Notes from the Panel Archives - Page 20 of 25 - Craft Beer Blog from The Beer of the Month Club

Super Bowl Foods & Craft Beer

January 30, 2014 by Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club

When preparing for Super Bowl Sunday, it’s important to make sure you don’t forget the craft beer! If your house is anything like most of ours, there’s going to be plenty of food around – so what craft beers make the best pairings?

When choosing a craft beer to accompany a certain dish, it’s often best to aim for a complementary flavor, but a contrasting one can work too. For instance, hot & spicy foods usually go great with IPAs, whose big, spicy hops match the heat and intensity of the food. But, a sweeter, maltier craft beer like a bock can help tame the heat while refreshing the palate.

Just like with food and wine pairings, you want to make sure you don’t have one member of your pairing dominating the other, so try to match the intensity levels of the craft beer and the food. For example, a barleywine will stomp all over a celery stick, and a bowl of 5 alarm chili will kick the butt of a pale lager – so keep the character of each of the components in mind.

Here’s a little guide we made with some of our suggestions for popular game day foods:

TGIF: Bear Republic Racer X

January 17, 2014 by Brett Olson

Last week we celebrated the end of the week with an imperial IPA from Valiant Brewing Company. This week we headed over to our local bottle shop to grab something to enjoy this afternoon. From experience we know it’s always a good idea to ask if they have anything special behind the counter, and whaddya know – they did. With just two bottles of BearRepublic’s 2013 Racer X left in stock, we knew we better pounce on it while we could.

So, yes, it’s another imperial IPA, but I knew our staff wouldn’t complain – is there such a thing as too much imperial IPA? I think not. BearRepublic’s Racer 5 is a go-to IPA for many of us here, and Racer X is a similarly excellent representation of the bigger “imperial/double IPA” style.

Racer X is a showcase for the famous “Three Cs” that it’s made with: Cascade, Centennial, and Columbus hops. As expected, the hop aromas are big, offering a floral fruitiness composed of orange blossom, tangerine, some grapefruit, a little pine, and some spicy, herbal undertones approaching mint. There’s a caramel malt sweetness underpinning the whole thing too. All of this comes through on the palate, as well, with the robust malts adding enough backbone to hold the whole thing up while delivering a lingering toasty note in the finish. In fact, BearRepublic touts this beer as being well-balanced, and we agree. I’m laughing as I write this because only in our twisted, hop-crazed minds can any 100+ IBU double IPA be “balanced”, but, at least relative to some others in the category, it is – and we like it. A lot. Pick one up if you can find it!

Cheers!
Brett

Jan 16, 2014 - Racer X (5)-cropped

TGIF: Valiant Jericho Imperial IPA

January 10, 2014 by Brett Olson

Jan 9, 2014 - Valiant (6)-cropped It’s Beer O’Clock here at the office again! After the craziness of the holiday season, we’re getting back on track with our informal Friday beer tastings, and today we’re trying a brewery that’s new to us – Valiant.

The beer scene here in Southern California keeps getting better and better. Based in Orange, CA, Valiant has been open for less than a year – and if their Jericho Imperial IPA is any reflection of the rest of their portfolio, they’re definitely a brewery to watch.

Luscious floral, citrus and tropical aromas and flavors burst out of this brew including grapefruit, orange, tangerine, pine blossom, pineapple, passion fruit, and more. Hops are quite spicy on the palate, too, and there’s a nice mild minerality to the beer.

Jan 9, 2014 - Valiant (4)-cropped

This is one very well balanced imperial IPA, with the pale and lightly caramelized malts adding wonderful balance and roundness to the beer without in any way distracting from the juicy and delicious hop explosion.

We all were really impressed with this one. At 10.8% ABV and 100+ IBUs, Jericho is big and bombastic while somehow managing to remain tremendously graceful and composed. And just straight up delicious.

If you’re in Orange County, keep on the lookout for Jericho – this is Valiant’s first bottled beer, and it’s well worth picking one up if you can find it.

Cheers!
Brett

National Lager Day

December 10, 2013 by Brett Olson

What are You Drinking for National Lager Day?

I think it’s fair to say that the craft beer world in the U.S. is dominated by ales. But, being that today is National Lager Day, we’re raising our glasses in celebration of craft-brewed lagers and the brewers who are dedicated to making them.

Today at lunch I celebrated National Lager Day with a Sprecher Special Amber (yes, there are perks to working for a beer club). First time I had one of their beers, I thought they were a German brewery. Between the brewery name, label design, and my impression of the beer itself, I could have sworn it was fresh off a boat from Bavaria. But no – it was from Milwaukee. Wow, if only the “macro” brewers in Milwaukee made beers like these!

We’re always excited to find a good craft lager, as they’re just not that common. Rarer still are brewers like Sprecher, whose focus is on lagers and whose beer portfolios are stacked with a multitude of different lager styles. Sprecher is an old favorite of mine for this very reason. (Keep a lookout for their beer in an upcoming Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club shipment.)

So what are YOU drinking on this National Lager Day?

Cheers,
Brett

Brett’s November Featured Beers Top Pick

November 26, 2013 by Brett Olson

Rich, smooth, and remarkably easy to drink, Einstök’s Toasted Porter is a nice discovery from Iceland, and makes my top pick this month from among our 12-oz selections. With the cooler weather that November brings, a porter is often a good choice – but when it’s one as well made as Einstök’s, it just really hits the spot.

This baby is one of the most densely black porters we’ve had in a while, and the nose draws you in further with dark roast notes with a bit of an ashy, smoky edge, plus toasted bread crust, toffee, hints of dark chocolate, scorched caramel, and an impression of Eastern spices.

Big chocolaty notes take center stage on the palate, bolstered by deep caramel, molasses, mild toffee, hints of coffee, a wisp of licorice, and slight impressions of dark fruit that pop through with warmth. There’s enough creamy roundness and residual sweetness to stand up to and temper the bitter, smoky, roasted malt character, as well as the Bavarian noble hops which lend spiciness. What a well-balanced, satisfying porter!

We hope you enjoy it!

Cheers!
Brett

P.S. – This is actually the first month that we’ve featured beers from Iceland: Einstök in our 12-oz Int’l and US & Int’l Variety clubs, and Ölvisholt in The Rare Beer Club. Beer was banned in the country until 1989, so it’s encouraging to see a developing craft beer industry there – I hope these beers are a sign of more good things to come!