Left Hand Milk Stout

One of the joys of this project has been, by design, discovering great new craft brewing companies. This helps offset the pain of not being able to try several of their beers at the same time.

But only a little.

Today’s beer, from Left Hand Brewing Company, is just one beer out of what looks to be a spectacular lineup of Left Hand brews. And a quick scan of their distribution network makes me think many of you will be able to try a bottle of Left Hand. (Sorry John D, it doesn’t look like Oregon is on their list.)

But I can’t completely “kowtow” to the Milk Stout. Poured into a goblet, no head formed, which really disappointed me. After a few flat seconds, a thin layer of foam quickly developed from nothing, and returned there just as fast.

“It’s a dud!” was my first thought.

My second thought, you ask? “It’s a milk dud!”

Fortunately, the beer wasn’t “udderly” disappointing. The stout had a roasted coffee aroma and a dark brown, almost black body. The java flavor dominated the taste in the beginning, but gradually gave way to a chocolaty, oatmealy, toasty malt.

I’ve had many porters and stouts that aim for the coffee essence and simply go overboard. But the Milk Stout doesn’t “curdle” your taste buds with an overpowering, or “bull”ying, taste. So if you are less adventurous in your beer drinking, you won’t have to “steer” clear of Left Hand’s Milk Stout. It’s a fairly sweet, completely accessible, and thoroughly drinkable beer.

And this is despite having a bottle that was fairly flat!

Unlike the cow on the label, this beer has a fairly light body and creamy mouth feel. In fact, toward the end of the glass, the chocolate malt and the creaminess made me think of chocolate milk.

If any of you try some Left Hand brews, please let me know what you think. I’d like to work a few more into my rotation this year.

Adventures in Selective Privation

Yesterday, I heard a spot on NPR’s All Things Considered that really got my attention.

From the ATC site:

When Scott Ballum turned 30, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based graphic designer started the Consumer®econnection Project: a yearlong effort to only make purchases if he could make a personal connection with someone along an item’s production chain. Now in its 10th month, the effort has been both challenging and life changing.

Follow the links above to find the ATC story. Or watch Ballum’s video presentation here.

His goals are more lofty than mine. But the similarities are obvious — Ballum turned 30 and arbitrarily restricted his consumption based on simple rules that have complicated his life while leading to amazing new experiences. The differences are far greater — agreed — yet less fun to point out.

I’m only 14 days into this project, and already I’m seeing how challenging and rewarding it can be. Likely, I’ll find his blog instructive.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.sheeplessco.com/blog.html

Special Holiday Ale

I really have no idea how to describe today’s beer. For the full story, be sure to read the tale of collaboration posted at The Stone Blog.

“Special Holiday Ale” is a joint venture of Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Stone Brewing Company, and Nøgne Ø.

I came across Special Holiday Ale at my liquor store when its seemingly simple bottle — featuring a triangle linking the logos of Stone, Jolly Pumpkin, and Nøgne Ø — stood out simply by being so understated. I picked it up and, upon further inspection, surprising details became apparent. One such example being a haiku by Jolly Pumpkin’s head brewer, Ron Jeffries:

Triad formed
saged hills speak slowly
a beer is born

The bottle isn’t the only thing about this beer I would describe as nuanced.

Poured into a Duvel tulip glass, the ale is black cherry red. The beer developed a terrific foamy head that glided up the glass like a true Belgian. The color is tricky — it looks brown until the light catches it, revealing red highlights. It’s quite beautiful.

But the aroma, often a beer’s second chance to make a first impression, is complex enough to approach off putting. Stick with it though and you’re in for a treat.

For insight, let’s start out with the ingredients list. The list starts out simply enough: barley, hops, water, and yeast. Then comes malted oats and rye malt, which you don’t see often. But then things get decidedly strange — chestnuts, juniper berry, white sage & caraway seed!

The sage seems to dominate the nose; and it’s a leading player in the taste, too, toying with the toasty malts and hops. There’s a warm spicy element, which I think is the juniper but really don’t know.

Rich.

The description I keep returning to is “rich”. The velvet mouth feel, the robust aroma, the 9% Alc/Vol, the complexity of the flavors — there’s a richness to this beer that is undeniable. Also undeniable, this collaboration is a beer worth savoring.

If you find a bottle someplace, take your time.

After all, saged hills speak slowly.

Comments & BEERecovery Plan

Huge thanks go out to mdkellyIU for alerting me to a bug on this site. In an attempt to block SPAM from the comments, I began blocking real comments too.

For all of you who may have tried to comment over the past few days, the comments feature should be working now!

And just in time, because here’s something worth talking about.

Beer’s Stay-At-Home Image May Give It Boost In Downturn:

Beer, like other alcohol categories, faces its own set of challenges as consumers become more thrifty. Sales of alcohol in bars and restaurants have fallen, as consumers spend less on eating out. Consumers are showing signs of changing many consumption patterns.

“I think you are seeing what we would call trading-down activity in alcoholic beverages,” said Lauren Torres, an analyst at HSBC Global Research, noting there has been an improvement in the beer market this year. “People are changing their habits. For instance, they’re not consuming as much in bars and restaurants, but they are still consuming at home.”

Because of the convenience afforded to me by my stockpile and the reduced amount of temptation (comparatively speaking), I’ve preferred to drink my single “Beer A Day” at home in the evening instead of out at a bar or restaurant.

Unfortunately, drinking singles hasn’t been the cheapest way to consume beer. Especially since most of my beer arsenal is composed of pricey craft brews.

But now I see that I’m actually contributing to the Beer Economy just at the right moment.

When I save the industry with my BEERecovery plan, I hope the world is kind enough to raise a shrine in my honor. Frankly, I’d be happy just to have someone will raise up a Shiner Bock in my honor…

Filling in the Blanks

I’ve written about the first beer I drank during my trip to New York.

The post was “back dated” so that information about the beer appears on the date I actually drank it. I’m planning to create a calendar interface for the archives, and back dating the post will make it easier to tie the beer and the consumption dates together.

For those of you reading via RSS, its possible that back dated posts may not be immediately visible. So here’s a link directly to the January 8th beer.

Take care, and do continue to let me know what you think. I’ve taken many of your suggestions to heart, and I’m building out the changes a piece at a time.

Thank you, and happy beer drinking!

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.

(more…)