2011 Day 36: Flying Dog Garde Dog

Name: Garde Dog
From: Flying Dog Brewery, Maryland, USA
Type: Biere De Garde

After my excellent experience with Jolly Pumpkin's Oro De Calabaza, I was excited to try another Biere De Garde. I have two main places I frequent when buying beer, but neither of them is really a close walk. Because my car is buried under two feet of black ice, I've been hitting up closer options. One of them is usually good for a couple of interesting beers I don't see other places, and I happily grabbed a sixer of Garde Dog when I saw it. I'm glad I did! This was a very enjoyable beer for me. It's really light, a bit fruity, and smooth. It has hints of Belgian-y flavors but everything is pretty muted and balanced. I think it would be more appropriate in spring or summer, but I had no problem knocking back a few of these on a nasty, blustery winter night. While nowhere near as complex or flavorful as the other Biere De Garde I had (definitely not as funky by a longshot), it was a fun interesting beer, and much more affordable. I look forward to drinking this one again.

2011 Day 35: Founders Double Trouble

Name: Double Trouble
From: Founders Brewing Company, Michigan, USA
Type: Double India Pale Ale

I didn't mention it at the time, but a few days ago there was a blizzard in Chicago. I even got a day off of work. The novelty of the snow has started to wear off. Today as I walked home from the train station, I watched grown adults scream obscenities at each other over a stuck car. Pathetic. It was nice to crack open this excellent Double IPA. More grapefruity than Hopslam, but less tropical. Maybe a bit less malt too and more sharpness to the bitterness. Founders is an excellent brewery and this is an admirable beer.

2011 Day 34: Keegan Ales Hurricane Kitty

Name: Hurricane Kitty
From: Keegan Ales, New York USA
Type: American IPA

This is billed as "A Coppery India Pale Ale". I'm not sure if I got a bad bottle, but this was straight up brown, and it smelled like Whoppers. Not Burger King Whoppers, malted-milk balls that come in a carton Whoppers. Strong chocolate scent, as well as a big blast of hops. Taste was similar, much darker than a typical IPA...I'm wondering if I got an infected bottle. I'd like to try another bottle of this to see if it's "supposed to taste like that". Not great, but interesting.

2011 Day 33 - Captain Lawrence St. Vincent's Dubbel

Name: St. Vincent's Dubbel

From: Captain Lawrence Brewing Co, New York, USA

Type: Dubbel

Hmm...okay. Well, I drank this. But I probably wouldn't drink it again. This didn't smell or taste anything like I thought it would. No dark fruit flavors, no banana/clove/candi sugar smell, no spicy yeast. Instead a weird sour smell mixed with some barnyard funk, but not really in an appealing way.

Taste is similar, some tartness that mixes unpleasantly with the base beer. Some interesting black pepper flavors come out, but they just don't mesh with the other stuff that's going on. None of the boozy sweetness I'd expect from a Dubbel. Interesting and unique, but not a hit for me, and I say that as someone who usually enjoys funky/sour beers.

2011 Day 32 (Feb 1) - Hofbrau Dunkel

Name: Hofbrau Dunkel

From: Staatliches Hofbrauhaus, Germany

Type: Munich Dunkel Lager

February started off on the right foot with this dark German lager. This is damn good stuff. It's crisp and clean, and has nice caramel malt notes along with a little hay in both the smell and the taste. The hops are smooth and earthy, providing a nice balance. Goes down way too easy, I could pound this stuff all day. A delicious beer I'll absolutely get again.

January: The month in review

The first month of my beer a day challenge went very well - as one might expect, as all opportunities are still available. I did my best to not exhaust my go-to beers but instead spent a lot of time on brews I wouldn't normally try.

Stats:

Beers reviewed this month: 31
Beers reviewed so far this year: 31
Styles tried this month (per BeerAdvocate): 21
Styles tried so far this year (per BeerAdvocate): 21
States represented this month: 11
States represented so far this year: 11
Countries represented this month: 6
Countries represented this year: 6

Best Beers of the month: Bells Hopslam, Jolly Pumpkin Oro De Calabaza, New Glarus Crack'd Wheat

Beers to Avoid: Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion, Brooklyn Brown Ale, Pyramid Haywire Hefeweizen

2011 Day 31: Bell's Hopslam

Name: Hopslam

From: Bell's Brewing, Michigan USA

Type: Double IPA

On the last day of each month, I'm going to try to highlight excellent beers. Our first installment is Bell's Hopslam. Double IPAs are a dime a dozen, but this one really stands out. You can smell the massive aroma of citrus and pineapple from across the room and the taste almost lives up to the smell. The 10% ABV is well masked, and the dryness that comes from brewing with honey gives this a great finish that counters the bitterness. A bit pricey, yes ($16 for a 6 pack) but a fantastic beer worthy of the hype. Delicious.