Fearless, Family, and Beer Waffles

Well, as some of you might know, I went on a trip to Oregon to visit the family briefly while my grandmother still has a bit of life left in her. Now in Oregon, I got a little carried away with my beer drinking. No, there was no overconsumption and consequently vomiting as a result—however I did spend a lot of money on beer. Normally, I’m consuming a pint of different home brews—but I wasn’t quite as spoiled this time around. Which made me rely on what the grocery store had to offer as opposed to excellent home made beer, and I won’t lie and say that I don’t like homebrewed beer better than everything else. My cousin’s husband’s beer sets the bar as far as my tastes are concerned, there’s nothing that could quite beat it…except for maybe the Dissident.

Haggen’s, the local “Ralphs” or “Vons” of Clackmas Oregon, has an enormous selection of beers for honestly, super ridiculous prices. I bought a Moonshine looking jug of Dead Guy Ale (consequently for a friend of mine who had a birthday while I was gone and enjoys being a part of “Rogue Nation”) for cheaper than a six pack of the same stuff. I bought 6 different beers so I could get a 10% discount, much like the wine/hard alcohol discounts they give out at Ralphs and such anyway. Plus Skull Splitter was supposed to be a 5 dollar beer, because it wouldn’t ring right, I got it for 2 bucks or so—and that’s TAX FREE I might add. All in all my trip to Haggan to buy 1 giant thing of Rogue, Naz Dravei, Pale horse, Boss Beer, Skull Splitter, and Celebrator only cost me about…20 bucks or so. No sales tax, which makes Oregon a wonderful state. The other great thing about Oregon is the "Northwest Brewery News" paper that they put out every couple months. In September there's going to be a "Biketobeerfest" in Portland, which touts itself as the World's Largest Bike in Beerfestival. Oh yeah, I will be there. In July, there's the Oregon Brewers Fest, in Tom MacCall waterfront park. I expect to make it to that too, but who knows.

Now I did also manage to visit a brewery while I was out there called “Fearless” brewing where my cousin’s husband had entered a contest and was consequently judging the affair as well. I’ve learned that I’m not quite into IPA anymore, although perhaps it was just their particular IPA that I didn’t fancy. However, their Scottish Ale is to die for. If you go, don’t even drink a sampler; don’t even look at the menu. Order the Beer Battered Onion Rings and a Pint of the Scottish Ale. Now my cousin-in-law did not win anything, well unless you count the raffle, which was basically won by the guys who bought half the roll of tickets. He walked away with some malt, hops, glasses, ah yes---and a giant Miller Lite poster. Yes, I shit you not, they were raffling off that at a Homebrew competition. I have photographic evidence.

Now my cousin-in-law’s beer was placed into a category that it probably shouldn’t have been in, since it received no awards or special mention. My father advised him to put more beer in more categories and to enter more contests. Which, let me tell you something about this homebrewer who’s married to my lovely cousin. He brews the greatest and finest beer, I think, than half the big “microbreweries” I’ve tried. When I went on my road trip, our standards of what beer should be were set by what this man had given to myself and my cousin from Ireland. We think his beer is great, we like it a lot, and I think he should keg it for me so I have a personal stash (hint hint wink wink).

The beer I bought at Haggen was pretty decent, I’ll give you some notes on what I selected and I recommend you try them.


Celebrator: Came with a cute little charm on it, import beer, Bavarian it tastes salty sweet--my aunt mentioned it had an aftertaste of Umami, I thought it was soy saucey. Ayinger Brewery double boch. It smelled sort of salty and was a dark nutty brown. 6.7% ABV. I'd drink it again. From Germany.

Pale Horse Export Stout:
SUPER BLACK. Thick, syrupy, smokey, comparable to Old Rasputin Stout. Salty scent. Salty on the tongue, good head retention, not strong or bitter like other stouts. Probably better a little bit warmer. From Oregon.

Naz Dravei: Czech style Pilsner with a golden color and a wheaty smell. Pilsner taste comes through strong but leaves a mild aftertaste. Makes a great summer thirst quenching beer! From Oregon.

Boss Beer: Wheaty tasting, bitter aftertaste. Crisp. Golden yellow. Tastes similar to Baltika no. 9 (see Baltika's review) but without the "shitty aftertaste". From Poland. Also a Pilsner.

Skull Splitter: Amber color. Figgy smelling, spicy, warm, with a strong thick taste that's rough--similar to a peaty scotch. Taste goes into velvet smooth finish and lingers on the tongue. From Orkney Islands.

Now after I returned home from my adventures in Oregon, I bought some very fancy beer. Le Merle is a Saison put out by Northcoast brewing, which while not being one of my favorites--when mixed with waffle batter, honey, and vanilla...makes damn good waffles. I also bought something I'd never seen or heard before, but apparently is damn hard to obtain (oops) called Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw...which consequently...I didn't drink but added to waffles...

Cuvee De Keizer is an import, while also extremely expensive (12 bucks a bottle anyone?) and having a whooping 11% ABV. I have no idea what it tasted like, just that it made damn good waffles too.

Basically, take ready made waffle mix, sub beer (use about 12 ounces of beer or 1 bottle) for milk/water. Add 2 tablespoons honey and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Pam up your waffle maker and make those bitches. I stole the recipe off the internet from some cooking thing, although they recommended using self rising flour and such. It's a 5 star rated deal, so I figured I'd print it out. The link to it is at the bottom of this page.

Now I don't know when I'll find time to write again, considering I have a new potential business starting up soon, and no it has nothing to do with beer. Again people, if you recommend a product to me via email or comment. I will buy it and I will try it.

Have fun makin those beer Waffles...

Beer Batter Waffle!

If you're reading this, you've survived the Apocalpyse.

Okay!

So I'm finally done working this big crazy catering gig that's had me not writing for ya'll in about a month.

What kind of beer have I been drinking? Oh, I've sunk pretty low. I know I've said I despise Bud light with every fiber of my being (and I do) but that's all that some of my coworkers drink. Yeah. Rather than being an ungracious guest, I reluctantly decided that Bud light with lime on Cinco De Mayo was probably a decent choice. Might as well, they were out of Dos XX's (bastards) and Corona was $$$ for Corona.

Sure, I've revisited old favorites--like Longboarder and Pyramid. I even got to try a Doghead! Not that I can remember what it tastes like.

Today, I finally visited a great landmark. The Original Barney's Beanary. If you want to be blown the hell away, you need to go to it. Probably at least over 50 different beers.

I had a Delirium to start off (because it's amazing) and then--I finished off a bowl of Texas style chili with a "Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale". Which, holy crap, where can I buy Holy Grail Ale?

Crisp, light, aley...burned using condemned witches...How could you possibly go wrong?!

Seriously though, The Original Barney's has quite the selection on tap. Like The Snug in Noho, they have Chimay on tap. Which yes, Chimay is god damn expensive and yes, it's good. Strongbow, Mythos (a greek beer, yay!), Monty, Racer 5, etc etc.

What are you sitting behind your screen for? Get up, and go drive to the Original Barneys! Or better yet, buy a plane ticket and come visit America.

Speaking of visiting, I'll be visiting Oregon soon. Which means homemade beer, great craft beer, and potentially the Oregon Beer Fest. Oh yeah. You know I'm comin back from that vacation a little chubbier. Liver's gotta earn it's place!

Now I bought this stuff called...Kotayk. Which is Armenian. Now, I have 0 idea whether this tastes like crap or not, but we're about to find out. Why? Because I'm writing this live--because I love you that much.

Which the perfect snacky food to go with this beer (which smells like Miller Highlife for whatever reason)...try this...

Russian/Moscow style ham
Bulgarian Feta

Wrap those two together....oh man...I love you Russia and Bulgaria.

Anyways the beer!

It tastes like...

Nothing...

It's not very hoppy or pilsner like. It psyches you out. It starts off wanting to be a nice bodied Pilsner and you think, how nice--I could get used to this...and then the taste just--poof, away. Maybe if you're a girly beer drinker this might be for you. I mean, it tastes like beer...smells like beer...

But is it REALLY beer?

I'm sorry but no.

I'd categorize this as "Budweiser" worthy, i.e...it's pretty crappy and not very fit for human consumption. I would give this beer another chance but...after half a glass...I'm still not impressed. The aftertaste is kind of like...the smell of wet clothing only in taste form.

Kotayk...sorry but you could be so much better.

Anyways, all of you Californians need to go to Barney's Beanary. You don't know what you're missing.

Anyways Comrades...

I'm glad we're all still here. We'll get judged another day.

Next week...

Suggest something.

Otherwise it'll be whatever I decide to buy.

Pyramid Brewing Company

Salutations everyone!

Been working a catering job this week, I have to say, very amazing work those people do. Standing on their feet all the time and providing service with a smile, even if it tends to get insanely crazy. So that's again why this blog is so late. I'm working 7 DAYS, 55 hours (they keep increasing them, not that I mind, I enjoy money quite a bit, more money = more beer!) so--forgive me if I'm not "on top of it".

However, I did pick up a pack of Pyramid Brewing Co's selection. 4 bottles, 3 of each. We got a Heffe, an Apricot ale, an Imperial IPA, and another IPA. Right now my after-work beer of choice is a Sam Adam's Irish Red (left over from last week). Now, the Heffe is good--but not nearly as Heffe-y as it should be. Yes the color is right and yes it tastes like a Heffe but--it's not quite there. It's not as full bodied as I'd prefer, frankly, Spaten makes a much better Heffe and personally my favorite is the Old World Heffe. But, the Pyramid heffe is really not that amazing to be honest.

The Imperial IPA is super crazy hoppy. I'd say it would be a big hit for all of you TrIPA lovers. It's a lot like S.N's Torpedo. To the point where, you could pretty much relabel it and call it Torpedo. Not my favorite IPA but not half bad. Admittedly, it could be a little more unique like Pliny The Elder, which is an IPA I absolutely love.

The regular IPA, eh. Pretty much the same thing as a regular S.N. Only different label. Really nothing special, to be perfectly frank.

Now the Apricot beer is actually really really REALLY GOOD. It's a little cloudy, sort of like a Heffe should be. But it's not overly sweet or "Apricot-y". Admittedly, I have NO idea what Apricot should taste like--because I'm a carnivore and I don't mess around with that "vegetable" and "fruit" business unless it's in a smoothie or some shit. Admittedly, probably not the best diet, but whatever. It smells kinda peachy at first and yes, there's the dreaded "debris" at the bottom of the bottle. So if you're all freaked out over a little debris, then stay away from the beer. Personally, the fruity tasting beers that I like the best would have to be the Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat. I would totally buy a six pack of that over the Apricot whatever the hell I'm drinking.


Now, I randomly decided to get a Twitter Account, if you feel like following me--look for 38rakia. I may update about beer or some random goings on with my sad existence in catering. Tony's Darts Away has a twitter, Stone, etc etc. And we like beer. We like it a lot.

Next week I have 0 idea what I'm going to surprise you with, BUT, if YOU have a suggestion...Twitter my ass or comment.

If I'm not dead by Sunday, I'll see you all next week.

Why Sports bars are sometimes better than beer tastings/events...

So, I meant to go to Tony's big colLAboration but...apparently...the line was 1, too big and 2, the chick running the "get in booth" really didn't give me a good reason to wait around in line anyway. Something about not having enough glasses and too many people inside. When buckets of people were streaming out. Note to self--buy the glass before you go, it'll save you time and it's the same price anyway. If Tony's does something like this again next year, or soon, I'll have to buy the glass before hand. Being impatient the way I am, I decided standing in line wasn't for me, especially when it was going like Noah's Ark. In 2's, and extremely slow.

So, I ended up going to Champs, my "Uncle's" bar instead. First pint was a Sam Adam's Noble Pils, which from the last blog you can tell I'm already a huge fan of Sam's stuff. It's a light crisp easy to drink beer with an amazing aftertaste. Now, the bar was crowded, and full of "older people" but hey, you meet some pretty awesome people at Sport's Bars like Champs. Sure there's the obvious...Sports, element to the whole thing but if you can get past not being a huge sports fan (if you are, then this "seedy lookin" joint is right up your ally) and just want to enjoy a pint or shoot some pool, then go. Now it's not nearly as crowded as Tony's was this weekend, bright side, they've just got a liquor license that allows them to sell harder stuff, so if you're into White Russians while watching Hockey--it's again, for your benefit. Now, the second and third beers, pints--were basically free. However one has to remember I've known the owners since I was just two gametes, and we're more or less family, even if a drunken cyclist or two would dispute that. Now, on tap they have a pretty good selection of stuff. I had the Noble Pils (which I added green dye to on St. Patricks Day), a Bass Ale, and a Widemer bro's Heffe. They got the usual suspects too; Budwiser, Coors, Stella, New Castle, Guinness, Blue Moon, and so on and so forth. And beer's are generally inexpensive at Champs.

Bright side about the whole day, running into the guys who were ahead of us in line for the ColLAb at Champs just as we came wandering out of the bar. Who called to me from their car, "remember us?", and eventually names were exchanged and I even showed off my fancy "Champs" t-shirt. Gotta sport my loyalty, no pun intended. Nice thing about Champs is now they're bringing back "Trivia Night", which I believe is Sports related (that would be a definitive "duh" but don't quote me on it). So, if you're super crazy into Sports or you plan on watching Comedy Central's Norm MacDonald Sports--erm...whatever or you're just an average joe who knows a bit, go on Wednesday night next week.

So the only new beer I tried this week was Bass Ale, which has a bit of a spicy finish, but I have to say--I do like it, a lot. It's different. And the Heffe, which you all should know by now, I would never turn down a good Heffe. And with it heating up, I urge you all to stock a Heffeweizen or two, it's a great little summer beer.

Until next week beer fans!

Sam Adams; I promise you it's good

I've been lagging it lately and I have to apologize, normally I'm pretty good about posting every week but this last week was a little ridiculous. I got really lazy this week and even broke down and bought...I know, Sam Adams.

You'd think a mass produced beer that touts itself as "keeping to quality standards" would basically lie and give you the same mass produced water flavored beer as the rest of the massive American companies, right? Surprisingly, this bigger beer company has actually managed to put out very good beer in a very big way. You see the big boxes of the variety pack or the Boston Lager, and I've been bought the Cherry Wheat (seriously good), and you think, "Giant box = probably not good". But you'd be incredibly wrong.

I got my hands on a variety pack, which cost about the same as your regular box pack, except with a nice selection. It came with White Ale, Scotch ale, Irish Red, Boston Lager, Rye Beer, and the Noble Pils. Like I said in the previous blog, I really don't like Scotch Ale's but the rest of their selection is fantastic. The White Ale is crafted in the similar and familiar style of Belgian White Ale, think Blue Moon only with a spicier finish. Easy to go down, a perfect warm weather beer, and exceeding expectations as far as mass produced beers go. I'd drink Sam's White Ale over a Blue Moon. The Lager is incredible, I know they are very proud of it themselves but it is absolutely marvelous. Best Lager any big corporation produces in the US currently. I can't find any faults among their other beers either.

For a large scale American Beer company, it's certainly won my respect and admiration. In the event you go to a bar, they usually have Boston Lager on tap, or the Noble Pils. Which, if you're sick and tired of drinking the same old Miller or same old Bud, you need to switch, you'll thank me. As a matter of fact, you'll thank Sam Adams. Now, under the cap they put that they won an award in 2006 for best taste. I can say, unlike Baltika no. 9's bullshit "International Taste Award" that Sam Adams earned the right to put that on their bottle. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go pick one up. Your mind will be blown!

Now I can't say for sure what next weeks beers will be, it'll have to be a hunt and peck type of situation. I did see a bottle of "Fosters Special Ale" at Albertsons the other day that looked decent, and it is from Australia. Anyways folks, next week will have to be a surprise!

BEFORE I FORGET!

Next week! If you live in Southern California or will be visiting, Tony's Darts Away and friends is having a big beer garden shindig at the park. Your ticket is your glass, which is 10 bucks and you get to keep it to remember all the amazing beer you had.

ALL OF THE INFO, including directions is here...
Pop Up Beer Garden for Tony's

I will be attending! I can almost guarantee you it's going to be amazing. See you all next week.

Saison Dupont & Scotch Ale

Last week I promised both a bottle of Saison Dupont and the collaboration between Stone, Green Flash, and another brewery (the name escapes me at the moment). I am a huge fan of Saison, a style of Belgian Ale, which is almost champagne-like in the sense that it’s very bubbly and semi-sweet with a yeasty taste. Saison is also called “Farm house ale”, which one website informed me it was called that because they originated on farms by French speaking Wallonia in Belgian. Saison being French for "season", they were brewed on the farm to refresh the workers, being low on alcohol so that no one would pass out/vomit/be drunk while on the job.

The Saison Dupont is sweet, very light and has a spicy punch at the end that wakes up your tongue. It’s highly carbonated and comes in a green champagne looking bottle, including the cork. For around three bucks, it’s a great choice for someone just starting out in the beer world, girls mostly, who thinks all beer is just “liquid bread”. Saison brings a classy elegance to beer, like Audrey Hepburn did for the LBD (little black dress for you non-females/fashion minded people) in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. On Beer Advocate they rated this one an A, a very worthy grade for such a cheap and sophisticated brew. Saison is fantastic for a romantic get together when champagne is not on sale or you’re too broke to afford it. Like most Belgian Ales, it’s got a bit of a fruity taste (Blue Moon is the only thing I can think of that would be a worthy comparison) but it’s toned down and comes off as more refined than anything else. Saison Dupont is certainly a very refined and classy little brew, and I’d buy up as many cases as possible should I ever win the lottery. Another Belgian that’s extraordinary is one that a friend of mine introduced me to a couple weeks back called “Delirium”, I’m not certain if it’s actually an Ale or a Saison, either way, it’s ridiculously good. Girly beer drinkers, Saison and Belgians are for you. Delirium also comes in “Nocturne” or something of that nature, I don’t quite remember, what the difference is, I wouldn’t know—I’ve never had it.



Now the Scotch Ale that Stone collaborated with on, really very shocking. Most of the time I try to avoid the beer that my Scottish ancestors probably found amazing. It’s extremely strong 90% of the time, to the point where I’d rather be drinking Scotch than a beer with the same country involved. Scotch Ales are just not my cup of tea, reason being is that most will tear my tongue off and submit it to what lies beneath its kilt. But the Scotch Ale made by these guys really opened my eyes to what it could potentially be. Yes it’s on the dark side, but the dark side has cookies to tempt you with. It’s a rich body, but very straightforward with it’s distinctive taste. Yet, rather than being so rich that you feel like you’re drinking beer mixed with scotch, it’s very creamy. I didn’t know that a Scotch ale could be so smooth and creamy without compromising the strong nature of it. Granted, it was warm, but still, I think even cold the creamy consistency would have remained with it. As far as Scotch Ales go, I have no idea what the process was in order to perfect it, but Stone and Green Flash managed to do so without making it so strong that someone like me couldn’t tolerate it. And for around three dollars, I’d totally buy this again.

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, well, it’s tomorrow. I’ll be wearing green of course, even if I’m nothing more than Ireland’s “skirt wearing” neighbor. Hey, they assault you on St. Patrick’s day for not wearing green, I don’t feel like getting shalalied either (if you have no clue what that is, look it up) for not supporting Ireland. But alas, I will be at a local pub during the day, wearing my green and drinking Guinness. What pub you ask? Why either at Joe's Bar and Grill, or his other place, Champs. So if you're out and about in Burbank, come find me.

Not that exciting I know.

In Honor of St. Patrick's day I'll be doing a review on Sam Adam's Irish Red next week as well as another surprise beer. I won't say yet, because I'm not entirely sure what it's going to be myself.

However, if YOU have suggestions on what kind of beer or your favorite that should be reviewed...just leave me a little comment. If I can find it, it will be drank (drunk?) and reviewed.

See ya'll next week!

Baltika 6 & 7

Going a little Russian this week on the blog. My mom bought me a four pack last week, which included a spiffy glass for 8 dollars and something cents at Sunland produce (best place to buy food, seriously). I didn't realize it at the time but on the side of the #7 bottle there was a little date saying, "born" and "good until". Apparently the Baltika was close to it's "death", which is probably why this review is a little biased.

Baltika no 6 is a stout and when it's cold, it's a nice deep brown that's nearly black, with a mild scent of coffee and chocolate. Now, me being absent minded had left it sitting around and although warm beer is good sometimes...warm Baltika is disgusting. Cold, the beer has a tinge of coffee flavor and goes down fairly easy, although it had a salty taste too. The warmer it becomes, the more salty it becomes. By the time I went back to my glass (about an hour later), the carbonation was gone and it went from tasting pretty good to tasting like I was drinking soy sauce. So, if your going to by the 6, which you can at either Sunland Produce or Bevmo for under 3 bucks--make sure you keep it super cold. Otherwise, you'll end up with black sea water instead.

Up above is the no. 7 which is called a "export special", but it's a lager and it's really not that special. It's got a girly pop top like you'd find on cheap Italian food in a can. Beer needs an actual top, not a little sticky ridiculous excuse for a top. It pours nice in it's glass but look at the head on that thing. Even after it was supposed to go down and melt into the beer, the head lingered, and didn't help Baltika's case. Yeah it's a nice little beer, I'll give it that, if I wanted to drink something a little more flavorful than Coors. I don't know why they'd export this because it's nothing worth writing home about. Of the Russian beers I have had, Zhiguliovskoye (sometimes it's spelled "Zhiguleovskoye" and no, I have no idea on how to pronounce it, I just call it "Zzzzblahowhateverbeer") is way better than Baltika. The 7 tastes like a watered down version of the 9 (the nine being the "extra lager").

Now I've gotten a book and I've been given more beer lately than I can possibly drink by myself, let alone take serious notes on. Oddly in the book one of the top 10 beers in the world is a brew made by Sam Adams (which I agree because of all the major breweries in the US, Sam Adams actually has standards). So if there's something you want a review on or you think I'll enjoy it, feel free to mention it.

And on that note, it's onto next weeks awesomeness...which includes one of my favorites as well as something--completely different. And they're super cheap at Bevmo right now (hint hint).

Saison is my favorite style, which is basically Belgian "Farmhouse style" ale. It's a little sweeter than most, but it's more like a champagne than an ale. Either way it's delicious and I urge you to try a Saison once. Le Merle (North Coast Brewery) is a really good one too.

But you've got, Saison Dupont (which on Beeradvocate is rated an A-) and a collaboration between Stone brewing (those of you who are unfamiliar, Stone makes Arrogant Bastard, it's got a gargoyle devil thing on it), Green Flash, and Port Brewing. And it's a Scotch Ale, which means it's going to be dark and thick and awesome.

See ya all next week.

Martenitsa! Oh yeah and beer.

Hello kids and welcome to the Martenitsa special! I told you all I'd be givin you a culture lesson for the last couple weeks, because Bulgaria has somehow managed to find this blog and they keep coming back. So I thought I'd appreciate them since, well Baba Marta is happening like now. March 1st until, well the end.

Now the first time I heard about this, I was led on by a friend of mine who tried to tell me "Well the red is symbolic of the blood of our women when they're on the rag and white is for the purity of our virgins". No, he was not serious, he was totally messing with me. Because I was culturally retarded and his mother had just given him his Martenitsa and I had no idea what it was remotely about. So that's why I went to a reliable source (more so than he is anyway), I went to Wikipedia.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Baba Marta is the holiday and the мартеница (Martenitsa, in Bulgarian, copy and paste....allllriiiight) are these little white and red things. I've seen them once, on an actual person, and they looked like miniature voodoo dolls. According to Wikipedia (oh yes, the source of information on the interwebs...not remotely misleading in any way) the tassels (or creepy voodoo doll things) are called ""Пижо и Пенда" or in English but still extremely difficult to pronounce "Pizho & Penda". Anyways, the point of this whole deal is to bring spring faster, good luck, and mercy from Baba Marta. Who according to the Wikipedia thing, might as well be a very crotchety old lady with a billion cats who gets pissed at the slightest deal. By wearing this little red and white do-dads, you ask for her mercy and if she's appeased, then good luck and Spring and she's ready to retire for the year. Your supposed to wear this until either you see a Stork or a blooming tree because that will mean that Spring is for sure here, otherwise you keep it on for the entire month. Another tradition is to place the Martenitsa under a rock and the bug you find next to it the next day determines how lucky or unlucky you'll be next year. I'm not Bulgarian, I'm Scottish and a bunch of other things--I'm just into cultures.

Either way, it's an old tradition, Wikipedia touts it as one of the oldest pagan traditions in Eastern Europe. There's a couple other legends about the whole thing, one of which involves a silver stag? Which being a descendant of the Picts and Celts, the silver stag showing up is like God himself being all "yo, what up". Guess we're not so different culturally after all. But our beer....Omg...whole other story.

OMG Astika. Which, seriously, no offense is owned by Anhauser. It's a Pilsner and it looks all golden yellow and pristine and then you drink it. I was sad for this beer, it honestly has a ton of potential! It's just incredibly watered down and tastes like practically every beer ever made in America. Like Keystone with a less pissy taste and more water. I was told a long time ago that this was not a good idea to drink because apparently even some Bulgarians hate it. Shocking I know, like Americans who hate mass produced American beer (oh wait...) right? Blasphemy!

I'm joking of course, but seriously. Astika has some potential to be less shitty. If Anhauser can let go of it and maybe make something that tastes original. See a good Pilsner is light, crisp, and refreshing (in my opinion) but this...this was too light, meh on crispy, and not all that refreshing. I was sad that I actually dumped most of it out. It was bitter and sad, like a jilted lover. Bulgaria can do so much better than this mass produced swill. They make Boza for heaven sakes! Or is it Bosha? Anyway, purportedly made for breastfeeding women (funny, I just talked about this last night) because it's low alcohol content made it ideal...one of the supposed side affects was breast enlargement. Now I found a recipe for it, and I will attempt to make it someday and see if my wimpy B's can become C's in some crazy epic fashion by drinking it. If the Bulgarians have made something that grows boobs...it's gonna be the next Viagra (apparently everyone and their husband bought this when it hit the European market, but that was a few years ago I think, possibly more).

Enough History and Geography and Boob growing booze...Crazy Bulgarians...

Ya'll saw the bottle of Mississippi Mud last week, so I won't bother repeating it. It was a porter and a pilsner mixed together in supposed awesomeness. Long story short, it gave me heartburn. I didn't even know what heartburn was, because I can eat anything and pretty much stay the way I am, so I'd never had any acid issues or stomach problems until this entered my system. Oh holy blue balls...I've never taken so many tums in my life. And honestly, the taste is bleh. It's just sort of whatever, it tastes like a Pilsner only brown. But if you want a cool bottle, then for 2 bucks, it's worth it. Otherwise, save yourself 20 Tums in one night and drink something a little classier, like Miller or something. I know why this stuff stays on the market, it's because it's cheap.

I dunno, I was expecting more flavor, more "woo!" inside of this bottle but all I got was "WOO! I HAVE HEARTBURN!". I was very depressed by this experience and I even have some left in the bottle but I sure as heck ain't touchin it. I'd rather drink bi-polar Baltika No. 9 than this ever again. Hell, ASTIKA is loads better and doesn't burn my insides like my stomach is where hell is at. And if you recall from above, Astika could be improved easily, if they cared more on taste and less about mass production and cash. Seriously, it looks appealing, but I assure you the crocodile on the label looks like it's smiling because it knows your gonna be in some serious pain tonight boi.


Now if I failed on explaining Martenitsa well, I apologize. You should look it up when you get a chance.

Next blog will be in a week, this time, remember that Baltika my mom bought me...


Oh yeah, a review on that.

AND DON'T FORGET, St. Patrick's day is in March...so get your livers in shape. Cuz, it's gonna be rainin booze.

Until next week.

Cheers.

Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale & Bitch Creek ESB & a Special Bonus beer!

I've had a seriously late post, I know, but you guys got the last post early last week. Plus it's been pretty hectic lately, all I know is it's FRIDAY! As far as the video blog goes, my camera took a dump on me and decided that it wasn't going to cooperate. So once I figure out what's wrong with it, or obtain a new one then we'll have to do a video blog.

In beer news, I don't know how many of you are familiar with the site, Beer Advocate but if you want to learn about beer styles, where breweries or pubs are in your local area, beer in general, and even trade for something you really want (for you hard core brew junkies)--you need to check it out. I have an account under the name 38rakia, pretty much the same name on this blog, so if you find me on BA, drop me a friend request or whatever. They publish a magazine which you can subscribe to, or you can just explore the vast reviews on beer given by people like you and me, and that beer fanatic. I'm currently trying to trade for some Irish stout stuff with a guy in Delaware but I'm having a hard time finding Pliny the Elder down here, so if someone knows where I can get it, Bevmo does not carry it, I asked. Apparently Russian River doesn't wanna do business with them, so whatever. But anyway, if your looking for THE LAST BOTTLE OF DISSIDENT 2010! Or something along those lines, you can probably make a sweet trade for it. Reviews are helpful too.

Also, remember the Review on Baltika Number 9 last week? My mommy bought me this...

It's a pack of 3 Baltika's, Numbers 5-7, with a swanky glass! And it was like 8 bucks at Sunland Produce. So if you want to try Baltika and you need glasses for your new house/apartment or you collect glasses, then go buy it! Now, I had 5 and 6, but this isn't a review about them. Sorry.


Bevmo was where I went to get the Kona and Bitch creek, although they've got a five cent wine sale going on and it was pretty packed last night. However that didn't dissuade my dad (who wanted to stock up on wine) and I from going there. Bevmo had a sale on Bitch Creek and a few other things, including Kona.

Moving onto tastes...

Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale is a reddish color when it pours, hardly any head, it's a grassy hoppy smell. It's got this cool smooth finish at the end that makes it perfect for people who loathe the overload of hops in pale ale. It's got a mild hoppy flavor that's just right for what it is. I've noticed I'm more a Saison person, preferring Belgian Farmhouse style over anything else. But for a Pale ale, I'd drink this more. The brew is from Hawaii, which the island chain also hosts Maui Brewing too (which makes fine brews such as Coconut Porter and Beach Blonde) and I gotta say, the Hawaiians know what they're doin. Kona Fire Rock is a perfect summer beer, especially if your gonna be hanging out on the beach or having a bon fire or something. I had some Buttoni with this, which Pasta and Pale ale don't always work, but the Chicken and Prosciutto tortellini go great with this beer. Oddly enough. The company also makes Long Boarder and Pipeline (which is supposedly a limited release but it's still at Bevmo in huge amounts) which I gave out as a Christmas present this year after I got home from my brewtour. I like this beer, for the price, like 8.99/7.99 for a six pack, and you can find it at Ralphs of all places. Seriously. In La Crescenta, go to Ralphs, go to the beer section. Top shelf, next to Sam Adam's and Stone. Why it's over there I don't know, but it's there.

Bitch Creek ESB, the last part standing for "Extra Special Brown". It's from Idaho and it's brewed by Grand Teton, why it's called Bitch Creek, I have no idea and I suppose I could look it up but I'm feeling rather rushed considering it's supposed to SNOW here and my office is cold. It smells sweet and hoppy, now there's a fine layer of sediment that needs to settle after you pour it. At first I thought maybe I had gotten a bad batch of Bitch Creek but for whatever reason I remembered if wine has sediment, then beer could potentially have the same thing. I overlooked it and I'm glad I did, because it's basically just sediment, you'll live. Now the name, Extra Special is true. This beer is extra special and should be treated as such. It's a brown ale with a brown sugary taste which combines with IPA somehow, it's seriously the best of both worlds (a brown ale and an IPA) in a bottle. Which that beer is bottle treated, so you know it has to be perfect. Yeah if your sketchy about the residue because your a hypochondriac or you like jumping at shadows when it comes to food, then stay away from it because it'll just scare you. But you're seriously missing out. I have no idea what "bottle conditioned" means but I like it. I like it a lot. And I will save this six pack for special occasions. Seriously impressive. To me.


Now, my dad picked up a four pack of Coconut Porter from Maui brewing, because well, I wanted to try it. HOLY SH*T. So you're gettin a bonus review!

Yeah I'm drinking out of a Russian Standard Glass, so sue me. I buy Russian Standard from time to time and one time, they gave me some glasses. Yes, it's not a proper beer glass, but I wanted to see the color of the Coconut porter and you can't exactly see thru an aluminum can. For 8.99 a 4 pack, you may think that's pretty steep, and yeah, your probably right. BUT! You haven't had a porter until you've had this porter. Now, you'd think a coconut beer would be disgusting, sweet and creamy and just bleh. Not at all. It smells like a coffee coconut explosion inside a glass, it's a dark brown/black color. It tastes coffee-esque with just a hint of coconut. Not overpowering and not sickly sweet, it's a great form of Yin and Yang. Put this baby in the freezer and wait 10 minutes, you'll have a cold epic beer. It seriously exceeds expectations with it's quality and robust taste. It's like drinking a toasted coconut cream pie. It is pretty creamy, but not gross, it's just right. Like I said earlier, yeah the price is WOAH but it's totally worth the money. Especially if your going to the beach and you want to impress someone who loves coconut and beer, it gets cold fast and it's insanely good. This is more of a chick's beer though, which I don't think I've ever said that of any Porter. But this Porter is perfect for bitches who like they're little fruity cocktails, hand some socialite with no appreciation for beer a can of this. Teach them.


NEXT week Grasshoppa's...

Mississippi Mud! Porter & Pilsner! So I guess it's a Porner or a Pilster? Anyway, it was on sale at Bevmo in this ridiculous 1 quart container that looks like a moonshine bottle. Oh yeah, bringing out the Southern Roots!

And for the BG's, I'm going to attempt to find something. Since it's Martenitsa next week and such. Oh yeah, and those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, crash course in culture. Only involving beer. WOO!

See ya'll next week. Preferably Wednesday or something.

Baltika & Bigfoot & Tony's Darts Away

I know, I know, the blog came a day early but deal with it, you will all get to see me on Wednesday for the first ever Video blog along with some friends of mine. I checked the stats and was incredibly surprised to find traffic from Bulgaria and Poland, India and Malyasia. 6 people from BG, just for that, I totally have to do a Bulgarian beer in honor of Martenitsa (if I can find one other than Astika which is now made by the Anhauser company, which I personally think messes up anything it touches, even if the Germans did buy it. SUGGESTIONS please), which I'll give everyone who isn't familiar with it a little culture lesson. Who knows, you may need it for Jeopardy someday.

My dad left me down in So Cal so he could go up to Portland for my grandmother's birthday and revealed to me last night that my cousin is unveiling his Bourbon barrel aged beer on Friday. I'm incredibly jealous that I can't be up there for that because my cous puts out the best beer around (by far, you haven't had beer until you've had his, I really think he should start a business but that's just me). Some other time I'll have to go up there and taste the epic beer that he puts out, sooner rather than later. Anyway, my dad and I went to Tony's Darts Away last week. My third time there, so I figured I'd start off with a review of the place in the event anyone decides to come to Los Angeles on holiday anytime soon...

Tony's Darts away is on Magnolia Blvd in Burbank, CA, if you ever come to visit Los Angeles, you seriously need to go to Tony's Darts Away. They only serve Californian beer, as in, made right here in this fine state. If you have money to spend and time to kill and you happen to be hungry, you seriously need to drop by. At night it's a little packed, even on weekdays, I don't even wanna know what weekends are like. But during the day practically no one is there and it's a better time to experience some very fine and very good mircobrews. The bar tending staff is incredibly helpful, flights start around 8 bucks but they'll give you samples for free. On my flight (which is 4 samplers basically) I had Alesmith IPA, Blind Pig (out of the Russian River brewery which is Nor Cal), Old World Hef (Bootleggers), and Requiem Vanilla Coffee Stout (Gentleman Scholar). I rated them, 1. The Hef, 2. Requiem, 3. Alesmith, and 4. Blind pig.
The menu is broken down into IPA and non-IPA, so if you don't like IPA in particular, I'd turn to page two. I also had Pliny the elder, which is an IPA and reminds me of what good dank bud smells like only transformed magically into taste. I had a German Rye beer, which my bar tender didn't care for but I really enjoyed it. And something called "Yellowtail" which was a lager, surprisingly much like every other Lager available in the US but 100 times better than commercially produced swill.
The food is incredibly bomb. Seriously, the home made chips and the chili con carne are to freakin die for. If you live in California, anywhere near Burbank or Los Angeles, you need to go here. They serve the UK style pints, which my cousin from Belfast says "is a real pint". No pitchers from what it looks like, but I suppose you could ask. Anyways Tony's has a website, which is here. It includes a menu, a facebook page, a twitter page, and a few other goodies for you tech savvy people.

Getting onto what we're really about, which is reviewing this weeks beer selection. I wasn't really thrilled with this one, though the Baltika came as a surprise. Here's the break down...starting with Baltika.

Baltika is out of St. Petersburg Russia, has won an award for superior taste by the International Institute of Taste & Quality in Brussels. You can find it at Bevmo for 2.19 for a 22oz bottle. Now this beer was sort of bipolar, I actually had to crack another one open today (which is next to me) because the first time...I was sooo not into this beer at all. It smelled to me like apple cider with a beery feel, it's a nice color and hardly bubbly but in the very beginning I was very surprised at the apple like taste but then it went down hill. I kid you not, the aftertaste was like that of a rubber tire. I nearly dumped it down the drain but I gave some to John (my stepdad) who rather liked it and said I was full of shit. So I gave Baltika another chance. This Russian Bad ass packs 8% ABV (alcohol by Volume), which is just 1% shy of how alcoholic the Old Rasputin is. After half a glass the beer judo whooped my taste buds into accepting it for what it was and actually enjoying it. After a quarter of the glass, the initial gnarly aftertaste went bye bye and I found myself wondering how the Russians managed to make a decent mass produced beer without compromising. Baltika is NOT watered down like Budwiser or the other mass produced swill, it actually has a pretty unique taste that wins you over after beating your tongue up, putting cement shoes on it, and making it sleep with the fishes. Oh yeah, and there's even a little "K" to let you know it's Kosher. Not my favorite but certainly interesting. I thought for sure I'd end up hating it after the first couple sips but I kept drinking anyway. Russia outdid it self on this one and I'm a fan of their Russian Standard Vodka (it's the only one I'll drink, you know that guy who made the periodic table, yeah, he came up with the recipe for that), I can now say I'm a fan of their beer. For how inexpensive this is, you need to go to Bevmo and try it yourself, especially if your a big fan of Russia. I'd recommend drinking it while playing Tetris.

See last weeks blog if you want a picture of it, I believe it's the Russian version which looks exactly the same in English only readable to non-Russian speakers/readers.


Bigfoot Barleywine style Ale...Seriously, wtf was this. I've had Barleywine before (homemade via Oregon fams) which I liked a lot, but this...this was IPA. It's a reddish color and not really too foamy but seriously, it tasted like IPA. If I wanted IPA, I would buy it. It has a nice grassy aftertaste after the initial hoppy-ness you find in an IPA, but it lingers for a second. If you want a sub IPA, then I guess you could buy it. It's 11.99 + tax for a 6 pack, which you might as well buy a 12 pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (which is pretty much an IPA). Don't get me wrong, I like what S.N puts out, and I liked this, but it was a let down as far as wanting something different. I thought maybe it would be sweet but it's actually rather bitter. I'd drink it again if offered, or at a party, but I wouldn't buy this again for any reason other than for a friend who loved it. If you like IPA, you'll like this. If not, stay away from it. My cousin still makes the best Barleywine and so far the best beer, but I doubt anyone could take that title away from him. The label is a little cartoony for my taste, but I suppose that's what makes it adorable in certain ways, I wanted to love it but it let me down the way Robot Unicorn Attack did.

So a hit and miss as far as beer is concerned, be on the lookout Wednesday for the first ever Vlog in which we'll review all 4 of the last 2 blog posts beer.

Next week it's...

Grand Teton Bitch Creek

&

Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale

And if I manage to find a suitable BG brew for Martenitsa other than Astika, look for that at the very beginning of March.

Moose Drool & Stone Smoked Porter

Hey everyone, I must admit I didn't think this blog was going to be read by so many people (32 page views over the week) and I'm very appreciative of the interest it's taken.

Last week was hectic, what with surprise yard sales, planning my mother's 50th birthday party and some retard shooting off a high powered multi-round rifle at 9am in the neighborhood. However, as promised, I have procured the beer for this week as well as next week.

I didn't think Bevmo had a great selection, and frankly it's sort of like a starbucks-esque chain. There's tons of them close to the house. However, I went here here to their website and found myself very surprised at the amount of selection. There's another place in Los Angeles which boasts and even MORE impressive selection of both import and domestic beers, called Beverage Warehouse. Prices between the two are roughly the same, the only difference is the amount of selection as well as the huge quantities of other things; e.g hard alcohol and wine. I emailed them to ask about other lesser known beers, which they failed to carry and Bevmo failed to have stocked at the moment, they ended up messaging me back with a ridiculous amount of distributors that would have it. Of the two, if you want incredible selection; beverage warehouse is a good bet. If you want prompt fulfillment of an online order, Bevmo.

I ended up ordering 3 stone 22oz's, 4 Baltika's, a 6 pack of Moose Drool, and a 6 pack of Bigfoot Barley style for around 45 bucks on the internet. Within 10 minutes I received an email confirming my order for pick up, pretty fantastic. You can also order by shipment, which isn't nearly as quick, but it helps if you don't exactly have a plethora of Bevmo's in your area. Now, the Moose drool and Stone were almost exactly the same price at the Warehouse, however, you cannot order from their online dealio--but you can have it delivered!

Onto the beer however...

Moose Drool is by Big Sky Brewing, a company based in Montana. It honestly reminded me so much of Newcastle that for a moment I wondered if I had been duped into buying it rebottled and repackaged. Frankly, with the price of a 12 pack of Newcastle versus a 6 pack of Moose Drool, you're better off buying the Newcastle price wise. Taste wise, it's pretty much Newcastle (then again Moose is also a brown ale) with the picture of a moose that my friend Ara and I believe has taken sick. If your into Moose puke, by all means, buy the beer for the label. If your a broke college student, I don't recommend spending 8.99 on a 6 pack anywhere. I was actually kind of disappointed to be perfectly honest, it's a good substitute in areas where you can't get Newcastle, but frankly it's sort of a waste of money really. Don't get me wrong, if offered it, I would accept and drink it quite readily--but as a party staple or a personal choice--no.

Stone Smoked Porter is by Stone Brewing which is LOCAL! Well, sort of. It's in San Diego/Escondido, you may also know them for their Arrogant Bastard beers as well. For roughly 3.99 a 22oz bottle, this stuff is amazingly good. It's a dark brown color (it looks black in the photo but I assure you, I had one today and it's dark brown, so don't be afraid) tastes sort of stouty but it doesn't kick your ass like stout might. It's good a sort of bready taste to me, like sourdough maybe, it reminds me of the Old Rasputin--only minus the creepy pedo lookin Russki on the label and without the long lasting stouty flavor. The taste is strong at first but it's not crazy overpowering, it's definitely worth a try if you don't know whether or not you'll like or enjoy Stout. I'd repeatedly buy this, not only for the price but for the taste. I mean it really blew me away. Now, my stepdad seemed to think it tasted like Newcastle as well, but he usually enjoys a N/A Beck. If you're a broke college student and you can't afford Old Rasputin 4 packs, pick up some of these babies, I'm tellin you, it's a good buy at a good price. One of these days I'll have to visit their brewery and sample their assortment of beer, bottles of it are similar but nothing beats what the brewery tap's up. Yes, tap beer is similar but different to it's bottled siblings, which is good if you can afford a keg or an afternoon in Escondido, if not--stick with the bottle and save the extra money for a trip down there. Good buy, glad I got to review it and plan on sharing it with some friends tonight.

Speaking of friends, I have had an interesting idea to sort of promote a more homey down to earth feel for this blog. You see, everyone's tastes are different--while I may not be a raving fan of the Moose drool, someone else might love it to death. So a few of my friends and I have decided that every 2 weeks, there will be in addition to the regular blog, a vlog or "video blog" (in case you are not familiar with the term) with some of my friends. After all, beer should be shared with everyone and not just enjoyed alone after work. You'll get to hear different opinions on 4 different beers every two weeks from average joe's like myself and like you.

If you have any suggestions on beer choices, places to go to in Los Angeles, or a brewery in your state you think people would like, leave me a comment.




Next Week!

Big Foot Barleywine

&

Out of St. Petersburg Russia, the Baltika No.9 Extra Lager
(btw, you can find numbers 1-9 at Bevmo for very cheap

See you all next week!

The main purpose of this blogging adventure

I'm no connoisseur of brew, I simply have a taste for good and relatively inexpensive beer. I'm your average twenty something beer drinker, but that didn't always use to be the case.

Growing up in a tiny little quiet community, there was not much to do if you were a teenager. You could buy weed with relative ease, get a pack of smokes, and you could get shitty beer as long as you knew the right people. Having little to no decent bars around and no nightlife to really speak of (unless you count all of us rejects of society hanging at a doughnut shop that's open 24/7, oh yeah, we were hard core) there wasn't really much for a teenager to do except throw a surprise kick back at a friend's house or maybe smoke a couple bowls while studying. The beer you always got was the cheapest nastiest forty ounce that you and your friends could buy with your ration of lunch money. Bud, Miller, Coors, PBR, Mickies, whatever--it came in a huge bottle and tasted like piss. You drank it because everyone else was.

I'm not trying to knock the basic " All-American" commercially produced exported beer that this country knows and loves, although the Europeans are probably laughing at us because that's the kind of horse urine swill we're so proud of. I used to drink the mass produced grog we're all used to, I was a fan of the lighter beers though and the only decent thing I thought was amazing was Sam Adam's, I knew nothing of the insane selection and fine brews we have in this country until recently. My favorite beers before were: Red Stripe, Pacifico, Hefeweizen, Corona, Blue moon, and Sam Adam's winter lager. I still have friends who insist on drinking things that taste like beer flavored water or like Seabiscuit's drug test. I can still drink a Red Stripe or any other normal beer that's taken up the supermarket shelves, exceptions being Coors and most of the domestics we have, when I have little money to spend on going to Bevmo and buying up some beer that I know trumps all others.

In November of 2010, I went to Oregon to see the family and enjoy my cousin's extraordinary home crafted brews. Being of age in the states, I could now go to the many bars and pubs and drink with my relatives. In Oregon I was introduced to many fine things, including the beer isle at Haggen's. This beer isle is the one to end them all. There were the basic "All American" and recognized brand names, but then the shelf went on...and on....and on...with hundreds of different bottles and types of beer. In Southern California, even Bevmo's beer isle isn't nearly as selective as Haggen's. My dad suggested I pick out a beer I wanted to try but I, having been a "girly girl" of beer drinking, went straight for the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. I picked it simply for the label, I'd seen the movie with Alan Rickman and read a biography on Rasputin (he was one hell of a dude, so I figured with a party animal like Rasputin on the label and named for him--it had to be pretty good). Turns out, I was right. If you do not like dark beers, do not drink this, it's a stout. If you've ever gone to B.J's and had Tatonka stout, it's about as black if not blacker with a whooping 9% alcohol by volume.

I meet a long lost relative who is the grandson of my grandmother's brother, either way he's my cousin, and he's setting off on a road trip to see Oregon and California. After a long holiday with the family and drinking my cousins home made beer (NOTHING RIVALS IT! It is the best pint you will ever drink, or hope to drink) among other new brews like The Dissident. If you ever go to Oregon around Thanksgiving, go to the Deschutes Brew Pub in down town Portland and order up a Dissident. It's like nothing you've ever tasted. It's...it's like an orgasm in your mouth and brain at the same time with a hint of cherry. Anyways, Oregon has a lot of really fine quality American beers, crafted to near perfection. Eugene hosts Ninkasi, which puts out some really amazing beer, the only one I didn't enjoy when I went was the "unconventionALE". Too strong, it made me want to drop balls and grow a beard, not many beers can do that but this one can. On our adventures we went to many different places, visited different breweries, and had a great time.

You come back from a brew tour like that though, where it's brewery after brewery for about a month, and you have a couple extra pounds.

This blog is more about how the love of beer brings people together, whether it's family or friends or just strangers at the bar. You don't need to be an expert and you don't need to be a connoisseur, you just have to enjoy beer, if you can do that then you can use this blog to open your tastes to something new and different. I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer sharing it with someone. I'll be promoting different beers every week or so, from the American to the European, some of them you might already know and enjoy but for the rest of you, it'll be an experience.


Next week's Beers of choice, as recommended by my friend Braggster:
Stone Brewery's: Smoked Porter
Big Sky's: Moose Drool