Frambozen

While trying to write a semi-decent short story of a first person view of being a zombie, and doing a crappy job of it, I decided I needed 12-ounce inspiration. This seasonal comes from the lads at New Belgium Brewery. Personally, beer mixed with fruit tends to annoy me. Call me a cynic, but I like the bitterness of hops, and the sweetness of malt. I don't need any apple, orange, or for the love of God, pumpkin, to spice my beer up. Having said this, I'm going to be a complete hypocrite. I was very intrigued by the combination of raspberry and brown ale that NBB puts out every year at this time.

The first thing that is very apparent after pouring this brew, is raspberries are present. The sweet fruity aroma flies out of the mug as if it were a fly stuck in a plastic container. Along with the dark ruby color, I was very concerned that this beer was going to be raspberry overload. Lucky for me, the taste was predominately a true brown ale nuttiness, with a slight tweak of raspberry at the end. Quite pleasant, I must admit. The combination between the two actually comes out tasting a bit like dark chocolate. A rugged, dare I say, Chuck Norris sweetness, rather than a Richard Simmons over the top fruity sweetness. Well done gentlemen, well done. As long as we're on the topic of Sir Norris, did you know that he destroyed the periodic table, because he recognizes only the element of surprise? That's scary stuff.

PROUST!

Fun Fact Friday!

Good afternoon to everybody. I hope that everyone has had a safe holiday season so far, and are excited for the snow to come! And with the snow, comes Christmas, and with Christmas comes Santa Claus. We all know that Santa can tell who's been naughty or nice, but how do we tell when someone has been lying, if we're not Jolly Ol' Saint Nick? We rely on a little invented called the polygraph test, also known as the lie detector test. Now there is some debate as to how legitimate the polygraph is; some swear by it, yet it's rarely used as significant evidence in the legal system, no matter how perfect it works on CSI. It makes it's readings by measuring the perp's blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and galvanic skin response(I have no idea what that last one is). This system was created by Dr.'s John A. Larson and Leonard Keeler in the 1920's. However, the lie detector concept was made popular in WWI when Dr. William Marston was hired to use his blood-pressure based tests, to see if prisoners were telling the truth when being interrogated. For all of you comic book lovers, yes, it is the same William Marston who created the character Wonder Woman.

Enjoy the holidays, and PROUST.

Finkbrau Hefewisen

Thank god!

Here in spain, beer is like water; its everywhere, its cheap, its dirty and it doesnt taste good. Fortunately, the guesthouse i work at, hosts people from many different walks of life and many different nations including, fortunately, German climbers.

This really nice couple from a small town in Bavaria showed up with their one year old son and i spent a week hiking and climbing almost every day. They became pretty good friends with all of us who work here and on their last night decided to make dinner for us, rather than the other way around. During the day, they went out and tracked down a german supermarket, and brought back supplies for a traditional baravian meal, including, naturally, beer.

the dinner was delicious. We had blaukraut, like saurkraut but with purple (blau) cabbage, knudle, basically huge bread dumplings, a giant roasted ham, and apflstrudle for dessert. Throughout the meal, and before and after, we delighted in the pleasures of Finkbrau Hefewisen, seriously the first good beer i've had in three months.

Since Hefewisen standard is set at Widmer Brothers Hef, all i can do is compare it to thus. This one was darker, sweeter, but not as crisp. It did have a higher carbonation level which led to faster consumption and larger burping. It was served, thanks to my racing down six terraces fetch fresh lemons, with a wedge and a squeeze and enjoyed with a great sigh of relief and contentment.

I also got directions to the german supermarket, found the beer and bought a case of it. Like i said, beer in spain is cheap: each tall boy can rang in at 38 cents euro. excellent

peace

pat

Fun Fact Friday!

Ladies and Gentlemen, today is a top five favorite holiday of mine in US history. While I only began to celebrate this holiday last year, it is one to be cherished with at least a pitcher of good beer (getting into an argument with an Australian girl about her ridiculous statement that Australia has more Chinese immigrants than the US has Mexican immigrants, probably wont become a tradition). Yes everybody, today is Repeal day. Seventy-five glorious years ago, the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment. For those who are unfamiliar with our Amendments, the 18th Amendment made the sale and consumption of alcohol illegal, ushering in one of the darkest periods of American history known as Prohibition. Ironically enough, the 36th state to vote for the 21st Amendment, thus passing the movement, was Utah. October 14th is quite the festival as well, when Jimmy Carter allowed home brewing to be legal.

So give a PROUST to ol' Jimmy, and the 21st Amendment this weekend, because with out them, we wouldn't have the privilege to enjoy our adult beverages.

Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA

There are only two words that come to mind when explaining this beer: DEAR GOD! This was one of the craziest, out of control, and complicating beers that have ever crossed paths with these taste buds. The beer tasted as if some one had lit a fire in my mouth with a torch, then doused my face with pure cane sugar to put the flames out, then bandaged the wounds with fifty pounds of hops. They call it the hoppiest of all hoppsters on the bottle for a reason. I checked out Dogfish Head's website to see what they had to say about this beer of all beers, and it claimed to have crowded the wort with as much hops as possible during the TWO HOUR BOIL, then put in new hops every day for a month while fermenting. That's not even the craziest part. Are you ready for the crazy part? Are you sure? 100%? The ABV is 20%. 20 freaking percent. Needless to say, I was the most hammered from this one beer than I have been from any other type of beer.

As to an actual break down of the beer, again it was immensely unique from the first sniff. The intense floral smell was hint number one I was going to have an experience like I've never had before. It was a dark bronze with a creamy white head that was as thick as a head of a Guinness. The beautiful hoppy bitterness was incredibly intense, yet very short lived as the malt and sugars dominate as it goes down smoothly. Yet, at the end it leaves a hint of hops resting gently on the top of your tongue just to say, "yeah, I just rocked your shit."

Buyer beware, this is no ordinary beer. It's tough to find (they only release it three times a year), and it's one hell of a ride.