Half Acre Beer Co.'s Daisy Cutter

• Style: Pale Ale
• ABV: 5.2%
• Season: Year Round
• Color: Golden yellow with a bit of orange tint.  Rather hazy.
• Head:  2 finger slightly off white head with amazing lacing (look at photo on left!)
• Aroma: Pale malts, floral hops, resin with a bit of tropical fruit and grapefruit
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium with a good amount of carbonation
• Finish: Medium and verging towards dry
• Food friendly: Yes.  A nice, all around sort of summer beer.  Good with salads, grilled poultry and vegetables.  Also try it with Asian food, Mexican meals or other spicy dishes.   Pair it with nutty cheeses such as Pecorino or with tangy cheeses like Munster.  

My first trip to Las Vegas was during the Spring Break of my Freshman year of college.  A friend invited me to come home with her for our week long break.  And yes, up to that point in time, I hadn't realized that people actually lived there.   You know, in neighborhoods in houses with grocery stores, little leagues, laundry mats and all.  I also learned that those grocery stores and laundry mats did have slot machines stationed by the front door, so it wasn't all Mayberry USA.  Since that trip, Ive been back a few more time and I'll admit, each day has a rush of excitement.  There is nothing like sound of hundreds of one armed bandits filling a room the size of my old high school.  And where else can you see the rhythmic dancing waters of the Bellagio trip the light fantastic just down the street from an erupting volcano and a pirate ship full of Jonny Depp look likes?  But if you want to know the honest truth, my absolute favorite thing to do in  Vegas is to take a simple stroll down the strip early in the morning.  It's quiet and clean and just crisp enough with the early morning desert air.  Sometimes it's very easy to get distracted by flash.

                                                                              
                                                                  You've got to love old school Vegas.  I can almost hear Frank yelling at Joey Bishop for not picking up his ring-a-ding drycleaning

There's nothing very flashy about pale ales.  The best are simple, straight forward ales, usually rather sessionable (if not strictly session beers) and often the bedrock of a brewery's line up.  They can range from a well balanced hop and malt ratio, such as Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale, to a hop fest featuring the beer equivalent of the Harlem Shake, also known as 3Floyds Zombie Dust.  But even with all it's notoriety, FFF's Zombie Dust is only 6.4% ABV and has a 60 IBU (in comparison, FFF's Dreadnaught Imperial IPA which sports an ABV of 9.5% and IBU of 99.)   Half Acre Beer's Daisy Cutter clocks in at 5.2% ABV and is believed to be around 55-60 IBUs (I couldn't find the exact measurement of IBU for this beer listed anywhere, but this seems to be the agreed upon range.)    Kind of like the Harrah's Horseshoe Casino of beers, right?

Look at that lacing.  It's like a Stratosphere in your glass.

My Half Acre Daisy Cutter poured a  delicious looking golden yellow with a minimal amount of haze.  Hints of slight orange amber appeared when held to the light.  A two finger, just barely off white, head formed and took it's sweet time settling to a thickish layer of foam for most of the drink.  Attractive rings of lacing covered the entire glass like a Belgium lace snow storm.  This beer had some of the strongest lacing that I've seen in a very long time.  I could smell the pale malts immediately, followed quickly by the note of floral hops and just a smidge of resin.  A bit of grapefruit and tropical fruit was also present,  brightening the scent.  The taste was pretty similar to the aroma.  The hops were first and foremost, with strong floral flavors hitting my tongue immediately.  But honestly, the brew is called "Daisy Cutter".   It would have been weird to have it taste like a malt bomb.  Resin flavors were also there, but to a mild extent (imagine a field of daisies with maybe one lone pine tree stuck on the edge. And the pine tree may grow a mango or two.  I did say imagine, people.)  There was a small grassy element that wasn't on the nose, but was unmistakable when on the tongue.  A light flavor of pale malts helped to bring all of the hop notes into harmony.  Underneath it all, there was a very much needed profile of grapefruit and tropical fruit (mango and possibly pineapple.)  The mouthfeel was light to almost medium, just as I prefer in my pale ales.  The finish was medium, starting with a bit of biscuit pale malts, sliding into the bitter grapefruit.  It wasn't too bitter, nor was it overly dry.  A good amount of carbonation helped to scrub away all of the floral overtones and left my mouth with just a refreshing, satisfied feeling.

Tiny bubbles, not so tiny bubbles, in my glass

I have this sudden urge to listen to Wayne Newton

 Half Acre Beer's Daisy Cutter is a wonderful pale ale to serve with summer meals.  Obviously, this would be a tasty beer to drink all on it's own, but try it with a grilled cesar salad.  Throw in some protein, like diced chicken, and you have yourself a meal.  This would also we a perfect beer to serve with ethnic food, such as Mexican or Chinese dishes.  I'm going to drink it with fish tacos and mango salsa this summer.  The beer is just light enough to work with a delicate protein, such as fish or shellfish, and the mango element in both the beer and salsa will compliment each other wonderfully.   Yes, for a pale ale, there seemed to be quite a bit going on in the glass, but much like a well run casino, just a  little bit of flash can go a long way.  We don't always need a fake tall ship filled with eyelined Jonny Depp-light pirates.  Sometimes a simple stroll down the street is exactly what you really need. A street with it's own volcano never hurts though.

Great Lakes Brewing's Dortmunder Gold Golden Lager

• Style:  Dortmunder Export/Lager
• ABV: 5.8%
• Season: Year Round
• Ease to locate: Widely available in the Midwest, NY, NJ, VA, WV, KY,  & Washington DC.  So no excuses unless you live west of the Mississippi.  
• Color: Deeply golden with no haziness
• Head: 2 & 1/2 fingers with wonderful retention and good lacing
• Aroma: light notes of biscuit, toast and a bit of floral
• Mouthfeel: Medium
• Finish: Medium with bit of floral hops on the tail
• Food Friendly: Is it edible?  Then yes, this beer will pair with it.  Seriously, try it with everything from poultry to beef to shellfish.  Buttery cheese, such as Havarti or Swiss would be wonderful with this beer.  As would a rich goat milk cheese like a Chevre.       

The Bavarian Purity law of 1516 states that beer must be brewed with only the natural ingredients of barley, hops, yeast and water.  As far as laws made over five hundred years ago go, this one doesn't seem all that bad (especially when you take into consideration that the United States only began to ban transfat from our foods in 2006.  Any one else remember margarine?  Margarine?  Parkay?)  When Great Lake Brewing began to produce their signature lager, Dortmunder in 1988, craft beer was just in it's teething stage (I remember when my nephew went through this period.  Everything would go in his mouth, regardless of taste.)  What's remarkable is that this lager has, by all accounts, retained it's award winning style for almost thirty years.  I can't think of many people who could claim this (although I suppose that a simple weekend stroll through certain big box stores would demonstrate that some people are still stylistically stuck in the 80's.)

                                   Here's a good guidepost for life.  If your butter-like product begins to correct your syntax, it might be time to switch to a lower ABV for the night

Dortmunder style is named after the German city of Dortmunder (those crazy Germans.)  Dortmunder was a mid-sized industral town (also a huge brewing town that would export it's brew to neighboring cities) with a bunch of thirsty factory workers.  Remember. water was not really a health drink back then, unless you enjoyed a side order of cholera with your glass.  Seven breweries in the city formed a union, named the Dortmunder Union (again, crazy, wacky Germans!) and began to brew a soft pale lager for the workers to imbibe in during the work day.   The style, known as Dortmunder Export, emerged as  soft pale lager with a higher than average amount (for a lager anyway) of carbonation and a well balanced malt character.  Dortmunder Export was one of the most popular styles of beers to be sold outside and in Germany until the 1970's when it was supplanted by Plisners.  Apparently it's slowly starting to gain an audience, thanks in no small amount to Great Lakes Brewing's efforts.

Das ist schones bier

My Dortmunder Gold golden lager poured a pure, deeply golden color with hints of amber and light brown.   It was clear without a trace of haziness.  Billowy clouds of foam raised quickly, forming an off white two and a half finger head. The retention on this head was amazing.  Large mesas of foam crested in the glass for a good portion of the drink.  Summer cloud-like sticky clumps of lacing decorated up and down the sides of the glass.  It was a pretty pint.  For all the prettiness of the brew, I found that the nose was rather light.    I could easily detect the expected grainy note, with a bit of yeasty bread under it.  A soft malt character slightly emerged as it warmed a slightly.  The end of the aroma had a floral quality, but that was as close to a hop scent that I could find.     The taste made up for the light nose.  The flavor was sweet from the grains and caramel malts, but nicely balanced by the floral hop character.  I found a hint of earthiness lurking under everything as well.    There's a sunshine brightness from citrus there as well.  A good amount of carbonation assisted in slightly drying out the malty backbone and keeping the sweetness in check.  The mouthfeel was just as expected for this sort of lager, moderate and not too dry.  A medium length finish with just a touch of hops on the end made for one satisfying beer.

Deutsch schngrend angenehm

Schugenfrued.  Fruhstuck inbegriffen.  Appetitlich.  Yeah.  I'm just throwing German words out there now.  I took Spanish in high school.  

As I've said before, I'm not much of a lager person.  But at certain point in my craft beer life, I could also say that I wasn't much of an IPA or a fruit beer sort of person either.  Like everything in life, I believe that you need to give most things a chance before you decide if it belongs in your bag of tricks or not.  And I'm more than happy to allow Great Lake's Dormunder Gold space in my mid-range, all leather, cross body bag.  Like many lagers, it's a great food beer (one of many reasons to include craft lagers into your repertoire.  For all you guys out there who may not have a mid-range, all leather cross body bag of tricks, I'm pretty sure that you at least have a repertoire.  And if you should happen to have the bag and a repertoire, this is a judge-free zone here.  Enjoy life.)  I would serve this lager with  cajun crab cakes confident with the knowledge that the sweetness of the malts would balance out any heat from the spices.  I also think that  shrimp summer rolls with Asian peanut sauce would be delicious with this brew.  But don't save it for just the main meal.  Try it with appetizers such as this strawberry goat cheese bruschetta or any other sweet/savory app that would compliment this sweet/savory lager.  And remember to raise you glass in thanks to those crazy, wacky, midday drinking Germans.   

Pipeworks Brewing Company's Poivre Noir

• Style: Dark Saison
• ABV: 7.50%
• Season: Limited (although my batch was #30, I've seen this particular brew on the shelf at my local Binny's for a while)
• Ease to locate: Here's a link to the Chicago area stores that carry Pipeworks.  Call first to find out what they have in stock
• Color: Dark brown with red tints
• Head: 2 finger head with light lacing
• Aroma: Citrus (lemon predominately) with back pepper and a boozy, almost wine like, scent
• Mouthfeel: Medium with a good amount of carbonation
• Finish: Shortish and dry
• Food friendly: Yes.  Lighter food that still have a bit of heft.  Poultry and shellfish come to mind.  Serve it with a wide variety of cheeses: nutty (Colby), earthy (Fontina) and pungent (Gorgonzola)

Dark Saisons are new to me.  I'll be honest, I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing until I picked up a bottle of Pipeworks Poivre Noir.  And before I opened it, I couldn't understand WHY there was such a thing.  I'm used to my Saison pouring a slightly hazy, lemony yellow liquid. If a Saison is like a fresh spring day in the country, then a Dark Saison would be it's rainy, dank counterpart (not bad day through as long as you have a warm barn or four star inn to stay in I suppose.)  A Dark Saison can be colored any where from a light reddish brown to a deep brownish purple color.  As far ar as I can tell, Dark Saisons usually achieve this hue by either brewing with chocolate malts or a unusual (for a Saison) wheat, such as Midnight wheat.  They often have a nutty and roasted flavor profile (again, two notes not usually associated with a Saison.)     And the result?  Well, it is a bit disconcerting to pour out a dark brown liquid from a Farmhouse ale bottle.   Like dogs and cats living together sort of disconcerting. 

                                                                                                       Evil spirits in your beer cellar?  Who you  gonna call? 

One of the best qualities about Saison as a style is it's ability to play well with others.  Pipeworks did a series of three brews, experimenting with the idea of what a Saison/Farmhouse ale could be.   The common element in the miniseries was the use of various peppercorns in the basic Saison recipe.   Of course, cleverly connecting them was also the use of the word "Poivre" in the name of the beer ("Poivre" means "pepper" in French, so chicken or the egg to you Pipeworks.)  Most Saisons have an element of spice in them, but balance it out with an earthy set of notes.  Pipeworks upped the spice/pepper element to the foreground and downplayed the earthy quality. Poivre Noir is the only bottle from the series that I was able to try. It would have made for an interesting experiment to do a tasting of a proven exceptional Sasion (like DuPoint) along with the three Pipeworks in the Poivre series.  If you get a chance to try this, don't tell me and rub it in.  Salt in the wounds and all. 

Yeah, it's the Anikin Skywalker of Saisons

My Pipeworks Brewing Co's Poivre Noir Dark Saison poured a dark, cola brown with hints of maroon and purpley red.  A light beige, two finger head rose quickly and slowly settled to a filmy, shallow layer for the rest of the drink.  The beer had decent lacing, not spectacular, but moderately good retention with lovely bits here and there sticking to the sides of the pint.  I could smell the citrus immediately, strong freshly squeezed lemon notes reassured me that even though the beer in my glass didn't look like a Sasion, it was essentially still a Saison.  The next note that hit me was that of ground peppercorns, spicy and culinary mouthwatering.  Ordinarily the aroma of a Saisons is light and refreshing, this one just smelled heavy and substantial.  There was a boozy, almost wine-like, aroma just under the citrus and spice.  This dark, wine-like quality manifested itself in the taste as a dark fruit note, but not overwhelmingly so.  I found that it balanced the lemon and pepper characteristics very well and added an interesting twist.  Many Dark Saisons have a nuttiness to them that I didn't find in this beer, but I think that this dark fruit note worked just as well with the overall flavor profile.  Pipeworks lists Sorachi Hops on their label as an indigent and again, another interesting choice for this beer.  Sorachi hops are a relatively new variety of hops (unless you're under 25 and then they are considered ancient like land line phones and postage stamps.)  They are heavy with lemon flavors, yet still have slight notes of dill, cilantro and coconut.  Rather Asian inspired, right? (Note: I later discovered that they were first bred in Japan, so take that, Mr. Roboto.)  The mouthfeel was medium with a welcomed amount of pallet cleaning carbonation.  The finish,, while it was short, was also dry and crisp. 

Not much lacing action, but still a nice head on it's shoulders

Ignore the Guinness logo.  At least it's not a red solo cup

Saisons are one of the most food friendly craft beers available.  There was a time, often referred to as the "Dark Ages", when it was nearly impossible to find a decent Saison in your local craft beer section.  It was also the disconsolate period when boy bands reigned supreme and cargo pants covered the landscape.   Anyway...Now, we have choices upon choices (insert heavenly chorus here.)  I'd serve Pipeworks Brewing Co.'s Poivre Noir Dark Saison with chicken in lemon sauce, easy and breezy, rounding it out with some garlic green beans and crusty bread.  I think that it could also work well with shellfish.  Try pouring this Dark Saison with steamed mussels and clams with two sauces.   Don't be afraid to experiment with pairings.  Tap into your inner Pipeworks and try something unexpected.

And come over to the dark side.  We have beer.

Tyranea Brewing Co.'s Rocky's Revenge Bourbon Brown Ale

• Style: Brown Ale
• ABV: 5.75% (before portions are barrel aged.  Conflicting info on it post barrel aging.)
• Season: Year Round
• Ease to locate:  Distributed in most liquor stores in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana & Minnesota.  Here's a link to their beer finder (click on "Distribution" and then the state you're interested in)
• Color: Medium brown with maple syrup overtones.  There's an orange tint when held to the light
• Head: Three fingers with large clumps of lacing
• Aroma: Sweet with caramel and chocolate malts.  Hints of brown sugar and a bit of dirt
• Mouthfeel: Moderate and smoother than it deserves to be
• Finish: Short and sweet
• Food friendly:  Works well with any sort of barbecue.  Also, try it with a semi sweet marinated chicken or a vegetable casserole. Serve it with salty cheeses like Parmesan or Asiago

"Deep in the darkest depths of Rock Lake, prowls a great Saurian known today as Rocky."  This is the beginning of the legend of Rocky as it is retold on the label of Wisconsin's Tyranea Brewing Company's Rocky's Revenge.  If you continue to read the some what good god, will this story ever end so I can drink my beer???  lengthy story, you eventually learn that a Saurian is neither a character out of a Tolkien novel nor an over sized  Russian, by the way of Sweden, muscle head named Dolph.    It's actually just a fish.  Talk about a false build up.  On a more interesting side note, did you know that Dolph Lundgren actually has a masters in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney?  AND received a Fullbright Scholarship to MIT in 1982?   Consider your mind officially blown.
 

                                                                                    You don't get your own theme music for graduating from MIT

Rocky's Revenge is a semi barrel aged brown ale.  Barrel aging is ever so trendy in the craft beer world now.  I'm pretty sure that  if you offered a barrel aged version of what might just be the absolute most vile beer on the market,  gaggles of twenty-something bearded guys in hoodies would line up for a bottle.  This particular brown ale is only semi aged, meaning that a portion of the ale is aged in oak barrels.  The percentage is not reveled by Tyranea Brewing, but if I had to guess, I'd say less than 20% of each batch is aged in bourbon barrels.   Personally, I didn't find the beer to be significantly elevated because of the bourbon, so why bother if it wasn't just to claim their slot in the whole boozy beer trend?  Give me a well done and tasty brown ale any day over fancy gimmicks and trendy methods any day. 

 The head does remind me of a certain fictional boxer's hair cut.  The 80's were not a kind fashion decade.

 My Rocky's Revenge poured a medium brown color, reminiscent of fresh maple syrup.  It was slightly hazy and glowed softly with amber tints around the edges when held to a light.  A billowy three finger head formed, plump with a light beige cushion of bubbles. Large clusters of thick lacing hug the sides of the pint glass.  The head settled down eventually to a surface of peaks and valleys for most of the drink.  I could smell the malts without even trying.  Whiffs of sweetness, predominately caramel and light chocolate, practically leaped out of the liquid as I took a sniff.  It was defiantly one of those brews that smelled just as it

appeared, syrupy and sweet.  The first few sips backed up the aroma.  Sugary notes of caramel and chocolate malts are mixed with softer sweet flavors of brown sugar and vanilla.  It was certainly one of the sweeter brown ales that I've ever tried.  A slight bitterness of hops crept in on the back, but it was like Stannis during the Battle of Blackwater.  Too much wildfire and too little smoke baby.  A stronger hop presence might have helped to balance out the syrup aspect.  The bourbon note was restrained and offered a bit of buttery booze to the brown ale base.  There was no heat from the spirit and I feel that this was a good choice made by the brewers.  I think the bourbon helped the most in the mouthfeel department.  It lent the ale a fuller mouthfeel with a smooth and comforting, if not way too short,  finish.  Good carbonation over all, but not in the least bit creamy.

Nice lacing.  Or as we say in Mother Russia, kрасивый кружевной

Well, I don't say that exactly.  My mother is Mary and she's not really into lace

I would serve Rock's Revenge brown ale with food that can stand up to the malty sweetness of the beer.  A good bet would be shredded chicken smothered in North Carolina barbecue sauce. The tanginess of the vinegar, the hint of sweetness from the brown sugar and earthiness from the Worcestershire sauce will compliment the malt bomb brown ale perfectly.  Alternatively,  try it with a vegetable lasagna, extra points if you roast the vegetable first to get a bit of chard action going on.  Go a bit heavier on the Parmesan cheese and use the added salt flavor to balance out this brew.  I don't know if I would seek out Tyranea Brewing's Rocky's Revenge again if given the opportunity.  If your palate is dominated by an aggressive sweet tooth, this might just be the right brown ale for you.  If you aren't the type to lick the maple syrup clean from your plate of pancakes, you might want to look elsewhere. Brown ales are a dime a dozen, and I personally prefer a better balanced version of this (and just about any) style of beer.   But does a bourbon aged brown ale have a place in the increasingly inflated world of spirit aged craft beer?  Um, yeah.   If Dolph Lundgren can go from MIT to starring in a less than life-like version of a plastic action figure, I truly believe that there is a place for everyone in this universe.

Bell's Brewery, Inc.'s Porter

• Style: Porter (D'oh!)
• ABV: 5.6%
• Season: Year Round
• Ease to locate: Very easy in the following states-AZ, ND, MN, IA, MO, IL, WI, IN, MI, OH, KY,  (hang on, I need a breather...) PA, VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, FL and Washington DC.  Here's a link to their beer finder
• Color: Solid dark brown with no hints of other tints
• Head: Two finger head with lovely small patches of lacing
• Aroma: Scents of dark chocolate, coffee and some roasted grains.  Hint of dark fruit layered into the scent.
• Mouthfeel: Moderate  with a good amount of carbonation
• Finish: Medium with some welcome roasted bitterness that linger
• Food friendly: Yes.  This would be delicious with any sort of barbeque or grilled beef.  Think hearty but not too heavy.  Serve it with buttery cheeses like Swiss or Brie

Porter and Stouts are often unfairly delegated to winter season imbibing.  Come Spring (and Spring will come, even if the weatherperson is calling for a rouge snow shower in Chicago.   But what does she know?  She spends her days pointing at an imaginary map while trying to come up with a new way to describe news that a normal person can figure out for themselves just by sticking their heads out a window. )  Anyway, come Spring most people gravitate towards lighter beer.  And I mean lighter in in body, not LITE beer.  Please never, never, never confuse the two.  Because if you do, the terrorist win.  As soon as the temperature warms up and the patio grill gets a decent Spring scrub down, many beer fans break out seasonal styles such as Bocks, Wits and, the rightfully increasingly popular, Saisons.   I'm guilty of this too.  I've got a DuPoint Saison bomber sitting in the  pantry in my basement elite and luxurious (if you live in a trailer) beer/wine cellar just waiting to be enjoyed on the first really warm day.  But are we missing out by overlooking our wintertime friends?  Should porters and stouts be stored in the attic with the giant plastic Santa and "smells just like the real thing as long as you think evergreens are supposed to smell like Lysol" artificial Christmas tree?  (Word to the wise.  DO NOT store your beer in your attic regardless.  It's hot up there.  Beer is like people who live in Minnesota.  They aren't fond of temperatures that don't turn your nose red.)   

                                                                                  
                                                                                                          Poor Jerry really needs a drink

I think that we may be doing a disservice to our friends of the dark in hue variety.  Porters are especially tasty with barbecue foods.  The sweetness of the molasses and the tanginess of the tomatoes in a Kansas City style mop sauce work brilliantly with a lighter Porter, such as Bell's Brewery's Porter.  I think that the key to finding the right sort of food friendly, summer welcoming sort of porter is to locate a beer that is simple in flavor and lighter in body.  You'd think that this would be an easy task.  But the funny thing about creating something that is straight forward  in design, it takes a fair amount of work to achieve delectable simplicity.  When you have very few details to brood over, the notes that are there must be relatively perfect.  And there lies the rub. 

Don't just dismiss a Porter like this because it's 90 degrees in the shade. A simple Porter can be your best friend while you are sweating over a grill.  Mainly because your real best friends are inside the house enjoying the air conditioning

My Bell's Brewery Porter poured a dark, solid brown.  There was no hint of any other color present, even around the edgings or when held up to a light.  A two finger, deeply off white head formed.  The foam exhibited great retention, lingering around in a springy layer for a good majority of the drink.  Lovely, tall lacing crept up the sides of the pint glass.  I could smell moderate notes of dark chocolate and fresh brewed coffee.    Behind the chocolate and coffee was the scent of grains and a lighter hint of dark, chewy fruit.  The beer tasted very much as it smelled.  The first character I noticed was the chocolate and coffee, although neither was exciting or exceptional in flavor.  Toasty grains followed as well as the ever so slight taste of prunes.  Pretty much as one would expect from your all around, general sort of porter.  It struck me as being a solid beer without any pretension or airs. The moderate mouthfeel was just about perfect for food.  It wasn't so heavy that I couldn't taste the meal I was enjoying but not so slight in heft that I wondered why I was even bothering to drink a Porter with the meal in the first place.  The brew had a good amount of carbonation present to help give the shorter than expected finish a desirable effect when eating.

Heat stroke is no joke.  Better make sure that you have a back up Porter to keep hydrated. 

On, second thought, make sure that you have a back up for your back up.  Barbeque safe out there, people

  

 Sometimes a beer is just made to be eaten with a meal.  What may just be an OK brew when sipped all by it's lonesome self, becomes something pitch perfect when drunk with the right combination of flavors on the plate.  Bell's Brewery's Porter is such a beer.  I drank my pint with a barbeque chicken pizza crisped up on a pizza stone on my trusty grill.  The molasses and brown sugar in the sauce melded with the bitterness of the porter's chocolate and coffee notes.  Yet the beer wasn't so enchanted with it's own flavor profile that it worked against the red onion or cilantro on the crust.  I could also see this porter being delicious with just about anything smothered in a Kansas City sort of sauce (here's a great recipe, try it with a whole cut up chicken or some grilled, pulled pork.)  Bell's Porter is exactly  as simple as it's name.  It doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not.  And, if you ask me, that's exactly what makes it such a beautiful and simple summer option.

New Glarus Brewing's Totally Naked

• Style: Pale Lager
• ABV: 4.25%
• Season: Spring/Summer
• Color: Pale golden yellow; no haziness
• Head: 2 fingers with wonderful sticky lacing
• Aroma: Sweet with biscuit, toast and a bit of citrus
• Mouthfeel: Light in body, but plenty of carbonation
• Finish: Short and pretty one note
• Food friendly: Hell, to the yes.  It's a pale, session lager.  A beer like this would be great with something spicy, such as Mexican food or with heavier dishes such as Italian meals.  Serve with with an earthy cheese like Camembert   

For those of you not in the know (or who have never Googled this page by name) I apparently share this name with a porn site (didn't know, too late to change it, maybe it'll work in my favor someday)  So this is a throw away to any of you who have stumbled upon my little page randomly.  Cause I'm afraid that this as good as it's gonna get.

Purity.  It seems like a good thing, doesn't it.  We want our water to be pure from chemicals so we buy expensive filtration systems that make unfiltered water look and taste like, well, water.   We want our vegetables to be pure from  pesticides so we buy organic, even if we end up leaving most of the sack of grapes rotting uneaten in the fridge.  And now we can buy our beer pure from additives.  At least we can, if we live in Wisconsin (or know a guy willing to schelp a a six pack or two across state lines for you.)  New Glarus Brewing, located and distributing in Wisconsin only, offers a lager that is free from added chemicals and additives that they call, appropriately enough, Totally Naked.  This, to clarify is not a suggestion on how to imbibe this malt beverage (although, how you personally spend your Saturday night is of course, completely your business.  FYI- drawn curtains are your friend.)   It's a pale lager and at 4.25% ABV, certainly very session-able.  Session-able is another one of those code words that float around.  Session beers are traditionally 5.0% ABV or lower and are beers that one can drink in succession during a sitting.  However, if you are ever at a tasting event, surrounded by a gaggle of beer geeks, and want to have a little fun, just ask a few of them to define a "session" beer.  Then stand  back and watch the foam fly (be sure to cover your drink first.)  Because, like many seemingly innocent things in the beer world (such as inquiring as to the difference between a porter and a stout or whether bombers are a grand idea or a complete and utter rip off)  the average beer geek has very strong opinions about exactly what is session-able and what is a session beer.

Session beers are probably a good idea for the clothing optional crowd.  Probably not a bad idea for people who stumble upon clothing optional crowds too

My Totally Naked poured a pale golden color, very straw yellow in character.  It was extremely clear with no hint of haziness.  A pure white, two finger head formed and took it's sweet time in settling.   Wonderfully gorgeous, sticky snow white clumps of lacing stuck to the sides of the pint glass. There wasn't an abundance of aroma, but that's to be expected from the style.  I could smell sweetness with bits of biscuit and a slight note of toast.  There were lost of pale malts basically.  A hint of citrus was present which helped to brighten the aroma considerably.  That taste was rather pure in flavor.  The sweet pale malts shined brightest, just as they did in the aroma.  Not quite a malt bomb, but there was no mistaking it for anything but a pale lager.  The taste of grains were off set with the mild hop notes of citrus and a flora.  The mouthfeel was light and crisp with lots of carbonation to help the brew go down easy like any good session beer.  The finish was short to medium with a dryness on the tail.  It was an easy to drink, very simple, yet still enjoyable,  beer.

Lovely lacing.  According to Tim Gunn, lacing is very "in" right now too. 

Some beers are notoriously difficult to pair with food.  Totally Naked is not one of those beers.  If you have food in front of you, it will work with this brew.  Personally, I think that this would be a great option for most ethnic foods.  You could confidently serve this with Spinach Enchiladas knowing fell well that the beer's pale malt sweetness would compliment the spiciness of any enchiladas sauce.  Or if you're feeling a bit Italian one night, toss together a dish of Ziti with Sausage and Fennel.  Of course the beauty of a session, low AVB sort of beer is that on a warm Summer's day, you can always kick back in a chaise lounge, pop open a few, crank up some good music on your IPod (and by good music, I mean stuff I like.  Anything else, use your ear buds accordingly) and just chill.

Pure as snow.  Well, hopefully it's a lot purer than snow once you think about it.

Purity, just like Chinese food, is all about your state of mind.  Personally, I'm pretty good with eating just about anything in a Chinese restaurant as long as it's never actually explained to me what I'm putting into my mouth.  Beer falls into the same category for me.  Would I have enjoyed this simple, straight forward session brew any less if it had contained some additive that is spelled with more letters than your average city in Wales?   I doubt it.  But is a nice thought that you can kick back and enjoy a beer that may be a bit healthier for you than your average brew.  Heck, since it's a session, have two.  Just keep the pants on everyone, OK?  Or at least remember to close the curtains.

Spiteful Brewing's Burning Bridges

• Style: Brown Ale
• ABV: 7.5%
• Season: Rotating (I purchased my Batch 10 in March 2013)
• Ease to locate: Chicagoland only, so far. Try your local bottle shop or Binny's (or trading with somebody.)   Better yet, take a trip to the Windy City!  We're lovely (if not rainy, windy and cold) in the Spring. But we have beer, so it's all good.
• Color: Dark oaky brown
• Head: Two & a half fingers with virtually no lacing.  Settles quickly, but doesn't disappear
• Aroma: Not much of a nose.  A bit malty with caramel, chocolate and roasted notes.  A slight hop bitterness as well.
• Mouthfeel: Medium. Minimal carbonation, yet smooth and a bit dry.
• Finish: Moderate with a grapefruit presence on the tail
• Food friendly: Not as much as the average brown ale.  Try with grilled meats or sweet sausage.  Try it with nutty cheese like Colby or Asiago.

I love learning the story behind brewery names. Sometimes they're funny (Clown Shoes Beer)  Sometimes they set a location (New Glarus or Great Lakes.)  But the best names give you a bit of insight into the brewers themselves.  Spiteful Brewing is a small (how small?  Let's just say that I'm pretty sure that their dog is their delivery driver), relatively new Chicago brewery started by two childhood friends.  The fact that they named their brewery after the "spiteful" childhood hockey incident tells me a lot about them.  These are two guys who not only have a sense of humor, but have a long history together.   We aren't going to have another 5 Rabbits incident on our hands here.  But if we do, at least this will involve hockey sticks and not witchcraft.  Fingers crossed.

                                                                This is basically what I think happened when the Spiteful crew met for the first time.  Hair and all.

I've been meaning to try a Spiteful beer for a few months now, but have kept getting distracted by other offerings on the shelf (oooo look, something shiny!  Squirrel!)  I finally got around to grabbing a bomber of their brown ale, Burning Bridges,  last week.   Every time I looked at the bomber, I got the uneasy feeling that the flame on the label was glaring at me.  With this in mind, I cracked open the bottle ASAP before any more nasty shiny squirrels got in my way.

Looks like a porter, drinks like a brown ale.  Sort of.

My Burning Bridges poured a dark, oaky brown color.  It looked rich and inviting, if not a bit dark for your average brown ale.  A two and a half finger head initially formed, but settled quickly to about half a finger of beige foam.   There wasn't much in the way of lacing, but a spongy layer of foam did stick around for most of the drink.  I couldn't detect much in the way of aroma at first.  It was a bit sweet with notes of malts and chocolate on the nose.  As it warmed a little, I could detect some roasted elements and a smidge of nuttiness as well.  The taste, however, didn't disappoint.  As simple as the nose was, the flavor profile more than made up in complexity.  Notes of yeasty bread  and almost crunchy toast hit me first.  There was a strong bitter hops presence as well.  The hops seemed to be strongest with notes of citrus, but I could sense some pine qualities working back up too.  The sweetness that I smelled on the nose emerged as elements of caramel and chocolate, helping to nicely balance the other flavors.  The mouthfeel was medium with very soft carbonation.  It was smooth and bit dry.  The finish was also medium, with a note of grapefruit on the tail end.

Would a little lacing kill you guys? 

 
I would pair Spiteful Brewing's Burning Bridges with foods that would benefit from a good mixture of bitter and sweet.  As the weather warms, try it with freshly ground hamburgers on the grill.  I also think this would make an excellent companion to barbeque pork or chicken    Or serve Burning Bridges with this one pot dish of Italian sausage, potatoes and chicken.

No lacing, but this kept me company for most of the pint

The thing that I like best about brown ales is it's ability to play well with others.  If anything has proven American Brown Ale's innate diversity as a style to me it's been comparing Spiteful Brewing's Burning Bridges and last post's review of   Avery Brewing's Ellie's Brown Ale.   Avery's brown ale was sweet and light.  Spiteful's brown ale was rich and hoppy.  I didn't expect much from either and was surprised by how much I like each of them, although for very different reasons.   I'm looking forward to trying another offering from Spiteful Brewing.  Even if their label with the dead teddy bear freaks me out a bit.