Beers to ya!!!!!!!!: July 2010

I am sorry to say that the old saying of “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” applies to this brewers ales. If you want to know how this beer tastes just look at all the other flying dog ale reviews and there you have it. Even when looking at the flying dog web page http://www.flyingdogales.com/Beer-Pack.aspx under their ales you can see that the light/dark and malt/hops meters are all about the same the only thing that differs is the alcohol content. I wish that I could use some of my clever to describe this beer but at a lass the beer is what it is and there is nothing more to be said about it. however this does give me a an opportunity to talk about different beer region of the U.S.. For the longest time the us did not have many different brewers, the market was dominated by the big three brewers, Bud Miller and coors then back in the late 90’s home brewers started the do it yourself movement which has given rise to the current micro brews that now are so common. Everywhere you go in America you can find a brew that is representative of the region.

For example, on the WEST COAST: there is the Stone Brewery which is a good representative of the west coast brewing style, which is to use an extreme amount of hops in the beer which makes the beer very bitter in taste, then there is the MID WEST REGION: which tends to be a sweeter more mild taste. The brewers tend to use less hops which not only leads to the lighter taste and color, i find that I tend to enjoy beers from this region.

Then we have the THIRD COAST REGION: which in this case is primarily made up of Texas, but also includes Louisiana. I find that this region is influenced primarily by germanic influences, yes even the mexican style beers which are so popular in the south have there very roots in the germanic brewing style. In this region you find a good mix of golden and darker beers, there is something for everyone in this region. Lastly, there is the EAST COAST REGION: which is where you find brewers like Yuengling and dogfish head and Samuel Adams. This region is heavy into ales and is not as heavy in the hops as the western coast region, but still in my eyes a little hard to swallow. However, this brings me to my point. Regional beers represent the local beer drinkers and every region is different. So what region are you?

The clove flavor that has been so prevalent in the wheat beer that I have beer sampling as of late is not so evident in this offering from flying dog. However, on the side of the bottle they give you a bunch of crap for thinking about adding a lemon wedge to the beer, which i have been known to do. WFT, the way that people drink beer their is as big a decision as their sexuality and one should never chastised for the lifestyle choices they make. I mean really, there are as many ways to drink beer as there are colors in the rainbow. But I digress, we are here to blog about beer. The beer is a hazy amber which one would expect to see from a wheat beer. However, in my opinion the beer in not hazy enough for me. Some hefeweizens looks like a pale pearl yellow where this is more golden than I care for. The overlying taste in this beer is of a slightly bitter hops which is not common of a wheat beer. The beer finishes fast in the mouth without any after taste or fullness in the mouth, it is overall refreshing but is in my eyes, only a standalone beer; the contradicting taste profile makes it hard to place it with any food. However, I find that most hefeweizens are best as just drinking beers, perhaps an after dinner beer, or a before dinner beer. Which ever you like, hell have one before and after dinner and with an alcohol content of 4.7% this is one you can afford to guzzle down when you are waiting around and not pay for it later. All in all the beer is ok, I feel that it would be best for a late summer early fall sipper, with friends down at a local bar with an outside seating area like the front porch pub on Gray St, good times, good times. Enjoy!!!!