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Friday Food and Drink Post: The Beer Necessities
I’m an ale girl myself. With special attention paid to Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brewing Company on the West coast. I discovered this glorious beverage in, of all places, Washington PA, at Roland’s Trattoria, a small family restaurant run by our dear friends and neighbors Roland and Cheryl, and increasingly by their “beer snob” son Vince, God bless him. (Pro tip: Roland’s fried zucchini appetizer cannot be beat. Cheryl’s Italian Cream Pie, with cherries, ain’t bad, either.) But I digress. Back to the beer. Just as much as I love the beer, and the name, I love the motto printed on the front of every bottle–“YOU’RE NOT WORTHY”– and the patter that goes with it, printed on the back:
This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory—maybe something with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multimillion-dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.
We believe that pandering to the lowest common denominator represents the height of tyranny—a virtual form of keeping the consumer barefoot and stupid. Brought forth upon an unsuspecting public in 1997, Arrogant Bastard Ale openly challenged the tyrannical overlords who were brazenly attempting to keep Americans chained in the shackles of poor taste. Since the very beginning, Arrogant Bastard Ale has reveled in its unprecedented and uncompromising celebration of intensity. There have been many nods to Arrogant Bastard Ale–even outright attempts to copy it–but only one can ever embody the true nature of Liquid Arrogance!
I’ll never forget my first time. Mr. She and I were enjoying dinner at Roland’s, and Brittany (Vince’s soon-to-be wife, and, not long ago, the mother of his first son, because Roland’s is the sort of place where family comes first) did the rundown of the beers on tap and asked me what I’d like to drink. I said, “I’ll have an Arrogant Bastard, please.” Mr. She, without missing a beat, piped up and said, “I thought there was room for only one arrogant bastard in your life.”
No, there’s always room for another. Why stop at two, after all?
What sort of beer floats your boat?
Published in General
In the top five of beers that are as fun to drink as they are to say.
Im starting to get tired of that really pungent IPA taste. But there’s something called “Imperial IPA”. It’s higher alcohol and has a smoother taste. Dogfish Head 90 minute and New Belgium Voodo Imperial IPA are good.
Their marketing must be particularly good, because I don’t think their beer is special at all.
Tip on German beers: If it comes from a monastery, it is most likely good. All our favorites are from monasteries- look for the guy in the cowl.
Second tip on German beers: If it is big enough on the export market to buy ad time on American TV, it is probably mediocre, perhaps even bad and almost certainly overpriced.
Tip on Austrian beers: Don’t. Just don’t. Trust me on this particular matter.
Sam Smith’s is good. Have you tried that?
From the tap it’s above-average good. But in all other forms you are correct, there. Sort of like Bitburger. Bitte KEIN Bit.
Not German, but Belgian. When I was in the UK for Dad’s funeral, my brother’s friend, who is Belgian, brought us some “best beer in the world” Westvleteren beer. Really, really rare and special.
Done and done. Not sure I’ve ever had Austrian beer, but thanks for the tip.
Belgium does produce some excellent witbier.
IPAs and chocolate coffee stouts
There’s nothing wrong with Dutch beers, but there’s nothing special about them. Like, they don’t have a distinct style of beer like many other countries have, as far as I can tell.
Coffee beer is fun to try, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly. I would never buy an entire two-four of the stuff.
That’s like saying that West Africa produces some excellent Ebola Virus.
The Mad Men episode about how Heineken was introduced to America is a particularly good episode.
My favourite episodes of that show are the ones that are actually about advertising, rather than the episodes that are merely soap opera installments.
I like to do the “mix and match” thing with six packs when I’m in a place that lets me do that. So I can try out some of the weirder things and see what I think, without having to over commit.
I have heard, though it might be an urban legend, that Beck’s is made almost exclusively for the export market, and that virtually nobody in Germany drinks it.
This is, of course, not an unusual phenomenon. On a visit to a New Jersey liquor store I was flabbergasted to discover Labatt Blue in the “premium” section, and in China Pabst Blue Ribbon is sold for the equivalent of US$30 per bottle.
If you like the Belgian style, you might enjoy a pub tour in Quebec. That sort of beer dominates their independent brewery scene.
It’s ironic since there is virtually zero Belgian ancestry in Quebec. They came mostly from Brittany and Normandy (and also, surprisingly, Ireland, thanks to French families adopting Irish orphans whose parents had died during the ocean voyage).
Fun Fact: In the US the famous brewers were originally German (Adolph Coors, Adolphus Busch, Eberhard Anheuser, etc.) . In Canada they were Irish (John Labatt), English (John Molson, Thomas Carling), and Scottish (Alexander Keith). Today, the best-selling Canadian beers are in the Czech/German style, but in the past the most popular beers were British-style ales.
Damned Yankee imperialism…
;-)
Bit like “English muffins,” then. BTW, does anyone know if something called a “Belgian waffle” is eaten in Belgium?
According to Wikipedia, they were first introduced in 1958 at the World’s Fair in Brussels, and they were brought to North America in 1962 by a Belgian immigrant.
So, yes, they were first invented in Belgium, but they’re not an olde-tyme Belgian tradition.
The word “waffle” is Dutch in origin. The origin of the concept is from all over continental Europe, with Germany, France, Holland, and yes Belgium, all contributing their own local spin on the idea of cooking batter between two pieces of hot metal.
No but I will, thanks.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HeWUXV89w0g
(Warning:language)
I heard that about Budweiser, too.
Then again, they do that in the US for PBR in my opinion. I blame the hipsters for that.
Speaking of Belgian beers, this one (Gulden Draak) is really good.
I like the glass. Heaven forfend that one should serve the right kind of beer in the wrong shaped glass . . .
The best beers I’ve ever tasted were local beers served at various German guest houses. I’ve never tasted any beers since then quite as good.
No hoppy, bitter IPAs there. Just tasty Pilsners.
My own doppelbock, or schwarzes pils, most of the year. Kölsch or dunkelweizen in the warmest months. If I’m not making it, I’m in for German imports or near authentic small brewery renditions.
I used to drink Löwenbräu until some domestic company bought the rights to make it here. They ruined it by “reformulating” it for American tastes.
I found out other “Imported” beers are now made here, Red Stripe being one . . .
I had Red Stripe once. I don’t know if it was the import version or not but I have no desire to find out by trying it again.
Yep