Anchor Bock

Anchor Bock Beer (Season Limited), 5.50 % ABV, 12 oz

Color: The beer pours an extremely frothy, silky and textile head; it must have been awhile since I’ve had a LAGER (make no mistake, this is a lager). It is milk-chocolate colored, and the beer resembles a brown ale but just a tad darker.

Tasting Notes: On the nose, Anchor brewery’s distinct fresh yeast flavors come barging through, coupled with generous, citrusy-hops, thick malt and raisin-bread like sweetness, as well as some decadent plum. Overall the nose reminds me of a less assertive Ommegang abbey ale (and I didn’t particularly like it back then, perhaps I’m not knowledgeable enough in Belgian style ales). Despite the multifaceted and almost flamboyant aromas, on the palate, this bock develops the aforementioned flavors in a very integrated, well-knit manner. The thick, slightly roasted yet refreshing malt is there, but not as prominent as a brown ale; sweetness and slight bitterness balance each other out nimbly, though hop bitterness is minimal. The body is exceptionally smooth, being a lager. The fruity flavors are less prominent when drank, but a grape/raisin sweetness gives the overall impression of this bock as wine-like, and the combination of flavors give rise to a dairy-like pungency. The finish is mid-long, with malt, wine and cheese reverberating. Very interesting, very idiosyncratic.

Comment: The more one explores a brewery/distillery’s products, the more one gets closer to shaping an idea (however subjective) of a brewery/distillery profile, or in blunter terms, “style”. For whiskies it was easy, since I’ve gotten a-plenty of training and burnt bundles of cash on them already: say, Laphroaig’s iodine, Ardbeg’s earthy peat, the honey tones of The Balvenie, George Dickel’s vitamin-c tablets, Talisker’s pepper and Highland Park’s heather etc. Beer for me is much more difficult. Personally I notice that flavors stay shorter on one’s palate, they dissipate rapidly, and poses a much larger challenge. However, after eight months of cutting teeth, I can begin to claim a few characteristics concerning my favorite breweries. For example, after getting familiar with three of their beers, I can point out that a conspicuous, fresh yeast flavor is one of Anchor’s definitive traits, without a doubt. To me at least, the brews by Anchor generally emit a bready, tempting-one-to-bite in deliciousness. This seasonal bock, first brewed only in 2005, is highly interesting, with its malt-wine-and-cheese impression. Perhaps it’s the goat on their label playing psychological tricks on me (reminds me of Taiwan’s goat-milk powder whose brand name I cannot recall), but one can never know. One thing I know is that I’m becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Anchor.

3/23/09

Cooperstown Strike Out Stout

Strike Out Stout, 4.60% ABV, 12oz (bottle)

Color: A thin but tight head emerges when poured. This seems to be characteristic of Cooperstown beers. The color is impeccable, a deep ebony with a slightly purplish hue.

Tasting Notes: The nose is smoky, yeasty and contains an intense blast of dried coffee – resembling the scent of dried beans, not the drink. An interesting analogy comes to mind, that this stout’s aroma oddly reminds me of a soy latte. On the palette it is no less compromising, but monolithic rather than eloquent: the body is silky and bulky, supported by huge roasted malt sweetness and a condensed gust of coffee/smoke. Despite the pronounced flavors, a lack of hop bitterness makes it quite easy to drink. So far, Guinness Extra Stout seems to reign supreme in its balance of hop and coffee flavors. A round, clean finish strengthens the soymilk connotation further. Highly enjoyable, solid and unadorned, this is what I really like about Cooperstown’s ales.

3/13/09

Cooperstown Old Slugger Pale Ale

Old Slugger Pale Ale, 5.50% ABV, 12oz (bottle)

Color: This pale ale forms a moderate yet delicate head when poured, unlike the vigorous Sierra Nevada. Intriguingly, the ale emits a hue of copper-red which resembles amber ale.

Tasting Notes: The nose is equally singular: excluding the standard citrus, apple-aromas, malt and bready flavors of pale ales, there’s a buttery – butterscotch like tang. According to information from beeradvocate.com, this is a result of the employed strain, “Ringwood Yeast” gone haywire. If chaos is good, this is it! The body is firm, thick, and not heavily carbonated; malt and butterscotch comprise the central flavors, with very mild hop bitterness embellishing the overall depth. These flavors create an overall simple yet endearing profile. A clean finish with only slight hints of residual butterscotch concludes this eccentric but lovable ale.

2-21-09 Cooperstown & Ommegang brewery trip, Pt.1: A week after ending a long-distance relationship, Brendan, Charlie and I set out to visit both the Ommegang and Cooperstown breweries in Cooperstown, NY, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was a welcome trip for a change of mood – a boys’ trip, too! Our little gang of three set out around noon, aiming to hit Ommegang first, with their cave-aged Abbey Ale as our target of acquisition. Before I return to the details, a little briefing would help. Ommegang is a relatively young microbrewery established in 1997, specializing in elegant, rich Belgian-styled beers, currently on the rise to national (and dare I say international as well) stardom. Cooperstown, on the other hand, is a small family-operated brewery (relative to Ommegang, it’s basically an ant compared to the macrobreweries) somewhat overshadowed by its neighbor. This charming little brewery’s expertise lies with the English Ale tradition, with some innovative American touches. Etc. etc. blah blah blah…let’s get back on the road. The weather was spectacular: a clear azure sky and unfettered sunlight illuminated the meandering fields of snow between Binghamton and Cooperstown; a truly gorgeous winter day. We reached Ommegang roughly around 1:30 PM…

3/01/09

Anchor Porter

Anchor Porter, 5.60 % ABV, 12 oz

Color: This porter forms an ivory/coffee colored head, which is bubbly, delicate and creamy, with a good retention. Shade-wise it is one of the darkest porters I’ve seen: solid ebony that only shows a hint of brown when passed through strong light.

Tasting Notes: The nose however, is its greatest strength. One can immediately tell it apart from other porters/stouts by its incredibly bready and yeasty aroma, coupled with hints of integrated coffee and chocolate. A delicious start. On the palette the Anchor shows assertiveness, as gargantuan waves of chocolate and coffee crash in, it is underpinned by solid roasted malt/bread flavors. Although hop bitterness can be detected, citrus/fruit hop notes are nonexistent, differing greatly from Cooperstown’s Benchwarmer porter. The body is highly carbonated thus not particularly silky, but its smoothness and creaminess easily envelope the whole tongue, bearing similarity with the steam beer. The beer finishes crisply with a slight sweetness.

Comment: Let me be blunt: this is a HUGE porter. It tastes utterly unapologetic, direct and not really concerned with subtlety (of course it’s incredibly sublime compared to say, a Bud Lite). As much praise I would like to give the bottled version, it pales in comparison with its tap brethren. On President Obama’s inauguration day (most people who held Bush in low regard probably never addressed him as “president” in their daily conversation. See, I didn’t even call him EX-PRESIDENT!) I had the fortune of having a tap-poured pint of Anchor Porter to toast to a (hopefully) nation’s new beginning with Brendan and Theresa. The amount of bready/yeasty smells emanating from that pint must’ve been at least twice as strong then the bottled porter. For dark beer fans, this is a must try!

2/09/09

Ithaca Nut Brown Ale

Ithaca Nut Brown Ale, 5.0% ABV, 12 oz (bottled)

Color: A thin, bubbly head forms when the ale is poured – which dissipates swiftly, slightly against my preference. The color is a succulent brown/tan, a tad darker than Newcastle’s pastel.

Tasting Notes: A malty, nutty, borderline bready nose greets me as the ale’s first impression upon the olfactory senses. This is a solid, pleasant nose of well-rounded aromas of yeast, malt and mineral-like crispness. Flavor-wise the ale is also welcoming, with upfront malt/barley supported by slight notes of fruit (the fruity flavors are so subdued that I can’t really place it), cashew and hazelnut; a light yet smooth body mitigates these flavors further, giving a very mellow and drinkable impression. Worthy of mention is despite the conspicuous lack of hop flavors and bitterness, this ale felt complete in itself, an established statement of flavor. Ironically, some brown ales taste like it could benefit from hops.

Comment: Brown ales, with its mild and laid-back character, are a nice change of pace from porters, stouts, IPAs or whatever palate-intense brew one would consume for the winter. The Ithaca Nut Brown is officially the second beer I tried from the Ithaca Brewery, and I prefer it miles over the Apricot Wheat. It’s a traditional style, solid and well-balanced. Great things have also been said about the brewery’s seasonal/special beers (some which can only be obtained at the brewery); perhaps a visit to the brewery in the near future would provide great entertainment and an excuse to leave Binghamton aka Cabin Fever Central. Of course, Ithaca is also home to the famous Cornell University; Cornell students (dis)affectionately call the town “Shithaca”. A while ago over Facebook, a classmate from high school who graduated from Cornell last year pondered over my livelihood in Binghamton; a town which he, someone accustomed to “Shithaca”, considered “desolate and industrial”. Well, with my circumstances taken into account, it seems to be a good opportunity for this friend to revise his past resentment and dissatisfaction of a town that has a great music scene and a nice brewery; hell, it may even stir up some nostalgia for him, ha!

1/25/09

Cooperstown Benchwarmer Porter

Brewery: Cooperstown Brewing Company, Milford, NY, USA

Benchwarmer Porter, 6.30% ABV, 12oz (bottle)

Cooperstown is another great American Microbrew Brendan managed to get me into. It is located in Milford, NY, an hour's drive from Binghamton, also home to the Basball Hall of Fame. Family-operated and producing on a small-scale, it is truly a microbrewerey, in contrast to the larger "craft breweries" such as Anchor or Sierra Nevada. Unsurprisingly, Cooperstown's ales are only available in New York state and various locations on the East Coast. However, being the country crazed about Baseball as they are, one select beer pub in Tokyo, Japan also holds their products. I will be writing about our trip to the brewery in later posts. Stay tuned.

Color: This bruiser pours a medium – thick head, with foamy bubbles. The color is extremely dark, with only faint traces of amber projected.

Tasting Notes: A surprisingly fruity nose emerges from the porter, contrary to my expectations of coffee and roasted malt. The fruitiness evokes dry prunes or ripe fresh plums, a little exotic (!) for a beer modeled around a down-home baseball theme. Underneath it all is some earthy malt tones. The roasted malt flavors (not coffee) becomes immediately evident on the tongue; the body is smooth and creamy and the higher carbonation differentiates it from a stout quite definitively. What about the hops? There’s a fine dose of hop bitterness addressed in this benchwarmer – some subdued citrus, musky bitterness and mineral flavor, adding to the nuance. The finish is a little too clean, however – as if the benchwarmer farted in the Fenway and a gust of wind cleaned it up in an instant.

Comment: A very exciting porter to say nonetheless, Cooperstown’s Benchwarmer is a fair reminder for me that modern porters do differ from stouts! This porter has the great features of some hoppy beers, and surely leans closer towards the beer-ish side of dark brews. Some reviewers on Beer Advocate seem dissatisfied with its hoppy and bitter flavor and are disappointed to find little coffee/chocolate notes in this bruiser; perhaps if they approached it less as a stout than a hoppy beer (in the vein of Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale), a different outcome may occur!

1/06/09

Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout

Brewery: Otter Creek Brewing, Middlebury, Vermont, USA

Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout (organic), 5.90% ABV, 12oz (bottle)

Color: This stout forms a coffee, hazelnut colored head when poured, with a very dense distribution of bubbles. The beer itself shows seemingly imperturbable ebony, but a hint of red appears if observed through a light source.

Tasting Notes: The nose emits pleasant odors of coffee, earth and a hint of chocolate buried deep. The body is oh-so-smooth probably due to the addition of oats, almost silky and velvety. Moderately thick waves of roasted malt, cocoa and chocolate sweetness constitute the main flavors, while coffee bitterness and hop crispness take the back seat, more like a backdrop to the brighter flavors, as they gently interact with each other. The finish is clean, crisp with a residual chocolate sweetness and grain overtone. Quite pleasantly drinkable!

Comment: I think this is perhaps one of the best stouts for beer drinkers who are just beginning to venture into darker beers. Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout destroys the bottled Guinness Draught in almost every aspect. It’s balanced, not too heavy-handed on the roasted, smoky flavors and coffee notes, while providing an incredibly mouth-feel and smoothness. Being slightly on the sweeter side of porters and stouts also helps, as it is not dry or loaded with extra hops. Personally, I would pass this baby if other bulkier porters or stouts are around, but there’s a laid-back, elegant characteristic about this stout that makes it so appealing…almost in a feminine kind of way. Yeah, I’m so politically incorrect, but these are my taste buds anyway.

12/20/08

Newcastle Brown Ale

Brewery: Newcastle Federation Breweries LTD, Dunston, England (UK)

Newcastle Brown Ale (bottled import), 4.7% ABV, 12oz

Color: The ale forms a thin, bubbly head after poured and dissipates swiftly. The color is a handsome dark brown, reminiscent of ice tea or cola diluted with ice (after it melts, of course).

Tasting Notes: The nose is crisp, hinting subtly at notes of malt, hops with a metallic tinge; it is rather nondescript for an ale known for its cult-ish following (I think Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones declared it his favorite beer, and Keith Moon of The Who loves it too). What it lacks in the nose, the “dog” compensates with smoothness – the feel on the palate is wonderful – the body is roughly medium but quite creamy. On to the flavors: hmm? What flavors? This puppy doesn’t run like a beagle, it fawns to you like a Maltese; only some malt, an earthy, yeasty (some reviewers call it “skunky”) hop taste presents itself. The finish is perhaps the most off-putting aspect it bears upon me. There is an intensely artificial, sugary aftertaste of caramel that lingers on the tongue. According to the website Beer Advocate, the fine chaps at the brewery inject corn grits and liquid sugar (syrup) into this dog. Eww.

Comment: In retrospect, Newcastle Brown Ale is honestly one of the first beers I came to appreciate (most likely due to its lack of bitterness and smoothness). I first tried it in the summer of 2006, in Boston when I was going to summer school at a rather nefarious university and subletted a room from my old-time buddy Kevin. I would drink it with my meals – and guess what, it tasted fabulous. However, it’s always fascinating to look back upon early infatuations once those taste buds become more nuanced and refined. You also tend to see things in a radically different light. This beer, if I ever happen to stumble upon it in the future, shall always remind me of Kevin – of 2006 – who is about to get married this coming December. His circumstances of the marriage may not be the most ideal, but I wish him the best nevertheless. Cheers. (gulps beer) That saccharine residue just won’t go away, huh.

11/29/08

Anchor Steam Beer

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company, San Francisco CA

Anchor Steam Beer, 4.9% ABV, 12 oz

Color: The beer is highly carbonated, and forms a thick, bubbly head if poured quickly (properly). The color is a solid amber/orange, akin to ice tea, much darker than an average lager.

Tasting Notes: Nose emits a pleasant string of apples, malt and hops, intertwining tightly to form a coherent, inviting yet somewhat demure impression. Body is medium to full, simultaneously smooth yet volatile and crisp. On the palate, apple is upfront in the nose, while a slightly metallic coolness accompanies the malt & biscuit flavors. There is an instant where these flavors combine to show outdoorsy roughness – a fleeting moment of retrospection – into the olden, adventurous days of the Frontier where “steam beer” was brewed (Jack London, anybody?). The beer finishes with gentle citrus notes and slight hop bitterness. The balance is truly quite astounding. The sweet and the bitter waltz each other into perfect harmony.

Comment: A legendary microbrew product, Anchor steam won the praise of my visiting aunt and uncle, whose son is living and working in Germany (Binghamton’s scarce choice in activities didn’t seem to affect them much). It is perhaps the most accessible, well-rounded yet flavor-packed beer I’ve come upon so far; its tight combination of flavors and its roundness makes it highly memorable. Again, I write these words reminiscing the past week I had, not without connotations of loneliness. My aunt is a great cook – she made me a good amount of comfort food such as dumplings, rice noodles and meatballs, all which I am not knowledgeable in cooking. My uncle (her husband) is of Sichuan descent, a hearty, somewhat fiery yet amiable man, who prefers a spoonful of hot sauce to anything he eats (and he eats quite…loud). Both of them add up to an astounding amount of noise and warmth in this spacey, cold room, which only two days after their departure, I dearly miss already. Whenever I drink an Anchor Steam again, either from bottle or tap, their days spent here are surely to arise from the recesses of my mind.

10/20/08

Guinness Extra Stout

Alright, the real (or better) deal.

Guinness Extra Stout (bottled, brewed in Canada by Labatt), 6.0% ABV, 12oz

Color: When poured, the stout forms a nice, creamy, coffee-colored head. The liquid is pitch-black, so dark that you can see your own reflection on the glass.

Tasting Notes: Waves of thick and smoky (less chocolate-y) roasted malt pleasingly inundates the palate, while the full body envelopes the tongue. The crispness is not sacrificed for flavor here, as subtle hop flavor (not too bitter, not too tame) and carbonation ensure the “dry” is not missing from this helluva oomph-packing Irish Dry Stout. With this available, I can’t see why people would still be attracted to the bottled Draught. This extra stout makes it drink like a pale imitation, yet is still slightly inferior to the product on tap.

Comment: My fondest memories of Guinness lie with the New Year’s Eve party of my freshman year – that is, 2004. On this fateful all-night-long party (which happens to be my first as well), I had a Guinness Extra Stout (9% ABV) from the tap at a now-closed Irish Bar called The Shannon in Taipei – it was heavenly stuff which forever changed my perception of beer. The pint was HUGE, with a perfectly adorably creamy head, poured the RIGHT way (which I still have no clue today). It was smooth, malty and oh so sublime, but I couldn’t finish it. So halfway down I poured a shot of Baileys in and transformed it into a dwarfed Irish Carbomb. Which was also infernally tasty. In retrospect, and presently as someone more learned in the world of beers, I would never drink Guinness as an ICB again. First, the name is quite insulting and politically incorrect – it exhibits a rather Anglo-centric view in terms of its naming – and second, I can appreciate the hop bitterness now. An amusing fact is that my liking for hops has come after peat (in scotch whisky), which is a taste supposedly harder to acquire. Therefore I feel quite comfortable in the realm of barley/grain based liquors – whatever wacky out-of-the-world taste, bring it on! (I may show infinitudes of regret for this statement later.)

Guinness Draught

Back with brews. This time with a displaced classic, or a simulacrum of its former self!

Brewery: Guinness, St. James Gate, Dublin, Ireland (cough, somewhere in Canada)

Guinness Draught (bottled, with nitrogen rocket), 4.2% ABV, 12oz

Color: Ebony, but actual color is closer to a hue of dark coffee/green/blue.

Tasting Notes: The stout forms a thin head (I might not be pouring it properly, though. The nose is quite tempting, with roasted malt and fragrant grains, some leather. Sadly, the palate doesn’t quite fulfill the nose’s potential: first thing one detects is a thin body, lacking roundness. Notes of thick roasted malt stop right before hitting the jackpot, and nitrogen renders the punch even weaker. A lack of carbonation makes the thinness of body and off-metallic bitterness emerge in contrast, ack! There is little to the finish, as the flavors, already skeletal, vanish without a trace. This cleanliness is almost ethereal, ghostly and haunting for those who’ve had a better Guinness elsewhere.

Comment: One could either call Guinness Draught a shadow of its true self (what I refer to the representative Guinness is the Extra Stout from the tap: delicious, delicious stuff) or another victim of globalization. For the latter, not simply counting the over-production implemented to increase global sales, I’m pretty sure the drink on my table is NOT produced in their St. James Gate brewery. Guinness CO. has many subsidiary breweries in Africa, which provide a bulk of their production. But again, this is just speculation. Nevertheless, I can’t picture myself getting another six-pack of this caricature. If there’s any other stout or porter lying around, be my guest.

Samuel Adams Octoberfest

Another beer...good to go with music.

Samuel Adams Octoberfest (lager), 5.4% ABV, 12oz

Color: Amber red, clear.

Tasting Notes: This lager forms a light, tan head when poured. The nose delivers a welcome bouquet of malts (slightly roasted), caramel with supplementary scents of ripe banana and peach. The body is pleasantly thick, with a gentle wave of sweet malt forming the center of the taste, the subdued yet subtle hop flavor complimenting in the form of spices & flowers. All the while, fruity notes emerge into the nose, ending in a brisk finish.

Comment: My first “Octoberfest/Märzen” style lager, the latter in German means "brewed in March". Not as stunning as its labels claim it to be (a malt lover’s dream), nevertheless Samuel Adams Octoberfest is a nice seasonal beer for those who are interested in delving into the maltier side of beer, who doesn’t feel ready yet for a porter, stout or bock. Again, this is my ineluctable bias. The balanced flavor of a well made Octoberfest does reflect the mentality of a mellow autumn: not too striking nor tame, harmonious yet slightly melancholic. But for a “malt maniac” like me, the lager seemed a bit too well-mannered; it had the accessibility and crispness so characteristic of Sam Adams, yet its inability to display more personality ultimately posits it as a fairly decent, but not spectacular beer for me. Having developed a recent liking for hops, they (German Noble hops) are less obviously displayed here, slightly to my disappointment. But it seems that low bitterness and high aromas are characteristic to Noble hops. Oh well, should’ve done my homework. That being said, I should certainly try more Märzens before coming to a definite judgment. Can’t wait to try their Winter Lager and Double Bock, though – the autumn here is sure chewing hard on my sub-tropic, heat-resistant bones.

10/02/08

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

From the words of the guys on BeerAdvocate.com and the great Michael Jackson, an "American Microbrew Classic".

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing CO, Chico CA

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, 5.6% ABV, 12 oz

Color: Robust, pear-ish gold with a hue of copper.

Tasting Notes: Splendidly fragrant citrus, hop and grains arise, the diverse flavors are well integrated. Palate starts rather slow, beginning a smooth and foamy sizzle that gives way to crisp flavors of grains (bread-y) and layered hop bitterness. The presentation is quite raw, primordial and powerful. The finish is almost tea-like, with the hops still at the sides and rear of the tongue, laced with some saltiness.

Comment: A pioneering beer at the time of its inception, this is a classic anyone interested in seriously exploring the choices of beer besides Budweiser, Miller, etc. (all that mass-produced, thinner-than-water lager) should try. It literally made me cry. Well, the Pale Ale’s taste can’t take all the credit, since it was a situational sensation that caught me back there – I had left Taiwan for nearly 1 1/2 months, sipping a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale after dinner – I suddenly thought of my father, that stumpy, fat, inflexible and often strict Mr. Nice Guy Scholar that often disagreed with me on my academic/political issues. The loss of having those discussions, and projecting his image onto the father figure in 朱自清’s essay 背影 seriously jerked my tears: I quietly sobbed a few tears, as if allowing that moment of weakness tore through the façade of my armor. You may ask, why not my mother? The answer is apparent – we Skype every two days and she’s darn pesky. Case closed. Anyways, perhaps due to this incident, Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale will occupy a special position in my beer pantheon, as something that triggered a true incident of nostalgia. Surely I will pick up a six pack again, when I’ve done a good share of exploring other fascinating beers.

9/27/09

Ithaca Apricot Wheat

Let's follow up with another fruit-flavored beer, locally (state-wise) produced, too!

Brewery: Ithaca Beer Company, Ithaca NY, Brewery located in Ithaca

Ithaca Apricot Wheat, 4.9% ABV, 12 oz (bottled)

Color: Light gold/yellow, traced with some maple brown.

Tasting Notes: Nose is pleasant with sweet and mellow apricot aromas, the fruit being less awkward than that of Sam Adam’s Cherry Wheat. The body is medium to light with nice carbonation, gentle wheat flavor blends in with apricot, with the latter being the dominant. Grain sweetness is less noticeable, and hops are virtually non-existent. The downside to this refreshing beer would be its finish; an odd, overripe scent of either rotting fruit or stale barley kicks into the nose after swallowed.

Comment: Another fruity wheat beer that goes down dangerously easy. In the fruit department, it is less sweet and more refined than Sam Adam’s Cherry Wheat, but it loses in the crispness factor. I was somewhat disappointed by the absence of hops – I guess Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale really changed my opinion on the ugly flower. In conclusion, the Apricot Wheat is certainly enjoyable and appetizing, but perhaps not the most distinctive one out there.

9/22/08

Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat

Here's the very first beer I recorded since getting to Binghamton in August!

Brewery: Boston Beer Company, Boston MA, Breweries located in Cincinnati & Ohio, USA.

Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat (wheat beer), 4.5% ABV, 12 oz bottle

Color: Light amber with a hint of red.

Tasting Notes: Nose is profoundly sweet, with a pleasant odor resembling a cherry coke, followed by slight maltiness and a faint aroma of hops. On the palate the beer is livingly crisp, with the sweetness of cherries taking center stage. Smooth wheat flavors (traditionally less assertive than barley) further enhances the fruity sweetness, while the hop influence is felt lightly in the finish, never encroaching the dominance of the fruits.

Comment: A very sweet, easily drinkable beer and I patronizingly declare it a more feminine member of the Sam Adams roster. However it is a bit too sweet to my taste, as the cherry becomes slightly overpowering after downing half a bottle. Despite my preference lying with those having a darker finish, the Cherry Wheat is a welcome change on occasion.

8/19/08

On Beer tasting terminology

I will be using categories largely similar to whisky in my beer tasting notes, with minor differences. I won’t be taking extra time/space to explain various fundamental elements that affect a beer’s taste (such as what hops, roasted malts etc. are) unless it's deeply relevant to the topic.

Color: With extra observations on the foam formed by the beer when poured into a glass.

Tasting Notes: Includes nosing, palate and finish, integrated into one category.

Bang for Buck Meter: Not included, unless it is a particularly expensive beer I’m having.

Comment: General comments about the beverage and/or its brewery, as well as other little things in life.

1/14/09

On Beer writing

It is quite fascinating how a human being’s palate changes. From the sweets-only tongue of a toddler, to taste buds that can accommodate bitterness, inflammatory spice, smokiness and fermented stench, I wonder how complex an interaction occurred between the biological (taste buds & neurons) and the cultural throughout those years. All those foods whose taste was “culturally acquired” e.g. Chinese stinky tofu, Japanese Nattou (sticky beans) and Gorgonzola cheese must be comparable to poison for my infantile self back in the late 80’s. I confess: I still can’t stand Nattou’s mouthfeel.

One of the most widely drank beverages across the globe – Beer – was also something I began to appreciate only recently. Thanks to my amateurish liaison with Whiskeys, I settled into the beer world (flavor-wise) with relative ease. With some help from Brendan, the comp-lit dept.’s very own beer aficionado, I have been discovering great beers at an alarming rate. It was also fortuitous to be in the U.S. currently, with the American Microbrewery/Craft-brewery movement going strong as ever – despite the economic recession – people still have to drink regardless, yeah? These breweries are producing a plethora of styles once completely oblivious to an Asian kid like me. The stereotypical Asian beer is a very light lager designed to be consumed with food, such as China’s Tsingdao & Yenching, Taiwan’s eponymous beer, Japan’s Sapporo, Asahi and Kirin, Thailand’s Singha etc.

Doubtlessly, traditional macrobreweries that gave American beer a nasty reputation have not shown any signs of fatigue, and neither shall they in the future. My beer writing will be primarily dedicated to American microbrews and the big names only occasionally. I would like to share my accumulated tastings and musings over these wonderful (and sometimes not-so wonderful) pints of liquid bread. As a strange side-note, the late Michael Jackson, before becoming prominent as a whisky critic – started his career of journalism in beer! He had a goofy, cute nickname: the Beer Hunter. It is odd that I had blatantly ignored an entire half of his career, until now: was I a whisky snob? Perhaps. Farewell to past ignorance, cheers!

1/14/09