Sam Adams Recall

I just received an email from the great ones at Samuel Adams who have informed me of a voluntary recall. Apparently, some of their bottles, from only one of their glass suppliers (1% of supply), were detected to have very small amounts of glass in them.  The bits are about the size of a grain of sand.

Boston Beer is doing everything they can to fix this issue. They have set up a recall website here. If you would like to find out if your beer is tainted with delicious glass bits, go to the recall website and follow the instructions.

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Beers That Keep You Warm (and put hair on your chest)

So, over the holidays, my brother and I tried some various seasonal/winter/christmas brews. I have always been a sucker for these kinds of beer because they remind me of all the things I love about Christmas plus Beer. I had a few that were good and some that were awful, the Abita one tasted rough, but overall it was not my favorite year for seasonal/winter/christmas brews.

Since I was a lazy beer drinker then and chose not to post my opinions of them, I decided to ask you dear reader what you favorites are. I want to know what your favorite christmas time beer is this year, last year, or year after year. Feel free to speak upon the bad ones too. And for the record, Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale reminded me most of Christmas.
And here is the rest of it.

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Cold and Drunk in Richmond

I recently assisted my girlfriend on an excursion to Richmond.  We arrived around 9:30 at our hotel in downtown and found nothing to do in the building.  So what do you do when it is 20 degrees outside but nothing to do in your hotel?  Well, my most awesome girlfriend had already researched the nearest pub (she doesn't like beer, so she is extra awesome).  At only two and a half blocks away from the hotel, The Capital Ale House was a worthy excursion despite the temperature.

The Capital Ale House is pretty damn impressive.  Now, maybe I'm just saying this because in the land of banking that is Charlotte, NC (my hometown) there are not a lot of places to try a lot of beer.  In Charlotte we have the always wonderful Flying Saucer, but they built out by the university and the amount of driving to get there kills me.  Then there's Hotel Charlotte and Smokey Joe's, but I'm not sure if they reach the unseen variety that I found at the Capital Ale House.  You see, CAH (oh yeah, abbr.) has over 300 beers ranging from a healthy selection of Ales, Porters, Stouts, IPAs, cask beer, and pure awesomeness.  These are beer's I have never seen elsewhere, well maybe at the Brickstore Pub in Decatur, GA, but not in Charlotte.

So onto the beer menu.  What follows is not exactly reviews of the beers but just an idea of what I tried.

Tommy Knocker - Maple Nut Brown - Not bad for a starter ale but a little light for my taste.

Starr Hill - Jomo Lager - Described on the menu as an almost nonexistent hop presence.  B.S.  Good stuff but hoppy.  Also, not at all like an Oktoberfest which I tend to think of as a malty beer.  Lagers aren't malty like an Oktoberfest.  This was a little closer to a Pilsner in taste.

Beer #3 - I don't remember.

Victory - Storm King Cask Stout - My first foray into a cask beer.  I have had Storm King before but never on tap or like this.  The head was so much creamier, I assume this was due to the pumping of the beer.  Hell if I know but it was delicious.
So when in Richmond, Va. try this place.  They serve a hella good onion soup too!

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The Beer Idiot Is In!

Welcome Back!  It has been a long time coming but I am back on the site.  I had some things happen in my personal life that turned me away from writing.  My father passed away in October and it has taken me a long time since to motivate myself to care about this site.  However, I have a new twitter subscriber who I respect so I thought I'd post something new.

Thank you for you patience and let the drinking begin!

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Where has the beer idiot been?

Recently, I have been involved in a number of activities which have kept me from writing for the blog. Seeing as I don't have any other writers other than my brother, the blog doesn't get written until I can get to it. I would like to get to it as soon as possible but family complications and applying for design school have moved to the forefront of my life.

I hope to have a post up for the site within the next month but as of right now I am on hiatus to try and work out some things out. Hopefully, I can put together a PDF mag in the next month or so but there are no guarantees. As always, I am looking for contributors so feel free to get in touch and start writing. Drop me a line!

That's all for now but keep coming and buy the shirt!

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New Logo!

I guess I can call it new, I mean it is, but there wasn't one that preceded it. Who knows, there might never be another new logo. So, that being the case, I introduce to you the reader, BeerIdiot.com's Old Logo! New Logo! Logo!™ So why did I create a logo for a site that has ten readers a day? Well, because I hope to have more than that eventually and it looks cool. So there!

Also, I have a link to some sweet ass apparel designed by me. I put this stuff up because I needed to post something. I made a promise that I would post stuff this past week and I didn't. I have been very busy on getting my college application together (I never graduated), and just haven't had time for the site. I am headed to the beach this week and headed to Georgia after that so maybe around the 1st of August I can start again.

If you would like to see more regular posts on this site, please feel free to leave a comment letting me know, but it might happen only if I can get more writers. I will try to respond quickly.

Thank you for visiting and keep checking the site weekly!

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Butterbeer

Harry Potter arrived in theaters Friday and while that has absolutely nothing to do with beer, I thought I should mention what I read on Slashfood. In the books and in the movies, there has been mention of butter beer. While butter beer isn't exactly brewed, someone probably has a theory on how it would be made if it were real, which is what Slashfood has posted. Ladies and gentlemen, Butter(scotch) beer:

Madame Rosmerta's Butterbeer
(recipe adapted from Mugglenet.com)
Ingredients:
1 cup (8 oz) club soda or cream soda
1/2 cup (4 oz) butterscotch syrup (ice cream topping)
1/2 tablespoon butter
Directions: Measure butterscotch and butter into a 2 cup (16 oz) glass. Microwave on high for 1 to 1½ minutes, or until syrup is bubbly and butter is completely incorporated. Stir and cool for 30 seconds, then slowly mix in club soda. Mixture will fizz quite a bit. Serve in two coffee mugs or small glasses.

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MicroBrew Review and Why Dale's Pale Ale is So Important

This week I received an email from David James who runs the Microbrew Review. David posts a new review about once a week. His reviews are insightful and in depth. He reminded me that I had never posted a review about Dale's Pale Ale (shame on me) and so now that I have posted my review, here is his to compliment. Also check out David's blogs listed at the bottom of the review!

Just recently, I went out and took a wild stab at trying Dale's Pale Ale which is proudly produced by Oskar Blues Brewery out of Lyons, Colorado.

Being a huge fan of pale ales and India Pale Ales in particular, I was more than a little skeptical of this hop offering. Afterall, it's packaged in an aluminum can. Nothing good can come of that, right? That's what I've always thought since I branched off of the macro-brew trail long ago and moved on to bigger, better things...all things microbrew that is. More after the jump!

Well, I was dead wrong. A good, solid microbrew does not have to ALWAYS come in a brown bottle. In fact, despite my predispositions, the whole "can" thing was what got me curious in the first place. No matter how bad I wanted to resist the marketing of this brewery and using the whole "microbrew in a can" gimmick, I gave in and purchased a mixed case (12 Dale's Pale Ale and 12 Old Chub Scottish Ales). Let me tell you what I found.

This pale ale didn't disappoint. Looking at the can design itself was not all that impressive. The silver, red, white and blue colors actually gave me a little bit of a reminder of the Pabst Blue Ribbon cans only with reverse proportionality of red to the Pabst blue. Kinda tacky design, but it's what's inside that counts here.

This ale poured an orange-auburn into a pint mug. If you like a bid head on your beer, you aren't going to get it here...about 1/4 inch lasting about 3 minutes before dissipating to nothing.
But the taste...aaaahhhh that's where it's at here. Close your eyes while sipping Dale's Pale Ale and you'd swear it was from a bottle. Being a hops nut, the bitterness/piney feel of this brew really hit the spot although the level of carbonation was just a bit less zingy than I like personally. It came across just a little flat. But don't let that deter you though. In fact, I think the whole "can gimmick" thing made me keep thinking it was less of a beer than it actually was. I think I'd mentally programmed my tastebuds to automatically deduct a point or two just because of the fact it was a microbrew out of an aluminum can. But upon second review, if I just closed my eyes and took a sip, I was able to realize this was far and away better than many microbrews I've tried from the bottle.

I can just picture myself throwing a case of dale's pale ale in back of my Ford Escape to take on a camping trip with some pals. When you put it all in perspective, if you like the taste of a fine microbrew over the boring lack of flavor in many of today's macro-brews, Dale's Pale Ale will give a fine reproduction of many of the finer micro pale ales in a fully portable and durable aluminum can. If Bud, Coors or Miller just isn't your thing and you need something more substantial in your beer, Dale's Pale Ale makes a fine option when you're heading outdoors for a camping trip, hunting lodge or tailgating at your favorite team's next game.

I found my case at a local brewery in Western Pennsylvania. Dale's Pale Ale is not something I've seen around much in this part of the country though, so if you're looking to try it out, the availability at your local establishment may vary. If you do get a chance though, I would recommend a try.

Giving this one 7.25 out of 10.00.

You can check out more reviews of new microbrews and fun microbrew and craft beer related info at Microbrew Review or My Squidoo Lens. Check out Summer Microbrew too!
David James is Editor of The Microbrew Review Blog

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Dale's Pale Ale - Stephen's Review

Describing something as 'da bomb' tends to bring me back to days in grade school when I was all about things that were 'tha shit.' My Bazooka Joe T-Shirt might fall into this category because I had to eat a crap load of gum to get a shirt that I know no one else had. It's rare that a mature adult such as me (tongue -> cheek) would call something either of these terms but when I do it is with the utmost sincerity. It usually involves me feeling like a kid again. So it is really odd when I say I feel like a kid again drinking beer, but this one stands out above the rest. More after the jump!

As a regular pale ale, Dale's Pale Ale is better than average. It has a strong hoppiness without the bitterness (how in God's name does that happen?). This thing was formulated to drink like a Bud with the flavor of a craft brew. But what makes Dale's Pale Ale stand out above the rest and puts it in 'tha shit' category is... it's in a can! Fuckin Rock On! The geniuses at Oskar Blues Brewery thought it would be funny at first, convenient second, to package their beers in cans. After a little research, they realized that the stigma with canning beer is all but gone these days as taste isn't all that affected. This beer packs all the punch of the other crafty pale ales but you can take it to the lake, beach, funerals, etc.

Dale's is a bit hard to find as the grocer's aren't sure how to stock it. Some of them put it with the other cans so look between swill and Bud if you don't see it with the microbrews.

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Mistaken Identity - McSorley's Ale Review (Sort of)

Back in the day, before I had graduated grade school, and before microbrews had taken over the American beer market, there were beers that had a case of mistaken identity. One, for example, was Killian's Irish Red. Everyone's favorite Irish beer other than Guinness, was known as a slightly smokey Irish Red Lager,not ale as the original recipe calls for, that you could always count on when you didn't want a German beer. But wait a second, Killian's was made in Ireland right? Wrong! Coors brewed it based on an old recipe.

So today, I see a beer that sounds interesting: McSorley's Ale, "brewed with the Irish Spirit." Okay, so I understand that this flat out means it ain't brewed there but come on. On the packaging, it says New York, USA. On the bottle it says Wilkes-Barre, PA. So what's going on here? Well... McSorley's is an Ale House that has been in business in Manhattan since 1854. It has a wonderful storied history that was chronicled in 1943 by New Yorker Magazine writer Joseph Mitchell. McSorley's Beer Ale has been made since the inception of the 'Old Ale House,' as far as I could tell. More after the jump!

Now, the bar (kind of a tourist trap) still serves the brew but you can't really classify it as an American classic. It is, but unlike Budweiser or any of the famous American blue collar beers still brewed today, this thing has switched so many hands that I don't know what to call it (it's now brewed by Pabst). The beer is less Irish than it thinks it is. The taste is like a hoppier version of a cream ale. Thankfully, it isn't as creamy as Genny Cream, but that still doesn't necessarily save it. It used to be manufactured as McSorley's Cream Stock Ale, but is now simply know as McSorley's. I'm not exactly sure how a beer can become famous and recognized when the name on it doesn't refer to the brewer but the only bar that ever served the stuff.

Is it good? You bet! It has a bit of the macrophlegm that you get from cheaply produced beers like High Life and PBR, but it has much more depth in flavor than those. But they are session beers and this isn't.

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