Happy Hours: Yardhouse

I went to Yardhouse in downtown Long Beach during their happy hour. I was happy to find out that every Monday during football season, Yardhouse has an all-day happy hour. With such a scenic view of the Long Beach harbor and so many different beers on tap, I was excited for this discovery. As I find myself tasting more and more brews, I find that I am craving my beer to be more bitter. The brown ales that I used to prefer, now taste too weak for my palette. Knowing that true beer connoisseurs love strong and bitter brews, I must admit that I was fairly excited to discover I am one step closer to truly loving beer. Yardhouse's menu is nicely arranged because they split up their tap list by type of brew, so I was able to quickly decide that I would try to step up from browns to an amber ale. Feeling audacious, I narrowed it down between two red ales: Anderson Valley's Boont Amber Ale or Eel River's Organic Amber. With the help of the server and my boyfriend, I chose the Boont Amber Ale. It came out quickly and looked quite delicious (I really do like the amber-colored brews). The caramel malt was a nice flavor, but overall the beer was sadly still a bit too strong for me. Despite the fact that this Boont Amber Ale was too strong for my current palette, I'm not giving up on amber ales. The next brew on my list is Full Sail's Amber Ale.

Until then, drink responsibly!

- The Brewnette

Seasonals: Pumpkin Ales

With Halloween around the corner, it's time for the seasonal pumpkin ales. With a love for all things baked with pumpkin, I was excited to try out some pumpkin ales. As I have never had one before, I was sure to check both RateBeer and BeerAdvocate to see which ones had the highest rating. When selecting the right beer, I focus on the various tastes that is mentioned in the description. I wanted my pumpkin ale to be more sweet than spicy, so that helped me narrow it down. Based on the high ratings and the great sounding description I decided on Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale. I went to a nearby liquor store and found a four-pack at a reasonable price. The taste was perfect. A good balance of pumpkin, spice, brown sugar all within the beer. I am excited to celebrate the Halloween season with this amazing seasonal.

Drink responsibly this Halloween!

- The Brewnette

The Search for Evil Dead Red

As I mentioned in my last post, my boyfriend and I went to Beachwood BBQ to try Alesmith's Evil Dead Red but missed it by 5 minutes. Feeling responsible, as I was slow to get out of class and to order, I began my quest to find Evil Dead Red before its season was over and it would disappear until next year. Luckily while I googled insistently, I began to unravel the secret of Long Beach: there are a lot of beer enthusiasts here. Through yelp and a random site for a group called the Long Beach Hop Heads, I came across listings for several bars, breweries, etc. that would potentially have Evil Dead Red. I looked at several websites for places, ignoring (for now) those that only served their own brews and keeping track of those that had a variety on tap. From there I began to make phone calls. I asked not only if the location currently had Evil Dead Red, but also if they knew that it would be served in the upcoming weeks. Finally, after talking to almost a dozen places, I found my answer. There is a wine bar in Sunset Beach called Brix. Despite their website being awfully outdated and empty, their tap listing from 2009 was comprised of breweries and beers that was similar to that of Beachwood BBQ. Hoping for a small miracle, I called their number. The bar's manager answered the phone and unlike some of the other people I had spoken to, he had heard of Alesmith's Evil Dead Red. He had heard of it and he had it waiting in his bar. He was kind enough to ask me when I wanted to come in and told me that he would make sure it was tapped in time for me to try it. After hanging up with him I was so ecstatic that I literally began to jump up and down around my room. (I felt bad for the person who used to live below me. I tend to jump when I get excited, but I doubt I'm the reason he moved.) Luckily it was a Thursday, a weekend, so I knew I would be able to talk my boyfriend into going out for a drink and surprise him with my find. Brix, as I stated, is primarily a wine bar, so when we entered the first door, my boyfriend and I felt very out of place. Classy music, fancy attire, this was not a place for 21-year-old college students. Fortunately, another door lead us to the beer section, which was our perfect fit. Above the bar there were chalkboards with the names and prices of the different beers available. Brix is pricier than the other places we usually go to, but finding Evil Dead Red called for a special occasion. Evil Dead Red was not even listed on the boards as it was so freshly tapped, special for us, so to be sure I asked if it was available just before ordering. Because the prices were high and it was not a happy hour, I only ordered a side of sweet potato fries to share and our two pints of Evil Dead Red. As I describe it, Evil Dead Red is the perfect balance between the Ambers/Browns/malty goodness that I gravitate toward and the bitter IPAs that my boyfriend loves. That being said, it may not be a good choice for those of you who are working up toward the bittery brews, but I found it to be a great reward to all of my searching. I have even included a picture of the empty pint glass with all of its lace. I hope that this posting can be some kind of hope to those in search of a specific brew. Just keep calling around and you may just find what you are looking for.

Drink Responsibly!

- The Brewnette

Happy Hours: Beachwood BBQ

This week I decided to go to the local beer enthusiasts' favorite, Beachwood BBQ, located on Main St. Seal Beach. What I love about Beachwood BBQ is the fact that they constantly have different beer on tap. In other words, they are continuously buying kegs of various beers to serve. Beachwood is known for their great selection of beers and during happy hour, all of their pints are $1 off. This happy hour may not be as great as other locations, but because of their selection, it is hard to beat. Also, if you love barbecue, this is the place for you. During happy hour you can get a yummy barbecue sandwich for only $5. But anyway, back to the beer: perhaps my favorite thing about Beachwood BBQ is their "Hop Cam." From their website, I am able to check what beers they are currently serving and its price. Also, because Beachwood gets a lot of business, their selection changes everyday, so the fact that they keep their "Hop Cam" up to date is amazing. The reason I went into Beachwood this week was because of a rare beer on tap: Alesmith's Evil Dead Red. It's a seasonal Amber Ale brewed in San Diego and it is only available on tap (not bottled). I saw Evil Dead Red on the "Hop Cam" on Sunday, but because of school, my boyfriend and I decided to wait until Wednesday afternoon--the first minutes of my weekend--to try it. As I previously mentioned, Beachwood gets a lot of business, and their business is from those with a good taste for beer. Needless to say, Beachwood BBQ ran out of Evil Dead Red just 5 minutes before we ordered it. Now with no direction concerning what to order and without any beer descriptions, I chose Rogue's Double Dead Guy Ale. My beer came out in what looked to me like a girly goblet version of a pint. I found out it is called a snifter. After a sip or two of the Double Dead Guy, I thought it was sweet and fairly good; however, soon it started to taste a little strong to me. After finishing my snifter I came to the realization that "double" referred to the amount of alcohol in the beer. So unfortunately this visit did not give me another beer to add to my list of loves, but I was able to check out another local spot to get a great drink. Hopefully I will be able to track down Evil Dead Red soon.

Drink Responsibly!

-The Brewnette

Happy Hours: Belmont Brewing Co.

Now that I have covered some of the basics, I can begin to delve into my findings. Last Friday I decided to try out a local brewery, Belmont Brewing Company. Although they have nice patio seating with a view of the surrounding beach, I sadly learned that you have to sit in the bar in order to have their Happy Hour prices. Their bar was quite loud and service was sporadic, but you can expect this during a Happy Hour. One thing I like about Belmont Brewing Co. is that they have Happy Hours on every day of the week. I strongly suggest checking the Happy Hour days and times of breweries and restaurants nearby to see when their Happy Hours are because they really are a bargain. Belmont Brewing Co. is no exception to this. I was able to get an appetizer, small entree and beer all for $10. Speaking of which, I'll get to the main point of this blog, the beer! Belmont Brewing Co. has 5 year-round brews, so I decided that I should try one. You'll find and nearly all breweries that there will be descriptions of the beers. These are my saviors. As I don't have a smart phone, I don't have the internet at my fingertips wherever I go, so looking things up on RateBeer.com or BeerAdvocat.com is not always an option. This is when I need and use the descriptions the most, so based off of its descriptions, I chose Top Sail: an Amber Ale with a toasty malty flavor and medium bitterness. Having never had an Amber Ale before I could not be as sure if I would like the overall taste of the beer, but seeing "toasty malty flavor" I felt I still made a safe, educated decision. My decision definitely paid off too! I loved the Top Sail and so now I know that I can begin to venture into malty Ambers. I am excited to see where this path leads me, but until then, drink responsibly.

- The Brewnette

The Beer Basics

Before you begin to really delve into your beer palate, you probably should know some of the beer basics. To look at it simplified, Beer is comprised of 4 basic ingredients: water, yeast, hops, and malts. Hops, a type of flowery plant, make beer taste bitter and malts, wheat that has gone through specific "malting" procedures, make beer taste sweeter. As I mentioned in my last posting, every beer is different with its own recipe, but these four ingredients tend to be present in all. The best way to drink/taste a beer is in a glass. So before you sip anything, find a nice pint glass to pour it into. Be sure to pour the beer against the inner side of the glass so that you create what is called the "head" (the foam on the top of the beer) that is about an inch thick. Similar to tasting wine, there are steps to take for tasting beer. As BeerAdvocate.com states, there are four steps to tasting a beer which are looking, agitating, smelling and tasting. While looking at a beer, focus on the color, consistency and the head of the beer. Agitating the beer consists of swirling the beer in the glass. This may cause more subtle aromas to escape as well as test the carbonation, consistency and head. Smelling the beer is a really important step in the tasting process, because smell largely influences the taste of something. Really take some time to focus on the aroma and the various notes that are present. Finally it is time to taste your beer. As you take a sip, do not swallow it right away. By letting it linger in your mouth it allows the beer to run over your palate and various taste buds. While tasting, think about the "mouthfeel" of the beer; meaning, focus on how smooth or dry the beer feels. Now, swallow your beer. As you do so, note any lingering tastes or new tastes that were released during this finish. After this, you have completed tasting a beer and have the reward of enjoying the rest of your glass! One last tip for tasting beer is that if a beer is too cold the taste can become muted. Well hopefully you feel confident now to get out to a local beer shop for some tasting.

Drink Responsibly!

- The Brewnette

For the Beer Skeptics

If you are wanting to delve into your beer palate you have to ignore any and all former notions of beer. If the beer you have previously encountered has you believing that "beer smells [or tastes] like piss," you definitely bought the wrong bottle. That's the trick about beer: you have to know your palate. That's what this blog is for. I will be sampling a wide array of beers in search of my personal beer palate. If you drink along with me, you will hopefully find yours as well. My goal is to reach the point of beer and self knowledge that I will be able to read a short description of a beer and know (for the most part) if I will like it or not. I have a long way to go, but I'll be posting every step of the way.

Drink Responsibly!

- The Brewnette