gearing up

Beer Week and German Films are on the horizon, coinciding once again.  I'm not complaining too much, but I feel a little conflict about what beer to drink during those days.  Beer Week is actually longer than a week, so I guess film days will just be German beer.  We'll see what I can find.  At La Birratorium this week I found a local brew, and stout at that.  Mad Brewing Dark Matter ought to be a good prelude, especially since the special collection this year at the festival is sci-fi.

It's bubbly but not very heady, and one of those stouts with a penetrating aroma.  Definitely on the sweet side.  The taste, on the other hand, is bitter at first and quite bitter later.  I was fooled a little by the smell, thinking this stout would be one of those smooth and maybe chocolatey ones, but it's more like a regular stout with more smoke than chocolate.  I get the slight woodiness that barrel aged beers have as well, and it does smell a lot like bourbon barrel aged stouts.  The texture is very smooth, but also substantial, a lot like Founders Frootwood.  It doesn't leave a lot of residue, however, sliding right down the throat.  Despite the scent, the beer is not sticky or syrupy.  It's kind of a mysterious combination of characteristics, probably like its namesake.

'Sa matta you?

Supplier: La Birratorium
Price: €3.40

quick try

We waited for several hours, but there was no way anybody would stop for us.  It was an awful day and the rumors of the Highway Ripper were making everybody nervous anyway.  The green landscape of Washington highways is small beauty or pleasure when you have no wheels, and even when you do you have to worry about what you might run into.  I'm glad I have my poncho; Nero had it worse.  He was soaked through in no time.  It was a surprise when that pickup slowed down as it came down the road past us, and even more when pulled over on the shoulder and stopped.  The truck waited, making that chugging noise they do when they're idling, and we ran to see who our savior was.  He was the typical old dude who would drive a pickup out here.

"Can I give you kids a lift?"

"We'd sure appreciate it," and we clambered in.

Now we're rattling down the road without so much as the radio to distract us.  I'm in the middle, the driver on my left, Nero staring out the window on my right.  Finally the driver speaks, "Ain't so smart these days, hitchin'."

"It's something exciting."

"Sometimes that gets a body kilt."

"'A body kilt'?  Where're you from?  Or when?"

"Don't you mind my old timey talk, I always admired my grandpap.  Where you kids goin' anyway?  You never said when you got in."

I look away and kind of nod with the texture of the road under the wheels.  After a minute I say, "We go wherever the road takes us."

"Well, whatever," the driver grunts.

We go on in silence until it gets dark.  The driver's eyes are glued to the road at all times, but his voice seems to be aimed right at my eardrums.  "Suppose you heard about the Ripper."

"Of course."  Nero's still staring out the window.

"Don't it make you think twice about stunts like this?"

"Does it make you?"

Another moment of silence.

"I try to do favors for folks, pickin' 'em up off the road.  Sometimes they ain't so grateful, I guess."

Nero shifts restlessly in his seat.  "A lot of people aren't grateful for nothin'.  Me, I give credit where credit is due.  My boy Nero, too."  More shuffling around from my right.

"You never get in trouble?"

"There's two of us.  We're safe travelers.  You oughta think about that."

"I guess."

Nero sighs and leans his head against the window.  He's getting restless.  I hate that.  Now the driver keeps looking in his rearview mirror.  When I look at it I can see his eyes flitting up and back to the road in front of us.  I think the road is empty, though.  "You ever want to do something you shouldn't?" I ask with the feeling of a hand around my throat.  It's not a real hand, I know it isn't.  Not mine, not the driver's, not Nero's.  But it's there just the same.

threefer!

Somebody must've spent hours on this

Our old pal Founders is introducing some new brews and had a little presentation at Roll this week.  The promotion emphasized that the fruit beer would be tapped for the first time ever in Spain, which certainly made it sound exclusive (for a while).  The beers were all barrel aged, fairly high in alcohol content, and spoken of in the most glowing of terms by the representatives.  Although it was a business presentation, everyone was pretty relaxed and friendly.  I was recommended Backwoods Bastard first, a take on their Dirty Bastard scotch ale.

Like Dirty Bastard, it comes off as a sweeter beer than I normally like, although it has its attraction in colder months.  The smell is definitely sweet and I don't detect much else behind it, but the taste is pretty balanced, not syrupy.  The noticeable flavor is definitely vanilla, although the aftertaste has more of a mellow and woody note.  I find it heavier than I remember Dirty Bastard, a little too heavy now that the weather is warmer, at least for my taste.  As winter holidays come around, though, the Backwoods Bastard is a good choice to warm your stomach, if not your heart.

I tried Kentucky Breakfast Stout, or KBS, next.  The previous Breakfast Stout had been disappointing, lacking in flavor for me.  I'm so spoiled with these intense beers.  KBS was much better right off the bat, with a rich chocolatey-ness and smooth texture that marks the perfect stout for me.  The barrel was harder to detect, and I never felt like the bourbon overwhelmed the stout with sugariness, something that some barrel-aged beers suffer from.  I was terribly pleased with KBS, and had several samples over the course of the night.  Highly recommended for stout lovers!

Glass two came with a mini-cupcake

Finally, the fruit beer, Frootwood.  It's a cherry ale, again aged in bourbon barrels, but those barrels also held maple syrup at some point apparently.  The beer is a frisky pale red color and has an aroma that reminds me of both champagne and cheese.  I saved this one for last, thinking it would perk me up after the powerful Bastard and KBS, and it is indeed refreshing.  It's also a strong one, at 8%.  The flavor is light and unpressuring, though, and would be lovely on a hot summer night, as well as a sunny winter afternoon.  The fruit is the most noticeable part of the flavor, but the texture of Frootwood is also interesting.  Somehow it feels more solid than the other two, almost like a melting Jello shot.  It's still easy drinking and quite pleasing.

More snacks!

There's nothing like a gathering of beer lovers to perk up your week!

Especially beer lovers with dapper clothes and snazzy beards

another outing

It's getting to be bright, sunny afternoons after rainy, haily ones and sometimes you just can't help but feel like spending some time out of the house.  Even remarkable homebodies like me.  I have things to do tonight that put me in the street, so maybe I'll just kill three birds with one trip.  I stop at Toast Tavern to see what's brewing and they have a summery selection of ales and lagers, with one Founder's on the wall.  It's the Scotch ale, which is a little heavy for my taste just now.  There are several IPAs, and one that I don't recognize.  Who doesn't like a surprise?  It's OPO 74 Gyroscope, from Portugal as it turns out.

Gyroscope has the look of many a craft IPA, with a rather orange color.  It's not as aromatic as some, but that doesn't stop it from having a fine, bold taste.  The flavor is bluntly bitter, rolling over the tongue and down the throat without a second thought.  While there is a hint of citrus, it's not as strong as with a majority of craft ales, probably to the liking of many who find that overwhelming.  The aftertaste has that touch of sweetness that a lot of crafts do, though.  The beer is constant from start to finish, remaining refreshing and smooth.  It's a good start to my Saturday brain bashing.

Supplier: OPO 74, Toast Tavern
Price: €5.50/pint

green like spring

Various things conspired to occupy my time, and I had to resort to picking up a beer at the supermarket.  Fortunately, as I've mentioned before, there are a couple of places nearby with a reasonable beer stock.  Days are warm and sunny right now, so a light beer seems like the thing.  Sagra's Burro Sancho line has an eye catchingly green label, and the price is right.

Spring - da da!

It's bubbly, clear colored, distinctly lacking in head.  More like a cider in appearance than a beer.  The smell is pretty beery, though.  I was steeling myself for something lagery, but the aroma is more of a light craft ale.  The taste is lagery at first, however.  Not very strong, but mild more than weak.  There's a bit of sweetness, but that dissolves into a more bitter and typical beer flavor.  It's the kind of beer that goes with things, and probably anything you like.  It's a mild enough taste that sweet, salty or spicy foods wouldn't feel drowned out, while the beer itself would remain refreshing.  The label insists there's a floral quality, but I'm not tasting it.  Quite honestly, I don't miss perfume with my beer, though.  There's always Valverde for that.

Supplier: Carrefour
Price: €1.59