BEER (and apparently, WINE)

[SDragon]

Not bad for a first-timer, huh? The weather over the weekend was a bit rough. It even went so far as to throw some snow into the rain! tonight is much nicer though, and I'm starting on the Blue Moon, from the same brand. This is a "Belgian-style wheat beer".

The head seems a bit denser than the Pale Moon's, and the color is much lighter as well. A cloudy amber. This was just as tricky to pour as the last, leaving me to wonder if it's me, the glass, or the brewery?

The aroma is sweet and mildly fruity. I want to say more oranges, but I'm not sure. I can't tell if it's in the flavor or aroma, but is that a hint of bananas there?

Overall, much more preferable than the Pale Moon.

[SDragon]

Tonight is Honey Moon, a "summer ale", and the last kind of beer in this sampler. I tried tilting the glass this time to help control the pour, and the head didn't go out of control. If anything, it was a little small, but that's still better than overflowing, right?

The first thing I noticed about the head-- after the size-- was the color; it seemed a bit lighter than the heads of the prior beers. Is this just me, or do different beers have different colored heads?

Speaking of color, this beer isn't subtle in trying to live up to it's name. The clear, honey-gold color is light; darker than the Blue Moon, but certainly closer to that than to the Pale Moon.

The aroma, again, is that of honey, only with a touch of spices of some sort or another. I wonder what that could be?

The flavor continues the trend; if it weren't for the hint of malts, I'd probably start to wonder if my beer was secretly exchanged for some mead! It's certainly delicate enough. Sweet, too.

Overall, I'd probably say it's close enough to being tied with the Blue Moon in order of preference. I would definitely enjoy this on my front porch on a nice afternoon.

[LordVreeg]

Groth 06 Cab, last night

still young, but very deep, with chocolate and coffee notes.
Died on the tongue a little, but a few years may change that.

[LordVreeg]

Barolo docg Cannubi FROM Giacomo Fenocchio...

Just openned some of my 04, really a nice bottle that I frankly got at a good price.  Really acidic uppon openning, needed some time in the glass to liven up and open.  Probably could have used another hour or so, at least.
After close to an hour in the glass, I got a lot more balanced tannins and some raisin, some cherry and sharp citrus aftertaste.

[SDragon]

Too far gone tinight to give full-fledged reviews, but here goes, anyway:

Sam Adams, Summer Ale (had on the fourth) and Boston Lager (bottles for both): good stuff, here. The Summer Ale is clearly more for lighter, summer stuff, but they're both good.

Budweiser (not sure what style; keg): Not bad if you can find a couple of guys to hold you upside-down by your legs. Not quite as patable from a plastic cup. Make sure the former is done before the latter.+

[LordVreeg]

Too far gone tinight to give full-fledged reviews, but here goes, anyway:

Sam Adams, Summer Ale (had on the fourth) and Boston Lager (bottles for both): good stuff, here. The Summer Ale is clearly more for lighter, summer stuff, but they're both good.

Budweiser (not sure what style; keg): Not bad if you can find a couple of guys to hold you upside-down by your legs. Not quite as patable from a plastic cup. Make sure the former is done before the latter.+

I would love to tell you that I have no idea what you are talking about.
I'd be lying.

Blacksmith Commisure 06.
The last year they used the chambourcin grape.
zippy, light, and almost sudzy, this meritage (chambourcin, cab franc, merlot, and a white grape that escapes me...really) does well on  summer night or with asian food.

[SDragon]

Vreeg, anyone that has as many posts in this thread as you do knows exactly what I was talking about. It's all just part of your impeccable charm.

I just discovered that I have a bottle of '02 Livingston Cellars Chablis Blanc. I'm probably not going to open it for quite awhile, but what should I expect when I do open it?

I'm going to be opening this bottle up sometime this week, with a fillet of tilapia. What prep advice would you offer?

[O Senhor Leetz]

I'm going to be opening this bottle up sometime this week, with a fillet of tilapia. What prep advice would you offer?

Tequila shots. Just saying.

[LordVreeg]

Vreeg, anyone that has as many posts in this thread as you do knows exactly what I was talking about. It's all just part of your impeccable charm.

I just discovered that I have a bottle of '02 Livingston Cellars Chablis Blanc. I'm probably not going to open it for quite awhile, but what should I expect when I do open it?

I'm going to be opening this bottle up sometime this week, with a fillet of tilapia. What prep advice would you offer?

with that?
OPen it about 1/2 hour before drinking and put in the fridge.
Saute the Tialpia with pine nuts and lemon, with a linty bit of wine splashed in as well.
Serve with arugala salad (with chopped apple and cheddar, and a lemon/dijon dressing)

[SDragon]

Tomorrow night, the wine. Tonight, a better review of the Sam Adams Summer Ale.

The head looked OK, but didn't last long in this glass. I couldn't get the whole beer in there, either.

The color reminds me very much of the Honey Moon, although a bit lighter. This is probably just a trait of summer ales.

The aroma is sweetish, with almost no hops at all. I almost want to say it's fruity, but I can't quite make out why. There's a little bit of a soap scent. Could that just be the glass?

There's a little bit of spice to the flavor, here. This could be the flavor of the "grains of Paradise". What really impresses me, though, is that this isn't as watery as I expected. For lack of a better word, the taste is solid.

Overall, not bad. There's two more left in the fridge, and I can't promise how long those will last.

[SDragon]

Tonight: Tilapia, Chablix Blanc, and Dylan live on vinyl.

The fish is decent. It was pre-seasoned with garlic and herbs, but I did put a little splash of lemon on it.

The wine is very enjoyable. Being a white wine, it's not what I'd call sweet, but it doesn't have the bite of dryness. The citrus is subtle, but definitely present. I want to say orange, but there's an ever-so-slight lemon undertone to that, too. There's a slight, not unpleasant tang here, too. That could be what's making me think lemons.

The combo is good, too. With the possible exception of the volume of the music, nothing is overpowering anything, here. It's okay though, because these days, a warm, folksy crackle-pop-mumble is a hard sound to come across, and well worth it when you do.

Edit-- the tang is still lingering on my lips. Neat!

[LordVreeg]

Clone 5 Cabernet Sav, 05, found in discount bin.  I can see why.  Kellik would have charged back into this wine store and slain the merchant, or at least scared him.  Thin and putrid.

[limetom]

Forgot to mention, I finally got around to trying Orion, the local beer of Okinawa.  It comes in several styles, but all the one's I've had are either happoshu, or Japanese rice lagers.

So what the heck are those?  A happoshu is a low-malt beer (by law, it must have less than 67% malt content).  They do this by adding rice; you don't taste the rice, but you do taste the lack of hops.  Technically, it's not even beer, just a beer-flavored liquor.  Why would you possibly make that, you ask?  Because it's the lowest tax category for beer in Japan.  I can get a 500 mL can of Orion Southern Star, the local breweries' variety, for less than US$1.50.

Most happoshu are just plain unpalatable, ranging from beer-flavored water to just plain "blegh."  So how's Southern Star taste?  Actually, not awful; it's actually drinkable, though if you really like your beer, you'll probably try it once and forget about it.  Not bad enough to really remember, not good enough to have impressed you.  Really, the fact that it isn't horrid and so cheap is about the only reason I've drank it more than once.

Japanese lagers, like American lagers, were derived from Czech Pilsners.  There's really not that huge a gap in taste.  That being said, American lagers tend to either be "good" or "unpalatable", while Japanese lagers cluster around "average," with some getting up there especially when paired with food.  (Note that I'm talking about 'standard' beers; seasonal or (actually) premium beers are different in both the US and Japan.)

So what's a "Japanese rice lager"?  Like happoshu, it doesn't have 100% malt content, but it is somewhere above 67% (again, cut with rice).  I had Orion Premium Draft.  I'd say this borders somewhere between "average" and "good."  It's a very delicate, but crisp, beer; I was going to use "light," but that's not quite right.  Especially because of the rice, you get a really nuanced taste.  And it has a very "clean" taste.  This goes very good with yakiniku or sushi, but I wouldn't recommend it with anything spicy (luckily, most Japanese food is not spicy).  You'd want a stronger lager for that.

tl;dr - Japanese beer: it looks like American beer, but in Japan, you actually get what you pay for.

[limetom]

Forgot to mention, I finally got around to trying Orion, the local beer of Okinawa.  It comes in several styles, but all the one's I've had are either happoshu, or Japanese rice lagers.

So what the heck are those?  A happoshu is a low-malt beer (by law, it must have less than 67% malt content).  They do this by adding rice; you don't taste the rice, but you do taste the lack of hops.  Technically, it's not even beer, just a beer-flavored liquor.  Why would you possibly make that, you ask?  Because it's the lowest tax category for beer in Japan.  I can get a 500 mL can of Orion Southern Star, the local breweries' variety, for less than US$1.50.

Most happoshu are just plain unpalatable, ranging from beer-flavored water to just plain "blegh."  So how's Southern Star taste?  Actually, not awful; it's actually drinkable, though if you really like your beer, you'll probably try it once and forget about it.  Not bad enough to really remember, not good enough to have impressed you.  Really, the fact that it isn't horrid and so cheap is about the only reason I've drank it more than once.

Japanese lagers, like American lagers, were derived from Czech Pilsners.  There's really not that huge a gap in taste.  That being said, American lagers tend to either be "good" or "unpalatable", while Japanese lagers cluster around "average," with some getting up there especially when paired with food.  (Note that I'm talking about 'standard' beers; seasonal or (actually) premium beers are different in both the US and Japan.)

So what's a "Japanese rice lager"?  Like happoshu, it doesn't have 100% malt content, but it is somewhere above 67% (again, cut with rice).  I had Orion Premium Draft.  I'd say this borders somewhere between "average" and "good."  It's a very delicate, but crisp, beer; I was going to use "light," but that's not quite right.  Especially because of the rice, you get a really nuanced taste.  And it has a very "clean" taste.  This goes very good with yakiniku or sushi, but I wouldn't recommend it with anything spicy (luckily, most Japanese food is not spicy).  You'd want a stronger lager for that.

tl;dr - Japanese beer: it looks like American beer, but in Japan, you actually get what you pay for.

Also, for those wanting to try Orion outside of Japan, tough luck.  It's hard to find outside of Okinawa, and isn't, to the best of my knowledge, sold anywhere outside of Japan.

Granted, you're not missing much.  I doubt it would be as cheap internationally.

[Nomadic]

Kellik would have charged back into this wine store and slain the merchant, or at least scared him.

I lol'd