Alaskan White

A relatively new offering, Alaskan White comes to us this year from the great Alaskan Brewing Company.  I am generally impressed with Alaskan and think they do a solid job of both beer brewing and marketing, keeping it real from our northernmost state.  This brew comes as us a light yellow with a small head.  The nose is slightly fruity and definitely reminiscent of witbier.  The body is clean and tight with a similar finish, keeping this brew a tight little package all around.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Wasatch White Label White Ale

Quite honestly wasn’t sure what to expect here… I mean, really… what does a brewery in Utah know about belgian style brews and the fine art of Witbier?  Well, they did their homework and produced a good little beer, I tell you.  Not too strong, not too light… balanced well with the yeast and citrus and spice… really easy to drink and refreshing.  On to the tasting:

Wasatch White Label White Ale

This little number pours a light, light yellow-white… lives up to its name, for sure.  The head didn’t even come across for me… not sure why… was looking fora  big one but that is probably the only negative on this brew… the nose is light and yeasty, a bit of lemon/citrus in there… leads to a similar body… my tasting partner/father-in-law thought it similar to a shandy.  Since I have never had one, I will take his word for it.   The finish is clean and crisp and refreshing and made me long for the days of sunshine that have been absent for so, so many days…

It is too bad we can’t get this beer in WA… I would buy more of it to share with the neighborhood for sure!

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

Les Brasseurs De Gayant Amadeus

This beer, Les Brasseurs De Gayant Amadeus, has honestly been sitting in my fridge for at least a year… one of those that I bought on recommendation but just wasn’t in the mood for… so I took it to Miss Jessi’s home to somewhat pawn it off… turns out it was a good move… not for me, but for a particular group for sure… primary reason… chicks dig it.  Really… the guys at the party weren’t enamoured but the ladies of the bunch ranked this one #1 for sure and that is always a good thing when you are starting to get your drink on…

The smell was lemony… not just your average lemon, either.  Very bright and cheery on the lemon.  The body didn’t let up, either.  Came at all of us with a bit of a lemonade twist but keeping it true to the beer undertones.  It was a great starter beer as it has a low barrier for entry… oh… and did I note that chicks dig it?

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again (for the womenfolk)

Great White Beer

“Beer with natural flavors added”, according to the label – “Beer in a bottle for me to drink”, according to me. Man, I love being on holiday… anyway, this is a bottle of the Lost Coast Brewery‘s Great White Beer, a reasonably traditional white beer (funnily enough) that hits you up with a good dose of coriander.

 In the glass, this is a light (if slightly cloudy) wheat-coloured beer, with some reasonable carbonation but little to no head. I don’t really notice the taste of the “secret blend of Humboldt herbs” that are also in here, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they add something-or-other to the experience.

With some obvious citrus overtones and a refreshingly light follow-through, this is a reasonable companion for a sunny afternoon, but unfortunately nothing to really write a postcard home about.

 

JBB6 Rating: Middle of the Road.

Shock Top Belgian White

Been taking a bit of a much needed family vacation over the past several days.  We are staying at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA.  I tell you, this place is pretty damn cool.  They have done a bunch of things right and we are already planning for a return trip next year.  In a nutshell, the water-park is really, really cool (although the 42″ height restriction on the tubes sucks), the MagiQuest interactive game is really, really cool, the arcade is good (although a huge $$ suck), and the food hasn’t been too bad at all.  They even offered me up a new beer from our friends at Anheuser-Busch. 

Shock Top Belgian White looked, from afar, to be a new craft brew that I hadn’t heard of.  At the end of the day, though, it came through as another macro brewery trying to diversify their flavors… and I have to tell you… I think they pulled it off.  It could have been that I was in beer withdrawals and this just happened to be the first beer I tasted, but I don’t think that is it.

The glass I had was at the actual restaurant in the hotel (not the buffet).  I ordered a 20 oz. for $4.50 (a good deal) and quickly thought well of it.  It came with an orange slice and a small head, but as far as drinkable beer goes, this wasn’t too bad at all… my biggest complaint, if you are going to go with the technical review, would be that they shouldn’t call this a Belgian White… there is likely zero Belgian yeast used here.  They should just call it a Hefeweizen.  It’s color is more yellow, its taste is definitely on the wheaty unfiltered side.  There just isn’t anything Belgian about it.

So, again, as far as beer goes, this is good beer.  Easy to drink and the right price.  If you are a technical beer drinker, though, you would give this a hateful rating because it isn’t true to its style in the least.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

New Belgium Mothership Wit

I have been looking forward to New Belgium Mothership Wit for quite some time now and tonight was the night to put it to rest… my only problem… I made the same mistake tonight as I did last night and I drank it straight out of the beer fridge.  My problem = my beer fridge is too cold… colder than our other fridge, so it has been good for some brews and not so good for others.

Being a problem solver, though, I have already ordered the necessary equipment to ensure my beer drinking is as ideal as it can be.  Here you go:

• Instant read thermometer to insert into the brew prior to drinking to ensure the appropriate temperature: Taylor Waterproof Digital Thermometer
• Refrigerator thermometer to keep the fridge at the ideal temp (not to cold, not too hot): Taylor Professional Freezer-Refrigerator Thermometer

Now, that isn’t going to be enough, so I have scoured the web for ideal beer drinking temperatures and here is what I have found:

• The folks at realbeer.com have a great summary… too bad I didn’t find this 30 minutes ago… http://www.realbeer.com/library/beerbreak/archives/beerbreak20000921.php. 
• Taken from the above link:
  • “Some general guidelines:”
    • “Serve fruit beers at 40-50° F”
    • “Serve wheat beers and pale lagers at 45-50° F”
    • “Serve pale ales and amber or dark lagers at 50-55° F”
    • “Serve strong ales, such as barley wines and Belgian ales, at 50-55° F”
    • “Serve dark ales, including porters and stouts, at 55-60° F”

So… now that I know all of this, here is the review… New Belgium has to be one of my favorite breweries.  They consistently produce great beer.  This one isn’t far off as long as you drink it at the right temperature.  At first, when cold, all I could smell was yeast and all I could taste was plain.  It wasn’t impressing me and I didn’t have a good feeling about it.  As I let it warm up though (remembering last night), it started to open up and get some flavor.  I started to taste some of the citrus and unfiltered-ness of the beer and I ended up with a overall solid perception.  A good white beer with a good balance.  I will have to say, though, that the White Rascal from Avery is a better choice… sorry New Belgium!

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again

    

Avery White Rascal

Today was a good day.  A good day on many, many beer fronts.  I woke up this morning, not really knowing what to expect from the weather, the kids, etc.  I end the day with a shit-eating-grin on my face and a vision of a great beer future ahead.

Lets hit the good stuff summary:

1. I went to Malt & Vine in Redmond, WA today.  More on that in a second.
2. I picked up a bottle of beer my boss has been hounding me about for some time (…you know who you are!)
3. I finally took up enough space in our refrigerator to push the wife into commanding me to buy a beer fridge.

And now the good stuff details:

1. Malt & Vine… an amazing establishment.  Truly.  They have ~900 beers in the bottle, some wine that I didn’t pay attention to, and a couple of kegs.  Not only do you get to buy beer, beer, and more beer, but you can enjoy a small glass of some really good craft beer while you do it!  The owner was super-knowledgable, the beer he gave me was and outstanding dark Belgium Style beer, and their selection… oh their selection.  See below for a picture of what I picked up and what lead to #3.
2. The actual beer for this review is Avery White Rascal.  My boss has been telling me about Avery since we started the blog (not sure which brew) and now I finally found some.  So I picked up the White Rascal and their IPA to see what I could taste and low and behold their White Rascal is an outstanding white ale.  I would have to say that their complexity of flavors mellows it out to just the right level to make this beer really, really outstanding.  Has to be my favorite white for now.  Will see how long that lasts.  I poured the glass, left a little in the bottom of the bottle, swirled it around, and poured the last of the cloudiness into the mug before I took my first taste.  Pure nirvana… great work by Avery.
3. As I came home tonight with 8 extra bottles of beer, my wife finally had it and ordered me to get a beer fridge so she could have room in the house fridge for something called food.  Boy… you don’t have to tell me twice.  Dinner, kids in bed, and I was off to Lowes to find my sweet little beverage holder.  Little is right… there are some really small fridges out there, kind of like what I have at work… but I decided on a 14 cubic foot model instead.  $400 isn’t too bad and now we have more room for other stuff like kids drinks, etc. as well.   All around a win-win for everyone.

So there you have it… a great beer-day.  As far as the rating on this beer:

JBB6 Rating: For the Win

Two pictures today… my haul from Malt & Vine:

And the bottle of Avery: