Taproom Talk

I can think of only one beer that tastes good out of a can and that’s Mother’s Milk. Add this to the fact that most Canadian beers I’ve tasted, outside of the province of Quebec, are an underwhelming experience and it’s obvious that I should have resisted the urge to taste Alexander Keith’s IPA. Maybe it was because the barkeep poured the beer into a wine glass that I resisted my snobbishness and reluctantly accepted the free drink.

I generally like IPAs due to their hoppy, crisp taste; however, as I took my first sip of this Canadian drink, I was sure the can was misprinted as all I could pick up was a watery malt taste. I couldn’t pick up any hops. I took another sip to verify, and sure enough, this beer was horrid. I decided to put an end to the unpleasant experience right then and there. Does an IPA imply something different in Canada?

If the beer has been labeled a lager, I may have just described it as a watery lager and left it at that. But, because of the IPA sobriquet, I’m left utterly disappointed and once again reaffirmed in my belief that only one beer can be purchased in can and that on the large part, Canadian beer must be brewed incorrectly. If you are Canadian, give a Wild Goose IPA a try and you’ll see my point.

Pretty much any beer that attaches itself to Celtic history, people, words, or folklore is worthy of a tasting and almost always the beer turns to be a winner. And so it was as I eagerly opened a bottle of Rogue’s Kells Irish Lager.

This malty smelling, amber-gold-ish beer poured with a medium head that lasted the entire tasting. The taste can simply be described as wow! This lager has an excellent taste! It’s incredibly smooth with malt undertones and a slightly peppery tang that left me savoring each sip.

The Kells Irish Lager is an excellent brew that I highly recommend imbibing. While I’m sure that the vast majority of people in Ireland have never even heard of this West Coast beer, they’d be proud to know their name is attached to this worthy drink.

During a cold weekend stay in Minneapolis recently, I had the pleasure of imbibing a hometown favorite: The Summit Brewing Company’s Extra Pale Ale. Minneapolis was indeed a cold place (there was roughly ten feet of snow on the ground); however, this beer was definitely the warm spot of the weekend.

This incredibly smooth beer poured with a thick head and a darkish color that took me off guard as most pale ales are a lighter hue. The bronze-ish color, however, yielded an excellent beer with a hoppy smell balanced with a light malt essence. The taste was quite good and well balanced with hints of citrus. I found myself drinking this beer slowly to fully enjoy its not overly aggressive hoppy taste mixed with a subtle maltly background.

Bottom line- this is a spectacular beer from Minnesota that is fit for a snob. While the landscape in Minneapolis is flat, this is the one summit one can climb. And the view at the top is beautiful.

Recently, I found myself having a spiritual experience sitting in a downtown Pittsburgh church. This wasn’t any normal church, however. It was once a church, but now a brewery.

Pittsburgh’s Church Brewery is a holy pilgrimage everyone should experience when visiting this fine city. Not only is the brewery’s ambiance devotedly unique, but they’ve managed to produce a few laudable beers as well.

The Blast Furnace Stout was a divine showing that evening with its malty essence and true oatmeal stout taste that had wonderfully subtle hints of oats and the prized roasted-ness of espresso. The dark Pious Monk Dunkel was also a reverent tasting with its smooth hoppy taste that had an impressively smooth finish.

But, by far, the most blessed showing of the evening was their Non Denominator doppel bock. Weighing in with a priestly alcohol content of 8.1% and 25 IBUs, this is an exceptional beer. Looking something like a stout in color, this beer poured with an impressive head and had a subtle malt taste to it that elegantly combined a warming spiciness. I also picked up hints of nuts in the taste, much like that of brown ales. The beer had an inviting finish that I could feel down to my stomach and which left me looking forward to the next sip.

There is no need to be religious to enjoy the saintly beers and hallowed ambiance of Pittsburgh’s Church Brewery; however, you may find yourself with religion once you leave and contemplate the visit’s tastings.

Unfortunately, on the whole, Canada’s beer selection has never really impressed me. Beer from the province of Quebec, with its French influences, however, is a totally different story.

Take, for example, the McAuslan Brewing Company, who brews the amazingly smooth St. Ambroise Pale Ale. This fine amber colored ale pours with a medium head, which slowly dissipates while delivering a wonderfully citrus nose. The taste is crisp with an elegant balance of bitter hoppiness and caramel malt hints that leave you awe inspired and yearning for another sip.

This is a phenomenally bonne bière that I highly recommend drinking as often as socially possible. Bon Appètite!

Cuvee Diabolique is brewed by De Proef Brouwerij Lochristi-Hijfte, Oost Vlaanderen, Belgium. I bought it in a cork topped 750ml bottle. A fragrant nose of apple and pear greeted me as I poured this Belgian Ale into a sculpted glass. A thick, tall, white head appeared. My first sip tarnished my impression with a sour and tart taste. I want to call the tasting off, but I forge on.

There is a gingery, creamy body to this beer, but the mild but acidic bite and after taste ruins it for me. I’m not a big fan of the overall grapefruit taste this beer offers. Cuvee Diabolique has a lot in common with a hefeweizen, which I do enjoy occasioanally, but doesn’t happen to be one of my favorites.

Light, for the most part, and pleasant, this beer has nothing going on to deserve the name, Diabolique. Might I suggest, Cuvee Dubious.

Taproom talk’s inaugural podcast is now available!

Beer’s reviewed:

• Brother David’s Triple from Anderson Valley

• Head to head competition: Abita Christmas Ale versus Sierra Nevada’s Celebration

The podcast is approximately 15 minutes long.

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Belgian beers offer a cornucopia of flavors that are distinctly different than their American counterparts. After becoming accustomed to the pleasantly hoppy taste of Pale Ales, one can find themselves imbibing a traditional Belgian beer wondering if it is even a beer at all. So it was for me as I sipped upon a Grand Cru from the Brasserie Des Rocs Brewery in Belgium.

This brownish colored brew with a 9.5% alcohol content poured without a head and revealed a complex fruity essence that complemented an intricate taste best distinguished as licorice. At first sip, the taste stuns you with its unusualness; however, much like a fine wine, this beer’s character improved over the course of its drinking. I found myself enjoying this interesting beer more and more as subtle maltiness changed to delicate hoppiness all along connected by an aged fruitiness taste.

All in all, the drinking experience is most aptly described as fascinating. This distinctive beer is worthy of a tasting if you can actually find the Grand Cru.

The Mendocino Brewing Company is a favorite among beer snobs. They have a knack for consistently producing high quality beers. Without a surprise, they’ve prevailed, once again, with their outstanding Red Tail Ale.

This amber ale poured with a beautiful thick white, head that slooowly dissipated to one of those hang-on-to-the-sides of the glass heads, while all the while, a light bubbly essence produced a slightly malty smell. Upon first taste, my first thoughts were wow! followed by, what is it? The taste is amazingly balanced with neither a strong hoppy or strong malty taste- just an excellent equilibrium of spices that is highly inviting and clean. The finish produces hints of hoppiness that leaves you anticipating the next sip. This beer leaves you speechless due to its malty smoothness- it’s simple and clean, like beer should be.

Bottom line- this is an excellent beer! I’m thoroughly excited by this beer and look forward to many more opportunities to imbibe upon this wonderful ale.

When I was at my favorite beer friendly pizza shop, I spied Southampton Secret Ale with its large keyhole on the label. It is a yeasty ale that tastes like a pilsner. The label says this is a, “dusseldorf style altbier.” Well, ok. Hinkty hurdy furdy gerdy then. Apparently it was also a medal winner at some sort of state fair. Alright that’s not fair, it was a bronze medal winner at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival. It went well with some food I ordered, but unfortunately that’s the best attribute I found for this mysterious brew.