Speaking of Beer

OK, this time around we take a break from the obscure, regional, barely-distributed beers and tackle instead a couple of large-to-mid-sized relatively far-flung (within US borders at least) beers, from yes, you guessed it, the West Coast. Whew! Hey, if every show was about beer everyone in the world could get, we’d always be drinking Budweiser. The beers are both from California’s Bear Republic Brewery, and they are:

Red Rocket Ale [alternatives: Lagunitas Censored, Fat Tire, anything containing the word “amber” or “red’]

and

Racer 5 India Pale Ale [alternatives: Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, Stone IPA, any number of IPA’s characterized by the word “aggressive”]

Get yours in time for the next show and the new Wachowski Brothers movie.

You won’t be able to find these beers. There, I said it. OK, maybe if you’re a resident of the greater Sao Paulo area, or are vacationing in Rio, but otherwise forget the show beers and go for one of the worthy alternates. For completeness, the beers are:

Cauim Pilsner [alternatives: Lagunitas Pils, Pilsner Urquell]

and

Appia Weiss [alternatives: Pyramid Hefeweizen, Three Floyds Gumballhead, Samuel Adams’ Summer Ale]

Both brews are from the Cervejaria Colorado, Brazil’s first craft brewer in the modern age. Prepare for some good beer and very, very poor pronunciation.

Theme? Well pick one. The beers are:

Gordon. (from Oskar Blues Brewing Company) [alternatives: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, and that’s about it]

and

Ten Fidy (from…er…Oskar Blues Brewing Company…) [alternatives: Port Brewing Co.’s Old Viscosity, and that’s about it]

So, there you have it. Scare up the brews, fire up your beer-can-launching fridge, and let’s get serious…

I found my local Whole Foods to be a productive outlet for these two. See what you can do:

Hitachino Nest Sweet Stout (Lacto) [alternatives: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, Sam Adam’s Cream Stout]

and

Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout [alternatives: Three Floyds’ Dark Lord Imperial Stout, Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Deschutes Brewery’s The Abyss]

If you like your beer black and/or big, this will be a show for you!

The next show will be a patented “Change of Pace” episode, so the exact drink-along beers are not utterly crucial (if, indeed, they ever are). Still, to get into the swing of it, track down some Stone Ruination IPA, or other hop-o-liscious West Coast double IPA, and maybe an imperial stout like North Coast’s Old Rasputin. Next week’s all about the homebrewing, so if you haven’t yet checked out the Build-A-Beer Workshop and gotten brewing with the cool kids, you still have some time before the show drops.

Perhaps in anticipation of some more “exotic” beers to come, next time around we’re looking at some widely-available-in-a-North-American-sense brews. Heck, they’ve got ‘em at my local area Wal-Mart. Seek out the following:

Wild Hop Lager [alternatives: Yuengling Traditional Lager, JW Dundee’s Original Honey Brown]

and

Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale [alternatives: Bass Ale, Saranac Pale Ale, Samuel Smith’s Organically Produced Ale]

Both beers are USDA Certified Orgainc, and no, that’s not the theme. Let’s just say that scratching the surface of their brewer, the “Green Valley Brewing Company” reveals something almost sinister…

If you plan on drinking along with the next show, it’s the perfect opportunity to bring a friend into the SoB fold. The beers are BIG, both in bottle-volume and in ABV, and if you tackle them both by yourself you’ll probably wake up the next morning behind a dumpster with a splitting headache and someone’s underwear draped over your inexplicably shaven and tattooed head. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The beers are:

AleSmith’s Old Numbskull [alternatives: Dogfish Head’s Olde School Barleywine, Rogue’s Old Crustacean Barleywine, Hair of the Dog’s Fred]

and

Stone’s Double Bastard Ale [alternatives: Dogfish Head’s Immort Ale, The Lost Abbey’s Old Viscosity]

It’s not entirely clear what impact the festive holiday season will have on the release date for this show…I’m guessing it’ll come out sometime shortly after the first of the new year, but I might be able to eek it out a little before that. In any case, have a good one (holiday season, that is)!

[sarcasm]Ahh…the blissfully smooth-running world of Web 2.0 new media goodness[/sarcasm]. OK, so there’s the proverbial “good news/bad news” situation that seems to be becoming all too common around here. Bad news: Show 41 is rarin’ to go, but parked at the moment in Podango gridlock. As soon as that clears up (and it could be any minute) you’ll be able to enjoy the glory that is me drinking beer with both my sister and Mr. Deadpan himself, Jack Mangan. Good News: Show 42 will (barring techno-glitches) be out hot on 41’s heels, within a week or so, in time for your Holiday drinking pleasure.

For show 42 please acquire:

Santa’s Private Reserve Ale: [alternative: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale]

and

Samichlaus Bier [alternatives: a toughie…technically it’s a doppelbock, but at 14 % ABV find the strongest doppelbock you can get!]

Sorry again for the herky-jerky release schedule. Then again, maybe I should relax and have a beer…

Easy peasey, rice and cheesey (as my kids like to say…), this week, we’re talking about two well-distributed international brews:

Spaten Optimator [alternatives: Paulaner Salvator, Ayinger Celebrator]

and

Hacker-Pschorr Weisse [alternatives: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier]

And if you have one, pick up a bottle of your favorite beer as well. You know, the one you like no matter what anyone says. Yeah…THAT one…

I said the beers for the last show were tough to find, and several people shamed me for that assertion (who knew Breckenridge’s 471 IPA was on tap in so many places?). Well, this time around, I think it’s safe to say most of you won’t find these beers. Unless you live within driving distance of a fjord, that is.

Try to find, if you can,

Ringnes Pilsener, Lysholmer Double Ice, and Ringnes SkjÆrsgÃ¥rds Pils [alternatives: really, if you can’t find these, just get a nice light “import”–a.k.a “green bottle”–pilsner that you enjoy]

This show caters to those north of the 50th parallel, and those who love them (or were, like me, descended from them), but it’s a lot of fun for everyone else too (promise).