Beerhunter

From Tom:

Beerhunter Gala: On the Importance of Being… Self-Important!

Fellow hunters, 

I have begun deliberations (with myself) on organizing the Event of the Season, even perhaps of our Generation: The First Annual Beerhunter Gala. 

Invitational, Whereas  

1. Visitor List Shall not exceed 15 people,
2. Shall not include any known anti-Beer (i.e., pro-PBR) Quantities,
3. Shall be limited further to those who pay the small entrance fee as defined. 

Objectives, Whereas

4. Guests will be encouraged to arrive sober,
5. With no drinks of their own, 
6. And finally, to leave drunk. 

To wit 

7. Enough beer to inebriate the 15 designated guests. 

Financial Logistics 

8. Assuming One full 10% ABV bomber (see Southern Tier’s Oatmeal Stout) to constitute the beginnings of a proper blood-alcohol content, 
9. To purchase at least 15 bombers, or their equivalent.

10. To set entrance donation at $5 per guest, to be acquired by the Beerhunter Executive Committee at the door.   

11. To allocate donations to the minimum quantity defined in (9) above. 
12. All additional quantities to be supported by the Beerhunter Executive Committee, not exceeding $20 per member. 

Location, Date & Time

13. To be held at —— Ave. Apt —-, 
14. On Saturday, March —
15. Starting no later than —PM.

Who’s in favor?

Theme of the Week: Oscar’s Montages Suck

Beerhunter meeting convened 7:00pm.

Roll Call:

Present: Tom, Dick (secretary), Harry (curator)

Absent: Andrew (Unexcused)

Beer:

#1-Svyturys, Baltijos Dark Beer

#2-Farsons, Lacto Milk Stout

#3-Two Brothers, Victor’s MemoriAle altbier

#4- Dogfish Head, Olde School Barley-wine-style-ale

#5-Southern Tier, Imperial Extra Pale Ale “Hoppe”

Notes

Unfortunately, we don’t have many notes for our vast readership this week.  Many of the beers were kinda “meh,” but more so, we were totally distracted, shocked, and in awe of how horrible the Oscar’s were.  Bad writing, really bad Hugh Jackman song and dance numbers, cheap set (recession), and a memorial montage where the names of those being memorialized could only be read with binoculars.  No respect.  “Paul Newman,” was in 9 point font.

Editorial Note (from Tom):

Ben (or is it Dick now?), you seem to have forgotten the one exceptional thing of the night (if we’re not counting Dogfish head’s “burial ale”, as it were): Kunio Kato’s hilarious, brilliantly self-effacing acceptance speech. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hODxuEKHWc

Everyone, of course, knows the clip by now. But we were deep into a 15% ABV Barley Wine, so Mr. Kato’s gratitude to robots and pencils took on a special quality of hilarity and irreverance. Sank you, Kunio. You provided the one bright light to an otherwise dark and dull evening of scatological jokes from Hugh Jackman and profoundly cheap Hollywood back-patting.

Beerhunter Meeting convened 5:55 PM for Feb 1, 2009.

Present: Ben, Dan (secretary), Tom (curator)

Absent: Andrew (unexcused)

Only three beers this week, but in three big bottles. No music this week either, as the Nadal-Federer Australian Open final is on, and then the Superbowl. Also Ben makes his famous guacamole which is delicious.

A) Port Brewery Wipeout IPA

This is an India Pale Ale with 7% alcohol by volume. It is described on the bottle as a “West coast IPA brewed in the San Deigo style”. I have no idea what that means, but I do know that IPAs are generally considered to be very hoppy. Tom gives us a quick history of the IPA - hops work as a preservative, so Brits who wanted their beer to survive the long trip between India and England loaded up their beer with hops. Hops also tend to give beer a citrus flavor, although since there are many different kinds of hops the flavors they impart can also vary.

This beer has golden and amber hues, and becomes more opaque the further down you go in the bottle (hops sediment?). Tom mentions that he has never seen an IPA cloud up like this (like a hefe). Flavors that are mentioned: orange and floral. Bitter flavors last on the tongue, with a good mouth feel (light). General consensus seems to be this is a good beer, but not necessarily a re-buy. Time to move on to a beer with the second highest beerhunter alcohol % of all time.

B) Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA

We’ve had good experience with Southern Tier (their Oatmeal Stout was a re-buy from the last meeting) and this beer has an 11% alcohol by volume so we are all excited to try this IPA, even if the description on the bottle is beyond pretentious (“To underestimate Unearthly is to trifle with the mysteries of the universe.”) Thankfully it’s also described as their “most aggressive offering yet” and it does not disappoint.

For an IPA, this beer has a very fruity aroma and as Tom says a “very sweet” taste. I still think the bitter hop flavors overpower the sweet ones, but I can see where Tom is coming from. The consensus is that while the Wipeout has more floral notes, this beer is slightly fruitier. The alcohol is beginning to work its magic and deep into the 5 setter Tom declares that tennis is now his favorite sport to watch. 

C) Seigneuriale by Unibroue

Bruce Springsteen demands that I put down my guacamole for some reason, but I most certainly will not. Our final beer is not from the US, and is not an IPA. It is a European style wheat ale from a French Canadian brewery with a 7.5% alc/vol. Tom boldly declares that this will taste like the Weihenstephaner Dark from a couple meetings back.

Ben is not sure about this beer, he doesn’t dislike it but it’s not his favorite. It is however, Tom’s favorite of the night. I happen to agree with Tom, but I’m afraid my judgement is a little impaired at this point. For some reason we start listening to Fleetwood Mac and get into an argument over whether the lead vocals on go your own way are male or female. Wikipedia settles it (they are male). This has officially become the least manly superbowl party ever. Meeting adjourned.

Re-buys: #2, #3 (voted in by majority)

Ben’s favorite: #1

Tom and Dan’s favorite: #3

time for some winter brews: 

Beerhunter Meeting of 18 January 2009

Called for: 6:30PM
Convened: 7:15PM
Present: Ben (curator), Dan, Tom (secretary)
Absent (unexcused): Bean.drew

Agenda: 
1. Drink 
Beer that might go well with cold weather. 

A) St. Peter’s Winter Ale 
“Dan is qualified to satisfy you.” 
-Dan

Dark ale with heavy, dark fruit notes and a nice balance of citrus hops coupled with a sweet, toasted malt finish. Coffee peeks through subtly in a lasting, slightly bitter end. Pleasant mouth-feel that goes down smooth and without the high viscosity we’ve come to expect from darker coloration.

Re-buy: carried with one abstaining (Tom).

B) Young’s Oatmeal Stout

Pours a nice, jet black body and ruby head. Watery mouth-feel. A nice breakfast beer, maybe, if for nothing else its dominant coffee aroma and flavor. Lives up to label description, but just a little too plain. Good for price, but not a Re-buy (voted down unanimously). 

C) Southern Tier Imperial Oat 

Excellent! Re-buy carries unamiously. 
Recording the minutes now, I realize I made the mistake of drinking the entirety of my share before recording most of my impressions. The record is kind of “scribbly”, like the 11% ABV might have, maybe, you know, impaired my motor functions. (And verbal capacity, apparently - “Dis one’s puttin’ me over!” is the closest thing to legible marginalia I could find.) Whatever. We did an “ingredient test”, since Southern is cool enough to print the full recipe on the label. I don’t remember the results. Someone said “pine nuts and black pepper corn.” Another person said “toast.” Equally ridiculous. And somehow we discussed Tecate Beer Floats… far inferior, even in theory, to a Southern Tier Imperial Oat Coffee Ice Cream Float. Maybe next time…

D) Erdinger Weissbrau 

Hefe-Weizen. Dan and I called an informal Hefe-Caucus the day prior to Volume III. We picked this one up along with a couple Weihenstephaners, which turn out to be favorites around here, among the best we’ve found so far. The Erdinger tastes like stale Miller in comparison.   

E) Brooklyn Pilsner

Packs a lot of energy in the carbonation: constant bub bub bub bub bubbles. Surprising citrus bitterness. If it weren’t for the crisp, dry and toasty finish, you might confuse it for an IPA. Worth re-buying. 

Meeting adjourned (turning down my Bourbon County Brand Stout hunt): 9:20PM 

Music

Cut Copy: In Ghost Colors

Notorious B.I.G.: “Juicy” 

Wire: Pink Flag

Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures 

Clipse: Hell Hath No Fury

[Minutes recorded and edited by Tom]

Two very good beers

Ben would like to offer an official apology for the tardiness of his minutes posting.  He does so, appreciating both the responsibilities, and the joys, that Beerhunter and its constituency afford him.

Meeting convened Jan 11, 2009, at 6:38PM (called for 6:30PM)

Present: Dan (Curator), Ben (DJ, Secretary), Tom

Absent: Andrew (unexcused)

Playlist:

“Ringer,” “Ribbons,” “Set for The Fader ®,” -Four Tet

“The Eraser (XXX Rmx),” “Harrowdown Hill (The Bug Rmx),” “And It Rained All Night (Burial Rmx)”- Thom Yorke

“Need You”-Darkstar

“A Paw in the Face,” “Everyday,” “The Little Heart Beats So Fast”- The Field

Youth Novel-Lykke Li (whole album)

“Poor Old Soul Pt.1”- Orange Juice

“Mystery Acheivement”-The Pretenders

“This Year’s Model,” “The Beat,” “Little Triggers,” “Hand in Hand,” “Chelsea,” “Lip Service,” “Living in Paradise,” “Lipstick Vogue”-Elvis Costello

Ascenseur Pour L’echafoud-Miles Davis

Beer:

1. Gulden Draak, Belgium Style Ale (Double Process)

2. Westmalle, Trappist Ale (Double Process)

3. Utenos, Baltic Porter (NB-From Lithuania)

4. Insanely Bad Elf, Imperial Red Ale

5. Weihenstephaner-Hefeweissbier Dark

Notes:

Ben thinks Utenos should be deemed “Re-Buy,” over beers 1 or 2.  Planet Earth has been playing on Discovery Channel throughout session (on mute of course).  Ben, Dan, and Tom argue about Re-Buys for week 2.  All question Okocim’s place on the Re-Buy list.  Was it too syrup-y?  Too thick?  Too sweet?  By majority vote, Weihenstephaner, Utenos, and Gulden Draak make Re-Buy list for week 2.  Tom wonders about Dan and Ben’s praise of Utenos.

New Bylaw Proposition:  All Re-Buy’s must be voted in by majority.  Unanimous vote not necessary.  Bylaw ratified by unanimous vote.

Session adjourned at 9:15PM.  

a beer that caused much debate last sunday