Beer of the Weekend @ 3

It is time once again to review the year in beer.

Unlike the last two BotW@ retrospectives, I have chosen to write this one on the exact anniversary of my first Beer of the Weekend. (Two years ago my careful planning was foiled when I realized I was one week late, and last year I did the same, though on purpose.) Though the tradition dates back to college, when I bought a different brew each Friday night, I never put my drinking experience in writing until I reviewed Red Seal Ale three years ago tonight. I combined my love of writing with my love of beer. Two hundred twenty-seven reviews later, I am still going.

However, tonight I look back on the last 103 — those I have reviewed since BotW@2.

This last year in beer was quite prodigious. The first year I reviewed 60 beers, and last year 64, so I have been a very thirsty (and happy) boy in 2010-11. Though labeled as BotW tastings, some of my reviews this past year were not traditional, weekend offerings. In complete violation of my personal drinking rule, I drank and reviewed beers midweek a lot over the past year. Most were for the Little Village recommendation I started writing last August, while others were for my “health.”

Here is the complete list of beers I reviewed during year three.

#125: Fuller’s ESB (B+)
#126: Mighty Arrow Pale Ale (C)
#127: Grimbergen Double (A)
#128: Stella Artois (C+)
#129: Great White (C+)
#130: Amber Lager (B)
#131: John’s Generations White Ale (A-)
#132: German Pilsner (C)
#133: Iowa Pale Ale (B+)
#134: Acme California Pale Ale (B)
#135: James Boag’s Premium Lager (C-)
#136: Jamaica Red Ale (B+)
#137: Woodie Gold (C)
#138: Brother Thelonious (B)
#139: Eye of the Hawk (B-)
#140: Mission Street Hefeweizen (B-)
#141: The Mad Belgian Pale Ale (A-)
#142: Yellowtaile Pale Ale (B-/C+)
#143: Anchor Steam Beer (B+)
#144: Abbey Triple (B+)
#145: König Ludwig Weissbier (A-)
#146: Summit Hefe Weizen (B)
#147: Tusker (B)
#148: Bell’s Oberon Ale (B-)
#149: Aventinus (A)
#150: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen (A)
#151: Schneider Wiesen Edel-Weisse (B+)
#152: Haystack Wheat (B-)
#153: Mystery Homebrew #1 (D+)
#154: In-Heat Wheat (B)
#155: Old Ruffian (B+)
#156: Kapuziner Bavarian Schwarz-Weizen (A-)
#157: Hobgoblin (B+)
#158: Kapuziner Bavarian Hefe-Weizen (B+)
#159: Dark Force (A-)
#160: Weihenstephaner Vitus (A)
#161: Oktoberfest (A)
#162: Schell’s Oktoberfest (C-)
#163: Ayinger Jahrhundert-Bier (B)
#164: Weihenstephaner Festbier (B-)
#165: Cornucopia (B-)
#166: O’Fallon Smoke (B+)
#167: Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale (A-)
#168: Goose Island Harvest Ale (B+)
#169: Back Road Stout (A)
#170: Samuel Adams Octoberfest (B)
#171: St. Bernardus Tripel (A-)
#172: Kalamazoo Stout (A-)
#173: Winterbraun (B+)
#174: Bell's Christmas Ale (B+)
#175: Winter White Ale (B)
#176: Breckenridge Christmas Ale (A-)
#177: Celebration Ale (A-)
#178: Powder Hound (B+)
#179: Snowstorm 2010 (A-)
#180: Mild Winter (A-)
#181: Weihenstephaner Korbinian (A-)
#182: Anchor Christmas Ale 2010 (A-)
#183: Gray's Oatmeal Stout (B)
#184: Old Rasputin (A-)
#185: Expedition Stout (A)
#186: Old Stock Ale (B)
#187: Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale (A-)
#188: Summit Winter Ale (A-)
#189: Anchor Christmas Ale 2009 (A-)
#190: Samuel Adams Imperial Stout (B)
#191: Piraat Ale (A-)
#192: Great Northern Porter (B+)
#193: O’Fallon Cherry Chocolate Beer (D+)
#194: Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout (A)
#195: Dark Truth Stout (A-)
#196: Bell’s Cherry Stout (C+)
#197: Schell’s Stout (B+)
#198: Three Philosophers (A-)
#199: Chocolate Indulgence (B-)
#200: Anchor Porter (B+)
#201: Hopslam Ale (A)
#202: Anchor Bock Beer (A-)
#203: Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout (B+)
#204: Rye Porter (B)
#205: Milk Stout (B+/A-)
#206: O’Hara’s Irish Stout (B+)
#207: Wrasslers XXXX Stout (B+)
#208: Ayinger Weizen-Bock (A)
#209: St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout (A)
#210: Black River Gumbo Stout (C+)
#211: Double IPA (A-)
#212: Dunkel Weiss (B)
#213: Fade to Black, Volume 2 (A)
#214: Coffee Stout (B+)
#215: Hop[Squared] (B)
#216: Schild Brau Amber (B-)
#217: Einbecker Schwarzbier (B+)
#218: Special Double Cream Stout (B+)
#219: Samuel Smith's India Ale (B+)
#220: Xingu Black Beer (C)
#221: Saison Dupont (B+)
#222: Cowboy Coffee Porter (B)
#223: 483 Pale Ale (A-)
#224: Chocolate Stout (B-)
#225: Organic Münster Alt (A-)
#226: Daisy Cutter Pale Ale (A)
#227: Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock (A-)

Amazingly, those are not all the beers I tried and reviewed. On recent trips to breweries, I have written a number of non-BotW reviews in my trusty “reporter’s” notebook. I also drank a number of brews I never wrote a word about. Frankly, it’s sometimes nice to just drink and not worry about deconstructing (as best as I can, at least) a beer’s aroma and flavor.

Within the list is a personal milestone. Reviews #125 to #143, and all those in the first two years, were written when I was a Californian. Between my tasting of Anchor Steam Beer and Sprecher’s Abbey Triple, I returned to IC after nearly four years on the west coast. Though I knew John’s Grocery, the Co-op, and the east side Hy-Vee locations would take care of me beerwise, I was a little unsure how the move would affect my traditional Friday night tastings. You see, not only did I return to my hometown, I also returned to my good friends and reacquired a social life. (One of the unintended benefits of BotW was it gave me something to do on Friday nights.) My friends come first, and I never pass up the opportunity to hang out. But after returning home late Friday night (or early Saturday morning), I always take the time to end the day with a BotW review. It’s practically an obligation; it is a great example of my personal regimentation. Once I buy a beer in preparation for BotW, I will almost always review it Friday night. (Here’s a Quiet Man secret: though I may write reviews on what is technically Saturday, I almost always date BotW posts hours before so it appears I wrote them Friday.)

Looking over the list, I am struck by how high the grades are. It prompts the question: am I being too soft or have I reviewed a ton of good beer? I think it is a little of both, though it probably has more to do with the fact I have drank damn good beer. Though I almost never pre-plan BotW purchases anymore, I have seemingly become gutless and never sample from the dregs of Dirty John’s. You can never judge a beer by the carrier or label, but I seem to be doing a pretty good job of choosing wisely. For year four I should endeavor to try more “shitty” beer. I have not reviewed a different base lager in forever, so I am no doubt overdue for one of those. However, I will admit to being too yellow-bellied to be truly harsh, especially when a beer deserves it. I am just too accommodating and reasonable, faults I need to remedy.

The Primo Island Lager BotW@3 Worst Beer Award: (In homage to our era of corporate saturation, I have involuntarily made Primo Island Lager the sponsor of the Worst Beer Award. It deserves the award year after year (though I unfortunately never reviewed it).) O’Fallon Cherry Chocolate Beer. Though Mystery Homebrew #1 also received a D+ grade, O’Fallon Cherry Chocolate was head and shoulders worse. In retrospect, the only justification for the D+ was its smell and uniqueness. Other than that it was awful. At the Mervgotti Distributing holiday party, everyone was saying the same thing: “It smells great, but that’s about it.”

BotW@3 Best Beer Award: Aventinus. Pronounced “ah-ven-teen-us,” it is flat out fucking incredible. Though I have yet to award any beer an A+, I think Aventinus is the most deserving of it.

BotW@3 Ultimate 12-pack: (Because I tried so many good beers over the last year, I decided on an Ultimate 12-pack instead of a 6-pack.) Aventinus, Karl Strauss’s Amber Lager, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen, Hopslam Ale, Snowstorm 2010, Back Road Stout, Millstream’s Oktoberfest, Weihenstephaner Vitus, St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, John’s Generations White Ale, Grimbergen Double, and Ayinger Weizen-Bock.

So that is BotW year number three. On to year four. Prost!

(By the way, the picture at the top of the post is of the domestic/California/west coast craft beer aisle at the BevMo! on Beach. I took it on my last visit there.)