Abita Turbodog

My last Abita beer — the Purple Haze — was a flop. I understand it is a popular beer (I took some heat for the poor review), and perhaps I simply got a bad one, but I generally felt it was a waste of my “one a day” rule and expressed dismay that I had already purchased two other Abita brews.

Two of the email responses recommended I try Turbodog to give Abita another chance, and I decided to use American Craft Beer Week as an excuse to take one more crack at this New Orleans area brewer. And I’m glad I did.

As soon as I opened the bottle, I could tell / smell that I had a much better beer in front of me. It poured such a dark brown that it looked like a stout, with just the barest ruby highlights. My initial pour created the barest of beige heads, and the foam barely lasted long enough to capture a picture — but after taking a few sips, a vigorous swirl brought the head back. In fact, this second foamy head was bigger and more sustainable than before.

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Drink Along With Me!

When I select a beer for this one-a-day challenge, I usually make it up as I go along. I walk down to my basement storage area and select the beer that I feel most like drinking. But I’ve had a few readers ask me to post my drinking schedule in advance, so they could attempt to drink along with me.

So let’s give it a try! Since this is American Craft Beer Week, I’ll be focusing on (you guessed it) American craft beers.

Here’s the lineup:

Since I didn’t get my act together quickly enough, my official kick off for the “Drink Along Week” will be on Wednesday and will run through Monday of next week. So it’s a “Drink Along Semi-Week”.

• Wednesday: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• Thursday: Flying Dog Double Pale Ale
• Friday: Samuel Adams Imperial Stout
• Saturday: Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen
• Sunday: Avery Salvation
• Monday: Avery India Pale Ale

I’ll be drinking each beer around 8:00 or 8:30 pm Eastern each day this week, posting my initial thoughts on Twitter and writing a post about the beer to go live around 10:30 pm Eastern. To participate, look for any of these beers at your local liquor store, buy one or more, and either follow me on Twitter where you can send me your thoughts, or comment on my daily beer posting with your thoughts on the beer. Or post to this topic (just created) in the Forum. Or post to your own blog or social network… Let’s just have some fun and see what happens!

This will be casual. If you can’t find a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale until Friday, wait until Friday to post your thoughts. Or if you don’t have a bottle of Double Pale Ale but you open up a Flying Dog Kerberos instead, let us know. There are no rules — except the big rules, but those only apply to me (exactly one a day with no repeats for the rest of the year).

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Hoptimus Prime

Sometimes, a good name and quirky artwork are all it takes to get me to buy a beer. And since Legacy Brewing Co.’s “Hoptimus Prime” has both, the bottle jumped from the beer aisle, landed in my hand, and pulled me to the cashier. This Double India Pale Ale is 9% ABV, about 100 IBU, and a decent way to start American Craft Beer Week while also celebrating the mini-holiday of IPA Monday.

I don’t think there’s any sort of Transformers tie-in, but the character gracing the Hoptimus Prime label is certainly worthy of his own cartoon show or Michael Bay film. The leafy hop-man has bulging hop-pectorals, a bitter hop-codpiece, and a foamy mug of (one can only assume) Double India Pale Ale. He seems to be gazing into the mug and pondering the question written beneath the Legacy logo: “Ours Is In The Bottle . . . What’s Yours?” Hoptimus Prime’s legacy could be the conclusion of the hop shortage — if he donated a leg, the problem would be solved.

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Saison Imperiale Belgian Farmhouse Ale

After enjoying Saturday’s “Saison Americain”, I wanted to compare the beer to a more traditional saison. Too late I discovered that my bottle of Saison Imperiale isn’t representative of the style — though it is quite good in its own right. So I’ve had my second “faux” saison of the year; at some point, I really need to find an authentic representation of the style.

Sunday was a beautiful day here in New England, so I carried my bottle of Saison Imperial to the back deck after grabbing a few pictures inside. The warm weather, singing birds, and colorful life emerging from the garden made for great beer drinking ambiance — especially with such a fresh and funky beer.

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Pretty Things Jack D’Or

Let me start with a word of thanks to reader mbschm for recommending I check into the brewings of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project. mbschm met Pretty Things brewer Dann Paquette at a tasting at Whole Foods near Boston and was quite impressed with the beer.

And I’m quite impressed with the Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project too; it’s a business that seems to express the blend of creativity and passion required for crafting interesting and compelling beer. There’s artistry in brewing, and a quick perusal of his website confirms there’s artistry in Dann. (And that’s before you even try the beer.) Dann and his wife (and business partner) Martha live in Cambridge, MA but rent space at the Paper City Brewing Company in Holyoke, MA. Pretty Things could have chosen to be a contract brewer, but Dann drives the 90 miles to Holyoke to brew the beer himself. Artists may have assistants, but they’d never relinquish control.

Jack D’Or is the brewery’s flagship beer, but — experimentation and creativity going hand in hand — the recipe is being tweaked from batch to batch. My bottle is “Batch Two”, bottled March 2009. I picked it up over a month ago, so the version you’ll find in stores today is “Batch Three”. Playfully called a “Saison Americain”, this take on the traditional pale Belgian farmhouse ale seeks to be an easy drinking, everyday beer — a table beer to be enjoyed with food.

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Last Consumed:

My wife and I usually select a Christmas Tree during the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we were thrilled to discover the farm down the road from us is selling trees this year. She and I stopped by the farm while walking our Boston Terrier, Caesar, who helped us sniff out a good one. After my wife and I dithered over the best tree for several minutes, Caesar weighed in with his selection by lifting his leg on a plump Fraser Fir.

I hope that means he liked it.

The tree went up on my shoulder, I carried it home (drawing chuckles from several people driving by), and our Christmas season officially began. We’ve been listening to Christmas music, drinking hot chocolate, and generally sickening all humbugs spying through our windows.

So it should come as no surprise that I’ve selected the “Hoppy Christmas Ale” from Belgium’s Brewery De Ranke. The beer — Père Noël (imported by Shelton Brothers) — intimates the reason for Father Christmas’ jolly cheeks and rosy nose; the label depicts Santa embracing the frothy, 7% ABV Strong Pale Ale.

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