Day 7, 1.7.11, Amarcord

I fancy myself pretty in tune with Italian food and beverage culture.  I've worked in Italian restaurants for the past several years.  I'm familiar with ossobuco and falanghina, and I know my angelotti from my corzetti.  Just an amazing culinary tradition, a wonderful culture of delicious food and beverage.
But I've also tried their beers, (Peroni, Birra Moretti are the big two) and they are... what's the word?... oh yes, god awful.
So whenever I see a new Italian beer, I think to myself, "hmmm, maybe this one is palatable".  And this one was no different.  My wonderful wife Lesley picked me out a few beers to get my project rolling and Amarcord was one of them.  It comes in a large handsome swing-top bottle in sort of the shape of an inverted maraca.  The bottle's labels reads "premium amber ale" and "unique Italian craft beer"
Popping it open and pouring it into the glass, I found it very lightly effervescent.  It's rich amber in color and crystal clear.  On the nose, it's a bit smoky and smells syrupy sweet (if that makes sense).  And on the palate?  It is absolutely terrible.  I hate to say it, but this beer is just disgusting.  As the nose suggests, it has a full sticky body.  The front palate is almost cloyingly sweet; heavily malted with not an inkling of hop balance.  And the finish is so disgustingly sour and skunky that it makes me gag with every sip I attempt.  I tried to think of a redeeming quality of this beer to give it another point or two, but I could not.  And since the scale is one (not zero) to ten, I will score it a 1 out of 10.  Not recommended.

*click*

And so my quest for a good (I'm not even looking for great anymore) Italian beer goes on.  If you have any recommendations, please leave them in the comments.  I love you.

Day 6, 1.6.11, Full Sail - Wreck the Halls

Tonight, a seasonal beer from Full Sail: Wreck the Halls.  It's an American IPA and "Winter Warmer" Hybrid.  It's 6.5% ABV and 68 IBU.
It's a very deep hazy amber, nearly red.  On the nose, plenty of floral and citrusy hop notes.  There is a bit of honey aroma as well.  This beer tickles the palate with really nice hop bitterness, which is backed up and balanced by its sticky sweet malty-ness.  It really coats the mouth with the velvety texture provided by the malt's residual sugar.
It's the balance though that really makes for a nice easy drinking holiday beer.  With some seasonals being so heavy, bold, and high in alcohol, it's nice to find one that's designed for the holidays but is a great beer to enjoy by the pint.  This one fits that bill.
In the past, I've found Full Sail rather hit and miss, so I was pleased to find this one really very enjoyable.  Definitely a hit.  8 out of 10.

Day 5, 1.5.11, Black Boss Porter

Another Polish beer tonight: Black Boss Porter  This is a porter that, true to its name, is black... or at least very dark brown.  I'm drinking it tonight out of one of my "My goodness, My Guinness!" pint glasses.  It certainly could pass for the quintessential Irish stout if one did not attempt to smell or taste it.
The nose is subtle, earthy and with notes of cocoa.  On the palate, Malt takes center stage (as the style dictates). A strong malt bitterness leads off, opening to a rich cocoa and coffee mid-palate.  There is some definite roasty hints too.  The finish is smooth, long and lingering.  It's mouth watering long after having swallowed.
And now, after having had a few minutes to come up to temperature hints of maple syrup are becoming evident in the nose and palate
Black Boss isn't overly heavy, but it is defiantly a substantial beer.  At 9.4% ABV, it's sitting right on the 'imperial' fence.
This is a really tasty, interesting, complex porter.  I wish I had opened it on a night with more time to kill, because its a beer that deserves to be nursed.  I think this single pint has maybe an hour and a half of enjoyment if I did it right.  But I'm off to bed, for the mountains are calling.  Tomorrow is a SKI DAY!
8 out of 10

Day 4, 1.4.11, New Belgium, Mothership Wit

I have never tried this beer before for two reasons: 1 - It's a wit, which I'm not really that into.  2 - it's made by New Belgium, which I'm not really that into.

And it was everything it promised, it was fine.  I think that New Belgium tried really hard to make it a beer that was approachable and not too "weird" for the average American beer drinker.  Although it does have a characteristic cloudy wit-ness to it, it's quite pale and yellow.  It looks like a Budweiser with a few drops of milk in it.  The nose is nice.  There's a good amount of earthy spice and that Belgian-y banana aroma.  On the palate, it starts out good, fairly smooth and nicely hopped.  But it really falls flat on the finish.  The whole palate seems to drop off into a kind of Heineken-esk skunkieness.
So I salute New Belgium for attempting a beer in the style of their namesake, but I just feel it could be so much better, more refined.  Overall, eh... 5 out of 10. 
On the upside, I did get to sit and sip at Rudy's Can't Fail Café in Emeryville.  Good little spot.  They serve food till 1am!  And they have Lagunitas IPA in the bottle.

Day 3, 1.3.11, Arend Tripel

To observe the 24 anniversary of the birth of my younger brother John, I supped a beer last night that he'd REALLY like. I stopped by Bloodhound (a bar that I really liked) in San Francisco and tried Arend Tripel.
I found it to be a truly delightful beer in a style that I don't usually prefer. It's medium golden in color, and it's cloudy, with enough body to back up it's bold flavors. On the nose, the beer offers an incredible, complex fruity and slightly floral aroma. Banana, peach, herbs. I feel like I could enjoy this beer just sitting and sniffing. But then there is the palate. It starts quite sweet and fruity but finishes slightly sour and dry. There are musty spice notes too that remind you to go back and find them in the aroma as well.
It's really just lovely to drink. It's around 8%ABV which makes it nice and drinkable without kicking you in the pants like some tripels. A really awesome beer. 9 out of 10.

Day 2, 1.2.11, Żywiec

And now a beer hailing from the land of my ancestry: Poland.   Żywiec is a medium bodied lager that seems to follow all the rules of a traditional (average?) German style lager.  It's 5.6% ABV; I imagine not more than 15-20 IBUs.   It's crisp and clear, light to medium yellow in color and has a yeasty and somewhat fruity or citrusy nose.

On the palate, a strong malty flavor with almost a sour finish reminds me of many of the lagers the boys and I sipped but gulped while traveling Europe in college.  Mind you most times we simply made a sipping motion to the waiter and uttered "Bier, bitte." in our best terrible German accents.  We drank whatever they were pouring.  It was summertime in Bavaria and the bier came in litres, and to me this is exactly the situation to which I think Żywiec is best suited: a decent hot weather session sipper.  Which makes me wonder why I'm drinking it on January second... 6 out of 10.

Day 1, 1.1.11, 21st. Amendment Back in Black

Stopped in to 21st this New Year's day for a quick sampling if Back in Black. It's a dark IPA at 7.2%ABV and 65 IBU. Innitially I was (pleasantly) surprised at the fact it seemed a bit thin. It's near jet black color made me wonder if it'd be syrupy and stout like. But it's not. It's an easy drinking, smooth, not-to-roasty porter mashed up with a not-to-hoppy IPA. It certainly is a beer practicing moderation. (Unlike some of my favorites on the other end of the spectrum, i.e. Pliney.) so to me this beer drinks like a really nice winter IPA. The hops are definatly co-staring with the malt body and it makes the beer really a lovely pint. All in all an 8 out of ten in my book. Quite good. See you tomorrow.

Note to self: return to 21st Amendment during baseball season.