progress and beer

So yesterday I had zero luck at work and went to LBC to take advantage of the $2.50 pints. I started with the 85 to get the tastebuds a'rockin'. 'Twas still delicious. Then I got to looking at the medals hanging off of the signs with the names of all of their beers. Their standard beer has a crapload of awards (Gold medal at the Indiana state fair in 2007 and 2008, bronze medal in 2009). The name of the beer is Tippecanoe common ale. I decided to order a pint of it.

The color is a bit darker than I expected, it's definitely a brown ale, bordering on nut brown. The head is minimal (like all of the LBC brews), but lacing is outstanding. The mouthfeel is good, not great, but doable. Flavor is surprising. I can see how this beer won awards in a brown ale category. There's a good malt flavor, and a great hoppy finish. There is a hint of caramel malt, the amarillo hops do not disappoint, then there is a nice dry finish to the party. Good beer. Great? Well, for a balanced brown ale, yes. For me, I'd like to see another 30 min dry hopping period and call it an IPA, since the seasonal IPA is weak as balls.

After the common ale, I had the other seasonal beer, the Ouiatenon Wit beer (sic). The description is pretty lame for a real beer:
"This Belgian style wit bier is brewed with 100% USDA certified organic ingredients. A blend of wheat and pilsner malts along with German Saphir hops, coriander and curacao orange peel create a refreshing ale with hints of citrus, banana and clove."
Organic? whatever.
wheat and pilsner? yay
Saphir hops? exotic
coriander and orange peel? whatever.

I went in not expecting much, but I was very surprised. This beer is good. Hell, it is a borderline excellent belgian white ale. Sweet, but not too sweet, and it definitely goes down like a beer, not an alcopop. It's hard to describe, but it was good all the way through. I downed that beer way fast and ended up waiting out a tornado warning at the bar as I waited to burn it off.

-James

LBC

Went out tonight to Lafayette Brewing Co. for Dr. Jian Liu's celebration dinner. Had a couple beers, time to write it up.

First I had their seasonal IPA. The other IPA drinker and I were both a bit disappointed. IBU-wise this beer was weak for an IPA. Definitely lower then their Eighty-five, which rates, you guessed it, 85 on the IBU scale. An IPA with less than 80 IBU? Weak. Not saying it's a bad beer, it was possibly the best pale ale I've had. Very crisp, dry, with just a hint of bitter at the end. No off flavors. Mouthfeel and lacing were a bit weak, it was almost as if they put a keg on before it had matured. This beer went down like water after a hard day, which is probably bad because I think the only IPA characteristic this beer had was the ABV (upwards of 6 I'd guess).

Second beer was the aforementioned 85. This beer is good. It's sold as an "aggressive American style pale ale." Aggressive is an understatement. This beer comes very light colored, barely darker than Heineken. Head is small, smell is promising. Good bitter beer smells, pine esters and good malts. First sip will knock you on your heels. How is such a pale beer so hoppy? Fortunately it's not an abusive hoppiness, it is well balanced by the malt and mouthfeel. This is a very smooth beer, that still lets you know that you are drinking a beer.

LBC makes very fine ales. I'm sure eventually I'll record all of them. Especially since their 1L growlers are only $5 to refill. Almost 3 beers for $5? ($4 on Tuesdays) That's a great deal. Plus, Wed is their $2.50 pint nights, which is just awesome.

Tomorrow I'll probably troll for sponsorship at The Other Pub. Be back then.

Ions suck, drink beer.
-James

First post & Michelob

So I decided to make a beer blog, since that's what I do.

I can't pretend to remember and review all of the beers I've drank, so I'll start over again (well, I'll include the past few nights). I will review anything in here, with the following exceptions: Bud, Miller, Coors and the associated lights. Everyone's had these, and frankly, if I have to pay more than $3 a pitcher, I don't bother.

Now, to get to business. Due to the situation this month (I moved, thus paid 2.5 months rent on 80% pay) I've been looking for cheap beers that are drinkable. Due to this, I stumbled across the Michelob series. Unfortunately, I went in with the most recent Mich's I've drank being Ultra, and Ultra amber, which are really only to be drank when weight loss is the goal. I started off my new quest with the Michelob Lager. I went in expecting a fancied up Bud, I was greeted with a surprisingly good german lager. Turns out this thing actually conforms to reinheitsgebot (German purity law), which means NO RICE!! Surprisingly good bottle of beer, especially with cheap pizza. Little light on the hops, but most beers are for me. This lager is the cleanest, tastiest and most satisfying I've found for $6.30/pk.

Encouraged by my Michelob find, I went searching the webs (it's what Webby's do) and found that they have a dry-hopped beer. A dry-hopped macro? Gotta try that. The beer in question is the Michelob Pale Ale, and Damn is it a fine brew for its price. Great two finger head thst lingers and laces like a fine pair of...well lets just say it laces well. The color is on the imperial side of pale ale, but the reason becomes painfully evident on the first sip. The taste hits with a heavy malt flavor, then mellows to a damned pleasant hoppiness. Not overly bitter, just a pleasant floral dryness (no soap flavor as my dad would say). Personally I could've done with a little less malt, a little more hops, but that's because I'm a hophead.

More to come, I'm sure.
-James