Sip with us Saturday is the new Drink With Us Friday. When we launched this blog, we had many objectives (many of which we still have not figured out). Two of those were to, 1)  Expand folks known universe of beer, and 2)Develop a time when we could all enjoy a beer together even if we live on opposite ends of the globe.  Thus, Drink It With Us Friday, developed. In the meanwhile, we have consumed many heavenly beers and developed relationships with readers and other bloggers.  One such group of bloggers we have come to enjoy and respect host a fantastic beer blog, The Brew Club. Their wit and sage wisdom is always worth reading.  But the other day, as I read through The Brew Club's site, it dawned on me that they also drank beers together on Friday.  The logical decision was to move our Friday tasting to Saturday, so that you and us can also participate with the folks from The Brew Club on Friday.  The more (beer and friends) the merrier, right? So from this day forward, Sip It With Us Saturday is our official community drinking day.  We will make an effort to post the beer of the ...

I always love a good English Ale, even when I am a bit surpised at the contents of the bottle. The style of ale that Old Thumper falls into, ESB, tends to be a stronger, more bitter beer.  Usually there is a bit of a bite to it.  Typically, they have a higer alcohol content (as Mike pointed out last week), as does this beer.  I thought this beer, while delcious, strayed a bit from what the name "extra special" forbode. The poor filled my glass with a pretty copper bubbly beer.  A nice solid head dissipated rapidly, leaving spider-web like lacings on the inside of my glass. I had bury my nose in the vapor to pick up and discern the subtleties within the aroma.  Instead of bitter scents up front, a smooth buttery malt with fruity hints.  I notices a citrus scent and maybe a little apple and pear.  There was also an earthy smell...almost grass-like, originating from the hops.  Ringwood's website notes of this beer, "peppery, spicy aroma."  I thought this was a burried nuance, not a prominent feature. The beer was very pleasent in the mouth.  For the style, I thought the mouthfeel that smooth and creamy.  The alcohol content ...

Ringwood Brewery is an Extra Special Ale, which usually indicates an upping in grain content, hops, alcohol content. This one may be all three or a combination of a couple of these "ups." Part of it's name comes from the fact that it is 5.6%, which bring extra duty (cost) because of the fact that Europe has tax for alcohol percentage. I'm sure this will have some more thump than the average ale. We invite you to drink this with us on Friday. I love English Ales and their names. I think this will be a nice treat at the end of a hard week.

As we stated in the outset of the launch of this blog, as much as we love beer, we love the experience, culture, and ambiance associated with the historic beverage.  Thus said, this review includes a little bit more than the spotlighted beer, Franziskaner’s Hefe-Weisse Dunkel , and will allow for a little more subjectivity than normal for a review. The first time I had this refreshing beer was about four years ago, and the setting was just right.  My wife was pregnant with our second-born, Aylah, and it was our second anniversary.  At the time we lived in Nixa, MO.  We found a babysitter for our boy, Malachi, and headed down the road to a quaint little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, A Bit of Bavaria.  This little shack in the Midwest serves the most authentic German food I have had since the time I spent a few weeks in Germany itself.  Sandra and I ordered up some hearty, gastrointestinal havoc reeking, sausage, spaetzle, red potatoes, and I ordered a bottle of the Hefe_Weisse Dunkel. As I poured this Friday beer, the smell took me back to that hot Missouri night.  The smell is light and sweet.  I personally did not find it very ...

This week we are heeding our own wisdom and that of a reader, and drinking a beer that just might come in handy for any of your beer-vangelistic encounters this Friday.  Franziskaner's Hefe-Weisse Dunkel should be easy enough to find for the inexperienced beer hunter, and should revive the winter-deadened nerves of those of us who are still in in deep freeze, anxiously awaiting the warmth of spring. The 5% alcohol content shouldn't scare anyway, and neither should the sweet, spiced wheat aroma that will greet you.  Even the most unadventurous beer drinker just might finish this one off with a refreshed smile. You won't just be drinking a beer...you'll be drinking history.  "Franziskaner" comes from the fact that the brewery was first opened in 1363 across from a Franciscan Monastery.  Again...there's nagging historical link between beer and Christianity...

Here is the second of the Trappist Ales, which we suggested for Drink with us Friday.  SImilar to Chimay, this Rochefort 10 is the strongest in a series of three (the others being 6 and 8).  (By the way, I agree with Nate that Chimay Blue is an excellent beer and worthy of of being tried.) Rochefort is designated as a Quadruple Ale, the implication being that it is fitting for times stronger than "normal" ale.  I have plans to try their 8 and 6, but for now, let's talk about their 10. This beer had a thick, tall, and light brown stable head.  The body was densely brown and active.  As I looked at it, it seemed like an imposing ale. When I bent down to sniff this Trappist Ale, I immediately caught the aroma of the 11.3% alcohol that dominated the beer.  There was a sweet, sugary aroma on the nose, along with a malty and vinous quality.  I caught the smell of raisons, a slight cherry fruitiness, and hints of chocolate.  In addition, toasted caramel was a thought that ran through my mind. Having finished my ritual of sight and smell, I was ready to take a sip.  Man was this ...

What a fantastic beer!  Anybody who has claimed to not like beer has not allowed this fine beverage to change their mind. First off, the beer was highly carbonated.  I am very carefully when opening corked beers as I want to upset the beer as little as possible.  The last corked beer I drank (Three Philosophers)  op-end with ease...the cork slipped off.  Chimay exploded reminiscent of a bottle champagne.  The pour revealed a a cloudy reddish brown liquid.  I noticed small particles (yeast, I assume) suspended in the liquid.  The head on my beer was a bout 3 fingers and was supported by large carbonation bubbles that rested on the surface in a very uneven and unique manner. The smell was fantastic.  It was a very earthy aroma.  I was expecting to pick up strong malt aromas, but instead my olfactory senses were immediately overwhelmed with a strong but pleasant iron/metallic aroma.  Underneath I picked up the malts, laden with a fruity essence, namely grapes and apple.  I also picked up on smells that reminded me of spice, brown sugar and molasses. The mouth-feel, despite the dry and bubbly character, was extremely smooth and warm on my tongue.  The flavor of this beer ...

This week we are drinking a couple of Trappist Ales (we just posted on this very subject).  Since we are interested in people being able to participate in the process of drinking the beers that we post, we are picking a Trappist Ale that most people are able to get.  The Chimay Red, White, and Blue are the most common Trappist Ales that are available to the American consumer.  As a secondary choice, we are picking Rochefort 10, which is maybe the third most common beer (Orval being the second). Please try to drink one or both of these beers with us on Friday.  It would be a shame if you never tried a Trappist Ale.  We will provide some links to these breweries when we review these beers.  Check it out!

Considerable approbation is deserved when a brewery manages to achieve high levels of excellence with each beer they produce.  Plenty of breweries nail one particular style, but the menagerie of beers they create is lacking.  While the examples are abundant, this a beer review, not a brewery review.  The point is, Dogfish Head invariably produces quality and delicious beer, and their 90 Minute IPA is no exception. The beer poured smoothly.  High in carbonation, I thought.  The light piercing the liquid revealed a beautiful coppery/ruby color.   After the nearly one inch of head dissipated the edges of my glass with thick lacing, foreshadowing the maltiness to come. The hop filled aroma was citrusy and dominant, but forcing my senses further the malty and alcoholic character of the beer was present.  The toasted malt coupled with a raisin/grape aroma practically warmed up the inside of my nose. The mouth-feel was pleasant.  Despite the high carbonation the IPA was extremely smooth and silky on my tongue.  Initially I was a tad surprised at how 'unhoppy' the beer was off the bat.  I mean, I was expecting a burst of bitterness as soon as the beer hit my tongue, and don't get me wrong, it was ...

I cannot help but wax nostalgic as I anticipate this Friday's beer.   The first Drink It With Us Friday beer here on Thank Heaven For Beer was DogFish's Raison d’Etre, reviewed way back in August of 2008.  The relationships that have been built since then is what inspires Mike and I to keep up this humble blog! So to all our readers and and owners of other fine beer blogs we enjoy...Thanks! While the oceans of beer are flooded with hopped up beers and IPA, there are few sharks as victorious (and tasty!) as Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA.  The time spent cultivating this balanced brew pays off with the first sip. 90 Minute IPA has an ABV of 9%...this is no guzzling beer!  The complex flavor makes for a fun tasting.  I really want to all those who pick up a pack this week to concentrate on the complexities of the aroma and flavor and share with us what subtl nuances catch the attention of your palate.  Drinking from the proper glassware will enable this endeavor.  I think a series on glassware is in order.  Mike has a made a nice start recently. Cheers!