[BW] Beer Blog

As I sit here working between various projects I decided I needed a cold one. Sure I have a few imperial stouts I could pop open, but no. Forget that. I need a cold one.

Enter Surly’s Bitter Brewer. This gem was sent to me by Eric at Bearded Brewing and I was immediately intrigued because it’s a pint-sized can. You know my policy on can beer, so there won’t be any mention of smell or appearance this time around.

The beer itself is exactly what it says it is. A generally inoffensive bitter in a can. I must say, I could easily go through a few of these. It’s even easier because it has a handy wide-mouthed opening.

The only part of this beer I have to disagree with is its tag line, “Beer for a glass, from a can.” No beer from a can should ever be poured in a glass. Ever.

Definitely way better than Flat Tire from a can.

Share This

Brewery: Bearded Brewing
Style: Wheat
Serving: 12oz Bottle

Instead of doing my usual pre-review spiel, I’ll let Eric from Bearded Brewing explain this brew from his original blog post.

This summer for my daughter’s first birthday party, we are planning on having quite a few guests. I decided to brew a beer for the occasion, and plan on brewing a different one every year to mark the occasion. I had been playing around with different ideas for UNO, trying to think of something that would be accessible to a variety of people. The party will be in July, so I wanted something lighter and decided on a wheat beer, but wanted to do something with it so it was a bit more interesting. I decided on adding orange blossom honey to the recipe. At the last minute I decided to throw a teaspoon of orange marmalade in as well. I am brewing it now so I can make any tweaks before brewing it for the party.

Appearance: A hazy golden color not too untypical for beers of this variety. A noticeable amount of carbonation as well with a residual finger’s worth of beige head. In comparison, this is a tad thicker than Eugene City’s offering.

Smell: The orange definitely shines though, but in more of an understated way. Very mellow yeasty smell as well with just a tad bit of honey coming along for the ride.

Taste: Incredibly refreshing! The orange flavor is definitely apparent, but like the smell, does not overwhelm your taste buds. I’m also impressed at how this didn’t come off as some orange beers where the “orange” flavor is more similar to Tang than real oranges. The honey used must have been rather subtle as well, as this brew is sweet, but nowhere near as sweet as 75% of other fruit-inspired offerings. This probably occurred during the fermentation process with the orange peels, but a hint of lemon flavor comes through as well.

Just as Eric aimed for, this brew is perfect for a hot day. I can also imagine it being fairly easy to go through quite a bit of it during a party. Eric definitely has a knack for this whole brewing thing and I definitely look forward to popping open the rest of my Bearded Brewing offerings. I also look forward to Ella’s next birthday, seeing as we all get the gift of amazing beer =)

Share This

Brewery: Bearded Brewing
Style: ESB/Pale Ale (loosely)
Serving: 12oz Bottle

Northwoods Ale is the second ale sent to me by Eric over at Bearded Brewing. This one intrigues me as its both organic and sounds truly unique.

This beer is brewed with maple syrup and wild rice. The rice gives it an interesting taste. Its a fairly light ale, but I don’t really have a category for it. I kind of based the recipe off a British Bitter, but it turned out much lighter and I also use a fairly standard American yeast

Let’s see what this light, British, earthy ale is all about!

Appearance - Eric warned me about the possibility of a ton of head pouring with this one, but my results left a healthy finger’s worth of white head. The color is a light gold and fairly translucent. A healthy amount of bubbles are apparent as well.

Smell - Somewhat yeasty, yet also sweet. This is probably due to the maple syrup. For some reason I’m also smelling a little citrus coming through, although I don’t know if that was intended or not.

Taste - This took me a sec, but I think I’ve got it. At first it tastes like a fairly carbonated light ale, but then the brown rice reveals itself as one is left with a slightly earthy taste as it dissipates off the palate. This sensation is probably most similar to Rogue’s Morimoto Soba Ale if that helps at all. The maple syrup is only apparent as the very last 1% of it finishes going down the hatch.

All in all this is a very tasty brew and I think Eric is onto something, but I think he could experiment by adding even more brown rice to see how far he can take the earthy hue without it being overpowering. This is not to say that this brew can’t stand on its own as it is very refreshing and I can easily see this stuff disappearing in an instant at a bbq/party/etc. Yet another excellent brew from the Bearded Brewing Company.

As a huge thanks to Eric for attempting to send me three of his brews (one broke in transportation), tomorrow I’ll be sending him a package with the following:
-Bison Organic Belgian (22oz)
-Deschutes Organic Green Lakes Amber Ale (22oz)
-Roots Organic Island Red Ale (22oz)

Overall I’d say this experiment was a huge success. We’ll definitely have to do it again some time.

Share This

Brewery: Bearded Brewing
Style: Belgian
Serving: 12oz Bottle

While larger craft breweries like Dogfish Head, Rogue, and Stone enjoy large national distribution channels and sales growing every year, it’s easy to forget that every one of them started as a single aspiring brewer making craft beer at home. This is exactly what my fellow blogger Eric is doing under the name of the Bearded Brewing Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Bearded Brewing Company has been has been operating for about 4-5 years now and its selection seems to keep growing and improving by the week. In some what of a surprise, head brewer Eric Vernon emailed me to see if I would be interested in reviewing some of his brews. While I had never given any thought to reviewing home brews in the past, the idea seemed fantastic and something I’m all for. I’ve read his blog for months and I can tell how passionate he is about brewing, so no matter what I know I’m going to be drinking something that Eric truly put his heart into in an effort to create something special. So, for the first time in [BW] Beer Blog history, the following is my very first home brew review.

Up first from Bearded Brewing is Bangy Tangy! Bangy Tangy is a white Belgian brewed with orange marmalade and cranberries. While I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the biggest fan of Belgians, I do enjoy Belgians with strong citrus hues. Oregon Trail’s Wit is one of my absolute favorite beers and this one sounds like it might be comparable. Let’s find out!

Appearance - Bright, gold in color with a finger’s worth of white head. Rather opaque, but still lets some light shine through.

Smell - The very first thing I smelled even upon just opening the bottle was the orange marmalade. While the orange hues shines through, it is not overwhelming in the least bit. After that, one is greeted with the standard array of Belgian hues.

Taste - Oh my gosh, this stuff is really tasty! Definitely citrusy as most wits are, however, it has a slightly (and aptly named) tangy kick to it that’s most likely attributed to the cranberries. Also noteworthy is that the carbonation seems a bit higher than most Belgians, but that’s definitely not a bad thing as it actually comes off as more refreshing. I’d also like to note that I excitedly drank the first third of this brew before I started writing, which I believe is a first for me.

Bangy Tangy would be a hit at any summer barbeque or any hot day for that matter. It can easily be drank as a session beer and apparently isn’t offensive in the least bit to those who generally dislike Belgians. Bearded Brewing has produced a truly unique brew that can hold its own against even the most highly regarded brews of this genre. I highly recommend that Eric starts entering this in competitions to see what happens. To say I’m excited to try the other brew Eric sent me would be an understatement.

Share This