Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Get Wet - Locals Only

Pizza Port Ocean Beach's Get Wet fresh/wet hop IPA is now on tap.  I had this beer last year and it was a flavor bomb.  The OB Farmer's market this afternoon seems like the perfect excuse for me to drop in and taste this year's version.  I know I am spending too much time touting Pizza Port Ocean Beach's fresh hop IPA and its While The Wife's Away IPA, but this is because they're good IPAs and PPOB's regular IPA, Jetty, is a marginal beer.   You have to drink the good stuff while it's available.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Jay at the must-read Beer Samizdat was gracious enough to interview me and say nice things.  You can read the interview and my ramblings on beer here

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Fresh Beer and Vertical Epic

From reading tweets a few weeks ago, I think Pizza Port locations are going to have their fresh hop beers available either this weekend or early next week.  That is good news, if like me, you appreciate the juicy bitterness of a fresh hop beer. 

I also realized that it's less than two months until Stone Brewing releases this year's Vertical Epic - 11.11.11.  The deserved hype surrounding Stone's 15th Anniversary Ale made me forget this release, (or maybe it was the crappy 10.10.10).  I haven't checked to see what Belgian style is targeted for 11.11.11, but would appreciate a quad, or another golden strong ale (08.08.08), or an oud bruin or a....

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Blackout Beer - Duvel in the Dark

Last week's San Diego Blackout came and went without much impact or hoopla in my house.  We found candles and flashlights before it got dark, and located an Italian restaurant that was selling pizzas.  (I am going to make sure to buy some non-scented candles.)  It was nice not having the TV blaring for an evening, even for the start of the NFL season.  When I went out to get the pizza, I was amazed at how quiet it was.  People were out walking or sitting on their lawns or porches, with no noise other than conversation.  My daughter and I enjoyed a one-time star show, seeing stars and constellations we've only seen on night sky maps.  

I got home with the pizza just at dusk and went to the beer fridge, which had stayed closed and cold, despite over three hours in a summer garage.  I pulled out my bottle of Duvel Golden Ale that I had been saving for some unspecified occasion.  No power, pizza and candlelight seemed the perfect excuse to pop the cork.  I can't tell you how this beer looked, because everything in candlelight is some shade of yellow or orange, with plenty of shadows.  I do know it had plenty of foam that was slow to dissipate.  Duvel was effervescent, and the bubbles stayed concentrated throughout the whole bottle.  It had a strong yeast presence and a richness characteristic of a good golden ale, with a mild hop finish.  It was an excellent beer with strong flavor and an approachability missing from many big Belgians.  The beer geek will appreciate this beer and the novice will just grin and ask for more.

The beer went perfect with the evening.  It was mellow, but had an underlying complexity.  Its first taste was as good as its last.  I'd never had a bottle of Duvel before, even though it's widely distributed (Trader Joe's usually has bottles of Duvel at a reasonable price).  I plan on buying more of this beer and keeping a bottle in my beer fridge, you never know when it'll be needed.