Brews and Reviews: Drinking the In-Laws

It's that time of year again.  My father in law is in town!  The good news is that we didn't have to buy one case of Bud, it's all Schell's from here an out!  That being said he has undertaken redoing our entire deck.  This of course has led me to drink more then a fare share of new beers.  So to kill two beers with one gulp I decided to post about my sanity saving friends....

I don't know if this is the first year that Summit has made this beer, but I hope it is not the last [Summit contacted me after posting this and say that it was first introduced in 2012].  In a world filled with Summer Lagers this beer is a great edition to anyone's lawn mower beer line up.  This hazy straw gold beer gives off a clean white grape aroma.  It has a nice gentle biscuity malt taste, with mild hop bittering.  Almost like a lingering pilsner.  It has a very thin mouthfeel, it actually feels lighter then water.  I really enjoyed this beer and good easily take down a few of these after a hard day's work in the yard.  Rating:  "Good"

This is not the first year Third Street brought out Hunny Do, but last year it sold out so fast I am not even sure if it made it to the cities.  But luckily they made it a second year!  this hazy pale gold pours with a tight foamy head.  It has an ample floral bouquet in the aroma.  Soft mouthfeel, ample Saaz like bitterness.  It has a dry finish.  Another beer to enjoy after the yard work is done!  Just make sure your Hunny Do list is done as well before cracking into this summer delight.  Rating:  "Good".

 I am a sucker for a good pilsner, so when the make of one of my favorite stouts had a pilsner offering on the shelf of my local liquor establishment, I had to partake.  Left Handed Polestar pilsner is a great offering, again pair well with the muggy days of the Minnesota Craft Beer drinking season.  This pale straw yellow poured with a short white head.  It had a soft hops presence, and gave of hints of cinnamon in the aroma.  The pilsner was softer then they strong German pilsners I am used to, but I think that might make it easier for your average American drinker, so I am overlooking that for this rating.  It has a harp bitter aftertaste reminding me of the noble hops.  It has a very mellow biscuity malt taste with a nuttiness to it, which was my favorite part.  Rating:  "Good"

So there you have three solid beers to try for this summer season.  What are your favorite "lawnmower beers".  Leave us a comment!

Rise of the Beer Baron Pt. 4: Cheese Please!

First off, before we begin if you haven't taken some time to fill out a nomination yet for "Kind-of-a-big-deal" awards please take a minute to do so.   These are Minnesota's very own Beer Awards.  Also if you like our blog please consider nominating us (beerploma.blogspot.com) for best Beer Blog!  We would really appreciate it!  Just click the link provided above.  Thank you.

   That is my Dad, William Matthews Sr. (yes I am a Jr.).  He went by Bill (actually so did I until 2006 when I changed to Will to end the suffering of being called "Little Bill" despite the fact I was a good 6 inches taller). My Dad passed away June 2011.  He didn't leave me empty handed.  I learned to cook from him, how to speak in public, how to camp, how not to hold a hammer, but I never had that "Clark and Rusty" moment with my Father.

You see I never saw my Dad drink, except for twice in his entire life, and one of those was on his death bed.  Not that my Dad had anything against alcohol.  Some say his sobriety stemmed from his chronic ill health, others say it was a lesson learned from his reckless youth.  Who knows it was probably a little of both, or it was neither.  It was one of those secrets that died with him.

But he did play a major role in my passion for craft beer.  It all started with the high prices of cheese back in 2005.  Our favorite cheese shop was Bass Lake Cheese factory:

Now my Dad and I could easily drop a hundred dollars in cheese factories, but the problem was we were noticing that we were getting less and less cheese for that money, and the shop was getting a little too trinkety.  So we started to venture out to look for new places.  One place we discovered was a little cheese shop in Pine Island.  Their cheese was great, and reasonably priced.  But there was something else about this shop.  It doubled as a homebrew, and winemaking shop.  My Dad and I looked at the equipment and we toyed around with the idea of homebrewing.  We talked about it, but it didn't go much further than that.  The idea stuck to the back of my mind, and I guess it did my Dad's too because for Christmas...

 My very own Mr. Beer Kit!  From here on out I was a homebrewer....

To Be Continued!