Beer of the Weekend @ 2

Pictured is Andrew, who was the tour guide at Anchor. He was cool and very generous with the free samples.

Tonight I’m commemorating Beer of the Weekend’s second anniversary, which technically was April 19. However, I don’t feel like writing.

I drove to LA today, and all I feel like doing is pounding down a couple PBRs and enjoying my last three ESBs. Whenever I visit LA, a combination of the traffic, people, pollution, decadence, decay, and dearth of public rest rooms (LA, I realized, is the maw of hell for the well hydrated) kicks my ass; it ruins me for the rest of the day. I’m reduced to a vegetative, but semi-productive, state. Like now. (Plus, I’m watching the Jack Kevorkian biopic on HBO. Good shit.)

But I’m plowing ahead anyway, and will add a little extra special feature at the end.

Here is the complete list of brews reviewed during BotW year number two:

#61: Tucher Helles Hefe Weizen (A-)
#62: Modelo Especial (C)
#63: Negra Modelo (B-)
#64: Sol (D)
#65: Full Sail Pale Ale (B)
#66: Montana Trout Slayer Ale (B+)
#67: Sapporo Premium Beer (B-)
#68: Full Sail Amber (A-)
#69: Cinder Cone Red (B)
#70: Red Trolley Ale (B)
#71: Hoegaarden (B+)
#72: Blue Star American Wheat Beer (B-)
#73: Liberty Ale (B+)
#74: Trader Joe’s Bavarian Style Hefeweizen (A-)
#75: DAB Original (C)
#76: Josephs Brau Dunkelweizen (B)
#77: Hefe“r”weissen (B)
#78: Pinkus Organic Hefe-Weizen (A-)
#79: Erdinger Hefe-Weizen (C+)
#80: Ayinger Bräu-Weisse (A-)
#81: Labatt Blue (C)
#82: Ayinger Ur-Weisse (A-)
#83: Hacker-Pschorr Weisse (A-)
#84: Bitburger Premium Pils (B-)
#85: Shock Top Belgian White (C)
#86: Trader Joe’s Vienna Style Lager (B)
#87: Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Dunkel (B+)
#88: Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen (A-)
#89: Trader Joe’s Bohemian Lager (C+)
#90: Gordon Biersch Märzen (B)
#91: Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen (B+)
#92: Oranjeboom Premium Lager (C+)
#93: Josephs Brau Oktoberfest (C+)
#94: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (B+)
#95: Oktoberfest (B+)
#96: Late Harvest Autumn Ale (B)
#97: 3 Horses Imported Lager Beer (C+)
#98: Alaskan Amber (B)
#99: Alleycat Amber Ale (B)
#100: Peter’s Brand Classics (C)
#101: Olympia (C-)
#102: Black Hart Irish Style Dry Stout (A-)
#103: Hop Ottin’ IPA (B)
#104: Henninger Premium Bier (C)
#105: Schokolade Bock (A-)
#106: St. Peter’s Old-Style Porter (A)
#107: Mahr’s Weisse (D)
#108: Mocha Porter (B+)
#109: Simpler Times Lager (C)
#110: Belhaven Scottish Ale (A-)
#111: Pipeline Porter (B)
#112: Red Oval Classic Lager (C-)
#113: Organic Porter (B)
#114: Road Dog Porter (B-)
#115: Trois Pistoles (A-)
#116: La Fin du Monde (A)
#117: Red Stripe (C+/B-)
#118: Jumping Cow Amber Ale (B)
#119: Dead Guy Ale (B+)
#120: Longboard Island Lager (C+)
#121: Samuel Adams Cream Stout (B+)
#122: 1554 Enlightened Black Ale (B)
#123: Calico Amber Ale (B)
#124: Fuller’s London Pride (A-)

Along with the beers I reviewed, I drank a few more brews I didn’t officially sample:

-1999 Anchor Christmas Ale (unrated)
-2002 Anchor Christmas Ale (I don’t remember if I tried it or not. 200_ was a God awful shitty year for me, so I may or may not have suspended my boycott of everything 200_ to try a bottle. I think my beer curiosity is more powerful than my bitterness and hatred.)
-Vanilla Porter (B)
-Humming Ale (@ Anchor)
-Anchor Porter (@ Anchor)
-Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale (@ Anchor)
-Anchor Steam (unreviewed…yet)
-1554 Enlightened Black Ale (which became BotW #122)
-Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (B+)
-Anchor Summer Beer

Needless to say, I did a lot of drinking in the last year. And, as with BotW’s first year, there was a lot of good drinking, a lot of great drinking, and only a little bad drinking.

BotW@2 Worst Beer Award: Sol. I gave it a D, but it deserved a F. However, I was generous because it didn’t make me wretch.

BotW@2 Best Beer Award: La Fin du Monde. Along with St. Peter’s Old-Style Porter, LFdM was the only brew to garner a solid A. It was superb.

Damnit! I want to stop writing. However, I want to end this with a little something Tom of Churchill’s Cigar suggested I do: the ultimate six-pack. It won’t be my “ultimate ultimate” six-pack since I’m only including the brews I’ve had over the last year. Someday, when the time is right, I will create my dream six-pack.

BotW@2 Ultimate Six-pack: La Fin du Monde, St. Peter’s Old-Style Porter, Trader Joe’s Bavarian Style Hefeweizen, Schokolade Bock, Ayinger Ur-Weisse, Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen.

Obviously, I’m biased toward wheat brews, but I tried to spice the sixer up with a few of the other outstanding beers of the past year.

On to year three.

Prost!