Beer

Monday, 08 February 2010 01:27

Written by Joeprah

(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)

With the onset of an impending blizzard, I did what any self-respecting beer lover would do--I bought myself some decent beers before the roads became impassable. There's something about a blizzard that just screams "beer me." The local liquor store isn't exactly the best place to shop for beers, but I did manage to grab a couple winners that I want to review here at Dad Blogs for the amusement of everyone.

My review technique is flawless. I check for the major elements of appearence, aroma and taste. Finally, I give a final overall grade for the beer based solely on my highly informed opinion. Basically, I really don't have a clue what I am doing, but I like to think I do. This week's review: Dogfish Head's Theobroma.

Theobroma literally translated equates to "Food of the Gods." Dogfish Head's brewer based his recipe for the beer (which includes honey, cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, ancho chilies, and annatto) from an ancient piece of pottery which described an alcholic drink using similar ingredients. The recipe is believed to date back to 1200 B.C.

Onto the review:

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Moylan's Kilt Lifter Scotch-Style Ale

Friday, 14 August 2009 03:12

Written by NicksPint

(2 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)

Tonight is a milestone, our first reader-requested review. A few weeks ago, reader Dan D. sent me an e-mail saying that he really enjoys Moylan’s Kilt Lifter Scotch-Style Ale and suggested I review it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; if you want to read it, let me know, I’ll write it. I like doing reader-suggested reviews, because it’s hard for me to decide what beers to cover all the time and it also gets me to try new beers I’ve never had before, like Moylan’s Kilt Lifter. Moylan's Kilt Lifter

The Scottish style of ales break down into Light, Heavy, Export and the strongest versions called Scotch Ales also known as "Wee Heavy." In Scotland, in the 19^th century each version was referred to by the cost of a pint respectively in the contemporary shilling currency, i.e. 60 shilling (light), 70 shilling (heavy), 80… (export) to 160+/- for the Wee Heavies. As has been common in many different cultures throughout the history or brewing and commerce, beer was priced according to alcohol content, so for example, you could order a pint of the 60 shilling which might be around 4% alcohol or the 160 shilling Wee Heavy which like Moylan’s Kilt Lifter hits 8% abv right on the button.

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The State of American Beer

Sunday, 09 August 2009 00:11

Written by NicksPint

Greetings everyone, glad to be back. I’ve been working on this one for awhile and it’s pretty vast in scope, so buckle your seat-belts and let’s talk about the state of beer in America. Liberty Ale Anchor Steam

After receiving several suggestions for a certain topic, and an interesting take on it by Joe I got a little inspired, so I’m going to start with a story today.

I was recently at The Grey Lodge in NE Philly, which is probably my favorite bar ever, it’s got a great laid-back hometown pub sort of feel, with a fantastic food, and most importantly a constantly rotating selection of great beers both bottled and on tap. The Grey Lodge has about 10 taps and 1 hand-pump for cask-conditioned beers, and while they do a good job getting a wide variety, they always have a good representation of beers from our local breweries, especially Eastern PA, and NJ. One busy night in particular, some friends and I were sitting at the bar when a young guy walked up, unsure of what to order. The conversation went something like this:

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Dogfish Head Burton Baton

Friday, 10 July 2009 02:02

Written by NicksPint

Dogfish Head logo Tonight’s beer is an old favorite, one of the first beers that challenged my ideas about what beer is and really blew me away. I’ve had some in the fridge since it came out in early April and recently realized I’ve been ignoring it, so tonight I decided to do a review of Dogfish Head’s Burton Baton. Dogfish Head (DFH from now on) is most well-known for big experimental beers. This is an article from November of last year which appeared in The New Yorker profiling DFH and Sam Calagione the founder and brewmaster.

Friday, 03 July 2009 03:00

Written by NicksPint

So, after doing a light, summery beer last week, I decided to let the pendulum swing back the other way. Tonight I’m reviewing a beer from the self-proclaimed “Dark Beer Specialist”, Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery. Duck-Rabbit is a small packaging brewery out of Farmville, North Carolina and having just sold their first beer in 2004 they’ve already made quite a name for themselves.

Duck-Rabbit is only distributed in NC, SC, TN, GA and very recently, PA. Here is where our story begins. Tonight I called in some support from my partner in all things fermented (and many other currently irrelevant things), Chris Countryman. He and I were recently at a distributor’s warehouse about 2 hours away somewhere in Pennsylvania and we couldn’t pass up a variety case of new-to-us Duck-Rabbit beers. So for tonight’s review Chris joined up with me to talk about Duck-Rabbit’s Porter.