Feature Beer Friday! - Brash / Clown Shoes Pimp

If you don't know how the BR Beer Scene in conjunction with Raise A Glass Feature Beer Friday posts work, go check out the first one! 

Up today is a locally available Texas-owned and Massachusetts brewed collaboration beer, the Pimp Imperial Brown from Brash Brewing and Clown Shoes.  Brash Brewing (facebook - twitter) was created by the owner of Petrol Station with help from Clown Shoes (facebook - twitter) out of Massachusetts.  

Both brewing companies are "gypsy breweries" meaning they contract brew at facilities they don't themselves own, but both put out some good beer.  The funny thing though, is that because Ben also owns Petrol Station, he isn't allowed to distribute his beers in Texas.  Their loss is our gain though, as Louisiana is the closest market to Houston and their beers are on our shelves!

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), James Lawson (Whiskeybomb.com), and Blake Winchell (Brasseurs A La Maison)

Serving: 22 ounce bottle.

Appearance: "Dark brown, nice lingering off-white head"  was one sentiment and all appearance scores were 12/15 or better for this brew.

Aroma: Jay described this one as "roasted nuts, caramel, chocolate - like a snickers" while I wrote down "malty, roasted, slightly harsh & bitter" in giving it at 20/25 on the nose.

Taste:  Unforunately the taste was "weaker than the aroma, a little out of balance bitter" and didn't live up to the expectations.  We all scored it above average but the appearance and aroma were hitting top 25% where the taste was in the next quarter down.

Mouthfeel: "Nice texture, finishes bitter" was one comment and I agree.  Still solid above average scores but falling short of elite.

Overall: We all enjoyed the brew, but as Blake said, "Was hoping for more.  can't put my finger on what is lacking."   I think the biggest problem was that the body of the beer didn't back up the strong 10% alcohol that it packed.  A decent beer that fell short of being a really great beer.

Overall Rating: 72.5

My Rating: 70

Feature Beer Friday! - Parish Canebrake

If you don't know how the BR Beer Scene in conjunction with Raise A Glass Feature Beer Friday posts work, go check out the first one! Today we'll be taking a look at a beer from just over in Broussard, LA, the Parish Brewing (facebook - twitter) Canebrake.  I've talked about Parish Brewing and their Canebrake before, but this is a chance to really put it up against other beers with a few other opinions, and see how it fares.  As always, there is sure to be some bias, so get over it! 

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), Jeremy Spikes (Whiskeybomb.com)

Serving: 12 ounce bottle.

Appearance: "What you want for the style."

Aroma: Nice fruity notes with the wheat, good scores here.

Taste: Everyone enjoyed drinking this beer, and every score came in at 30 or above out of a possible 40 points on the taste.

Mouthfeel: "sweet & bready" 

Overall: This was very well received as a "workhorse" beer and an every day sessionable brew, especially in the hot weather of a Louisiana Summer. 

Overall Rating:74

My Rating:80

Vote for Avenue Pub in the Great American Beer Bar Finals!

Well, it appears that the local(ish) joint Avenue Pub (facebook - twitter) has made the finals of the CraftBeer.com Great American Beer Bar competition for the South region.  Congrats to Avenue Pub for making it on the list, although it should be a no-brainer to include of the best beer bars around.  I mean, where else nearby can you try a Swedish Stormaktsporter or experience Zwanze Day? 

Here's the link to vote, so go cast a vote for Avenue Pub!

Yeah, Hay Merchant in Houston is on there as well, and they are a pretty awesome beer bar that takes advantage of Texas's multitude of breweries and plentiful out-of-state distribution, but Polly is getting my vote for making the absolute best of what Louisiana's laws and distribution will allow.  Keep up the good work Polly!  

And to reinforce the point, some of what you can expect at Avenue Pub coming up soon:

Mecha Hopzilla release this Thursday 9/20
Peter's long awaited double IPA

Firkin Friday 9/21
Saint Arnold Simcoe Dry Hopped Weedwacker Cask 6pm

Goose Island enters the Market 9/24
This Chicago brewery started small and with great reviews. last year In Bev bought a majority stake...and believe it or not they have just gotten better.

Brash Brewing and Clown Shoes 9/28 &9/29
Ben Fullove, the Owner of Petrol Station in Houston can't brew or sell his beer in Texas. He partnered with Clown Shoes to brew his beer and he will be releasing it at the Pub along with a long list of Clown Shoes Drafts that are new to the market. Some of the Clown Shoes bottles are available at Stein's Deli now but for the release weekend he will have just about everything. Barley Oak on the northshore should be getting some beer too! Join us and the brewers and owners at the Pub for a cask on Friday. We will begin tapping the beers on Friday but by Noon Saturday they will all be on the system.

Zwanze But Not Zwanze Day Wed Oct 3rd
These bottles were intended for serving at the next Zwanze day but Zwanze 2012 isn't ready yet and they have agreed to let us pour them to give the Pub a much needed little shot in the arm:)
They have also sent us some other rare and lovely beers to pour that night.

Firkin Friday October 5th
Saint Arnold Octoberfest

Firkin Friday October 12th
NOLA cask TBA

Feature Beer Friday! - Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Hello folks, welcome to the second installment of Feature Beer Friday, a new weekly feature here on the BR Beer Scene in conjunction with the Raise A Glass radio show.  Throughout season 5 of the show and into the future we will feature episodes where we bring a handful of beers to the table and have a roundtable discussion / critique of the beers while also rating them on a 1-100 scale.  

This isn't an old-school gymnastics scoring though where everyone is between 9-10, or 90-100 in this case.  A 50 should be considered a mediocre beer and anything in the 90 or above range is world class.  Basically 0-20 is a failure, 21-40 is a poor beer, 41-60 is a mediocre brew, 61-80 is getting good, and 81-100 is an "A" effort.

The scoring includes 4 categories, each weighted appropriately.  Appearance is worth a total of 15 points, aroma is worth 25, taste is worth 40, and mouthfeel/finish is worth 20.  We all have our differing opinions on beer, so I'll present the group average, as well as my ratings for each brew. Up next is a locally available craft beer all the way from Brooklyn Brewing (facebook - twitter) in Brooklyn, NY, the Black Chocolate Stout!

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), Jeremy Spikes (Whiskeybomb.com)

Serving: 12 ounce bottle, 2011 vintage.

Appearance: "Deep brown with a nice tan head" and high scores all around.

Aroma: Jay described it as a "brownie with espresso" and the overall sentiment was very positive on the aroma here. Chocolate, coffee, and rich were some of the key terms.

Taste: "Roasted malts, rich chocolate." was one comment and every score came in at 30 or above out of a possible 40 points on the taste.

Mouthfeel: "Creamy & delicious," and "easy drinking stout for 10%" were two of the comments as this beer scored well for mouthfeel overall.  

Overall: The overall sentiment of the group was that this is a great example of an American Imperial Stout, and one that can be found in Baton Rouge when it's seasonally released from October to March.  And don't be afraid to age a few, as this one should cellar well.

Overall Rating: 82

My Rating:86

Review: Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer

Alright, time for something a little different, an Alcoholic Ginger Beer, from Crabbie's, a UK based company specializing in Ginger Beer.  

Now, is Ginger Beer really beer?  To answer that I'd need to know the ingredients, and according to the Crabbie's website, those are a secret!  Other than they use a lot of steeped ginger, which is totally cool everywhere but Germany.  So, it might be a legit beer, with malted grains, water, hops, and yeast, or it might not have the hops.  There is certainly no taste of hops here, but that's okay because it drinks more like a cocktail than a beer, albeit a very weak cocktail at only about 5% alcohol.  

Served with slices of lime and lemon as suggested, it was a very crisp and refreshing drink with a combination of lemon-lime and ginger flavors.  Very well carbonated and easy to drink, I could see drinking a few of these on a hot summer day, but it's nothing that really gets me excited for more.

An interesting concept, but not really my thing.  Thanks to Crabbie's for sending me a bottle though, I know some people out there would really enjoy this drink, I'm just not one of them.

First Feature Beer Friday! - Guinness Draught

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new weekly feature here on the BR Beer Scene in conjunction with the Raise A Glass radio show.  Throughout season 5 of the show and into the future we will feature episodes where we bring a handful of beers to the table and have a roundtable discussion / critique of the beers while also rating them on a 1-100 scale.  

This isn't an old-school gymnastics scoring though where everyone is between 9-10, or 90-100 in this case.  A 50 should be considered a mediocre beer and anything in the 90 or above range is world class.  Basically 0-20 is a failure, 21-40 is a poor beer, 41-60 is a mediocre brew, 61-80 is getting good, and 81-100 is an "A" effort.

The scoring includes 4 categories, each weighted appropriately.  Appearance is worth a total of 15 points, aroma is worth 25, taste is worth 40, and mouthfeel/finish is worth 20.  We all have our differing opinions on beer, so I'll present the group average, as well as my ratings for each brew. Since we started out this new segment on the radio show with Guinness Draught, I'm going to start out the Feature Beer Friday blog posts with Guinness Draught!

Serving: Nitro widget can.

Appearance: All three of the reviewers of the day, myself, Jay Ducote of Bite And Booze, and Jeremy Spikes of WhiskeyBomb.com all gave high marks, either 14 or 15 out of 15 possible.  The comments included "about as good as it gets," and "classic nitro pour."

Aroma:   "Roasted, but a little weak here" was the primary comment, and scores dropped a little into the 15-20 out of 25 range. 

Taste:  "Surprisingly delicious and refreshing once you get past that it's dark" was Jay's comment on the taste, and scores were all above average but not overwhelming.

Mouthfeel: All great scores here, in the 17-18 out of 20 range, for this "dry but creamy in a magical way" nitro widget stout.  

Overall: Jeremy described it as a "Solid stout, easy drinking, full and robust without being ridiculous" and I couldn't agree more.

Overall Rating: 76

My Rating: 71