“Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That’ll teach you to keep your mouth shut.”
-Ernest Hemingway
As promised, here is your installment of beer reviews for July. Maybe you’ve missed it, but it’s been pretty hot. On days like we’ve been having lately, nothing satisfies like a good beer- especially if your work makes you sweat. ok, well-and-good, (we all knew that,) but what are you having? Please be so kind as to let me throw a few options at you…
A trio of great summer suds
1) Wellington County Dark Ale.
Ok, it’s true, you’re not going to find this beer hanging around at We Never Close, Frontier, or even Premiere. As it happens, I was at a wedding in Ottawa a few weekends back, and bought a few beers to bring back to the ol’ U.S. o’A for consideration. Yeah, it’s true: I am a pathetic beer geek. I do it for you, I swear. Anyway, next time you stop in at 194 Garrison Road, Ft. Erie, CA, you can pick up some for yourself.
What will you get? Well, it’s a nicely balanced dark ale as they go- I’m not going to pretend this is my new favorite beer, no, but, it’s most certainly session-worthy. I know, because I drank about 6 of these one night. It’s an English style brown ale, pouring out a clear, deep brown but with a touch of ruby red; well-carbonated and with snowy head that doesn’t really stick around. The aroma is deep crystal malts, hints of coffee, and the hops waft up with a mere touch of berry or citrus. Taste follows, largely- turns out the malt is a bit more up-front than the aroma suggests, and the corn/rice/adjunct contribution isn’t entirely hidden- this beer has low viscosity, let’s say. There are some nice malt notes in the finish, though, and hey: sometimes we’re not looking to have our mouths taken for a long ride, we just want a beer.
2) Pacifico
What I just said about not taking the palate around the block to many times applies doubly to Mexico’s cerveza del Mazatlan, Pacifico. Historically, the Mexican brewing industry was driven by German immigrant brewers, a situation not unfamiliar further north. Today, pilsner-style lagers still dominate the market, though a few artisinal breweries have lately been producing more interesting beers. Pacifico, though, is really little more than a light-bodied, lightly-hopped, adjunct-saturated pounder, and more power to it for that.
Now I’ll admit it: in a head-to-head, I bet I would hardly be able to discriminate between Pacifico and, say, Tecate or Corona. Still, when it comes to cheapie swills, I have a soft spot for Pacifico- it’s the name, perhaps. It is pale, it is highly carbonated, and the hops… ? As a real martini should be merely walked past a bottle of vermouth, so it is that Pacifico probably has the word “hops” simply mentioned to it along the way: Don’t hurt yourself trying to taste ’em. No, when it comes to Pacifico, stuff a lime down the neck and just get to it while it’s still near freezing. You don’t want to know what happens when this bad boy warms up!
3) Flying Bison Buffalo Lager
The Bison has been rapidly expanding over 2005-2006, and the release of the Buffalo Lager is the latest manifestation. Not only is it their newest year-round offering (along with the Barnstormer American Pale Ale), but it also their newest six pack: I got mine at The Washington St. Market (oddly, on Ellicott).
As you can see in the photo, it pours out golden, with a beautiful 1″ head, only barely off-white. The nose hits with a fine balance of light malt and hops. On the tongue, the dominant flavor is largely Vienna or Muncih malt (I’m not certain) with a touch of crystal to balance and no trace of malt bitterness- the hops contribute to that dimension, Noble and appropriate. Yeungling, eat you heart out. I think the balance here is a bit more towards the delicate malts than the aforementioned beer, and FB’s lager is definitely cleaner and crisper.
That’s it for this month’s review- tune in in two weeks for exciting Buffalo Beer News, including a most interesting offering at Ulrich’s, the mix-six from Flying Bison, and whatever else you alert beer freaks point me towards!