Beer of the Weekend #239: Totally Naked
For whatever reason, I really feel like smoking a cigar. Yesterday at the BrewBQ and Blues event at Millstream, a guy sitting in the beer garden was smoking a shitty little Swisher Sweets cigar with the wooden mouthpiece. The crew and I were sitting about 20 feet away on the grass and the thinned smoke was wafting our way. It smelled incredible. (Those cigars taste like shit, but smell awesome.) I have not smoked a cigar in probably five years and the craving to do so hit me tonight.
However, it’s late and I am too lazy to go anywhere to get one. Plus, I don’t have a cutter. I guess I’ll just have a beer.
Tonight I want to review the totally excellent lager I have used as a palette trainer this weekend: Totally Naked, brewed by the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Totally Naked was not available for sampling in the brewery’s gift shop. It amazes me, especially since everyone other than the beer nuts asked the staff, “What is your lightest beer?” I understand that people should try new things, and forcing them to do so is a good idea, but Totally Naked is incredible stuff that could spark an interest in something else. (“Oh, Margie, that was good beer. I think I’ll try that Spotted Cow stuff.”) Perhaps it is available in the actual taproom, which was closed because it was a “slow day.”
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There are cryptic batch codes printed on the neck, but there is nothing discernable as a freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is a crisp and clean straw yellow that developed a little chill haze after the pour. Two fingers of white foam dissipated to leave a spotted lacing, a ring around the edge, and trails along the glass.
Smell: Lots of barley malt, which is a testament to the beer’s namesake. Lemon citrus, a little caramel, strawberry, apple, and a hint of farmhouse mustiness rounds out the aroma.
Taste: The barley malt from the smell dominates, but there is also an adequate lager crispness and bite. Lemon citrus, strawberry, and apple also come through.
Drinkability: Overall, it is an excellent lager. As New Glarus promises, it is unadorned simplicity — just like nakedness.
Fun facts about Totally Naked:
-Style: New Glarus calls it “Lager,” and BA classifies it as an American Pale Lager:
-Price: $8/sixer at New Glarus.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.2 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Listed on the beer’s webpage are “Pizza, Green Salad, Nachos, Wings, Fruit, Beef, Chicken, Sourdough, Guacamole, Burrito, Cajun, Fried Calamari, Gumbo, Tandori, Smoked Salmon.” The separate cheese pairings (it’s Wisconsin; what do you expect?) are “Feta, 1 year old Cheddar, Gruyere.”
-Nerdiness from the Totally Naked webpage:
-The cute Wisconsin chick who rang up my bevy of beer in the Beer Depot was wearing a Totally Naked shirt. I will let you fill in the rest of this thought.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
However, it’s late and I am too lazy to go anywhere to get one. Plus, I don’t have a cutter. I guess I’ll just have a beer.
Tonight I want to review the totally excellent lager I have used as a palette trainer this weekend: Totally Naked, brewed by the New Glarus Brewing Company of New Glarus, Wisconsin.
Totally Naked was not available for sampling in the brewery’s gift shop. It amazes me, especially since everyone other than the beer nuts asked the staff, “What is your lightest beer?” I understand that people should try new things, and forcing them to do so is a good idea, but Totally Naked is incredible stuff that could spark an interest in something else. (“Oh, Margie, that was good beer. I think I’ll try that Spotted Cow stuff.”) Perhaps it is available in the actual taproom, which was closed because it was a “slow day.”
Serving type: Six 12-ounce bottles. There are cryptic batch codes printed on the neck, but there is nothing discernable as a freshness date.
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is a crisp and clean straw yellow that developed a little chill haze after the pour. Two fingers of white foam dissipated to leave a spotted lacing, a ring around the edge, and trails along the glass.
Smell: Lots of barley malt, which is a testament to the beer’s namesake. Lemon citrus, a little caramel, strawberry, apple, and a hint of farmhouse mustiness rounds out the aroma.
Taste: The barley malt from the smell dominates, but there is also an adequate lager crispness and bite. Lemon citrus, strawberry, and apple also come through.
Drinkability: Overall, it is an excellent lager. As New Glarus promises, it is unadorned simplicity — just like nakedness.
Fun facts about Totally Naked:
-Style: New Glarus calls it “Lager,” and BA classifies it as an American Pale Lager:
Sometimes referred to as "all-malt," this category of beer refers to lagers brewed without cereal adjuncts (mainly rice or corn). Though often still yellow and fizzy, these beers will display a broader depth of malt flavor and a more complex bitterness vs. their adjunct counterparts.
-Price: $8/sixer at New Glarus.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.2 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Listed on the beer’s webpage are “Pizza, Green Salad, Nachos, Wings, Fruit, Beef, Chicken, Sourdough, Guacamole, Burrito, Cajun, Fried Calamari, Gumbo, Tandori, Smoked Salmon.” The separate cheese pairings (it’s Wisconsin; what do you expect?) are “Feta, 1 year old Cheddar, Gruyere.”
-Nerdiness from the Totally Naked webpage:
Pure and crisp this is a beer with nothing to hide. Wisconsin two-row barley malt ensures a mellow and smooth body. We imported Noble Hop varieties from Germany and the Czech Republic to ensure a fine mature aroma with no coarse bitterness.
Expect this beer to pour a delicate golden hue that sparkles in the summer sun. This lager is brewed using all natural ingredients with no artificial additives of any kind. Kick back, relax and enjoy the simple unadorned flavor. This is beer at its most basic.
-The cute Wisconsin chick who rang up my bevy of beer in the Beer Depot was wearing a Totally Naked shirt. I will let you fill in the rest of this thought.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
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