The United Steaks

Back in the early days of the ‘net, around ‘94 or so, I used to have a Beer Of The Week section on a different web site. The microbrew business was exploding on the scene, but distribution issues kept bottling to mostly regional locals. My beer of the week quest fizzled after a few months when I’d pretty much exhausted the locally available selection. Much has changed in the last 11 years and it is quite easy to keep finding new brew - especially with trading partners in a few of the big beer community sites.

I don’t have plans to return to my beer of the week due to time commitments but my beer updates are getting fairly regular. In honor of my old site, this week’s Beer of the Week is New Belgium Brewery’s Blue Paddle Pilsener Lager.

Blue Paddle is often overshadowed by New Belgium’s flagship brew, Fat Tire - and unjustly so in my opinion. The brew is full of flavor with just the right bitterness that is very crisp and refreshing on the palate. Where Fat Tire blazes the flavor trail for mainstream American brews, it goes just far enough to get Joe BeerDrinker interested in ‘real beer.’ Blue Paddles goes several steps beyond.

On the Web:
New Belgium Brewery
Blue Paddle
Fat Tire

I spied a 6-pack of 312 Urban Wheat at the store today and after a day of yard work I hoped it would quench my thirst.

Sadly, I was bit disappointed. The 312 Urban Wheat is an unfiltered wheat and produced a nice hazy yellow with a white head. A smooth wheat flavor on the drink that was lacking any sort of finish and missing the citrusy aftertaste most wheat beers produce. As a fan of Goose Island’s other brews, this one misses the mark as a just a run-of-the-mill wheat.

On the Web:
Goose Island

A week of vacation in Kaua’i, the Garden Island of Hawaii, offered me the chance to add to my beer list.

Both draft and bottled. Ironically, the draft tasted a little light to me, but the bottled version had a nice aroma, great taste and went down well.

Draft. Nice copper color with a bitter finish. Very easy drinking.

Bottle. Nice light copper color, light carbonation. Refreshing, but just slightly above average as far as Pale Ales go.

On the web:
Keoki Brewing Company
Kona Brewing Company

Last night we enjoyed several beers native to the mountains and foothills of western North Carolina. I’ve written here before about Highland Brewing’s Oatmeal Porter, which is excellent. Now I have new news to share.

Before (and after) the Donna The Buffalo show at The Orange Peel, we stopped in to Barley’s Tap Room, recognized as “Best Taproom in the South” by Southern Draught Beer News and “Top Tap in the South” by Celebrator Beer Magazine. We sampled the porter and a Belgian-style ale from Pisgah Brewing Co. of Black Mountain, which specializes in hand-crafted organic beers. After the show we returned for Catawba’s Oak-Aged I.P.A. Ah the hoppy goodness…

Associated Press: Pittsburgh Brewing Co., the maker of Iron City Beer, filed for protection from creditors under federal bankruptcy regulations Wednesday after failing to pay $2.5 million in water and sewage bills.

Pittsburgh Brewing, which employs about 250 people, will continue to operate while under Chapter 11 protection, said company attorney Robert O. Lampl.

The company had defaulted on sewage treatment payments dating back to 1996 and had failed to pay current water and sewage bills - charges totaling about $2.5 million, said Holly Parada, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority.

The company, which also makes I.C. Light beer, had agreed with the water authority to pay off the charges in installments. After meeting some of its obligations, the company eventually fell behind in its payments.

The outstanding charges include about $2.3 million in unpaid sewage treatment bills from 1996 to 2004 and roughly $200,000 in water and sewage costs for this year, Parada said.

Last night we tasted the Oatmeal Porter from Highland Brewing in Asheville, NC for the first time. It was delicious. An oatmenal stout can be overwhelming at times, and thankfully that’s not the case here.

A unique Highland creation, this robust beer is black in color, very malty with hints of chocolate-roasted flavor and a well balanced hop character.

IBU: 32
Alcohol content: 5.8% by volume
Hops: Chinook, Willamette and Cascade

Highland Brewing Company, rolled out its first beer kegs in December 1994.  Built almost entirely of retrofitted dairy equipment, they have the capacity to produce 6,500 barrels of beer a year and currently supply both Carolinas and parts of Tennessee and Georgia.

Terrapin Beer Co. from Athens, GA offers a great line up of beers. Check out this new one.

COFFEE OATMEAL IMPERIAL STOUT

We expect to begin bottling the Terrapin Monster Beer Tour with the release of this beer in the winter of 2006. Stay tuned!

This is a full bodied imperial stout with flavorful coffee taste and aroma. Black as night, this coffee stout is thick, rich and full of flavor. It includes a special blend of coffee created by Terrapin and Jittery Joe’s Coffee.

First Place winner at the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting on January 30th, 2005. That cask and that cask only was aged on vanilla oak chips!

Malt: 2 Row Pale Malt, Flaked Oats, Flaked Barley, Chocolate Malt, Black Malt & Roasted Barley.
Hops: Columbus & Northern Brewer.
IBU’s: 75
O.G.: 20.3 *P
ABV: 7.5%

As a lover of hops, the name of this beer–Hop Wallop–certainly got my attention. I’ve not yet put this nectar near my lips, but next time I’m anywhere near Philadephia, a trip to Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown is in order.

La Folie is a special brew put out by New Belgium Brewery that pays homage to the Beglian brew Rodenbach Flemish Red Ale.

The sour beer is produced in 3000 bottle lots (bottled and corked in champagne bottles) after undergoing one to three years aging in wooden barrels and is available only at the brewery. Fame Beer writer Michael Jackson has called it one of the ten best beers he has ever tasted and continues

“The idea was to create an intentionally sour effect, though not as intense as that in the famous Belgian beer, Rodenbach. The finished beer, called La Folie, has a dark pinkish-amber color; a sustained bead; a toffee-like start; then apple and passion fruit notes. The label suggests that the beer be left to breathe for ten minutes. During that period, firmness and acidity seem to come to the fore. Quite sour in finish but a beautifully balanced beer.”

Michael Jackson, Beer Writer

If you ever make it out to the Fort Collins area, do yourself a favor and hit up the brewery tour. The tour itself isn’t as packaged as the Budweiser and Coors tours nearby, but the ample, and free, samplings are highly recommended.

This amber-colored, naturally pumpkin flavored ale is brewed only in the autumn and combines the flavor of vine-ripened pumpkin and spices. If you’re in the mood for something unique and different to go along with the change of season, autumn is the perfect time to try Blue Moon™ Pumpkin Ale. Available mid-September through December. 185 calories per 12-ounce serving and 5.77% alcohol by volume.

“Real” beer fans (ratebeer.com, beeradvocate.com, etc) always tend to rate Blue Moon products on the lower end, primarily because they are a product of mass commercial breweries. Just the same, Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale is always a refreshing change of pace every year when the holiday season starts to roll around.