US beer tour

[Bum]

And were both underwhelmed. I think it was the first time I've had it, and I found it quite harsh. I was expecting something fairly smooth but it was far from it.

Lager yeast at ale temps will do that. Awful beer (and brewery, to be honest).

[Oliver]

Day 13: New Orleans, Louisiana
A visit to Graceland then an epic drive landed us in New Orleans, where we were happy to discover it was Mardi Gras weekend. A pre-dinner drink of Amstel Light (yeah, I know, but it was the only thing I could see behind the bar that wasn't Bud or Bud Light) got me in the mood for something interesting to drink.

So we found a restaurant and an Abita Amber went down well with some blackened gator bites. Even though listed as an import on the menu, we were assured that it was a local brew. It's a sweetish lager wth a hint of caramel. It wasn't a bad beer. It wasn't a great beer. It was a so-so beer.



After the Amber I couldn't say no to a pint of Abita "it's the strongest beer on the menu" Andy Gator. It was a 9.0%, strong, rich, bitter and tasty beer. There was little hop aroma or taste but I quite enjoyed it, particularly for $5.



Then it was time for a wander around to see more of what makes Mardi Gras famous (parades and women flashing) and it was time to call it a day.

Tomorrow: More of New Orleans.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

Day 14: New Orleans, Louisiana
A quiet day on the beer front. The Mardi Gras mayhem continued in the evening, which is more about margarita than beer.

However, we adjourned for a couple of hours to a quieter part of town and had an Abita Maradi Gras Bock while watching some jazz. It was a good beer, slightly chocolatey with hints of caramel.



Over dinner at a Cajun-Italian restaurant (!) I had an Abita Turbodog Dark. This was quite bitter and not overly toasty, making it a fairly drinkable dark lager. Nicely balanced.

Tomorrow: Train to Washington, DC.

Oliver

[Oliver]

Day 15: Train to Washington DC
Twenty-seven hours on the train from New Orleans to Washington DC and only four beers consumed.

First up, while waiting for a seat for lunch, we had what turned out to be the two and only Sierra Nevada Pale Ales on the entire train.

A Brooklyn Lager followed. This wasn't the greatest beer, we decided. It's got a touch of the dirty Aussie lagers about it and is a bit rough around the edges. Still, it didn't stop us having a second.



A brewed-in-Holland Heineken (oh, the joy!) was enjoyed with dinner.

Tomorrow: Washington DC.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

Day 16: Washington DC
Only a couple of beers tonight, both Starr Hill IPAs at the Dubliner, an "Irish" pub around the corner from the hotel. I can't find any notes about this beer (the problem with not keeping up-to-date with postings), but my recollection is that it was, I now realise, a fairly standard North-East IPA: dark, bitter and malty but not overly hoppy in taste or aroma.

It must have been OK though, because the receipt for dinner tells me that I had two.



Tomorrow: More Washington DC.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

Day 17: Washington DC
After a hard afternoon touring DC on Segways we decided to find a bar on the way back to the hotel.

Instead we found Capitol City Brewing Co, which is a big bar and restaurant in downtown Washington.

Capitol Kolsch (4.5% ABV, below right) was light, spicy and refreshing. It had a thin head.

Pale Rider Ale (6.1%, below left) was more spicy than the West Coast pale ales, and quite bitter, too, like the Starr Hill last night. Not big on aroma hops like the West Coast pale ales. The head disappeared quickly, as with the kolsch.



Saison, below, was golden. The little lady said it was "quite nice". I said it was slightly malty with a hint of bacon flavour.

Big Time Brown Ale, also below, was brown and earthy and a fair bit like my No.6 Irish Special Stout.



Prohibition Porter (5.3%) was grainy and smooth.

Belgian Mild had a long-lasting head. It was slightly sour and a bit wheaty. Good and drinkable, with a hint of smokiness. The little lady described it as "a bit watery", but conceded that was in relation to some of the beers she's tasted over the previous two weeks.



We left happy, having spent $US23.10 for six pints.

Dinner of Middle Eastern included a beer from DC Brau called The Public Ale. You'd be hard-pressed to pick it from some of the West Coast pale ales. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were drinking a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Needless to say, it was delicious.



Then followed a Magic Hat #9. It was, well, interesting. I wasn't a huge fan. It was sort of like fairy floss in a glass. A bit too candy-like for me. It's described on the Magic Hat website as a "not quite pale ale", hopped with Cascade and Apollo, and brewed with English ale yeast. ABV 5.1 IBU 20.

Tomorrow: New York City.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

Day 18: New York City
Our first foray into a New York mini-mart and I clap eyes on this:



Note its place next to that other great international beer, Budweiser.

From there it was out to dinner and a couple of pints of Sixpoint Bengali Tiger IPA, a very nice beer indeed.



On the way home we bought this:



Let me confirm that this is absolutely, truly disgusting. Think Tooheys Red but worse. There's nothing "premium" (or "ale", for that matter) about it. All I can say is that buying one to taste seemed like a good idea at the time.

Tomorrow: More of NYC.

Oliver

[Bum]

Haha! I've seen those there but never been drunk enough to be tempted.

Matter of fact, I don't think there's enough beer in the world for me to become that drunk that I'd buy anything with Fosters written on it when there's so many awesome, otherwise unobtainable, beers on hand.

[bullfrog]

I'm ashamed that you would buy that. Normally when I was popping into a corner shop or the like to grab some beer to take back to the hotel, I'd already been to dinner and perhaps had one or five, so had no compuction with telling the shop owners that they should all remove anything with a Fosters label from their fridges because they're advertising slogan ("Australian for beer,") couldn't be further from the truth as it's near impossible to buy the damned stuff back home.

That none of them had at all asked and that I had launched into the lecture each time unprompted is why my wife lead to labelling it my "little crusade."

In any case, I fear you may have set the crusade back by having been seen to be an Australian buying a Fosters product. I'll have to talk the wife into eschewing our next holiday to Scotland so that we can return to the US and pick up the fight again.

[Oliver]

Day 19: New York City
First beer of the day was a Bitter American US pale ale from 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, at Momofuku restaurant.



Served waaaay too cold and I had to drink it really quickly as we were leaving. Consequently I couldn't/didn't taste much at all and won't comment on it.

When we arrived at the correct Momofuku restaurant around the corner, my brother and I shared a Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace, which came in a champagne-style bottle embossed with the Brooklyn Brewery name and logo.



It is fermented with a Belgian yeast and, as you might guess from the name, is hopped with Sorachi Ace. It was a very nice beer. I think Sorachi Ace is probably polarising, like Nelson Sauvin. But I like it.

After a Broadway show we had a couple of drinks in an "Irish" bar. I had a Red Wagon IPA, which has malty, honey notes on the nose and also tastes a bit like honey. A solid beer. In the background were some Blue Moon wheat beers, which I've commented on previously.



To cap it off I had a Bass Pale Ale.

Tomorrow: More NYC.

Oliver

EDIT: Got my days wrong. Tomorrow is more NYC, not Brooklyn.
EDIT #2: Found the name and description of the Red Wagon IPA and added them in placed of the "I misplaced my notes".
EDIT #3: My tasting notes, once I found them, also reminded me that the others had Hoegaardens. And we reckon brewed-under-licence beers are bad in Australia. This was absolutely disgusting. Watery, tasteless rubbish. There was absolutely none of that lovely coriander and citrusy taste that makes Hoegaarden so delicious.

[Oliver]

Day 20: New York City
We stopped for lunch at the Standard Grill under the High Line in the Meatpacking District, where I had a
Porkslap Pale Ale Farmhouse Ale. It was an English pale ale meets Belgian ale. Refreshing, and slightly tart. It wasn't my favourite beer, but was certainly drinkable.



As the others shopped, I happened across the Blind Tiger Ale House in Bleecker Street, which is in the West Village, and settled in.

This joint has 28 beers -- all craft or microbrews, or interesting imports such as Young's Double Chocolate Stout -- on tap. Thanks to Tom from Mountain Goat for recommending it so I recognised it.



First up was Stone Pale Ale. It's dark copper and cloudy with strong bitterness. In these parts, this is a fairly standard pale ale: dark, malty and bitter, and low on hop flavor and aroma.

By this stage the little lady had joined me and grabbed an Allagash White Ale. This was a pretty tasty offering and just what you expects from a Belgian white spicy.



Then followed a Ruination Double Dry-Hopped IPA for me. It was Golden and it's certainly double-hopped! There's quite a lot going on in this beer and it's tasty. It doesn't hold its head well.

She had a Brooklyn Weiss. Ditto the comment above about the Allagash White: this was a typical wheat beer.

Stone Black IPA (on the right in the photo below) was sensational. It was strong, malty and sweet with a whole lot of hop aroma and flavour. Caramel and chocolate tastes, too. Black as the ace of spades. In fact, you'll notice that it looks in the picture just like the stout next to it. The camera never lies.

Stone Imperial Stout is on the left. This comes in two forms: with and without star anise. I had the latter. It's a bloody good stout. Rich but not burnt. There are chocolate and vanilla flavours. 10.5% and syrupy. No head. So big that I struggled to drink it.



Tomorrow: Brooklyn.

Oliver

[Bum]

Every time I see craft beer in a can over there I wonder to myself "who are these people trying to sell to?".

Now I know.

[Oliver]

Day 21: Brooklyn
We caught the subway to Brooklyn, negotiated some rough-looking neighbourhoods on foot in the rain and arrived at Bedford Avenue.

The ultimate destination was Brooklyn Brewery, which doesn't open until 6pm on Fridays so to kill some time we ducked into a bar we came across called Lucky Dog.



That's me above taking this picture of the 21 beers on tap.



I had a pint of Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. It had more aroma and flavour than the other IPAs I've had on the East Coast (Dogfish Head is from Delaware, which is a few hundred kilometres south of New York City.) A magnificent beer.

The little lady and my brother each had a Weihestephan Hefeweizen. It had an amazing, long-lasting head that clung to the glass. My brother's girlfriend was sick. She had a cup of hot water.



From there it was off to Mug's Ale House, which we'd spied on Google Maps while at the Lucky Dog. They had 31 beers on tap.





Those of you who have seen Brew Masters (or even won a copy here on the forum!), which is a series about Dogfish Head brewery, would remember the Egyptian beer called Ta Henket. Well, it was brand new on tap at Mug's the day we were there. How could I not? It was very herbal and not spicy, and had almost a minerally taste. The flavour had hints of black cardomom, which is admittedly a spice. An OK, novelty beer. Nothing special, I'm afraid to say. I'm glad to say I've tried it but I probably wouldn't order it again.

'Er Indoors had a Kuhnhenn Double Rice IPA. It was quite cloudy, and really caramely and malty of flavour and aroma. Lots of hop aroma and flavour and very smooth to drink, with a hint of smokiness. A well-balanced, drinkable beer.



The clock had ticked past 6, so we trudged around the corner in the rain to Brooklyn Brewery (note the Egyptian saying at the top of the wall -- in English and hieroglyphics -- "Beer has dispelled the illness which was in me").



This is what confronts punters as they walk through the front door.



The look and feel of the place is very much like Mountain Goat in Richmond, Melbourne. (They even have the pizza van out the front, just like Mountain Goat used to.) It was packed when we arrived not long after 6, and just got busier and busier.



You use beer tokens at Brooklyn. You get five tokens for $20 and most beers cost one token, although the specials are two.



First beers up (below) were the Brown Ale (5.5%) and Ama Bionda (6.0%), The brown was, well, brown and pretty easy-drinking. Light on everything but the alcohol, relatively speaking. Reminded me a bit of Mountain Goat Hightail Ale, in a good way.

Bionda was the little lady's choice. We were told that this was an Italian-style beer and was made with orange-blossom honey. It had the wheatiness and spiciness of a Belgian. An OK beer.



East India Pale Ale (6.5%) was an interesting IPA, unlike any others so far. It was lighter of body and more bitter, but it went down easily. The little lady liked it, too, and she tends to not appreciate IPAs.

Maple Porter was OK.



The Blast Double IPA was a two-token beer, and floral, hoppy and quite nice. No photo, sorry.

The brewer, Garrett Oliver, was conducting a tasting for a group of about eight in a corner of the room. When he left the partitioned-off area I pounced. I introduced myself and told him that I'd read the story about him in a recent edition of BYO magazine and that I liked his brewing philosophy. To paraphrase one of the things that he said in the article, brewers are doing themselves a disservice by confusing consumers with naming. He gave the example of black IPA. He argues that most people don't actually know what makes a regular IPA in the first place, so inventing a new beer and calling it "black IPA" is simply a recipe for confusion. He maintains that when new styles are invented they should get new names.

It was a short but pleasant conversation. He was courteous. I was a little under the weather.



Now the bit I didn't tell Garrett Oliver: To be honest, I was disappointed by the beer at Brooklyn Brewery. Given its a fairly big brewery and is reasonably well known, I was expecing to be more excited by their offerings. But I found most of the beers uninspiring and a few had a bit of a rough edge. I noted earlier that I wasn't a fan of the Brooklyn Lager and that it had a touch of the Aussie megaswills about it. It would be unfair to lump all the Brooklyn beers in with my view of the lager, but there is a common thread. Probably the only Brooklyn beer I'd choose to have again would be the IPA. I just didn't find most to be great beers. Some might say they were subtle. I'd say bland. Sorry, Garrett.

If anyone else has tasted many of the Brooklyn beers I'd be interested on whether I was just having an off night.

Part of the decor in the brewery is very hip New York. On the left wall in the picture below is a history of the brewery. The thing that struck us was that the history seemed to talk more about how the brewery's logo came to be than the establishment of the brewery itself. (Or perhaps the whole thing was some sort of art installation and we missed the point completely!)



Wrapping up the night was a Brooklyn Pilsner over a couple of pizzas at Grimaldi's in Dumbo (at the base of the Manhattan Bridge on the Brooklyn side). Magnificent pizzas, average beer.

Tomorrow: Back to NYC (and hopefully a shorter post!).

Cheers,

Oliver

[Guru]

Posts definitely aren't too long Oliver, I really enjoy reading your beer experiences in the US

[Guru]

The brewer above looks like he's ready to call security Oliver, not sure what you were telling him.

[Oliver]

I used to think, "why would anyone want to go to the US?". Well, I think Oliver has answered my question

And it was better than I was expecting. I've started writing a "what I learnt" post and will put it up when I'm up to date with the daily reports. Quite apart from the beer, there are a lot of good reasons to go there though. I used to think the same as you, but it really is a great country. Not to mention cheap, particularly with the exchange rate hovering around $1.07.

Interesting that the Coors and Bud are stored near the bottom of this fridge and not at eye level like the big names normally are. Was this an independent supermarket?

Yes, it was a place called Woodlands Market (it's actually a supermarket). I think the key is that it's in Tiburon, which is a very exclusive suburb of SFO so most people there (a) don't worry much about price and therefore don't buy Bud; and (b) probably like to buy some interesting stuff to impress their rich friends.

closeup on the price tags would be nice.

...just to make us even more jealous and bitter back home in the Land Of RipOffOz.

Here you go (Ctrl+Click to open in a new tab, because it's too big to display fully within the forum).

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forumpic ... 12_big.jpg

Get yourself to a Whole Foods supermarket if you can, Oliver. Blows that selection out of the water (to be fair, that selection isn't terribly different to what can be found at Target).

You're quite right, Bum. Here's a link to a pic that we took four years ago, also in Tiburon but at a different supermarket (again, Ctrl+Click to open in a new tab because it's a big pic).

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forumpic ... ketbig.jpg

And were both underwhelmed [by the Anchor Steam]. I think it was the first time I've had it, and I found it quite harsh. I was expecting something fairly smooth but it was far from it.

Lager yeast at ale temps will do that. Awful beer (and brewery, to be honest).

Sounds like we didn't miss much then. Getting drunk at Beerunch and not making it to Anchor was meant to be!

Haha! I've seen those [Foster's Premium Ales] there but never been drunk enough to be tempted.

Matter of fact, I don't think there's enough beer in the world for me to become that drunk that I'd buy anything with Fosters written on it when there's so many awesome, otherwise unobtainable, beers on hand.

Yeah, I really don't know what I was thinking It was the worst beer of the trip, I think.

I'm ashamed that you would buy that.

See above

[The] advertising slogan ("Australian for beer,") couldn't be further from the truth as it's near impossible to buy the damned stuff back home.

I did make that point quite a number of times during the trip. I don't think I was believed. Goes to show the power of advertising.

That none of them had at all asked and that I had launched into the lecture each time unprompted is why my wife lead to labelling it my "little crusade."

In any case, I fear you may have set the crusade back by having been seen to be an Australian buying a Fosters product. I'll have to talk the wife into eschewing our next holiday to Scotland so that we can return to the US and pick up the fight again.

Happy to have helped

Every time I see craft beer in a can over there I wonder to myself "who are these people trying to sell to?".

Now I know.

Quite a few craft and micros, including Sierra Nevada, are canning their beer. According to our guide on the Sierra Nevada tour they (SN) have wanted to for quite some time because it's more environmentally friendly and keeps beer better (excludes oxygen better and doesn't let in light), but the linings contained nasty chemicals that would leach into the beer. Now that problem has been overcome they have started canning.

Posts definitely aren't too long Oliver, I really enjoy reading your beer experiences in the US

Glad you're enjoying them. Stay tuned for reports on the final few days.

The brewer above looks like he's ready to call security Oliver, not sure what you were telling him.

lol. Perhaps I'd had one more than I remember and just thought I didn't tell him that I didn't think much of his beers

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

Day 22: New York City
We were down at Chelsea Piers and came across Chelsea Brewing. What were we to do but drop in for a beer?

There were five to choose from.



We decided to share a Hop Angel IPA.



It had a lighter body and sharper bitterness than most of the quite malty offerings we have come across, although this beer was a little like the Brooklyn IPA we'd had the previous day. The bitterness lingered.

You get the feeling this brewery is one of those opportunistic ventures, taking advantage of the fact that people will come to sit overlooking the Hudson River regardless. The staff were the least engaging of any that we have come across. We walked past two on the way out and they didn't even look up to bid us farewell. Maybe that's why it was almost deserted at lunchtime on a Saturday.

In any case, here's a picture of the brewery itself.



After a matinee of Book of Mormon it was off to the Spotted Pig in the West Village, a pub whose owners are said to include Bono (from U2, for those who don't know), Courtney Love (from the band Hole and Kurt Cobain's widow), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails frontman) and Jay-Z (a rapper and Beyonce's husband).

First beer up was a Victory Headwaters Pale Ale (Pennsylvania). This was a fruity and smooth ale with low carbonation. It made a nice change from the big pale ales and IPAs we've been having.



Next up was Spotted Pig Bitter (Brooklyn). It's a cask ale in the English style, served warm (see note below on serving temperature) and with next to no carbonation. Amazing head. Fruity and with low bitterness. An enjoyable beer.



Then came Empire Cream Ale (Syracuse, New York). It was poured using nitrogen (a la Guinness). Fruity and creamy,
with good bitterness on the finish. I didn't enjoy it much.



A Six Point John Dory Oyster Stout was last up. Excellent head retention, smooth and stouty. A good finish to a great night. (How good the night was is inversely proportional to the length of the very brief notes I wrote about this beer.)

Most beers at the Spotted Pig were served at what appeared to be a bit warmer than cellar temperature. Given it was snowing outside, I don't think that the kegs really were in the cellar; if they were it must have been heated! While I am happy the beers we had weren't chilled, a little cooler would have been nice.

The Spotted Pig is the place to be. It was packed when we got there at 6.45, packed when we finally got a seat for dinner after 9 and still full to the brim when we left about 11. If you ever get the chance to go make sure you take it. Apart from the interesting beers on offer the food's great. And like all food in the US, it's inexpensive relative to Australia.

Tomorrow: Yet more NYC beer!

Cheers,

Oliver

[bullfrog]

I really didn't take advantage of the NY beer scene at all whilst there. I honestly didn't really think it had much of one.

Now I'm regretting some of the days I spent wasted there, doing trivial crap like going to the Gugenheim, Met, Empire State and Statue of Liberty.

I'm sure one reminder of the pizza there and the wife will agree to go back

[Bum]

And like all food in the US, it's inexpensive relative to Australia.

Really? I find that once the strong dollar and tipping are accounted for then it is pretty much par for the course. Except for mexican places - holy god, bang for buck is unsurpased.

Now, the average quality of restaurants on the other hand...they have us beat by a long shot (so long as you stay out of dinners, etc).

[bullfrog]

And like all food in the US, it's inexpensive relative to Australia.

Really? I find that once the strong dollar and tipping are accounted for then it is pretty much par for the course. Except for mexican places - holy god, bang for buck is unsurpased.

Now, the average quality of restaurants on the other hand...they have us beat by a long shot (so long as you stay out of dinners, etc).

I found it depended on two things:

1. What state you were in; and,
2. Whether you were going to be having a few drinks with your meal.

In NY, for instance, they have considerable taxes on booze, so whilst your food might be cheap, having a few beers with dinner quickly pushes the price right up. (We had lunch in a Japanese place one day where I paid $6 for my whole meal, which was of a considerable size, and $7 for a stubby of Kirin Ichiban which turned out to be BUL.)

On the other hand, there are states (like California) that don't attempt social-engineering through taxation, where you can have a night out, big dinner, enough booze to have you forgetting your own name, and it's cheaper than going to the movies.

If I was ever there for an extended period of time, I know where I'd be living!