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So it sure has been a while hasn’t it?  well I would like to welcome you back to the new and improved This Week In Beer! So I have spent the last few months streamlining the website and cutting out much of the fat (no one really used that map anyway).  So hopefully this new site will usher in an era of smother functionality and smoother beer. I hope.

So beyond the trimmed down site, i have a docket of ideas for new features and shows.  The social site is still here, but it is seriously trimmed down.   The site is now responsive too so you should see a mobile friendly version when you visit from a smartphone or tablet.  I do expect to add features back in as I see the need for them, but for now I think all we really need here is a regular stream of beer related content for you all to enjoy.  and for me to enjoy as well.

But, I hear you say, did it really take you six months to redesign the site? It doesn’t even look that different, no way it took you that long!  You are right.  You caught me. There is more Continue reading →

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sobawcover

Is that a saying?  it really should be if it isn’t.  and you really don’t have to be a regular at Thirsty Thursday to know it.  But do you realize how interconnected beer and baseball really are?  If you are curious, or even if you aren’t curious yet, you might be interested in this. The Summer of Beer and Whiskey: How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, and a Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America’s Game.  Edward Achorn relays the story of Chris Von der Ahe, a St Louis entrepreneur who noticed that people were visiting his beer garden after baseball games.  So he did the obvious thing, he bought a baseball team in order to sell more beer, and in the process, injected some much needed fun into America’s favorite pastime.  Have I piqued your curiosity yet? A little bit?  want more? have a listen to this interview with the author on All Things Considered He paints a picture of the wild west atmosphere of baseball in the late 1800s and the wild character that was Chris Von der Ahe.

via The Summer of Beer and Whiskey | Uncrate.

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A Cryptic Beer Review

A cryptic beer review of Dark Horse Kmita KolschI bet you thought you would be going without any beer reviews again for a while.  Well fear not my friends because I haven’t forgotten you, and the beer will keep flowing here and the beer reviews will keep being posted.  Case in point, this particular cryptic beer review from me, of a beer from Dark Horse Brewing Company.  This my friends is the Kmita Kolsch.  What on earth is Kmita Kolsh? As they explain it,

“It’s our way of poking fun at the German purity law and those that insist beer has to be brewed to “style”. These Eastern European hops create a wonderful bitterness and aroma giving this beer a clean, crisp and dry flavor that works well with the mild sweetness from the malt. This beer is fairly light in color and body with mild flavors of malt and toasted malt. The aroma is hoppy, as well as the finish flavor of the beer.”

Sounds good to me. And as someone who has been pretty “meh” about kolsches in the past I have to agree that what they have done here feels right.  It feels fun with just a little bit of an edge to it.  Where as most times that I see a kolsch on the menu, I have to admit that i think to myself, “Self, do you like a kolsh?  I’m not sure, I can’t remember.”  And I think that that is because most of the time they are pretty unremarkable and quite forgettable.  But Dark Horse has gone about this right and made a kolsch to remember.  Check out my Cryptic Review of Dark Horse Kmita Kolsch after the break. Continue reading →

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A Cryptic Beer Review

A Cryptic Beer Review of Brewery Vivant EscoffierSometimes I find a beer to review that has a certain, experience, to it.  I don’t mean the bottle of rolling rock that has been sitting in the back of your dad’s fridge for years, watching the leftovers get moldy and the milk go bad.  That beer may have plenty of stories, and it can be fun to listen to at parties, but it certainly doesn’t have experience. I’m also pretty sure that it tastes like crap.  I am talking about a beer that tastes like it has the knowledge with living a life well-lived.

Brewery Vivant has been on my radar for a little bit, and I am always interested to see what they have going. You may be able to tell from my previous beer reviews.  And it is not just because I love Belgian style beers.They do seem to take the Belgian styles and add enough creative twists to them to make a nice catalog.  And as someone who enjoys a good canoe trip, I love to see more craft beers in cans.  Now that is not to say that they all twist in a good direction.  Anise? Not in my beer thank you (although for those of you who have been dying to pour a little jager into your beer,  knock yourselves out.  You sick bastards).  But here we have a good example of a beer that certainly seems to know what it is doing. A collaboration between Vivant and New Belgium (I feel like I’m hearing a lot about them all the sudden), that seems to make a good pairing. Speaking of pairing, since they tout this beer as a good one for enjoying with food, I will look forward to finding some nice pairings for this one.  So for a beer with some creative twist here is a creative beer review. Continue reading →

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 A Cryptic Beer Review

A Cryptic Beer Review of Shock Top End of the World Midnight WheatEnd Of The World Midnight Wheat? Well lookie here.  Has someone at AB/INBEV been putting their thinking caps on and are trying to squeeze out something new, and dare I say it, creative?  Now generally my eyes gloss over when someone mentions Shock Top to me and my brain goes off to a land filled with substandard examples of things I usually enjoy.  But this has been the second time I have been curious about them this year. I had an imaginary conversation with an imaginary Shock Top representative when I heard about the End Of The World Midnight Wheat.

“What is going on over there guys?” I say,

“We are just trying to get your attention.”

“Yeah, I noticed all of the billboards you had plastered about for your lemon shandy this summer.  But, as they say, fool me once…”

“But this time we have something new…er, it is midnight wheat,”

“You’re loosing me.”

“with spices.”

*yawns*

“chocolate malt”

*raises eyebrow*

“and chili!”

“All right, I’ll give you another chance, but just because you know my weakness for chili beer.”

At least, that is how I imagine it going in my head.  But as I told my imaginary Shock Top rep, I do have a fascination with chili beers.  Not that you could say that I really enjoy them, I have never been able to drink more than one.  I don’t find them refreshing at all, but, like my love of spicy food, it is the bite that I just can’t get away from. Now in my beer review, I am going to recommend this beer, but not necessarily because it is good, but because for some people this may be the easiest way for them to get a hold of a chili beer.  It is certainly not the strongest or the best tasting, and the chili flavor only really comes through at the very end, and it is quite light.  Nothing like Ring of Fire from Dragonmead (you always remember your first), but as I said, I think everyone should try a chili beer at least once.  So check out my cryptic beer review of Shock Top’s End of The World Midnight Wheat after the the break. Continue reading →

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Welcome back everone.  I hope you have you minds set to experiment, because this week I have a challenge for you.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make this blend, and make it taste good.  I am afraid to say, I failed at this.  I am pretty sure it is because I went with the most strict instruction on how to make an Irish Snakebite.  For the uninitiated, I was told to make this using Crispin and Guiness.  Now, listen… come closer… okay, let me be honest.  I think Guiness is pretty much the bottom of the barrel when you are looking for a stout.  But, this is what I was told, so this is how I made it.  I did try to vary it up a bit by getting a couple of different kinds.  I had a Guiness Extra Stout, Guiness Draught, and a Black Lager.  they did each lend to a different Snakebite experience, but I really think that it is just opening the door to a lot of new experimentation, which is what Mad Science should really be all about.  So let’s get our skull muscles going and think of some other stout/cider combinations that could really make this something to talk about.  But before you go and create, be sure to check out the video after the break. Continue reading →

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A This Week In Beer Review

Once upon a time there was a mysterious man.  He searched far and wide for new tastes to satisfy him.  He would fins these mysterious brews, and he would drink them, mysteriously.  But he wanted to share his discoveries with the world, so he decided to shout from the top of the tallest mountain in the land.  Mt. Internet.  Being a mysterious man, and drinking mysterious beers, he felt the need to describe them in mysterious ways.  So have a seat and click thru below for my mysteriously cryptic beer review of Flying Dog Brewery‘s Wildeman.
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To tell you the truth I only picked this up because the label really jumped out at me.  Come to think of it, that actually happens quite a bit.  I’d say only about half the time i pick something out because I am looking for a specific style of beer, but the other half really is just based on what catches my eye in the beer cooler.  I can’t imagine I am the only one who experiences this right?  Anyway it really does lead to trying beers that I probably never would have otherwise.  So hooray for bright colors and fancy pictures.  Check out my cryptic review of Brau Brothers Brewing Company’s Hopsession after the break. Continue reading →

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Welcome back everyone.  I have actually been looking forward to trying this beer for a while now.  I enjoy quite a few of the beers that come from Shmaltz Brewing Company, and I’ve been curious about the beers they produce under the Coney Island label.  So for this week i have for you, the eagerly awaited (at least for me) Cryp0tic Review of Coney Island Freaktoberfest.  check it out below. Continue reading →

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Welcome to your bonus episode of the day, my cryptic review of Arbor Brewing Company‘s Buzzsaw American IPA.  Have you ever had your judgement shake? It happens all the time.  Sometime i think it is done on purpose, other times it is by accident.  Sometimes you go to a movie, and the trailer had you expecting it to be a buddy crime comedy, and you end up watching Way of the Gun.  Still a good movie, just nothing like what you expected (I hate it when trailers do that, did the people who made it even watch the movie?). or sometimes you get a beer with a buzz-saw-handed beast on the label, that is called, fittingly enough, Buzzsaw, and you get something much more…. all i can call it is, sophisticated.  Check out my review after the break.

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