Mike Loves Beer -

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

August 31, 2009

Name – Stone 13th Anniversary Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Red Ale

Appearance – Poured a dark brownish red color with slightly tan head that left a lot of lacing on the glass.

Smell – Slightly musky smell with a definite wood presence. Big hops are present as well.

Taste – Nice balance of the hops and malts. Sweet caramel like malts that also were kind of bready. Big hops that had some citrus notes to it.

I have been waiting for this one for awhile and was lucky enough to have a glass earlier in the week at a bar. Then on my trip to the store was bummed not to see any. But alas I did not look hard enough as they were flying off the shelves so quick that the remainder bottles were all the way to the back of the shelf. I really enjoyed it and found it hard to classify. Stone calls it an imperial red ale and BeerAdvocate calls it an American strong but I feel a red ale it definitely is. Happy birthday to Stone and thanks for giving us this present.

Overall Grade – A

Yuengling Black & Tan

August 26, 2009

/ Beer Review /

6 Comments

Name – Yuengling Black & Tan
Country – United States
Type – Black & Tan

Appearance – Poured a dark brown that was almost black. Small tan head that disappeared quickly.

Smell – Very nice roasted malt smell. Some hints of chocolate and coffee.

Taste – You get the roasted malt tasted up front and it pretty much sticks with you throughout. Some sweet chocolate hints towards the end and a little bitter hoppiness as well.

Yuengling’s Black & Tan is a combination of the porter and premium lager, neither of which are individually available down here in south Florida. Not many people outside of the upper northeast know that Yuengling brews other beers as well. I sampled the porter when I visited their brewery in Pottsville and loved it. This reminds me very much of it but slightly subdued with the lager added. Still a good brew all around.

Overall Grade – B+

Craft Beer in the Mainstream

August 21, 2009

/ Random /

8 Comments

With most movies and TV shows now and days you are sure to see a character or two relax with a nice beer every now and then. But for the most part it will either be a completely unnamed beer or one made up just for the television show. But a trend is starting to form where craft beers are being seen more often on the big and little screen.

In the television series Reno 911 and their movie Reno 911: Miami the Dogfish Head brand is seen quite often. Whether it be actual beer or tacker signs the off centered brewers are present quite a good deal. Now you are probably asking how a small independant brewery from Deleware got their product placed in such a recognizable media show. Well it turns out that Thomas Lennon, who plays the ever hilarious Lt. Dangle, goes back to college days with DFH owner Sam Calagione.

A couple quick other movies I have spotted craft beer in include Kona Brewing in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Stone Arrogant Bastard in Cabin Fever.

And while on the topic of Stone they have made quite a presence on the small screen by their product making constant appearances on the Showtime hit show Weeds. The show takes place in a fictional neighborhood somewhere in Southern California so having a SoCal brewer present in the show only makes sense. The character Andy is seen on a few times drinking such Stone brews as Levitation, Oaked Arrogant Bastard and the original Arrogant Bastard. In one episode he is even seen wearing a Stone t-shirt. Great publicity for one of the countries leading craft breweries.

I tried looking all over the internet for some screen shots of any of these cameos but of course it is somewhat hard to do. I was able to come across some pictures of Andy with Stone bottle around from Weeds. So for your enjoyment here they are.

I can’t help but think that this is a great step for craft beer every where. It is a form of advertising to where maybe someone that has never had one of these brews before will become curious. They might think to themselves, “Hey I should look for that beer with the demon on it.” Time will tell if this will help generate more attention to craft brew but I can’t think that it is anything but a plus.

Have you seen craft beer in a movie or on TV. Please share!