The last week of July (Monday or Tuesday, I don't remember which) we went to lunch at Waterstreet Brewery. There was a convention in town, and it didn't work out to our advantage because they were B U S Y. While we were waiting for a table, one of my co-workers bought me the Raspberry Weiss - Well, I ordered it and he insisted on paying for it. Gotta love a free beer - I ordered the Raspberry Weiss because it was a warm, sunny day and I was expecting a nice light beer with mild sweet tartness.
Or so I had hoped.
I had never had it before and as it turns out, I didn't care for it. It was too sweet and too fruity. Drinkable, but not something I'm interested in trying again. It reminded me too much of Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss, which I'm not really a fan of. At the Brewfest we attended on 7/31 I had amanda try the Waterstreet Brewery Raspberry Weiss because I wanted to see what she thought of it since Leinie's Berry Weiss is her favorite beer. She said the Raspberry Weiss isn't as sweet and fruity, but it was "okay".
In retrospect, I might be willing to use it as a beer mixer. In my opinion, there are two good ways to mix beers - at least two good ways that I've tried. One is the layered approach, like you get in black and tans, and the other is just to pour two beers together, like the Honey Bear (a mix of Leinie's Honey Weiss and Berry Weiss which had some limited popularity a couple of years ago. I've never tried it).
I'm a big fan of the half and half layered style drinks. I've done it with Murphy's Stout and Hardcore Cider. Guiness Draft and Harp. Guiness Draft and Bass. Guiness Draft and Berry Weiss (which was only "okay" in my opinion).
But I also tried a mix of Guiness Draft and Lindemans Framboise Lambic - which I rather enjoyed. It was suggested by a friend of ours who was bartending when Amanda and I went out a couple of years ago. She asked if they had Berry Weiss. He said they didn't, but that they had Framboise. He said that he liked it mixed with Guiness. I tried it and had to agree with him! New Glarus Brewing Co. also has a nice raspberry framboise ale - Raspberry Tart - that works well.
The Raspberry Weiss doesn't have quite the same kind of flavor as the framboise, but it might work in a similar mix, so I might try it sometime.
Showing posts with label black and tan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black and tan. Show all posts
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Summer cookout - Summer beer
The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy, but I've tried some new beers and had some great beer moments. So I figure I'll back it up to Sunday, July 25th. Amanda had invited a friend of ours over to start planning a State Fair party, and while he was over he asked if we had any summer beers.
Unfortunately, I didn't.
And it got me thinking - maybe I should take more advantage of the seasonal aspects of beer. That evening, we decided to have a cook out with John, John and Gregg. I ran to the store to get some brats (I just grabbed a Johnsonville party pack) and some summer beers. John had mentioned Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, so I picked up a six pack, and since I don't care for Summer Shandy I also picked up a six pack of Sam Adams Summer Ale, which was a new one to me.
Now one thing I like about cookouts is beer brats. My love of beer brats is two-fold. The first is definately the easiest - I love eating them. But the second is important in maintaining a properly stocked refrigerator - Making beer brats gives me a chance to use beer in my fridge that I'm not drinking before it gets old and skunky.
Why would I have beer in my fridge that isn't getting drunk? Because although I'm willing to try any beer, I'm not willing to keep drinking some of them. Since everyone has different preferences in beer, it stands to reason that there isn't any bad beer, there is just better beer. But that doesn't mean I'm going to drink a beer I don't care for if there's something else available.
This time I used MGD and Harp. I don't really drink MGD, but we always try to keep some on hand for guests. Plenty of people drink Miller and I'd rather have MGD in the house than Miller Lite. I've gotten to the point where it has become my preferred beer for making beer brats and beer dip. But this time I only had one bottle left in the fridge so I broke into the next oldest beer in the fridge - Harp.
Unlike MGD, I do drink Harp, but since I prefer darker beers, I only drink it regularly. I had originally bought it to make black and tans (or more acurately half and halfs, since Harp is a pale lager instead of a pale ale) - but after a couple I got tired of them and the Harp wasn't going anywhere - So it was time to start cooking with it.
Anyhow, the cookout was a good time - relaxed and enjoyable. A perfect way to end a relaxing weekend. The Summer Shandy's went over well and I got to try my first Samuel Adams Summer Lager. It was a success. It was light, with a pleasant tartness and a little bitterness that went down quite nicely over dinner. I had thought of having a second as we sat out in the back yard around the firepit and chatted, but I find that beer makes me thirsty and I didn't want to end up dehydrating myself before work. That's fine, it's still there waiting for me.
Unfortunately, I didn't.
And it got me thinking - maybe I should take more advantage of the seasonal aspects of beer. That evening, we decided to have a cook out with John, John and Gregg. I ran to the store to get some brats (I just grabbed a Johnsonville party pack) and some summer beers. John had mentioned Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, so I picked up a six pack, and since I don't care for Summer Shandy I also picked up a six pack of Sam Adams Summer Ale, which was a new one to me.
Now one thing I like about cookouts is beer brats. My love of beer brats is two-fold. The first is definately the easiest - I love eating them. But the second is important in maintaining a properly stocked refrigerator - Making beer brats gives me a chance to use beer in my fridge that I'm not drinking before it gets old and skunky.
Why would I have beer in my fridge that isn't getting drunk? Because although I'm willing to try any beer, I'm not willing to keep drinking some of them. Since everyone has different preferences in beer, it stands to reason that there isn't any bad beer, there is just better beer. But that doesn't mean I'm going to drink a beer I don't care for if there's something else available.
This time I used MGD and Harp. I don't really drink MGD, but we always try to keep some on hand for guests. Plenty of people drink Miller and I'd rather have MGD in the house than Miller Lite. I've gotten to the point where it has become my preferred beer for making beer brats and beer dip. But this time I only had one bottle left in the fridge so I broke into the next oldest beer in the fridge - Harp.
Unlike MGD, I do drink Harp, but since I prefer darker beers, I only drink it regularly. I had originally bought it to make black and tans (or more acurately half and halfs, since Harp is a pale lager instead of a pale ale) - but after a couple I got tired of them and the Harp wasn't going anywhere - So it was time to start cooking with it.
Anyhow, the cookout was a good time - relaxed and enjoyable. A perfect way to end a relaxing weekend. The Summer Shandy's went over well and I got to try my first Samuel Adams Summer Lager. It was a success. It was light, with a pleasant tartness and a little bitterness that went down quite nicely over dinner. I had thought of having a second as we sat out in the back yard around the firepit and chatted, but I find that beer makes me thirsty and I didn't want to end up dehydrating myself before work. That's fine, it's still there waiting for me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)