OUT OF ORDER!!

     I'm broken and I'm pissed.  It's been almost a week and only a snails pace in getting fully recovered.  Yes, no reviews because my nose has been clogged like a Persian's bathtub.  Sprays and home remedies and lots of rest is not really doing much--and my beer has just been sitting there, looking at me with a wanting eye.  I wanted to write tonight because I can't sleep and I haven't been able to shake off you guys, the readers!  I didn't want you to think I was dead or anything.  I have something interesting to share with you anyway.  But, truthfully, at the end of the day, I just want to talk.
   First order of the day, if you are in the Los Angeles area, then April 10 is a special  day for you.  There is a beer festival going on.   It sounds fun and no I'm not going.  Well, because it's a forty dollar ticket that I can't spend right now.   Plus being around that many people doesn't tickle my fancy.  I will go one day, but right now I just don't want to be there.  You go.  Have fun and tell me all about it.  My bible site, Beeradvocate.com , has suggested, which is another reason why I'm just not going to go this year, is reviewing beer isn't recommended at a festival because of all the distractions present: food smells, noise, people smells, people noise.  Plus, I figure, how nerdy would you look with a pen and pad taking notes and drinking your little four ounce beer.  Yes, it's unlimited beer but all four ounces.  You can't fully enjoy a beer that's four ounces!  That one was personal opinion, but I don't know, maybe it's just me.
     Another thing to teach you:  BMC.  I've been reading through the forums at beer advocate and I see this acronym all the time.  'What the hell does it mean' I kept wondering.  This acronym stands for "Budweiser, Miller, and Coors."  So many of the phrases will say things like "I moved on to craft beers because I got so tired of BMC."  BMC probably makes every lager that is popular or at most liquor stores.  And if you haven't guessed, a craft beer is a beer made by a brewery that isn't so corporate.  So go use that willy nilly.
     Well, that's it.  I was thinking about telling you the story of how I really got into reviewing craft beers and why I'm into it so much, but its not that exciting and it would get to long.  Wish me luck in recovering and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

South Loop Porter

South Loop Porter

      This is a Porter Ale that comes from a Brewery in Torrance, CA called Red Car Brewery & Restaurant.  I've been to this place before but only to hang out.  This time, though, I came for the beer.  They have four beers that are brewed here and I intend to taste them all.  Tonight I had the South Loop Porter.  This beer falls under the ale category (if you didn't look it up last blog, ale means it was fermented at the top of whatever you ferment beer in and lager is fermented at the bottom) and is of the Porter persuasion.  What the hell is a Porter?  That's exactly the title of an article you should read here to get the answer.  In short, a Porter comes from 'Transporter,' as this was their favorite type of beer back in the 1700s.  The porter was created in England and began as a mix of an old ale, new ale, and mild flavor ale.  The porter beer was the first engineered beer.  Interesting right?  I read that and wondered if that's how we're going to engineer women one day-- old, young, kinda hot equals 'damn that's good cooking!'
     Not only did this beer have a good amount of information about it in the menu, but also gave a little history lesson about the city I live close to.  South Loop, a bridge, that carried the old Red Car of Los Angeles. So, let's begin:


Appearance

      
     This is a Porter, but apparently there aren't any really famous or popular porters out there that I've tasted.  If you have one, let me know, but searching through a thousand porter brands isn't my idea of a good time, thus, I'm just going to use Newcastle again.  The picture could've been better but it was dark and I was using the camera on my phone.  So, as you can see, the beer is dark--really dark.  I loved the color.  I used a maple syrup analogy for Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale, but this one was more of a watery chocolate.  Light hardly got through the thing.  My sister said soy sauce.  Maybe she's right, but I thought it looked thicker.  The head was short, less than an inch, and practically disappeared by the time I had my camera ready.  Part of it, though, may also be because the server spilled some of it when he pretty much slammed the glass down like he just took a shot.  It's alright though, no damage done.


Smell

     I didn't notice much.  I swirled and inhaled and did as much as I could to release the aromas, but the smell wasn't that strong.  There weren't a lot of people there and no one was close by but there were empty plates at our table that might have distracted my sense of smell.  What I did smell was roasted coffee and little bit of chocolate.  Other than that I wasn't too impressed with the smell.  Again, my sister said soy sauce.

Taste

     It makes you do those quick smack your lips a couple of times.  There was a woody roasted taste.  I could taste the malt mix with hops (honestly that statement was more instinctual than empirical, so if you thought I was using jargon that needed explanation I really don't know what I'm talking about from an intellectual stand point.  I'm such a rookie.  But if you still want an explanation in the simplest form:  malt is sweet and hops is bitter). The initial taste was sweet, but after it went down, the roasted hoppy taste gave a hearty 'hello.'  Yes, again, my sister said soy sauce or "something fish like."

Mouthfeel

     There was a lot of carbonation.  It reminded me of a soda in regards to how carbonated it was, especially with the sweetness of the malt.  Good or bad, that's probably completely personal preference, but I liked it.  It made sure your tongue knew the drink was there.   The beer flattened a bit towards the end of the drink, but the initial tastings had much of that biting sensation that you get when you drink a fresh coke too fast.  You know, when you feel like the drink is 'burning' your tongue? Sure you do.  Anyway, that was the initial mouthfeel, and I think it took away from the taste because I had to let the beer sit in my mouth for a long while until I could fully taste it.  I don't really know, maybe it's not supposed to be a big deal.  Give it a year, though, and maybe I'll change my mind.


Overall

     Nice beer.  That's all I can really say.  There is nothing really special about it.  I loved the color and the roasted taste was my favorite flavor that came from the drink, but in the end it wasn't strong enough for me.  Nothing was pronounced.  Maybe you're thinking, "oh now he wants stronger, with all his drinking he's probably desensitized his tongue anyway."  Maybe you're right.  Maybe you're wrong; hell if I know.  My sister said it had a soy sauce, fishy taste.  I don't completely agree but I see where she's coming from.  I suppose it's due to location because many of the drinks that pop up in my head that come from that area have that hinting of a taste.  England and fish and chip-- you probably can conclude that this beer goes great with this beer.  Hell if I know though, I'm thousands of miles away from England.
     I know I juxtaposed this beer with Newcastle, but there isn't much comparison.  They're two very different areas of the ale that can't be compared to one another, at least not the South Loop and Newcastle. This porter took me out of the English dark ale and raised it up a level--changed the game sucka!  So, hooray for the South Loop to do that; thus, creating a new base for me: the Porter.

      This isn't over!  If you look closely at the label, you can see on the side the letters OG, IBU, and ABV.  The letters OG stand for Original Gravity.  There is Original Gravity (OG) and Final Gravity (FG).  If you need specifics go to Wikipedia or Beeradvocate.com (I'll link to BA in a minute).  They have a whole confusing web page about it.  To short shrift it, though, Gravity refers to the sugars that turn into alcohol.  You do a whole math equation and you can get the alcohol content of beer, which is the last grouping of letters you see on the picture:  ABV
     ABV stands for Alcohol By Volume.  This is the calculation produced from the equation involving the OG and FG.  It's like the proof system that you read on liquor labels.  For the South Loop Porter, the ABV is 7.06 percent of alcohol.  Read up on it here, it also includes a fairly simple explanation of Gravity: Get to Know Your Alcohol (By Volume)
     I'm guessing that if you take these numbers into consideration you can approximately gauge how sweet your beer is going to be.  If anyone can verify that it'd be greatly appreciated.
     Lastly, and most interestingly, is the IBU or International Bittering Units.  Now, if you were like me and you tasted Arrogant Bastard way too early in your life, you'd wish you knew what this was back then.  This is a measure of the bitterness of beer.  Since bitterness is subjective, you should use this as an approximation rather than an absolute gauge.  Bitterness usually comes from the hops.  The lower the number, the less 'hoppiness' a beer has or less bitter.   If you need a table, below 20 is a little bitter; 20 to 45 is the mid-range, and after 45 the beer will be bitter.  In other words, not for you fruity drink lovers out there, people force feeding themselves bitter beer because they want to 'be down,' and especially people who say they LOVE Bud Light.  Also, in my experience, and I may be completely wrong, but beers that are more bitter tend to get me buzzed faster.  Again, it might just be me, but I doubt it.  Here's where I got the information if you really don't trust me: Bitter
     So there you are.  You learned something more than just the usual 'how this tastes.'  And if you didn't, what the hell are you doing reading this?  Go read something smart, this blog is for new booties.  Or maybe you're on the other end and your life is filled with punching drunk women in bars and building beer pyramids.  Just kidding, I've been hearing that beer drinkers are way more educated about beer than around ten years ago.  Anyway, remember that this blog is so you can drink with me and we can compare notes.  So enjoy your drinks where ever you are and don't over do it.  Sorry if you were expecting the IPA.  The trip to the brewery came first and now I'm a little sick so I have to let this pass before I taste again.  Deuces to all.


     

Beginnings and Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale

Beginning
     This is the first of many for the development of tasting beer.  I love beer!  And I've been beginning to take notice of the flavors, subtle and pronounced, found in different beers.  "I like this stuff, I want to learn more," and so I did.  I wanted to document my never ending journey for myself as well as for the world.  I don't want to review beers and use difficult jargon without explanation.  Sure, down the line I will be using the jargon in a way that I would expect you to magically know.  But, for the most part, I"ll try to fill you in as much as I can.
     You've had beer before, but I want to show you that many of the beers that you buy in 6, 12, and 24 packs are general public beer that is there to give you a buzz, and if you're like me, get you drunk.  There's a lack of taste, sophistication, and passion in those beers.  Sure, I drink them at parties, but for pleasure they're the farthest from my mind.  In the end, I hope the read is good and palatable (see we're using our terminology already!) and not a boring 'my word is law' kind of review. So here we go.
     I'm going to refer to BeerAdvocate.com.  This site is really informative and also includes forums, event updates, a magazine, etc.  I'll usually be using this site for reference information, but occasionally I'll be using other sites to get a more layman's explanation.  Practically everything I feebly teach you here comes from this site.
     Before we start with our first beer, you should know that there are basically three different styles of beer:  ales, lagers, and hybrids.  All of which differ only by how it is made.  Examples of Lagers are Budweiser, Corona Extra, Malts (all you 40 ounce lovers out there), and such.  Ales include Newcastle, Guiness Draught, and Hefeweizens.  Hybrids are beers mixed with fruits, herbs, smoked, or something 'different' like that.  There are tons of subcategories, but these are your basics.
     You should also know that storing beer is important.  Originally, I got confused and read about how to cellar your beer.  Hell no I'm not going to start a cellar. For now, I'd rather enjoy your work.  When I'm at that point in my life where I can start a cellar and play with beer, meaning age it to see what happens, then I will, but as a young gun, I'm enjoying what the breweries put out.  So, if you bring home a beer, try to keep it around 50 to 55F.  In other words, make sure your fridge isn't too cold, and even if it is, just throw it in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes then drink.  If your keeping it there over night then I guess try not to make it too cold because coldness numbs the tongue and takes away taste.   This is why we cool the shit out of Millers and Coronas--we don't want to taste it that much.
     Finally, I'll be reviewing by these criteria:  Appearance, Smell, Taste, Mouthfeel, and Overall Drinkability.  That was long winded and you are now thinking "hurry up fool!"  Okay, okay, but if you need to look this stuff up in more detail click here. This is where I learned most of my stuff.  Finally, let's do this!

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale

     Since I've only begun working my way through the world of beer, I am going to have to use a base for comparison.  Since this is a Brown Ale, I'll use another, familiar, more 'popular' English Brown Ale--Newcastle.

Appearance
     This was a  beautiful beer, although I am partial to dark beers; all my favorite beers are dark.  The darker they are, the more enticing they look and this one was enticing indeed.  It's like sex with an exotic dark skinned Brazilian, yummy.  It was a deep brownish red color with a beige/tan color head floating on top like a rice cake floating on top of a glass full of maple syrup.  The head was good (no pun intended) and retained well, but probably because I pour like a pro (duh!).  Overall, it was a handsome looking beer.


Smell
     This beer had a sweet nutty smell.  It was very pleasant with hints of chocolate or caramel.  I'm new to this so I don't have much more to say.  Does it count to say that it smells like 'it makes my mouth water?'


Taste
     Yes, my favorite part!  The Ale tastes like what it is labeled as and closely to what it smells like--nutty.  It's almost like having a pistachio shell in your mouth without all the salt.  There's enough sweet and not a lot of bitter mixed in to the taste.  The taste fades quickly, which, for me, means it isn't too strong, and doesn't leave much of an aftertaste, although there is a hint of the bitterness there after you swallow, but that's probably because the bitter section of your tongue is in the back.


Mouthfeel
     The liquid is not thick but it does blanket the palate which gives a sort of silky feel.  There isn't a lot of carbonation which makes drinking this smooth but enough to where it doesn't just feel like watery muck washing through your mouth.


Overall
     This beer might become a favorite of mine, and by favorite I mean I could drink it regularly.  Yes, again, I'm partial to brown ales so maybe this review is biased, but Newcastle was one of my favorites and this beer is a step up from Newcastle.  I would say that if you take a Newcastle, double the taste, thicken the texture just a tad, and lessen the smell of water, and you've got Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale.  The back label on this beer explains how the Northern English are brown ale specialists.  I found a beer judging site which tells you the difference between Northern and Southern English Brown Ales.  I must try a South English Brown Ale soon.  I smell a battle!


Well there's my first review.  Hope you enjoyed.  I've proofread this and it sounds extremely amateur if not completely idiotic.  But, that's the point right?  I grow with you and we grow together.  I have an IPA or Indian Pale Ale waiting for me (in the pantry wrapped in a brown paper bag to take away more light, I might add).  Catch you next time.