Beers 6-10

6. North Coast Brewing Co.'s Brother Thelonius - Belgian Style Trappist Ale - 01/06/07

Who knew this would be the weekend of the Belgian-style beers with 3 selections? This was a good weekend cap beer. I laid in bed drank this beer from a wine glass and read a book. The head had a nice soft amber to it, but when it dropped away there was no lacing and the beer seemed a little thin (both in character and consistency). I liked it, but for the money is probably not worth it.

7. Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar - European Brown Ale - 01/08/07

Katy and I met Brian after work for dinner and some beers at Feed the Beast on Lincoln. the food here is pretty good, but they have a really tasty beer selection including 2 Rogue beers on tap. Dead Guy is a perennial favorite, but the Hazelnut Nectar I had never had. It did not disappoint. Despite it's name it did not have a overriding hazelnut flavor. In fact I couldn't taste hazelnut at all, which is a good thing in my book. The head was light and didn't hold up for very long and the beer did have a lot of spicy flavors while still maintaining a laid back feel. Like Brian said, "ooo, this reminds me of Winter." Indeed.

8. Abita Turbo Dog - Dark Brown Ale - 01/12/07

Oh man. So good. This is probably my favorite beer of all time. According to the website, it is brewed with "Willamette hops and a combination of British pale, crystal and chocolate malts." Which would explain the chocolate that rides heavy in this beer, while still maintaining a hint of the pale ale to give it a lift from the usually heavy taste of a dark brown ale. Most people say this one is too heavy or dark, but I could drink a twelve pack of this no problem. Not that that is my gauge for drinkability, but I'm just saying. If you need me to prove it, just buy me a twelve pack.

9. Anderson Valley Boont - Amber Ale - 01/12/07

First of all, this is a very cool brewery. The brewery is located in Northern California in an area known for growing hops and now wine. They are very into sustainable production, which I think we can all get behind, and have installed an $860,000 photovoltaic array that provides half of the brewery's energy needs. Also, it operate its own wastewater treatment plant and uses its spent yeast to grow mushrooms and as cattle feed. The beer itself was very bright for an amber and actually had a very overpowering citrus flavor that was delicious, but not what I had in mind. I wouldn't kick it out of bed, but I think I will move on to their other beers before coming back to this one. This definitely shows promise for their whole line though.

10. Anchor Steam - Steam Beer - 01/13/07

So, apparently the term steam beer originally referred to a terribly cheap and bad tasting beer brewed in the late 19th C. California for gold-rushers, etc. Anchor Steam is not this beer. They had associations with a small brewery that brewed traditional steam beer in the 50's, but Anchor Steam is a much more finely cultivated, craft-brewed lager (trademarking the "Steam" in 1981). The proper term for this type of modern beer is California Common beer. All of that history out of the way, this is a fine beer that, although a little expensive, is worth drinking. Probably more of a summer drink than a mid-Winter one. For mid-Winter drinking you should definitely find Anchor Christmas Ale. Yum.