Beer + Microscopy=Art

Today at work, I talked to a very interesting scientist. I won't get into why I was talking with him, but I'm glad I did, because it led me to his website, Molecular Expressions: Images From the Microscope. The whole website is interesting, but what especially caught my eye was a subsection called Beershots. Essentially, it's a gallery of pictures take of crystallized beer through a microscope, with each beer giving a unique signature look. Here's a local (for me) favorite, Sam Adams Boston Lager:
Or perhaps you're more of a Guiness man (or woman):
Too high brow for you? The Bud Lite is looking pretty funky:And there are plenty more. What's your favorite beer look like?

As a scientist who is sort of obsessed with art and pop culture, and who also knocks back a brew once in a while, I have to say this was the most fascinating site I've stumbled across in a while. Even if you don't want to hang it on your wall (though you can--poster prints are for sale), you have to appreciate the beauty this man has discovered through his science. Though the more I look at it, the more I want to hang Bud Lite in my living room.

Beer Review: Smuttynose Star Island Single

It's Booze Day at the Love-Camel! Thanks to rino, an old friend of mine and a new contributor to the blog who says he has plenty of ideas to get us through the lean months ahead when I become a dad again and sleeping (and most likely, posting) goes on a temporary hiatus.

I meant to write about this new Smuttynose offering shortly after it came out a few months ago. A coworker told me about it and I went to several liquor stores until I found a six-pack. I had to try it for two reasons: 1) I grew up going to Star Island and it's one of my favorite places on the planet, and 2) Smuttynose is one of my favorite New England breweries, and despite my last review of one of their beers, I think they have a pretty stellar line-up.

Here's the rundown from the Brewery:

Our Star Island Single is an eminently sessionable, abbey-style ale offering a beguiling mix of flavor and refreshment. This medium-bodied golden ale features a slight residual sweetness from Honey Malt and hints of citrus and tropical fruits from the unique Belgian yeast it is fermented with, leaving a crisp dry finish. Enjoy it sociably while you savor good times, tall tales, friendly company & life’s unexpected pleasures.

Color: Pale gold
ABV: 5.2%
Availability: year-round in sixpacks and on draught in 1/2 & 1/6 barrel kegs.

The beer pours a cloudy gold--think Blue Moon. Not as cloudy as a well-poured hefeweizen, but enough to make it look Belgiany, if you will. Not quite as bitter as a pale ale, but the citrus sour enhances what hoppiness there is. Leaves you with a not-unpleasant lemony aftertaste. That's lemony--not lemonadey. Though the brewery's description mentions a "residual sweetness", I'm not getting much of that (I write, as I take another sip).

I am, however, getting the "eminently sessionable." This is a tastey beer. A beer I could--and probably will--be drinking a number of this summer. Smuttynose is dropping their Portsmouth Lager altogether and replacing it with this offering, which is I think is a bold, but wise, move. The Portsmouth Lager wasn't bad, but it was a bit on the boring side, and nearly all of the other styles they offer are more flavorful and, ultimately, more drinkable.

Due to the citrus undertones of the Star Island Single, I can't quite imagine drinking this in cold weather, so I'm slightly surprised this will be available year-around. But it's perfect for warm weather, and you better believe I'll have one of these in my hand during many a grilling session this summer. I bet it would accompany BBQ shrimp pretty perfectly...I think I just decided what I'm having for Memorial Day weekend.

Beer Review: Samuel Adams Irish Red

This review is a little late since St. Patrick's Day was a few days ago, but I thought I'd give a little shout-out to what may be my new favorite beer from Sam Adams, their Irish Red.

I should start by admitting that though I live near Boston and I'm strong supporter of drinking local brews, I'm not a huge fan of Samuel Adams in general. For some Bostonians, this may be akin to saying I'm not a huge fan of the Sox or the Pats, but it's true nonetheless. Their flagship Boston Lager is a fallback in bars if nothing better is available, and their seasonals are often more misses than hits with me. It's not that their beer is bad, per se, I just don't usually find it interesting enough to choose over something from Magic Hat or Red Hook or any number of other New England breweries.

That said, I picked up a six-pack of their Irish Red (from the Brewmaster's Collection) and I'm impressed. I've sort of avoided Irish Reds for a while now because I think I drank one too many Killian's in college and it put me off the style for about a decade. I suspect Sam's Irish Red is way better than Killian's (the BeerAdvocate thinks so, too). It pours a deep ruby brown and smells a bit like brown bread. The Caramel malts are immediately apparent upon the first sip, but it's not a cloying sweetness (like the Cherry Wheat...blah!). It's definitely a malt-heavy beer, but there's just enough hops in there to give it a kick at the end.

A few brew facts for the beer nerds:

Samuel Adams® Irish Red is brewed with two-row Harrington, Metcalfe and Caramel 60 malted barley. The Harrington and Metcalfe malted barley provide most of the body and sweet backbone of the beer, while the Caramel 60 contributes to the deep red color that defines the style. To balance all of that sweetness, we use earthy East Kent Goldings and Spalt-Spalter hops. Their subtle bitterness and aroma provide a delicate complexity to the brew.

The taste is a bit complex, but in a good way. You want to take another sip and ask youself, "What did I taste this time?" All in all, Sam Adams has redeemed itself in my eyes with this brew, and since it's sold year around and could potentially be good both in warm weather and cold, this might the first Sammy to go into my regular rotation.

Beer Review: Redhook's Late Harvest Ale

OK, I'll keep this short and sweet (for once), because it's late, I'm going on 3.5 hours of sleep, but I'm bound and determined to get three posts up this month.

Fall is possibly my favorite time of the year to get seasonal brews. I like my hoppy IPAs in the summer and my lighter beach beers, but fall is when the malty beers come out. Pumpkin ales are very hit or miss--I generally try one new pumpkin ale a year and 2/3 of the time I'm disappointed because it tastes more like pie than beer. The so-called "Oktoberfest" beers tend to be a bit sketchy, too. But there are still plenty of rich, flavorful beers to be found, such as Redhook's Late Harvest Ale.

This is a relatively new seasonal for Redhook, which helpfully has breweries on the west coast and the east (though the Late Harvest is apparently an east coast exclusive). Pouring a dark amber with little head, this tasty ale uses a number of specialty malts: Crystal, German Smoked Munich, Caramel, and Smoked. I'm not going to bore you with my usual stats (all of which you can find on the website), I'll just say this is a delicious beer that deserves a tasting. You definitely get a sense of the caramel and hints of coffee and chocolate. It's by no means a sweet beer, and the web site suggest pairings with grilled burgers and other tailgate cuisine. But I'm having mine for dessert, all by it's lonesome. Redhook's seasonals are often quite good--with the possible exception of the disappointing Copperhook--and the Late Harvest is a nice gateway beer into the always satisfying Winterhook.

Beer Review: Geary's Summer Ale

I haven't been drinking a whole lot lately (still trying to work off a little Winterspeck), so now that I'm finally getting around to reviewing one of my summer beers, it's barely summer anymore. Seriously, look at your calendar. But I won't let that stop me from prattling on a bit about a tasty brew.

Geary's is probably best known for their pale ale, and a fine pale it is. I'm writing about their Summer Ale, however, which I hadn't tried previously. Summer ales are always a bit risky. A lot of brewers put out some weak-ass beer and call it their summer ale just because it's light in color or tastes slightly lemony. I hate to disparage Wachusett Brewing Company because a) it was started by some guys from my alma mater and b) many of their beers, especially their Nut Brown Ale, are really quite good. But their Summer Ale falls into the weak-ass, slightly lemony category and I can't endorse it. Lemon: summer ales as cloves: winter ales. At least I can tolerate the lemon...cloves in beer is just wrong.

But I digress. Here's the description of the Summer Ale off the Geary's site:

The style of our summer ale is traditionally European, similar to a German kolsch: full bodied with a spicy hop tang and a rich, crystal clear golden color. Alcohol content is approximately 6% by volume.

Availability: April - September

Original gravity: 1060

Alcohol by volume: 6%

Ingredients: Two row English malt (clarity, wheat and caramalt); Magnum, Tettnang and Saaz hops.

So there's the technical stuff, but how does it taste? The beer pours a nice, light amber with just a touch of lacy head. The smell has notes of citrus, but not overwhelmingly so. The first taste, if the beer is cold, will seem pretty mild at first, perhaps slightly nutty. Then the hops hit, and that was a surprise. There are probably a few breweries out there that would go so far as to call this a pale ale or IPA due to the hoppiness. I've been drinking enough extra-hoppy IPAs lately (like Magic Hat's Lucky Kat) that I know this doesn't come close to an IPA, but it is the hoppiest summer ale I've ever tried. I'm guessing upper 30s/lower 40s for the IBU. Unlike a lot of IPAs, I find that this beer only improves as it warms (I write, as I take another sip), which is a nice feature for a summer ale. I confess that you can taste a bit of citrus in the finish, but the hops balances it enough that it doesn't taste like somebody squeezed a drop of lemon juice into a Bud.

At 6% alcohol, this is too strong for a session beer, but maybe if you had a really looong session it could work. I see this matching just about anything grilled, but particularly strong tasting seafood might work best. Then again, I'm probably being influenced by the lobster on this year's label (the picture on this post is from last year). It's also a fine beer to have on its own, which is what I'm doing right now. Hey, it may only be Wednesday, but it's been a long week already and this beer tastes very good.

Grab this one while you still can, and if you can, since I don't know how far out of New England Geary's distributes. If you miss it, put it on your list for next summer.

Beer Review: Magic Hat's Lucky Kat

As I mentioned in a previous post, Magic Hat is one of my favorite New England breweries, so when I saw that they were coming out with a new year-around beer (OK, I subscribe to their newsletter, alright?), I had to give it a shot. Lucky Kat is an IPA, and though the beer's details can be found here, what you really need to know is that it weighs in at a hefty 58 IBUs. To put that in perspective, #9 scores an 18 on the same bitterness scale.

And man, can you taste the B in those bitter units. As I get older, I find my tastes (and perhaps personality) veer more and more away from the sweet and towards the bitter. I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate, and the IPA has gone from one of my least favorite beer styles to a near-favorite. I was surprised that Magic Hat was coming out with this since they already have their seasonal hI.P.A. in the spring, but Lucky Kat packs a bigger hops whollop and is really the bolder beer.

On the first sip, the hops crashes into your tongue--instantly refreshing. There's not much lingering flavor here, no big surprises. This beer is bringing one flavor to the table, and it does that well. It doesn't warm particularly well, however, so I would drink it relatively quickly or keep it well insulated.

I find that a fairly strong IPA like this one can kill the flavor of most foods, so when I have something this bitter I tend to pair it with something pretty spicy. In my case, I was eating pizza with a good dose of hot sauce, and they went together quite nicely. If you're trying to savor something with a rich but subtle flavor, I'd avoid a beer like Lucky Kat.

Verdict: very drinkable (if you're into IPAs), like popping a Warhead in your mouth, but bitter instead of sour.

Beer Review: Smuttynose Hanami Ale

I'm a big fan of the Smuttynose Brewery, and not just because it's based out of my home state and named after an island with which I'm pretty familiar. As far as New England breweries go, I would say Smuttynose is actually better than Sam Adams, though perhaps not quite as good as Magic Hat. Their Old Brown Dog Ale and Shoals Pale Ale are among the best I've had of their type, and their sporadically released Big Beers are generally excellent.

I was surprised to discover that this is the second year they've put the Hanami Ale, a spring seasonal. I'm usually on top of these things. In any case, I decided I better check it out. Here's the brewery's description (sorry for the crappy color--I couldn't figure out how to change it. If you highlight it, you can read it):

Smuttynose Hanami Ale, our spring seasonal, is inspired by the ancient
Japanese tradition of hanami- cherry blossom viewing - when people throughout Japan gather in parks to contemplate the luminous, ethereal sakura blossoms, while consuming copious amounts of food and beer in a joyous, nationwide picnic.

Made with a generous amount of natural cherry juice, Hanami Ale is crisp and refreshing, a well-balanced, medium-bodied ale offering subtle, tart cherry flavors - the perfect way to bid farewell to winter's icy grip and toast the arrival of spring with your own hanami celebration.

VITAL STATISTICS
OG: 1052 ABV: 5.7%
Grain Bill: Pilsener, Carahell, Aromatic & Carafa malts
Hops: Styrian Golding, Sterling
Color/Number: Rosy-hued Amber

I am generally wary of "fruity" beers. Sam Adams simply can't do them. I used to drink their Cheery Wheat in college, but that was before I knew what good beer was supposed to taste like. I can't stomach the stuff now. Their Cranberry Lambic isn't much better. Magic Hat has the "hint of apricot" in their #9, but I've consumed so much of that over the years that I don't even notice the apricotness anymore. There are a few blueberry ales that don't make me cringe, but by and large, I think the berry-enhanced beer is difficult to pull off.

The Hunami Ale caught me by surprise. I would not describe the cherry flavor as "subtle", but it's certainly tart. The beer was a lot hoppier than I thought it would be, so it starts out with the tartness of the cherry and finishes with a hoppy bitterness that clashes with the initial flavor a bit. It's certainly unlike anything I've tasted before, so I'll give them points for showing me something new.

That said, I can't quite imagine sitting down and having a bunch of these (which is slightly unfortunate since I have five more left in my six-pack). I suspect this beer would be better in a different context. Not so much in my kitchen in the winter, but out on the porch when the weather warms up a bit. The other problem is that because of the unique flavor, I have no idea what kind of food might complement it. Something from the grill, I imagine, which I'm not quite ready to fire up yet.

The bottom line is that I've had much worse berry beers, but I can't really heartily recommend this one. It's far superior to the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, so I guess if you simply must have cherry in your beer, go with the Hunami. I would suggest giving it a shot if you find it on tap somewhere (pretty unlikely if you're outside New England), but I wouldn't bother with a full six pack.