Speaking of Beer

Umm…yeah…I think the theme is quite apparent, as are the challenges in finding alternatives:

Cave Creek Chili Beer [alternatives: Cinco De Mayo from Rock Bottom brewery, Chili Beer from Dillon Dam Brewery. Or, grab a Corona and stick a fresh serrano chile in it]

and

Rogue Chipotle Ale [alternatives: Mexicali Smoke from Rocky River Brewing, Ring Of Fire Pepper Ale from Pacific Rim Brewing Co.]

Click on the beer name to go to Rate Beer’s distribution list and see if it’s in your area. Oh, and let me know if this feature is at all helpful in tracking down these beers!

Let’s nip off to Germany for this one, shall we? The beers for the next show are:

Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier [alternatives: Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse, Ayinger Bräu Weisse, Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse Natürtrub]

and

Ayinger Ur-Weisse [alternatives: Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel, Hacker-Pschorr Dunkle Weisse]

These should be widely available in any store that has a decent import selection, or, for you German listeners, a decent domestic selection. So grab them and drink along, but, uh, hold the lemon, will you?

The next show is one SoB’s patented “change of pace” episodes, so there are no specific beers to find. I still encourage drinking along, however, so if you truly want to immerse yourself, do the following: acquire 15 - 20 single bottles of different beers, and scare up a 3 or 4 oz. glass. Disable your toilet and put a port-a-potty in your back yard, or in an unused corner of your apartment. When you listen to the show, crank the stereo (preferably with bluesy rock n’ roll), cook up some carny food, and invite over about 10% more people than your living space can comfortably hold. Oh, they should bring their own beers and tiny glasses. Yeah, that should about do it…

I’m not sure how well-distributed these are outside the US (I suspect poorly), but they’re pretty widely spread out within the States.

Bard’s Tale Beer’s Dragon’s Gold [alternatives: Lakefront Brewing's New Grist Beer]

and

Redbridge Beer (from Anheuser-Busch!) [alternatives: Lakefront Brewing's New Grist Beer]

I’m guessing the AB product will be easier to find than the other; I found both at Whole Foods as well as BevMo. If you find them, I’m sure you’ll be able divine this show’s theme.

If you like beer AND have a sweet tooth, then this week’s for you:

Breckenridge Brewery’s Vanilla Porter
[alternatives: Emperean Brewing Vanilla Porter, and other "vanilla porter" you can find]

and

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
[alternatives: Mackeson XXX Stout, Bell's Special Double Cream Stout, Sam Adam's Cream Stout]

Stock up on the whipped cream, and phone up your beer-avoidant friends. This one should be way user friendly!

The theme is pretty blatant, but the beers are worth putting in a little legwork to find. Like always, of course!

Sapporo Imported Premium
[alternatives: Kirin Ichiban, Asahi Super Dry, Sapporo "non-Imported" Premium]

and

Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale
[alternatives: You frickin' got me on this one. I found mine at Whole Foods, so hopefully it's widely available, in the States at least.]

Also on the show, The Build-A-Beer Workshop kicks into brew mode. How does our little batch of loveliness come together? You’ll just have to listen!

Next week, SoB tackles a couple of classic Belgians:

Chimay Grand Resèrve (Blue) [alternatives: Trappistes Rochefort 8, Gulden Draak, Unibroue's Maudite]

and

Pauwel Kwak [alternatives: Delerium Tremens, North Coast Brewing's Panqster, Duvel]

Dig up the most snifter-like glasses you can find, (or, for the Kwak, the strangest-looking glass you can find), and let’s drink some of the good stuff!

We’re heading back to America’s left side for these beers. The show theme may OR MAY NOT be what is glaringly obvious in the beers’ names.

Green Flash Extra Pale Ale

and

Mad River Brewing’s Steelhead Extra Pale Ale

Each beer is an alternative for the other, quite frankly. To have a similar drink-along, you can sub either or both with the following: Three Floyds’ Extra Pale Ale, Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale, Bridgeport Blue Heron, Anchor Liberty Ale, Shipyard Export Ale, or any American Pale Ale that’s not hopped out the wahzoo.

I’ll skip trying to write with a highland brogue, and just say find these beers:

Three Floyds’ Robert the Bruce Scottish Style Ale [alternatives: Four Peaks Kiltlifter, Oskar Blues' Old Chub, Odell 90 Shilling Ale]

and

Traquair House Ale [alternatives: AleSmith Wee Heavy, Moylan's Kilt Lifter, Orkney Brewery's SkullSplitter, McEwan's Scotch Ale]

Iron that utili-kilt and start boiling the haggis…we’re drinking Braveheart-style!

The next show shakes things up a little, in honor of that alcohol-o-centric holiday known as New Year’s. Warning drink-alongers: things are gonna get boozy.

If you’d like to join me in an experimental slosh-fest, procure the following:

Your favorite stout, your favorite amber, your favorite “light lager”, your favorite cider, your favorite champagne, some amaretto, some irish creme liquer, some strawberry daquiri mix, some fresh mint, some half-n-half, and some simple syrup. If you have a cocktail shaker, break it out, otherwise locate a stirrer.

If you don’t already have most of this stuff lying around, it’s probably not worth it to go out and buy from scratch. If you can cobble it together among friends, you might be able to inject some Speaking of Beer into your New Year’s Eve soirée.