Mjød

This review comes with a bit of a culture/history lesson as well (aren't you excited?).

First the history: mead is the forebearer of all fermented drinks and has was developed independently all over the world.  The ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Europeans all made and consumed mead.  It has even been noted by Claude Lévi-Strauss (no, not the jeans guy) that the invention of mead is a marker for societies to go from nature to culture.

Now for a bit of culture: the Vikings kicked a lot of ass as well as made mead (though they called it "braggot") and other alcoholic beverages that also kicked ass (a bit of speculation on the drinks there, but the drinks must have been good since it is one of the primary things to do in Valhalla).

For those of you not in the know, mead is made from fermented honey and there are occasionally spices and other things added for flavor depending on who was making it and when.

Now for the review portion of tonight's show: Mjød is pretty good stuff.

What, you wanted more than that?  Fine.

Mjød, by Viking Brewing Company would undoubtedly bring delight to the barbarous masses of the Northlands of old as well as any self respecting drinker of mead anywhere today.

Appearance wise, Mjød is nothing special.  It is a light amber in color and a one finger head that runs away faster than the women that the Vikings ravaged all those years ago.

The nose is where Mjød really shines.  With every whiff, you are transported to a verdant orchard filled with ripe grapes and apples with an afterthought of honey, which is somewhat of an odd occurance with braggots in my experiences.

The mouthfeel is pleasant, just the right amount of carbonation.

The taste is almost as wonderful as the smell.  Apples, grapes, grain and some honey.  The honey must have been eaten up in the fermentation process, which would explain the light aroma and taste of honey, but I am not complaining.  

The finish is clean and dry, leaving behind a bit of cereal grains and the faintest tint of alcohol.

Mjød is by far the best braggot/mead I have had in quite a long time: 5/5.  Go out and buy some and send it to me, this could very well be a new standby for me.

Sacred Cow IPA

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a soft spot for India Pale Ales.  This afternoon at lunch, I asked the barkeep what IPAs were on avaialable and, much to my surprise they had Arbor Brewing Company's Sacred Cow IPA.  I have heard some wonderful things about their take on the classic style of beer.

I was brought a glass of a slightly hazy, dark blonde beer with a thick white head.

In the nose, I got a big hit of hops and a bit more citrus (oranges and lemons) than I am used to, but I was not about to complain, afterall, I was having the lunch of champions: beer.

The mouthfeel of the Sacred Cow is very oily (for some reason that sounds very dirty to me), most likely because of the amount of hops used in brewing.  The mouthfeel was a bit of a turnoff, but the taste made up for it with a few surprises.

The aforementioned citrus fruits were there in full force, but not just the oranges and lemons, there were grapefruits!  Though they take a back seat, the grapefruits are a very welcome addition to the blend.

The finish was subtle and crisp, leaving behind a few hops and notes of yeast.

Would I suggest this beer to a friend?  Probably not, but my friends all drink Pabst and Coors Light, so they would have a hard time figuring out what to do with a beer that doesn't taste like piss.

The Sacred Cow IPA from Arbor Brewing Company gets a 3.5/5.  There are a lot of good things going on with this beer: flavor profile, nose and appearance are all very good but the oily mouthfeel throws everything out of whack.

Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre

Perusing the local boozemonger's shelves and coolers, I ran across something new (at least new to me) by the wonderful folks at Dogfish Head.  I was first turned on to Dogfish Head beers by my cousin Alex, who introduced me to my first IPA: Dogfish Head 120-Minute and it was love at first sip.  Despite everything I've had by DFH being somewhere in the range of good to great, I was fairly skeptical at any single beer being a "reason for being" (those two years of French in high school finally paid off!).

Anyway, I bought the six pack and was on my merry way home to relax with a brew or six.  The pour was nothing spectacular: a deep brown color with a half inch of head topping it off.  To me, the head was a bit light in color when compared to the look of the beer, but I won't take any points off for that.

Soon enough, I found out that the clever folks at Dogfish Head were having some fun with words as the single most prevalent scent to this beer was...wait for it...RAISINS!  I got giddy for a few moments as I absolutely love me some raisin.

After calming down, I was able to sample the beer in hopes of some raisiny goodness that my nose had promised me.  The first thing that my mouth noticed was an abundance of bubbles that died off before too long.  It was unexpected, but not altogether unwelcome.  Taste wise, there were definately raisins there and I noticed some oaky notes.  That, along with a smooth mouthfel reminded me of some wines that I have had in the past.  

As far as the finish goes, this is were this beer falls a bit short.  The above average alcohol content (8.0%) rears its head a bit to readily and clashes slightly with the wonderful flavors going on in the initial taste.

The verdict?  This is an amazing beer.  Raisins and beer: two great tastes that taste great together, to borrow a phrase.

Dogfish Head wins again with their Raison D'Etre, it gets a 4.5/5 on my score sheet, only losing points for the not so subtle paly on words with the title and the slightly strong bite.

Warsteiner Dunkel

Since the beer list at Lowertown has been "under revision" for the past month or so, there are a good number of beers that they carry in bottles that I have never tried before.  Last night, I decided to go out on a limb and let the waitress suprise me with "something dark."   She seemed fairly confused that someone would ask for a random beer with the only qualifier being that it was to be a dark beer.  

After a few minutes, she came back saying, "Nikky said this was a good beer and it is dark.  Hope you like it."

I took the bottle and it was a Warsteiner Premium Dunkel.  I know that I have had a different beer from the folks at Warsteiner, all I remember is that it wasn't a dunkel and it wasn't nearly as good as this one.  

Pouring the beer into my glass, the color was almost as dark as a porter, just a shade lighter.  I ended up with about two inches of beige head that complimented the appearance quite well.

The aroma is slightly hoppy with a strong hit of malt and a little molasses.

The molasses sticks around in the taste of the beer, not overpowering, just the right amount of sweetness to counteract the mildly bitter finish, where the hops come to the forefront.

This beer has turned me into a fan of Warsteiner products, I think I'll try a few other of their beers soon.

Score: Warsteiner Dunkel gets a 4/5, excellent taste, wonderful aroma and near perfect finish.

Old Speckled Hen

One of my favorite places to go when I want to try a new beer is The Box Bar.  They always have a good selection of beer on tap, the standards as well as a few revolving taps of various local brews.  But when I go there, I always try to have at least one new beer that I had never heard of before.  This time, it was an English bitter called Old Speckled Hen.

There is no real rhyme or reason behind how I choose a new beer when at The Box; I usually just open up the beer book and pick one at random.  On that fateful October night, my finger landed on Old Speckled Hen.  I ordered one and shortly, I had a pint glass filled with a medium red liquid with a finger and a half of reddish tan head.  If I wasn't at a bar, I could have mistaken it for some sort of berry juice.  Aside from the odd appearance of this drink, I forged ahead and sampled the aroma of this ale.

I was blown away by the near skunky smell of Old Speckled Hen.  I could tell that there were a few promising hints of fruits and berries but in front of those were rancid flowers and frightened skunks.

Having been fooled before by rancid smelling foods and drinks that end up being rather pleasant or even wonderful I decided to take a sip and I was astounded at how disgusting this beer was.  Now, I enjoy bitters quite a lot,  but when there are so many flavors and notes of other flavors, I have to take a step back and evaluate just how much thought went into crafting this beverage.

On second thought, I cannot in good concience say that Old Speckled Hen is or was ever "crafted."  I imagine a rookie brewer tossing random hops and malts into his kettle and hoping for the best.  The mouthfeel is that of a normal ale, which is perhaps the best part to this beer.  The flavor is so jumbled up that there is no discerning what is going on inside that glass.

I won't give Old Spekled Hen a terrible score as the color, mouthfeel and head are all that of a good beer, but everything else is not something I wish to experience again.

Old Speckled Hen recieves a 2.84/5.

Oak Aged Woodchuck

The other night, I was wandering through the beer section of my local grocery store looking fo something new to try when I noticed a bright green six pack. Being attracted to bright colors, especially when there is alcohol involved, I took a closer look and saw that it was a "Limited Release" Oak Aged Woodchuck Cider. I have a soft spot for ciders since I worked at a cider mill for seven years, so I grabbed the six pack and proceeded to the register to pay so I could head home and imbibe this (hopefully) wonderful nectar.

I have always been a fan of Strongbow over Woodchuck. Strongbow has a better flavor, is smoother and not as dry. Woodchuck is still tasty, but Strongbow is just better.

The appearance is nothing unexpected of a cider, medium yellow color and a light head. The first sip reveals the normal flavors of Woodchuck, but the finish is something completely different; a mild dryness. When compared to normal Woodchuck Amber, the oak aged cider is far superior; the apples are there, but the distinct Woodchuck taste is not.

After about half a pint, the cider warmed to just below room temperature and I found something vaguely familiar about this new addition to the Woodchuck family: it tasted like Strongbow, which made me delight in the taste even more.

For its similarities to Strongbow, I applaud the folks at Woodchuck, but at the same time I was sorely disappointed that there was not something totally new. There is nothing absolutely new to the world of hard cider, but it is not unwelcome, if only to show people that aging drinks in oak tends to make everything better.
If we must put a number to things, I would give the Limited Release Woodchuck a 4/5 for its similar taste to Strongbow. It loses a point for not being anything new and only being a limited release because the good stuff should be available all year round.