blue moon beer

[AssHatSoxFan]

s*** man had a few tonight again good stuff I am sure feeling it thats how the night went

[Mathew]

The style is traditionally low to medium in alcohol strength, owing to the fact that half the grain bill is not malted.

At least 5% is a must but I likes more alcohol in my beer whenever possible.

[Kid Gleason]

FlaSoxxJim, you sound like my type of person to hang with! My buddies and I have converted numerous bars in our area to start carrying better beers. I just got back from the local liquor store (another place we have helped to convert) with a sixer of Grants IPA (though from word of mouth I am not expecting too much) a bomber of Bear Republics Hop Rod Rye, and a slab of Chimay cheese. My buddy grabbed a bunch of Founders stuff such as their IPA, Imperial Stout, and their Dirty Bastard.

 

Blue Moon is good, but not great. There are many others out there that are better, but for it's availability and price, it is a happy day to walk into a bar and see it on offer so that I can steer clear of the regular macro junk. No food in my beer, thank you though.

 

And to the best of my knowledge, Blue Moon started out as a true micro, and then was gobbled up by the Coors beast. I believe it started life in Atlanta, or some place in the south. Supposedly they have a whole line of beers such as a Raspberry Cream Ale, but the only variation we have been able to find has been the Pumpkin Ale. We have even had people scour the country for the stuff, to no avail.

 

My drinks of choice though would be Great Lakes Burning River, La Trappe Quadrupple, St. Bernardus 12, Westvlettern (when the wallet can afford it), Rogue Nutbrown, Spaten Optimator, and the nectar of the God's: CELEBRATOR!!!

[FlaSoxxJim]

Indeed, Gleason, it sounds like you and I could do some serious damage on a beer hunt/pub crawl. The quest for better beer and the call to converting the macro-will masses is important and difficult (not to mention thirsty) work.

 

You might be right about Blue Moon but I don't believe so. It's currently brewed out of their Tennessee brewery – not Colorado. The duplicity is entirely intentional, ala' Miller and the Plank Road "brewery" Icehouse scam. The first national distribution of Blue Moon ales was 1995 and I've not been able to find a micro precursor., but I'll keep looking. I know there was a Blue Moon Brewery in Norfolk, England that operated for a very short time in the late 90s, but Greene King (the Abbot Ale people) had taken that over a few years back.

 

There are some really good wits out there, though I agree any port in a storm is welcome and a Blue Moon tap handle is good to see among the dregs offered at a lot of places. Celis white beer was among my favorite all time brews, and Hoegarden is as close as any I've tried to that flavor profile.

 

Don't sell the Grants IPA short until you've had a couple. Though not as hoppy as the historical versions or the "double-!PAs" soem of the pubs are doing now, it's hopping is up close to 60 IBUs. Bert Grant, who just died like two years ago, was one of the leaders of the microbrew revolution, and he put Yakima on the map as far as the hophead haven it is today. Grants Scottish Ale is really nice if you haven't had it – enough malt and alcohol in the bill to pass as maybe a Scottish 80-shilling, but with that signature west coast hopping rate to tell you where it came from. Their Celtic Ale is good enough, their Perfect Porter and Russian Imperial Stout are among my personal favorites, and their American Wheat is honestly one of a handful of American wheats I care for (Pyramid and Sierra being probably the other two).

 

I have not had the pleasure of sampling either the Bear Republic or the Founders offerings. They are now on the ever-growing list of brews to seek out and drink, thanks.

 

Kudos on finding the Great Lakes stuff. Burning River is very nice, as is the Fitzgerald Porter and the Dortmunder Gold. I had the best walleye dinner of my life at the Great Lakes brewpub in Cleveland back in 1999 on a night in which the Sox later got mercilessly pounded at the Jake. La Trappe is probably my second fave of the Tappist brewers after Chimay and Orval. Quadruppel, huh? You like some afterglow to your Belgians. I just got a 4-pack of St Bernardus 12 last year through the Michael Jackson monthly offerings (you're probably the only one here who would know who the IMPORTANT Michael Jackson is). Celebrator is indeed wonderful. We decorated a little tabletop Christmas tree with a bunch of those little plastic Celebrator goats that hang off the bottles we had ammassed over the years.

 

My wonderful wife (a fellow beer head who has willingly been dragged across England and Ireland in search of the perfect pint) bought us tickets to one of them fancy brewpub dinner and beer tastings several years ago where Mr. Jackson was the guest of honor. Other than the headbrewer at the pub, my wife and I were really about the only ones in attendance that had much beer knowledge as per style histories, etc., so I got to drink and speak with the man at length and it was a fun evening.

 

I'm looking forward to coming into Chicago in June to get my fill of the increasingly noteworthy Midwest offerings. I've tried unsuccessfully for the last three to make it in for the Real Ale festivals Goose Island puts on (February-March is during my teaching semester), but hopefully I can make one. I have yet to make it to Denver for GABF, but as soon as my little ones are old enough to stay with Grandma and Papa for a week I'll get there.

 

Cheers.

[mreye]

Blue Moon is NASTY! :puke

[WSoxShuf]

blue Moons is great, make sure you put an orange in the drink also.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Blue Moon is NASTY!  :puke

Nasty good you mean... right?

[Kid Gleason]

Tennesee, thats it. You are probably right about them always being Coors, actually. People just kept telling us they were a micro originally, probably just the story to make it seem cooler. But that would be a shame, as it is a fine brew for being a macro.

 

Yup, I know who Mike Jackson is. The wife and I were at a book store recently and she was looking at wine books, and came across the Jackson stuff. She showed them to me, and I explained to her how Jackson was looked at as a bit of a God amongst the beer folk. She is a beer fan also, and it is a "hobby" of sorts we both take part in. We have a Spring Beer Fest coming up in two weeks as a matter of fact at a local bar. Last year was a heady event to say the least. I have been tempted to order his glass selection, but thanks to a local bar I have been able to stock up on my glasses. I have a Chimay chalice, a Celebrator glass, a Hoegardden glass, a couple of Corsendonk glasses, and a few others that I am forgetting about. Basically one for every type.

 

http://durtynellies.com/pubmenu.html?page=...g_beer_festival

 

Thats the link so you can see what pleasures are to be served. The Oktoberfest version had a better offering, obviously, but it is still a fine selection.

 

I had to avoid the beer for a little while recently. I came down with the flu one night over the winter, but just before I went to the :puke stage of it all I had finished a local micro Porter and after that a Sami Clause. If you are not familiar with the Sami, lets just say it is the last thing you want returning on you!!! The odd thing was that as I was enjoying it that night, I said to my buddy "can you imagine how evil one of these would be to get sick on?"!!! Granted, it was the flu that got me, and not the drinking, but it was the thing that came up, and I was stone cold sober, so that made it all that much worse I think. This was back in the beginning of December, and I am just now being able to go back to the Malt Monsters. Hops are cool with me still though.

 

Yes, Hoegardden is a VERY nice beer. Goes down SUPER easy!

 

Oh, I forgot though, my standard beer, the home base safety beer, is a typical Hacker-Pschorr Weiss. When nothing else sounds good, that always puts a smile on my face.

 

Good luck getting to the Goose Island outing. I need to get to one of those. If you go, keep an eye out for the Demolition Ale. It is only served on special occasions, and in special places. The stuff is friggin' AMAZING!!! If you ever see it anyplace, get in line and enjoy!!!

 

I'd love to go on a beer journey, but I hate air travel, and I am pretty sure I can't drive to Europe. My buddy and boss are planning a real Oktoberfest trip in the next few years. Lucky s.o.b.'s...

[FlaSoxxJim]

Ah, I know Samichlaus well. I have a four pack in reserve and hopefully at least one of them will make it to Christtmas next year for the annual side-by-side tasting of the new and old vintage (We do the same for Sierra's Celebration and Bigfoot, yumm). Sami actually was not produced for four years a little while back while the original brewery (Hürlimann) folded and was bought by someone else. They still brew it once a year, age it for almost a year and then package it for distribution at Christmas. The new owner did not revive another pretty good beer by them called Hexenbrau ("wiitched brew") that was only brewed on full moon nights.

 

Hacker's weiss is as good as it gets in teh daily bread department. I'm slightly more of an Oberdorfer fan, but that is probably because I always liked their swingtop bottles for putting homebrew in.

 

Oktoberfest is as good a reason to get on a plane as any - Don't let your friends have all the fun. Just sedate yourself for the flight.

[cwsox]

My local bar now carries Blue Moon on tap for me, at my request, and has built quite a following.

 

They also have a sandwich named after me, as well as a salad.

 

Just like I am a celeb!

 

I continue to hate beer, I continue to love Blue Moon.