Thirty First Meeting

We're at Derek's house for our 31st meeting with a grab bag of beers. There are some interesting options tonight that can't be obtained in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul/Golden Valley metroplex. Let us begin.

First up, we have a brand new style unseen in this beer club. Dogfish Head's Theobroma is a Chile beer. A chile beer that comes in at 9%. It pours pretty transparent, but it has a lot of flavor. It's relatively flat but has a full mouthfeel. Sweet, with a slight chili pepper taste at the end. I guess it's pretty good. The cocoa powder is the most notable flavor in this thing. PS- we're drinking out of Northwest Airlines cups served in an NWA tray.

BPA: 2.89

Nextly we have Avery The Czar. This is a repeat offender, but we haven't had the newest vintage. This is a hoppy imperial stout. Let's see how this rates compared to the last time we had it.

BPA: 3

Third up is Dogfish Head Bitches Brew. This is a much-coveted Imperial Stout that nobody here has tasted yet. This is another 9 percenter. Belfry is reading the story on the bottle, yet people keep interrupting. This pours like a standard RIS. It has a little bitter chocolate taste in it, as well as a little coffee. It has a slightly thinner mouthfeel than most of the big RIS's that we've tasted. A pretty smooth, well-rounded beer.

BPA: 3.56

Batting fourth is Half Acre Big Hugs. That sure is a silly name for an imperial stout! This one is 9.5%. It sounds like the theme is catch-a-buzz night. The picture on the bottle tittilates me. Oh boy, THAT'S-A COFFEE MEAT-A-BALL!! There's a lot of coffee and a little bitter chocolate. Let's rate.

BPA: 3.09

Next up is Bell's Double Cream Stout. It's milky millky riiiiiiiiiight. This one is an American Stout, which comes in at 6.1%. The cream refers to the mouthfeel, not the ingredients. That's what BA says, folks, and I'm sticking to it. It's way less flavorful than the previous stouts we've had.

BPA: 2.93

Mike brought a beer that I've never heard of from a brewery I've never seen before, yet it pours a beutiful orange. It's Gandhi Bot DIPA from New England Brewing Co! C Everett Koop, that's hoppy smelling! It's a bitter ale, that's for sho. Not a lot of citrus hops, though.

BPA: 3.4

Brent brings to us Lagunitas Sumpin' Wild. This is a Belgian Strong Pale Ale that comes in 8.8%. Tastes a little bit like Cynic. A very tasty Belgian Ale, indeed.

BPA: 3.54

Last up, we have Lampe's signature beer. It's Trader Joe's Vintage 2010 Ale, which they release around Christmas. Meeeeeerry Christmas, WTBC! This stuff tastes like cinnamon. It's a dark plum color. I'm running out of words to write about things. There are far too many distractions- Mount K2 debates, banjos, Gophers basketball, and Jimmer Fredette. Let's rate this before we have to pull out sleeping bags.

BPA: 3.05

Thirtieth Meeting

We're celebrating our 30th meeting in South Minneapolis by drinking South of the Border beers. That's right, it's Mexican night. We have homemade guacamole and American Adjunct Ale for all!

Arrrrrriba!!! First up is Pacifico. This fine American Adjunct Lager rolls in at 4.8%. It pours a transparent, light golden color with no carbonation to behold. It has kind of a sweet, corny... ahem... MAIZE taste. Pretty drinkable, I guess. Just light and smooth. If I wasn't drinking a double IPA on the side I might get really sick of this.

BPA: 1.62

Next up: the beer I would buy in college right after Christmas break because I could afford $10 6 packs for a couple weeks. Corona Extra! I picked up some Coronitas at Liquor Barrel, so we each get our own 7 oz. bottle. This stuff is 4.6%, BUT IT'S MASKED WELL BY THE COMPLEX FLAVOURS! Cool, Turnbull just did the straw-in-the-bottle trick. "This has gotten me laid on more than one occasion," Turnbull. This stuff is basically the same as the last, except less flavorful, if that makes any sense.

BPA: 1.06

Thirdly we have Dos Equis Lager Especial, senor. This comes in at a strong 5%, which surprises me. I assumed this would be like drinking a bunch of O'Doul's. It looks, smells and tastes almost the same as the last 2. Bienvenidos Miguel! A bit late, aren't we? I guess there's not a lot to say about this that hasn't been said about the last. A fine beer to drink at 2 in the afternoon in 90 degree heat.

BPA: 1.22

This next beer was picked up by Belfry next to the Home Depot. He told it to get in his truck to help him with a project in his yard. This one is the Dos Equis Amber, and it actually is dark. It's a darker amber color, yet it has no carbonation either. It definitely tastes the same as the others, but there's a faint hint of the amber malts. "There's a time and a place for Dos Equis Lager, but this stuff just tastes like Mexico trying to do a craft beer," Tom B.

BPA: 1

Last Mexican beer of the night is Negra Modelo. This is considered a Munich Dunkel Lager. Fun fact: Mexican ranchero music has a polka element in it because of the German immigrants in the 1800s. They started all of the Mexican breweries and combined polka with Mexican folk music. All of these beers smell like water.

BPA: 1.38

Lastly we have something as off-topic as possible. Mike brought "The Most Mexican Beer At His House." Being part of the white upper-class, this was a 3 Floyd's Double IPA. Although I will not complain. First taste: ellicited a wolf howl from Baron von Turnbull. 9.5%, this one is!

BPA: 3.53

That'll do it. Adios MUCHACHOS!

Beer Stats

We've hit the 200 beer mark, so it's time for another epic beer stat breakdown.

By country:

US- 153
Belgium- 24
Germany- 15
Japan- 7
Canada- 2
Austria- 2
China- 1
Czech Republic- 1
England- 1
France- 1
Norway- 1
Scotland- 1
Thailand- 1


By State:

California- 36
Colorado- 23
Michigan- 15
Minnesota- 15
Oregon- 11
Wisconsin- 10
New York- 8
Ohio- 8
Missouri- 6
Pennsylvania- 6
Illinois- 5
Massachusetts- 4
Delaware- 1
Idaho- 1
Maryland- 1
Maine- 1
Montana- 1

By brewery (min. 4):

Stone- 7
Town Hall- 6
Great Lakes- 6
Rogue- 6
Goose Island- 5
Sierra Nevada- 4
Great Divide- 4
Odell- 4
Bell's- 4
Founders- 4
Ommegang- 4
Southern Tier- 4
Victory- 4
Kiuchi- 4

# of beers we've tried in BA's top 100:

37

Our top rated beer:

Russian River Supplication- 4.0

Our lowest rated beer:

Miller Lite- .67

Twenty Ninth Meeting

Our 29th meeting takes us to Blent's prace, located deeeep in the Far East. The Missionary, Friar Belfry, was brave enough to take over blogging duties because I came down with a nasty case of SARS. If you can't tell, the theme is Asian beers.

Asian Beer Club

Tsingtao ABV – 4.8% Actually brewed in China
Uuuuuuggggh this is awful, says Colin. Tastes like fresh mountain water with a hint of hops and barley.

Mountain Water makes
Fresh beer diluted malt, hops
Finest Chinese beer

BPA: 1.75


Sapporo ABV – 5.0% brewed in Ontario

Pairs well with sushi says I.

Starting now and retroactively I’m putting the reviews into haiku

Sweeter than the last
Brings honor to Japan (goooong)
Nice job Canada

BPA: 2.01


Hitachino XH ABV- 8% Brewed in Japan

Legit brew hoppy yum
Malt and spice saki present
Sea Shepherd saves whales

BPA: 3.04


Hitachino Japanese Classic Ale ABV 7%

Cedar taste lingers
Light and crisp finishes clean
Tradition fulfilled

BPA: 2.8


Hitachino Espresso Stout ABV – 7.5%

Not from Kentucky
Breakfast worthy coffee taste
Supplies! no legumes

BPA: 2.85


Carpenter’s Mikan Ale ABV 6.5% Brewed in Japan

Saison from Japan
From Mt. Fuji snow monkey
The Shokunin spirit

BPA: 2.96


Hitachino Nest Real ginger brew ABV 7%

Spicy ginger nose
Bubbly ginger on my tongue
small owl respect

BPA: 3.15


Asahi Super Dry ABV5% Brewed in Toronto

Mountain water none
Uneventful to the max
f-ing Canada

BPA: 1.5


Chang ABV 5% Brewed in Thailand

Elephant Ass Chang
Chang Chang Chang Chang Chang Chang Chang
Angry Birds Alert

BPA: 1.45


Morimoto Black Soba Ale ABV 4.8% Brewed in NYC!?!?! j/k Portland but same difference for asian beer club

Confused global theme
Continental mishap, JOE
disORIENTed

BPA: 2.89