Tetley's English Ale

Hello sports fans! It's a beautiful Spring afternoon for doing outside things like golf, and I'm splitting my time between lounging by the pool and watching the Masters on TV. On this spectacular Easter Sunday in sunny Florida, I'm having one of my favorites... Tetley's English Ale in pint cans with the nitrogen widget. The mouth feel is awesome, although there is virtually no sign of hops anywhere. It's a great beer for hot days, though, and should go well with the pork butt in my Old Smokey electric smoker.

Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale

This just showed up at my local Publix. It's a Portland, Oregon pale ale so I was expecting bitter hoppiness suitable for the horrid weather they have in the Northwest. I was surprised as it is refreshing, hoppy without being too bitter, a grapefruity aroma, and has a very mild finish. It's a beautiful Spring day here in Orlando and the temps dropped considerably as a front moved through overnight. As I just finished up helping the wife plant some liriopie, it was very refreshing. And now, for some baby back ribs on the rotisserie.

Sam Adams Noble Pilsner

OK, so I said earlier that I don't like lagers and in particular I do not like Czech Pilsners at all. But I have to make a couple of exceptions within that style. Sam Adams Noble Pils is pretty sweet. Even better (IMO) was a Sam Adams brew from the late 90's called Golden Pils (thanks to my friend Steve's son John who now works for Boston Beer and conveyed my liking of Golden Pils to Jim Koch himself). The Noble Pils is quite hoppy (as advertised, all 5 of the noble hops used in brewing), The Golden Pils less so but I remember it as being one of my favorites back in the day. At that time I was really enamored with Sam Adams Cherry Wheat in the hot Alabama summers; trying it now, I like it less than I remember but it's still very good.

Beeradvocate scores the Noble Pils higher than the Golden Pils but I would take exception to that... if I could bring back the latter now to compete with the former.

Sam Adams Irish Red Ale

Had this last night as part of a sampler 12-pack. So I've never actually had an "official" Irish Red, although my homebrewing friend Steve Murphy and I used to make an Irish Red kit from www.hop-tech.com (looks like they're out of business now, but the recipe is here). This was a dry-hopped West Coast ale that was EXTREMELY hoppy and EXTREMELY bitter... so bitter I couldn't drink it but Steve loved it.

I think Sam Adams' take on it is one of the best ales I've ever tried. It is extremely well-balanced between malt sweetness and hop bitterness, and the richness is "just right" on my palate's scale. Unfortunately you can't buy sixes or twelves of just Irish Red around here, you can only get it as 2 bottles in a 12 pack sampler.

This would definitely be in my top 10 list of personal favorites. I would love to try it on tap.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest

I like Sierra Nevada products. I've been drinking a lot of pale ale lately, and Torpedo IPA. Sierra Nevada appears to be expanding, pricing their beers competitively (usually around $16 for 12, often on sale for $13). I think the pale ale and IPA are fantastic.

It was in the high 80's today and fairly low humidity here in Orlando, but it was hot enough that I wanted a summertime beer. Especially since I've spent the past few months drinking mostly West Coast strongly hopped, extremely bitter ales. I wanted something lighter. Last year it was Modelo Especial with fresh limes, but this year I wasn't in the mood for that.

So I decided to give Sierra Nevada Summerfest Pilsner a try. And it reminded me that I don't like Pilsner Urquell. I think I just don't like lagers in general, and I don't like Czech Pilsners specifically. I don't know what it is, there is a "too rich" taste that doesn't agree with my palate. Maybe it's the Saaz hops. Maybe it's the lagering process. But I just don't care for it.

I'm desperate for an American Cream Ale. I used to make one, a Honey Cream Ale, that was just awesome and just right for those really hot Alabama summers. The only commercially available example is Little Kings and I haven't been able to find that for a very long time. The addition of my father-in-law's homemade honey to my homebrew made it even better.

Alas, I will have to wait until I get the homebewery spun up again later this year. In the mean time it's back to Sierra Nevada pale ale, Leffe blonde, Wittekerke witbier, and Weihenstephan hefe-weisses to get me through the summer, unless I can find something I like better.

Intro

Just a blog about the beers I've tried, and a little history of me.

1980's - Start off drinking Budweiser. Become friends with a guy who grew up in Germany. Only thing decent we can get in our small town is St. Pauli Girl (at least we can get dark) and Little Kings. For some reason I switch to Michelob.

Early 1990's - In Nashville, TN I work with a guy getting into homebrewing. We visit a microbrewery downtown, I stop on the way home to the same small town to pick up "interesting" beers (mostly Sam Adams).

Late 1990's - Work at home, start doing all the grocery shopping while the wife is pregnant. Continue to buy "interesting" beers in Columbia, TN Kroger (mostly Sam Adams varieties and St Pauli Girl).

2000 - move to Huntsville, AL. Discover Great Spirits. Begin buying real imports (Bass, Franziskaner, Scotch ales, etc. A large mix of truly excellent beers I can't remember.)

2002 - Begin homebrewing. Start making excellent beers and stop buying imports.

2005 - No longer homebrewing, move to Orlando, FL. Start back buying import and craft beers.

2012 - Now. Still not homebrewing, but building a kegerator. Still buying import and craft/small brewery beers.