing to the taste. No wonder this beer was such a big hit at parties! It's really quite tasty. The ingredients were pretty simple too, listing out "water, barley malt, maize grits, hops". While the alcohol content is pretty low (only around 5%), its taste makes one want to drink more of it so do be cautious of that. I can, and have, seen people get pretty wasted on this stuff.

A better look at what's inside the bottle. Its piss-yellow look betrays the true flavor. Pic found here

Sure enough, fried chicken and Jelen go well together, but don't make the mistake of eating a banana for dessert and drinking beer at the same time because that combo was gross. This is a meat beer, so pair Jelen with any meat dish you have.

I can definitively say, this beer is a keeper. Even though the brewery is owned by Coors (a particularly revolting brand of American domestic beer), the fact that its original recipe hasn't been tampered with is a huge relief. I must say, so far I've been pretty pleased with the quality of European beers (Slavic beers, in particular), and I will definitely buy more Jelen the next time I go to the Euro mart. Do try it if you can, but because this is a beer specific to Serbia, it may be difficult to find in your local liquor or grocery store. It's more likely to be available in ethnic delis, depending on which Slavic population is the most prominent in your community, if at all.

For more information on Jelen, check out the brand's Serbian language website here and English-language Wikipedia site here.

As always, please drink responsibly

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A Short Review of Beer: Baltika, Grade 9

Hello, dear readers!

Here is something that hasn't been seen for a while in these parts: a beer review!

Look at that golden lager goodness!

Today, after my husband made some herring paste using smoked herring he bought at the Euro mart, I decided to break out one of the Slavic beers I bought. Since herring is a common Russian food, I thought it appropriate to consume the Russian beer with it.

Named for the port on the Baltic sea where the Russian Navy is anchored, Baltika has since grown from its incorporation in the early 1990s following the fall of the communist government to become the largest brewer of Russian beer in the world. True to Russian tendencies, the brewery is state-owned and based out of St. Petersburg. Its different varieties, labeled as "grades", are exported all over the world to be enjoyed by consumers everywhere.

This is not the first time I've had this particular grade of Baltika. Shortly after the baby was born, a friend of mine was moving and needed to get rid of her alcohol because they were moving to another state (apparently, there is some stupid law on the books left over from the Prohibition days that says alcohol can't be transported over state lines). I took the beers since I'd been reading about how beer could help with milk production for breastfeeding (I never had problems with my supply, but it doesn't hurt to make sure everything's working as it should). She had a number of exotic beers, as well as domestic brands, and Baltika Grade 9 was one of the imports.

Then as now, I broke out my trusty frosted beer mug and popped open the bottle. It had a modest head and a light golden color. The smell is nice and malty, but not pissy. After taking a sip, the beer went down nice and smooth with little bitterness which is good because it's a lager. It's not terribly light, having an 8% alcohol volume, but with sufficient food in the belly, there's not much of a buzz.

Just as I thought, Baltika Grade 9 goes well with salted and smoked fish like herring. I also found that it went well with some canned spaghetti that I had for dinner. In general, it's a good all-around beer and I was reminded about how pleased I'd been with this grade the first time I tried it. Baltika Grade 9 is definitely a keeper.

For more information on the Baltika brewery, check out their website here.

As always, please drink responsibly.

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A Trip to the Euro Mart

Good evening, dear readers.

Today was a day I had been looking forward to all week. This past weekend, in the aftermath of my family's visit, I was googling where I could find Serbian beer for sale in town, and lo and behold, I stumbled across a Euro mart. Owned by a Ukrainian family, it was located on the east side of town and sold all kinds of goods from Eastern Europe. This included beers from Russia, the Ukraine, the Balkans, and Poland. I wanted to go and check it out, so today after my husband got his medicine, we went and took a friend with us. She hadn't seen our cholomobile yet and needed a ride home, but she didn't have any plans for the afternoon and tagged along with us.

The helpful proprietress and her wares. Pic found here

Upon arriving in the strip mall where it was located, I thought immediately of the Serbian delis I used to visit while growing up in Illinois, as well as a few up in Phoenix that I've frequented in my old life. There were mineral water and beer advertisements in the windows, as well as a sign proclaiming how good the gyros were. Inside, the shelves were packed with Russian and Polish goods as well as jars of pickled stuff. I literally was like a kid in a candy store! It was not cheap, however. Compared with the delis I've been to, the place was a racket! But, it's a specialty store for a community that isn't really big, so I can deal with the prices because this is the reality of the Slavic community here in southern Arizona. At least the store accepted EBT.

Russia's largest beer company, with all its varieties. Pic found here

My husband got a few jars of pickled herring (yuck!) and I got some fillo dough to make pita as well as some Russian cookies for the baby. I also fulfilled the mission that brought me to the store in the first place and bought a few bottles of beer. I bought a bottle of Baltika (grade 9) which is a Russian beer brand, and two Serbian beers that I remembered from my childhood: Niksicko (actually, they're from Montenegro) and Jelen. I saw some other beers from Bosnia and Croatia as well as plenty from Russia, Poland and the Ukraine. Again, these bottles of beer are not cheap (my Serbian beers went for almost $3/bottle and the Baltika was like $7 cuz it was a pint as opposed to a 10-oz bottle), but until I can find them elsewhere in town for cheaper (I don't think you can order them online), a once-in-a-while trip here when we have money is ok for sampling. The proprietress recommended the Baltika as her favorite beer. I was surprised to see how many varieties (or "grades") the brand puts out.

This is what I had to drink. The neon green color captured my attention. The label says "tarhun" and it definitely tastes different than your average American carbonated beverage. Supposedly, it was originally created in a Georgian pharmacy when a pharmacist mixed some carbonated water with tarragon syrup. Pic found here

We had lunch at the Euro mart. My husband wanted to try the gyros, and our friend had never even heard of them. So, we ordered some. I was a little disappointed by the inclusion of lettuce with the gyros (I'd never heard of such a thing prior to coming out to Arizona because all the gyro places in Chicago never did that. I still think it's an abomination), but the rest of it was good. It wasn't bad price wise and to wash it down, I had a bottle of Russian pop. It was neon green in color and tasted like anise, but the English translation of the label listed it as being made from tarragon seeds and vanilla extract. It wasn't bad, just different. I almost picked a bottle of kvass to drink, but decided lunchtime was too early to be drinking alcoholic beverages, even if they're low alcohol. Our friend had some of the gyro and was impressed with it. I told my husband next time we came that we would have the cabbage rolls ("sarma" in Serbian). I wanted to see how they were made as compared to what my grandma made when I was growing up.

Overall, my thoughts on our trip to the Euro mart were positive. Yes, it's expensive, but it's a specialty store catering to a small community. I won't let the prices stop me from coming here when I need stuff like fillo dough or Slavic beers, just because they're things I can't get elsewhere.

After we paid and left, we took our friend grocery shopping so she could get some needed items and then took her home. She was grateful for the errand and was immensely pleased with our car.

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A Short Review of Beer: Fat Tire Amber Ale

It's time once again, dear readers, for another beer review!

Fat Tire, the beer supposedly inspired by a trip to Europe

Today's review covers a brew from the Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing Company, Fat Tire amber ale. Fat Tire came first to my attention about five or six years ago when a blogging buddy of mine recommended them as one of his favorite beers. Since then, I'd seen them in the grocery store, but never thought to try them until recently. Thank goodness I finally got a tax return of substance and actually have a little money to spend (just sayin', it pays to have kids...).

I've mentioned before that I'm generally not a fan of ales because I find them to be too bitter for my taste. Fat Tire, however, was more mild than I anticipated. It's definitely malty, which I like because malt is not bitter. However, the hops are there but don't overpower the beer. The aftertaste is quite pleasant too, like a good loaf of bread. I'm not crazy about ales, but this one is a keeper. My palette has been expanded significantly.

As for what foods pair well with Fat Tire, I found it went well with the catfish and homemade Cajun fries we had for dinner last night. The fish and Zatarain-seasoned potatoes balanced out the malty taste of the beer. I also had Fat Tire with my beef and broccoli stir fry, baked beans, as well as beefaroni throughout this week for experimental purposes and while I wouldn't recommend the beans and beer pairing (not unless you want to fart like a cartoon in a Monty Python sketch all night!), the Fat Tire wasn't so bad with the beefaroni. It's a mostly decent all-purpose beer, and at 5.2% ABV, you won't get sloshed on it either.

Overall, I was generally pleased with Fat Tire. I will definitely be buying it again, and I will also be trying New Belgium's other varieties of brews. After a disappointing miss from Stella Artois, Belgian-style brewing has made a successful hit with my palette!

For more on the New Belgium brewing company, check out their website here.

As always, please drink responsibly.

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A Short Review of Beer: Redd's Apple Ale

Hello again, dear readers.

The website I found this pic on calls Redd's "a golden ale with hints of apple"

After a brief warm snap, the weather is starting to get cold again. While my husband experiments with various rum concoctions for hot toddies, I decided to crack open a Redd's Apple Ale beer after my husband tried to use it for a toddy but it didn't work as well as he'd intended it to.

While I was pleased to see that the top twists off as opposed to a traditional pop-top bottle, I was surprised by how watery the cider tasted. It was definitely not as sour as some of the other apple beers I've tasted, but it wasn't as sweet either; just neutral with an ever so slight hit of sour. Of all the apple ciders I've tried so far, Redd's tastes the most like apple juice (not a good apple juice, though). I was really surprised by how watery this brew is, but it could be because it's brewed like ale beer and not like typical apple cider.

At 5% alcohol by volume, it won't get you buzzed right away, but I can see somebody getting trashed after having a few of these in a short period of time. That being said, I have seen an 8% ABV brew of Redd's, which I will sample when I have the money to buy some.

Of note-Redd's also makes brews of other fruits, like green apple ale, strawberry ale and mango ale. I will be trying and reviewing these other varieties of fruity beer when I have the funds.

As for what sorts of foods pair well with Redd's, I'd say pork, barbecue and anything with onions. It's pretty neutral, so I don't expect the flavor of the ale to mess with your dish too much.

I guess my overall impression of Redd's Apple Ale is kinda blah. I wasn't especially impressed by it because I didn't like how watery it tasted. I don't think I will be buying this particular brew again.

For more information about Redd's Apple Ale, check out the brewery's website.

As always, please drink responsibly.

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A Short Review of Beer: Johnny Appleseed Hard Apple Cider

Hello again, dear readers!

I have not forgotten about the apple ciders I bought all those months back in my mix-n-match six pack! Tonight, I decided to break out one of those apple ciders to warm me from the chill in the air.

Fresh out of the fridge, Johnny Appleseed!

Since it was the easiest bottle in the back of the fridge to reach, I grabbed the one labeled Johnny Appleseed. Named for the illustrious apple farmer and transient storyteller of American folklore, the brew caught my attention on many previous trips to the grocery store, but I never bought a six pack to try. Thanks to that sampler six pack, I now had an opportunity to do so at minimal cost.

Having sampled previous apple ciders, I've become accustomed to the sour taste that accompanies them. That being said, Johnny Appleseed is less sour and more sweet. In fact, the first thought that popped into my head as the cider hit my palette was how the taste reminded me of a green apple Jolly Rancher candy. This is soon followed by the sour, vinegar like taste of hard cider. Its pale yellow color brings to mind apple juice, and with just a 5.5% alcohol content, it might well be juice!

As for what would pair well with Johnny Appleseed, I would stick with pork or fruity desserts. I've written in previous reviews of cider that pork and apples go well together, and by keeping the desserts fruity, there won't be too much conflict of taste. In this regard, I would not recommend drinking this cider if your meal has either beef, something acidic like spaghetti and red sauces (meat, marinara, etc), or has chocolate in it. The taste combination will make you gag!

Of note, as the cider warmed up to room temperature, it tasted less sour and more sweet. My husband took a sip and noted how sweet it was. However, he deemed it too fruity for his liking.

Overall, Johnny Appleseed cider is ok, but I didn't find anything remarkable about it that stood out. This is the sort of brew that I would buy only if it was in either a sampler pack or if it was on steep discount. It's not bad, but it's not exceptional. I've had better ciders.

For more information about Johnny Appleseed brewery, check out their website here.

As always, please drink responsibly

New Year's Celebration

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful time welcoming in the new year.

As for my family, we had a small, quiet celebration. Though we started off the day with a visit to my husband's clinic to get his medicine and had to go across town for a job interview with a group home for the developmentally disabled, we ended the day by picking up some celebratory booze. I wanted to get some wine for us to drink at midnight. Even though I am primarily a beer drinker, as is evidenced by my many reviews of beers here on this blog, I was looking to expand my palette a bit.

We intended to get a bottle of port made by Sandeman, since this was our traditional winter wine. The only reason we did not get some for New Years 2014-2015 was because at the time, I was pregnant. We found and almost bought the bottle, but as I got to looking around the liquor store and at the many varieties of wine it stocked, I asked the shop attendant if he had any recommendations for noobs like me about which wines were cheap, but not rotgut like what you get at the grocery store. He kindly pointed me to a bottle of Lambrusco wine, which fit my criteria of "cheap but not rotgut". Since we only could buy one bottle, my husband happily switched out the bottles for my "education" in wine.

Wine is a totally new field for me

On our way back, we made a stop at a local hole-in-the-wall liquor shop to get some cheap rum. This particular store was in our neighborhood, and we'd been there a number of times in the past as the Chinese proprietor carries an excellent stock of reasonably-priced liquors. Unfortunately, he did not have rum, but he did have slivovica. A traditional Serbian plum brandy, slivovica is a must have in our home owing to my Serbian heritage. Of all the liquor stores I have been to in town, this Chinese liquor store is the only one I've found to carry any sort of Balkan booze. My husband inquired if there was any rakija (Serbian brandy made from quince) in stock, but the proprietor had none.

For our New Year's Eve dinner, my husband made Hoppin' John. This traditional Southern dish is made with black eyed peas, green beans, mustard greens of one variety or another (we used kale), tomatoes, onion, garlic, and pork products (ham and bacon were our additions, though smoked ham hocks are another traditional ingredient). He also made corn bread to serve with the Hoppin' John. Some recipes call for Hoppin' John to be served over rice, but my husband does not do that. He prefers the cornbread instead.

Hoppin' John

At midnight, while our neighbors shot off guns and fireworks, we each had a glass of our Lambrusco wine. Within my first sip, I remembered why I was a beer drinker. While it was labeled as sweet red wine, I thought it tasted like grape flavored vinegar. The apple ciders helped prime my palette for the sour taste of wine, but I preferred the malty body of beer. My hubby, however, told me it was not a bad introduction to wine drinking. His first wine was a Lambrusco too, and as we got money, we'd buy other varieties to try. I had tried wines in the past and almost always found the taste off-putting. I had the same issue with beer, but with wines it was the sourness that bothered me.

My preference for beer stems largely because I am an impoverished proletarian. A good bottle of wine will shoot your budget to hell, but a good bottle of beer wont. Outside of church, I regarded wine as something that only bourgeois assholes consumed. My husband had to scold me for falling too deeply into Marxist thinking, since wine is as ancient as civilization itself. He advised that we stick with Italian wines, since Italians had over a millennium of practice and fine-tuning to perfect wine making.

We did not stay up too late, as we had to be at church at 10AM. January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, and a Holy Day of Obligation. I always found it interesting that the Church would set that particular holiday on that day. I suppose it was their attempt to keep people from going too hog-wild and getting totally shitfaced on New Year's Eve.

And that was how I spent my New Year's.

A Short Review of Beer: Kilt Lifter

Greetings, dear readers! I hope you're staying warm on this frigid day in Arizona.

Kilt Lifter beer. Pic found here

It's been a while since I did a beer review, and today's selection is a Scottish-style ale from Four Peaks, a Tempe-based brewery. Appropriately enough, the brew is called Kilt Lifter. I purchased a six pack of Kilt Lifter after trying one in a sampler six-pack, deciding that I liked it. I was lucky to purchase the six pack when I did, as a few weeks ago, I read on the news that Four Peaks was bought out by Anheuser-Busch. We all know what happens when a conglomerate corporation like Anheuser-Busch eats up a craft microbrewery like Four Peaks: the quality of the craft beer goes right down the toilet.

In light of the buyout, I'm enjoying this beer for what may well be the last time it's produced here independently. At first taste, my mouth picked up immediately on the high level of yeast in this beer. It tasted like a loaf of good bread. There are hops and malt to level things out, though. The hops are not great in number, as the beer is not very bitter, but the malt picks up where the hops drop off and ensure a great degree of palatable drink. It's color is a very nice amber brown, and a relatively low alcohol content of 6% makes this a pleasant beer to enjoy.

Four Peaks's website describes Kilt Lifter as having an aroma of "Sweet Malt, Caramel, Toffee" and the flavor as being "Malty Sweet, with Toasted, Smokey Notes". I did not detect any of the notes mentioned in the aroma, most likely because I am still a novice beer drinker and the various subtleties of taste and odors still elude me. But to their credit, I did detect a hint of toasting in the taste of the beer. My palette is learning to discern different tastes.

As for what kinds of foods pair well with Kilt Lifter, the brewery's website recommended BBQ and wild game in addition to strong cheeses like Gruyere and Jarlsberg. I had this beer with a bowl of chili made from tamale meat (beef chuck roast) and while it was not exactly BBQ, it was close enough for me. It was not bad, but I do NOT recommend drinking this beer with tamales (of which my husband and I have been flooded with thanks to our good Mexican neighbors who sell us bags of tamales for $15/dozen). Kilt Lifter will end up distorting the the taste of the corn masa and fillings.

Kilt Lifter is not bad for an Arizona brew. It's one of the few ales I've actually enjoyed drinking!

As it stands right now, I'm pretty pleased with this brew. I will buy another six pack of Kilt Lifter after the buyout is completed and see how much the formula has changed, if at all. As my husband likes to say, "science must be served"

For more information on Four Peaks Brewery, check out their website here.

As always, please drink responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Strongbow Gold Apple

It's a cold night, so time to crack open another one of my apple beers!

Of note, this is actually an import cider from England! Pic found here

Today's selection was Strongbow Golden Apple hard cider. Like last week's Angry Orchard, Strongbow was another brand I regularly saw in the grocery store liquor aisle and wanted to try. Strongbow, its very name inspires the mental image of Robin Hood shooting an apple on top of someone's head with his arrow but was actually the name of an elf hero in one of the epics by the great J.R.R Tolkein, looked interesting to try. With the grocery store featuring a mix-n-match six pack sale, I just had to sample some.

Upon drinking my first sip, I was pleasantly surprised by how sweet it was! There was a bit of a sour aftertaste, but it was much sweeter than the vinegar-tasting Angry Orchard. Looking at the label, however, I understood why. In addition to apple juice concentrate, it was pumped with glucose syrup. It was like a high-class Steel Reserve without the buzz that comes from a high alcohol content beverage.

Believe it or not, Gold Apple goes well with oatmeal cookies. The cinnamon in the oatmeal cookies complements the apple juice taste. I suppose this cider could pair well with pork too, given that pork and apples go well together.

Overall, I was fairly pleased with Strongbow Gold Apple hard cider. I will definitely be buying this brand again in the future.

For more on Strongbow and the other varieties of cider it brews, check out their website here. Maybe it's just my browser, but be prepared to enter your birthdate to confirm your age every time you click a tab on the site to explore it. It's not a terribly user friendly site.

As always, please drink responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Angry Orchard Hard Cider Crisp Apple

Due to lack of funds in the monthly budget (thanks, blown out tire!), I won't be making a trip to the gas station to get my growler refilled. So, for this week's beer review, I'll stick with a selection from a recently purchased mix-n-match six-pack from a local grocery chain. The evenings have finally gotten cool enough for me to crack open one of the four apple beers from that purchase!

It looks just like apple juice! Pic found here

Since it was the easiest bottle to reach in the fridge, I pulled out Angry Orchard Hard Cider Crisp Apple. I'd seen this brand in the grocery stores and I wanted to try it, but it wasn't quite cold enough for fall yet. Now with opportunity just outside the walls, I popped the top off of the bottle and took a sip.

The big thing that stood out the moment the cider hit my palette was how much it tasted like apple cider vinegar. There was no mistaking the taste of apple in the beer, nor its smell when I sniffed the open bottle. It was definitely more sour than I anticipated, having been accustomed to hoppy, grain-based beers. Colorwise, it looks just like carbonated apple juice! At 5% ABV, it might well be apple juice, in my opinion. A little research on the brewery's website revealed that a combination of sour and sweet apples plus wine yeast were used in the creation of this cider, which accounts for the bold taste. Interestingly enough, it began to taste better as the cider warmed up to room temperature! Unlike most brews, this one is better served warm.

My husband took a sip and told me it tasted just like the home-brewed apple jack a former girlfriend used to make in the fall. He thought at first the beer might have gone bad but after tasting it to compare to her fresh jack, he pronounced it ok.

Since this is the first time I've ever consumed apple beer, I find it to be rather strange tasting yet pleasantly refreshing. It's definitely not bitter, which is a huge plus in my book. That being said, I probably wouldn't pair this drink with anything other than pork (pork and apples go well together), or a dessert of some sort. In other words, something sweet would be a good pair with Angry Orchard. I would also be careful drinking this because you don't taste the alcohol very much, so it's especially easy to get shitfaced on hard cider. That being said, Angry Orchard puts out other varieties of cider, and if I should come across them, I'd be happy to sample these other brews from the Ohio-based brewery.

For more on Angry Orchard and the other varieties of cider they brew, check out their website.

As always, please drink responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest

Another growler refill, another new brew to review!

One of the original microbreweries in America, based out of Chino, CA. Pic found here

I'd spotted this brew the last time I was at the tap counter, but decided to try the Hefeweizen instead. The gas station I fill my growler at always has some varieties of beer from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, especially their pale ale, which my husband detests passionately. But the Oktoberfest brew, being a seasonal one, caught my eye and so I had to try it. After last trip's disappointing brew, California beers were in need of some redemption.

According to my husband, Oktoberfest brews tend to be bottom-barrel, where everything settles so they've got extra body. He refers to this sort of beer as "boch" (pron. "bock"). According to the Sierra Nevada website, their Oktoberfest beer is "deep golden in color and rich with complex malt flavor from the use of traditional German Steffi barley."

My take: it was definitely better than hefeweizen! I didn't understand the more formal scientific notations regarding gravity, bitterness, etc that I saw on the website, but my uneducated mind deems it an acceptable beer. It definitely has body and a nice wheat taste. It's not too bitter, which I was pleased to note and has a pretty golden color to top it off. Unlike my husband who likes to pour clamato into his beers, I found this beer palatable enough to not need any adulteration.

As for what foods pair well with Oktoberfest, both the website and myself can concur that pork is the best dish. I especially enjoyed how the flavors of the beer and my ginger-lime marinated pork chops mingled in my mouth at dinner. The bitterness complemented the tangy, slightly sweet flavor left behind by the marinate.

California beer, you're back in my good graces again.

For more information about the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and their other varieties of beer, check out their website here.

As always, please drink responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Dos Equis Ambar

Another week, another beer to try.

A local favorite. Pic found here

Having finished Negra Modelo, it was time to move on to another buffer beer. A sale at one of our regularly frequented Mexican grocery stores featured another classic Mexican brew to sample, Dos Equis Ambar. Unlike Negra Modelo which is brewed by Grupo Modelo, the largest brewer in Mexico, Dos Equis is brewed by its lone rival, Ceveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma.

Like many Mexican beers, Dos Equis was a product of German immigration in the 19th Century (in this case, a specific immigrant named Wilhelm Hasse). Dos Equis was brewed specifically to celebrate the coming of the 20th Century ("dos equis" means "two Xs", a reference to the Roman Numerals XX on the bottle to denote the coming century). It was so popular that it remains in production to the present day.

Ambar ("amber") is the original brew of the Dos Equis label. According to the label's website, Ambar is "A robust, classic Vienna-style lager with a full body. A beer with brawn from Germany, swagger from Mexico, and the finest North American pale and roasted malts. An amber-colored refreshment that’s adventurous enough to be distinctly flavorful. "

Silly commercials aside, my overall impression of this beer was positive. True to the description, there is plenty of body and it leaves a pleasant taste in my mouth. In fact, the aftertaste brings to mind a loaf of decent bread. And because it's a lager, it's not very bitter which is something I like. With a 4.7% ABV, there is not much of a buzz either. The golden orange color is quite pretty too. "Amber" certainly is an appropriate name for this brew. While it's not primo beer, this is a huge improvement over Corona and even outranks its sister brew, Negra Modelo. I didn't even have to adulterate Ambar with any lime juice to make it palatable!

As for food pairings, Dos Equis Ambar goes well with fish and something sour. Foods with tomato sauce or pickle relish fare particularly well with this beer, but I'm pleased to note that Dos Equis Ambar does pull its weight as a general, all-purpose beer. From tacos to burgers to salad, Ambar goes down smoothly with all of them. Provided that I don't find something better, I may have found a suitable replacement for my all-purpose beer void that Steel Reserve once filled.

For more information on Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma and the labels it covers (including Dos Equis), check out their website (in Spanish) or their Wikipedia page (English)

As always, please drink responsibly

A Short Review of Beer: Golden Road Hefeweizen

It's that time of the month! Another trip to the gas station, another full growler of beer to try.

This trip's selection was from a Los Angeles-based brewery called Golden Road. I'd never heard of, much less had, a hefewizen (German for "half-white") brew before, so I picked it out while my husband fueled up the car outside.

A toast to the Creator

I had my first taste while observing the super blood moon lunar eclipse, and I will admit that I was not impressed with this Bavarian-style brew. It has an odd taste, almost like a chemical; not bitter, but definitely not sweet, maybe too heavy on the wheat?

The brewery's website says that "Golden Road Hefeweizen was brewed with a Californian twist — the addition of dried, locally grown, organic citrus to a Bavarian classic. After the initial banana and clove, expect tart citrus, a medium body and a dry finish that will leave you thinking about that next sip." My impression was "this tastes weird". Either my taste buds are not primed to detect such fruity subtleties or I do detect the additives and they register as terrible tasting. 

It looks kinda pissy, but this is as close as I can get to capturing the real color of the brew

I'll give the brewers credit, the hefeweizen looks and smells great. My cellphone camera does a pretty good job of capturing the golden yellow color, and the malts clearly are present. The alcohol content is pretty low too, only about 4.6%, so I wasn't buzzed.

Like Barrio Blonde, hefeweizen is a good starter beer for someone who's fresh off the mainstream beer boat in the new world of microbrewing. Because it's mild, this beer does go down easy. It's definitely a good summertime brew, and I'd suggest pairing this beer with a sandwich to at least deal with the odd taste. If you're not having hefeweizen with a meal, I do recommend adding some clamato (tomato-clam juice) or plain tomato juice to give it a palatable flavor. My husband added a splash of his favorite clamato and he said it took the odd taste of the hefeweizen away.

Overall, I didn't like this beer. I wouldn't buy it again after this tasting. 

For more on Golden Road Brewing, check out their website.

As always, please drink responsibly

A Short Review of Beer: Negra Modelo

Though its owned by Anheuser-Busch, Modelo (the largest brewery in Mexico and brewer of Negra Modelo) still keeps their operation homegrown. Pic found here

After finishing up my Stella Artois, it was time to get a new buffer beer. Buffer beers are the store-bought mainstream beers that I consume in between fill ups of my growler. Stella Artois had been my previous one, but this past weekend had me hankering for something a bit closer to home. I had my answer after a trip to one of our regularly frequented Mexican grocery stores revealed that they had Negra Modelo on sale.

It may surprise you to learn that Mexico is one of the largest brewers of beer in the world (I believe it ranks second or third in terms of production). While Mexico has always had its homegrown alcoholic beverages (pulque, tequila, etc) and a bit of localized domestic brewing since the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors, beer brewing really came of age in the 19th Century with German immigrants from Bavaria who arrived to work in the mines in northern Mexico. These miners discovered that the water there was identical in quality to the water they used back home to make their beer. Thus, a new industry was born.

Negra Modelo (Spanish for "Black Model", likely for its dark color) is not the first Mexican beer I've consumed. That distinction goes to Corona, which I found positively disgusting the first (and only!) time I drank it. No amount of lime juice could take away the pissy flavor of that beer. My husband, after supporting my displeasure at Corona, recommended Negra Modelo as his preferred Mexican beer.

I admit, the first time I drank Negra Modelo, I did not like it. It was too bitter for my novice palette. But time, variety, and persistence have paid off and I was ready to reapproach Negra Modelo with a new perspective.

According to the website of the Crown Imports, a US-based importer of foreign beers, Negra Modelo is characterized as "made with filtered water, malted barley, hops, rice and exceptional yeast varieties, which give way to the balanced flavor and remarkably smooth taste you can only find in a Negra Modelo. Hints of caramel sweetness and dark chocolate balance out this smooth, medium bodied beer."

My take: I smell and taste the malt (and it smells wonderful too!), it's still a bit on the bitter side for my liking, but I do detect just a tiny bit of sweetness if I let the beer sit in my mouth for a bit. It goes down pretty smoothly too. While technically Negra Modelo is a lager, it's a dark lager thanks to the roasted malt (the roasting process is called Munich Dunkel, which involved slow-roasting malts in the style of south German dark beer). It's definitely better this time around than when I tried it for the first time three years ago. At 5.5% ABV, there is a slight buzz, but it does not last long.

My trusty beer mug modeling Negra Modelo, back-lit by my computer screen. That dark mass in the mug is the lime floating around inside

While I'm a die-hard purist and normally avoid adulterating my beers in any way, shape or form, I do recommend adding some lime juice to Negra Modelo. I find that half a lime adds just enough zip to edge off the bitterness but not overwhelm the taste of the beer. Traditionally, Mexican beer drinkers would add lime in addition to chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, clamato (tomato-clam juice), seafood, fruit, salt, etc. to their beers, depending on region and personal preference. I don't particularly care for clamato as I find the tomato flavor overwhelming, but if you don't mind pretending you're drinking a hard tomato juice, by all means add it.

One thing to be said about Negra Modelo is that it's a fairly good all-purpose beer. It went well with everything from seafood gumbo to sandwiches. That sort of one-size-fits-all practicality is hard to pull off and it's something I value in beer. Previously, that all-purpose void was filled by Steel Reserve but since I've gotten away from drinking that shit, my other quest (aside from finding a good IPA) is to find a good quality all-purpose beer.

For more on the history of beer brewing in Mexico and the brands its produced, check out Wikipedia or this site for information.

As always, please enjoy responsibly

A Short Review of Beer: Barrio IPA

Beer time! We returned from the gas station this past week with my growler full of a new beer to try: Barrio IPA

IPA stands for India Pale Ale, and this is another creation of the Barrio Brewing Company (see my reviews of some of their other beers here and here). Always happy to support a local business, the brewery's website describes their IPA as "[b]rewed just like the original from Burton upon Trent. This style calls for a high hop rate combined with an elevated alcohol content because it was brewed to survive the journey from England to Bombay as rations for British troops. Huge amounts of two row pale malt with an addition of a few specialty malts provide a nice mouth feel buried under copious additions of Columbus hops. This beer is big but finishes clean."

Admittedly, I'm not much of an ale fan. I find them to be too bitter for my taste (the bitterness of hops are what turned me off of beer for a long time). But, I will drink ales to try them since I'm seeking to expand my beer palate and learn what brews work with what foods. A good IPA is something I've been on a quest to try and find ever since a former blogging buddy recommended them as his favorite beer a few years ago (he was actually a home brewer on the side).

A steaming bowl of Emile Zatarain's Dirty Rice for dinner seemed like a good occasion to try this new brew, so my hubby put our beer mugs to use.

As expected, this is a bitter brew. You can really taste the hops in this IPA, as the aftertaste is sharp. It has a nice smell though, and a head that is just the right consistency. This IPA is a nut-brown color, which is actually darker than a proper IPA (those are just a tad lighter). Since ales have a higher alcohol content than my preferred lagers, there is a slight buzz after consuming (ABV is somewhere between 5-6%). But true to it's description, there's not much of an aftertaste that lingers in your mouth. It does finish clean.

IPA+sandwich with WTF cut bread=SCREW YOU, PINTEREST, WITH YOUR UBER-PERFECTIONIST FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY!

As for what foods pair well with Barrio IPA, fish seemed to work well (catfish, in particular), as well as anything acidic, like pickles (which I discovered actually takes the bitterness out of the ale pretty well!). The Dirty Rice we had with the initial tasting, not so much.

One interesting side effect of the IPA-my milk production ratcheted up noticeably. When she wakes up for her morning feed, the baby certainly appreciates the beer I had with dinner after she went to bed (by morning, the alcohol has completely metabolized so it's not in the milk to present a threat to her). Nursing mommies, take note!

For more on the Barrio Brewing Company, check out their website.

As always, please enjoy responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Stella Artois

Unfortunately, the freezer was too packed for me to frost my favorite beer mug. So, I drank it out of the bottle instead! Pic found here

A few weeks back, I purchased a six-pack of Stella Artois to sample after a former boss named it as her favorite beer and recommended it. I've been slowly consuming it in between fill-ups of my growler, and now it's time for a review.

Stella Artois is a light, lager brew from Belgian brewery that's been in operation since 1366, according to the company's website and the little history blurb on its bottles. It's certainly one of the more storied import beers I've tried.

Its beautiful golden color is evident even through the green-colored bottles containing it. The head is nice and bubbly, but not too dense. I was not terribly impressed with the taste of it, though. It's smooth going down, but I thought it was too light and watery. I'm sure there are subtleties in taste or texture that I'm too new to detect which make it palatable, but overall, it just wasn't my type of beer. And at 5% alcohol by volume, I didn't even get a buzz. Guess my hard-stuff foundation has resulted in dull tastebuds and a high tolerance.

For starters, I suppose it'd be alright. Bland, mild-tasting brews like this are a good introduction to beer drinking because they're not terribly bitter and low enough in alcohol so that you don't get fucked up; also, a step up from the commercial American swill. Like most lagers, Stella Artois goes well with meat dishes (chicken or pork seem to work well in particular), but it's not much of an all-purpose beer.

That being said, I have seen that Stella Artois also makes an apple beer called "Cidre". I will give that one a try and review it once fall comes and apple beer become more appealing (and cheaper!).

For more of Stella Artois, check out their website.

As always, please enjoy responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Barrio Rojo

Another two weeks passed, another trip to the gas station to fill up the growler. After surviving a root beer explosion, I was in need of some liquid cereal to keep the hubby out of mischief.

There was a surprisingly long line at the draft counter, but when our turn came, we selected the next tap up the line from last trip's selection, Barrio Blonde. This time, we got Barrio Rojo.

Another creation of the local Barrio Brewing Company, Rojo (Spanish for "red") bills itself as a Scottish-style ale with less hops and more malt in the brew. According to the brewery's website, "[w]e took our time to caramelize the brewing sugars to create a low bitterness, sweet beer with notes of caramel brown sugar and cinnamon." Intrigued by this description, I had to try some.

True to its name, the beer that came out of the growler was a deep red, almost brown color. It reminded me strongly of a stout. There was also a gorgeous head on the beer too, which I have to thank the attendant at the gas station for since she actually sealed the growler's cap with electrical tape just after she filled it up. I knew it was gonna be heady too as I was watching the foam pour out all over the counter as she filled the growler up.

I tried to get a picture of the color, but my flash is too bright to do it justice

My hubby's beer. A better shot of the color, but still not as good as in real life

As for the taste, I was pleased to note that it was not terribly bitter. It definitely had more body quality than the Blonde, but I would not call it sweet. It's malty, but not something sugary. In fact, I couldn't detect any of the brown sugar and cinnamon advertised in the description. The Goose Island Summertime Ale I'd had a few weeks back was sweeter than this brew. I wouldn't go so far as to call it false advertising, but I guess my tastebuds aren't primed for subtlety. Like most beers, it has an alcohol level of around 5%, so the buzz is very minimal.

My husband, on the other hand, was very pleased with the quality of the beer, going so far as to call the Blonde we had last time "pisswater". He even put away the Clamato he'd planned to add as a flavor enhancer. Despite it's stouty appearance, the mash for Rojo was not toasted and for that I am grateful.

Since we had ribs for dinner, I found that the beer actually worked nicely with the tangy BBQ sauce they'd been slathered in. The flavors complemented each other well. Down in the pork layer of the ribs, past the sauce, the beer cut down on the natural saltiness of pork. It's a good pork beer, I'll give the brewers credit for that.

Overall, I guess I'm pretty disappointed by Rojo. I was expecting something sweet, and it let me down.

As always, please enjoy all adult beverages responsibly.

A Short Review of Beer: Steel Reserve Blk Berry

On a recent trip to the grocery store to get some food and pull money off my debit card to pay for the car insurance (yes, this is what happens when you're too poor to get a proper bank account), I decided to take a trip back to my beer drinking roots and get a can or 40oz bottle of Steel Reserve.

Unfortunately, the store was out of cans and charged way too much for the 40s. So, I got a 24-oz can of Blk Berry, Steel Reserve's blackberry-flavored malt beverage. After all, as my husband likes to say, "science must be served!" And since food stamps don't cover alcohol (another reminder of America's psychotic relationship with alcohol), this cheap can of "beer" was the perfect item to pull the insurance money off with.

Nice to see you, old friend

A few days later, after stating he was going to find a paper bag to put over his head to hide his shame that I love drinking such garbage, my husband poured my blackberry "beer" into my favorite frosted beer glass. True to its name, it looked and tasted like blackberry juice.

If I hadn't seen it coming out of the can, it could easily be mistaken for some sparkling juicy juice

It is so sweet, I could hardly taste the alcohol at first. But, that came through as a faint aftertaste at the end. I actually thought it tasted pretty good with the way the flavors came together. Colorwise, it's a dark purple and when held up to a light, one can pick out a bit of gold/light brown hue too. Like a lager, it goes down pretty smoothly with hardly any bitterness. The can states that it's 8% alcohol by volume, so it's pretty potent. There will be a buzz afterward.

The secret to this drink's success is that Steel Reserve brews their beers with some corn syrup. Corn, as we know, produces ethanol and results in a smoother tasting beer with a higher alcohol content.

This particular blend of Steel Reserve is a total party beer. House party, college party, birthday party, party party. It's really easy to get shitfaced drunk on this one. Talk about life of the party...keep it away from the kids.

Cheap, smooth, and potent. It's easy to see why I fell in love with this brand from the first sip and still consider it a vice to occasionally indulge in.

As always, please enjoy all adult beverages responsibly