Hala Kahiki

Love the Rivertowne Fish!

I'm a crazy man: when was the last time I popped two posts in one day? What can I say, the possibility of privatization of the liquor stores -- and the end of the Case Law! -- has me giddy. So I did the weirdest thing I could: I popped this can of Rivertowne Hala Kahiki pineapple beer that was in the fridge (a sample, a freebie).

What the hell! Hey, I had a grapefruit radler last week that was strangely appealing, so who knows? First thing to know: I really like fresh pineapple, one of my favorite things to eat. Second thing to know: I really like Rivertowne, these are cool people.

How is it? Well...I'm gonna finish it, because it's not bad...it's not sucky sweet, and it does taste like pineapple, but there's a nice light ale finish...but I don't think I'd order it at a bar. It's just not beery enough; more fruit than fruit beer.

Unless...it was hot, and I was in the mood for a tiki drink, in which case, this would be perfect. Because that's the third thing you need to know: I have a secret lust for good tiki drinks. That's me, at the Cotton Blossom Lounge, in Lethbridge, Alberta, sipping a concoction of rum, blue curacao (forgive me), pineapple juice, and apricot brandy. It's southern Alberta's best indoor patio; trust me.

Half Acre Gossamer

Just finished lunch: a bowl of soup I made using CSA late fall harvest (kohlrabi, cabbage, celeriac, hot pepper, turnips, can of diced tomatoes, plenty of spices), crusty dense wheat bread, smoked cheese, and a 16 oz. can of 4.2% Gossamer, from Half Acre Beer Company. (Thanks to regular reader (and buddy!) Steve Herberger for the trade; I sent him 'Gansett Fest and Sixpoints.)

First time I've had Half Acre in a while, and this was clean, crisply bitter, and refreshing. Great with the soup; flavorful enough to stand up to the celeriac earthiness, not so bitter as to twist the flavors. I could go another couple rounds with this one happily...but I gotta start warming up to sing tonight. Cheers!

Happy St. Patrick's Day with a surprise in a green can

Hey, I know bock is no traditional St. Pat's Day drink. But I figure everyone's drinking stout and whiskey anyway, so here's a change-up for you...and it is a green can. The real reason I brought it up, though?

Narragansett Bock is good shit. Seriously.

I figured this was going to be booze-o in a can-a-rama, to be honest; some slightly higher ABV suds that didn't really taste all that bocky. I would like to publicly apologize to Mark and the gang at Gansett for that, because I should have known better after the porter and Fest.

Here's the story. This is a blonde bock, well-made, beautifully clean and balanced, and the kind of beer that will make a lager-lover out of you if you have but an ounce of sense (not to get too far off the topic here, but if you're lucky enough to find some Shiner Fröst...that sweet little rendition of a Dortmunder will do it too; excellent beer, one of their best, IMO). I took a can to a Malt Advocate staff party recently, and we were all real impressed; best beer we had that day. So get out there and find some, if you're lucky enough to live in the Northeast! (Sadly, although we get 'Gansett in PA, we didn't get any Bock. Better get some next year, and we want draft, too!)

Mama's Little Yella Pils

Hats off to Oskar Blues for getting that beer name past the ATTTB. Damned fun-hating nimrods (and yeah, yeah, I know, zey are only follovink orderss...).

Mama's Little Yella Pils is, far as I know, Oskar Blues's first shot at a canned lager, and they did okay. The pour's yellowy-gold, and not bright, which troubles me a bit, to be honest. The aroma's good -- hopfen und malz, Gott erhalt's -- and it tastes clean enough, and it doesn't suffer from being over-hopped, a problem I have seen in some craft lagers. I had no problem putting this away in fairly short order.

But I have to say...west of Minnesota, I've noticed that craft-brewed pilsners tend to be on the heavy side. I thought that of the vaunted Moonlight Reality Czech Pils, too. Mama's just not quite as crisp as I'd like it. Her state-mate, New Belgium's Blue Paddle, is better, but still a bit...what, blunted?

I don't know if this effect would be better after a couple or not, but I did knock back two other cans in pretty short order late last week, so maybe it's not such a big deal. Doctor, please; some more of these...

New England Sea Hag IPA

The legend of the Sea Hag? Bogus, according to Fortune. Excellent book material, according to me. But really...who the hell wants read it when they can drink it instead?

New England Brewing has revived under the can-filling hands of Rob Leonard. I remember drinking my share (and more) of the brewery's excellent oatmeal stout and stock ale back in the late 1980s and early 1990s; my first and only tour of the Norwalk brewery in 1993 was when I met Phil Markowski, who was the head brewer at the time. The brewery flailed and failed, Leonard bought the rights and recipes in 2001, and started canning soon afterwards.

Sea Hag IPA was not one of the recipes he bought. That was created in 2006. I realized tonight, as I was casting about for something to post about to make my goal of an average of a post a day for my first year of blogging (you can make up for lost time), that while I've talked about the other three canned beers I took along over New Year's Day -- Oskar Blues Old Chub, and Sly Fox Pikeland Pils and Phoenix Pale Ale, I hadn't said a word about the Sea Hag. Happily I had two cans left in my frigid garage, so bang, done! I popped one and poured it into the slick Budweiser gimme glass I got at the Cheers Conference last week (we got a lot of glasses: this was the only one I didn't leave in the hotel room, it just felt good in my hand...I mean, is anyone surprised that A-B can afford a nice glass?).

Sea Hag is coppery-translucent, which kind of gives you that premonition that it's chock-full of hop-stuff. The nose confirms it: citrus/grapefruit/orange, with a strong underlying juicy malt sweetness. The body's rather light, which I guess surprises me: this is more in the light-framed IPA category where I place Bell's Two-Hearted, but it's not as brisk as Bell's. The hops are definitely bitter-forward, maybe a bit too blaring, but the malt sweetness, even in the light-bodied frame, puts the contrast to it. As we noted in Virginia, the Hag is awfully drinkable, sliding down pretty quickly. And wow, some of the best hop belches I've had in a while. (Don't go "eeeewww!", you know what I'm talking about!)

Verdict: good, even very good, but not great. The aroma's real nice, and I like the light body, but there's just something a bit rough about the way this one integrates. Might be better on tap, and I look forward to trying that. Because, you know, "very good" sure ain't bad at all.

Heinnieweisse: alone

I promised way back at the end of April that at some time (I believe then I said "tomorrow." Heh.) I would give Butternuts Beer & Ale Heinnieweisse a second shot on its own, not side-by-side with a strongly traditional hefe like Sly Fox Royal Weiss.

Time came last night. Cathy came home from a business trip to Atlanta, I was a bit burned out from working hard for three days on a couple of stories, and I started throwing stuff on the grill: some fresh kielbasa, some pork kabobs, and some teriyaki-marinated chicken breasts. Cathy was making a big salad, the kids were setting the table. So I got out a glass and poured the Heinnie.

It's pale, but carries a good head. It's got the German nose, the banana and clove thing. It drinks light and refreshing. But it has that weird ending thing going that I called mineraly when I put it against the Sly Fox, and now I'm thinking that it's might actually be hops. This is reminding me of the Schneider Edelweiss, the hoppy weiss. I got over the oddness, and started enjoying it. It cleans up the ending rather nicely.

Final call? Probably not a first choice, but a pretty good weiss for a really hot day.