Epic Portions

Tag: beer

  • Epic Family Beer Tasting

    I come from a small family and the family I do have is spread out around the country.  My brother in town for the Summer which represents one of the longest stretches of time my immediate family has been together in the last 6 years.  He’s heading back home to North Carolina next week so the family decided to get together over quality beer and good food.  Hardik at The Wine Seller hooked us up with some pretty fantastic beers and it was one hell of a night. 

    We tried to get a variety of different beers from a variety of places.  Not as many American micro brews as I would have liked, but we put together a pretty nice selection.  The “quality” choices included the following.

    • St. Pauli Girl
    • Fuller’s ESB
    • Founders Devil Dancer
    • Kell’s Irish Style Lager
    • Jolly Pumpkin B.S. Bam Hoppy Farmhouse Ale
    • Chimay Premiere
    • Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Brew
    • Brooklyn Local 2
    • Delirium Tremens
    • Fuller’s London Pride

    We didn’t just get good beer though.  We had to mix in some “run of the mill”, and in some cases awful, choices as well.  It was nice to be able to compare the good beers to absolute shit.  Really makes you appreciate your beer a little more.

    • Miller Genuine Draft
    • Budweiser
    • Heineken
    • Corona
    • Molson Canadian
    • Fosters

    After five hours of drinking great beer, eating good food(including my world famous queso) we met to discuss our thoughts on the beer.  My memory is a bit hazy, but random thoughts include…

    • Founders Devil Danceris the best IPA I have ever had.  Think about the most bitterness you could pack into an IPA and this is what you would get.  This isn’t just a beer, but more of an experience.  The first sip is intense but it mellows out after a while.  I would have trouble drinking more than one of these due to the intense flavor.  Incredible beer and easily the beer of the night.
    • Jolly Pumpkin’s Hoppy Farmhouse Ale is one of the most interesting beers I’ve had in a while.  Very earthy farmhouse flavor, but very drinkable.
    • I hadn’t had Delirium in a while and I’m confused as to why.  To me, the stuff is very similar to champagne.  Delicious and very carbonated.
    • Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Brewwas delicious.  If you can get your hands on some, I would highly recommend it.
    • Miller Genuine Draft is AWFUL.  Just in case you didn’t already know that.
    • While it’s not great, Budweiser resists the “complete shit” label and does an admiral job standing up to the higher quality beers.  I’m not saying Budweiser is a top choice for me, but when it comes to mass produced American beer, I feel like Budweiser is one of the better ones.

    In closing, I just want to throw this out there… When you Google “Delirium Tremens”, the following comes up from Google Health:

    Delirium tremens is a severe form of alcohol withdrawal that involves
    sudden and severe mental or neurological changes. Symptoms most
    commonly occur within 72 hours after the last drink

  • Ypsi Summer Beer Festival FTW

    Summer Beer Festival is over and before I comment on my favorites I would like to point out the awesomeness that is Ypsilanti.  Thousands upon thousands of beer drinkers, many of whom were inebriated (myself included), and the crowd was amazing.  Everyone was friendly and why not, we were drinking incredible beer.  Rain and swamp-like conditions be damned, it was one of those happy to be alive moments.

    I tasted so many beers that before I announce my favorite here are the honorable mentions:

    Copper Canyon Ginger Kids Revenge Imperial Red

    Frog Island Bengal IPA

    Big Buck Lemon Summer Ale

    Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

    Founders Black Biscuit

    However, my award for beer of the Festival goes to:

    Dragonmead Redwing Raspberry Wheat – Perfect for a warm summer evening, hint of raspberry that really comes alive with the finish.  For me to pick anything with the words “Red” and “Wing” in it is amazing in and of itself, as I am certainly NOT a fan of the local hockey team. However, even with that handicap Dragonmead’s Raspberry wins.  Also, Dragonmead is a really bad-ass name.

    Special award for Most Interesting Beer goes to our friends at Bastone Brewery for their Peanut Butter Ale.  Refreshing and delicious.  Seriously.

    The best tent and overall brewer award goes to Gaylord, MI’s own Big Buck Brewery.  Their Lemon Summer Ale was a revelation, damn near a winner overall.  Also, they made an ice cream stout that was unbelievably delicious.

    Kudos to the Michigan Brewers Guild for a fine event.  Let it be known to all that Michigan is the United States capital for microbrews, so says Epic Portions.  I’ll put our group up against any other state.

    Good night and good luck.

  • Epic Product Reviews: Hop Hound Amber Wheat

    Ruff, Ruff!! I'm Hop Hound the rockin' dog!

    It’s difficult to know what to expect when macro-brewers endeavor to create a craft beer.  Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.  As for the effort, I like to think that even though the idea sprang from a whorish money grabbing attempt by the marketing department, those who actually get to brew the beer relish the opportunity to construct a legitimate, quality beverage.

    Hop Hound Amber Wheat, from our old pals at Anheuser Busch/InBev, fills the entire spectrum of poor marketing and decent craftsmanship.  Has anyone seen an ad for Hop Hound?  If you have, please clue me in.  And why not blitz the airwaves with advertising for Hop Hound, I mean, there’s a freaking dog on the label!  The possibilities are endless.  Never mind that the dog on Hop Hound looks like Poochie, the cartoon dog from The Simpsons that was used to make Itchy and Scratchy seem new and fresh, it’s still a dog!

    I have to go now. My planet needs me…to sell beer!

    The Hop Hound dog may not be totally in my face, but he’s got a modicum of attitude and style.  Besides, before he was jailed for statutory rape, sent to rehab and found Jesus, Spuds McKenzie proved that even a crack-addled canine can sell beer.

    A sweatshirt? Really, Spuds? I know it was the 80's but come on…

    As for the beer, Hop Hound isn’t bad at all.  Certainly not the disgrace that is Bud Light Golden Wheat.  Hop Hound, for starters, tastes like beer.  It has a decent amount of complexity to it.  Sort of a light, malty, wheat flavor with citrus undertones.  Not bad for a hot July 4th barbeque, certainly better than Bud Light, my other option.  I do wonder why a beer that has relatively little hoppiness (is that a word?) calls itself Hop Hound.  Maybe to a dog it is hoppy, but I digress.  The fact that it falls short of Costco’s Kirkland Signature Amber Ale is perhaps a question of taste.  I have no doubt that there will be those who really like Hop Hound, and kudos to them.  Personally, I don’t see myself buying it again but who knows, like I said it had some things going for it.  I just can’t help but feel that it lacked soul.  Maybe it was the dog.  Maybe there is a degree of prejudice because this is the same conglomeration that created Bud Light Golden Wheat. 

    I will say that I am now interested to try Michelob’s Shock Top, their take on a Belgian white.  Hop Hound is good enough to give me a little hope.  If I do try it, you will be the first to know.  Not literally.  The person who sells me the beer will know, and so will my wife, and maybe a friend or two.  But rest assured dear readers, you will be no more than fifth or sixth on the list…

    On a side note, how come there are never any cats on beer bottles?  And I don’t mean tigers or lions or leopards or ocelots or any other near relation.  I mean a domestic house cat.  As the owner of two cats, I can assure you that they can party with the best of them.  I’m throwing down the gauntlet, beer makers, I want a cat on my beer bottle by the end of the year.  I can see it now, Founders Ferocious Feline IPA.  Make it happen.