The Finer Things In Life

[FlaSoxxJim]

I wouldn't mind a run down of what glasses to drink what beers in.

 

You drink out of your glass and I'll drink out of mine.

 

Seriously, that is a good discussion topic.

[bmags]

I ask because you know, being young you learn things occassionally. But I was drinking ole fezzywhigs last winter out of a bottle and was not enjoying it, the carbonation was masking it and it just came off us more bitter than I like. Then I put it in a pint glass and it sat for a few and then it was a much more pleasant experience. If that's a universal thing, to always put it into a glass, it would be good to know.

[Kid Gleason]

You drink out of your glass and I'll drink out of mine.

 

Seriously, that is a good discussion topic.

 

The main key is to drink it out of a glass. After that it boils down to how "snobby" you wish to be.

 

The only one I am a complete snob about: Trappists and Abbey Ales (one in the same to the beginner) should ALWAYS be decanted into a chalice of some sort. If you do not have something close to a chalice style glass, don't even open that dang bottle.

 

Duvel should pretty much always go into a Duvel glass. This is mainly due to the insane style head that is created when pouring one. It doesn't matter how much experience you have pouring a beer, a Duvel head will ALWAYS get away from you. This is mainly due to that being the intent. It is a HUGE, creamy, meringue style head.

 

A Weiss should go into a Weiss style glass. Those are the TALL skinny glasses you see people drinking from.

 

Fruit or no fruit in your weiss: I actually prefer my weiss without the fruit 90% of the time. It also kind of depends on how much I am planning to put down. If I am out to really let go, then I do the fruit. I think the added fruit wedge might help with the following morning. But remember, adding a wedge to your beer instantly takes you from "beer mode" to "Kool-aid mode" and you will find you are putting them down MUCH faster then without the wedge. With a Hacker-Pschorr, that can lead to hitting a wall REALLY fast.

[Kid Gleason]

I ask because you know, being young you learn things occassionally. But I was drinking ole fezzywhigs last winter out of a bottle and was not enjoying it, the carbonation was masking it and it just came off us more bitter than I like. Then I put it in a pint glass and it sat for a few and then it was a much more pleasant experience. If that's a universal thing, to always put it into a glass, it would be good to know.

 

That might also be because Fezz is that type of beer. Somedays it is good, others it is complete crap. Some brews are like that. Somedays Newcastle is one of the greatest beer made, others it is one of the worst.

[FlaSoxxJim]

That might also be because Fezz is that type of beer. Somedays it is good, others it is complete crap. Some brews are like that. Somedays Newcastle is one of the greatest beer made, others it is one of the worst.

 

And in both cases, as you well know, that has something to do with the inherent stability of a given beer, but much more to do with who has manhandled the beer along the way, how warm it has gotten, whether it's out of date etc. It's really frustrating to run into a bad bottle of a beer you know is very good when fresh and handled well. I've had that issue with both Fezziwig and Newcastle, and Harpoon IPA and Sam Smith Winter Welcome are two others that if gotten bad bottles of on more than one occasion.

 

More breweries going to oxygen barrier caps helps. And the trend toward hoppier and higher alcohol in a lot of the American craft market, I suspect, is partly a strategy to improve stability issues.

 

[Kid Gleason]

It's also a "mood thing" though. Fezz is a prime style beer that you just have to be in the mood for. Most Christmas style beers are like that. They're like the anti-Oktoberfest beers. Whereas most Oktoberfest beers are wonderful, and at that time of year you are always ready for them and they are enjoyable through all of the colder months, a Christmas beer is usually a "give me one and I am done" type of creature. I rarely look forward to breweries rolling out their weird ass spicey stuff.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Some of them can be a bit busy, that's true. I love me some Anchor Christmas ale with all the spices in it, but a 6-pack suffices for the season. In contrast, I'll get a case of Celebration at Christmas and will go through most of it in a few months and have to hide a few bottles so I don't drink them all.

[bmags]

The main key is to drink it out of a glass. After that it boils down to how "snobby" you wish to be.

 

The only one I am a complete snob about: Trappists and Abbey Ales (one in the same to the beginner) should ALWAYS be decanted into a chalice of some sort. If you do not have something close to a chalice style glass, don't even open that dang bottle.

 

 

Duvel should pretty much always go into a Duvel glass. This is mainly due to the insane style head that is created when pouring one. It doesn't matter how much experience you have pouring a beer, a Duvel head will ALWAYS get away from you. This is mainly due to that being the intent. It is a HUGE, creamy, meringue style head.

 

 

A Weiss should go into a Weiss style glass. Those are the TALL skinny glasses you see people drinking from.

 

 

Fruit or no fruit in your weiss: I actually prefer my weiss without the fruit 90% of the time. It also kind of depends on how much I am planning to put down. If I am out to really let go, then I do the fruit. I think the added fruit wedge might help with the following morning. But remember, adding a wedge to your beer instantly takes you from "beer mode" to "Kool-aid mode" and you will find you are putting them down MUCH faster then without the wedge. With a Hacker-Pschorr, that can lead to hitting a wall REALLY fast.

 

correct?

 

And so those short, straight glasses, I believe I've been served IPA/APAs most commonly. I wonder what the advantages are to those.

[FlaSoxxJim]

correct?

 

And so those short, straight glasses, I believe I've been served IPA/APAs most commonly. I wonder what the advantages are to those.

 

Those are classic standing pint glasses, and they are the go to glass for most "standard" beers. Like Kid says, most beers work well in anything, and there are a few styles that need specific glassware.

 

Thistle glasses for Scotch ales and Belgian Scotch ales are another specialty glass that is also useful for critical beer tasting because it does a great job capturing the nose of the beer.

 

Edited August 20, 2009 by FlaSoxxJim

[Kid Gleason]

Those are classic standing pint glasses, and they are the go to glass for most "standard" beers. Like Kid says, most beers work well in anything, and there are a few styles that need specific glassware.

 

Though I do prefer the classic pint glasses, the ones that actually hold a pint:

 

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

Though I do prefer the classic pint glasses, the ones that actually hold a pint:

 

 

 

It was a very shrewed beancounter somewhere who decided that US pub pint glasses should only be 14.5 oz.

 

My Irish pub knows to only serve my Guinness in British Pint glasses and to not try shorting me with the runty pseudopints.

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

Getting away for the weekend with the family, so all drinking will be done without a long-winded play by play.

 

I needed to finish off a can of passionfruit juice I'd opened a few days ago — which is why both the drinks I talked about here had passionfruit juice as an ingredient. If you like tropical rum drinks and want to expand beyond pineapple and orange juice as the main drink extenders, give passionfruit juice a try. A mix of the three of them in proportions that suit your tastes actually open the palate of a tropical drink up quite nicely.

 

Anyway, I finished off the juice with a very polarizing drink that I've named Pirate's Passion. Despite the gold rum and fruit juice, the taste is clearly on the savory side of the flavor spectrum and so it doesn't appeal to some of the Tiki crowd that only go in for the sour/sweet drinks. It's a simple drink that I really like though, and if you have these ingredients handy, you should mix one up and give it a go:

 

• 1.5 oz Appleton Reserve (sub V/X if you're as cheapskate or Extra if you're a Rockefeller)

• 0.25-0.5 oz sweet (red) vermouth (to taste)

• 2 oz passionfruit juice

• dash Angostura bitters

 

– Shake all ingredients with crushed ice and serve.

 

I found the blueprint for this drink — minus the passionfruit juice — in a hit-and-miss tiki cocktail recipe book. The rum and red vermouth by themselves were intriguing but the drink just didn't come together flavor-wise. The passionfruit juice rounds out the flavors and also is a nice extender that turns a short hoist into a semi-long drink. The dash of bitters adds to the savory side of the palate and is one of a handful of drinks I make where it absolutely brings the drink over and I won't make the drink if I don't have biters on hand. I've tried the drink with Peychaud's bitters and it's an interesting twist. Need to try with orange bitters.

 

If you think that all rum drinks are too cloyingly sweet (which is true of cr@ppy drinks mixed by lazy bartenders at many places), this is one you might like.

[bmags]

I think I might make a caiparinha tonite.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I think I might make a caiparinha tonite.

 

Mmmm caiparinha.

 

What brand of cachaca do you use? I'm stuck in a Pitu rut becase it's cheap and traditional, and has a very clear cachaca taste.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Pusser's Painkillers #2 = Yaaaay!

 

Pusser's 84 proof instead of magical 95.5 proof = bummer.

[hogan873]

Sam Adams sells a four-pack of glasses that are designed to get the most flavor out of a beer. The shape allows the brew to breath not be warmed by your hand. There are also etchings on the bottom to create a constant stream of bubbles. I was skeptical until my dad bought me the glasses. They actually work.

[G&T]

Had my first Allagash Curieux while in Maine. Damn that is some fine beer. Also had the Black, which was nice, but nothing special. The Curieux was nice with some fresh clams.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Had my first Allagash Curieux while in Maine. Damn that is some fine beer. Also had the Black, which was nice, but nothing special. The Curieux was nice with some fresh clams.

 

Most of Allagash's stuff is outstanding. When Austin's legendary Celis Brewery closed after selling their soul to Miller, Alagash Witbier was easily the best wit made in North America. Their Double and Grand Cru are also among the standout beers to emerge in the early 1990s before most of the country had a clue what craft beer was.

 

I have a 750 ml bottle of the Allagash Hugh Malone Ale that I have been waiting to crack, and now that this wonderful brewery has come up in conversation i think I'll have to dig into this one soon.

 

I have not exhaustively sampled the most recent offerings from Ommegang, New Belgium, Unibroue , or Allagash, but past encounters always led me to conclude Allagash was the best of the North American upstart Belgian-style breweries. Now of course, there are a couple more players on the scene, and a comprehensive comparative beer hunt may be in order.

[ptatc]

Most of Allagash's stuff is outstanding. When Austin's legendary Celis Brewery closed after selling their soul to Miller, Alagash Witbier was easily the best wit made in North America. Their Double and Grand Cru are also among the standout beers to emerge in the early 1990s before most of the country had a clue what craft beer was.

 

I have a 750 ml bottle of the Allagash Hugh Malone Ale that I have been waiting to crack, and now that this wonderful brewery has come up in conversation i think I'll have to dig into this one soon.

 

I have not exhaustively sampled the most recent offerings from Ommegang, New Belgium, Unibroue , or Allagash, but past encounters always led me to conclude Allagash was the best of the North American upstart Belgian-style breweries. Now of course, there are a couple more players on the scene, and a comprehensive comparative beer hunt may be in order.

 

I agree. I've been to both the Ommegang and Allagash breweries and tried them fresh. I like both but the Allagash is the better of the two.

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

A few days ago I lamented my lack of on-hand Pusser's 95.5 proof while drinking Painkiller #2s during a weekend getaway. I'll stand by the contention that the 95.5 makes painkillers and navy grogs sing, and I'm amazed at how hard it is to obtain this classic rum within 50 miles of where I live. Alas, the weekend trip to Kissimmee for a few days at The Mouse did not turn up any 95.5 either, and that's usually where I can find it.

 

Undaunted, this evening I returned to a nice punch that really does work best with the standard 84 proof Pusser's. This Pusser's Punch is always a solid choice:

 

• juice from 1/2 lime

• 1 oz pineapple juice

• 1 oz orange juice

• 1 oz guava juice

• 2 tsp fresh grenadine (or 1 tsp store-bought)

• 2 oz Pusser's 84 proof Navy Rum

 

— Shake all ingredients on ice, pour into serving glass and garnish with a generous dusting of fresh grated nutmeg.

 

If you are a Painkiller fan, you already know how well the rich woodiness of the Pusser's meshes with the spiciness of the nutmeg. This punch showcases that same match-up, but with the addition of guava juice to give your taste buds a break from the pineapple and coconut cream overload that you reach after a couple painkillers.

[G&T]

I agree. I've been to both the Ommegang and Allagash breweries and tried them fresh. I like both but the Allagash is the better of the two.

 

I'll take Witte over Allagash White any day, although they had it on tap in Maine and it was pretty damn good. But Allash Dubbel is far superior to Abbey Ale. Both are nice breweries, I guess it's just what I'm in the mood for.

Edited August 26, 2009 by G&T

[FlaSoxxJim]

I'll take Witte over Allagash White any day, although they had it on tap in Maine and it was pretty damn good.

 

A side-by-side comparison of the two would be enjoyable (witbier is absolutely a favorite style for me). It has been at least a year since I've had the Witte, but I do remember that the exclusive use of sweet orange rather than bitter orange in the gruit and a lack of discernible lactic tang made the beer just a tad less memorable than some other versions. I think Allagash also still uses exclusively raw red winter wheat (an unbelievably tough ingredient to brew with, as I can tell you from personal experience with a few stuck mashes), whereas Witte uses a lot of malted wheat in the grain bill. I don't really think i can tell a taste difference based on the wheat choice, but I give the authenticity nod to Allagash.

 

Again, though, until I can try them side-by-side, I'll reserve final judgement.

 

Man, I wish you could have tried Austin's original Celis White. The first authentic witbier most Americans ever experienced, formulated by the Godfather of Wit and brewed by his daughter, tasting that beer for the first time was an epiphany. I have yet to track down any of Michigan Brewing Company's interpretation of Celis, sadly, so I'm not sure how close they have come to the original.

 

Thirsty for witbier now, with none on hand. . .

 

 

 

 

[bmags]

I bought my brother a shot of chartreuse this weekend for his bachelor party and the bartender didn't serve it chilled. At least they had it.

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

I bought my brother a shot of chartreuse this weekend for his bachelor party and the bartender didn't serve it chilled. At least they had it.

 

You could have rocked a Cloister:

 

* 1 1/2 ounce gin

* 1/2 ounce Yellow Chartreuse (green is good too)

* 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice

* 1/4 ounce lemon juice

* 1/4 ounce simple syrup

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

Hey bmags. . . You never indicated your cachaca preference. Inquiring minds want to know.