Fortieth Meeting

We're here at Tom J's house for the 40th meeting of beer club and I'm joined by Lampe, Belfry, Colin, and Tom J, obviously. Lampe said we should have done 40s as the theme and I think that would have been a wonderful idea. The theme is wheat beers, so we have a selection of the various wheat styles.

First up- Tom J brings to us Ayinger Brau Weisse, which is a delicious German wheat beer that's 5.1%. LET ME HEAR YOU SAY THIS STUFF IS BANANAS, B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Quite banana-y smelling and tasting. This is light and refreshing. I guess all you can say about it is that it's light, banana-y, and tasty. Banana split sandwich, Gwen Stefani, Citrus... those are all the words being thrown at me when I asked what people's impressions were.

BPA: 3.46

Lampe brings us yet another Trade Joe's original. This one is brewed by Steinhaus and is called Mission Street Hefeweizen. This one is 4.7% ABV. There's not a lot on the nose, and equally not as much going on the palette. It's just a pretty bland beer. There's just a little yeasty, wheaty kick, but that's about it. This is unanimously decided.

BPA: 2.06

Belfry brought 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer. Mouthful. This is classified as a Fruit/Vegetable beer and is 4.9%. Yikes, this sure smells like an African Ham(copyright Urban Dictionary)! I thought I'd had this before, but apparently not. This is watermelon first, wheat second. Pretty unique and I guess I could see myself drinking one on a hot summer day. Tom J left a wrapper on the salami. And that's not a sexual innuendo.

BPA: 2.82

Colin brang to us New Belgium Mothership Wit, which is a witbier rolling at 4.8%. It looks like a hef but it smells SPICY. Black pepper, and a nice wheat taste. The black pepper is quite notable. I believe I also detect some Belgian candi sugar. Pretty decent, but it's nothing that would knock one's socks off.

BPA: 2.82

Tom B brings New Belgium Lips of Faith Dunkel Weiss. It's basically a dark malty 9% wheat beer. The Lips of Faith series rarely goes wrong, so hopefully this is solid. It's quite smooth and a black pepper mamba, according to Colin. It's pretty peppery, smooth and light, but then ends with a sugary kick which is where the high ABV comes from.

BPA: 3.12

BOOOOONUS BEEEEER! Tonight Tom J, Colin, and I decided to bring bonus beers. Tom J is up first with his mystery beer. And it is.....


Full Sail Old Boardhead Barleywine, ABV 9%. It pours a dark, thick brown color and doesn't emit much odor. It's a pretty good barleywine, but the conversation has shifted wildly off topic.

BPA: 3.04

Next, I brought us a trade throw-in. I've had this a few times before and it's a solid Belgian Strong Pale Ale from my favorite brewery. Russian River Damnation comes in at 7.75%. It pours a cloudy gold color, and it tastes of candi sugar and hops.

BPA: 3.3 (Ed. Note- B+s all around!)

Last up is a rare, fine treat. This one can be obtained from Town Hall once or twice a year, and it's a pain in the ass to get. It's Town Hall Czar Jack, which is their imperial stout aged in Jack Daniels barrels. It's 9.3% and can be traded for just about anything on beeradvocate.com. This is just magical- boozy, bourbony, a little coffee bitter... fantastic.

BPA: 3.86