Danke

Be thankful for things in life.

For example:

1. Beer

2. Others

3. Food

4. My lack of writing

5. My current post

6. Pulling out of the stock market before it died

7. Obama

8. Those "You Can Vote However You Like" kids

9. Clothes, on sale

10. Yourself

This blog is god awful.

My apologies.

4 November 08
Beer: Southampton Pumpkin Ale
Location: Whole Foods Union Sq, NYC
Price: $5.99/650mL
Grade: 6.8

Nice but not amazing. Spices and such galore. Better than some, not as good as others. An average pumpkin ale.

4 November 08
Beer: Sierra Nevada Unfiltered Wheat
Location: Ben’s Deli Ave B, NYC
Price: $11/6pk
Grade: 6.5

Was expecting something unique but came up short. Pissy yellow and not as cloudy or “unfiltered” as expected. Grassy, crisp, dry and bitter at times. But not too much flavor overall.

5 November 08
Beer: Four + Brewing Co., Punk’n Ale
Location: Ben’s Deli Ave B, NYC
Price: $12/6pk
Grade: 6.7

Fresh pumpkin taste with lots of sweetness. Toasty, light malt, honey and the usual pumpkin spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, allspice. It’s a nice beer to have, maybe one or two, but couldn’t spend a while night drinking these. Almost could be a dessert beer if you care to enjoy beer with that slice of pie. Just another pumpkin beer in the pumpkin season – cute and seasonal but not much else beyond that. Rich amber-orange color with medium mouthfeel, apparent but not powerful carbonation and a half-inch of frothy head. A little but of creaminess to it also with little bitterness. Quite mild and sweet.

6 November 08
Beer: Spaten Oktoberfest
Location: Ben’s Deli Ave B, NYC
Price: Gratis, via M & Chang Joint Ventures Inc.
Grade: 6.4

So-so Marzen beer. Grassy, kind of sticky, kind of bitter but mushy sour. Not the best. There surely are better out there.

11 November 08
Beer: Fischer, Tradition Amber
Location: Key Foods, Ave A, NYC
Price: $3.69/22oz.
Grade: 6.4

I knew this wasn’t going to be amazing when I bought it, but I’ve always believed in trying something at least once. (Well, at least most…. "somethings”). Basically a golden amber with light, ivory head of airy foam. Good amount of lacing which was nice. Not the most flavorful beer but has its mix of skunky yeast, sour touches and minimal malts. Not really much else besides a sweetened, grassy taste. Very faint hints of apple – like a golden delicious or granny apple type. Lil sweet, lil spicy but nothing too overpowering – at all. A subtle beer with subtle intentions. It basically knows its spot in life – not good enough for Belgium and not good enough for Germany. But it gets as close as it can, by landing in Alsace. A good try France – give yourself a pat on the back.

13 November 08
Beer: Anchor Special Christmas & New Year Ale, 2008
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $10/6pk
Grade: 7.9

Great, great beer. Really enjoyable. Hints of dark, syrupy fruits with a good dosage of malt to make a truly hearty brew. Perfect for cold winter nights and savory meals. “A wooly sweater” of beers, hand-knit by your grandmother and used when in need of comfort. (In this case, drinking = comfort? Thanks Grandma.) Traces of cinnamon, orange, nutmeg and all spice. Sort of like a candied spice taste yet not too sweet. The dark ruby-mahogany color truly is beautiful, as well as the 1.5” head of frothy goodness. The fruits are bits of prune, dark red grapes and even plum mixed with spruce. However as much as this is a delectable beer, the body and full-flavor is lacking. It has a nice rush initially but ends with a quick spritz on the tongue. The smell is great, but the beer feels a bit thin for a winter ale. If you care to share with the kids (great Christmas present), tell them it’s like a malty root beer mixed with some alcohol. That way, they get Christmas ginger snaps (the beer kind of tastes like them) and a lovely beverage to wash it all down. I mean, who does milk and cookies anymore? Doesn’t Santa really want a nice cold beer when he comes down that damn chimney? Nice thinking Anchor, well done.

14 November 08
Beer: Otter Creek Oktoberfest
Location: Gracefully, Ave A
Price: Gratis, via SLM Worldwide Ltd.
Grade: 6.8

A sub-par American attempt at an Oktoberfest brew. An amber ale that has some tingle but not enough to pull through.

14 November 08
Beer: Wolaver’s Pumpkin
Location: Whole Foods Chelsea, NYC
Price: $10/6pk
Grade: 6.7

Pathetic pumpkin. Oh well.

15 November 08
Beer: Old Jubilation Ale, Avery Brewing Co.
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $12/6pk
Grade: 7.2

Dark spices and warmth, medium body, some sweetness to it. Even a bit of maple to it, but after awhile it gets a somewhat odd aftertaste.

15 November 08
Beer: Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $4/475mL
Grade: 7.6

Smoky and dark. Like “tasting the campfire.”

15 November 08
Beer: Schlenkerla Rauchbier Weizen
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $4/475ml
Grade: 7.5

Smokey and light, but not necessarily my favorite rauchbier.

19 November 08
Beer: Fort Collins Chocolate Stout
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $11/6pk
Grade: 7.1

Chocolate-y, little darkness but not the stout of the century.

23 November 08
Beer: Harpoon Winter Warmer
Location: Whole Foods Chelsea, NYC
Price: Gratis, via Polska-Indian Trading Co.
Grade: 7.2

Works what it preaches. Warming, kinda dark, kinda spicy, but mellow enough that you can chug a few. Excuse me, savor and sip a few. Good for basting your turkey also?

Ahoy

This is what happens when you drink too much.
Or is it when you don't write enough?

Probably the latter.

Yeah, that's it.

22 September 08
Beer: Anchor Liberty Ale
Location: PR Bodega E 9th St
Price: $10/6pk
Grade: 6.9

Frothy, yeasty, medium body with golden honey taste mixed with chewy pine. Rich orange-brown hue, slight cloudiness with a healthy 1.5” head. Bitter bite with notes of roasted oranges. Some apricot but also florals and grassiness. Sweet at first, slightly, yet what really comes through is the bitter bite. It can be sipped or gulped – each produces a different mouthfeel (tingly versus hearty bitter gulp). Good, crisp carbonation – would be a wonderful beer to consume with meats, breads and cheeses. Straws and yeasts, very fitting for a barn or farmer setting for some reason. Would be great with a “country” meal of the sort. In a way, it’s like a punchy little biscuit of a beer… if that makes sense.

26 September 08
Beer: Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
Location: Ben’s Deli
Price: $4.50/
Grade: 7.3

Crisp, grainy and very refreshing. Wonderful bite with a taste of truly fresh hops. Simply wonderful.

29 September 08
Beer: LongTrail Blackbeary Wheat
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $8.99/6pk
Grade: 5.1

A sad, sad excuse for a beer. A prickly little fizzle that’s more like a diluted, lackluster apple cider than a beer. Sweet, light-light notes of honey and floral notes. Pallid yellow similar to a color of white-gold with minimal carbonation. Soft, white berries and really not that much blackberry. Like a riesling or champagne even. Pale mouthfeel with shallow depth and thin body, has a somewhat ‘muddled’ crisp – if that’s even possbile. I suppose this would be cute if it were going for a baby beer – or something you’d consume with tender, bite-sized pieces of oysters rockefeller – but otherwise, it’s really not something you grab for from the store. Indeed I was tricked by the grand scheme of Whole Foods marketing – a rarity, at least in regards to my own record. Nonetheless, on a positive note, a beer like this is something all good beers can learn from – basically, what not to do in microbrewing. I think a term that would describe this guy is “weaksauce.”

2 October 08
Beer: Stoudt’s Oktoberfest
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $10.99/6pk
Grade: 6.6

Was expecting more but didn’t really get it in return. Still manages to create an enjoyable beer but not necessarily the Oktoberfest beer to consume. Some floral, some spice in an overall light colored amber. Pal grains with tingly bitters throughout, minimal carbonation – very ‘washy’ in its gulps. Therefore, it’s a ‘refreshing’ beer with good flavor distribution.

2 October 08
Beer: Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $9.99/6pk
Grade: 6.5

Rather light, not too much ‘oompf’ to the body or flavor. I’d definitely choose Paulaner Oktoberfest instead. Reddish-Amber with medium body, good head and subtle flavors. Grains, toasted bread and light caramel notes. Has a breadier taste overall, but if only the flavors had more bite. Not bad though, surely.

23 October 08
Beer: Grimberger
Location: Whole Foods Bowery, NYC
Price: $12/6pk
Grade: 7.2

Red-ruby color with tastes of a cedary-redwood like bark. Sweet cherry, good spritz with hints of prunes and raisins.

1 November 08
Beer: Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale
Location: Whole Foods Union Sq, NYC
Price: $6/650mL
Grade: 7.4

Slightly spicy, slightly creamy, ample amount of pumpkin. Like a nice slice of pumpkin pie.

3 November 08
Beer: Avery Brewing Co., The Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest Lager
Location: Whole Foods Union Sq, NYC
Price: $7.99/650mL
Grade: 8.2

Has a weird, fresh-from-the-brewery water smell on the nose – sort of mineraly and coppery. But the body is magnificently medium-heavy with a good, robust bite/mouthfeel and terrific carbonation. Quite the effervescent beer with muddled bits of apple, squash, honey, acorn and cloves. Spicy, floral, meaty and quite a good plop of malt mixed together. A solid beer for sure, definitely one that is enjoyable with every gulp, sip or swig. But what seems to become all too noticeable is the taste of over-ripened fruit mixed with a light brown sugar or sweet molasses flavor. There’s a coating of caramel that licks each swivel and swallow. Real sweet. Real good. Yeah mmm.