Beers of my vacation
To make up for Beer of the Weekend’s one-week hiatus I’m writing two beer posts. It’s beer craziness tonight.
Before BotW returns (be patient) I’ve decided to briefly profile the beers I drank during my trip. (I haven’t written in a long time, either, so I need to shake the rust off.)
I didn’t drink as well as I thought I would, and only paid one visit to Dirty John’s, but I did drink. Last night was the first night in over a week that I didn’t have a beer. I couldn’t do it. After a whole day of airports and planes I didn’t feel like cracking open one of the Pabst I left chillin’ in the fridge. I was beer-ed out, but I’m back tonight. On with the profiling, chronologically ordered, of course.
Paulaner Hefe-Weizen
I don’t have a pic of this because I’ve had it before. Plus, I forgot. I bought a sixer at the Drug Town at First and Rochester the second night I was back. Odd occurrence: I took the case to the register and the cashier had a disgusted look on her face. She handled the case cautiously when she slid it through the scanner. When I took it off the counter I saw what sickened her: There were small spots of black and white fuzz growing on the cardboard and bottle on the back side. Mold. I had never seen mold growing on a beer bottle before. It didn’t affect the beer on the inside, but it was a little off-putting. I washed it off when I got home and everything was hefey.
Grain Belt
The Pabst of Minnesota. I didn’t know they still brewed this stuff, but apparently New Ulm is pumping out a river that flows throughout the Great White North. It was a favorite of my grandpa’s. There are probably as many bars in Minnesota with Grain Belt on tap as there are lakes there. It’s a very good regional lager.
Schlitz
The beer that made Milwaukee famous is back and better than ever. Schlitz was my old man’s favorite beer back in the day. I bought him a 12-pack for Christmas one year just for shits and giggles (or should it be Schlitz and giggles?). Only Dirty John’s sold it at the time, and dad was surprised to see it when he ripped off the wrapping. We each cracked one open while watching a bowl game a day or two later. He fell asleep and I cracked open three more. When he woke up he eyed my row of empties, concerned, and told me I needed to slow down. Sure, pops. Whatever. Schlitz has a smooth taste with a bit of a bite to it. Very tasty.
Schell Octoberfest
Schell brews Grain Belt, but that has no bearing on their Octoberfest brew. I had never had an Octoberfest beer before and was very curious. This sixer was part of my groomsman gift bag. I plan to buy Paulaner’s version next week, but I was a bit surprised. It reminded me a lot of amber ale, though not as hoppy. It was decent, but we’ll see how the German’s do it.
Honey Moon
My mom bought this. God knows how long it had been sitting in the fridge before I cracked it open. My parents are notorious for buying beer but never drinking it. About 10 years ago we cleaned out the cupboard beneath the sink at our old house and found a case of Coors hidden in the back. I couldn’t find a born-on date, but found the end date for a contest on the carrying case: October 1993. Gross. Anyway, Honey Moon is the summer variety of Blue Moon. It tasted a lot like Blue Moon, though it wasn’t as wheaty, thick, or flavorful. It was a lager version. Very pathetic.
Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss
Another mom beer. I took her to Dirty John’s — her first visit ever — and she picked this up. I poured a glass my last night at home and took a taste.
“How is it?” mom asked.
“It tastes like a glorified wine cooler.”
She took the glass and tasted it herself.
“It does!” she said. “I like it!”
Good. Because you can take it.
Millsteam Windmill Wheat
This is what I wanted to do when I went back to IC: drink local beer. But I only got around to buying one sixer for my last night. And I only drank two or three Windmill’s.
A friend of mine told me Windmill was very high quality brew, but I was quite disappointed. I was thinking hefeweizen when I bought it, but it turned out to be a lager brewed with wheat. It had only a hint of cloudiness, too, which is a real negative for a wheat beer (unless it’s supposed to be filtered).
Drink on, Moxie!
Before BotW returns (be patient) I’ve decided to briefly profile the beers I drank during my trip. (I haven’t written in a long time, either, so I need to shake the rust off.)
I didn’t drink as well as I thought I would, and only paid one visit to Dirty John’s, but I did drink. Last night was the first night in over a week that I didn’t have a beer. I couldn’t do it. After a whole day of airports and planes I didn’t feel like cracking open one of the Pabst I left chillin’ in the fridge. I was beer-ed out, but I’m back tonight. On with the profiling, chronologically ordered, of course.
Paulaner Hefe-Weizen
I don’t have a pic of this because I’ve had it before. Plus, I forgot. I bought a sixer at the Drug Town at First and Rochester the second night I was back. Odd occurrence: I took the case to the register and the cashier had a disgusted look on her face. She handled the case cautiously when she slid it through the scanner. When I took it off the counter I saw what sickened her: There were small spots of black and white fuzz growing on the cardboard and bottle on the back side. Mold. I had never seen mold growing on a beer bottle before. It didn’t affect the beer on the inside, but it was a little off-putting. I washed it off when I got home and everything was hefey.
Grain Belt
The Pabst of Minnesota. I didn’t know they still brewed this stuff, but apparently New Ulm is pumping out a river that flows throughout the Great White North. It was a favorite of my grandpa’s. There are probably as many bars in Minnesota with Grain Belt on tap as there are lakes there. It’s a very good regional lager.
Schlitz
The beer that made Milwaukee famous is back and better than ever. Schlitz was my old man’s favorite beer back in the day. I bought him a 12-pack for Christmas one year just for shits and giggles (or should it be Schlitz and giggles?). Only Dirty John’s sold it at the time, and dad was surprised to see it when he ripped off the wrapping. We each cracked one open while watching a bowl game a day or two later. He fell asleep and I cracked open three more. When he woke up he eyed my row of empties, concerned, and told me I needed to slow down. Sure, pops. Whatever. Schlitz has a smooth taste with a bit of a bite to it. Very tasty.
Schell Octoberfest
Schell brews Grain Belt, but that has no bearing on their Octoberfest brew. I had never had an Octoberfest beer before and was very curious. This sixer was part of my groomsman gift bag. I plan to buy Paulaner’s version next week, but I was a bit surprised. It reminded me a lot of amber ale, though not as hoppy. It was decent, but we’ll see how the German’s do it.
Honey Moon
My mom bought this. God knows how long it had been sitting in the fridge before I cracked it open. My parents are notorious for buying beer but never drinking it. About 10 years ago we cleaned out the cupboard beneath the sink at our old house and found a case of Coors hidden in the back. I couldn’t find a born-on date, but found the end date for a contest on the carrying case: October 1993. Gross. Anyway, Honey Moon is the summer variety of Blue Moon. It tasted a lot like Blue Moon, though it wasn’t as wheaty, thick, or flavorful. It was a lager version. Very pathetic.
Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss
Another mom beer. I took her to Dirty John’s — her first visit ever — and she picked this up. I poured a glass my last night at home and took a taste.
“How is it?” mom asked.
“It tastes like a glorified wine cooler.”
She took the glass and tasted it herself.
“It does!” she said. “I like it!”
Good. Because you can take it.
Millsteam Windmill Wheat
This is what I wanted to do when I went back to IC: drink local beer. But I only got around to buying one sixer for my last night. And I only drank two or three Windmill’s.
A friend of mine told me Windmill was very high quality brew, but I was quite disappointed. I was thinking hefeweizen when I bought it, but it turned out to be a lager brewed with wheat. It had only a hint of cloudiness, too, which is a real negative for a wheat beer (unless it’s supposed to be filtered).
Drink on, Moxie!
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