Tyranena Hop Whore

Last night I finished adding on the last beer patch (that are in my possession) onto my messenger bag. Being a biker around Minneapolis it’s cool to have some sort of trademark for people to recognize you being that we are the second largest bike commuting city in the nation. My bike really doesn’t stand out unless you are a very observant bike geek, which a lot of people around here are. I was in Duluth getting some growlers at Fitgers when I saw they were selling patches for like 3 bucks and in about 10 seconds I came up with the idea to pepper my bag with beer patches from breweries and beer that I love. At first I was planning on adding them as I go on my travels but came to the conclusion that I probably wouldn’t hit the ones that I would want on my bag and after emailing places like Dogfish Head and Stone they don’t even have patches to sell. So I went on the internet and searched and found  Sierra Nevada. I also found a few websites that had a whole bunch but they were all beers that I really had no desire to promote, but I did come across a pretty cool Black Label POWERED which I thought was amusing and I don’t mind the beer itself. Also being that it’s a beer of choice for some of my biking friends I thought it was appropriate. There was also a Mikey’s one that I still enjoy and it was not the hornet but the logo with the bat and castle on it. I contemplated a PBR one but I didn’t want to get too hipstery. The Summit one was easy, I volunteer there. My friend Phil got me the New Belgium one, which has a bike on it, also very appropriate and he also got me the Fulton one from their grand opening tasting at the Happy Gnome, you can read more about this new brewery on the Captain’s site. So there you have it, i figure I still have room for about 5 more depending on size so I want to reserve this space for top notch small breweries. If any of you got any and want to send them my way let me know and I can compensate you for them.

After adding the last one on last night I cracked open a Tyranena Hope Whore. One of their bombastic brews from their Brewers Gone Wild series. An Imperial IPA with a mystery ABV and IBU this is yet another fine batch from a fine brewery. It pours a golden orange with a beautiful frothy head. Bringing it up to my lips and nostrils was like an old friend came back to town. I’ve mellowed out in my beer purchasing as of late, I find that getting one or two interesting beers a week is both easy for my pocketbook and rewarding for my beer soul, having Hop Whore was fantastic when earlier this year when I was a craft beer junkie I had so many of these beers that I wasn’t enjoying them as much as I could. The smell was a strong but not too over the top hop bouquet with a bit of caramel in the back. The taste was exquisite, grapefruit with some mellow sweetness to boot. It was a style that I love, explosive IPA’s are my thing. I am a hop head and this settled the hop giant in me that was getting restless. The mouthfeel was biting yet it quenched my thirst and gave me room for another, not too bitter or potent, a good balance. This should still be floating around liquor stores so if you get a chance pick up a four pack. Bacchus in Shoreview still has a couple that I know of so if you got some time cruise over there, I believe they still have Dark Horse’s Plead the Fifth so it might be a worthy trip.

Tyranena’s Hop Whore

A

1st Anniversary and Surly’s Darkness

1 year anniversary of Friday Night Beer!!!!!!!! Yep, it’s been one year since my leap into the beer blogging world. In the past year I have met some great people and tried many good beers as well as getting deeper in the brew community. I went on a road trip to Munster, Indiana for Dark Lord Day, I got a gig at Summit Brewery as a tour guide plus lending a helping hand at Flat Earth Brewery a couple times. I’ve hooked up with some quality people for trades met with them for some tasting and even just to hang out. In the beginning I had a Beer of the Month post which I eventually decided to scrap. I still have a section for home brewing which I have yet to begin and in the past few months my posting has became less often than when I started but all in all I’ve been happy about what I have done here. So now it’s a new year for the blog. I hope to keep doing what I’ve been doing but maybe changing the style of my posts. Or do any of you have suggestions? What did you like and what didn’t you like. I am open to criticism so don’t be shy. And speaking criticism, here is my review of Surly’s Darkness.

I got a lot of people shaking their head and wondering how could I have given Dark Lord a C-. In hindsight it was more of an opinion grade instead of a quality of the style grade but still I felt it was too much. Darkness on the other hand, though still very extreme, is a bit more approachable version of the style, but not by much. You won’t get many people liking this except for the real beer enthusiasts and even then you might only get about 75% liking it. I am part of that 25%. Imperial Stouts or Russian Imperial Stouts are good only in small quantities and even then, to me, keep in mind this is just my opinion, they tend to leave your palate abused or in some cases they get harder and harder to swallow the more you drink. Darkness had these same qualities to me but I enjoyed it much more than the Dark Lord. I am not sure if it was the fact that this was my first stout of the season or if it is much tamer than the DL but I am thinking it’s a combination of both. It had a lovely brown head with an aroma of chocolate notes. The taste may not impress me but the smell sure does. The initial flavor of the beer was welcoming, a nice roasty chocolate flavor with a nice hop backbone, but after while it left and filmy texture in my mouth, the downfall has begun. Maybe it’s just me and my insistence of drinking the whole bottle. Maybe I would enjoy these more if I just stuck with 8 ounces. My last glass was still OK, the smell was still as awesome and the initial sips were great but as usual, towards the end it was like I was choking it down. Maybe I am not a beer connoisseur, just a beer lover and I am not satisfied with just one small glass. Either way I am going to give Surly some credit and commend them on this fine brew. It may not be what I look for in a good beer but the hard work and dedication that they put into this deserves more credit than I can give them. Three Floyds, I will review next years DL with a more open mind.

Surly Darkness

B

Boycott Monster Energy Drink/Hansen Beverage Company

Not that you really need a reason. The stuff is crap. All energy drinks are crap. Ever look at the ingredients? I feel more comfortable ingesting methamphetamines. I see young boys at grocery stores staring at the energy drink rack the same way I would stare at the cereal rack. The cereals I would want were obviously not good for me but they are nothing compared to the energy drinks out there. They are mostly sugar but they are also loaded with chemicals that are called “ingredients.” I am not saying that these drink will kill or ultimately harm kids or whoever drinks them but it really does not do a body any good. I think it was Michael Pollan that roughly said, “If what you have has more than 5 ingredients, you probably shouldn’t consume it.” Of course in this society that is easier said than done, but it is good to at least try, and good thing beer usually just has 4.

Now, if you know me I am not a fan of corporations. In fact I really dislike them, really. I try not to get political on here because I don’t want this to turn into an ideology battle but I see corporations as the real government here in American and the real driving force and is the base for a lot of our problems. I grew up with my dad owning a small business and though it is very successful he still had to battle the big dogs. But what Monster Energy Drink is doing is nothing short of despicable.

In a small town in Vermont there is a brewery called Rock Art Brewery. Founded, owned and operated by husband and wife team Matt and Renee Nadeau, these people embody the American dream. But the American dream these days is under attack and so is Rock Art. On September 14, 2009 Matt got an email from Hansen Beverage, the owners of Monster, asking him to cease using the name of their barely wine, Vermonster, because Hansen wants to enter the alcohol market (and I shudder to see what kind of Frankenstein concoction they will come up with). Nadeau said he is going to stand his ground, he is already in the market they want to enter. Sad thing is, Nadeau will win, they are two very different names. But what will happen, that happens so frequently, is that Hansen Beverage Company will continue with the suit, they got the money to do it, Rock Art does not and they will eventually bankrupt them. Hansen will loose, but then they will appeal and appeal basically draining Rock Art dry, Rock Art will not be able to keep up the suits. Or, Rock Art can give in. But someone needs to make a stand. And that is where we can help.

Throughout history governments and corporations (which are one and the same today in my opinion) fear the great beast. The great beast being an aware, fed up and angry people. And what we can do. Well, spread the word, stop buying Monster and all Hansen products, support Rock Art, support all local and small businesses, what we should always do. I know none of us can be completely pure and free of the corporate grip but we can at least do what we can. Grow your own garden and go to farmers markets when you can. Brew your own beer or buy from local/small businesses. Go to a local market or store instead of a chain when you can. When a major corporation does wrong, don’t shrug your shoulders and give in to apathy, just stop giving them your money. I don’t like to get preachy on my blog but there comes a time when something happens that we all can agree on. I believe that no one thinks that Hansen Beverage should do this, so why can they? Or better yet, why do they?

In addition to boycotting Monster I urge you boycott everything from Hansen until they drop their demands and let Rock Art keep the name of Vermonster.

Here is a list of their products.

And you can contact Monster here and Hansen here. And be sure to spread the word and fellow bloggers, you have a duty too, link to this or write your own post. We have to defend one of our own.

Also contact your local Senator and Congress person to have them look into US trademark law to see if we can prevent future bogus attacks like this.

Thank you. And don’t let the cynics tell you it’s not worth it.

Pumpkin Mania

I am hooked on the pumpkin beers. Seems lately that when I go to the store it’s the first thing I look for and the one thing I walk out with. Unfortunately pumpkin beers are really scarce around here, maybe everywhere. I think you can only get your hands on 10 different kinds here in the Twin Cities. I know Fitgers has one and that is one I have yet to have but as soon as it is available I will be there for it. I used to believe I would hate these beers, as I stated in my first pumpkin beer review, but I have grown to love them. They seem to come and go very quickly and the flavor is so unique that I am glad they come and go and I don’t get too sick of them. So instead of making three separate reviews I am going to cram three into one.

First on the block is probably the most accessible one of the three, New Holland’s Ichabod Ale. And not only is this one more accessible it is also more drinkable to those who are not veterans of this style. Lighter like Shipyard’s version but it packs a bit more spice to it. But that’s about it, a bit more. The mouth feel is light, the aroma, though pumpkiny, is still fairly light and the taste is light on the pumpkin as well. Not saying this is a bad thing but being a lover of this style and its ruler, Pumpking, this one is for the beginners.

Next up we got Flat Earth’s Mummy Train. I was stoked to hear this one was available in growlers at the brewery. I cruised down the other weekend and picked one up along with tasting some of their beers including this one. Right away with the first taste at the brewery my anticipation was snuffed out. The was too spicy, not quite overwhelming but just enough to mark this pretty low on my pumpkin scale. I think this is their first run at the brew so I forgive them. Everything else was perfect. The richness, the aroma, but the spice needs to be toned down just a bit.

And last we got a dandy. Tyranena’s Painted Ladies. I know last year at Stub and Herbs I had a pumpkin ale on tap which was generically called Imperial Pumpkin Ale. This sort of tasted similar but I am not sure. It weighs in pretty heavy at 7.5% so it very well could be the same. This was like October/November in a bottle. A perfect balance. It poured a beautiful dark orange color wit probably one of the fluffiest heads I have come across, it was like a pumpkin marsh mellow. The aroma was what I want in a pumpkin beer, a combo of spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and the pumpkin itself. The mouth feel was thick and rich, it occupied my mouth with no carbonated tingle, a slice of liquid pumpkin pie. And taste made me sink into my recliner and enjoy that evenings viewing of Hockey Night In Canada. I saw only 5 six packs of this at the liquor store, Cellars in Roseville, so it might be very hard to get. So I highly recommend that is you see this get an extra 6 pack. I will be going there later this week in hope to secure a couple more.

New Holland’s Ichabod Ale

B+

Flat Earth’s Mummy Train

C+

Tyranena’s Painted Ladies

A+