Endless Beer -

by snebbu

Straight ‘Outta the Trade

The best time of the year for me is typically when our quarterly beer exchange happens, or when my beer trades happen with my cousins. It started with my “cousin-in-law” from Seattle and has not reached Chicago. With all the beers available in the country, why not taste as much as possible? Well, my Chicago trade has arrived! I look for unique brews from places that I cannot get locally. Well, my cousin delivered in more than one way. First, these brews come from a microbrewery in Chicago. Second, they came in crowlers!

What’s the big deal with crowlers? well, I would say they are overrated if you’re just going to your local brew pub. However, for the sake of beer trades, crowlers make it even more possible to share beer with your friends that was once nearly impossible (unless you want to daringly attempt to send a growler). Anyway, here’s what came straight ‘outta the trade this time (tastes to follow):

Endless Beer: 2016 Anchor Christmas Ale

Anchor Brewing Company continues their 42 year-old tradition every Christmas season by releasing their seasonal Christmas ale. While the name does not change, the recipe and illustration does. The recipe is kept secret, so maybe their fooling all of us, but from what I can tell, there is a change in recipes throughout the years. I’ve been saving one every year for the past four years. Next year, I’ll taste each year and let you know. Until then…

ABV: 6.5%

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Black in color, but is not opaque. When held up to the light, you can barely see through it. Head is tan.

Aroma: Sweet smells of maple, fig, and cherry in addition to the scents of bread.

Taste: SWEET. Tastes of maple and roasted malts come first, followed by a chocolate flavor. Fruity flavor of years past is there, but not as strong. Winter spices are very subtle in this one – clove, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Mouthfeel: Creamy and smooth throughout – goes down easy.

Overall: Bought a case for my exchange, then bought a 12 pack for myself. This is a great dessert beer without going too heavy. This year’s is very balanced and has a great flavor that does remind you of Christmas.

Endless Rating: 4.3333/5 Candy Canes

Endless Pairings:

Cheese: Fig goat cheese with rusted nuts, dried fruit, and crustini

Appetizer: Roasted Garlic Chicken Satay

Entree: Roasted pork loin over apples and sweet potatoes with sauteed broccolini

Dessert: Chocolate pear panettone

Cigar: Nat Sherman Timeless Dominican

by snebbu

Endless Beer: 2016 Bourbon County Stout

Goose Island

Ahh yes, the most wonderful time of the year. My Black Friday shopping tradition became not one of waiting in endless lines but going to pick up my favorite holiday stout. Goose Island annually releases their Bourbon County Stout on Black Friday. Few distributors are provided with a limited supply and the beer snobs rush to get their stash. This is my third year of commitment to the stout and I now have a nice collection in my cellar to one day do a tasting across five years. Goose Island suggests that the brew can be aged up to five years, so why not?

On to the tasting!

Endless Beer: Flying Dog White Peach Saison

Flying Dog’s Brewhouse Rarities series typically takes a standard style of beer and either amps it up, or puts a twist on it. The White Peach Saison is their latest addition to what is becoming quite the collection of rarities. Flying Dog looks to offer a “sweet, yet tart” version of a Saison. The brew meets the challenge with a balance that at least reminds me of a peach cobbler a la mode. Cheers.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Peaches and subtle pepper

Appearance: Very light orange with haze. Light white head.

Mouthfeel: Very light and crisp with little to no lingering until it hits your throat.

Taste: Sweet peach up front, complimented by sweet, subtle caramel of the malt. Pepper/spice taste typically found in the Saison yeast comes up afterward. Sweet flavor reminiscent of a peach cobbler a la mode.

Overall: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert – this is a refreshing and tasty brew. The sweetness of the malts and white peach provides a flavor that could go with anything from pecan pancakes to peach pie. Hops are present in the suds, but the peaches are definitely the star without taking away from the Saison style.

ES Rating: 4.5/5 Suds

Endless Pairings

Cheese: Havarti with salted almonds and dried apricots

Appetizer: Mushroom, goat Cheese, and balsamic flatbread

Entree: Pineapple glazed salmon with zucchini fries and arugula salad

Dessert: Peach and pecan crepes with chantilly cream

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by snebbu

Top Ten Beers to End Your Summer

Summer is coming to an end. Teachers and students must return to the dreaded school year, people start to give up on visiting the beach/lake/river, and discussions center around when the pool will close. Sad face. With all this doom and gloom, the only way to try to squeak out the last few bits of summer are of course through alcohol. We took a look at the ten best beers to remind of the summer. Enjoy.

10. Victory Summer Love

Summer love lends a refreshing, crisp taste to a beer without losing the actual flavor of beer. For me, shandies may tend to be too sweet. The ABV is low enough to day drink without compromising taste.

9. Coppertail Unholy

Based out of Tampa, Coppertail brewed an American Trippel that sticks to the traditional style of a trippel with tasty hops throughout. This is a drink to have on the porch in the evening as the day cools down and you realize the summer is ending. The high ABV makes this a great summer night cap.

8. Dogfish Head Namaste

Namaste is one of my go-to summer beers. It’s a low ABV plus a very refreshing beer with strong taste of summer (orange, lemongrass). PLUS, it can be mixed with another beer on our list. Delish.

7. Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

Ballast Point Sculpin has been a tradition in our summer beer exchange for a few years now. But once they starting coming out with additional flavors of the Sculpin, we couldn’t help but try out the others. Pineapple is my favorite, and it sticks to the theme of summer. Pineapple juice flavor is strong, yet you still think you’re drinking beer.

6. Founders All Day IPA

Endless Beer: Flying Dog “Heat Series” Carolina Reaper Peach IPA

YOWZA! Apparently the folks at Flying dog take all of their series very seriously. The heat series seeks to provide a brew with serious heat to it without destroying the taste of the beer. Some “hot” or spicy beers provide the heat that is promised, but the flavor of actual beer is gone. These beers typically end up in our chili. However, this particular brew provides the heat that is promised while also giving the sweet and refreshing taste of a peach IPA. You will break a sweat while drinking this refreshing brew – weird…right? Good sipping beer and makes for great conversation at a party.

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Light golden with good carbonation. Light head with off-white color.

Aroma: Sweet, sweet peaches with a hint of vanilla and very subtle hop aroma.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and light – typical feel of an IPA.

Taste: First, a sweet taste of straight-up peach juice with just enough of a hoppy taste to let you know that it is an IPA. Immediately following the first sip as the suds go down, heat hits the back of your throat. The heat lingers throughout the entire drink, but the sweet peach flavor continues with every sip.

Overall: The heat of the beer is not as overwhelming as a typical spicy beer – it is much more balanced and does not burn your tongue as some hot sauces do. The heat stays with you throughout the drink, but it does not take away from the peach flavor of the overall brew. You’l break a sweat, but the other flavors keep you wanting more!

ES Rating: 4/5 suds

Endless Pairings:

Cheese: Sweet Honey Goat Cheese with Blueberry Preserves

Appetizer: Bavarian Pretzel with Cheese Sauce

Entree: Grilled Sirloin with Green Beans and Twice Baked Potato

Dessert: Blueberry & Peach Cobbler served with Vanilla Ice Cream

Cigar: Nat Sherman Timeless

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by snebbu

Beer Trade: Try Something New

Whoever said “let’s make America great again” doesn’t know about the American ingenuity of craft beer drinkers. One of the best things about craft beer is that we all love to share. We’ve mentioned the great beer exchange, but let us not forget about beer trades. Typically between two people, a beer trade will consist of a set of parameters and a deadline for each person to meet and ship out a selection of beers. Beer trades allow us beautiful beer people to not only partake in a diverse amount of beers that we may not otherwise purchase, but to also try beers that are well outside of your geographic bounds.

One of my co-workers would bring up which beers his brother sent him from California in exchange for some local beers from the Northeast. He would brag about the most recent batch of Pliny or a small microbrewery in San Diego. Finally, it hit me: my wife has a cousin in Seattle. After a few texts, we set up a trade of our own from PA to Seattle and back. Success.

Of course, I am not the founder of the beer trade. This has surely been going since the dawning of craft beer. When visiting in Tampa, I was given business cards of fellow beer lovers to arrange a trade. They went on about how they are a member of a network that posts the beers in their cellar and then offers are made. I’m sure there are a bunch of networks out there (in addition to just arranging through personal relationships), but what appears to be a more exclusive network is The Beer Exchange.

At the Beer Exchange, you are required to create an account before even perusing through the options. First things first, provide your cellar, or inventory. From there, you can post what you have for trade, what you want and what is not for trade (your means of bragging about beer to people who care). For those fantasy football fans – think of this as your waiver wire. Finally, you can manage who your friends are and provide feedback through star ratings as well as providing actual reviews. This is a social network for beer people. WIN.

Even reddit has a beer trade thread. Obviously since it is on reddit, it’s a big deal. I will be trying my hand at the online beer exchange, however I personally think the easiest way to go is to trade with your personal friends. Find a friend in a far away land and pony up the bill to trade some suds. Let’s make America great again…one beer at a time.

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