Posting Update

I just wanted to post a short update about the posting here. As has happened a few times over the last six months I've been very busy with work and life. As a result, my backlog of posts has run out and I haven't been able to keep to the regular updates. Unfortunately, this happened right in the middle of what was going to be a three-part series on Innus & Gunn oak aged beers.

I hope to get a few more posts queued up so the beer continues to flow. I've also had a few beer recommendations sent in by readers that I hope have posted up here soon as well.

So, keep an eye out and check back in a week or so.

Return to Posting

The blog has been dormant for over a month now, and I'm sorry for that. I'm hoping to get back to some regular posting, although it may not be on a daily basis. The blog's post frequency had been fluctuating for a while near the end of the Summer and through the Fall as my commitments changed. Then, with the beginning of October, my workload ramped up significantly and it's been difficult for me to keep to the habit of writing regularly, or at all. The one thing I have been doing, luckily, is drinking beer!

So, while the posting has dropped off, the beer tasting has not. Although I haven't been tasting new beers with the same regularity as previously, I've been building up a bit of a back catalog of beer reviews. I'm hoping that over the next weeks and months those beers will be making an appearance here on Musings.

If you're interested to see which beers I'm drinking on a regular basis, check out my account on Untappd. You can find that at http://untappd.com/user/bmasi You'll also notice that the beers appearing on Utappd usually make their way to the Musings Twitter account at http://twitter.com/MusingsOnBeer You can follow these accounts to get an idea of my current tastes and maybe some sneak peaks at what may be coming down the pipeline.

For now, though, I anticipate there will be updates coming soon with a handful of beer reviews coming out each week. The first bunch might be a few Fall seasonal holdovers then the blog will be onto a variety of beers with some Winter seasonals sprinkled in.

Stay tuned. Drink beer. And Enjoy!

Oktoberfest and Fall Seasonal Series

Over the next days, weeks, (and more?) Musings will see a series of posts celebrating the most celebrated beer season. Oktoberfest goes into full swing this Saturday (September 17) in Munich and accordingly beer stores everywhere are stocking dozens upon dozens of Fall seasonal beers ranging from small craft producers to macros who just can't seem to stay away.

The traditional Oktoberfest beer is a Märzen, originally brewed in March (or thereabout) and held in cold storage throughout the Summer. Before the advent of refrigeration technology Summer brewing was difficult and potentially unsafe (due to bacterial infection). Thus, Summer (and later Spring months) were not available for brewing and the early Spring stock was held through the summer (in cellars or caves) for drinking in Fall during the annual harvest.

While Oktoberfest/Märzen beers remain extremely popular, many breweries, particularly American craft producers opt for different styles of ale or lager for their Fall seasonal fare. Especially popular in America is the Pumpkin Beer. Pumpkin ales are made with the addition of real pumpkin, puree, or flavoring. Typically, these beers also introduce spices commonly used in making pumpkin pie.

Keep an eye out during this Fall seasonal series for at least two dozen Fall seasonals from American and European producers in a variety of styles. 

Musings is on Auto-Pilot

As a reminder, Musings on Beer will be on auto-pilot for a little over a week while I'm traveling. Luckily, I've queued up enough posts to keep the blog busy for almost a month. This time I'm a bit more prepared than when I traveled to the American West and Southwest.

Over the next week I will be traveling and experiencing the cultures, cuisine, and drinks (beer especially) of Scotland (oh, I will be sampling Scotch as well) and Munich, Germany. At Oktoberfest in Munich I'll be enjoying Märzens by the maß and subsisting on schnitzel and würst. I hope to report back upon my return with photos, stories, and thoughts on the my experiences and beers.

Please enjoy the blog in my absence and continue to check back for daily updates.

Musings On The Road (Again)

Despite the fact that I still haven't finished posting about my beer experiences from my trip to the American West and Southwest, more beer-related travels are in my future. Expect the rest of my trip experiences to appear on the blog this week (actually, unlike last time I said that).

What's in my future?

First up is the Belgian Beer Fest, put on by BeerAdvocate. Like my time at the American Craft Brew Fest I will be volunteering at the early Saturday session with the hops of tasting a bunch of beers during my breaks. Stay tuned for my coverage.

The BBF is being held at The Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts Friday September 9 and Saturday September 10. There's an evening session Friday and two Saturday sessions. Friday's "Night of Funk" promises a more personal experience, with limited tickets. Saturday boasts over 125 beers for your sampling needs. For more information check out the official website.

Second, like last time again, I will be heading to the airport on the Monday following my Beer Fest adventure. This time, instead of heading West, I'll be heading East. I have two primary stops, Scotland, home of Scotch, and Munich, home of the world-famous Oktoberfest, which will be in full swing when I arrive.

Expect scenes from my travels, from the festival, and thoughts on beers and whiskeys. Your thoughts and recommendations for sights and sounds on my travels are appreciated. I'm especially looking for ideas in Scotland. I'll be primarily (if not exclusively) in Edinburgh. 

Updates From My Trip West

I've been really behind with reviewing beers and posting the reviews I've done. I'm one week away from sitting for the first section of the CPA exam, so I've been doing my best to devote as much time as I can to studying for that. However, keep an eye out, early this week, for some updates from my trip West.

I think the updates will come in four posts. One will span a big portion of my trip, including photos I took with my cell phone camera and reviews of beers that I tasted from Portland, Oregon through Arizona (and maybe further). Then expect posts from San Francisco and San Diego. My stops in San Diego included visits to Port Brewing Company/Lost Abbey, Stone Brewing Company, and Pizza Port. The Pizza Port photos will be included in my mobile set.

I hope you enjoy reading about the beers from my travels. I really enjoyed the trip and getting to taste all of the great beer along the way.

On the Road

I'm sorry to say that the blog is going to be fairly dormant for the next two weeks (as it has been for the past week). I'm currently in California and will soon be traveling to Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. So far I've tried several brews in Oregon and there will be many more to come. I'll try to post thoughts and pictures when I have some time.

Thank you for bearing with me while I'm off exploring the American West. Check back soon for more brews.

Musings at American Craft Brew Fest!

This June I will be traveling to Boston, Massachusetts for the 4th Annual American Craft Brew Fest!

The festival is going to be held on June 3 and 4 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. The event is hosted by BeerAdvocate and Harpoon Brewery and featuring over 100 American breweries and hundreds of beers. The festival is the largest of its kind on the East Coast.

On Saturday morning (June 4) I will be volunteering with BeerAdvocate as part of the setup and the first tasting session of the day. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to be doing, but I have a feeling it will entail setting up tables, displays, etc. as well as helping at a booth or booths during the session. I'm looking forward to meeting beer enthusiasts and brewers from around the country and the Northeast.

In the afternoon I'll be walking around the event sampling many of the beers from many of the breweries. I'm hoping to use the time to talk with some of the brewers for a small interview series on Musings. I'm also hoping to take a bunch of photos to post on the blog as well.

BeerAdvocate has a list of brewers in attendance and other information regarding the event, if you're interested in finding out more.

Additional volunteers are also needed. You can go to their website to sign up to help out. 

Samuel Adams Winter Classics Variety Pack

Coming up, starting tomorrow, will be each of the beers from the Samuel Adams Winter Classics variety pack. It’s a 12-pack featuring two bottles each of six different ‘Winter Classics.’ Well, really it’s five seasonal beers plus Boston Lager. 

It’s been a while since I’ve actually had Samuel Adams, and I realize that I’ve been discounting the entire Boston Beer Company for some time. It’s hard to come to a conclusion of exactly why, but it is likely a mix of the familiarity of the beer in comparison to my ever-expanding quest for the new and interesting with a disappointingly real elitist beer-snobbery. 

The Boston Beer Company is the largest craftbrewer in the country. So large, in fact, that by legislated designation, they’re about to outgrow the term. Last I heard there was a bill introduced by a Massachusetts senator to increase the production limit for small brewers. I’m sure Jim Koch at the Boston Beer Company did some pleading to make that happen. Who can blame them, though? While they’re technically about to move into the big leagues, they’re clearly different than the macros. They’re a real success and the bright, shining example that shows that the mass-market really does like real beer, brewed with quality ingredients for actual flavor. They helped spark the craftbrew revolution in America, and for this, I’m not against realigning the rules.

So, this week I’m putting my bias aside, fending off cognitive dissonance, and giving these six varieties a fair shake. As of writing this, I’ve already tasted a few of the beers and I’m very glad that I picked up this sampler. Stay tuned.

A Note on Adjunct Lager Reviews

After some serious consideration, prompted by Grant’s comment, I’m going to change my rating on Budweiser. I took pains to make it clear that my rating was based on the microcosm of beer that Budweiser falls into, but I don’t think my rating reflects what I was intending. So, I will go with a “B-”.  Although, my criticism of its price still stands.

I do like Budweiser. I would, and do, drink it, even when given other choices. I rarely, however, go out of my way to get it. It fills a niche. It’s decent and very drinkable. There are plenty of times when I’m not looking to drink a serious and, often times, filling beer. Such occasions are a time when a Budweiser seems appealing.

Let me be clear (channeling Barack Obama with that opening clause), I believe that Budweiser, along with many of the beers I’m going to be reviewing in the next (nearly) two weeks, represents the lowest common denominator, when it comes to beer. It strives for mass-market appeal, while sacrificing overall quality by adding cheaper grains to the mix.

Budweiser and other beers of its ilk shifted long ago from a focus on quality and tradition in brewing to marketing. What makes Budweiser better than Miller, or Miller better than Budweiser? Not very much, if anything. This, of course, is why Miller seeks to differentiate with its ‘Vortex Bottle’ and Coors has ‘Cold Activated Cans.’

It all comes down to personal preferences. This, I suppose, is part of the reason I’ve resisted assigning letter or number grades to the beers I try.