Musician’s Widow

Last week, I needed a few items from the grocery store. I decided to go check out the new Publix in my neighborhood. (If you’ve never shopped at a Publix, you’re missing out. I know my Texans are going to gasp when I say I like them better than H-E-B but… the customer service at Publix is, hands down, the best ever. I never leave a Publix without a smile on my face. So many businesses could learn a lot from them.)

I was determined NOT to go down the beer aisle. I didn’t want to be tempted! Unfortunately(?), an item on my list forced me to go down it. And I noticed that the new Publix has “build your own 6-pack” option that is ALWAYS so much fun. As I skimmed the options to build your own mix, I saw it. A beer that… well… just might be my absolute favorite beer.

“Well. Crap,” I said to myself. I walked a little further and there it was… a six pack of the beer goodness. On sale, at that.

“CRAP!” I said a little louder, as it went into my basket. I did NOT plan to buy beer, but I couldn’t leave it behind!

Abita Strawberry Harvest. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember where I had it first. I just remembered that I loved it. A lot. And every time I’ve found it since, I’ve HAD to get a six-pack. It’s a beer that even beer-haters tend to like. It’s got that sweet summer strawberry flavor that just makes the palate HAPPY.

Abita Strawberry Harvest is a lager brewed with pilsner and wheat malts and Vanguard hops. Real Louisiana strawberry juice is added after filtration resulting in a crisp lager with a sweet strawberry flavor, aroma and haze. — From Abita’s Site

I love it straight out of the bottle, but pour it in a glass for an even more happy experience.

This is a perfect summer beer. It’s light, fruity and just makes you feel… well… like summer! I’ve turned friends onto it, and I have yet to hear anyone say a bad thing about it. I HIGHLY recommend checking this one out!

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It’s been awhile since I did a #DrinkUpLinkUp… Today, I feature something I tried a couple weeks ago already: Sea Dog Wild Blueberry.

I love wheat beer. It’s my go-to beer. I especially love fruit wheat beers. So, when I saw Sea Dog Wild Blueberry on a menu, I got excited that it would be delicious.

I wasn’t a big fan. I did have two bottles in hopes I’d like it better the second time. I didn’t.

And I hate that! Its an award winning beer! (2008, Gold Fruit Beer San Diego County Fair; 2007, 2008, 2009 Bronze Fruit Beer Australian Brewers Festival; 2007, 1st Place Fruit Beer California Brewers Festival; 2007, Silver Fruit Beer World Beer Championships) Reading other review sites, its a much-loved beer with beer lovers. Maybe I just had TOO high of an expectation. However, it isn’t one I’m going to seek out again in the future.

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Walking through the grocery store the other day, I wanted to try something different. I wandered to the beer cooler and found… nothing interesting. Nothing that caught my attention. But as I walked away, stacked up against a cooler nearby was:

Batch19, proclaiming to be a “Pre-Prohibition Style Lager” and boasting a 5.5% ABV, grabbed me with their unique bottle and, well, it seems all things prohibition-days are popular right now. (If anyone can get me a bottle of Chicken Cock Whiskey I’ll… I’ll… write your praises in this blog?) It jumped into the basket and came home with me.

From the Batch19 Facebook page:

Inspired by an authentic pre-Prohibition recipe, this bold, hoppy and balanced lager derives its bold taste by using a rare combination of hops including Hersbrucker and Strisslespalt. Hersbrucker hops provide herbal notes and Strisslespalt hops deliver notes of black currant. We are aware of no brewer in America who uses this combination today. Deep-gold in color, naturally filtered and unpasteurized, Batch 19 has 26 IBUs and an assertive 5.5% ABV.

Ok, we got all the technical stuff out of the way, lets move on to the more fun part. DRINKING IT.

I like Lagers… they might not be my first choice, but I rarely run into one that I don’t like. So I wasn’t surprised to like it, what surprised me was to like despite its hoppiness. I’m not a fan of hoppy beer, but this one… maybe it was the combination of the two types of hops. I don’t know, but I LIKED it.

The biggest surprise for me what its flavor lasted. I run into beers that are “pretty good” when good and cold. The cold making the hops palatable, but as soon as it warms up even a tiny bit I can’t finish it. I enjoyed Batch19 from the first cold, cold drink all the way down to the last not-as-cold one.

I’m glad I still have some bottles of this in the fridge to enjoy over the next few days. I’d buy it again!

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It snowed this week. So of course I had to have Sam Adams Summer Ale last night to pretend it wasn’t still stupid cold outside.

Let’s just get this over with… I didn’t love it, but I also didn’t hate it. It was pretty middle of the road to me.

I’m a total wheat beer girl. My top three beers are pretty much Shocktop, Blue Moon and Hoegaarden. So there you go. Sam Adam’s Summer Ale doesn’t quite reach those for me. Perhaps if I’d had a lemon wedge with it? I don’t know.

From Sam Adam’s site:

Crisp and tangy with refreshing lemon peel and a hint of pepper from rare Grains of Paradise. Golden, hazy, & thirst quenching, this American wheat ale balances bright citrus, Noble hops & spice for a lively brew that’s perfect on any summer day.

Its definitely a summer brew with strong citrus flavor, but its also (to me) a lot hoppier than its other wheat offerings. I think that’s where I jumped off the bandwagon. Some people love that, and I totally respect that fact!! Its just not my thing… so I’ll probably shy away from it going forward. But I’m glad I gave it a shot!!

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I am generally a wheat beer girl. My husband is a dark beer guy. However, we both mix it up occasionally and drift over to what the other likes. Last night, I went to the dark side.

We went to eat at Big River Grille & Brewing Works in downtown Nashville last night. A friend works there, and we like to pop in and support her when we can. Plus, its a brewery… double points!

Big River has four locations — two in Chattanooga, TN, one in Nashville, TN, and one in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The Nashville location has six beers on top at all time, with a seasonal that rotates out with the… well… season. (Duh.)

Last night, we had their Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale. From the restaurant’s website:

“Award Winning”
Sweet Magnolia American Brown Ale

British Crystal and Chocolate malts give this ale a medium body and rich, sweet aroma. Mount Hood hops add a spicy and floral nose. This smooth, malty brew was a Gold Medal winner in the American Brown Ale category at the 1998 Great American Beer Festival.

Original gravity: 12.5° Plato
Alcohol by volume: 5.2%
Bitterness Units: 24

I liked it! It was a bit hoppier than I like in general, but somehow the malts helped off-set that to the point I didn’t mind. It was a smooth beer that went well with dinner. (And definitely worked for this not-usually-a-dark-beer-girl.)

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I’m doing my entry for #DrinkUpLinkUp a day late, because of Thanksgiving here in the US. My husband and I went to celebrate and eat a feast with friends yesterday. As we made our way through to say hello to everyone, a friend said, “Hey I brought some beers… they’re out on the deck. Help yourself!”

Beer? Help yourself? Uhm. OK!

So I went, opened the cooler and right on top, I knew I’d found my week’s review:

I’d never heard of Rivertown Brewing Company, but I know I love pumpkin ales. So I grabbed it, popped the top and enjoyed. Nothing says Thanksgiving to me like pumpkin goodness!

Now, I drank it straight out of the bottle, so I can’t say anything about color, etc. I can say that I am certain it would have tasted more balanced had I grabbed a glass.

I liked it! It was actually perfect for what I had it as: a pre-dinner drink. It didn’t overwhelm my palette with spices, and at 5% ABV it had a little more kick than the beers I noticed others sipping (Michelob Ultra, Coors Light, etc.). It was certainly a pumpkin ale, which fit the mood of the day, but it wasn’t overtly so… which, as I said, it fit what I was drinking it as. If I’d been drinking it strictly for the beer angle, I’d have probably said, “Average.” But every beer has its place, and I think I had this beer at its perfect place and time.

As I said, I wish I’d grabbed a glass. As I got to the bottom of the bottle, the spices got stronger and I found myself swirling the bottle between drinks to help mix it all up. (Think like you’d pour a hefeweizen to get more of the yeast out of the bottom of the bottle.) Had I poured it into a glass, this wouldn’t have been an issue.

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