Pucker up

Who would've thought a beer could actually make you pucker your lips and still taste wonderful? It's hard to describe how delicious I find this beer. It is probably in my top five favorite beers and no sharing with this one. I will be finishing this 750 ML beer all by myself (don't judge). Rodenbach Grand Cru, made in belgium, is a flanders red ale.

Let me take you step by step though my experience with this beer:
It pours a deep, dark reddish purple and a pretty, light brown head.
I take a whiff and smell a strong vinegar and cherry mixture.
Oh man, my mouth is hit with strong funky flavors! Cherries, vinegar, green apples, balsamic, very sweet and very tart.

Now I'm no newbie to this beer but every time I have it, it seems as though its my first time again ;) If you are new to sour ales, I recommend starting out with Founders Cerise. This beer is pretty similar to Rodenbach but is more subtle and a little less intimidating.

If you want to know the way into a man's heart, make him a Rodenbach Grand Cru pie! I found this recipe online but have never tried it. If anyone does have a go at it please let me know how it turns out!
(plus you can drink the leftovers while the pie is baking)
http://russwbeck.com/blog/category/beer/cooking/

Cheers to the women with beer.

What am I drinking?

Well I'm glad you asked. I went to my local beer store, Habersham Beverage, and did a "make your own 6 pack" which is always a great idea if you want to try something new. The beer I am sippin on at the moment is called Moo-Hoo by Terrapin which is a Georgia brewery in Athens. The name is what got me. I love chocolate milk (who doesn't...) and the beer is labeled as a chocolate milk stout! Nom nom nom. 6% alcohol is a little low for my taste with stouts since I like the boozy taste with my darker beers. It pours black with just a little bit of a nice creamy brown head. Next is the smell and man o man does it smell good! I get more of a bitter cocoa and maybe just a hint of coffee? There is a lot of maltiness going on with the taste as expected, with lots of chocolate to go with it. It's a bit thin in texture and more light than anything but with some sips I get a creamy texture as well....which is strange. As I'm letting it sit and warm up the roastiness is starting to come out a lot and it's delicious. If you think you don't like stouts but would like to try some out, this might be a good starter beer. Very drinkable. Very tasty. 

New Year

Sorry for the lack of posts! One of my New Year resolutions is to write more on here. I'll be writing a new post sometime this week so keep those eyes peeled on this little blog.

:D

Pictures of the Dames

Distillery Dames

So our first Distillery Dames meeting was this month and it was an experience...to say the least. About 25 women showed up and hopefully more next time! Also, Sam Huba volunteered to help with making the logo for our group and I'll post it as soon as it's ready! We had Mr. David Little (the only man allowed in our meetings) put on an informative talk about the basics of beer.  We sampled a Czeck Pilsner, Founders Centennial IPA (YUM), Avery White Rascal...etc... After this meeting I thought it might be nice to inform some of my readers on the simple logic of beer, how its made, different styles and all that good stuff.

To start off, you need to know that beer is usually made of four elements: Water, Barley, Yeast and Hops (my favorite part). Yeast is what makes the difference between an ale and a lager, yeast fermenting at the top of the tank makes an ale, while at the bottom would make a lager. Lagers will come up tasting more clean and crisp, like a Pilsner or an Octoberfest. Ales will be more complex and full in flavor like a Brown or IPA. Ill save the other ingredients for another posting but its just that when I waitress I get a lot of requests for "Just pick me out an ale..."....then I come back with a delicious IPA and they really meant that they wanted something like a pilsner....

Also at the Dames meeting, David said something that I loved and thought it is pretty quotable for this blog...When asked what his favorite beer is, he said, "the one in my hand."

DFH

This brewery could possibly be the best thing to happen to craft brewskis in my opinion at least. Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales is well known and you can even be bought in your upper scale grocery store. After a taste of their classic ipa (60 minute) you'll want to try even more of their delish beer. Plus the founder Sam Calagione is a hottie which just adds to the appeal... 

I just found their website online which turned out to be AMAZING. Not only do they show all the sweet ass beer they make but their clothing and accessories are pretty cool too. I want an iphone just so I can get the cover they make for it(the picture on the left is the cover).

Top 5 Favorite beers from DFH

1. 90 minute IPA

2. Namaste

3. Sah'tea

4. 60 minute IPA

5. Pangaea

Visit the website and Sam himself will explain his beers to you in videos, even if you're not a major beer drinker he will win you over and you'll have to try some of these. Put down those 24 packs of  bud lights and natty lights. Instead get a six pack of 90 minute and you'll be shwasty face after 3 (saves you time annnnd money!).

My First

I want women to know that beer isn't just for men. Growing up I always wanted to be like the boys, fish with my brother and watch gory action movies with my dad etc...but once I started growing up I figured out that my girl friends didn't want to do those kind of thing with me. Well now women are getting more involved in the "men's" world of beer and I love it. So now I don't feel alienated because I prefer a beer over a cosmo...since you can probably find me drinking one with one of my girls at the bar.

The first time I had a craft brew was when I was 19. Oh, that first sip of Victory Golden Monkey stole my heart and never let me go back to any kind of Budweiser or anything of that sort ever again. So I started going a little crazy, ordering books online, buying beer shirts, and researching everything I could find about this new and exciting "hobby". Now that I am 21 and can (legally) drink in bars, I couldn't even begin to list the crazy beers I've tried but I sure as hell enjoyed every single one of them. I'm pretty new to the blogging community...tried it once before with other topics but all I really wanted to blog about was beer. So here I am now...plus The Distillery is starting a woman's beer club . Which (if you didn't know already) my family runs. And the only reason I don't drink Mikes Hard Lemonade ::cringe:: or even know what a micro brewery is, is probably because of my brother Ben. He manages The Distillery and takes care of all the beer ordering and is a beer connoisseur. I don't know how I could live on without knowing how Founders KBS tastes like or what a tripel is.

Just to warn you, I'm not going to college for journalism or writing. I just love beer and want to talk about it, maybe show some people that you're not drinking craft beer because you're stuck up, but because its more than just a way to get drunk.  Ever since since I've drank that first craft beer I can't turn back.
Is ignorance really bliss? Cause a glass of Southern Tier Creme Brulee seems more like bliss to me...
Cheers to the women with beer.