Beer ‘N Golf

There are two kinds of beer drinkers. Those of us that love Stone; and Those who have not tried Stone. Depending on the crowd, you will get 2 very different reactions to Stone’s Pale Ale. From the nascar/dudebro/tailgating/frathouse crowd you might hear, “wow that’s strong, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a beer that dark before.” From the cool crowd, “I’m not on a diet, give me back my Arrogant Bastard.” I think it’s fairly obvious which group I belong to. Have you seen my gut lately? Seriously, I am a fat ass. And now that I am on a diet, I am growing rather fond of the Pale Ale. It has a stronger bite than most Pales, but leaves a crisp hoppy aftertaste that has the typical mellow feel of a Pale. While I wish it had AB’s 7.2% Alc. the 5.4% will have to do for now. Only 96 lb more until the doctor says I’m healthy enough to resume my suicidal drinking binge.
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As a fan of Brown Ales, I am always excited to try something new. RB’s Long Board Brown has potential to a great brown. Unfortunately RB has made the typical mistakes with their brown ale. Too cold and over-carbonated. It still tasted great, however it could be so much better. The hinted tastes of campfire roasted hazlenuts, and dark chocolate covered costa rican coffee beans were overpowered by the carbonation and temperature. I’ve noticed that the colder you serve a beer, the more the taste is hidden. RBLBB had a slightly darker color than most browns with more of a 20 oz 7-11 Vanilla nut coffee with 2 splenda and no cream type of  color. Nice start, but I would love to a try a casked version of this brown.

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As my last beer of a long night at Rock Bottom, a 9% imperial porter was a bad choice. Don’t get me wrong, the beer was excellent. However on a full stomach, and already buzzed, the porter’s heavy bitter aftertaste didn’t help my stomach feel any better. This Imperial Porter has a deep black color and about as thick as my russian mail order wife’s accent. Being a little buzzed already, I could have swore that it had an initial taste that was similar to Dr. Pepper. the only problem was that the only way to truly get that initial taste is to take a big gulp, and there was no way my stomach could handle gulping any more of this porter. I normally don’t waste any alcohol, however I felt I had punished my liver enough for one night. I definitely plan on researching this beer more in the future. For science of course. The fact that I am a raging alcoholic has nothing to do with it. Really….

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A few nights back, I met my wife for a bite to eat at Rock Bottom in La Jolla. I have never been a huge fan of Rock Bottom, due to the typical clientel on any given friday night. But, since I am so dedicated to all of my wonderful fan, I decided to suck it up and play nice for an evening, and hoped I would get a few decent beers while I was at it.The beer did not disapoint. Their Espresso Porter on cask was heavenly. I’m not trying to go metrocostal (that’s a metrosexual pentecostal) on you, but the exquisite divine taste I experienced cannot be articulated. Ok…. Well that was interesting… as much as it might surprise you, reviewing beer while high on extacy isn’t a great idea. I woke up three days later with a strange rash that won’t seem to go away.But the good news is that I still can’t get this beer out of my head. I can still taste it on the tip of my tongue, so I guess it was pretty good. From the drunken illegible notes I took on my arm with a sharpie, I can tell you that “Smmelllls lk LATE, no cnation, tastes lk alc cof” So apparently, it smells like a latte, had little carbonation, and tasted exactly like my every morning coffee.

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I am a fan of casking. when I drink a beer on cask, I know that I am getting to see what she looks like in the morning without makeup as I am trying to figure out where my clothes ended up. Casking lets you know whether you should take her out to breakfast, or try to sneak out the door to get a quick vaccine. When I tasted this casked pale ale, the first thought that popped in my mind was “Where’s the nearest AIDS clinic?” However, to the defense of RB, it was the last glass in the barrel, so I can’t give the most accurate review. But as I tasted it, I was unimpressed. It seemed to be a poor selection for casking, as a pale ale gets its crisp bite from higher carbonation and noticeable hoppiness. Both were nearly absent and left a lukecold beer with visible sediment. The casking however, brought out the alcohol, giving the ale a whiskey like kick. I would like to try it again when it’s a little fresher, but as it stands I can’t judge it one way or another.

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The original IPA. OK, not really, but for me it is. This was the first IPA to touch my lips and I hope its the last taste in my mouth as I die. With the shape my liver’s in I might get that wish sooner than I think. Stone’s IPA is a classic west coast style IPA. Bold and crisp, with enough bite to remind you that this is no fizzy yellow piss tasting beer. No… this aint no banquet beer. You won’t find this beer in the hands of your favorite NASCAR Pit Crew Chief.when Stone makes an IPA, you taste the fact that there is more hops in that one bottle than the entire domestic section of your local costco. When Stone makes their IPA, werewolves run and hide; for they know this beer is the only ’silver bullet’ that can knock them on their ass.

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I don’t claim to be an expert on lagers. But then again that has never stopped me before, so here it goes. Kells Irish Lager is a clean crisp lager with a honey color and a hint of citrus with that initial sip. I typically like a little more bite in my beer, but this is a very drinkable lager. Double the alcohol content and lose the goofy Irish Flautist on the bottle, and I might actually be proud to drink this lager. Rogue has definitely improved on the traditional American lager, and its all thanks to the Irish. While this wouldn’t become a daily drinker for me, I would take it gladly over Millweisoors.
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