Monthly Archives: August 2009

RJ Rockers Bald Eagle Brown Ale

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RJ Rockers Bald Eagle Brown AleBeer-a-Day #226

A traditional English-style brown ale, but with more body. Its deep brown color comes from a combination of Chocolate and Black malts. Tall, dark and smooth – the perfect cure for the domestic beer blahs.

A craft beer out of South Carolina? Cool. And the owner is from Jersey.

A dark golden brown, with some ruby highlights. Smells rather sweet, with aroma of vanilla and caramel. The taste follows, with medium body. I don’t normally go in for brown ales, but this one is pretty darn good.

RJ Rockers


Bud Ice Light

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Bud Ice LightBeer-a-Day #225

Anheuser-Busch’s exclusive ice-brewing process takes the beer to a temperature below freezing, which leads to the formation of ice crystals in the finishing process that gives Bud Ice and Bud Ice Light their rich, smooth taste.

Just when I thought I was done with macro lagers…

I don’t have high hopes for this one. It’s “light” and there’s that “ice-brewing process”. It’s more like “let’s take a beer with little-to-no flavor and remove some flavor from it”.

Yeah, yeah. “Keep an open mind” and all that.

It’s like water with a little yellow food coloring added. The white head seems to be lasting longer than some other macros I’ve had recently…nevermind. It’s gone. Smells a little bit like rotten pineapple and stale beer. At least it’s not skunked which, considering the funky clear bottle it’s in, is a surprise. (They probably use hop extract.)  It’s flat, and it tastes like a fraternity basement bar smells. I suppose on a really, really hot day this would be fairly refreshing (and your only other option was antifreeze).

Anheuser-Busch: Bud Ice / Bud Ice Light

Wall of beer cans

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Beer can collection/art at Studio on Fire

Boy, that’s pretty.

There’s a better half of a thousand cans up there and darn near all are (diligently) cracked open from the bottom, preserving the original seal. Also out of all the cans hanging, there’s only a handful of duplicates. We are quite proud of this assemblage of our cultural history and all of us, at one time or daily, have to be reminded to get the hell back to work and stop staring into abyss of an unfortunately long-gone and better era.

Studio on Fire is a design and letterpress house in Minneapolis, and they put up this great wall in their office. As if I could do anything like this where I work.

Studio on Fire: “It’s Superior.”

(via Boing Boing)

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

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Dogfish Head Palo Santo MarronBeer-a-Day #224

An unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels. The caramel and vanilla complexity unique to this beer comes from the exotic Paraguayan Palo Santo wood from which these tanks were crafted. Palo Santo means “holy tree” and it’s wood has been used in South American wine-making communities.

I got to sample a bit of this at a F.O.A.M. meeting several months ago and have been looking to buy a bottle ever since. I finally scored some the other day. I’ve put one away to age for a bit, but cracked open the other bottle as a reward for a hard day’s work.

It’s a deep, deep chocolate brown, thick and opaque. It smells “rich”, with caramel and vanilla and a bit of heat from the alcohol. More caramel and heat in the taste, with something that reminds me of brandy. Very complex. I couldn’t take a steady diet of these, but it sure is a nice treat.

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale

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pyramid-audacious-apricotBeer-a-Day #223

Our flavorful apricot ale boldly combines the taste and aroma of fresh apricot with the smooth finish of wheat malt. Its refreshingly unfiltered character and fruit flavor make it an ale worth savoring.

Clear orange with a white head. The apricot aroma fairly overpowers anything else. The taste has a similar issue. It’s not bad, but it’s just not beery enough.

Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale

Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen

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Beer-a-Day #212Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen

The standard by which all other wheat beers are judged. Our deliciously deranged American-Style Hefeweizen is an award winning take on this Bavarian classic. This refreshingly unfiltered wheat ale delivers a distinctively smooth flavor worth sharing with friends.

There were huge delays on the commuter train today, giving me the opportunity to stand around in 90+ degree heat for over an hour, to sit between two other hot and tired commuters for another hour-and-a-half, and to get home over two hours late. I deserve this beer.

Dark yellow with typical wheat haze. Banana and cloves in the aroma. A little bready in the flavor, but otherwise a nice, crisp hefeweizen. Refreshing. I’d gladly have this again.

Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen

Barley and Hops “Dirty Dirty”

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Barley and Hops Grill & MicrobreweryBeer-a-Day #221

My wife and I met with a friend today (Kids Eat Free Sunday!) at Barley and Hops. Chris (our friend) had the beer sampler. Sara informed us that they were out of their seasonal offering but, instead, filled out the sampler with something they’re calling a “Dirty Dirty”. Apparently some regulars there have taken to blending the Dirty Blonde Lager with the Big Ben Nut Brown. It sounded interesting, so I ordered a pint for myself.

It’s copper in color. There’s a little toastiness in the aroma. The taste is malty with a nice bit of bitterness in the finish. Neither beer there is my favorite of their offerings, but together they’re pretty darn good. I could go for another one of those (and, in fact, I did).

Barley and Hops Grill & Microbrewery

Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

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Guinness 250 Anniversary StoutBeer-a-Day #220

To mark the 250 year anniversary of the signing of the lease on St. James’s Gate Brewery by Arthur Guinness, we introduce a special commemorative stout. This premium recipe provides a refreshing taste, which underlies the complex flavor of stout.

I guess I’m a little behind the times on this. Better late than never I suppose.

Dark, dark brown tending to black with ruby highlights. Thick tan head. Smells sweet. Cherries and chocolate is the impression I get. Light body with some roastiness and a dry finish. It’s pretty good, but I’m left…wanting. Something’s missing but I can’t put my finger (or my tongue, more precisely) on it. It’s not bad at all; I suppose I was expecting something more.

Guinness 250

Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale

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Beer-a-Day #219Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale

This is our original brew (we began it all making this very beer on the original teeny, tiny brewery at our Rehoboth Beach brewpub back in 1995) and our most approachable beer. Shelter Pale Ale is brewed with a premium barley and northwestern Willamette & Columbus hops. The beer has a fine malt backbone and a slightly nutty flavor. Shelter Pale Ale is a versatile, quaffable beer.

We named this beer ‘Shelter Pale Ale’ because we liked the concept of a shelter as being a place you come home to. It made sense for this beer, our original beer.

Light copper color with an ivory head. Caramel aroma with some grassy hops. Malty with just enough hop bitterness. I rather like it. My wife likes it too.

Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale