Catching up with beers from the last week or so

Finally I get a chance to sit down and recap the last 10 days or so. Let's start off with a new source for beer that I discovered at my nephew's birthday party while chatting about beer with my brother-in-law's brother. Princeton's Liquors (http://www.princetonsliquors.com/) in Maple Grove was a very pleasant surprise for me. The Four Firkins and the Liquor Barrel remain my go to places for obvious reasons but these guys had some new stuff that I hadn't seen before and they give you a 10% break on bottles if you buy six at a crack.

I checked it last Monday before the kickoff of the opening double header of Monday Night Football. I decided to rate a few that I had tried before (and one that I hadn't) while cleaning up the bar after Freedom Fest the Saturday before. I started with the...

Surly Hell
As I stated when I first tried it, it reminded me of what I think Heineken (German for a skunk's ass) and Rolling Rock are trying to do. Although I found out at Surlyfest (more on that to come) that if you don't drink Surly plenty cold, that skunky aroma rears its ugly head. I gave it a 3.8 on Rate Beer and said:
16 oz can from Golden Valley Liquor Barrel. Light golden yellow in color, medium foamy white head. Slight yeast aroma and (perhaps due to unconscious suggestion from reading the description) fresh bread as well. Slightly bitter flavor from the hops but smooth and light on the palate. Not usually one of my favorite styles of beers but this is probably the best one that I’ve tried.

Hoegaarden
One of the summer's greatest surprises. I picked this up from the Firkins for the gal after asking what a good next step for a Blue Moon drinker would be and little did I know how much I'd like it myself. Too bad it's made by InBev. Oh well, I think this is still my favorite Belgian that I've tried so far. It got a solid 4.0 on Rate Beer for me and earned the following comments:
Pale yellow pour with thick foamy white head. Fresh, yeasty wheat aroma with some spice coming through. Clean taste with a hint of citrus and the coriander does make an appearance along with other spices. Light mouthfeel with a smooth finish. Great beer.

Point Nude Beach Summer Wheat
This one has been a bit of a Jeckle and Hyde for me. I loved it at the Point tasting at the Four Firkins but the first bottle I had at home didn't seem to have the same flavor. Each one has been a bit different for me but I still can recommend this, especially to someone who likes the lighter side of beer. I gave it a 3.2 on Rate Beer because it did what I expected of it and said:
Yellow pour, slightly cloudy. Aroma is wheat, faint citrus to it. Not a lot of flavor, slight wheat/yeast with a hint of orange. Not overly flavorful but as the description says, great beer to drink while enjoying summer activities as it is quite refreshing.

Founders Breakfast Stout
This is a bottle that I picked up at Casanova the last time I made my Stone/Dogfish Head/New Glarus run. I was saving it until I saw that the Four Firkins got some in and also that Princeton's carried it. A couple neighbors were watching MNF with me and I was exposing them to some new beer and they both gave this a taste when I cracked it and actually really liked it which surprised me because of what I know their tastes normally are. This was so damn drinkable and flavorful and definitely one of my top new beers. I can't wait to get some more of this. It got a 4.4 from me on Rate beer.
Thick black pour with a brown head. Heavy chocolate aroma with a hint of coffee. Smooth, definite chocolate flavor with a fantastic lingering sweet finish.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful for me in regards to new beers even though I really wanted it to be a prolific beer rating week for me. Oh well, a nice treat for me was Wednesday night when I found out that Famous Dave's had Bell's Two Hearted Ale on tap. Why doesn't everybody?

The weekend in review is coming very soon.

Point's Belgian White

I originally wanted to rate a few beers tonight but sometimes things just get in the way. Luckily I got one out of the way before I started a movie and had a Honeyweiss with my pizza.

I went to the Four Firkins for the Point tasting and their Belgian White was one of the big surprises for me. I was looking forward to having another but made sure it wouldn't be till I had time to do an official rating because I only had a six pack in the fridge. I forgot to do the swirling trick or the upside down pour trick you're supposed to do with this kind of beer (more on this in a future post) but it was as good as I remembered. I gave it a 3.6 on RateBeer and had the following to say:
Thin white head that quickly disappears, pale yellow in color. The coriander and orange peel really come through along with the yeast in both the aroma and the taste. Excellent beer.

I know Blue Moon is enjoying some pretty good popularity but with beers like this one and Hoegaarden, I don't know what everyone is thinking. Speaking of Hoegaarden, I see a posting of it in the near future.

Cheers!
Mike

Dessert in a glass and some macrobrews

August 6th I was in New Ulm visiting my parents and brought a few brews with for the weekend. The first one I cracked open was and Un*Earthly by Southern Tier. Now I always give my mom a sip of whatever I'm drinking and she always takes it even though 90% of the time she makes the classic bitter beer face. I figured something that had 11% ABV and mad hops wouldn't be something to she'd like. She loved the smell, took her sip, nodded in approval and passed it on to my stepdad Marv who agreed with her assessment and they both took another swig before letting me have it back. Who knew? Maybe more people out there would like massively hoppy beer if they just gave it a chance.

August 7th we went out for supper at a local restaurant that of course had Schell's beers as 4 of their 5 taps - Grain Belt Premium and Premium Light and Schell and Schell Light with the standard Minnesota beer (Michelob Golden Light) being the 5th. I was in the mood to have a Premium so I ordered one and it went down so smoothly I had to order a second.

Later that night I opened up a beer I've been very excited to try, another Southern Tier beer called Imperial Creme Brulee Stout.

Here's what I wrote on RateBeer.com:

Wow, this beer has all kinds of stuff going on. Pours very dark brown with a brownish head to it. Smells amazing. Very sweet with aromas of vanilla, caramel. Flavor is also very sweet with the vanilla being the very prominent flavor. Massive beer that tastes like dessert in a glass. Had a 22 oz bomber that would have been perfect if I had 1-2 people to share it with.

I'm a little on the fence with this beer but leaning towards giving it big thumbs up. This would be the ideal beer to split between three people right after a meal for a literal dessert.

I thought I was done for the night but still wanted something so I cracked open the very refreshing summer beer, Rogue's Somer Orange Honey Ale. This stuff is so good in the summer that I'd drink tons of it if it wasn't so damn expensive. My RateBeer.com entry:

The commercial description is pretty accurate. Smelled very refreshing and tasted the same. Could definitely make out the orange and honey and didn’t find it to be too sweet which is what I was expecting. Went down very quickly, this is a very good summer (somer?) beer.

August 8th found me in Redwood Falls, MN for a wedding. Being the hate-to-be-late guy that I am, we were in town 45 minutes before the wedding started. After a long search for the only place in town to have beer (literally), I walked in with last night's Grain Belt still in my head wanting a glass of it more than anything at the moment. Score! It's one of 4 taps in the bar and went down as well as I had imagined on this scorcher of a day. I've decided this is going to be my next keg in the bar. It was my only beer of the day but I did have a couple of Johnnie Walkers at the wedding reception.

My first beer of August 9th was one of a Nude Beach by Point. The last bottle of this that I had was a little disappointing because it seemed to lack the flavor that I remembered when I sampled it at the Four Firkins. This one totally hit the spot though. It wasn't quite as refreshing as the Rogue from Friday night but wonderful none the less. Wussy beers do have their place and a super hot summer day is that place. Also had a few Mich Goldens at Mama G's before, during and after our volleyball games. Another beer in its proper place.

The sad news of the day is that the Cinema Grill doesn't carry its impressive array of microbrews during the summer. I went there excited to order a Furious only to find out that they only were carrying the 3 lightest beers on the menu until the fall. I changed my order to water because it seemed appropriate. Oh well, October isn't that far away I guess.