Ladies and Gentlemen . . . DRINK THIS BEER!

ooooh, Jeremy Cowan.  His beers are so good.  My friend Jeremy is the proprietor of SHMALTZ brewing, quickly moving way up in the ranks of my favorite breweries.  I have yet to taste any of their beers that I do not love -- and by love, I mean I want to take them to all my beer-lovin' friends and say, "DRINK THIS!!"  Tonight, I am enjoying a BITTERSWEET LENNY'S R.I.P.A.  -- a double IPA brewed with rye malts.  It's got kind of a sweet hoppy nose, with a spicy rye middle and a powerful hop finish.  It comes in 22 ounce bottles, which as we all learned yesterday, I believe is the perfect portion size.  And I share with Jeremy not only a love of fantastic original delicious beer, but also a passion for the English language and all the magic it can impart.  PLEASE go buy this beer -- it's at all the Binny's, Lush on South Halsted and West Roscoe, and most of your better beer emporiums.  And then -- and this can be said of ANY Shmaltz beer -- READ THE LABEL!  The labels are chock-full of history, inspiration and fun facts about the liquid inside.  Oh -- I should talk a bit about the inspiration for this beer, the great Lenny Bruce.  Long before this world in which being irreverent, un-PC, and having a general fuck-you attitude became the epitome of cool, Lenny was doing it all.  And he really did not give a damn what anyone said or thought.  Get this beer, look for some Lenny Bruce on YouTube or rent a boxed set -- and toast the men whose names are on the label.  Lenny and Jeremy, brothers from different times.  

22 ounces of deliciousness is just enough for a Wednesday -- so drink this beer!

Yeah, when you only want one beer, I believe a bomber -- a 22 or 25 ouncer -- is just the right amount.  It's not too much, and yet you aren't left wanting just a little more . . . Tonight I enjoyed BROO DOO, the Harvest Ale from one of my all-time favorite breweries, Three Floyds.  I mentioned this beer when I talked about the Founder's Harvest Ale.  These beers are created using wet hops - fresh hops right off the vine, not dried or pellets.  In fact, Broo Doo's hops go from fresh on the vine to the brew kettle in just one day!  The nose is classic Three Floyds - citrusy, grapefruity, maybe a little astringent in a good way.  Broo Doo has a fuller body and mouthfeel than some of the Floyds' beers -- almost bready.  The surprise comes at the finish -- the wet hopping seems to result in a softer aftertaste than, say, an IPA.  

Also -- must mention how visually stunning this beer is!  It is so pretty, I had to photograph it with my phone from a variety of angles.  Wish you could see the pour -- the crimson amber beer cascading up into golden-white foam -- just gorgeous.  

BROO DOO boasts one of the coolest labels I have seen from a brewery known for their cool labels.  It features a classic "troll" with hops for hair, backed up by a Barbie Princess-looking character and a unicorn.  The entire label evokes an eleven-year-old girl's bedroom on 'shrooms.  Much props goes out to Randy Mosher for this label design.  I gotta e-mail him!  I told him back in May that I was going to start a blog or a web site or something . . . He is a true beer celebrity, and rightfully so; an amazing fine artist and author of a number of beer classics as well.  

We'll talk about more big bottles this winter.  I can't wait for the first big snowfall -- I will have a big bottle of something, my chair, and maybe some trashy reality fare on Bravo . . .   

I had a long day so I drank this beer!

Whew -- Even when one sells beer, which is not really like work, I mean, it's not like I am digging ditches or writing computer code or balancing budgets or anything . . . Sometimes it is still a long day.  So, when I have a long day, I like a beer that is refreshing but also just a LITTLE higher in alcohol . . . like an IPA!  

Everybody (well, most everybody) has heard why India Pale Ales are so called.  When India was part of the British Isles, and barrels of beer were transported by ship from Britain to India, some smart person discovered that adding extra hops to the beer acted as a preservative, so the beer stayed fresh for the long voyage.  I just read the other day that the good Czech folks who had been adding hops to their lagers and pilsners taught the Brits this trick.  So, an India Pale Ale is typically higher in hops than a regular Pale Ale.  Also, even though this style was originally English, an English IPA tends to have a softer, milder, peppery hop character, where an American IPA usually is more citrusy and floral.  American IPA's tend to be much, much more bitter.  It's the American Way!  If some bitterness is good, it is even better if it rips a bitter hole in your gut!  

Anyway, I LOVE IPA's.  For a long time, it was my favorite style, and sometimes it still is.  For better or worse, there will be a lot of them on this blog.  An absolutely delicious example of the style is GREAT LAKES COMMODORE PERRY IPA, named after the hero of the war of 1812.  At 7.5 percent, it is a perfect beer to close out a hard day.  It is citrusy, not as spicy as some American IPA's, but a nice gentle-but-pronounced hop finish.  I had this beer in my car, and looked forward to it all day.  

And now, I am going to watch some reality television.  

This is very important news -- also it's cold and snowing, so drink this beer

IMPORTANT NEWS FLASH!!  So, I did a little Christmas shopping and then had some time to kill, so I went for a little wander around Borders books and music.  There's this book that has been featured on Oprah and Ellen and all those shows called "Don't Eat That, Eat This" or "Don't eat this, eat that" or something.  What it basically is saying is, here's two nutritionally empty junk foods, both these foods are bad for you, one of them is less bad for you, so eat that.  So -- come to find out, THE ARBY'S BEEF AND CHEDDAR SANDWICH IS BETTER FOR YOU THAN THE ARBY'S TURKEY SANDWICH!!!  The Arby's Beef and Cheddar has only about 360 calories!!  Can you believe it?  I had to walk away from the book, I got a little obsessed with it and almost purchased copies for all my friends and family and started planning my next month of fast food meals based on the recommendations.  There is also a home edition (Spaghetti-O's are better for you than Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!).  I also learned at Borders that pretty much everybody has their own magazine nowadays.  Ty Pennington has a magazine, Rachael Ray has a couple of magazines, Paula Deen has one . . . there is even a Hooters magazine, not sure what the content of that would be -- barbecued shrimp recipes, maybe?  I bet I could have a magazine before too long if I play my cards right.  

So ANYWAY -- I should start doing a "don't drink that, drink this" thing.  Maybe next time . . .  For now, let's talk about ANCHOR BREWING-OUR SPECIAL ALE -- more commonly known as Anchor Christmas Beer.  Where to begin with this one  -- This beer grew out of what is now Anchor Liberty in the mid-1970's -- in fact, this 2008 version is the thirty-fourth special ale.  The nose is full of Christmas spices -- when you first open a cold one, it smells just like walking into a Christmas store.  And everyone who tastes it seems to detect different spices.  I can taste cloves and allspice, some can taste cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in the brew.  The brewers aren't saying what's in it, but this year, like every year, the beer is offered to celebrate rebirth, renewal and the newness of life.  In this spirit, the label depicts a different sort of tree every year.  The evergreen tree was a symbol of rebirth in Medieval Europe due to its survival and continued growth throughout the cold winter months.  For me, ever since I discovered holiday beers in 1988, one of the first traditions of my holiday season every year has been to bring home Anchor Christmas.  Next week is Thanksgiving.  Go to the store, buy some Anchor Christmas and let's get this holiday started!  

All you lads and lasses should drink this beer

Robert the Bruce is a supermalty Scottish style ale from the good people at Three Floyds Brewing in Munster, Indiana.  This beer smells almost chocolate-malty, but is much drier to the taste.  It's a perfect blend of sweet and roasty malts and mellow hops.  Really well balanced, and not too strong at 6.5%.  Three Floyds Brewing is known for its well-hopped beers -- Robert the Bruce is the maltiest of their offerings that I have tried.  I recommend letting it open up after opening, like a good wine.  It is so much tastier after warming up a bit.    I've never actually seen the Mel Gibson movie BRAVEHEART in its entirety, but I believe Robert the Bruce figures in the plot somewhere.  The man, not the beer.  

By the way, Terrence on the Amazing Race is a complete baby.  How do women end up with guys like that?  

Baby it's cold outside this weekend, so drink this . . .

Gouden Carolus Noel!  It's warm and perfumy and 10% ABV, so it's great for this weekend in Chicago.  I love Chicago because it was 70 degrees about a week ago and today it was in the 30's pretty much all day.  But I digress.  Gouden Carolus is brewed by the Het Anker Brewery in Mechelen.  I have another of their beers in the fridge so I'll talk about that one in the next couple of weeks.  What I like about these beers is the complexity -- the rich, dark copper color, the port-wine-esque fruity nose, the warm black cherry fruit finishing with just a touch of cough-syrupy alcohol.  Also, I like the label!  I am asking Santa for beer this year.  I will leave some Gouden Carolus Noel by my new tabletop fireplace with some cookies -- a great pairing, by the way.  

Drink this while watching HBO's TRUE BLOOD

It's not too late to enjoy NOSFERATU from Great Lakes Brewing Company out of Cleveland, Ohio.  Absolutely one of my favorite breweries.  Nosferatu is a freaking delicious stock ale, strong and deep amber, chock full of rich maltiness with some soft hops on the finish.  When I tried it last year, I thought of it as sort of a big vampire brother to Great Lakes Eliot Ness, their amber lager.  This year, I found it a bit more complex, a little darker and warmer.  

NOSFERATU is the Great Lakes Halloween seasonal.  The vampire on the label is Count Orlock.  NOSFERATU was the original filmed version of Dracula, back in, I think, 1926.  The Bram Stoker estate refused to give up the rights to the story (I forget which production company made the film), so the filmmakers changed the name of the vampire, changed a few plot points (a VERY few) and made the movie anyway.  The actor who played the vampire was named Max Schreck.  Schreck is the German word for fear or fright, which contributed to all sorts of legends springing up around the making of the movie -- it was said Schreck insisted on staying in costume and character the whole time, it was even rumored he actually was a vampire!  Who knows.  At any rate, if you can find the original movie on cable or somewhere, it is absolutely worth a look -- it is a cool and creepy silent film.  Whether he was a vampire or not, Schreck was a scary looking dude.  The film was remade in the early '80's with Klaus Kinski as the vampire -- I didn't see it -- and there was a movie made recently about the making of the original NOSFERATU featuring John Malkovich as the film's director.  Do I remember the title?  Nope.  But it's a good movie too.  So -- anyway, that's all I know about NOSFERATU.  You can still buy the beer at Whole Foods at 30 West Huron and other stores in Chicago.  Go get some and drink it.