Anchor Steam

Lager beer and summertime is a pair that's hard to beat. Like Kosher dogs and baseball, cold beer and hot weather just feel right together. While a flavorful ale is never a bad choice, that dry cool crispness lagers have really starts to pop when the mercury starts to rise. A well made lager can easily hold it's own against any ale and if the situation is right, a good cold lager will beat its ale counterpart.

The word lager is actually German for storage. Using primitive storage techniques, lager beer came to be through the hybridization of ale yeast during longer storage periods in colder temperatures. The lager yeast is able to slowly consume more of the sugars causing the variance in taste between lager and ale. Lagers come in all shapes and sizes. Traditional European lagers range form the lightest Euro pale lagers, the flavorful Czech Pilseners to the powerful German Doppelbocks. American lagers range from the barely there Adjunct style, Czech inspired hoppy Pils, to the darker Dunkels and Bocks. While I give most popular American Lagers 3 enthusiastic thumbs down, there are a few seriously good domestically produced "true" American lagers. One of which I feel truly embodies the American values of  ingenuity, determination, and perfectionism. It's called Anchor Steam.

In the late 19th century keeping things cold in California was difficult. Air conditioning was a hand powered paper fan and refrigeration was known as January. The brewers making lager beer had to find a way to cool the wort rapidly by natural means. This was done by piping the hot liquid to open roof panels to let the ocean breezes act as the cooling agents. This created puffs of steam atop the breweries giving the beer its name. After the cooling was finished the lager yeasts were forced to ferment at the coolest tip of the ale scale. This process of using lager yeast at ale temperatures created beer that tastes like no other. Although the Steam beer made nowadays uses a cooling system that has been drastically modernized, some of the time honored traditions hold strong. The use of all malt mash and copper pot boiling let Anchor stand tall and show the world what real American brewing is all about.

This is easily one of my top three lagers. It is a beautiful crisp lager with deep ale complexity. A nice smooth copper pour unloads a forest of a nose. A fascinating smell of earthy tree bark with slightly fruity hop combined with a understated deep toasty malt. The flavor is identical. Initial floral hop bitter balances quickly  with a warm white bread malt. The balance is uncanny for the individual flavors are quite robust. The floral esters of hop and the slightly sweet grainy malt are simultaneously unified mid palate just before the closing hop fermata. 10 Tie-dye shirts out of  7. The beer is light enough to drink more than one but flavorful enough to nurse for appreciation. Serve slightly warmer than most lagers for best flavor. Steak or lamb will pair vary nicely with a good strong veggie like asparagus or Brussels sprouts. Find some shade and enjoy the weather.

cheers

Orval Trappist Ale

Contrary to popular belief, most monks are not Buddhist kung-fu masters. Giant temples filled with snap kicking bald dudes in robes is a Hollywood construct. The daily life of a monk is usually quiet and simple with little to no dramatic physical exertion. Long hours of deep metaphysical contemplation and endless menial chores are activities more closely associated with realistic monastic life. Monasteries regularly and intentionally separate themselves from many aspects of modern society. This isolation improves the absorptive spiritual atmosphere but can impede the abby's financial underpinnings. Monks and their collective brethren still need money for many everyday expenses. Since no one gets paid for praying and flipping burgers at the local Mickey D's is not an option, monks have created a market for their own hand crafted wares.

Having very limited resources to begin with, monasteries tend to create simple things with materials that are cheap and on site or easily attainable. Supplies such as grains, animal products, and wood are the most common. While the end product may initially seem like a simple loaf of bread or an everyday wheel of cheese, looking just beyond that simple cover you will find a truly fine artisanal creation. Holding the quality of the product paramount over all other aspects, monks are able to create truly amazing things. The most amazing of these creations is made by a small cluster of Belgian Roman Catholic monks known as Trappists. Their creation is beer. Humble, simple, modest, beer.

Made strictly to support the monasteries' activities, the seven Trappist breweries make some of the best beers in the world. This time, it's not just my opinion. The world over, beer connoisseurs covet these like priceless gold doubloons. With all 7 going in slightly different directions, each beer has specific "style" characteristics all their own. Each displaying absolute top tier craftsmanship using the highest quality ingredients. I was officially and formally introduced to beer proper recently with one them thanks to a co-workers strong recommendation. (Good work Murph!) It's label says Orval but it should read Heaven.

It's never once been advertised, the receipe is nearly 100 years old, and the money made from my purchase of this bottle will not be used toward a corporate profit of any kind. Yes, yes, and oh man this is one hell (woops) of a beer! The head grows as thick as a marshmallow from glimmering bubbles feverishly rising to the top. On the nose you get a bit of sour acidic citrus with a pollen like wildflower thing underneath. Extremely complex but oh so deliciously primitive at the same time. The taste parallels the nose. It's like the venison of beer. Wild, untamed sour yeasty tart explode. The dry hops start cranking mid palate during a very Lambic-esque first act. The unbridled carbonation, courtesy of  the bottle refermentation, make the nuance of the malt difficult to find. There is  however an ever so slight essence of caramel malt found near the back door. The hop finds its way though the complicated forest of flavors and sets up an extremely dry acidic finish. We're talking Champagne dry finish. Simply amazing.

This beer gets 652 out of 650. The complexity of this beer may be difficult to grasp by many. The strong natural flavors of the ingredients don't hide at all and someone not comfortable with foreign flavors may be put off. That said, any one who likes beer must try this at least once. If you can, drink it from a chalice 2 degrees warmer than you think it should be drunk. The intricacies will be best tasted when the beer is just above cool. Put your tuxedo or little black dress on and prepare for a formal introduction to one of the best alcoholic drinks on earth.

cheers

Marble Red

2008 was one hell of a year. The world changed in so many notable ways that  future historians will likely argue as to which event had the greatest impact on mankind. Was it Fidel finally giving his big boy toys to his brother Raúl or China hosting their first summer Olympics in grand style? Could it have been Bill Gates giving his keys to Apple someone willing to bear the toil of counting to 50 billion, or The Hadron Collider firing up successfully without sucking the earth into another dimension. Only time will tell what macro-event will cause the greatest amount of change for mankind.

While those events were profound in the grand scheme, I was witness to something much more powerful and much more personal in 2008. Something so memorable that it turned this once ordinary beer chugger into an official, hop-headed snobby aficionado. The Marble Brewery opened its doors. Yes, I knew the difference between a drinkable beer and horse water, but I didn't know how far it was from a good beer to a great one. It would take only a single Dixie cup, filled with Marble IPA at a friends wedding party to know that from that day forward I would seek only greatness in beer. Fresh floral and delicious, Marble beer would forever have a fan in me.

Asking me which Marble tap was my favorite used to be simple. In an almost reactionary response, without hesitation I would say IPA. The amazing citrus hop with mild semi-sweet malt is near perfection. But as time went on the more I drank, and the more I drank the more I liked. Three years after my first IPA it's now a toss-up between the Oatmeal stout, the IPA, and the Red Ale. All three are outstanding beers that display precise style characteristics rarely seen in mass produced beer. This time around I chose the Red Ale.    

The Marble Red Ale pours a very cool rusty amber with a smaller yellowish head. The slightly toasty caramel malt with stronger than average hop give this beer a bit of a bran muffin nose. The hops really pop in this one with a surprisingly bright initial character for a red. It is definitely not a run of the mill malty Irish Red or a bland American Amber. The huge hop is subdued by an absolutely delicious lush blanket of caramel malt. The reaction of "Woah! Hops!" quickly followed by "Oooohhh Malt" is the best way to describe the initial 5 seconds of taste. The hops will get your attention but don't be fooled, the malt is the star here. Outstanding med/thick mouth feel makes your second taste not soon enough. Very nicely balanced finish with a slight nod to the hop. As the light hop resin lingers I bask in the glory of beer greatness. 

Ill say 4 hammers out of 3 sickles. Marble wins again! A great balanced ale that would compliment most meals. Bold enough to cut through spicy Thai or pizza and humble enough for potato soup or fried egg sandwiches. You really can't go wrong with beer this good. This is the caliber beer you serve to make a good impression or buy someone as a gift. A joyous time will be had with Weezer and Marble Red.

cheers