Beer Club March 2010 - Smoke Beers

The March edition of Beer Club saw another month scheduled around the release of a beer.  This time it was the Schell's Stag #3, a rauchbier. 

Like the March 2010 meeting, I decided to serve food to complement the beer.  Thanks to Dave's advice I bought some different cheeses and put them out with some deer sausage.  I couldn't quite figure out what cheeses were supposed to go with these beers so I just bought an array of them, including smoked and non-smoked cheeses.

The answer is that they all went pretty damn well with the beers.  This style is made for paring with food.

Here's the lineup I went with:

• Brauerei Spezial - Spezial Rauchbier Lager
• Brauerei Heller - Aecht Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier
• Brauerei Heller - Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock
• Brauerei Heller - Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock
• New Glarus Brewing Company - Smoked Rye Ale
• August Schell Brewing Company - Stag Series #3 Rauchbier
• Surly - Smoke
• Weyerbacher - Fifteen

Attendance was about perfect too because we had the ideal number in my opinion (seven) and all were what I consider to be full fledged members of the club.  This meeting will be the answer to the trivia question of "What was the first month that there was no Paul at Beer Club?"  Yep, for the first time since its inception there was no Paul at Beer Club as all three of them were the missing members that night. 

It was still a damn fun night with some really good beers.

Beer Club February 2011 - Abbey Dubbels

We did Trappist beers in general for March 2010's Beer Club but I decided to break it down a bit further and do specifically the abbey (and abbey style) dubbels.  I wanted a nice mix of American beers to mix in with the Belgian beers.  This was not only to compare and contrast how the breweries in the US interpreted the styles but also give some examples of beers that didn't cost $5+ 

The lineup:

• New Belgium Brewing Company - New Belgium Abbey
• Duvel Moortgat - Maredsous 8 Brune
• Goose Island Beer Company - Pere Jacques (2009 vintage)
• Chimay Rouge (Red)
• Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat) - Ommegang Abbey Ale
• Westmalle Dubbel

We once again split into two nights. The first night we welcomed back Captain Dave for his second guest appearance and were also joined by Michael from the Four Firkins.  The second night was comprised of the the original founding members who made the club what it is today.

 

Beer Club January 2011 - Porters

Like brown ales, porters were another style of beer that I wasn't crazy about doing because they seemed a bit on the boring side to me.  A lineup like this proved me wrong though:

• Summit Brewing Company - Great Northern Porter
• Odell BrewingCompany - Cutthroat Porter
• Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte Porter
• Great Lakes Brewing Company - Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
• Founders Brewing Company - Founders Porter
• Flat Earth Brewing Company - Cygnus X-1
• Barley John's Brew Pub - Old Eight Porter
• Flying Dog - Gonzo Imperial Porter

Nothing too noteworthy about this evening.  It was much like the beer style we did.  Not super exciting but a solid, perfect night with friends.

Beer Club December 2010 - Christmas/Winter Beers

This might be another repeat month but considering how different this category of beers can be I think it's a no brainer to do it every year.  This is also the first month that we split into two nights because of the high interest in attending a club meeting.  The first night we welcomed Max as a first (and so far only) time guest.

The lineup:

• Odell Brewing Company - Isolation Ale
• Samuel Smith - Winter Welcome Ale
• 21st Amendment - Fireside Chat
• Deschutes - Jubelale
• August Schell Brewing Company - Snowstorm
• Widmer Brothers - Brrr
• Widmer Brothers - Barrel-Aged Brrrbon

We also had Jennifer Griswold from Channel 5 news come to the bar on the second night to interview me regarding the Vikings game after the Metrodome collapsed.  Yep, I got Beer Club on the lead story of the Channel 5 news that night.  We arrived that night my friends.

It was a wide variety of flavors and for the most part they all went over well.  The Fireside Chat was the only stinker in the bunch (but we all thought the label was bad ass!) and the Snowstorm and both Brrs were very well received.

Beer Club November 2010 - Brown Ales

I always knew we'd end up doing a brown ales month but I never thought I'd want to until I finally tried Bell's Best Brown and rediscovered Surly Bender all over again.   We also set the record for most Minnesota beers in a given month with four.

The lineup:

• Surly Brewing Company - Bender
• Bell's Brewery - Best Brown
• Lift Bridge - Chestnut Hill
• Brau Brothers - Ring Neck Braun Ale
• Boulder Beer Company - Flashback India Brown Ale
• Barley John's - Wild Brunette
• Nøgne Ø - Imperial Brown Ale

We welcomed back Andy for his second month and had Captain Dave as a first time guest.

Beer Club October 2010 - India Pale Ales

Yep, it's another repeat of 2009 but we've come such a long way that I thought it was a good time to revisit what's probably the overall favorite style of the club.  That and there have been a shit ton of new beers that I wanted to introduce everybody to and/or compare to each other.

The lineup:

• Odell Brewing Company - India Pale Ale
• Dark Horse Brewing Company - Crooked Tree IPA
• New Belgium - Ranger IPA
• 21st Amendment Brewery - Brew Free or Die IPA
• Brau Brothers - Hundred Yard Dash
• Surly Brewing Company - Wet

We also had two guests (Keith aka Surly Boy Wonder and Marie) and added two new members (Paul N and Andy).

Catching up with Beer Club

One of the hardest things about keeping up with this damn thing is the fact that I want to stay somewhat chronological and timely if I can.  What that usually results in is a lack of updating because I'm constantly behind on Beer Club updates.

Well, we're gonna get all caught up here and it's gonna be in a quick and dirty fashion.  Just a quick mention of the lineup and a pic or two for each month so that we have a record of what has been done...

Once that's caught up, all club related activity will be moved over to the Saisons of Anarchy website and this will be a place to find random stuff about beer.