Sunday, November 2, 2008

Savouring Italy, One Beer at a Time

Came across this story in the NY Times:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/travel/02Beer.html?em

Now, so far my experience with Italian beer has not been great. Menabrea is an especially bad beer as far as I am concerned. (It all holds to my theory that a country can make nice wine or nice beer but not both). However, I may have to start looking into some of the craft brewers in Italy.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Cheap Beer Craptacular!

Today's beer - Mountain Crest Classic Lager

In a nutshell: "damngoodbeer" my ass. Piss yellow in colour and tinny in taste. I was immediately concerned when I saw that it printed the price right on the can. Never a good sign. Esepcially disappointing because the same brewery's (if you can call it that) Boxer Ale is actually not bad.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Great Places to drink beer - elsewhere

Ok, having run through some places I like to drink beer in Cowtown, let me share some places I have found in other cities that are great places to grab a brewski or 3. Note: I am listing places I like for their beer selection, not necessarily their ambiance.

Seattle: Tap House Grill (http://www.taphousegrill.com/)

160 beers on tap!

San Diego: The Yard House (http://www.yardhouse.com/)

The sign outside said "World's Largest Selection of Draft Beer". I was skeptical to say the least, until I say the taps list. To quote Darth Vader: "Impressive. Most impressive."

Toronto: Bier Markt (http://www.thebiermarkt.com/)

Large selection in bottles, not taps, but an amazing array of European beers.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Some fine brews (part 1)

Ok, lets get down to some business here. At present count, I think I have had about 417 different varieties of beer. As a service to you, dear reader, I will from time to time list some of my favorites, in the hope that I may expand your beer-rizons.

Today's general class of beers: English ales

1. Deuchars Caledonian IPA. (http://www.caledonian-brewery.co.uk/)

When at Cam Lars (another solid beer afficianado) and I would often make a trip to the Mill pub for the express purpose of getting a pint of Deuchars IPA. Quite hoppy but with an interesting fruity / citrus taste to it. My better half (Sith@Heart) was not a big fan. I, however, am.

2. Woodforde's Wherry (http://www.woodfordes.co.uk/html/wherry.html)

Described by its website as "fresh and zesty with crisp floral flavours". A mighty fine bitter.

3. Timothy Taylor Landlord (http://www.timothy-taylor.co.uk/llordfr.htm)

Much like the Mill, I would often make a trip to the Red Bull for a pint of Landlord. Nicholas Pashley in "Notes on a Beermat" called it his favorite beer. I don't think I would go that far, but I would not turn one down.

4. Fuller's London Pride. (http://www.fullers-ales.com/london_pride.php)

Very popular, so much so you can even get it in Canada (in bottles only, sadly). Nonetheless, a very tasty pint.


Ok, that should be enough to get you started. I will list more of my favorites in future posts. I will also list beers to avoid like the plague. And coming up, my "Cheap Beer Craptacular", where I will try a series of cheap beers in the hopes of finding an economical diamond in the rough. I am not overly hopeful.

B@H

Monday, August 25, 2008

Some key websites

Some excellent beer related websites:

http://beeradvocate.com/

http://www.camra.org.uk/

http://michaeljacksonthebeerhunter.blogspot.com/

[a beer blog about Michael Jackson (no, not that Michael Jackson - formerly one of the most renowned beer experts. R.I.P]

Thursday, August 21, 2008

At last! Content!

Ok, a blog without content is like, umm, Coors light. Bland and devoid of anything that might reasonably called "flavour." Time to remedy that.

About me:

As of this post, by my count I have tried just over 400 beers. Not as good as some but better than most. A good reason why I have been able to try so many is that, in addition to making a point of trying new berrs, I have moved around a fair bit. Having lived in Ottawa, Waterloo, Halifax, Calgary, England, Vancouver (effectively) and spent travel time in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and the U.S. has enabled me to sample a fair share of beers. But of course my work is not finished yet!

I live in Calgary, Alberta now. For those in this town, here is a short list of the best places to buy and drink beer, at least in my opinion:

Buy:

Willow Park - From what I have seen has the largest selection in the city.
Kensington Wine Market - pricey, but has some interesting selections that are hard to find elsewhere


Drink:

Bottlescrew Bills - it has no ambiance, but over 100 brands available
Wildwood - has a line of very nice beers they brew themselves. The brew master is my friend and fellow soccer player Brian Smith
Ship and Anchor - about 30 beers on tap and generally at a good price
Wild Rose brewery - the brewery has a tap room where you can get all their usual varieties plus some others that are only available in draught
Original Joes - a surprising number of beers on tap, especially the location on 4th

Well, that is all for now. In the future I will post some useful beer links, as well as some of my favorite beers.

B@H

Thursday, August 7, 2008

email issue

because my name so cutely has the "@" symbol in it, outlook thinks it is a mail to address. It is not. To reach me, use beeratheart@gmail.com

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Welcome

Eventually this will be a blog about beer, beer related activities, and the odd thought to ponder (over a beer, of course).

beer@heart