women would enjoy this beer

Category: women would enjoy this beer

A visit to Stockholm: Jarnet Matsal & Bar and Akkurat

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Scores, Our trip to Belgium, women would enjoy this beer

Mar.14, 2011

I stumbled upon Jarnet Matsal & Bar in Stockholm. The bar here is pretty small with only 4 tables and 10 bar stools. They have about 8 beers on tap, one on cask and a cooler full of beer from all over the world. Including: Oskar Blues 10Fidy, Anderson Valley, Flying Dog and tons of Mikkeller and Nogno. They also have a lot of local breweries and even one made from a woman called: Angel’s Share. BTW, they also serve their beers in wine glasses. The bartender was really nice and explained a lot of the beers that I haven’t seen before. And he also wrote down a few bars for us to go to.

Jamtlands IPA- 5.5% abv. This pours a beautiful deep tangerine teak. It smells like sweet, juicy apricots and light pine. It tastes a bit more fruity than hoppy. It tastes a bit bitter with grapefruit skin and dried apricot. It is a great starter beer.

Angel’s Share # 10 Jamtipa. Made by Jessica Heidrich. 5.5% abv. This pours a light caramel. It smells like sweet caramel. It tastes a tiny bit bitter and a touch sweet. It tastes like a light barleywine, like a hoppy barleywine.

Mikkeller 10- 6.9%. made with all ten hops of the world: Amarillo, Cascade, Warrior, Simcoe, Chinook, Centennial, Nelson, Nugget, Tomahawk and East Kent Golding. It pours an orange golden hue. It smells like sweet juicy hops, marijuana, grapefruit skin, bitter pine and tropical fruit. It tastes not as pungent as you would think. It has flavors of pine, but it is not too bitter, with mango, passionfruit and a touch of sweetness it leaves your tongue dry and tingling.

Akkurat was a great way to end a 3 week long trip. It was pretty crowded on a Friday night and we felt a bit overwelmed by the men there starring at us, so we left and came back on Saturday. We made a reservation to sit in the main dining room, but it felt a bit stuffy and the bar wasn’t crowded, so we opted to sit there instead. The menu, I was told, was the same in the bar. Our waiter was very helpful and even gave us some free tatses of beer. He did not know much about Cantillon or sour beers, so I went and talked to one of the bartenders, who was extremely helpful. We even got a free chocolate truffle for dessert!

We opted for a bottle of: Cantillon Gueuze Velomoteur. 1995-2010. 245 Kroner. This is brewed solely for Akkurat’s 15 year anniversary. Trust me, I tried to buy a bottle to take home, but alas, Sweden’s ABC laws are very strict and this was not allowed.. This pours a golden yellow. It smells like sour funk, lemon tartness and horseblanket. It tastes like sour lemons, slight peaches, funk and more funk. Nice.

Tags: Akkurat, Angel's Share # 10 Jamtipa, Cantillon Gueuze Velomoteur, Jamtlands IPA, Jarnet Matsal & Bar, Jessica Heidrich, Mikkeller 10

Mission Gastroclub meets femALEist and Women who like Beer

Filed Under: Beer Meetup Events, Beer Reviews, Beer Scores, Beer Tasting Events, Women who like Beer Meetup Events, women would enjoy this beer

Jan.23, 2011

Being a vegetarian, it is always hard to go to beer pairing dinners. I can not justify spending $80 and up for a great beer dinner, but not being able to eat half of it or having my ‘vegetarian’ option be some sort of pasta. That just doesn’t cut it for me. It is hard to understand living in San Francisco where vegetarian beer connoisseurs get the short end of the stick the majority of the time.

The last time I spoke with Eric and Neil from Mission Gastroclub, we talked about my frustrations and joining forces to offer a vegetarian craft beer dinner for the Women who like Beer meetup group. Even though on their website it states: We are omnivores: the menu will rarely be vegetarian/vegan friendly. Emphasis is placed on in-season and sustainably produced foods whenever possible. I appreciate their willingness to venture out into vegetarian territory…even though they did have a pig breakdown on Saturday (in which my husband was a happy participant).

The menu was a 4 course meal paired with 2 of Eric’s homebrews and 2 were commercial craft beers.

1st Course: Maldon faltbread, red beets and olivade pairied with Eric’s Belgian Single. This beer is 4.7% abv, 32 IBU’s and is done as a second runnings beer (partigyle) from when Eric brewed a triple IPA. The sweetness from the beets, accompanied by the creaminess of the olivade and the crunchiness/saltiness of the flatbread worked well with the light, hoppiness of the Belgian Single.

2nd Course: Vaquero heirloom beans, cold smoked cauliflower, crispy garbanzos paired with Drake’s Rey Eye Ale (6.5% abv). The starchiness of the beans, crispiness of the lightly fried chickpeas and the chilled smokiness of the cauliflower helped to compliment the hoppy and caramel balance from the Red Eye Ale.

3rd Course: Braised leeks, king oyster mushrooms, barley, beer blanc served with Anchor’s Bock (5.5% abv). The beer blanc really helped to pull this dish together. The butteriness and the nuttiness of the barley, the umaminess of the flash fried mushrooms and the semi-sweet and savory beer blanc helped to compliment the flavors of the Bock: sweetness, caramel, cereal, stewed fruit and touch of hops.

4th Course: Beer poached Asian pears, macaroons paired with Eric’s Tripel (8.9% abv, 25 IBU’s). The caramel, slight funk, cereal and carmelized banana flavors out of Eric’s Tripel really emphasized the slightly sweet caramel of the poached pears and the nuttiness of the coconut.

I always ask the ladies to write their top 3 favorite beers and favorite pairings at each event…and the results are in:

Favorite Beer: 1-Eric’s Triple 2- Drake’s Red Eye 3-Eric’s Belgian Single

The top 3 favorite pairings were:
1- Beer poached Asian pears, Macaroons with Eric’s Tripel
2- Braised leeks, oyster mushrooms, barley, beer blanc with Anchor’s Bock
3-Vaquero beans, smoked cauliflower, crispy garbanzos and Drake’s Red Eye

Kass said: This was a very enjoyable event. A special treat to sample the interesting and tasty small dishes and beers presented by the guys at Gastroclub. Kudos for lining up a vegetarian pairing. Tiila, you do a good job organizing events like this. Thanks to all!

Rebecca said: Loved everything about this meetup – great food, great beers (including a really awesome home brewed triple from our hosts)! Thanks Tiila for another great event.

Thanks again Eric and Neil! You guys rock…

Tags: Mission Gastroclub, Women who like beer

A visit to Deschutes in Portland

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, Beer Reviews, women would enjoy this beer

Aug.15, 2010

No visit is ever complete without a visit to Descutes in downtown Portland. Yeah, the food is crappy bar food but the beer usually makes up for it.

I happened to be in Portland for work (tough job, I know!) and I was able to convince my friend to go with me after a few work meetings that day. It was really hot so all I wanted was an IPA.

So I ordered the Fresh Squeezed IPA on cask. It is 6.5% and 60 IBU’s. Sounds good, right? Wrong. It tastes like citrus hops then rotten feet. Like a homeless man’s feet. It was really bad. Seems like the cask was old…It was so bad I returned it. The waitress told me it was much better last year and that a lot of people returned this beer. But with the rotten feet aspect, it was probably more likely that there cask of this beer had turned.

So I then opted for what I should have gotten in the first place: Hop Henge Batch 8. 2010 Concordia Cup Winner. It is 8.7% and 90 IBU’s. It pours a deep orange amber with a touch if head. It smells like fresh juicy hops! ( this should be called the Fresh Squeezed IPA) the other should just be called ‘no thank you‘. It tastes like fresh citrus, pine forest, grapefruit skin and a nice dry piney skin ending. Delish.

Next, I tried my friend’s Alma NWPA on cask. This beer is named after the birthing center, Alma Midwifery since many Deschutes employees give
birth there. This beer is 5.8% and 50 IBU’s. It made with 5 specialty malts, loads of Centennial and a touch of Cascade hops. It pours a touch cloudy teak. It smells like slightly sweet and juicy mango and slight pine. It smells a tad hoppier than expected. It tastes like mild pine with a touch of wheat and a hint of a citrus ending. Pretty light but semi flavorful. I was expecting more. But it is nice for them to make a beer for their Descutes ladies.

Tags: Alma NWPA, Descutes, Fresh Squeezed IPA on cask, Hop Henge Batch 8

Check out Pleia2′s blog post:

Filed Under: Beer Meetup Events, Beer Tasting Events, Women who like Beer Meetup Events, women would enjoy this beer

Jul.06, 2010

Hi Everyone
I wanted to pass along another member of Women who like Beer’s blog: Elizabeth.
She came to the Socola Chocolate and Rogue Beer pairing and wrote a fantastic blog about it!

Check it out here:
http://princessleia.com/journal/?p=3137

Oh and don’t miss the next meetup- Can Craft beer and Sausage pairing (with vegetarian options too!)
Ghetto Fabulous Craft Can beer and …
Cheers,
Tiila

A visit to Goose Island in Chicago…

Filed Under: Beer Bar Reviews, women would enjoy this beer

Jun.19, 2010

Working out of town definitely has some benefits to it. Especially if it’s a town that has some great beer. I have been in Chicago for the past week for work and in some small slot of downtime, I managed to get to eat and drink at Goose Island Brewpub….not too shabby if you ask me.

We were all exhausted from working more than 10 hours each day so we felt we were all in need of a well deserved beer. They have a sampler that you can get 4 tasters for $8.

I tried in order:

Goose-A-Peel. 6.5% abv. Belgian golden ale with fresh clementines. This pours a bright clear yellow tangerine. It smells like funk, banana and citrus. It tastes like fresh orange citrus at first and then a tad bread-y and yeast-y. Almost a one note beer. It goes somewhat flat for me. It’s refreshing but not very complex.

Chicago Saison-7.4% abv. Chef Collaboration Series. Brewed with Chef Nicole Pederson from C-House. 8lbs of Chinook hops and the yeast of Sophie are balanced in this golden hued ale. Cask conditioned. This pours a clear amber with a touch of foam. It smells like sweet honey, mango, juicy pink grapefruit and a touch of pine. It tastes light; with hints of fruit up front, slight spice, then bitter grapefruit skin and slight pine. A little too spicy mixed with bitter grapefruit skn for my taste. I am glad I only got a taster of it because I wouldn’t want a full glass. I think it would pair better with food then drinking it by itself.

Smoked Goose on cask. 5.3% abv. Chef Collaboration Series. Brewed with Chef Mindy Segal from Hot Chicolate. The creation is a soft and
subtle smoked Belgian style ale with fruity esters from our Pere Jacques yeast. This pours a clear red mahogony. It smells like lightly smoked malt and slight chickory. It tastes like slight cherry cola, charred malt and a light sweet smokey aftertaste. Interesting as far as smokey beers go. It’s nice that it’s so subtle.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Wheatmiser. 8.7% abv. Aged over 8 months in Elijah Craig barrels. This pours a cloudy yellow red amber. It smells like
light wheat and toffee. It tastes like a wheat barleywine- slightly caramel, sweet malt and a light wheat touch. Almost like shortbread. Very nice. My favorite so far ( surprise surprise). But i was sad when our cranky waiter did take my glass away before I had my last sip. These beers are sippers and I drink them slowly to enjoy them….not too cool if you ask me.

After those 4 tasters (and some mussels, sweet potato fries with curried ketchup and grilled calamari salad) I tried some of my friend’s beer:

Pere Jacques. 9% abv. Complex, fruity and malty. Brewed with Belgian yeast. This pours a clear red brick. This smells like sweet pine and a touch of spice. It tastes like malt, hops, toffee and cardamom. Very tasty. Me likey.

Last but not least we got another bottles beer to share:

Fleur. 7% abv. Rose-colored Belgian style pale ale blended with hibiscus and kombucha tea. This pours a rich red teak. It smells like sour malt, slighlty sweet and floral. It tastes like slightly sweet flowers, slightly dry then sour but not puker sour more floral sour. It’s definately not a sour beer but if you like to eat flowers, like nasturtiums, this may be the beer for you. I think it’s interesting. It’s more delicate. I don’t think many men will like this beer because it’s too pretty. They just won’t get it. I think women would enjoy this beer because they can understand the subtly in it.

So overall, the place seemed like a great place to hang out if you lived in Chicago. The server we had was a bit cranky and didn’t like it when he was trying to sell the Sophie to my friend and I told her not to get it because it’s not a good beer. I am sorry but it’s not. After I said that he gave me a bit of attitude and looked over my shoulder to see what I was writing every time that he came to the table and then took my bourbon beer away. Tisk tisk. But I wouldn’t let that stop you from going. They have a MBA program where you can get to taste a bunch of beers and learn about them. Plus they have fun events year round like a pig roast and such.

Overall, they do some great beers like their Bourbon County Barrel aged Stout and Coffee version but they were $20 a bottle there!!! You can buy them in the store for $12, so $20 just seems a bit steep. They just need to step it up with their Belgians and stop making everything so spicy or mild.

Tags: Bourbon Barrel aged Wheatmiser, Chicago Saison, Fleur, Goose Island Brewery, Goose-A-Peel, Pere Jacques, Smoked Goose

A few random tastings….

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, women would enjoy this beer

Dec.29, 2009

I admit it, I have not been keeping up writing about my tastings. I have been tasting and taken notes but with the whole craziness of the holiday season, time just seemed to slip away. Now on my plane ride to the East Coast for Christmas, I finally have time to break it down.

Lately I have had the pleasure to have tried:

Dogfish Head, Burton Baton, Imperial IPA, 10%

Avery, Brabant, American Wild Ale, 8.65%

Three Floyds, Anniversary IX Fantabulous Resplendence, Imperial IPA, 7%

Stone Brewery, 13^th Anniversary, American Strong Ale, 9.5%

The Bruery, Saison Rue, Saison, 8.5%

Sierra Nevada & Dogfish Head, Life and Limb, American Strong Ale, 10.2%

In order of personal preference (which is hard due to they are all different styles):

Stone Brewery, 13^th Anniversary. This beer is limited due to they release a new version each year. It poured a murky deep red color. It smelled pretty hoppy at first, then a strong deep caramel malty flavor took that over. The taste is a bit fruity, malty, some smokiness to it and finishes bitter and tart. It’s pretty smooth tasting, even though you can smell the alcohol. I am curious to see how this ages.

Three Floyds, Anniversary IX Fantabulous Resplendence. This may surprise my other fellow tasters, who weren’t that big into this beer, but I really enjoyed it! I think this is another beer that a lot of women, as long as you like hops, will particularly enjoy as well. It’s made with Jasmine! It pours clear orange. It smelled like beautiful, floral fresh jasmine tea, slight citrus fruits, and hoppy. It tasted like hops and jasmine tea dancing in your mouth! Not in an overwhelmingly way either. Just beautiful. I would definitely love to serve this one at a party as an aperitif or try to pair it with dinner.

Sierra Nevada & Dogfish Head, Life and Limb.Everyone is making such a huge deal about this beer. I recently saw one go for $80 on ebay! Personally I am hoping this one will get better with age. It was good, not fantastic, and definitely not worth the $80 that people are paying. But for $10, it’ s a good beer that I would suggest you age and see if it gets any better. It poured almost black. It smelled like molasses, raisins, prunes, chocolate but no hops. It tatsed like dark chocolate, coffee, burnt caramel, and it was a bit spicy. It was thick in my mouth and you can definitely taste the alcohol. The spiciness added an interesting character to the beer body. But I am hoping the alcohol will mellow out a bit in a year. I wonder how much the bottles will go for then?

Avery, Brabant. I am honored to have tried this one. A friend brought it back with him from Avery itself. I don’t believe it’s being distributed that much yet. This beer surprised me when it was poured- an opaque dark chestnut brown with a tan head. It almost looks like a stout. It smells like overripe grapes, cherries, dark malt and vinegar. It tasted like roasted malt, currants, cherry, some sweet tones and a hint of chocolate. Vinegar and Brettanomyces were in the aftertaste and not pronounced and definitely not in the forefront, which was a bit disappointing, especially since I am a huge fan of sour beers.

Dogfish Head, Burton Baton. This beer is an oak aged imperial pale ale. It’s a blend of an oak aged English strong ale and their 90 minute IPA. It poured a clear golden sun orange color. It smelled like a fresh pine forest, melon, grapefruit and orange blossom honey. It tasted like citrus/piney hops, toffee, roasted malts, some honey and a hint of wood. It was interesting to have the malt in there. It’s not a huge hoppy beer but I felt the malt balanced the wood and orange aftertaste.

The Bruery, Saison Rue, Saison. This beer was a gift from a friend and being a fan of most Bruery beers and made with Rye and Brettanomyces I was excited to try it. It poured a deep cloudy copper. It smelled like spicy rye bread, orange peel, black pepper, honey and some Brett. I tasted only a hint of rye and Brett and a bit malty, which was surprising for a Saison. It just didn’t live up to its aroma.

So there you go. I am updated as of now for all of my random tastings. Hopefully I will be able to update you on the way back from all the delicious beer I will try while in NY!

Tags: 13th Anniversary, Beer Reviews, Brabant, Burton Baton, Life and Limb, Saison Rue, Stone Brewery

Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale Spices Up Fall

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, women would enjoy this beer

Oct.23, 2009

Pumpkin ales in general have never beckoned my name. Perhaps it was that keg that my sister got when I went to go visit her in college when I was still in high school. We got a keg of Pumpkin Ale, had a party, and was drinking pumpkin ale for the next 7 days straight. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Pumpkin ales are usually just too much to handle- too pumpkiny, too spicey, too undrinkable. But when I saw that Dogfish Head came out with one called, Punkin Ale, a full-bodied brown ale brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and 7%, I decided to try this type of beer again.

The nose has a more sweet caramel nutty nose than pumpkin with a hint of spicy cinnamon. The color is a deep red sienna brown. The first sip revealed a spicy beer with a light pumpkin aftertaste- not too pumpkiny and not too overwhelmingly spicy. There is a lingering allspice taste on the tongue after you drink it a while with a hint of sweet syrupy maple. It is not a super sweet beer- it actually smells sweeter than it tastes. The flavors really seemed to open up and balance more after the beer cooled down a bit. It reminded me of a spicy unsweetened apple cider more than pumpkin beer.

This beer is calling for you to grab it for a picnic on a cool Sunday afternoon with a loved one- it wants to be enjoyed outside. Granted I wouldn’t go out and buy a keg of it, but a few glasses had me lingering for the holidays to arrive. Perhaps it is my love of Fall that made this beer warm my senses or the fact that someone actually balanced a pumpkin beer for me to actually enjoy to drink.

Tags: Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale, spicy beer

Dogfish Head’s Golden Elixir leaves a touching feeling

Filed Under: Beer Reviews, women would enjoy this beer

Oct.22, 2009

My husband and I usually have the same reaction the majority of the time when it comes to beer that we enjoy. This is not the case when it comes to Dogfish Head‘s Midas Touch Golden Elixir. It’s a Herbed/Spice Beer, 9% ABV, and is made with barley, white muscat grapes, honey and saffron. The recipe dates back to a residue found in a jar during the funeral feast of King Midas. It is rather expensive for a beer, clocking in at $10 for a 4 pack of 12oz, which definitely adds to my husband’s dislike of this beer.

I, on the other hand, became more found of it the longer I drank it. I found it to be fantastic for those who prefer wine, or who are just new to trying beer. I wouldn’t classify it as a beer but more of a beer-mead blend. Personally, I am not too found of mead myself, as it is just too sweet for my taste, being made with honey. However, I found this golden elixir to be just what it claims to be- an elixir. It would be the perfect celebratory drink in place of champagne.

My first glance, the color, a golden effervescent amber seemed to be almost glowing in the light. The smell was very pretty, floral with a light honey, sweet grape juice and a tinge of alcohol.

My first sip, was a bit disappointing, the taste seemed a bit light to match the amazing aroma of this beer as well as the alcohol content of 9%. However, with each sip, the flavors grew and the sweetness of the honey and white muscat grapes came out sweeter and sweeter while the saffron perfectly balanced it before it became too sweet. It became much more alive and enjoyable as I drank it.

I think this beer gets a bad rap because people are thinking of it as a beer and not looking at it for what it actually is-an elixir that feels more like a wine than a beer. It feels like the anticipation of a first kiss that is so gentle and sweet but leaves you wanting more. Or that first chill of fall in the air. It feels like a perfect harvest drink.

Personally, I think women would enjoy this beer for its refined taste and celebratory qualities. This beer would pair perfectly with goat cheese and I am just dying to try some with it. This would even work as a dessert beer paired with something light and sweet or nutty. This would be perfect to share with your girlfriends.
Granted at $10 a 4 pack, it shouldn’t be your every day run of the mill drinking beer. This beer is meant to be enjoyed and savored.
Perhaps women do have more of a refined palate…

Tags: Midas Touch Golden Elixir