Day 66 (9/28/2011): Dirty, nasty, gross draft lines

Yesterday evening, smack dab in the middle of my so-far-wonderful beach vacation, we were invited by some friends in Myrtle Beach to check out a local band playing. It was at one of those faux-Irish pub type places, so I figured the beer selection wouldn't be good, and I was correct. I have no problem with places not having good beer selections. BMC sells and, though I refrain from drinking it, I understand that others do like it and that is their god-given right. At places like that I normally will just get liquor and be merry.

Unfortunately, I hadn't had my beer for the day and was hard pressed to find something new. I had a Fat Tire - which tasted a little off and then followed it up with a Sam Adams Summer (which was my new beer for the day), which tasted just like the Fat Tire. I have a feeling that I could have tried anything running through their taps and they would have tasted roughly the same.

This gets right to the heart of a very large pet peeve of mine. I don't care whether you serve good beer or not -- if you serve any beer at all, you clean your draft lines. I understand that anyone chugging a Bud Lite or a Natty Ice out of a plastic cup isn't going to be able to tell the subtle difference between the two, but for Pete's sake, think of the sanitary issues concerning that. If you're not cleaning the lines and hardware between keg changes in a bar or restaurant, that's just disgusting.

I'm not asking your servers to get Cicerone certification, to serve me my beer in proper glasses, or even serve good beer. Just do the same thing for your taps and lines that you're (hopefully) doing for your glassware: clean them. I want even my crappy beers to taste like they're supposed to and I want them to be served in a sanitary manner. Is that asking too much?

Day 65 (9/27/2011): Bourbon Barrel Porter by Williamsburg AleWerks

One of my favorite things about vacation is getting to try new things I wouldn't normally have access to at home. This means food, attractions, views, and yes, beer. Beer distribution is so crazy that you never know what you're going to find when you head to a state outside your own. Early on in this vacation in South Carolina, I headed to the store to figure out what local/regional stuff I could get my hands on. One bottle that intrigued me was a bourbon barrel porter from Williamsburg AleWerks. I had never heard of the brewery before, but it had a good score on both sites and I'm a sucker for barrel aged beers, so I picked one up to try.

I am very, very glad I did. This might be one of the best surprises I've had since I got into craft beers. Most stellar beers I get to try I expect to be stellar because of the hype behind them. It's not often that I ahold of an amazing beer that I've never heard of before.

The smell of this beer is tremendous. It's very rich, with a chocolate, almost fudge-like scent mingling with your porter-necessary roast. The barrel treatment is what brings this beer to the next level. It imparts a complex scent of vanilla, oak, coconut, and, of course, bourbon. It fits in with the rest of the scents perfectly, never overwhelming the base beer's characteristics. The taste, though still outstanding, isn't quite as rich as the smell. The low carb'ed, somewhat thick body carries a moderately sweet, bourbony goodness, with a solid roast in the finish. The alcohol is present just enough to add a warming characteristic, but it's not hot or too boozy.

I think the best thing I can say for this beer is that I'm going back to get more bottles to bring home. At $7.99 for a great barrel aged imperial beer, this is a hell of a deal. In my opinion, it's not as good as Parabola, but it's also half the price of it. Overall, outstanding. Kudos to a brewery I've never even heard of before putting out a beer of this caliber. I guess hype isn't everything after all.

Style: Imperial/strong porter
Beer Advocate: A-
Ratebeer: 99/92

Day 64 (9/26/2011): Dale's Pale Ale by Oskar Blues Grill & Brewery

Old beer strikes again! In my haste to grab stuff to sip on during my week on the beach, I missed the date printed on these Dale's Pale Ales and grabbed a three month old six pack. Oh well, chalk it up to inattention and a store not moving product quickly. I'm not going to give it a grade since it's no fault of the brewery that this probably doesn't taste as good aged as fresh. As for the smell and taste, it was a typical American pale ale, but without most of the hops. Not terrible, but certainly not very good. I've heard good things about this beer, though, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for it in the future and try to grab some fresh cans.

P.S. Even old beer serves a purpose, though: it worked just fine in a shrimp boil we made last night!

Style: American pale ale
Beer Advocate: B+/B
Ratebeer: 98/100

Day 63 (9/25/2011): B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher by Hoppin' Frog Brewery

Context: Vacation. That's all that matters. Pretty much any beer tastes passable while I'm staying on the beach.

Beer: As an Ohio beer, I've been meaning to try this one forever. Strangely enough, I found it and found it in South Carolina and found it cheaper than Ohio. Beer distribution and pricing makes no sense. Being on the Ratebeer top 100 list, this one had something to live up to and boy did it ever.

The smell of this is chocolate, coffee, and slight roasted malts. The oats are also there, but it's very slight. The taste is much the same, but it comes in waves. It's sweet and creamy up front, with the chocolate, vanilla, and malt sweetness dominating. A slight bitter roast complemented by the coffee flavor finishes things up, balancing up the front of the flavor. Definitely one of the most balanced imperial stouts I've ever tasted. A little more sweet than roast, but that's the way I like it. The feel of this is amazing. The carbonation is pretty low and, with the oats, it makes for one of the most amazingly creamy beers I've ever drank in my life. Very, very impressive.

Kudos to this beer for hitting it on all fronts.It doesn't have the wow factor of some other really big, barrel aged stouts, but it does everything an oatmeal stout does pretty much perfectly. I can not wait to try the barrel aged version of it. I'm not sure how much it will improve it, but I'm willing to find out. I give B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher by Hoppin' Frog Brewery an A.

Style: Russian imperial stout
Beer Advocate: A/A-
Ratebeer: 100/97

Day 62 (9/24/2011): Two Gypsies Our Side by Stillwater/Mikkeller

After a six hour drive, I am firmly on vacation. That means sleep, reading, beer, and more beer. Thank goodness.

I picked this up in D.C. during a recent trip and hauled it along just in case I couldn't find anything good around where I was going to be staying. I don't really drink saisons too often, but I figured I had to try a collaboration which features Mikkeller. They make some really great beers, a lot of them exciting and unconventional.

This isn't your typical saison, but it's a tasty and beautiful looking beer nonetheless. It pours a bright, hazy orange with a monster white head. Once it died down a bit, smells of spices, sweet fruit, and a bit of black pepper are followed by the Mikkeller influence - a fruity hop wallop that finishes things up. The taste is a good bit of tropical fruit hops, a nice pale malt sweetness, ester flavors from the yeast, and a slight bit of cloves and other spices. The carbonation is fizzy and a bit higher than medium with a medium body.

This is a good drinking beer. It's a very nontraditional saison, which I would expect from something Mikkeller is involved in. The hops are a bit heavier handed than is typical, but they aren't overpowering. It almost seems like a mix between a saison and an IPA. Very interesting. This isn't one of the best beers I've had recently, but I'm glad I got to try it. I'll have to try some of Stillwater's other saisons that they've done by themselves. I give Two Gypsies Our Side by Stillwater/Mikkeller a B+.

Style: Saison
Beer Advocate: B+
Ratebeer: 96/91

Day 61 (9/23/2011): Bonecrusher Stout by Schmohz Brewing Company

This beer was awful. Just really, really bad. I was hoping that the reviews weren't right, but of course they were. They only thing it had going for it was its appearance. A decent looking, tan head covers a dark body. Everything is down hill from here. The smell isn't much at all: just roast with pretty much nothing else there. The taste is terrible. Strong bitterness from the roast mixed with a weird, gross mustiness. It seemed thin, but I don't know that I drank enough to be sure. This baby went down the drain. I'm done with Schmohz beers. I've tried two and was not impressed with either of them. I'm convinced that a beginner brewer could put out better stuff than this. I hate to trash a brewery, but this is just not good beer at all. At least boring maco brews are drinkable. I give Bonecrusher Stout by Schmohz Brewing Company a D-.

Style: English stout
Beer Advocate: C+
Ratebeer: 61/38

Day 60 (9/22/2011): Cherry Chocolate Stout by Stone Brewing Co.

Not particularly impressed with this one. The cherry flavor was not integrated well at all, in my opinion. It almost tasted artificial, though I'm aware that it is not. There is also a good bit of tartness in the flavor which is a byproduct of the roast and the cherries. I could've done without the tart flavor; it was really odd when mixed with the chocolate/cherry sweetness. The beer definitely gets partially salvaged by the smell, which got better and better as the beer warmed. Think chocolate covered cherries. I was hoping that the taste would improve with it, but no dice. A valiant effort, but not particular good, especially at almost $4.00 a bottle. I won't be revisiting this one. I give Cherry Chocolate Stout by Stone Brewing Co. a B-.

Style: Milk/sweet stout
Beer Advocate: B
Ratebeer: 98/98