February 2012

Night Tripper

And The Distinction Between Stout And Porter

Night Tripper Imperial Stout from New Holland Brewing Company starts out so smooth and drinkable you might almost think it lacks complexity, but the more you drink it, the more it tastes like a really fine and silky dark chocolate. The flavor of some stouts starts to get a little overwhelming by the end of your second pint or so, but Night Tripper retains the exact same chocolatey smoothness throughout.

Tiny Guinness Jello Shots

Micro-pints look delicious

Maybe you're the type of person who only enjoys the idea of a beer. You can appreciate the aesthetics of its creamy head, its rich, dark body, the thick, frosty glass that encases it. You watch your fellow imbibers drink it down like a chocolate milkshake, in full, hearty swigs without so much blinking an eye. It looks like it should go down smooth and make your tastebuds quiver with joy. But every time you give it a go, its bitter taste betrays your expectations. If only there were a way to replicate what you thought beer should taste like. 

Well, now there is. I'm not one of those people I just described--I love a good brew--but for those among you who find yourselves put off time and time again by all things beery, here's your remedy. It's beer candy, basically. Or rather, beer--Guinness, to be precise--sweetened, solidified, and served up in tiny little steins. Yep, we're talking beer jello shots. They're newly invented and probably perfect for all your St. Patty's day festivities. They even have a little foam head made of Bailey's irish cream. Because who wouldn't love a tasty, bite-sized pint?

Angry Planet

Pale Ale

I'm a fan of Saint Paul's Flat Earth Brewing Company. Their Winter Warlock ale is really nice (and strong!) and their Cygnus X-1 Porter is a fine example of a porter. Unfortunately, I just can't get behind their Angry Planet pale ale.

 

It has the two characteristics I think of as being the defining traits of a bad microbrew- an unpleasant aftertaste caused by using an overabundance of hops, and a flavor reminiscent of orange peels. I'm well aware that some people like it, but I just don't buy it. Is there any great beer-making tradition in the entire world based on creating beer that tastes like orange peels? If there is, I can't think of one.

Bass

The Red Triangle

There are beers for when you want a really special experience, and then there are everyday drinking beers. You don't really want them to be the same, because the more “gourmet” beers tend to have powerful, complex flavors that are better appreciated as a special experience. Drinking them every day would be like going out to a fancy restaurant every single night- you'd probably get jaded pretty quickly.

The Creative Buzz - How Light Drinking Boosts Mental Skills

New study finds that being legally tipsy can improve problem-solving abilities
There's an xkcd comic that jokes that a very narrow window of blood alcohol content drastically strikes your programming ability. But could a little buzz actually make you smarter? A new study indicates that there's more truth to that strip that we had previously realized. 

Lion Stout

And Cygnus X-1 Porter

The local liquor stores have been suffering from an acute lack of Russian Imperial Stout lately, so I decided to try out “Lion Stout” from Sri Lanka. The label is a colorful and striking image of a lion's head, so the bottle is visually appealing. On the way home from the store, I was joking with my wife that we could earn lots of street cred as beer snobs if we become exclusively devotees of Sri Lankan stout. Obscurity is the key to superior hipness, after all.