Introducing...
Guest Blog from "Captain Hop Head"So tonight I had the pleasure of sitting down with "Brooklyn Beer Gal" and we caught up on the good 'ol days of the craft beer revolution at the historical NYC beer bar, The Ginger Man. While "BBG" decided to follow a nice sessionable route of pints such as Sam Adams White Ale and Six Point Franky's Pale, I opted for a more "Post St-Pat's" route away from my quality Guinness pints to a much more hop focused throw down. Here was the recap:
Started with one of my favorite breweries, the Willy Wonka inspired Magic Hat Brewery out of Burlington VT, and their signature hop submission, HIPA. I have to say, this was much nicer than the Blind Faiths I use to have back in the day, as well as a much better every day beer than their widely available apricot flavored "Magic Hat #9". HIPA had a nice balance of malt and hops that delivered a very strong and characteristic hop bite without sacrificing the balance of a fine brew. Very enjoyable.
Recommended by my high quality server at The Ginger Man, I have to say, this beer rocked! A perfect balance of malt and hops, Weyerbacher dazzled the senses. The gold standard of the evening, Weyerbacher should be held up in the same light as such other notable perfect hop pints as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Dogfish IPA. Try this beer!
How do you not try this beer with a name like this? One answer, the taste! Just because you pack in a ton of malt and even more cheap hop extract does not give you the right to sell this beer. This is the equivalent of a little guy driving a big Cadillac. They tried too hard to over compensate for their lack of brewing skill with too much of everything and the beer suffered because of it. Not ready for prime time consumption.
Okay, need to rally after that last pint, lets get an Anderson. Good news, it was better than the HeBrew. Bad news, not by much. Anderson Valley has been around a long time and they know what they are doing, however this beer was disappointing. Once again, not very well balanced, and had some funky after taste likely through a dated batch that was served. In the words of LL Cool J, 'Don't call it a comeback", I am still in a downward spiral after the 1st 2 pints.
Need to finish on a strong note and took a risk. I love Cask Conditioned Ales, but I also know the downfall of hopping them up. This beer delivered against all my (and BBG's) fears. The great mouth feel and sessionability you get from a good cask ale was negated by a rough and awkward hop finish. I wanted to finish the night stronger than Tiger Woods nursing a lead in the final round, yet came away with a poor climax to the evening's pints.
So there it is, registered a 2 for 5 evening with 1 homerun, 1 double and 3 strikeouts. Looks like a typical line from Big Papi.
The only thing that made the night worthwhile was the conversation with BBG. Can't go wrong when you are having pints with knowledgeable beer gal. Where most of the ladies in NYC drink white wine, the Budweiser of Belgium (Stella), Corona, or skunky brands from the poor brewing country of Holland, your BBG continues to blog about quality pints from the US and beyond. In the words of the famous American poet Chris Rock, "Ain't nothin wrong wid that!"
Until the next session,
Captain Hop Head
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