About This Beer Drinking Thing

Only 15 months into my serious beer drinking/logging/writing phase of life, and man, it's grueling.

I just want to drink beer.

Obviously, I've fallen dangerously far off the beer bloggin wagon, but I think I can get myself back on. But recently, I've had much more trouble finding complete satisfaction at the bottom of a once filled glass of suds. And I've had little luck finding exquisite, affordable, available beers, and thus have found myself resorting more and more to old favorites. Your Summit, your Surly. Hence, the stalled blog. With the drought, apparently, also come those words you almost need to follow with a sigh. Hence (sigh), thus (sigh).

Man, life is tough when you just drink beer and can't get yourself to write about it. I need a beer.

I have had my share of beer in the past few weeks, though much of it now comes in the softball field parking lot. Those beers, as you might imagine, don't inspire much reflection. Would I love to introduce the guys to the finer brews? Absolutely. I think, however, some of the experience gets lost when you're standing on a sunflower seed-filled tar slab in your sweaty mesh splendor.

As for the non-softball imbibing, here's a list. Finally had a Pauwel Kwak (it's the one that gets served in the goofy glass). Liked it. Part of the fun of drinking a Kwak is the glass, and I'd bet its overall ratings would fall a tiny bit if it came in a pint glass. Just my opinion. Well hidden 8% ABV. Strong spicy Belgian flavors.

Boulevard. Bought the sampler pack (6 varieties, of which I've now tried 4). From best to worst: Single Wide IPA, Pale Ale, Lunar Ale, Zon. I've expounded on this before, but I've backed off the hyper IPAs to the more modest ones, and the Single Wide fits the bill. Nice grapefruit aroma, really delicate piney hops, without the syrupy butterness that comes with the next category.

The Double IPAs. Had Founders Double Trouble (finished its sentence in my basement) and Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA (a limited release, you know...) Talk to me again in November, maybe I'll be ready for these bad boys again. I mean, these are two excellent beers, that on the right day, I could see myself recommending to the highest degree. Just not on these days. I will say, I opened the Founders at the wrong time (well after midnight). I still appreciate these beers; love the smell, love the first touch of the lips, but a whole bottle can be a little much. The same could be said for the Double Crooked Tree, but man, how can you pass up a 13.6% IPA? Even if it sucked I'd have to try one. I actually liked it better than the Founders, thought it was balanced better, especially considering the extra jolt of alcohol. Neither tasted too boozy, either, which was surprising. Again, check back with me around November.

Two Southern Tiers: Uber Sun and Big Red. I'd just like to see Southern Tier do a subtle beer. Just once. I don't understand an imperial summer wheat ale. Not refreshing enough to be a summer guzzler, not tasty enough to be a strong ale sipper. As for Big Red, it was tasty, but was hopped out of its mind. This was a red ale like Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner is a pilsner. Show me something a little more delicate.

Yes I'm a tad bitter. I need some good summer beers to bring me back. Suggestions?

Catching Up

I wish I could say my neglect of this blog has no correlation to my beer consumption, but sadly, it's direct. Money's going elsewhere, time's being split and I'm once again undergoing a mini-cleanse. I did manage to find a quiet night for the Russian River Consecration I scored from my uber-generous Uncle Mike. A beautiful beer, one that both Kristie and I enjoyed, but one that I simply can't find enough fitting words to review. Maybe someday. It wasn't my favorite beer of the year, but had I had it as one of my first sours, it probably would be. Follow? Anyway, the fact that it had 10% ABV completely blew my mind. Drinking the whole bottle would be quite literally like drinking an entire bottle of wine. Thankfully, Kristie helped out a bit, though I wasn't a huge fan of sharing. A rare treat I hope to enjoy again someday.

Summit Horizon Red Ale


Brewery: Summit, St. Paul, MN

Style: Amber Ale

ABV: 5.7%

Rating: 3.5 stars

New full time release by Summit, had to give it an early test run. Smell reminded me instantly of Bell's Two Hearted, which is always a good sign. The blunt American hops never fail to please. Taste, however, wasn't quite as wonderous. I guess I prefer something a bit more lively, such as the Two Hearted, and this one settles in a little hard for my palate. Maybe that's why I'm not generally a huge fan of ambers. Not lively enough to satisfy my most loyal taste buds, and not full enough to smooth my mouth and stomach with chewy goodness. If you're not following this, I'm not either, so don't worry about it.

Essentially, if I'm going to grab a pint of Summit or pick up a six pack, I still probably lean toward the classic EPA. Never disappoints. The Horizon Red isn't good enough for me to chew on one all evening, and it isn't drinkable enough for me to want to drink six of 'em. Not the most glowing of reviews I suppose.

It took me six months, but you can only hold down a music junkie for so long. And after a dreadful 2008, I'm back on the pulse and enjoying quite a few things these days in the music world. So here's a tiny taste of my picks for the first third of 2009

Rock Compilation Album Division: Dark Was the Night. Running unopposed. Quite a few solid tracks on this AIDS benefit album. Here's my quick list:
"Knotty Pine," Dirty Projectors and David Byrne
"Cello Song," The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
"Train Song," Feist and Ben Gibbard
"So Far Around the Bend," The National
"Sleepless," The Decemberists
"Hey Snow White," The New Pornographers

But the disc's brightest star is Sufjan Stevens covering the Castanets' "You Are the Blood." Intoxicating.

Concept Rock Opera Album Division: "The Hazards of Love," The Decemberists. Again, pretty much unopposed. Don't love it, but it has its moments, and the thought of devising an entire work of this confusion and depth from one 60s vocal piece is astounding.

Pitchfork Retro Tech Lite Rock Division: "Daniel," Bat For Lashes

Afro Pop Division: "Sabali," Amadou and Mariam

Canadian Synth Pop Division: "Gimme Sympathy," Metric

Obligated by Previous Work Division: "The Palace at 4 a.m.," A.C. Newman

Revenge of the French Pop Rock Division: "1901," Phoenix

Won't elaborate on those, but check 'em out if you wish. More beer SOON.

April's Fools and Finds

My latest batch of samplings has been incredibly polar. In the past week, I've added two five-stars to my tally (giving me ten out of my 360 rated beers), but have also been let down and borderline disgusted by a couple others. No more intro time wasted here. First the misses.

Tyranena Paradise by the Dashboard Lights

Brewery: Tyranena, Lake Mills, Wisconsin

Style: Imperial Porter

ABV: 7.5%

Rating: 3 stars




Don't confuse: I'm all about imperial porters, and I think we'll be seeing more of them soon. Here are the issues. I've noticed with Tyranena beers more than any other that the bottled versions fall far short of their draught counterparts. This was the case with Hop Whore, Scurvy, and now Paradise. Though I haven't had it on tap, I imagine it is much livelier, as the others were. In a bottle, it bogs you down.

Perhaps my taste buds weren't firing this particular night, or perhaps I had unfair expectations of the cherry aspect of this beer, but I didn't find it. And this from a Brewers Gone Wild! beer? I thought subtlety was an afterthought in this series.

More troubling was the beer's deterioration throughout the drinking process. I would given it a far more favorable rating if I'd only had a 4 oz sample, but by the last few gulps, this one had lost most of its bite. Got flat and dull on me.

This is one I'd try again, because I want to like it. Rather, I want to not dislike it.


Left Hand Juju Ginger

Brewery: Left Hand, Longmont, Colorado

Style: Herb/Spice Beer

ABV: 4%

Rating: 1.5 stars




On tap at the Happy Gnome. I am a huge ginger guy, love to use it when I cook, love me some ginger ale, ginger beer. I like ginger. Naturally, I was intrigued by a beer that substitutes freshly ground ginger root in place of half the hops.

Results were not favorable on this day. It smelled good, with major ginger punch bursting through. Big ginger is fine in the aroma, but it was too much for me when it came to the actual taste. It felt halfway between a natural ginger beer or real ginger ale and a beer with ginger notes. Not quite as refreshing as the former, not as punchy as the latter. I guess I'd rather have a full commitment. I want either a non-alcoholic, beautifully blended ginger ale or a satisfying, quenching beer with some ginger notes added. That's just me, I guess.

Now, the successes.

Surly 16 Grit

Brewery: Surly, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

Style: Imperial IPA

ABV: 9%

Rating: 5 stars

Putting this tasting off for a while, for reasons unknown. Maybe because I'm a bit tired of hop juggernauts these days. Everyone's doing a double IPA, and it's not hard to please me. I'd like to be a little more discerning. With that said, I imagined it would be hard for me to not like this beer. Surly, at this point, gets the benefit of the doubt on just about everything they do, and they deserve it.

The amarillo hops were beautiful in this one, and while I'm not too familiar with glaciers or warriors, I can't help but think they helped as well. I liked this one initially, but had fallen heavy for it by the end of the glass. If you can work me from a 4- to a 5-star in one tasting, you've earned that rating.

I particularly enjoyed the finish. Dry enough to make me want another sip, but not dry enough to suck the life from my mouth. I enjoy both, but I felt it balanced better without the big back end grab. There's still room in my beer log for double IPAs, it seems, and this one got me in just the right frame of mind to crack open

Russian River Pliny the Elder

Brewery: Russian River, Santa Rosa, California

Style: Double IPA

ABV: 8 %

Rating: 5 stars

Had this for a month or so, and I had been saving it for the perfect occasion. First, I thought the Gophers NCAA tournament game would suffice, but I found myself not in the mood. And I didn't see any worthy moments on the horizon, so last night became the night. Perhaps the 16 Grit restored my confidence in the style.

Now, Pliny, based on reputation, is both blessed and damned. I guess I'd generally call it one of the 25 or 30 highest-rated beers on earth. Thus, you know it's good. A beer with that many ratings isn't in that position by accident. However, it's a bit unfair to expect a brew to be the best you've ever had and build it up as such for the year before you get to try it. In a way, I wish the ratings were only available after you've rated it. If that were the case, though, I'd probably never try this one because the legend wouldn't exist in my mind.

So I tried to go into the bottle with as open a mind as possible.

The aroma emanates as soon as the cap pops, and I'm instantly swept away to a land of hyperbole and bow-down-edness. Impossible for me to smell those grapefruit hops and not crumble. Pliny has the look of a beer unparalleled in its freshness. Extremely lively carbonation, and the color was much brighter than most DIPAs I've seen. Plus, the bottle gives it that extra boost of class. Nothing flashy; plain colors, text and design. We don't need a fancy label. We're Pliny the Elder.

Balance is the key separation between the DIPA men and the boys. Pliny dove in as syrup, a sweet creamy smooth thing, only to bite the roof of your mouth as soon as you feel comfortable. I love that bitter drag--takes that sweet syrup right away. The round flavor left me wanting nothing.

Or does Pliny get a boost because it is so highly-rated? If I blind taste-tested this next to, say, a Goose Island Imperial IPA or a Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA, would I be able to sense the difference? I think, because of the modest alcohol content, I would. The trend is to beef these babies up as much as possible. The Double Crooked Tree is a prime example, with the ABV at an astonishing 13.6%. At that point, haven't you become something other than an IPA?

That's the beauty of Pliny the Elder. Its 8% content is perfect. Not arrogant in either direction. Enough alcohol to feel, but not to the point that it dominates the taste.

After tasting, I had to reflect. What constitutes a five-star beer, and does this qualify? I decided it was definitely one of the ten best beers I've had, and that makes it deserving. What's the point in having five-star beers if you never give them out? Ten out of 360 (less than 3%) is a good rate for five-stars. Besides, who is the rating for? This blog? My records? Who cares? I loved this beer, so five stars it is.

Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

Brewery: Founders, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Style: Old Ale

ABV: 9.8%

Rating: 4.5 stars



Had a crabby day at work today, so I commiserated with a fellow curmudgeon. I've stepped away from the finer beers of late, substituting pound-able but passable basketball-watching suds instead. I'm also going through this phase where I'm overly possessed with proving to myself that I can go a night or two or three without a beer, and my tasting and rating has suffered immensely. Sadly, one of the only new beers I've tried in the last couple weeks was a Heineken Light. I guess I didn't taste much of a difference.

Anyway, this experiment has had a couple side effects. I feel fine on those nights I choose (practically force myself) not to enjoy a brew or two, and know I can do it. Stage one of alcoholism passed swimmingly. However, once I've tallied a few days of sobriety, I cut loose. For example, this past Friday was a forgettable and largely forgotten binge of garbage calories that led to a stone sober Saturday, which nobody wants. With that said, I feel great during the week. There's a void when it comes to finding a sense of accomplishment or achievement at work, so the sobriety, I guess, substitutes.

Am I doing this for health reasons? To slow the inevitable sinking of the gut? Or am I out to prove to myself that I still have willpower--that I can ignore the 30 delectable treats staring at me each day I come home? And if I'm flushing it all away when I am satisfied with the fasting, was the fasting worth it? I go back and forth, but right now, I'm back to where I feel I can treat myself nightly, and plan on starting tonight with this Founders.

I've a brain that rarely powers down, but this Curmudgeon should help.

The appearance is akin to the most pleasing barleywines; ruby turning to magenta to caramel. Not much head, and none of it lasts. When I swirl the glass, it rocks like a relaxes quickly, and doesn't seem like it will coat my mouth so that dinner winds up with a curmudgeonly aftertaste.

It's a bully of a sniffer. I dove in a half dozen times and each time found another layer. It's geekily layered; a Sufjan Stevens tune and a David Lynch flick. (Side note: you see what happens when I realize I'm no good at picking out specifics in a beer. I resort to wild metaphors and pointless side notes.) I'll try. There's brandy. Port wine. Obvious alcohol presence indeed. Sweet, intensely sweet, and more than just the clumped-together dark fruits and caramel. It smells stiff and warm, but has the life that a big stout might not.

I hoped the taste would recall memories of Bell's Third Coast Old Ale, and it does. It's just a beauty of a beer. Barleywine-ish? Yes, but this Old Ale business makes it sound so much more majestic and regal. The caramel (word of the review) stick is there, and it gets better as the beer gets warmer. Beer drinking for dummies advice of the day: let the beer warm. Drinking a beer at different temperatures is revealing and rewarding. There's the alcoholic surge that must exist in a nearly 10% beer, but it's delicately disguised. I feel it, know it's there, but can't find it. It passes the chug test, too. Drinking this one sip to sip is great, but a giant swallow doesn't overwhelm.

So easy to drink, this one. I planned on it lasting me through dinner, and it would serve as a wonderful dessert drink, but I don't think it will make it to either. Luckily, I've got a Fuller's Vintage I think I might pop tonight as well. Not sure what it is about this old ales; it's the combination of potency, drinkability and mystique that has me ball and chain. This one is dragging me.

Beer Madness

A full Saturday of basketball (after a full Thursday and Friday) seemed like the perfect time to spend a day boozing and blogging. You've heard of beer pairings with food, but today I'll be pairing beer with basketball, taking into consideration how my brackets shape up as the day progresses. Low percent hoppers when things are looking up, bog-downing stouts when the brackets kick me in the pants.

1:13 pm: After UCLA was blitzed by Villanova, I felt like punishing myself for overvaluing tournament guile and senior guards. No worse punishment than a lukewarm Bud Lite courtesy of a fridge-emptying friend. Off to a blazing start.

2:52 pm: Memphis/Maryland looks to be a blowout, but we've got UConn/Texas A&M on tap, with a diehard A&M fan on hand. Looking for something lightish but with some flavor to pick me up after a couple BL smoothies. Grab a Sam Adams White Ale from the mini fridge.

3:24 pm: Memphis 53, Maryland 33. UConn 29, Texas A&M 11. Games aren't shaping up as we'd like, so we've entered a pact to try as many different beers today as we possibly can. The three of us have each already tallied three, and there are serious talks of hitting a dozen. Meanwhile, the White Ale doesn't deliver what I expected it to, but recently my witbiers have been spicier than they have fruity. This is definitely more fruit than spice. Everything is subtle. It is refreshing, but in this couched-out, flatscreen basement, it's hard to get into a summer beer mood.


4:42 pm: Tipoff between Purdue and Washington, the most anticipated game of the session. Pairing that with a Southern Tier IPA. I picked up this one in Hudson, WI, because for some reason, the 12 oz Southern Tier beers don't come to Minnesota. We only get the big bottles, which are generally outstanding, but I wanted to try one of their standard offerings. Fundamentally sound game, sound balanced beer. Has a nice earthy quality that balances out the hops quite well.

With each of us starting our fourth beer, the prop bets/side action is picking up. We've agreed on ten pushups per dunk, and money has begun to make its way out into the open, a visible tease for any potential gambler.

5:04 pm: Almost done with the IPA. This one's smooth and drinkable. Too drinkable for a basement dudefest.

5:12 pm: Three consecutive Blake Griffin dunks in the Oklahoma/Michigan test. 30 pushups. Pretenders falling to the side of the road.

5:15 pm: Beer's flowin', pushups galore. Dudes posing in the mirror. Gettin' crazy at 5:15.

5:30-6:15 pm: MGD buffer.

6:38 pm: Beer #7: Stella Artois. Not a favorite, but running out of options to get to 12. Saving the good stuff for the gourmet dinner.

7:29 pm: Beer #8: Summit IPA. Not the hoppy California style IPA, this Euro recipe is meatier, creamier and sturdier. If you can allow yourself to break free of the hopped-out IPA mindset, it's a good sipper.

Monday evening: Never made it to 12 beers.

The Best of Late

Been watching too much basketball lately to dedicate time to post. This doesn't mean I've slacked on the consumption. My stash is dwindling, though, and I want to make it last as long as I can, so I've been leaning toward the wines and the liquors more as of late. With that said, I've had some great beers recently, including a well-respected beer that didn't disappoint. Here's a
mini rundown of the best stuff I've had recently.


New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red

Brewery: New Glarus, New Glarus, Wisconsin

Style: Fruit Beer

ABV: 5.1%

Rating: 5 Stars


One of the best beers in the Midwest, and certainly the best fruit beer available. I imagined it would be akin to a Belgian kriek-like cherry bomb. Quite wrong I was. New Glarus uses one pound of Wisconsin cherries for each bottle (not your 12 oz. sixer bottle, mind you) and it's evident in the pungent aroma.

I was slightly worried when I realized this wasn't going to be as tart as the sour beers, because I typically loathe cherry-flavored things. In fact, the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat was one of my least favorite beers I tried in 2008. But this cherry was different. It had immense sweetness, but not like a Popsicle or sucker. It was sweet like the gooey inside-the-pie cherries, a real richness that couldn't be faked by synthetic flavoring. There was enough tartness to keep the sweetness at bay, though, and the late sparkle scraped my mouth so that I was ready for another sip.

Kristie and I enjoyed this one together, and it's exciting to me that I now have a better grip on the types of beers she might enjoy. I wish they didn't cost $10 a bottle, but it's exponentially better to enjoy a beer with company.

This beer (and the myriad of other New Glarus crafts) are well worth the 45-minute drive to Wisconsin, and I plan on making semi-regular trips from here on out.


New Glarus Crack'd Wheat

Brewery: New Glarus, New Glarus, Wisconsin

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

ABV: 5.95%

Rating: 4 Stars


Prior to my whimsical February jaunt to Hudson, I'd had only one New Glarus beer--the infamous Spotted Cow. Thought it was below average and not worthy of the hype I'd heard from my Madison brethren. I had no idea they had as expansive a line of reign-free beers as they do. This one sounded interesting, and both employees said they'd had it and were pleasantly surprised.

It's an interesting idea. It is, basically, a wheat beer. But it's also dry-hopped with amarillo hops. To dry-hop a beer means to introduce hops after the fermentation has begun. It's a way to give the beer an extra hop kick and bring out the characteristics of the specific hops used. It's a pretty common tactic, but this is the first I'd heard about a wheat beer being dry-hopped. Though gimmicky, the idea sounded quite interesting to me, especially because wheat beers generally all get lumped into the same clovey/spicy/orange-peely heap for me.

It tastes exactly how you would imagine. The smell is all spicy wheat, and wheat is obviously the base of the beer. But the amarillo hops kick in toward the middle of each gulp and leave the beer's lasting impression. The beer is bottle-conditioned, another common brewing practice meaning the beer finishes the fermentation process in the bottle. Always a plus, and it usually guarantees a large frothy head, which I happen to enjoy.

Potentially the perfect summer beer, though later tonight I plan to enjoy their Berliner Weiss, which I've heard is phenomenal. Light as a wheat with the bold hops of a pale ale. I foresee many more of these come July.

Stone IPA

Brewery: Stone, Escondido, California

Style: India Pale Ale

ABV: 6.9%

Rating: 4.5 Stars




It's all basically been said about IPAs. We love the citrus, love the dryness, love the hops, love the mouthfeel. This is no different, and it's an excellent representation of the style. I know I've had it in the past, before my tastes were honed, so I wasn't surprised to like it again. Had to go to Wisconsin to get it, which makes no sense to me.

Tuesday Night Hop Battle

Drank not a drop Sunday or Monday. In this economy, as is the catch phrase, a two-day hiatus deserves a reward. Since I'm a hop guy, I decided to try a couple of the hoppier options in my collection.

First, the Lagunitas Hop Stoopid. Lagunitas, as of a year ago, was fairly limited in Minnesota. Or maybe I just wasn't noticing them. Recently, however, their brews have been popping up everywhere. I liked the IPA, was lukewarm on the Brown Shugga, and could not handle the Maximus IPA.

The Hop Stoopid was the best of the bunch so far. The aroma represented everything I love about juicy hopped-up beers. The pungent citrus, in this case grapefruit and a strong passion fruit presence, gets me revved up to swig. I really took a deep sniff at this one, because I knew I grabbed something specific (the passion fruit), but it took me a while to realize exactly which of the 'fruit cocktail' canned fruits it was. For once, I knew I had a smell nailed, and it comes from 2.5 years at a preschool. Good-sized head on this one, with the lacing disappearing more than some. Looks like orange jello, which again, I can attribute to preschool experience.

The taste was exceptional. Big and sturdy on the front end, with the citrus holding sway. The key, though, was the back, when everything felt like it was being sucked out of your mouth and down the hatch via the bitterness. My mouth was full one second and dry, sticky and empty the next. I love that in a beer. Give me some boom right away, take it away and leave me wanting more at the end of every sip. This beer is sharp like a nasty cheddar cheese.

As the glass emptied, I felt a bit more metal in every taste, but I think that had more to do with the compounding bitterness than the deterioration of the beer. Overall, this was one of the more satisfying beers I've had this year. I'd put it at the top of the hops, at least.

Next, Founders Centennial IPA. This much-heralded brewery does not sell its beers in Minnesota, and I am ashamed that it took me this long to cross the border into Wisconsin to buy some. Oh, the places you'll go! (Dr. Seuss' birthday yesterday).

Nearly all Founders brews come highly recommended, and Centennial is no different. To be fair to the Hop Stoopid, I should have opened the Founders Double Trouble, but I wasn't sure I could handle another double IPA. Unfortunately, the Centennial IPA couldn't match Hop Stoopid's power.

Lately I've been tasting a lot of what I can describe no better than dust. It tasted dusty. Maybe that means the flavors weren't as clear or crisp as I'd like. Maybe that means the mouthfeel was a little fuller and stretched farther into the buds than most. Or maybe it means that I got a peculiar amount of mothballs in the flavor. I swear I tasted mothballs.

Don't misconstrue those words. Mothballs, yes, but the flavor was still good.

Still. I'm finishing the glass as I write, and the dust factor overpowers everything else. I wish I could express it better. I guess I'll have to head east again, but a couple more bottles, and try them next to a more favorable competitor. In fairness, it probably would have stacked up well next to the Lagunitas Maximus, and maybe even the Lagunitas IPA. It just couldn't hang tonight.

Saturday Snippets

I had been bracing myself for weeks for what was planned for last night: a trip into downtown Minneapolis' Shout House, one of my least favorite destinations in the cities. In fact, it's been quite a while since I've ventured downtown on a Saturday night; more recently than my college days, but not by much. It's just not a scene I particularly enjoy. So many obstacles. Who's driving? Where are you parking? Cab home? Bus? Designated Driver? How much is the cover? How packed will it be? And certainly not least of all, will there be any decent beer available? And no, Heineken doesn't count.

The Shout House specifically annoys me. I understand why it's a popular destination: Dueling pianos, rowdy atmosphere, central location. I just don't like paying eight bucks for the right to get sweaty waiting in line for a $6 Rolling Rock and be blown away by airplane-decibel, amusement park talent. Thus, to avoid tricky circumstances and careless spending, I volunteered to be the night's driver. I was ready for the challenge.

The call came at about 7:30 that the night's organizer had to bow out due to immanent illness. Since Kristie and I were already geared up for a night on the town, we didn't want it to go to waste. But without the ring leader, the Shout House was quickly eliminated from the itinerary.

After kicking around several potential destinations, we settled on the Lyndale/Lake St. part of town, where there are several decent options available. I was especially intrigued by the new sake brewery, Moto-i. Indeed, the first sake brewery anywhere in the world outside Japan. Reviews have seemed generally favorable and I knew their draught list was decent, so I imagined it might be an enjoyable and culturing experience.

We arrived about 9:30 to a fully-bellied bar and restaurant, and were told by the host we might be able to find a stray seat. We weren't, and were stuck in an awkward point of buoyancy; not committed enough to wedge our way between barstoolers, but not intending to order food and therefore denied a table upstairs. There was, however, a back room that was 75% empty. The tables were marked as reserved, but we asked the waitress if we could sit there anyway. She had no problem with it, but pointed us back to the host, who informed us that it was reserved for a private party. I said we would happily leave when the party arrived, but there were at least six available tables at the moment, and people were leaving the room already. Still he denied, with a half-assed smile and half-hearted apology. I guess I wouldn't turn away a customer these days, but that's me. I imagine if we had just sat down without asking, we would have been fine, but this is Minnesota, and people are generally accommodating if you ask.

We left, annoyed by insincere efforts and an overall haughty attitude by the hosts (there were at least three of them at the door). I hope this place succeeds, but it will not be because of my patronage. Shame.

We pressed on to the much more inviting, laid back vibe of the Herkimer. I often forget about the Herkimer as a local brewpub option, despite the fact that it's by far the closest to my house. Their beers are generally straight-forward and can be punchless, but they are interesting and a little more atypical than most. Plus, the food is outstanding (save the mini egg sandos). We had no problem ordering drinks, didn't feel uncomfortable standing around, and soon found ourselves a table, where we would be met by two friends.

I first tried the Alt, a style of beer that I'm utterly clueless about and formed no preconceived notions about appearance, smell or taste. I guess I'm still a bit unsure. Lighting is always an issue in a busy weekend bar scene, but the color appeared a bit coppery; not amber, but not pale either. They likened the beer on the menu to a German pale ale, and some of the classic German hoppiness was there, I guess. Overall, it was pretty bland. I wrote on a piece of scratch paper (I really need to be more prepared for these tastings), "very spiked dullness." Make of that what you will. It was like they wanted to blow dullness out of the park. Didn't leave much taste anywhere on the palate. I will say, however, as far as drinkability goes, it was a champion. Easily could have guzzled a few pints of these without thinking about it.

I moved next to the Sky Pilot Kellerbier, an unfiltered beer that I liked more than the Alt. Much more golden in color, with a much more present punch to all senses. Reminded me of their pilsner, but with a slightly more enjoyable hop for my taste. Good roundness in the mouth and carbonated well. Had a nice dry finish. Again, props to Herkimer for producing off-kilter beers and seemingly doing true versions of them. They are hard to place in my mental beer spectrum, and maybe I'm punishing them because I have no similar beers to compare them to. I really tried to figure out how to write the previous sentence with a preposition, but each version sounded laborious and unnatural. Does anyone follow that rule anyway?

Finally, we found ourselves at Bryant Lake Bowl, a Minneapolis legend and great spot to wind down for the night. They have a decent tap list, though I wish they had more seasonals. Kristie loves it because they have Ace Pear on tap (for $5.75, though!). I tried the Rogue seasonal, which the waitress called an anniversary beer. This is maybe my biggest beef with beer bars--not all, of course, and not every employee--but if you work at a place that could potentially attract beer geeks, you need to know the beers. I need to know the beers. When I had trouble pinpointing a Rogue Anniversary this morning, I called back to enquire further and was told it was the Rogue Anniversary Mogul.

This beer does not exist on Rogue's website. RateBeer has a Rogue Mogul Ale with 131 ratings, but the BeerAdvocate Mogul 2007 has just four. Still, Mogul is not listed on the brewery's website. Nevermind. Mogul Ale it is.

An American Strong Ale, apparently, and I'm not sure I like the style. It's sort of a wide category, though, but this one was malt heavy, and the sweetness that was prominent in my nostrils did not show up in my mouth. I was disappointed by that. For the malty power it had up front, it finished quite bitterly. It was a bit confusing to me. I like the dry, bitter aftertaste, but I don't know if I love it after such a hearty malt opening. I think most beer junkies would consider it the best beer I had all night, but I'd probably rather have the Herkimer Kellerbier.

Morals: Don't go to Moto-i expecting red carpet treatment. Don't go to the Herkimer expecting taste bud warfare. Don't go to Bryant Lake Bowl expecting precice beer identification. Go there, have a few decent, uncommon beers, relax, relax, and tip your waitress.

Blizzard Beer

Every morning, say 10 am, I tell myself, 'self, tonight is the night you skip the beer and just drink water.' It's only a few hours later that the frustrations of the daily grind on the job force me to cave into the dozens of beers that will be staring me in the face when I arrive at home.

I try, I really do, but I don't feel much guilt over having a drink or two every night; I've gotten more consistent in the last year--no weeknight binge drinking anymore. It's difficult on nights like tonight, when the Gophers lose a winnable road game and I spent two hours trudging through slow traffic and shoveling the heartiest, stickiest snowfall of the season.

And on that note, I wondered, what would be the perfect beer for a blizzard? The initial response, clearly, would be to nurse a deep, warming imperial stout. Something to burn the insides and satisfy the thirsty taste buds. I had several stout options, including Victory's Storm King and Bell's Expedition. But I wasn't in the mood for a stout. Perhaps because I tried my namesake Nils Oscar Imperial Stout Tuesday night and was disappointed. (The second Nils Oscar beer disappointment I've had with no successes). I decided a stout was not the perfect blizzard beer.

I fingered through the basement options: some Surlys, Tyranenas, New Glaruses; nothing that felt right for the moment. Finally, I settled on a mini vertical of Sierra Nevada Bigfoots. I picked up '07 and '08 bottles when I visited Dennis Brothers in Cottage Grove in early January, and had been saving them for no particular reason. A vertical tasting means comparing the same beer from different years to see how the flavors have developed over time. Not all beers should be tasted this way. Don't save your Bud Lights for years to see how the flavors mature. But for a complex, stiff beer such as the Bigfoot can stand up to a few years of aging.

This was the first time I'd had Bigfoot in a bottle; I first had it on tap at the Muddy Pig in early 2008, when I gave it 4.5 stars. I think my love of barleywines peaked in those winter months, because I remember thinking Southern Tier's BackBurner was the best beer I'd ever had, and when I tried it a few months later I thought my initial five-star rating was much too high.

With that said, it's hard to argue with a barleywine during a wintery blizzard. It's a full beer in the mouth, leaving bold flavors behind without completely drying you out, and giving you enough alcohol burn to move you in a promising direction. Most might argue, and I would agree, that it doesn't give you the swig-to-swig satisfaction that an imperial stout does, but the flavors are prominent enough to make it its own course.

As for this blizzard, the Bigfoot delivered. It had a more bitter finish than I remembered, but when I checked my original notes from March 11, 2008, I found: "Alcohol is present, but taste is dominated by bitter, bitter hops."

The 2008: Supremely rich, with as full of a mouthfeel as you're going to get from a beer. I doesn't disappear down your throat, it stays awhile. The taste is nutty, strong and creamy, but with just the right amount of offsetting crispness. The finish is, again, quite bitter and dry. Many people cite this beer as one to cellar and save for a few years, but I, after having this one, think I might find it hard to do so.

The 2007: In fact, better than the 2008. Which leads me to believe that the longer you let this one ride, the better. Has the thick caramel coating that the 2008 had, but the flavor lasts incredibly long. I ate half a raw tomato in between gulps of this one, and I still couldn't shake the massive flavor. The alcohol is more present in the '07, which I don't mind, as it burned my throat quite pleasantly on this most wintery night. The lacing (foam that sticks to the side of the glass) is pronounced. It was nearly crust by the time I finished the brew. Lacing adds another aspect to the enjoyability of a beer, as you get to see the progress you've made from swallow to swallow as you make your way down the glass. Just another reason why it's crucial that beer be consumed from a glass (the correct glass) and not its original container.

Barleywines, as I'm coming to realize, are a style of beer that I like while I'm drinking them, but in the hours after the tasting, the beer settles in, and I realize that they should be judged not only while they're being chugged, but for hours after. These Bigfoots eased the pain of knowing another shovel was on the Friday morning horizon. Maybe I'll make it a tradition: keep a couple Sierra Nevada Bigfoots in the basement, and when radar says 5+ inches of snow, have them at the ready.

Surly Mild

Had this on tap at the Blue Nile Saturday afternoon, the bridge between a weekend binge cleaning session and an extended family birthday gathering at the Mall of America. If you ask me, a beer or two is the least you can do to prepare for the megamall, as they say. Actually, it's probably not enough.

This was the first mild I'd had, though I can't quite be sure, because the style, from what I've gathered, is varied and the flavors many. I may have just broken an English language comma rule in that sentence. Anyway, this type of mild, the English Dark Mild variety, according to beeradvocate, is a British session beer characterized by low hops and low alcohol content. Well, if those are the conditions, Surly Mild qualifies.

To be fair, I dove into this one just after my first taste of a Surly Three, the third anniversary offering from the brewery. Three is classified as a braggot, brewed with 50% honey and 50% Munich malt, and let me be the whateverth person to say that the flavor is potent and delicious. In comparison, Surly Mild didn't stand much of a chance.

Maybe it was too early in the day (4:30ish), or maybe I was a bit too sick (stuffy nose), but I didn't get much aroma at all. Mild indeed. There certainly weren't a great deal of hops to wet my lips.

As for the taste, well, I can't much compare it to any other beer I've had, as it was markedly different. As a beer with 4.2% ABV, it lacked punch, but there was more taste than your average mass appeal 4.2% lager or ale. This is the part of the review where I'm reaching. I don't yet know enough about specific malts or how they taste, but what taste there was, I would surmise was due to the malts used. Al, when you read this, you can correct me. I got a very earthy vibe, not just the grassy hop flavor I get from many Euro beers, but soil and mineral flavors that give it a bit of depth without density.

Did I love this beer? No, certainly not. It's an easy drink, much easier than the palate-challenging beers we all love so dearly. And it doesn't make your face cringe like many low content beers would. It just doesn't have much to write home about. It's a bit plain.

So why does Surly make a beer like this? None of Surly's beers are mass appeal beers, I would argue, so they don't need to worry about pleasing a large sect of people. Mild isn't canned, and thus is available only to those diehards who seek it out. It certainly isn't a beer that would blow the diehards away. And frankly, it's not a beer I see the talented brewers at Surly finding enjoyment in pint after pint. I have one of these and think, OK, now I'd like to have any other Surly beer I've ever had.

Maybe it was a failed attempt. Maybe they wanted to show the Surly fans that they could make a simple, subtle beer. Certainly, not every beer a brewer tries can be better than the previous. And Surly has sort of dug their own grave on this one: why shouldn't a brewery be entitled to a couple duds? Mild isn't even a dud, but by their standards, it's pretty pedestrian. That doesn't change the fact that they've given us more than a handful of amazing beers.

Even so, there's a chance that Mild is a complete success. It's hard to imagine a beer more tightly fitting the name. I couldn't think of a better word for it, and by that standard, Surly Mild is a raging success.