Super Bowl Tasting Extravaganza

I based my mood tonight on how my latest batch of home brew turned out. Since you're reading this right now, it's safe to say it turned out pretty well and I felt motivated enough to blog on my beer exploits from the past weekend. I actually had a pretty low key weekend. I tried to make some brownies using Breckenridge Brewing's Vanilla Porter. Lets just say I'm better at drinking Vanilla Porter than I am at cooking with it. The brownies turned out very try and fudge-like and I ended up getting rid of them to my dismay. (Note: this picture is from a previous tasting, I didn't have a picture of the more recent one.)

Super Bowl Sunday turned out to be much more successful though. My friend and I have taken it upon ourselves to host some amateur beer tastings. Nothing fancy, just a little thing where everyone brings a couple bottles of whatever sounds good and we sit around and drink it and talk about the good and the bad of each brew. We hosted our first tasting on New Years Eve and it actually ended up being pretty successful, do we decided Super Bowl Sunday would be another great opportunity to try some good beer.

This tasting ended up being rather extensive and lasted through the end of Madonna's half-time show. The tasting list went as follows (arranged from lightest to darkest):

• Wernesgruner Pils
• Crispin Honey Crisp
• Ommegang Witte
• Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
• Goose Island Fleur
• My own still very ripe dunkelweizen home brew
• New Belgium Dig
• Finch's Cutthroat Pale Ale
• Bell's Hopslam
• Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
• Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA
• Two Brothers Reprieve
• Flossmoor Station Pullman Brown Ale
• Firestone Walker's Reserve Porter

I think it's easy to see why this tasting took so long, especially because of distraction provided by game. Unfortunately I had had most of the beers coming into the tasting, but it's still always exciting to how one's own tastes compare others. The IPA portion was the least popular among all of the tasters, which is understandable in my opinion because I think IPAs take a very experience palate to appreciate. My personal favorites were the Pullman Brown, Fleur, Cutthroat, Hopslam, and Tank 7.

The Fleur really stood out to me. I wanted to go grab a bottle almost immediately after we finished. I'm sure I'd had this beer at some point, but if I had it must have been a long time ago because I could remember what I should have been expecting upon tasting it. I really enjoyed the sweetness followed by the tart finish. It was a really refreshing tasting. I also enjoyed the rosy color. It was definitely the stand out beer of this tasting for me because it was new to my palate and very different from a lot of the other brews we tried.

Reprieve, the Schwarzbier offering from Two Brother, was also new to me. Unfortunately I tasted it at the end of the tasting so by then I was too preoccupied to take any serious notes on my phone. I'm afraid I won't be too much help at this point in telling anyone about this beer. I remember enjoying it while a lot of others didn't, but I can't remember why I enjoyed it. On a positive note though, I did buy another bottle so I'll be coming back with a review tomorrow night.

I have really been enjoying this new tasting thing my friend and I have begun. It's really fun to share my beer knowledge with others as well as getting other people's opinions on a variety of beers and beer styles. It's also interesting to dissect specific beers with a group of people, because no two palates are alike. It's amazing how talking about a beer can really enhance the drinking experience. I would encourage more beer enthusiasts to get together with their friends and host amateur tastings. It's a great way to further appreciate the wonderful world of beer.

All that being said, I should be coming back with the Reprieve review tomorrow evening. Cheers!!