There has been quite a bit of buzz in the last year or so about craft breweries going to canned beers. I am a big fan of this one. There are a lot of buzzes and trends I shy away from and wait for them to die off much like the boy bands of the late 90’s – flavored wit beers come to mind. This one makes sense on many levels, which I will get into soon enough. First things first, in order to “believe” in this revolution of sorts, you have to remove all previous canned beer notions from your head. What do you think of when canned beer is mentioned? Nothing good. It usually is one of the BMCs or its some regional swill (Genesee, Blatz, Schaffer, Stroh’s, Hamm’s, etc.) or something along the lines of the pyramid of natural light cans you made in college that reached the ceiling, ending with you and your roommates wearing the boxes as head gear and a brutal hangover the next day. Now that we have removed those images from your head, much like I had to do when I saw a craft breweries canning beer a couple years ago (Maui Brewing and Oskar Blues where the first I remember) before anyone was going in this direction; we can now move on.

Why cans? There are quite a few good reasons for brewers to use cans. The first and probably the most important is that cans block out the light. Light is the worst thing for beer, so blocking it entirely takes away this problem. Cans also provide a better seal than crown caps and corks; I know I have had a few bottles that have been ruined by a shoddy cap or cork. One thing that is often overlooked is that it costs less to can than bottle. You have a lot less spoiled or broken product so your cost goes down. It is also cheaper to ship cans, they weigh less and the take up less room, so you can store more and ship more. This means that we will be seeing more beers from different areas in the country because of the shipping and storage advantages, distributors can store more beer. There are advantages for you and me as well. One is that you can bring cans where bottles are not welcome, beaches, golfing, pools, and sporting events. This is great because now you are not stuck drinking crap. No more BBQs with The BMCs.

One other advantage to craft beer in a can that I am planning on trying, but haven’t as of yet, is using one for beer can chicken. The possibilities are pretty much limitless as far as what beer to use for this application because you have just about every style known to man being canned. I am looking forward to experimenting with this. I will report the results after I have tried a few different types to see which one I like the best. I am extremely excited to see that a lot of traditionally good craft breweries are starting to or have been putting their beer in cans. New Belgium Brewing Co., famous for its Fat Tire amber ale, has been offered in cans for a couple of years now with more recent additions of Ranger IPA and Sunshine Wheat. Anderson Valley from California has been offering almost all of its line in cans minus their ESB and Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout. Sierra Nevada will be canning their Pale Ale and Torpedo IPA very soon so keep an eye out for those as well. I found a great resource for canned beer news and reviews while doing some research Craftcans.com, check it out it’s a great site dedicated to everything craft beer in a can.

I am currently working my way around the canned beers, it like experimenting all over again with some old favorites and some new beers as well. Here are a couple of my favorite exclusive canned beer breweries, mind you this is by no way EVERY brewery that cans just my favorites that I have experienced we are getting canned beers here slowly but surely in central Ohio.

21^stAmendment – San Francisco, CA. I am a big fan of their beers they have great IPA, Black IPA, and their seasonals are fantastic, they are also not afraid to experiment with big beers in cans Monks’ Blood Belgian ale and Hop Crisis Imperial IPA are also outstanding.

Half Acre Beer Company – Chicago, IL. I tried a couple of their beers on a recent trip to Chicago, Daisy Cutter is great pale ale, and I enjoyed their Over Ale Brown Ale.

Oskar Blues Brewery – Lyons, CO. One of the original breweries that have been canning. Old Chub Scotch Ale is outstanding, and their Gordon IPA is another winner in my book. I have only had a two of their beers and have enjoyed what I have had so far.

3 floyds brewery

beer community for its beer. Most people expect some sort of giant Mecca of beer like Stone Brewing in San Diego, but it’s not. It’s out of the way in a small industrial park, with a brew pub as the basis for the operation. That being said, it was a great experience. The pub itself was much like the beers they brew, quirky, fun, and more than you would expect from such a small place. Mix in some heavy  metal playing, and beers named after a couple of metal bands and I was sold already. Perfect Strangers reruns were playing on a wall in the restaurant which added a certain something. I went in having had a couple of their beers, which are very coveted, nearly impossible to find outside of Chicago or Indianapolis. I knew the beer was outstanding. When I looked at what they had available, I was like a kid in a candy store. Pretty much everything they do is a small batch beer. They do have a good lineup of regular run beers with higher production (I will review them in a later post) that are available in the surrounding areas. I was after the hard to find over the top beers that I had heard about many times. They didn’t disappoint. I decided to try 2 different beers that were available on tap. The first was one of their seasonal beers Blackheart. This was an English IPA that packed a wallop. It is one of the most complex IPA’s I have had.

3 floyds

It is made with all English ingredients and aged on toasted oak. This one was very hoppy and had flavors ranging from tropical fruits to vanilla and bourbon. The next I was encouraged to get by my wife because the name was great. Shark Pants, one that is on tap only at the brew pub.  Awesome name, and a fantastic beer at that, this was a collaboration with the De Struise Brouwers from Belgium. They used De Struise Brouwers house yeast and created an estimated 260 IBU (international bitterness units) Belgian IPA.Putting this into perspective Ruination from Stone their Imperial IPA, weighs in at 100 IBU, needless to say Shark Pants is hoppy as hell, but it was well rounded and just one of those beers that makes you want more. My wife tried their wheat beer that has quite a following, Gumball Head.  Naturally I tried it. I thought it was one of the best wheat beers I have had. It had a nice citrusy flavor and a little bit of sweetness, a different interpretation of a wheat beer, but I thought it was better than most that I have tried. I have to say that I left 3 Floyds not disappointed (and with a bounty of beers they had available for purchase) one bit. On to Chicago!

Chicago

Before we embarked on our trip to Chicago we decided that we wanted to try something different when we went there. We decided to go on the Chicago Beer Experience, a walking beer tour of the Lincoln Park/Lakeview neighborhoods. I am always in for a good tour and beer tasting. The aspects of the tour that also attracted me where going to local establishments on the tour, not just a tour of a brewery (which are great don’t get me wrong) and tying in the rich beer history in Chicago. I am a huge beer history fanatic and since I didn’t know a lot about Chicago’s brewing history I thought it would be fun to learn. Once again Chicago didn’t disappoint. Our hosts and tour guides Christopher (who goes by Bruce) and Ariana were fantastic. They were very informed, and most of all they were very fun and enthusiastic. Sometimes historical tours can be dry and boring, this one was not. We went to 4 different establishments: Vaughn’s Pub

Bruce & Ariana

 a cool neighborhood Irish Pub, Paddy Longs Beer and Bacon Pub- where you experience a beer and bacon pairing, Bodega Ramos a small wine beer and spirits shop, where everything is hand-picked by the owners (I purchased the one bottle of 3 Floyds that I couldn’t get at the brewery), and Delilah’s a hole in the wall punk bar with a great beer selection and over 400 types of whiskey. It was a fantastic time and I highly recommend taking the tour. It was relatively inexpensive at $54. You get to taste beer, get some history and get a bacon pairing. It’s a must do tour if you are from Chicago or visiting and you like beer. All in all it was a great day, a tour with beer, a little history and bacon, what’s not to like?

Bodega Ramos & Beer tour group at Vaughn's Pub

I will be diving into more of our trip (oh yes there is more…couldn’t leave out the food, and more beer) in my next post.I don’t think anyone  would belive that I went to Chicago and didn’t actually eat my way through town….more to come!

It’s been a long time since I have posted anything on here, and I finally decided that it was time to get back to writing about beer, and everything relating to it. I would like to thank everyone who has read and still reads my blog, and some of you have given me the inspiration to start it up again. I thought of being clever and naming this something like Return of the Beer Geek (then I decided not to George Lucas or Peter Jackson may have contacted lawyers or something like that if one of their watchdogs saw it), or Craft Beer World 2.0, that was too Matrix like, so I decided that revealing my sci-fi geekiness was not necessary for the title. I am just going to pick up where I left off almost 1 year ago, Summer Beers.

 Just to let it be known I haven’t had a Summer Beer epiphany and decided that summer seasonal beers are my favorites. I still feel the same, most are insipid clones of one another and offer little diversity in styles or flavors, minus an addition of raspberry, cherry, or some other fruit. Now that we got that out of the way, I have found some seasonals that I do like and while lighter in body and strength are great beers for the summer that have a lot of flavor.

I have become a big fan of 21^st Amendment brewery from San Francisco. They are like me in a way and think out of the box. They can their beer which goes against the “norm” as far as packaging goes (I plan on doing a post on canned beer in the future, and I will explain why this is a good thing), not to mention they make beer fun, which it should be. Their summer seasonal is an Americanized English Bitter, fittingly called Bitter American. This is a nice pale ale that has a more assertive hop presence than its English counterpart, which gives it a nice citrusy finish. That being said, it is well balanced with a nice bit of malt without being sweet or too bready or biscuity. This makes for a good session beer as it only has only 4.6% ABV which is nice when you want a few more than normal. The balance also makes it very versatile when it comes to pairing with food. It can go with just about anything you can throw on the grill, but it pairs best with grilled chicken, especially if you are making something spicy like a jerk chicken or even just a tangy BBQ ‘d chicken. Rating: 86

Next is a Summer Brew by Southern Tier Brewing Company from Lakewood, NY, Hop Sun. If you haven’t tried anything by them, I highly recommend them. They do a great job at making a variety of styles and they all pack a lot of creativity and flavor. Hop Sun is as good as they come for a wheat ale in my opinion. It’s light but it has a lot of flavor. It has a nice fruity start but not overpowering like some wheat beers tend to be (think of Trix or Fruity Pebbles cereal).It is a little yeasty which I look for in a good wheat ale, but not overpowering, then there is a subtle hop bite at the end to give it a dryness and a nice hint of citrus. A very Solid wheat beer and very drinkable on a hot day, great beer for a summer clambake, grilled fish like Snapper or Walleye (my favorite type of fish). Rating:84

Bell’s Brewery from Kalamazoo, MI has one of the more highly anticipated summer beers, Oberon. I like this one, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be in my opinion. It is a good wheat ale that has a nice refreshing flavor, with the main overtone being that of orange with a hint of lemon. My problem is that the finish is kind of ordinary and falls short of some other wheat. If it had a little yeastiness it would work a lot better. The one thing I do like is that Bell’s offers this in a 5 liter keg can, which is great for a backyard gathering, or if you just really like it. Overall it’s good not great, but I am in the minority when it comes to this one. Rating: 76

These are just a few of the seasonal beers for summer that are out there, without going into too much detail here are a some other ones that are pretty solid in my opinion and a couple to avoid when doing your beer shopping.

Worth a try:

Brooklyn Summer - A nice bready, lemony crisp summer beer.

Deschutes Twilight Ale - Grainy and more hoppy that most summer beers, a good BBQ beer.

Anderson Valley Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema – This is a different one for sure, it is a very malty offering from Anderson Valley that has a cream soda like flavor (lots of vanilla and hints of maple) worth a shot in my book

Don’t waste your money:

Blue Moon Honey Moon – Nothing going on at all with this one, just a below average ale with a hint of honey mostly a marketing tool.

Pyramid Curveball – Very plain and uninspired attempt at a summer beer, not awful, but not good either.

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy – I liked this at one point a couple of years back, but now it has a Lemon Pledge like flavor to it, think Mike’s Hard Lemonade without the sweetness, dreadful on any level.

I find summer beers to be loathsome, insipid and just downright BORING for the most part. They bug me to no end. For me summer beers are like the 80+ thousand South Africans blowing those stupid tuneless horns in the World Cup, just a loud droning sound that won’t stop.

I am not knocking their quality or anything like that,  we could be in the dark ages with just lagers and swill beer. I do like some of the summer beers, but I think that there is just an overkill going on that bugs the hell out of me.  

Someone needs to explain to me why Kölsch ale a style from Cologne Germany has become the seemingly only style produced as a summer seasonal for the US craft beer scene. I did some research for this; I’d say no less than 20 breweries that I know of are doing these beers. The style is a great style for summer I suppose, light crisp, slight bitterness with a grassy and lemony flavor. Why is it “good for summer” because it’s hot outside…..boo-hoo….how many of us set(yes set not sit) on the porch and wipe the sweat from our brow with a handkerchief  wishing for a cold crisp beer to cool us off while we talk of days gone by listening to the ball game on the radio….NONE. In case you live under a rock or shun mid 20^th century technology 99% of bars and restaurants and most our Homes are air conditioned in some fashion. So why not have an Imperial Stout then if you like it. Just because the temp is over 75 degrees doesn’t mean that heavy beers are to be put away until the fall. In wine world does everyone move to whites and roses because it’s hot, nope. Zins and Cabs are regularly suggested to pair with BBQ.

This brings us to the next problem I have the BBQ. Or the misconception of the BBQ.Lighter beers work for the setting, I do go along with that. You are outside and need a little refreshment, works in that context.Food wise..not so much unless you are doing grilled chicken or fish, or possibly a Cuban or Caribbean inspired pork or grilled veggies. I am not a big fan of these beers with our mainstays of the Grill- heavy meat dishes including burgers and steak, most pork, Lamb as well as anything with BBQ sauce or spicy foods. In my Opinion you loose the beer with these heavy flavors.

So what would I do for beer then you may be asking. Simple, play to the food if you are grilling. Meat dishes on the grill for me go well with Pale Ales, Brown Ales, IPA’s, as well as Belgian Doubles and Quads. Burgers and a good American Pale Ale like Great Lakes Burning River, Firestone Walker Pale 31, or Bluegrass Brewing Co. American Pale Ale go together like peas and carrots. They help cut the fattiness of the burger with a slight hoppiness, add a layer of sweetness from the malt to bring all of the richness and flavor of the grilling and the  flavor meat itself, and it rounds out the flavors on your palate to hit every portion of it.A large explanation for a burger, I know but it’s how my brain works in pairing food and beer.

I will dive further into the summer fun with some food, beer pairings and a little less ranting, in my next summer post.

I have found some breweries that I am liking a lot out here. Victory, Troëgs, Bells, Founders, and of course one of my self proclaimed all-time favorites Great Lakes. Of course I have been diving into the IPA pool back here……not the same as some of the West Coast IPA’s but I have has a couple that are just outstanding none the less. If I have a serious craving Stone IPA always fixes anything. Here are 3 of my “new Favorites”, with more to come.

Founders-Red’s Rye IPA

 This is a fantastic overall beer. Very well balanced with a great citrus aroma as well as some slight pine, a nice caramel sweetness from the malt, the rye addition gives it a different layer of maltiness and adds some earthy flavors that balance out the huge hop burst on the front and helps sustain it through out this wonderfully hoppy beer.

Rating: 91

Victory- Hop Devil

This has become one of my go to beers since arriving in Ohio. It is a nicely balanced IPA with a good malt profile, good fruity and floral hop kick. It is maltier than my usual choice in an IPA but I do like the balance and consistency in flavor from this one.

Rating: 89

Troëgs Nugget Nectar

I can honestly say that I have found one of my newly anticipated Seasonal releases. It has a lot going on, in a good way. It’s an awesome hybrid Amber ale meets Imperial Ipa. One to look forward to for sure. It’s hoppy as hell, slightly sweet and Carmel like which gives it an almost sweet blood orange like flavor with doses of pineapple and grapefruit. An out-right killer beer.

Rating: 93

Now that the expanations are out of the way, on to the trip. We got a late start so the first stop was Kingman, Az where my wife, bother-in-law Marshall, and our dog Logan stopped for the night, nothing exciting but that’s ok. The next day we were off and runiing early and I was enduring the winds in the Elelment, but we had to make a stop……Winslow,Az. Most people with a head know where this is going. The Eagles song “takin it easy” has the line “standing on a corner in Winsolw Arizona…” most of you know the rest. So there is actually a “park” of sorts there on a corner with a sign and a mural with “a girl my lord in a flatbed Ford” cheesey as hell I knkow but it had to be done…..

So that was Winslow, with an odd cheesey but somewhat cool stop for us. The statue in the picture is Glenn Frey. Looks like Jackson Browne in person, but anyway back to the story of the trek. Like I had mentioned, wind was screwing everything up…including my beer search. There wasn’t much to be had on the first leg. Nothing out of the Ordinary at least. I will get into more in my next post when we actually get to a place with beer that is worth talking about…..

Sounds strange I know, but family and friends are in the immediate area and we needed a change of scenery. Reasons why are another story, so what does this mean for me and beer? It means that I get to try out new and exciting beers (to me at least)!! There is also the burning East vs. West beers question. Being a hop head West Coast IPAs are my favorite as I have said many times. I will be seeking out comparable ones in the lovely Midwest that hopefully come close to what I enjoy. I will be doing an East vs. West Post after I have settled in for a bit and tries out some of the brews Columbus has to offer. I can’t wait to try all of the breweries that I hear so much about from my friends back there. Who knows I may even find an IPA that can replace Stone (highly unlikely but you never know).

We are going to be doing a video blog of our trip across the country. We are taking the Route 66 southern route back so I am looking forward to hitting some breweries/brewpubs along the way(my wife is thrilled by the beer geek  angle *insert sarcasm here*) as well as the oddities that you always find on the road like the worlds largest whatever, should be a good time. Look for more frequent posts in the near future as well as updates to the recipe pages as well as others on my blog.

 Beyond the oversaturation is the “coffee bomb” flavor profile. They range from ones that I tag as Carmel Frappucchino the overly sweet coffee, caramel, chocolate style, to ones that are like a pot of fresh dark coffee. Then there are the twisted ones with all kinds of goodies added vanilla, licorice, Coffee, Chocolate, all cool ingredients, but I am over them personally. I want something different, not something that tastes more like something from a coffee bar than a brewery. I know a lot of people are into them and it shows on beer websites that have rating boards they are saturated at the top with RIS or RIS like beers, it’s all well and good but are they the best because they taste good or because they have been so hyped for so long that they have to be voted good. I think that some craft beer fans need to start branching out past coffee land and start looking at other styles to consider as a “benchmark” for how good a beer is. Like over-all flavor, smell, balance, etc not the fact that someone waited in line in Indiana to get you the beer so it has to be good. That is all I got for now……I will be diving into some holiday beers so coming up and I will give my best of the best for the season

  That being said if you consider all of the flavors involved, they run from sweet to tart as well. The one thing I tell everyone when pairing with beer is that sometimes you need to let go of preconceived notions about pairing. A lot of you go into this meal, like I used to do as well and say “well hoppy beers are out, too much earthy food going on….not going to pair well.”  This is not true. Being a hop-head, I had to try and find a way to incorporate a good IPA or something hoppy into the meal. If you take a logical look an IPA is a great choice as well. It is very complimentary to everyone’s favorite  side dish cranberry sauce(yes, even the one shaped like a can that someone HAS to have at the meal or they call you a communist and ask you why you would bother making cranberry sauce from scratch when Wal-Mart sells it for 2 dollars a case). You also get a lot of contrasting flavors in the sweet and earthy dishes offered. Playing by the rules in pairing is for people who have basically never tried a different way to do anything. I am not like that, I always test the boundaries of rules to se what happens, and sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s bad.

Since I am a beer dork……here is what I decided to do I came up with “flights” for Thanksgiving to make it a little fun for everyone. I like to mix it up a bit with styles but I like doing a bit of themed pairings as well. One way is to go with a singular Brewery. You can do a favorite or go local if you have access to a local brewery. There is no order of what is a better pairing compared to another, these are just some that I came up with that work well.I will add to this in the next day or 2 so you can go out and have fun for the Big Holiday!

  I like to dive into traditions and make new ones, so I pair up some different and unique beers with the meal. Now this really depends on what you do with the turkey. In general with a regular turkey (you know roasted with sage stuffing, gravy, etc) I go with Belgian ale. I know there are different styles and types, but the Quad (Quadruple) is the best fit for the meal in my opinion. They are full bodied, malty, somewhat fruity, and very rich in flavor which goes extremely well with the type of food, which is a nice complimentary pairing. Beers in this particular style are St. Bernardus Abt 12, Trappistes Rochefort 10, and Urthel Samaranth. If you want the style but prefer a good American craft brew Lost Abby Judgment Day, Avery’s The Reverend are a couple of great ones. Now if you can’t get these great beers or you want something different than traditional pairings, that I enjoy then I suggest going with the vast array of Holiday and Limited run beers that are out this time of year. This is a fun way to get into the holiday spirit and also try some outstanding one of a kind beers. One that I have recently tried and loved was Pangaea by Dogfish Head. It has a Belgian like flavor with a subtle hint of Ginger (they added crystallized Ginger to it). It is an incredible brew. If you can get your hands on it, it is perfect for the main course at any Holiday table. Along those Lines I would also suggest Stone’s Cali-Belgique if you can find that one as well. It’s essentially their IPA brewed with a Belgian yeast strain, so it resembles a hoppy Belgian trippel.I love a good hoppy beer and Celebration from Sierra Nevada is that. This one is nice and malty with a serious bite to it. This is perfect for those who choose to deep fry their turkey and hopefully not set your yard on fire. I love the combo of fried food and hoppy beers. It just works for me. This is the first part of my Thanksgiving pairing sessions; I will go more in-depth in the next couple of posts with ratings and some recipes if you are looking for some more interesting fare.