Weekend Update (Saturday 11/28/2009)

Eitan: On Saturday night I had the St. Bernardus ABT 12 from that sample pack that Greg got me. It was as good as it was at 4th ave pub from the tap. I had it in the St. Berdardus watou glass and it poured beautifully. Nice white head, about an inch and a half, good head retention, very nice amber color. It is a good thing that wholefoods sells this beer separately.

Also on Saturday night I discovery that on 3rd ave and the corner of 72nd street in Bay Ridge, that there is a bodega that now stocks a ton of craft beers and foreign brews. It's pricey for what you normally find in a bodega, but it is not more expensive than bierkraft. I was at a dinner, I went to get some soda and saw the beers, got excited and got a Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Triple. The beer had really good head retention, definitely about an inch and a half. It had a sweet and hoppy smell to it, pretty different from most of the IPA beers I've had. It did have a nice hoppy taste to it, somewhat bitter and dry. It has a nice mix of citrus and and sweeter fruits like pear and leaves with a taste of some spices. A nice medium body beer, very easy to drink. I think we need to get this for beer night.

't Smisje Grand Reserva

It's been a while, but I think I shall post something.

Tonight I had the pleasure to try the 't Smisje Grand Reserva. It is a strong beer, however this one lacks the sweetness you'd expect with a beer at 10%. This beer reminds me of A. Le Coq's Imperial Extra Double Stout. Except this one is quiet a bit lighter and does not pack as much of a punch to the senses. This beer is bitter and strong, with but a vague sweetness lingering way after you've drank it. I saw elsewhere it described as having "woody hits of whiskey" and that pretty much hits it on the nose. A complex beer indeed, definitely made for a refined palate.

Weekend Update 11/19/2009 - 11/22/2009

Eitan: It's a weekend update, like SNL only better because it's about beer and Jimmy Fallon isn't hosting. Not too much beer had this weekend, but enough new ones to write about.

First up was Weyerbacher Merry Monks on Friday night. I really like this beer. I had two 12oz bottles left. This beer pours a nice hazy golden color with a nice amount of head that fades slowly. It is a great smelling brew, very strong scent, a mixture of fruits and a hint of spices. This brew had a medium body and was very crisp. Like the smell, it had a fruity taste and finishes off with a good spicy taste. This is one of my favorite beers from Weyerbacher so far.

Saturday night, after a long afternoon of shooting at each other with paint balls, we went to Union Hall in Brooklyn for some drinks to celebrate Marina's Birthday. Now, Union Hall is an ok venue and the beer selection is ok (I am sure I've mentioned this before). But I did have two beers that I've never tried before. The first beer was O'Reilly's Stout. It was poured from the tap in to a pint glass. It had a nice dark color and a thick amount of creamy, tan colored head. It had a very chocolate aroma. This beer was creamy and had a nice mix of chocolate and coffee taste, very simply and slightly bitter. If I were in the mood for a Guiness I would first see if I can get and O'Reilly's.

The second beer I had at Union Hall was the Left Hand 400lb Monkey. The reason I chose it was all in the name. Would it actually taste like a 400lb monkey? So this is supposed to be an IPA, but it really didnt taste that much like most of the IPA beers we've had before. It had a nice amber/orange color with slight head retention. It had a nice mix of hops, citrus and caramel flavors. It had a predominately citrus/fruit smell to it. This is a ok IPA, very good for people who are not big fans of hops.


On Sunday I had dinner at a relatively new burger place in the meatpacking district, Bill's Bar and Burger. So this is more of a rating of the place rather than the beer, and it will be apparent why I can not rate the beer well. So on the only rating I can give this place is MEH, the burger and onion rings were pretty bland. Over all it was nothing special. Also, busy boy's were picking at people's fries and rings before they were set to go to the tables.
For a place that has "bar" in its name it really blows. The beer selection was weak and over priced. I got excited for Anchor Steam Porter, but at $8 per bottle, it is a little messed up. I decided that the only responsible thing to do was order the Anchor Steam Porter. The bottle was only slightly cool and it took forever for them to get a glass. The glass they gave me was the kind they serve their soda or milkshakes in, they couldn't even spring for a pint or porter glass? And they call themselves a bar. Second the glass was CHILLED, and according to beeradvocate.com "Never chill your glassware, and decline if served a frosted glass. Why? As the beer hits the frosted glass condensation will occur and dilute your beer, while at the same time alter the serving temperature. " The look on my face when the waitress gave me the glass said it all. Overall, highly disappointing. I need to have a nice glass of Anchor Steam Porter so that I can erase the bad memories.

Blanche De Namur 11/19/2009

Eitan: Last night I had a Blanche De Namur. This is a Belgian Witbier (White Beer). I got a 750ml bottle at a Russian store only because it was much cheaper than anywhere else. It had a cloudy yellow color with a good amount of white head, with ok retention. It had a nice wheat and citrus smell you could expect from a Belgian white beer. It has a light body and very drinkable. It was a bit tart, a taste of orange and like the bottle said the spiced flavor of coriander. Overall, not a bad beer but not a great beer. I would stick with the Ommegang Witte if I were in the mood for a Belgian Witbeir.

UP and Beer 11/18/2009

Eitan: A little two week break and beer night was back, complete with good beers and UP. UP was a little bit sad at some parts, but the beer made it better. The beers were all really good, I miss having really good beers in one night as opposed to a few mediocre beers.

First off was the Southern Tier Oak Aged Unearthly Imperial India Pale Ale. It was a nice and hoppy beer (even Greg liked it, and we know how he usually reacts to hops). It had a very nice dark amber color, a decent amount of head retention, and a fizzy medium body. It had a nice hops smell with a hint of citrus. It was pretty smooth for an IPA, easy to drink. The hops taste was not so overwhelming as you wold expect. There was a nice citrus zing to it. I would like to taste the regular Unearthly, just to be able to compare the difference with it being Oak Aged. Definitely a good beer to have for Hop Heads and for people who may not love Hops so much.

The second beer was much better, it was the Ommegang Adoration. It is always so much fun to try a beer that is not regularly brewed, especially if its from one of your favorite breweries. We already tried the Biere De Mars a while back, so I expected only good things from Adoration. This beer is Ommegang's "first Strong Winter Ale, named Adoration, becoming available from mid-October through December, all across the US." This beer is also "the first in a series of special beers to be released every two months through the end of 2010. Look for Chocolate Indulgence in January-February and then an entirely new group of beers throughout 2010."
It poured a nice dark brown color, unfortunately we were watching the movie in the dark so it may have some other aspects I wont be able to describe. It had a small amount of white head. It had a sweet smell, a kind of caramel/molasses and dark fruits. It also had a sweet taste to it, not an overpowering sweetness. I guess Greg and Stan were in agreement that it had a nice cherry taste; however, I thought it had a slight cherry taste and mixed with raisins and other dark fruit. This beer was well balanced, a nice blend of sweetness of fruits and the always loved taste of spices." I would love to get this beer again before it will be hard to find. I also can't wait for the release of special beer from Ommegang.

The final beer was a Swiss beer, L'Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien (roughly translated to the Abbey of Saint Good Dog). I don't think I've ever had a Swiss beer, so this was fun to try. It poured a nice dark red/brown color with some white head that receded pretty quickly. It had a very tart and slightly sour smell, it also tasted pretty tart and a bit sour. It was similar to the taste of the Iris, but this beer had more of a tart cherry taste, slightly sweet mixed with the tartness and a little bit of malt flavor. It had a light/medium body, very drinkable and pretty smooth if you can handle the tart and sour flavor. Who knew the Swiss make some pretty good beer?

A Taste of Japan at Fourth Ave Pub 11/5/2009

Eitan: I had only one drink last night at Fourth ave Pub, and it was a real good choice. I was very excited to try it when I saw it on beermenues.com, it was the Hitachno Nest Espresso Stout. I've had other Hitachino beers, all very good, and non on draft. So I was definitely going to get the stout. It was a 12 oz pour, it was nice and dark with about an inch of grayish/tan head. A nice strong espresso and chocolate smell with a little bit of raisin. I was worried that it would taste too much like coffee because of the smell, but it was just right. It was a very good mixture of coffee/chocolate/raisin taste, and a little bit of a vanilla after taste, the kind of vanilla after taste that you get from fresh whipped cream with no sugar in it. And then there was the nice bitter finish, not nearly as bitter as the Obovoid Empirical Stout from Wednesday night. The Hitachino was not heavy, it was on the light-medium body side and creamy. I really took my time to finish this beer and let it open up, it got better with every sip. I hope they have this beer for a while, definitely worth a try for any one who likes imperial stouts.

Most boring beer night ever (thanks to the Yankees) 11/4/2009

Eitan: Thanks to Greg we had to suffer watching the Yankees. Baseball is pretty boring. The beers of the night were ok. I didn't love them, but hated only one. The first beer was the Avery Anniversary Ale Sixteen Saison. This was a pretty decent beer, nothing fancy or over the top. It had a very nice golden color and cloudy, slight head retention and very carbonated. This beer had a little more floral and yeasty scent to it, not heavy on the spice scent. It was light, had a nice crispy feel and slightly bitter. This is a decent Saison, there are better ones out there, but I would have this one again.

The second beer was Troegs - The Mad Elf Ale. This beer was also ok. This is a nice beer to have during the late fall and winter months. It pours a nice reddish-brown color with some head retention. The consensus was that it had a nice cherry smell, not to overwhelming. It was definitely a bit dry, and a medium body. The taste of cherries was subtle with a hint of tartness (nowhere near the tartness of the Iris). I was expecting a little more from this beer. Maybe we had an off day, but this was just ok. I would be curious to try it on draft or just on a different night.

The last beer was MEH!!!!!! It was the Obovoid Empircal Stout. It was described as a oak-aged oatmeal stout, but it tasted more like a porter. Not even a good porter, and I like my porters. It had the color and look that was similar to coke or pepsi (or Shasta Cola; this maybe too extreme because Shasta is so cheap and syrupy looking). It was very dry and had an overpowering sweet molasses smell. It was hard to like this beer, the malt/molasses taste was too much and I was unable to pick out an other subtle flavors. Verdict? Greg should lay off on picking bad porter. Stick to porters that are as good as the Meantime London Porter. (No offense Greg)

4 Beers, 1 Weekend

Eitan: This weekend was full of some beers. And when I say full, I mean four. It has been too long for me to remember everything about the beers, except that I liked them all.

I started off Friday evening with dinner at Markt. This is where I had my First drink of the night. This is a cool place to have beer with your dinner, mainly because it is a Belgian restaurant and has a pretty nice bottled beer selection, and a nice selection of Moules and Beef dishes. I had the Triple Karmelite. It's been a while since I've had it and I am glad I did. It was served from a small (11.5 oz) bottle in to a big tulip Triple Karmelite glass. I don't remember all the details except that it had a nice and subtle sweet and herb taste. My only issue with this place was that the beer was more expensive than it should be. But, it is more of an upscale place than we would normally go to have some beer.

The second stop of the night was at your favorite beer bar close to home, Fourth ave Pub. It has been a few weeks since we've all gone to have some beer there. The best part is the rotating draft menu, and being absent for a few weeks or so gives us the chance to have some new beers or some we haven't had in a while. The first drink was the Stone Russian Imperial Stout. This beer pours so dark that it has some shades of dark purple tint in certain light. It had a nice creamy and foamy head, with a gray/brown color. It had a nice taste of what can only be described as a mixture of bitter sweet chocolate an delicious unsweetened espresso. It does well to hide the taste of the higher alcohol content.

The last beer I had was the St. Bernardus Abt 12. I was really excited to try this one. It is a Belgian quadruple. This was a very savory beer, good to the last drop. It was nice and sweet, with hints of cherries, raisins and figs. This is definitely a beer you can get anyone to have, even the people who don't like to drink beer. I only hope that this beer is still around next time I go back. If not, lets hope the Bierkraft has it.

On Sunday, after an enjoyable brunch to celebrate Greg's birthday, we took a little trip to Bierkraft to have some beer. I only had one beer, and my choice was not bad. It would have sucked to choose one beer and have it suck. I had Stoudt's Fat Dog (Imperial Oatmeal Stout). This was a pretty decent beer. It was nice and dark in color. It was really smooth and had a slightly bitter taste to it. I would have this beer again, but I don't think it will be a favorite imperial stout of any kind.

On a slightly unrelated note, I had some Corona at a concert last Thursday. This was definitely a low point of my week. It's not that I am that snobby, its just that it really just tastes funny. Is it so hard to serve some porkslap? Just as light and cheap, yet it tastes much better.