James Kirkpatrick's Not-So-Random Keyboard Strokes

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Posted by: James	7/26/2007 11:08 AM
<begin beer geek moment> It’s not like I hide my snobbery when it comes to the alchemy of water, malt, barley, hops and yeast. Lately I’ve been more prone to use the term Beer Geek as it’s less pretentious than Beer Snob. In the interest of full disclosure I used to drink Miller Lite and Rolling Rock and other assorted pissery. That was, of course, when I was scraping by from paycheck to paycheck and was more interested in quantity than quality. I don’t begrudge people that are on a budget and want to drink mass quantities and not go to the poorhouse. It just happens to be the exact opposite reason of why I drink craft beer. About a month ago I was getting some beer at the local package store (for you Illinoisans, it’s the same as a Liquor Store; for you Michiganders, it’s the Party Store). On my way in, there was a radio station’s van blaring their music and a few young interns under a tent. One of the young guys approached me and said “Hey, we’re doing a promotion today. If you buy 12 bottles of any Anheuser Busch product, you’ll get a free 6-pack of Bud or Bud Light!!!” I think he expected me to perk and up say “Cool!” but I must have smirked and said something like “No Bud products for me, but thanks anyway”. This particular store is kind of close to Emory University so I’m sure any college kid coming to the store that day had a nice bonus of getting a free sixer. I don’t think the kid took me seriously when I told him that I wouldn’t be walking out with a dozen bottles or cans of any Bud product. As I passed him by, I let him peek into my bag. I’m sure he’s never seen Unibroue La Fin Du Monde and Victory Whirlwind Wit before. I smiled politely and said “No Bud for me today.” He sort of had a “You’re turning down free beer?” look which was countered by my “One day hopefully you’ll understand and give your taste buds a treat rather than a lesson in endurance” glance. </end beer geek moment> When Bud fans attack Miller fans for drinking crap beer, and vice versa, I laugh. It’s like people arguing over whether the steak is better at Texas Roadhouse or at Outback Steakhouse when they’re overlooking the fact that anything made at Lawry’s or Ruth’s Chris (or whatever local upscale steak joint you choose) is always better, albeit more expensive. If your beer tastes just as good, if not better, at room temperature as it does when cold, then you know your beer has more character, more flavor and is something you want to slowly go over your taste buds as opposed to trying to chug it to the back of your throat as soon as possible. If there’s one bone I’ll throw the Big Three, it’s that making a light-bodied lager is very hard to do. It’s a style where any flaw in the brewing process can easily be tasted. Lagers truly are tricky to make. To do what they do on such a huge scale and make every beer taste the same is actually an amazing feat not to be sniffed at. But I still won’t buy it voluntarily. We are living in the golden age of the American craft brew movement. Brewers across the country are in a period of their most innovative interpretations of beer styles, even inventing new ones (see the Imperial IPA), and I want to be part of the group that supports them. BudMillerCoors will be fine without me (and hopefully some of you too).

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Re: Hooray, it's Beer!	By Syl on 7/26/2007 11:46 AM
Liquor store, Party store...to you Californians - any store in the state.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><<br>The best choice as well as the best buy for me at the ballpark is still Red Tail Ale from a bottle poured into my cooler cup.<><><><><><><><>You're a Beer Dork! (Your font changed for just the last paragraph. I cannot find the hidden meaning - PM me the code.)

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek	By Erich on 7/26/2007 12:39 PM
He typed the last paragraph with his left hand

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek	By James on 7/26/2007 1:01 PM
Not sure what happened. For every entry, I simply copy and paste from Word. Dotnetnuke's been kind of wonky as of late.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By Deanna on 7/26/2007 1:40 PM

Went out to dinner to My Pi the other night (very disappointed in their service - hostess and waitress - as well as their deep dish. Tomato soup was good). So the waitress comes up and asks what we would like to drink. I ask what's on tap. Bud light and something else equally as bad. What do you have in bottle? Amstel light and Michelob I think it was. They did have a dark brew in bottle, but I wasn't in the mood for a really dark beer. So I had a sprite. I don't think that's ever happened to me at a restaurant before - especially a pizza place! Poor service, poor beer selection, pizza not that great. Don't think I'll be darkening their door again!

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By The General on 7/26/2007 7:33 PM

I'm curious James - what do you look for in a beer? Do you like it because it simply tastes good, or because it achieves certain criteria that particular type of beer should exhibit? If you're stranded on an island for a week with steak, fish, and pizza, what beer would you want? I'm a bit of a wine geek, and am a full-fledged single-malt snob, but my beer knowledge ends with what goes good with McNuggets.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By Muuurph on 7/26/2007 9:54 PM

I like the good beers as well. Nothing like a fine micro-brew as a treat. One of the highlights of my time spent at the former corporate HQ outside Boston is discovering berkshirebrewingcompany.com's fine array of products. (Not gonna bother trying the html here, y'all can cut and past if you're interested) However there is absolutely NO reason to drink any beer at room temperature, and there is also no way it tastes as good warm as cold. The only reason for that myth is that beer was around before refrigeration. Anything with carbonation is better cold than warm.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By James on 7/27/2007 8:47 AM

Rich, to answer your question, if I were on a desert island I'd probably hope to miraculously have an infinite supply of Goose Island Honkers Ale or maybe Bell's Amber Ale. Sadly, I can't get either in Georgia. Murph, while all lagers and most ales taste better slightly chilled, there are indeed beers, especially ones that are of higher alcohol content (and sometimes tend to have less carbonation), that are preferable to not have freezing cold. Some beers flavors don't come out until it gets slightly warmer. I'm not saying drink it hot but for certain beers, having them at almost-room temps is preferred. Trust me, the reason Coors wants you to drink their beer ice cold is because when beer is almost freezing, any "flavor" is muted thus hiding the fact that it is swill. For those of you who are adventurous and can find it, Unibroue's Quelque Chose is the most unique beer I've ever had. You can have it cold, room temp, on ice, and also steeping hot. It's the only beer that I know of where it's just as good any of these ways. So, to recap: Lagers - definitely drink cold, but if you have something like Dogfish Head's Immort Ale, you want it much warmer.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By James on 7/27/2007 9:33 AM

Rich, I forgot to answer the other part of your question - what do I look for in a beer. While some uber beer geeks will like or not like a beer based on it's adherence to guidelines for that style, I'm a bit more open to the "envelope pushers". So, taste overrides adherence to guidelines for me. Personally, I'm not a huge lager fan but am a huge ale fan (which covers a lot of styles). I enjoy beers loaded with hops (the bitter portion of what you taste in a beer) but also appreciate ones that are finely balanced between the malt and hops. Stouts and porters are next for me. But my favorite style besides ales are the Belgian-style beers (mostly ales) which get their characteristics from the yeast they use. For the novice beer drinker who might want to take the next step, do baby steps and try a bunch of what Sam Adams has to offer. Usually you can find 10+ different styles from their brewery at any give time. Add a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, maybe throw in Murphy's Irish Stout in the mix, and a Pilsner Urquell to start. If you like the taste of Miller and Bud, Pilsner Urquell is the original pilsner and is as good a lager as you can get.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek	By Deanna on 7/27/2007 10:27 AM
Quelque Chose is an awesome beer! Actually gave it to my parents for Christmas last year and they loved it as well.

Re: I just like good beer

By Syl on 7/27/2007 12:30 PM

I still tell the story (obviously :¬) of the trip to Hawaii. I know a little about Coors beers (Make it curs, make it yurs.) and my brother used to bring it back from college and sell it for a HUGE profit around town since it could not be purchased in Washington State and Pullman was only 10 miles away from Idaho. Tastes like sh-- we never kept much. Back to the icky Curs story... We were down at the South shore in a 7/11 and buying beer for the beach. Huge stacks of Coors stored on many of the ends of the aisles. You know - the unpasteurized, fresh to you always refrigerated in trucks beer. No thanks, again.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By TSAC on 7/27/2007 3:49 PM

I think you are a bit of BEER SNOB, using Geek is your way of not trying to appear such a "elitist" to everyone else. Be proud, be a snob! I will have to try the beer blog of those of us that either cannot afford the "good" beer or might like the taste of say.......Old Dominion Lager. Amstel Light or Land Shark (mea culpa, mea culpa) and/or other beers. that the panel of experts here say taste like s***.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By Camp on 7/27/2007 4:20 PM

Ah! Someone mentioned Red Tail Ale. Back in the early 90's while living in northern California Red Tail had become my beer of choice. I fell in love with that beer. I remember holding my pint glass full of Red Tale up to the sun with the light streaming threw that glorious red color and saying "God! It is great to be alive." At the time I didn't know what that brown film was on the bottom of the bottle. - yeast sediment from bottle conditioning. Since they grew up and became a big brewery, it just doesn't taste the same for me any more. What a shame. I had my cuz' out to visit me once during that time and I was taking him around showing him all the Bay area sites. So I took him to a clothing optional beach south of Stinson Beach. Told him to go down there and frolic with the nudies while a waited. It's a long way down that hill and he was much younger than I plus I’ve already done my pilgrimage. I was also introducing him to craft beer and we had one on top of the hill and he finished it when he came back from his tourist experience. He took a sip of that Red Tail and said, "you know.... naa forget it". I said "What? Go ahead and say it." And he said "you're not going to believe this but... I could swear it taste better as gets warmer." He didn’t want to admit it. I just grinned. I knew he had crossed over. That story is for Muuurph. I keep a keg of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in my basement kegerator plus a few of my own brews. I’ve been brewing for 2 years now and I’ve have learn more in that time about beer and beer styles than I did in the previous 15 years of drinking it. There is a craft beer renaissance happening here in the USA like no other place in the world. Charlie Papazian states in his new book (Microbrewed Adventures) that here in the USA we have revived styles of beer that have become extinct in there own country of origin. It’s amazing and it is great to be a part of it. BTW – the book covers the history of the craft brew industry here in the USA and is fascinating but gets a little slow in the last half.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By Camp on 7/27/2007 5:11 PM

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek	By Camp on 7/27/2007 5:17 PM
Sorry, I hit a refresh and it added a copy. You can delete that second one.

Re: Yeah, I'm a Beer Geek

By Syl repeats Curs slam on 7/28/2007 12:46 PM

No worries, Camper. The paragraph breaks aren't working either. I know Mendo brewing actually moved out and got big...still. Mmmmmmm....drinking in Hopland. <><><><><><><><> (Yes folks, the town is named HOPland, California. It felt so homey to me :¬)! Curs both sucks and tastes bad, TSAC, to everyone. Curs Light - slightly worse and yet better since there's less of the taste.

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