The Beer Road

What was that Springsteen song?  “57 channels and Nothing On”?  Of course, in this day and age, 57 sure seems like your most basic of all cable packages – but we got the point when the song was out.  So many choices, but nothing really worth watching.

Ever feel that way when you walk into your local watering hole and take a look at the draft beer selection?  Me too.  It’s always strange, at least to me, to look up and down a line of twenty or so taps and see very few “chances” taken in terms of selection.  Perhaps understandable, from a business standpoint, but still disappointing, from a flavor standpoint.  Fortunately for those of us in Roanoke, there are a few places to go where selection occasionally veers towards interesting and choices that aren’t your usual ‘fill in the blank’ Light beers.  It’s important to give kudos to some of these restaurants  since they might not have an overall large number of taps will stick something in the lineup that isn’t expected, or perhaps a local or regional brew.  Besides, when that “something new” shows up in a restaurant and you didn’t expect it, it’s like finding buried treasure – exciting, surprising, and, as soon as you spot it, you’re saying “YES PLEASE, ONE OF THOSE”!

One of those beers that’s shown up in a couple places in Roanoke is Baltimore based Clipper City/Heavy Seas’ IPA Loose Cannon.  As of about a week ago, south Roanoke’s Fork In The Alley still had it on tap, and I believe they have had it for quite some time.  For the past several months I had been trying and enjoying a few different offerings from Clipper City, what I could find, and I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve tried so far.  The brewery’s website refers to the “enormous” amounts of hops added to this India Pale Ale during production, calling it “Hop 3” or “Hop (Cubed)”.  To me, it has a citrusy aroma that is seconded by the taste.  The hops give it that pine like and also grapefruit flavor, but is not so bitter that you can’t tell some sweetness there from a little malty backbone.  It’s very enjoyable.  Those out there who enjoy Sierra Nevada’s commonly found and still legendary Pale Ale might take a shot at Loose Cannon, no pun intended.

Posted in The (Beer) Road Less Traveled - Getting Into Better Beer.

So eventually the man, standing in the aisle of his big chain grocery late one night, decided he’d had enough.  Enough of everything tasting just about the same, enough of not knowing what all these other bottles had to offer.  It seemed like an adventure was ready to take place, but what to choose?   He was curious, so curious.  So many to choose from, so many names, so many labels with differing styles, and some of them just had to be really, really good.  But which ones?  So decision he made, and being somewhat frugal and having little idea, he made his decision based upon little else but how exotic the idea of a beer from Brazil sounded in his head.  BRAZIL??  You’re kidding, right?  BRAZIL?  Even he wondered how valid the choice was.  After all, it wasn’t even from one of the grand old beer producing nations, like Germany, or England, Belgium, or the like?  BRAZIL??

Well, as it turned out the beer tasted fairly good, especially given what I had been drinking for far too long.  Looking back, I’ve moved onto others, other beers, other examples of this particular style, sure.  But as it also turns out, Xingu, yes, from Brazil, wasn’t a bad example of a beer style that just might be a good one to try, if you’re up for trying something a little different, without risking too much.

Now far be it from me to say that I’m an expert on what are generally called “gateway beers” or, the first beers that someone might try that move one’s tastebuds beyond the norm and into the better beer world.   And I truly believe there are several different directions of styles to go on these.  Xingu, a “black lager”, or Schwarzbier, worked for me, even though I did buy it on a bit more than just a feeling – I was looking for something with a somewhat toasted malt character, something like the Oktoberfests that I knew I cared for with their malty flavor – but it worked simply because I enjoyed it, really enjoyed it.  As in, the adventure was a success.  And soon, back to the aisle I went, as I still do, searching out different things.  It was different, and I thought it tasted quite good.

The trick then, for anyone wanting to try something different, is to perhaps start with some vague idea of what you might like, and then try something along those lines, keeping in mind not to go too far on the first date with your newly found beer.   Just as one might not ride the world’s fastest roller coaster on their first ever trip on a coaster.  But there are some styles here and there that might make tasting new styles easier, when all one has ever had tastes like flavored water.  Black lagers are just one route to go, which brings me to that all so common beer misconception, that color designates how “heavy” a beer is going to be.   Its just not true.  Beers like these are actually pretty light in body, but have richer, fuller flavors.  Plus, there are several of these black lagers out there – Magic Hat even makes a seasonally available one called “Howl” that’s pretty good.

I’m definitely going to continue to post thoughts on first try beer styles, in the days to come.  Consider it a personal road map of the beer road, with an eye always open for the next tasty turn.

Posted in The (Beer) Road Less Traveled - Getting Into Better Beer.

Ok, so I’m not truly sure with which beer, or at which moment, or at which place I was when my fascination with better beer started.  Not that it’s important, really, its more fun to revisit several different points of reference than just one when we’re talking about glasses of beer, right?  I am pretty sure my good friend Stuart had something to do with it, when he shared his love of seasonal Spaten Oktoberfest with me.  Before that, I admit that my scope of beer tasting was pretty limited, and I’ll just leave those beer names up to you, the reader, to guess.  The important part was that at that moment, a flavor love was born – I knew I enjoyed the different taste, even if I couldn’t at that point recognize what it was that I really cared for…a slight malty sweetness, perhaps a slight roasty character…now has set me off on a course through all kinds of other styles, and to this point, I’ll admit a large percentage of them, yes, have been darker beers, perhaps set off by that one first taste  of an Oktoberfest.  Not long after that I remember finding Xingu on my local grocery shelf and thinking, how exotic, and it just continued from there.  One after one, styles have been tried, from Brown Ales to dunkels, from black lagers to bocks and doppelbocks, and with each one, a desire to understand the ‘why’ behind the beers as in, why do they taste the way they do, what’s behind each style, and on and on.  I can appreciate the fact that lots of people out there must be putting in a tremendous amount of effort for my drinking enjoyment, and for that, a big big thanks.  I now end up truly savoring several favorites that I have found along the way, but of course continue to truly love tasting new beers, new styles, and seeing where each taste will take me.  So, with a little bit of luck a lot of this so called research will end up right here.

Posted in The (Beer) Road Less Traveled - Getting Into Better Beer.