Mike and I do not review EVERY beer we drink.  If we did, you would get bored and this site would end up being strictly a review site, which was never its intent.  Thus said, when we review a beer, it's for good reason.  Partly in response to the SWUS beer, which was any beer from your home state (Michigan's close enough right?), and partly in response to my reaction to this beer, I had to review Leelanau's PetoskeyPale Ale. Unless you live within a decent proximity to Michigan, you've probably never heard of Leelanau Brewing Company.  But you may have heard of Jolly Pumpkin and brewer, Captain Spooky Ron Jeffries.  Ron Jeffries, from what I understand, is also the brewmaster for Leelanau.  When I saw the 750ml bottle in the store a bit of sticker shock set in.  I paid $16 for a 750 ml bottle of Leelanau's Petoskey Pale Ale...a steep price for a 5.5% beer. I am not of the mindset that a good beer has to boast a steep ABV, just typically, the higher the ABV, the more grain was used, and thus a higher price.  But reading up on this beer, I see why it was in ...

I admit that's quite a title for a post.  Well, maybe it will be worth all the words.  Alesmith makes some good stuff.  For instance, Sweedway Stout is widely regarded as one of the best coffee stouts in the business.  Decadence is their yearly anniversary ale and can only picked up on a limited basis, so it pays to hold it back for a little while.  This year's Decadence was a Dunkel-Weisen Bock, which seems to be part of a larger movement, I've noticed.  A lot of breweries seems to be re-visiting different bock styles.  I've seen several helles versions and a few wheat ones as well.  I'm happy to say that many U.S. breweries are doing a much better job on these styles than some of the hefes.  Anyway, I saved this one for a bit and thought I'd give it a try. The Pour: I had to use my Aventinus glass for this bad boy.  I just love watching that active wheat body prop up a huge head.  This beer was a wonderful chestnut color with a billowing and soft head propped up by a flurry of activity.  While the carbonation and head were very nice, they weren't as ...

In an effort to expand our participation on Saturdays, we've changed our procedure a bit.  We were picking beers and asking people to buy them. I'm sure that we are going to keep doing this sometimes, but we are currently trying to come up with some more ways for people to become involved.  It really is hard to get everyone on the same page and to get a particular beer without going on a national scale.  Well, this Saturday is going to be another departure from the norm. Where do you live?  Wouldn't it be cool if we could post a beer review from every state?  That's what I started thinking.  So, if your state has a cool beer or just one that you've been waiting to try, Sip it on Saturday and send us a review.  We want to know what's good.  Any takers? For my part, I've got plenty to choose from in California.  I actually have a beer or two from Indiana that I could review as well.  Please join us...even Dark Lord Dog is participating.

I have to admit it: even when I posted that I didn't know what to expect from Jolly Pumpkin Ale, I sort of already knew.  When I saw that they put out a Flanders Red style sour, I knew that's what I'd end up drinking...despite my self-deception.  I think one of the most interesting aspects of Jolly Pumpkin's beer is their incorporation of local wild yeast and the use of barrels for souring.  From what I understand, they don't pitch wild yeast in their beers at all.  That is to say, they don't buy cultured wild yeast from a company to put into their beer.  That's a fun and interesting approach that is, in part, responsible for the fact they have a cult following.  At any rate, I had to try the La Roja. The Pour: You can see for yourself (above) how lovely the pour and head really were.  Of course, I picked a glass that was particularly conducive to maintaining head and was evocative of a lambic glass.  The head was well retained and had a nice, creamy, off-white hue. I'd call the body, which had a nice touch of haze,  a copper-orange.  I'd also like to note that ...

You might notice that we've recently posted pretty general Sip with us Saturday posts.  Sometimes it's just nice to break from the normal approach to the Saturday beers.  We find that often times it's hard to have people sipping the same beer.  The solution is to pick a beer that is pretty mass market, which is often very uninteresting to people.  Otherwise, we sort of get stuck excluding people. That being the case, we wanted to encourage more opportunities for participation.  As a result, we are going to do a "Something You've been Saving Sip with us Saturday" (say that seven times quickly).  I'm being coy and not telling you what I'm drinking, but I'd love to see multiple reviews generated at once.  So if you want to participate using your chosen format, then send me your review through the contact page and your review will be posted along with mine.  Crack something you've been saving...and make it part of our (I'm mean "you," too, when I say "our") site.

Many of you know that I normally don't go after an IPA.  I find rye beers interesting, though, so I struck a compromise.  Hop Rod is a Rye P.A. of sorts, and it's not something I would normally pick up.  However, since it was "Gamble with us Saturday," I decided that this might be just the beer for the occasion—and who knows, I might be able to find out whether or not it was actually a good beer.  I've reviewed one or two other things by Bear Republic, and they've been okay but not great, so I was hoping that my gamble wouldn't turn up to be snake eyes. The Pour:  I'm assuming it's due to darker rye malts that this beer was a slightly darker version of an IPA.  Not black or brown, just deeper.  A touch of haziness was part of the overall appearance of Hop Rod, while the body was active and propped up a stable head, which incidentally, left very nice lacing as I drank it. The Nose: Ever ubiquitous and perhaps starting to grow on me (to an infinitely tiny degree), grapefruity hops were a part of the nose. The citrusy nose was under-girded by a touch ...

I know that some among us can't get Jolly Pumpkin's stuff.  I live in Cali, and Jolly Pumpkin is in Michigan, so I've never really seen anything from them...except recently.  I'm curious to try their products and find out about the brewery, which means I thought this would be a good format.  Any of you who can find a Jolly Pumpkin beer could pick one up, drink it, and tell us about it.  I figure that you'll have a better chance finding some Jolly Pumpkin beer rather than a specific one.  I've got two options, so I'm going to pick one and review it. Sip with us Saturday and tell us all about how jolly this beer made you.

Even though it's owned by Heineken, Murphy's still makes a great stout.  I have a personal preference for this over Guinness any day of the week, so that's why I thought it would make a nice Sip With Us Saturday beer.  If you get a chance to drink it on tap, it's a must.  For now, I just bought the draught can.  Here is what I think of it. The Pour: Watching that pour settle is one of the greatest joys about drinking a beer in the draught system.  The soft, creamy, and extremely stable head sits, once it makes it's way to the surface, atop a deep black body (with some red hints) while the slowly active body pushes carbonation to prop up of the lovely sight.  The head is clingy and sticks to the glass, leaving a residue from the previous sip. The Nose: Hints of coffee, caramel, and a deep roast give the beer a soft, dry aroma.  I've always thought the aroma also smacked of mint tobacco and hints of licorice.  Touches of smoked peat also gives the beer an subtle touch of roundness. The Taste: The tobacco (very subtle mint) and licorice are dominant features of the brew. ...

Sorry I'm so late on posting the Saturday beer.  I've actually had the idea to do this for a while but forgot to get it up this week.  Normally, we mention a beer to try.  Sometime you can get it and sometimes you can't.  However, this Saturday is one for the gamblers.  I'm going to pick up a beer that I normally wouldn't take a chance on or wanted to try but wasn't so sure about.  It's that simple.  Just pick up a beer that is a little bit of a risk or out of the norm for you and report back to us to tell us how it went. I'll be posting my story soon.

Koningshoeven Dubbel is a special beer...actually all beer brewed with passion is special...but Koningshoeven brews are truly unique, flavor aside.  To begin with, they are a Trappist brewery.  Only seven breweries in the world can use that trademarked word (Trappist).  In order to be a Trappist brewery, the beer must be brewed under the supervision and responsibility of a monk, who lives according to the rule of St. Benedict.  Proceeds of a Trappist brew not only support the monastery but also charity towards the poor and disenfranchised. Koningshoeven is unique among Trappist breweries in that while 6 of the 7 Trappist breweries' domicile is Belgium, they are located in the Netherlands.  Next time your chic friend goes to order an Amstel Light, steer them in the direction of a Koningshoeven beer.  Not only does it taste better, but they will be uplifting the poor of the world through their purchase. So how did this Dubbel treat me? The Pour: The beer is beautiful.  But aren't all Trappist beers?  I hear it is because the yeast is actually derived from angel sneezes.  Anyhow, the beer really is a great looking beer.  It is deep brownish purple with smaller carbonation bubbles.  The head is great, but ...