I enjoyed this article about Sam Calagione and his brewery, Dogfish Head.
As a child I couldn't stand the taste or even smell of beer, but now I love it. At some point I started to dislike most sweet drinks-I even drink diet soda. Red wine is good, but doesn't equal beer as a sipping drink. Beer has an amazing flavor; I seem to recognize that I shouldn't like it, but do. So called "extreme beers" have attracted my attention of late, and I'm particularly fond of sour IPA's such as Stone Brewery's Ruination. I'll have to give Dogfish Head a try.
It sounds like we have similar tastes yoggoth. After living in Munich I thought I'd never be able to drink American beer again (sorry to be the snob), but in the past few years I've really grown an appetite for IPAs. I used to hate them but now I drink nothing but. If I see Stone Brewery's Ruination I'll try it out. If you're ever in SF I recommend the 21st Amendment near the ballpark. They have some IPA with an insane amount of hops thrown in, it'll strip your taste buds right off, it's absolutely wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIs this really going to be the final post of 2008?
ReplyDeleteWhat would you prefer?
ReplyDeleteHow about a montage of Palins, Joe-the-Plumbers, Obamas dancing on Ellen, and the dramatic chipmunk facing off against the saxophone playing walrus. Aaahhh, 2008...
LE - Aside from your senseless crusade against all things fun, what's wrong with this post? Even if you don't like beer the story I posted is pretty interesting in a New Yorker character study kind of way.
ReplyDeleteI'll probly whip something up commemorating year, but I don't know if I'll finish by midnight or even be working on it today.
Zrbo - I love hops, so I'll give 21st amendment a try. I also want to make it over to the Anchor Steam brewery at some point, my sister said the tour is great and their beer is one of my favorites. You should give all of Stone's beers a try, they're available at BevMo and some supermarkets - although the brewery is in San Diego and it seems harder to find the further North you go. Ruination is their double IPA. Lagunitas also makes a great extreme IPA called Maximus with a great fruity/hoppy flavor. One IPA I discovered while in SF is Racer 5, which tastes wonderful on tap.
I'm stopping by BevMo tonight to pick stuff up anyways, I recognize the Stone beer's logo, I'm pretty sure I've seen them there before.
ReplyDeleteI found the listing for that beer at the 21st on their website:
"21A - I.P.A.
Deep golden color. Citrus and piney hop aromas. Assertive malt backbone supporting the overwhelming bitterness. Dry hopped in the fermenter with four types of hops giving an explosive hop aroma. Many refer to this IPA as Nectar of the Gods. Judge for yourself. Now Available in Cans!
7.2% alcohol/vol. - 75 IBUs"
It's the best IPA I've ever had, probably because it's on tap. Cheers.