Is this the right thing to note? I dunno. I think sometimes that we are a bit to concerned as beer nerds that the beery moments in life are not quite up to the sip any more. But Stan has pronounced that beer is still beer and Stonch argues that it should be more the pub than the brew. There you have it. Decided. We have to place ourselves and where we find ourselves ahead of the beer in itself. So I can post about me and my TV.
It was a good game and I wanted to have some good New York state brew to help the sometimes hapless Giants in their role as thanks-guys good-try also-rans against the record setting Pats. So I had cracked the excellent Butternuts variety pack in the stash and set aside my bottle #54 of IPAbbey from the Excelsior series by Ithaca Beer who tell us:
The IPAbbey is a Hoppy Tripel Ale. From the label: "A Belgo-American Ale brewed with special Canadian Honey Malt, generous additions of Simcoe, Amarillo, and Saaz hops, and an authentic Trappist Ale Yeast."It is big and brassy and the sort of beer that may be a little hard to find in 2008 given the days of impending doom...though, you will recall, it was hard to find in 2003, too. Big generous sweet hops dominate the malt with June garden weeds, arugula, candy cane and mouth-drying astringent tea. In the malt, there is pear and raisin but they merge into a mere genial buttress for the hops. Warm and rich with something of a milky and white pepper finish in amongst all those hops - and a finish that only goes away with tooth brushing...if I have an enamel left to brush. Flower Power gone mad in a sort of absolutist dictatorial sort of fashion. BAers give a B.
I love it in the way that I love a salad of bitter greens mixed with hot hot sauce - but in the days of shortage to come will we look back at this as waste or as something to reflect fondly upon as being from those past days of former bounty?
Comments
Stonch - December 30, 2007 8:38 AM
Last night myself and three compadres took on the task of emptying a cask at a (closed) local pub which would otherwise go off before the place reopens after New Year. I am always helpful you see.
Who are the Giants and the Pats?
Alan - December 30, 2007 11:56 AM
The Giants are very large and the Pats are all called Patrick.
Sean Polay - December 30, 2007 5:05 PM
My allegiance was firmly with my hometown Pats, but in a weird quirk of beer fate, I partook of a beer from each market: Samuel Adams' Cream Stout and Brooklyn Brewery's Double Chocolate Stout, the latter of which I was enjoying as the Patriots completed their comeback. I preferred both the New England comeback and the Brooklyn brew.
Alex - January 3, 2008 3:10 PM
I know the hop shortage has a lot of people worried - hopefully most breweries will find ways to pull through as variety is a marvelous thing, especially when applied to a fridge filled with beer! However our brewer (Jeff of Ithaca Beer) has gone mad and is laughing in the face of hop crisis. This year we're rolling out our hoppiest beer ever! Brings tears to the eyes.
Love the blog! And happy new year!
Alan - January 3, 2008 5:09 PM
Hey Alex! Happy New Year right back at one of my favorite breweries. I should ask this by email but has Ithaca Brewing, what with the support for local hop growing, considered contracting with more CNY farmers to get the local supply growing?