BEER OF THE YEAR 2009 Rock Ice Limon (Costa Rica)

Of all the beers I have had this year, this by far was one of the best drinking experiences of my life. In addition to all of the criteria by which I judge beers (taste, flavor profile complexities, drinkability, easy by which the beer goes with food) one tool of measurement by which I personally use for how good a beer is comes from what I was doing as I was enjoying the beer. Beer is not just taste alone; it is at least for me emotional as well. The events, people, places and smells are all important parts of what makes drinking a beer so special or so miserable, and for me this was an exceptional example of that. I can go back to that moment in time with just the thought of the experience. There that night with my wife and parents in-law at the el Refugio Grill. The air fat with moisture, exotic animals of the Costa Rican jungle calling out from high atop trees in the far off hills. The smells of fresh food of the earth never tainted by packaging, all cooking on a small home stove top just on the other side of a thin wall, all of the small infinitesimal parts that made up the whole of that moment in time. The refreshing lime salt flavor mixing with the fish mixing with the plantain mixing with the everything else, all coming together to make that moment a perfect one. I urge you to take a moment to think of your favorite beer and examine what you were doing the first time you had that beer and see if that has any validity as to why you enjoy that beer so much. Perhaps it was the first time you shared a beer with your Father, or it was your Grandfathers beer of choice. Whatever the reason you like it I am willing to bet that on some level there is a positive emotional aspect involved with it, however small it might be. Drinking should always be a positive experience, one which congers happy memories. However, in a world of stress and overindulgence it is all too easy to fall into drinking for the sake of being drunk. My wish to all of you out there on this Christmas Eve is that you find yourself surrounded by good food, good friends, loving family members and phenomenal beer, whatever it may be. So in conclusion I thank all of you, and remember that Santa Claus is coming to town tonight so don’t hit him. Think right. Drink right, good night.

Steel Reserve

This beer is like the sleeper hit of the year. You have seen it down at the local gas and go and perhaps never even gave it any mind, you don’t see it many places but when you do, give it a try. This is an easy drinking beer. You can really taste the malted barley, which is what gives this beer it’s sweet taste profile which ends in an overall refreshing taste. This is however, a more one-dimensional beer in that it is best as just a drinking beer and not so much one you would pare with food. This is however a fantastic drinking beer. Let me set the scene for you, it is a winter night you find yourself in a semi rural pasture surrounded by old friends, a camp fire is going and you are all standing around recalling stories about remember when, and a Steel Reserve in every hand. Closing out the year with this one being in the running for beer of the year is a wonderful segue to the beer of the year award rundown. In no particular order, 1) shiner smokehaus 2) Rock Ice Limon 3) Anchor Steam 4) Sakara Gold 5) Steel Reserve. All of these beers have been in my opinion outstanding and deserving of the beer of the year. So look out for next weeks Beer of the year, just in time for Christmas and the New Year.

Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale

A melding of the bitter and the sweet, the first thing you taste is bitter pumpkin with sweet undertones of caramelized brown sugar, which one would find around the edge of one of Grandmothers Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. We round out this beer with an uncommon smoky finish. This beer is one you can enjoy before during and after your Thanksgiving Day meal. This is a wonderful beer from a wonderful beer company, so enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving, and as always, think right, drink right, lest you end up at the po po’s place for Thanksgiving.

P.s. thanks to http://justbeer.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/harvest-moon-pumpkin-ale/ for the pic and thank you to Blue Moon Brewing Co.

Old Peculier

As ale’s go this is rather tasty and goes very well with spicy foods. It has a creamy dark chocolate taste that sits at the back of the tongue; it has a velvety texture in the mouth as well so enjoy this one as the temp starts to drop.

Grolsch Lager

A contradiction in terms, bitter, yet refreshing. It tastes like a dark coffee beer should but looks like a Heineken. The beer is fairly simple tasting and that is really sad because this bottle is one of the best looking I have ever seen and it is truly a shame that the stuff inside is not as good as the bottle looks.

Leinenkugel brewing Co Berry Weiss

Sweet and watery in quality after sampling another offering from this brewer it is my inclination that perhaps we are dealing with a one trick pony here. This offering is mediocre at best, ok it is sweet, it is lightly refreshing, blaw, blaw, blaw. It is everything but inspiring, if anything it is a carbon copy of the Sunset wheat by the same company.

Sakara Gold

This is perhaps the most refreshing lager I have ever had and coming from Egypt that is a good thing. Because it is so dang hot over there that a dark beer would not go over well at all and at a whopping 500 Ml a bottle the powerful refreshment just keeps coming, any bitterness that might be found in say an American or European lager is missing. This beer goes well with grilled yellow squash and turkey burgers with Brie cheese. The sugars in the squash help to embellish all of those non-bitter lager tastes. Please enjoy this beer ice cold, hell it even says to do so right on the bottle. This is without a doubt the most refreshing lager I have ever had and that is saying allot because I am such a loud lager lasher that when a lager beer comes along that is so refreshing that I have this many good things to say about it, you know it is worth your time. This beer is good with food and as a standalone. Perhaps the best occasion to enjoy this beer is on one of those record breaking days we just finished with as you grill some fish or poultry on the grill with friends. In conclusion, it is no wonder that this beer is so good, Egypt is thought to be one of the first places that beer was brewed, so they have had quite some time to get it right. Enjoy