Confessions of a Sober Cab - The Parental Version

Cousin Mark was getting married! Clearly that meant two things; his wonderful girlfriend would now be an official member of the family, and we were going to party! The hubby and I were in a pickle though, seeing as we both wanted to get a little pickled ourselves that evening. I knew that Andy would want to drink and celebrate with his cousin and I certainly didn’t want to ruin his fun by asking him to sober cab. Besides, I knew the only way I’d manage to get at least one dance out of the guy was to get him drunk enough to not notice he was dancing. I wanted to cut loose as well and enjoy my night drinking with my siblings in law. It’s not very often that we’re all in town together, much less for a party, and a wedding at that. Plus, craft beer loving Mark would be supplying the party with kegs galore of Schell’s Oktoberfest. I really enjoy their Oktoberfest and wanted to take full advantage of the bride and groom’s hospitality. We did have an option for a ride though… Ma and Pa Strom.

Our sober cabs for the evening. (Studio Veil photo booth)

 

Really, it was perfect. They were going the same place we were, at the same time! Those are of course, the most basic rules of carpooling. And since they planned on driving home we knew at least one of them would be sober. Which is the first rule of taking a sober cab – making sure your driver is actually sober. Besides, if your parents were like the majority of parents I knew growing up, they always stressed the same rule – don’t get in a car with someone who’s been drinking. Andy’s parents were no different. And just because we were now adults and could legally drink didn’t mean that they had stopped worrying. Sometimes I think they worry more especially because we can legally drink. So of course they weren’t going to tell us that they couldn’t give us a ride. Go back on what they’ve been preaching since we were sixteen? That’s something no parent ever really wants to do. Besides, Andy still mows their lawn and they really didn’t want to mess that up.

As a bonus, brother Bob and sis-in-law Nichole were rolling in from out of town and needed a ride too. It was a regular family reunion. As we piled six deep into the old minivan I got the distinct impression that Ma and Pa Strom were actually enjoying themselves. Ok, maybe not so much when we were hinting (and not so subtly) that we wanted to pregame the wedding at the bar near the church. The idea was shot down and instead we arrived early and found our seats with the rest of the Strom clan in the church. We were witness to a beautiful and touching wedding, complete with a family photo at the end. And then it was on to dinner, dancing, and a night of debauchery!

 

Photographic evidence of debauchery. (Studio Veil photo booth)

 It was the best of both worlds – a lovely family wedding and a night of beer drinking with the buds.  The beer was wonderful, as the Oktoberfest from Schell's always proves to be, and it was free and free flowing. The beer flowed so freely in fact that Mark’s loving cousins got together and rewrote the announcement on the marquee sign at the venue with a touching message for the loving couple. I did successfully get Andy drunk enough to dance with me for the last song of the evening and my mood got as ripped as my fishnets stockings did after a night of breaking it down on the dance floor.  The ‘rents drove us safely home and I could tell that they were touched by our drunken bonding in the back seats of their van. They had most of their clan safely in their care, giggling over a night of drunken escapades and fun. We took them at their word, to always let them know when we needed a safe ride home, and they in turn held up their end of the bargain. Who knew mom and dad would provide one of the best sober rides we’ve had in a while. Besides, they got to spend some time with the kids, even if we were a little extra bubbly, and what parent doesn’t like that?

This is what happens when you provide such good beer. (via Mark and Jess Strom)

 

So while you think your parents are the last people you'd like to get a sober ride from, remember that they really do want to see you just as safe now as they did when you were younger. And if you're going the same place already, why not take them up on a ride and carpool? Besides, you're a legal, drinking adult and they can't yell at you for drinking all the free beer you can hold! Consider your parents the next time you need a sober cab, and hey, if they need a ride, return the favor!

Brews and Reviews: Dangerous Man Brewing Company's Chocolate Milk Stout

Trying to figure out my first post for Beelploma.com came with a little bit of anxiety and help from an expert source.  A good friend and former colleague of mine and I had got to talking about this endeavor and based on where I live and what I usually dig. He suggested I tackle Dangerous Man Brewing Co. and their flagship brew; the Chocolate Milk Stout.

Photo courtesy of Dangerous Man Brewing Company

I grabbed a pint of the infamous beer of 13th and 2nd in NE Minneapolis, right there at the taproom (one of the only two ways you can grab their beers. The other being via growler) with my wife and her aunt and uncle who were up from Kansas City. Everyone but my wife, who doesn't drink much anyway, ended up ordering a pint to accompany some much needed catching up and good conversation.

This beer looks intimidating and intense, as some craft stouts tend to do, just based on its extremely dark tone and deep copper hues on the head.  Often times, these stouts' tough appearance is matched with a heavy taste, overwhelming mouth feel and strong overall taste. However, the Chocolate Milk Stout from Dangerous Man suffers from none of those. One's senses are greeted with a very smooth beer that is tickled with a great classic stout taste accompanied with hints of chocolate and coffee.  The brewer perfectly balances the aroma and flavors of the product, while creating a beverage that isn't too over-the-top, but isn't whimpering as it enters your mouth. Even on a warm Minnesota afternoon, this beer was refreshing and delicious.

The Chocolate Milk Stout is also, surprisingly, a great beer for any occasion. This variation on the classic high gravity beer is like that of John Bender; tough looking exterior, but once you get to the core of it, a really sweet and enticing product that everyone either wants or wants to be.

Brews and Reviews: Stouts for Summer Badger Hill Foundation Stout

Stouts are not just for winter drinking anymore.  There are plenty of drinkable, sessionable stouts that almost qualify as "lawnmower" beers.  In my opinion Badger Hill's Foundation Stout fits the summer bill for craft beer stout drinkers.

This beer pours inky black with a decent foamy soft brown head.  A noticeable coffee aroma pleasantly passes my nose as I pass my glass under it.  The first sip gives off bitter coffee tones with a hint of chocolate.  It reminds me of my favorite mocha lattes.  Where the difference really lies in this beer from other stouts is in the feel.  Most stouts come off with a heavy mouth feel, this beer has a light-medium mouth feel, and had amble bubbly carbonation.  This stout also doesn't leave the heaviest of after tastes.  And has a lingering coffee bitterness with a hint of a sharp citrus hoppiness.  As the beer warms up the beer takes on a slightly heavier chocolaty tone, as well as a more fruity ale like flavors. 

Overall this is a solid beer, and will be a staple in my beer fridge since I first drank.  I give this a **1/2 Rating (Excellent).

So fear not stout and porter lovers, while winter is still a few months away, there are plenty of great stouts to fit the season.  So grab the lawnmower, get some yard work and done, and finish off the day with a well deserved Foundation Stout by Badger Hill!

Rise of the Beer Baron Pt 5: A Homebrewer Is You!

It's been a while since I blogged about the beginnings of my love for craft beer.  So when we last left off I had just gotten my first homebrew kit.

 







This was my introduction to how beer was made.  Even with the first batch I learned A LOT about the mechanics of brewing.  Here is a quick list of lessons that I learned:

1. Brewing the beer is easy, it's the pre-cleaning, post-cleaning, and bottling is hard.
2. You will learn to clean EVERYTHING.
3. Repeat step 2 in case you missed it.
4. No really, read step 2 again, it's important.
5. Having and empty plastic jug on hand for water is a nice to have
6. Don't even bother with the plastic bottles that comes with the kits.  Move right into glass
7. If you start with Mr. Beer and love it, you will quickly want to invest in a more mature kit
8. You will want to watch your beer every day, note, I didn't say need to.  You will just want to to make sure it is okay.
9. In the end, you're entire job is to make yeast cells happy.

In the end I was very happy with my first beer.  It was a style I had never had at this point (a Vienna style ale), well carbonated, and wasn't too bad.  But I know I could do better.  I quickly moved to the next step kit from Midwest Homebrew Supplies.

I did a lot of beers with honey during this phase.  I even got creative with a batch of beer, using my Mr. Beer kit to experiment.  Here is the recipe that I used:

2 Cans of Stickey Wicket Stout (from Mr. Beer)

2 Packets of Brewers Yeast

1 pouch of booster

14 oz of coconut in the fermentor

3oz. of chai tea per 22oz bottle during bottling.

Yeah.  I know it sounds a little strange, but it was one of the best beers I ever brewed.  Not enough beers utilize coconut....

So now the fire was lit.  I was beginning to understand the basics of brewing, beer styles, and proper beer handling.  It was time to see how the big boys play, it was time to start meeting the great brewers of Minnesota!

Minnesota, Land of Ten Thousand Beers... Or is it 4?

I was reading an article on Vita.mn that had "Beer Experts" pick a MN 6 pack of fame. I have a bone to pick with these "Beer Experts."

 

Every week there seems to be another list like this. The silly part is that they are all the same! Sometimes I wonder if these "experts" are going to the same bars and beer stores in MN that I am.

 

MN has so many great craft breweries and beers. We have such an awesome diversity of beers. MN as a state is at the forefront of the craft beer movement, but yet these types of lists never change.

 

We have a Surly beer, check! We have a Summit beer, check! We have a Schells beer, check! Throw on Grainbelt for the hipsters, Check! And throw on maybe one lesser known MN beer to make it seem like we have cred, Check!

 

I LOVE beer! Heck, even more I LOVE MN beer! I drink a fair amount of it weekly.... let's just call it blog research...He-he!... But I haven't had a Surly or Summit in a long time. I tried Schell's Star of the North and Goose Town, but other than that haven't had Schell's in forever.

 

Grainbelt? Uhhh.... couldn't tell you the last time I had one of those... Probably a night when I had already had a few good beers at a friends house and maybe accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle out of the fridge or something.

 

I do want to be clear, I am not trying to bash any of the breweries, or their beers, on these types of lists. More what I am doing is questioning why these "Beer Experts" can't get off a kick that started many years ago, and for most of us ended years ago too. 

 

Surly and Summit are not the only game in town anymore. They haven't been for a while now. By only making readers aware (again and again and again and again) of these few beers the "Beer Experts" are selling our craft beer scene short. It takes something that is really awesome about our area and makes it seem so small, dull, and old.

 

So, I am going to make a pledge. This weekend I am going to drink nothing but MN beers. I am going to open my eyes to some new MN beers and I am NOT going to drink a Surly, a Summit, a Schell's, or a Grainbelt... although I wasn't going to be hitting up that last one anyways.... All I want to know is, who's coming with me, man?

 

 

(Here is the article if you want to take a look:  http://www.vita.mn/best-of/230914481.html)

$ol Bock Revival

Saturday I went to the Sol Bock Revival event at Harriet Brewing. It was a beautiful day to be out and about. My friend and I drove to Minneapolis with the windows down. I finally could wear a t-shirt and I had my shades on. I was feeling great that after a long cold winter I could sit out in the sun and enjoy a good beer.

 

When I got to the brewery and hit the beer vending area I was disappointed, again, in a brewery event. $6.00 a beer! Now, in fairness, you could buy 4 for 20 bucks. But still, why the heck are they charging just as much, if not more, than a bar would charge for a beer they produced 20 feet away?

 

I am not an overly cheap dude. I am not asking for anything for free. But come on, man! There isn’t any middle man like a bar or a store trying to make a profit. There isn’t a distributor trying to get his money too. Heck, the guy checking IDs at the door even said the people pouring the beers were working just for tips, so no overhead there either. It is purely the brewery selling the product they made right at the place they are selling it. So why at brewery events do breweries feel like they need to charge beer prices that are starting to approach the prices for beer at major sporting events? I can’t answer that.

 

I always thought these types of events were great for the community, the brewery, and the beer consumer. The community gets some extra business in the area for the day. The brewery gets to spotlight their products and sell some beer. And of course the consumer gets to try some great beers at a brewery, which is always kind of cool. But if I can get the same beer for the same price or cheaper at a nice bar with a beautiful patio complete with plenty of chairs, a summery acoustic musician, and a server who will bring them to me, why would I bother standing in a hot parking lot with next to no places to sit and stand through TWO lines (one to buy the beer tickets and one ten feet away to actually obtain your beer) to purchase one beer for six bucks?

 

All in all it was a fun event. They had some cool art. The empanadas from the MidNord Empanada truck were spectacular. Dan Israel rocked the house with the perfect sunny Saturday afternoon music. And I will give it to Harriet Brewing that the Sol Bock was a great beer. I am sure the brewery would have wanted my last thought be “Man, great beer! I think I am going to have to get Harriet Brewing beers more often!” But as we walked back to my buddy’s truck my last thought was “Six bucks, really?!?”



Rise of The Beer Baron Pt. 1: Where we are going!

 
First off who is the Beer Baron?  Well the answer to that is easy.  It is no one, but it is who I strive to become.  I want to be in the middle of the Beer Revolution that has sprung up all around us in the Great Midwest.  I want to be a teacher, a mentor, a resource, I want to be YOUR buddy who hands you a cold one.  Yes, I want to be THAT Beer Baron.

Part of that is why I started this blog.  I knew I wanted Beer Reviews, Homebrew News, Beer Studies, but I felt there was something missing.  So I thought about the blogs that I read.  One of them is called Making Magic.  Its a weekly post by Mark Rosewater, Lead Designer for the game Magic: The Gathering, a game I haven't played in over three years.  But I keep going back to read this article.  He puts a great personal twist about how is personal life helped to shape the game, and how the game shapes his personal life.  He tells these great stories that suck you in, and helps explore human psychology.  He identifies and recognizes the mistakes he makes (both personal, and in his job).  I am mesmerized by how this man writes about everyday things. I realized this is what our blog needs to go from good to great.

So here is my introduction to that personal twist.  In these articles we will talk about how I became involved with beer, why I drink it, and I might even share some of my personnel favorites and failures.  So kick back and enjoy a cold one, because it is time for the Rise of the Beer Baron!

Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing back from you!

Will