Attention students: Unexamined beers are not worth quaffing

Delirium Tremens: New (beer) pride of Brunswick offers more than 100 different ales

My friends the beer gods have smiled upon our sleepy town. Earlier this summer, a new beer bar, brewpub and restaurant opened on Pleasant Street. Hop heads and beer lovers rejoice: I give you The Lion's Pride! Brunswick just got a whole lot better. As you walk into The Lion's Pride, you'll be bombarded by a barrage of beer posters and murals dedicated to some of the world's great craft brewers: Mikkeller, Dogfish Head, Chimay, Surly and Port Brewing to name a few.

Delirium Tremens: The unicellular reason why all beer is not created equally

Next time you sit down and enjoy an adult beverage, be it fermented or distilled, don't toast your friends, family or colleagues. Instead, direct your praise and goodwill toward the fungus to which man is most indebted: yeast. It is this microorganism that is responsible for your merriment and that newfound vigor in your dance step.

Delirium Tremens

Attention students: Unexamined beers are not worth quaffing

September 25, 2009

Wait. WAIT! Put down the Solo cup. Please. Thank you. Now that I have your attention, I am going to ask you a few questions. What are you drinking? (Incoherent, drunken rambling). Beer. Okay. That's a step in the right direction. What kind of beer? Well, what do you mean you don't know? What do you mean you don't care? (More incoherent drunken rambling). Since you're putting that fizzy, yellow liquid into your body, don't you think you should know something about it? (Incoherent, drunken rambling followed by an obscene gesture).

Every beer has its place. I am not out to crucify the consumers who opt for affordable beer or the big breweries that produce it. Honestly, some of it isn't bad. Then again, some of it really is quite bad. But if you like what you're drinking, then to each his own. Just know what you're drinking, please. Give it some thought, and don't overdo it like some people...(What? Don't look at me). Being satisfied with just plain old "beer" all the time is akin to having no problem with some stagnant mush called "food" being served to you breakfast, lunch and dinner. After a while, it gets old. So grab a craft brew, and get ready to quaff. There are three basic steps to knowing your beer: reading, pouring and tasting.

First off, look at the bottle, can, growler or keg you're about to sip, shotgun or perform a headstand on. You can learn a lot about the beer by reading the label—its style, flavor description, alcohol by volume (ABV), brewery, and sometimes ingredients. Reading a can of Bud, for instance, will reveal to you that it's brewed with the "choicest" rice. That's right, rice. Not exactly my idea of good, traditional beer. Anyway, reading also entails learning about beer in general, so go to your favorite brewery's Web site and read up. For even more info, Beeradvocate.com is probably the best online resource for both general and specific beer knowledge.

After you've got your beer facts sorted out, carefully pour the beer into a glass: start slowly, tilting the glass and aiming for the center of the side, then straighten out the glass as you finish the pour. I cannot stress enough the importance of transferring your beer into a clean glass. Sometimes, it's just not possible, and that's okay. But you can't fully experience beer without observing it: seeing beer is knowing beer. A pleasant color and good head—the layer of foam that forms atop a properly poured pint—are what we're after. When you pour a beer, you can also experience aroma, which some beer enthusiasts find to be equally as important as flavor. That musty "beer smell" we're all too familiar with is largely unrepresentative of the craft beer world. The aroma of a fresh, citrusy and spicy American IPA can be as intoxicating as the drink itself.

Now you're ready to taste. Take a good mouthful of the beer. Swish it around. Though some beers are very straightforward in flavor profile, others pride themselves on their complexities. Sweet, malty, sour, tart, bitter, hoppy, rich, light: these are all descriptions of the flavors commonly associated with beer. But every ingredient used in the brewing process provides flavor. Malt determines body and sweetness, among other things. Hops provide bitterness and sometimes bright, citrusy flavors. In the end, don't overanalyze the beer, but do get to know it. The best brews are sometimes those that you can't quite put your finger on what makes them so good. Quaff away.

Picks of the week: Thunder Hole Ale, Riptide Red and Double Bag

Perfect for the fall, here are three malty beers, two of which are brewed right here in Maine. Bar Harbor Brewing Company's Thunder Hole Ale is a brown ale similar to English beers like Newcastle Ale. With an ABV of 4.7%, Thunder Hole is eminently drinkable and has a sweet, nutty and toasted malt flavor. Riptide Red is a delicious red ale crafted by Casco Bay Brewing in Portland. This beer exhibits a fine balance of toasted malts and dry, bitter hops. Riptide is one of my favorite Maine-made beers with its well-balanced, spicy character. Clocking in at 7.2% ABV, Double Bag is not a beer for the faint of heart. That said, this beer, which is brewed by Long Trail in Vermont, is a good introduction to many of the interesting strong ales crafted by American brewers. Double Bag is a difficult beer to describe: rich, malty, and caramel-like are the best I can do. Give it a shot. It's one of the brews that got me into craft beer.

Comments are permanently closed.