Beer Review - Hop Trapp

Lakewood Brewing Company Hop Trapp Belgian IPA - 6.4% ABV

"This IPA has more in common with its Trappist cousins than with the face shredding IPA's of the west coast. While we still have a healthy bitter backbone and floral hop notes, this IPA is decidedly malty and complex with the addition of our Belgian yeast. It's the thinkin' man's IPA". Says the Lakewood Brewing website.  Let's break this comment down, shall we?

First, what is a Belgian IPA?  Here's the funny thing, Belgian IPA's are not really brewed for Belgian beer drinkers, they were created specifically for the American beer market.  Our friend Chris Bauweraerts, founder of the Brasserie d'Achouffe, told us that he created Houblon Chouffe after taking a trip to the U.S. and observed how our market trended more toward hoppy beers.  Indeed, Houblon Chouffe is his favorite creation but he admits that it is more like a Belgian Trippel than an American IPA.  There are two very distinct differences between Belgian IPA's and American IPA's:  the sugar content, they are usually quite sweet and the yeast, the strong earthy, banana taste which is quite pronounced.  You will also find that most Belgian Trippels have quite a lot of alcohol, upward from 8%.

Hopp Trapp is pours slightly cloudy, golden/orange with a head that does not persist.  The nose is of hops, citrus and a bit of yeast.  The beer is a bit dry, which is typical for a Belgian Trippel, and the carbonation is medium.  You will taste hops first and foremost; not overpowering or face imploding, but significant.  A bit of orange follows along and lastly the yeasts.  There is very little sweetness to speak of and the malts in the background are quite sublte.  This is a really decent beer but because of the lack of sweetness, low alcohol content and, what I found to be, irrelevant malts, I would tend to place it in the East Coast IPA category rather than the Belgian IPAs.  We are looking foreward to trying more of Lakewood's offerings.  Hooooray Beer!

Lakewood Brewing Company
2302 Executive Drive
Garland, TX 75041
http://www.lakewoodbrewingcompany.com/


Here is a follow up from the Hop Trapp review. I had a chance to try the Lost Abbey Brewing Red Barn Ale this weekend. It is described as a Saison style beer for American tastes. I was amazing how much it and Hop Trapp resembled each other. I would like to remind you that we have world class beers being produced right here in Dallas. Good show Lakewood.

Restaurant Review - The Bowery

The Bowery Restaurant

I love hotdogs.  I'm not kidding, I love hotdogs.  There is almost no other food that compliments a good, cold beer than a good hotdog.  Then why-oh-why am I unable to find a good hotdog joint in Dallas?  Oh, I know, there are some good dogs here and there in Dallas, but they are usually one offs, like the ONE hotdog at the Angry Dog.  There is also the dandy Chicago Dog from the Old World Sausage Company at the Farmers Market, but really, can you name one good hotdoggery that has more than a couple of really good dogs?

The Bowery is the latest introduction into the fickle Dallas restaurant scene where burger joints and taquerias reign supreme.  Billed as an 'upscale' hot dog bistro it rests in the middle of the land of the $30k millionaires where you can flip a coin and be as accurate as the experts in determining whether or not it will survive.  Our experience leads us to believe that it may not.

As we walked in we were accosted by a server who led us to a table and took our order.  It was, we found out a couple of minutes later, an option to have a server, you can order at the counter in the back if you choose and save a bit of cabbage, which you should seriously consider.  The menu is quite extensive with the dogs broken out into 3 categories.  The Classics with standards such as Korn Dogs, Chicago Dogs and Brats, The Traveller with dogs with an international flair and High Brow with with eyebrow raisers like Royal Wagyu and Duo of Duck.  The also give you the option of a Naked Dog that you can load up with anything you wish a la carte.  I really needed a base in which to compare these dogs to those I have had in the past and so stayed mostly with the basics.  The Bowery Brat comes with a beer braised brat, carmelized onions, house mustard and saurkraut served on an oversized bun that they have made for them somewhere in the design district.  The second (which really is overkill regardless of what they tell you) was the Chicago Dog which is a damn fine example of the style but about 1/3 larger than is typical.  The Overstuffed Dutchman is waffle fries, smoked bacon, chives, smoked gouda mornay sauce all on a baguette and, according to my lunch companion, really confusing and not at all worth the price.

The biggest issue that I have with the Bowery came at pay time.  Two hot dogs, potato chips and a soda came out to $25.00 .... for hot dogs.  Admittedly this is with tip, that you don't need to pay if you order from the counter in the back.  The Overstuffed Dutchman? $9.00.  The Chicago Dog?  $7.50.  The question you must ask youself is this version of the Chicago Dog worth twice as much as the Chicago Dog at the Old World Sausage Company?  Oh yeah, here is the added insult, you have to valet, add $5.00. 

The Bowery
3407 McKinney Avenue

Dallas, TX

http://bowerydallas.com/  (nothing there to see at this time)

Beer Review - Wealth and Taste

Deep Ellum Brewing Company Wealth and Taste Golden Ale - 9.5% ABV

The trend to ferment beers inside repurposed booze casks continues to grow.  Whiskey, bourbon, wine, pickles ... maybe not pickles, not yet, are used to add complexity to beer with variable results.  For the most part, in my opinion, beers aged in wine barrels are misguided perversions, kind of like a Liger, with the fruitiness of the grapes overpowering the subtleties of flavors that grain provides.  Every once in a while you get one that you can really appreciate, and here 'tis.

Wealth and Taste is based on a Belgian style strong ale.  Yeasts provide Belgian beers with their unique flavor and add a certain fruitiness, mostly bananas, and spice, which the averge beer connaisseur either loves or hates.  Very few beer drinkers are indifferent.  DEBC mixed 3 different Belgian yeasts to achieve their creation.  They then age the beer, brewed with Muscat grape juice, in Chardonnay barrels.  These barrels have not been used to age the wine for as long as is typical.  What this means is that the wine had not saturated the wood so much.  So with less wine in the wood of the barrels there is less of their flavor imparted into the beer, making a sublte undertone of wine flavors rather than overpowering flavors.  But that was not enough for these mad scientists, oh no, they also added rose hips, chamomile flower and grapefruit peels.

The color is a hazy orange-gold with the smell being of yeasts, grapes and vanillla from the oak barrels.  The flavor is extremely complex with the earthy goodness from the yeasts arriving first, quickly followed by the grapes.  The dryness and balance surprised me a bit and there was very little evidence of hops.  My friends, this is a really good beer that deserves your attention.  As it is seasonal you may have a bit of difficulty finding it, but find it you must.

Deep Ellum Brewing Company
2823 St. Louis Street
Dallas, TX 75226
http://www.deepellumbrewing.com

Beer Review - Great Divide Rumble

Great Divide Brewing Company Rumble IPA - 7.1% ABV

A gay friend poses this riddle:  "What is the difference between a straight man and a gay man?  3 beers."  For me it is "What is the difference between a Belgian beer connaisseur and a hophead"?  While I love the Belgians, their cloying sweetness and heavy texture weighs on me when I am trying to enjoy a 'session' on a hot summer day.  By the time I get to my third beer I want something cleaner, brighter and a bit hoppy.  No, no ...  I'm not talking about one of those palate killing hop bombs, I am talking about a nice middle of the road IPA.  That is exactly what we have here.

This beer uses the aggressive northwest hops which could be overpowering, but then they aged the beer 'on Oak' to mellow the brew and adds the vanilla accents.  The color is a golden amber and poured with a decent head that quickly dissipated.  The smell was predictable hoppy with a bit of sugar and vanilla undertones.  Hops also were the predominant flavor but there was a fine balance of caramel sweetness, along with some citrus, pine and vanilla.  Not a great beer but a pretty darn good one and worth seeking out.  Do your seeking quickly as that this one is seasonal and will go away soon.

Great Divide Brewing Company

2201 Arapahoe Street

Denver, CO 80205

http://greatdivide.com/

Beer Review - Kosmos

Shiner Kosmos Premium Reserve Lager - 4.98% ABV

We drink a lot of beer.  Most beers, however, are destined to not grace the pages of this blog.  Sometimes it is because the beer really sucks and sometimes because they are just uninteresting.  Sometimes it is because I forgot my camera and sometimes because I am too drunk to form a train of thought about what I am drinking.  This one I am going to do just out of spite.

"Why do you hate Shiner so much?", came the question out of the blue.
"Why do you think that I hate Shiner?". 
"Because you have never said even one nice thing about any of their beers". 
"I guess that I have never tried one that I like, but to be honest, I don't do a whole lot of Shiner research".
"Try this one then, it is amazing"!

Kosmos Spoetzl DID NOT found the Shiner Brewing Association in 1909, but he did buy it out in 1915 and promptly renamed it after himself.  This "Premium" "dry-hopped" light lager was brewed as a special run to honor the "founder".

Color?  I don't really know, I drank it straight from the bottle.
Smell?  None perceptible.
Taste?  Maybe better than a Miller Light.  Maybe.  Dry hopped beers usually have the flavor of hops, but I'll be darned if I could taste any.  All things considered it is a quite harmless beer.

So there, in answer to your challenge, I can say that I do not hate Shiner beers, I just haven't found any that I like. 

Spoetzl Brewing Company
603 East Brewery Street
Shiner, TX 77984
http://www.shiner.com/

Reunion Ale

Being a huge fan of Terrapin beers AND the fact that this is a good cause AND that this sounds like a reaaaalllly good beer, I will pass this along.  If you find it locally for goodness sakes let me know so that I can imbibe, too.  - Bon

New York, NY - July 24, 2012 - Teaming up as brewing partners with Terrapin Beer Company and Alan Shapiro (founder of SBS Imports), Shmaltz Brewing is proud to participate for the second year in creating Reunion Ale '12: A Beer for Hope®. Now in its sixth year of production, Reunion® is brewed annually in memory of Virginia MacLean, a dedicated cancer research supporter who lost her own battle with Multiple Myeloma in 2007 and a dear friend and co-worker of Alan Shapiro and Pete Slosberg's (creator of Pete's Wicked Ale™). As a tribute to Virginia, a portion of the proceeds from Reunion Ale '12® is donated directly to the IMBCR. Reunion Ale '12® is now available in 22 oz bottles, as well as limited amounts of draft in the nearly 40 U.S. states that receive distribution from Terrapin and Shmaltz - and in Western Canada, through Shmaltz's distribution network. National fundraising events will occur throughout the summer and fall.

Inspired by a scrumptious dessert at one of MacLean's favorite restaurants, Reunion Ale '12® is a dark brown Imperial Ale brewed with vanilla, cinnamon, and cocoa nibs from Nashville, Tennessee's Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Company. Brewmasters Spike Buckowski (Terrapin Beer Co.), Pete Slosberg, Paul McErlean (Shmaltz Brewing Co.), and Shmaltz Brewing proprietor, Jeremy Cowan designed this year's recipe to combine sweet and spicy aromas with a complex malt base and decadent vanilla and chocolate overtones.

Reunion® was initially conceived by Shapiro, MacLean and Slosberg - who all worked together during the early days of Pete's Brewing Company - as a way to increase awareness of myeloma and bone cancer and raise donations for the IMBCR. Although MacLean passed away just four months after the release of Reunion® 2007, the Reunion project has continued the vision of these three friends by raising more than $130,000 for the IMBCR through bottle and draft sales of Reunion®, retailer fundraising events, and private donations. "Virginia emphasized the importance of continuing our support of IMBCR," Shapiro explains. "She believed wholeheartedly in the work of the Institute and understood the value of bringing hope to others." "Every dollar we raise goes directly to IMBCR to fund research," adds co-founder, Pete Slosberg. Beer lovers can also donate money directly through the Reunion website, the Reunion Facebook page, or the IMBCR website.

Reunion Ale '12® is Shmaltz Brewing's second collaboration with Shapiro and Slosberg. Cowan's relationship with the two founders dates back to the San Francisco craft beer scene in the 1990s. "Shmaltz is extremely pleased to be a part of the Reunion family," says Cowan. "Tzedakah (charity) is one of the core values of Shmaltz Brewing. To be able to work with longtime industry friends on this project makes it even more special for our entire company."

National fundraising and featured beer events will commence throughout the summer and fall to raise funds and awareness for the Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research. National and regional events will soon be added to the online calendar at http://www.shmaltzbrewing.com/.

About IMBCR

The Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research is dedicated to independent research on developing effective therapies that improve the quality of life and longevity of patients with myeloma and bone cancer. Myeloma and bone cancer are two of the fastest growing diseases in the world, afflicting more than one million people in the U.S. alone.

About Shmaltz Brewing Company

Shmaltz Brewing Company was named "Best American Craft Brewer" and won the "Best In Show 2010" title by Beverage World Magazine, after being named "Breakout Brand" for 2009. Ranked in 2012 as one of the "Top 50 Brewers in the World" by RateBeer.com, Shmaltz was also included in the "Top 50 Fastest Growing Bay Area Companies" by San Francisco Business Times, and is a recipient of the "Distinguished Business Award" by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

Established in San Francisco in 1996, with the first batch of 100 cases of HE'BREW Beer® bottled, labeled, and delivered by hand, Shmaltz has sold more than ten million bottles of beer to date. Along with their acclaimed line of HE'BREW Beers®, Shmaltz introduced its new line of sideshow-inspired Coney Island Craft Lagers®. Shmaltz offerings are available in more than 30 states through 35 wholesalers at more than 3,500 retail specialty shops across the U.S., including Beverages & More, Whole Foods, Total Wine, select Krogers and Cost Plus.

Arts District Beer Fest

For those of you who braved the hordes at the Zoo Brew last fall, the venue has been changed to accomodate the growing number of beer lovers in the Metroplex.  Dandy.

http://microapp.dallasobserver.com/brewfest/2012/index3.php