Unexpected Beer Haul

My family went out last weekend to have lunch at Red Robin. The restaurant is located at Massaponax, an area that has seen an explosion of commercial growth lately. After lunch we decided to check out the new Super Target across the street. I was surprised, but quite pleased, to find that this Target store had a grocery section which also stocked beer and wine. The beer selection was pretty typical of grocery store chains. However, to my surprise they had Sierra Nevada Celebration (2007) in 24 and 6 packs. I hadn't seen this year's Celebration yet anywhere else around here. Naturally I left with some Celebration. (Literally and figuratively.)

Then we noticed a World Market store in the same shopping center, so we walked in there to have a look around. There was small beer selection in here as well. An assortment of Belgian styles along with assorted other imported and domestic craft beers. Everything seemed to be available for single purchase as well. I picked up some Leffe Blonde and Troegenator Double Bock. On the way to the check out I saw a "Winter Beer 10-pack" that contained:

Saranac Pumpkin Ale
Green Flash Nut Brown Ale
Abita Mardi Gras Bock
Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter
Brooklyn Oktoberfest Beer
Bluegrass Brewing Bearded Pat's Barleywine
MacTarnahan's Blackwatch Porter
Red Tail Ale
St. George Fall Bock

This assortment is packaged by World Market. They also had various other assortments available. I decided to pick up the Winter pack since there were some interesting beers included. I'll find out soon if the beers were old or not, but they weren't dusty at least.

I wouldn't drive across town to shop for beer at these two stores, but I'll definitely check in and see what they stock when I happen to be in the area. I went out for lunch and ended up bringing home a fun beer haul. This trip got me to thinking about the other retailers of craft beers in the Fredericksburg area. Beeradvocate.com lists only three retail stores in Fredericksburg, however that information is a bit dated. In the coming weeks I intend to visit some of the local retailers and post reviews of the stores and what they stock.

Borman's Belgian Ale

This is a surprise new offering from the Blue & Gray Brewing Co. In his recent email update Jeff writes:

We also brewed a Belgian Ale a while back, but didn’t tell anyone. You’re among the first to know about Borman’s Belgian Ale. – Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren’s cannon used a fuse designed by Belgian Artillery Colonel Borman. The bang from this fine Belgian-style blonde ale comes from the strong Belgian ale yeast. It contributes spice and pepper notes, resulting in a crisp, clean, refreshing blonde beer with a rich and surprising flavor. Extended cold aging provides a superior smoothness.

I was out of town for the release day but picked up a couple of bottles at the brewery this week. (I also picked up some Temporary Insanity Stout, but that's a tale for another day.) This Belgian Pale Ale pours a golden orange. There's very little head although there's enough carbonation to give some tingle on the tongue. It exhibits an appealing yeasty smell. The mouth feel is slightly yeasty, but not unpleasant. A spicy, fruity flavor with hint of clove. I detected a bit of apple as the beer warmed. There's enough hop to give it just a bit of kick.

The folks at Blue & Gray did a good job on this one. It's exciting to see a new beer from our local brewery.

Coffee Table Beer Books

Here are two great "coffee table" books on beer I've been enjoying. Both these books would make great conversation starters. They are beautifully illustrated. Just leafing through them leaves me wanting to travel in search of the beers mentioned. Both were written by the late Michael Jackson.

Ultimate Beer is coffee table sized book featuring over 450 different beers. Just about every beer mentioned is illustrated with a picture of the bottle next to a glass of the beer. The photographs are very well done. Even the wide variety of glassware shown is a treat. In many cases the beer is shown in the brewery's own glass. The illustrations show in great detail the color variations of different beers. The author goes through more than 30 different "styles" of beer. For each group he talks about the beers and goes into detail about the tastes and smells. He also include interesting anecdotes about the beers, the brewers, food pairings, and history of many of the featured beers. There is also a section specifically devoted to food and beer, and also a section on cooking with beer. Jackson discusses beers for specific seasons, and even your mood.

Michael Jackson's Great Beer Guide is a smaller format book subtitled "The World's 500 Best Beers". Much of the content overlaps what is in Ultimate Beer. The format of this book is like that of a field guide, with one beer per page, arranged in alphabetical order. The same great photographic layout is used as in the above book. Like Ultimate Beer, this book is a pleasure to simply leaf through and enjoy. My only complaint is that my copy has a number of pages out of order with much of the "B" section inserted into the middle of the "A" section.

I highly recommend both of these books. Leave them out on your coffee table and even your non-beer drinking friends just might want to try some new beers.

More Local Newspaper Coverage of Craft Beer

This weekend our local newspaper carried another article on craft beer. Unlike the previous articles, this one was not pulled from the wire services but was written locally. The article talked with Jeff Fitzpatrick at the Blue & Gray Brewery. "GET READY FOR HIGHER PRICES" discusses the impending price increases due to hop shortages.

Of course, coverage of good news about craft beer is preferred, but it's still nice to see coverage of of our local brewery and craft beer in general.

Denver Beer Haul

I'm back home in Virginia now. As much as I enjoy Denver, it's good to be home with my family. I brought back a few beers that I can't get here. I have a travel bag that holds a styrofoam lined box that can carry 12, 12 oz. bottles. I also packed larger bottles in my suitcase. The bottles in my suitcase are wrapped in a foam carrying bag or in clothes, and put inside large zip-closure plastic bags. So far it's worked well. In fact today as the beer bag came up the ramp to the baggage carousel at Dulles I watched it flip end over end twice. There were no casualties in either bag. Interestingly, the brand label on the bag that holds the 12 oz. bottles is "Happy Day". That certainly fits. :-)










Here's the haul from this trip to Denver. I had planned on bringing back the Odell and Great Divide beers. The rest were purchased on impulse while browsing at Incredible Wine and Spirits in the Tech Center area and at Lukas Liquor Superstore in Lone Tree.

Odell 90 Shilling Ale
Odell IPA (2007 GABF Gold Medal Winner)
Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale
Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout
Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale
Boulder Cold Hop British-Style Ale
Ska Nefarious Ten Pin Imperial Porter

Overall I had a very good trip. I got lots of work accomplished and managed to take in some of the Denver beer scene as well. I look forward to going back.

Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery

After work last night I made one last "beer stop" in Denver. I've been wanting to visit the Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery for some time now and finally got the opportunity. This pub does not disappoint.

The atmosphere is very welcoming. The pub was crowded but the noise level certainly wasn't high. I sat at the bar and had a good view of the service provided. I saw several folks trying to decide what beer to try and the bartender Tiffany was ready to provide samples to help in the decision process. I started off with their Man Beer IPA. A decent enough IPA but not as hoppy as hyped. Maybe it's my taste buds. Beer Advocate lists this as 7.00% ABV but it seemed less than that to me. Maybe they've tweaked the recipe, or hidden the alcohol very well. However, the IPA did go very well with the spicy shrimp tacos I had. My dinnner was very tasty. They have a decent pub menu here. After my meal I opted to enjoy a Stonehenge Stout for dessert. The stout had strong smell of roasted coffee and went down very smoothly. I enjoyed this one very much.

Dinner and drinks at Bull & Bush was certainly an enjoyable way to wind down from the day. If I wasn't already tired from my trip and didn't have to get up early to catch a flight I would have definitely stayed longer. I'll certainly go back when I next get to Denver.

I must add, I truly enjoy pubs and restaurants in the Denver area since they are smoke free. Back in Virginia a night at a pub means you will go home smelling like a dirty ash tray.

Beer #150

Tonight I had my 150th new beer of 2007. I wasn't looking for this "milepost" but a few weeks ago I realized I was getting close to 150 so I decided to watch for it. I've only counted beers where I had a full "serving". This number doesn't include brewery samples, such as the dozen or so we had at Boulder Beer this summer. Not sure if there's any significance to this milepost, but it's cool to think about.

The beer that made the 150 spot is Great Divide Hibernation Ale. I enjoyed this at the Tap Room at the Great Divide Brewery. This American Strong Ale was very easy to drink. I suspect the alcohol (8.10% ABV) could sneak up on you very easily if you aren't careful. I stopped after one. :-) The malt flavor was very well balanced against the hop background. I preferred this over the Odell Extra Special Red Ale I had last night.

I also had the privilege of having the very last tasting of the Belgian Hibernation before the keg ran dry. Patrick who runs the Great Divide Tap Room said this was a special version of Hibernation brewed with the Hades yeast. (Hades Ale is Great Divide's Belgian Strong Pale Ale.) I also picked up some Fresh Hop Ale to bring home.

From the "It's a Small World Department", I struck up a conversation at the Tap Room with a couple visiting from Harrisonburg, VA who were were doing a walking tour of downtown Denver breweries. At one point there were three people in the Tasting Room, and all were visiting from Virginia. Another couple came in before I left, but the place was pretty empty while I was there. Perhaps Denver is all 'beered out' from last week. :-)

Hotel annoyance

I've heard that restaurants will play loud background music in order to keep guests from lingering (urban legend?), but I never imagined I'd be annoyed by forced background music in my hotel room. As I was trying get to sleep last night in Denver I was disturbed by music coming in from outside. I thought it might be from the lounge across the street or from a car in the parking lot. So I waited. 11:00 PM turned to midnight, which turned to 1:00 AM, and the music continued. I finally got dressed and went to down to the lobby and walked outside. The music was coming from speakers on the outside of the hotel! The same music was playing in the lobby. I talked to the desk clerk and he offered to turn the music off. So I finally got to sleep, only to be awakened at 5:30 AM by the music playing again. When I went down for breakfast I talked to the desk clerk again and he told me he was required to have the music on. Incredible, hotel policy requires playing music outside guest rooms all night long!

I've stayed at this same hotel several times and have always had good experiences. I asked for and received a new room that is away from the front of the hotel for the rest of my stay. I spoke to the manager as well. He said this was all "programmed in" and he would have to look for a way to lower the volume on the outside speakers at night. It's certainly a bizarre world we live in.