Mike Loves Beer

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend it with some good people.  Even if that includes family you maybe don’t like so much.  I spent much of the day with my family and that is usually pretty good.  My dad and I watched football then we ate enough food to put back on all the Biggest Losers weight.  But after that I went to spend some time with friends.

My friend and podcasting partner Phil in crime invited myself and my girlfriend over to his house for a very, very small sour tasting unlike any other.  Along with our friend Tony, we each supplied a bottle of an uber rare sour beer.  Just take a look at the picture.

If you can’t tell by the picture this is Isabelle Proximus, Veritas 006 and Duck Duck Gooze.  All of which Lost Abbey had a hand in oddly enough.  These all are sought after and rare sours and I was just happy to be sharing these with good friends.

Just some short thoughts, Isabelle was everything that I had hoped it would be.  Beautiful American style sour that I could just drink all day long.  Duck Duck I’ve had before and it’s always a delight to have.  A lot like a traditional Belgian version in almost every way.  And the Veritas, well we had some issues with that but not taste related.

I went to open the bottle and was taking off the cage with the cage broke and the cork just shot out of the bottle.  While I got over the shock of that about 5 – 10 seconds later Old Faithful started to arise from the depths of the inside.  Of course a mess ensued but we got it under control rather quickly to where we didn’t lose a lot of it.

The Veritas was like a really well aged Framboise.  Tons of very tart and acidic raspberries in the taste.  Just delicious.

Well I just wanted to share with you what I did for my Thanksgiving.  I hope yours was just as good and spent with just as good company.

I recently ran across a couple articles where the writers listed what beers they would want if they were stranded on a desert island.  The first was from the guys at BeerAdvocate where they listed 5 beers.  The next one I came across took it to six and why not?  A six pack is more noticable in the beer world.

So this got me thinking to what I would bring with me if I could take six beers on a desert island.  So here is my list.

1. The first choice will have to be a nice refreshing wheat type beer.  These are always good on hot summer days and being on a desert island will definitely be a hot day.  It was a tough choice but I think I am going to go with Allagash White on this one.  It was tough because I think Ommegang Witte or Avery White Rascal would do good as well I just feel the great refreshing quality of Allagash White wins this one out.

2. Next I’m going to go with a nice easy to drink lager that is also refreshing.  To me this was a no brainer as I’m going with Samuel Smith’s Pure Brewed Lager.  A lot of other people say that Victory’s Pils is great but we don’t get that down here in Florida and I have not had it yet.  So I’m going with what I have had and know.

3. The next one may be a little odd but it is just so good.  I’m going with Ommegang’s Chocolate Indulgence Stout.  Yeah you wouldn’t really think of stouts being something to take but this is a lot thinner in body than most stouts and is just wonderfully made.

4. I got to have a nice hoppy beer of course and I’m going to agree with one of the other lists and take Bell’s Two Hearted Ale.  This to me is the perfect example of an IPA and one that I recommend to people that have never had an IPA before.  It doesn’t go overboard and just does everything right.

5. I’ll take Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale from Rogue next.  It is just a great flavored beer that is not too heavy and just very smooth.  Plus the water theme adds to it.

6. Lastly I’m going to go with Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen.  Many people don’t think this compares to a lot of the other marzens out there but I just love this one.  It’s sweet and malty and just goes down easy.  It is exactly what I would want to be drinking at Oktoberfest, if my local one actually carried Spaten products.

I tried to stay away from heavy beers on this as I am on a desert island for the scenario.  I went with mostly refreshing and easy to drink beers that would make the hot days a little easier.

I want to hear what your six pack would be.  Leave a comment and let me know!

Name - Allagash White
Country - United States
Type - White Ale

Appearance - Poured a very hazy straw gold color with a nice white head that laced the glass pretty well.  You can see the yeast floating around in this.

Smell - Combinations of yeast and orange stick out in the smell.

Taste - Pretty much right on with the smell nice orange taste with a wheat/yeast hint to it.

This was a really good all around white ale.  Not to yeasty or overboard with the citrus flavors.  Just right on all of those.  This will definitely be a good one to have during the hot summer.

Overall Grade – A-