NFR-Unusual beers.

[Russian rob]

Continuing on the theme of beers anyone had something really off the beaton track?Here in Russia we have a honey beer as well as a drink called Kvas,which is a weak bread beer.Could cider be classed as a beer and is there a fizzy short?

[Holders]

Cider is made from apples and is not fizzy unless CO2 is added, beer is made from from malted barley (usually) and usually has a natural head without additive. Do you get cider in Russia? That would be interesting.

Unusual beers here: Waggledance contains honey and is really sweet and sickly, Fraoich (?spelling) is made from heather, I believe, and there's also a seaweed beer. One I like is Umbel Ale, which contains a proportion of Umbellifer and has an interesting flavour.

[Logicalman]

We have a good beer over here from down South, Southern Pecan brewed by Lazy Magnolia in MS. It's a brown ale, not my usual quaff which is Fullers ESB, but very tasty indeed.

For the beer aficionados, the description goes:
Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale is the first beer in the world, to our knowledge, made with whole roasted pecans. The pecans are used just like grain and provide a nutty characteristic and a delightful depth to the flavor profile. This beer is very lightly hopped to allow the malty, caramel, and nutty flavors shine through. The color is dark mahogany. Southern Pecan won a Bronze Medal in the 2006 World Beer Cup in the Specialty Beer category.

Original Gravity   13.5
Final Gravity   5.2
Alcohol by Volume   4.39%
Grains   Maris Otter, caramel malt, wheat, roasted pecans

So it's tasty, but not likely to get you as so many sheets to the wind as the really good stuff, though it is just .3% abv below ESB.

[Patrick]

Anyone here tried Banana Beer???.....excellent....and potent...

[Forever Fulham]

"a delightful depth to the flavor profile"...   Come on, now.  I understand it's a novelty beer, and all that, but doesn't that perfectly sum up  the pretentiousness of the craft beer movement?  It's almost creeping into the province of the wine critic.  Instead of talk of bouquets, hints of this and that, after taste, we have talk of the "head", "gravity", "final gravity", and a grains count, whatever that is. 

[Tempest]

We make an Oyster Stout

[Logicalman]

"a delightful depth to the flavor profile"...   Come on, now.  I understand it's a novelty beer, and all that, but doesn't that perfectly sum up  the pretentiousness of the craft beer movement?  It's almost creeping into the province of the wine critic.  Instead of talk of bouquets, hints of this and that, after taste, we have talk of the "head", "gravity", "final gravity", and a grains count, whatever that is.  

Sounds pretentious doesn't it? But, I didn't write this (taken from the brewers site) and it isn't exactly a novelty or 'craft beer' as this is the main Mississippi brewer (albeit only 13 years of age) and is sold in 18% of the states, an area larger than the whole of the UK put together!

To be fair, this has been tasted by a number of ex-pats over here and they tend to like it. As I said, not in the ESB or real stouts range of tastes, perhaps closer to the IPA range, but it does have a certain tang and aftertaste to it that makes you want more.

[HatterDon]

Local and regional craft breweries have become huge over here. One of the places I play  :HD: regularly generally has a dozen real ales on tap, all of them local/regional. I'm partial to IPAs and other brews with some substance. Some folks get too free with the hops, but most of them are pretty good. There's no "typical" American craft IPA because everyone wants his brew to taste significantly different than the others, but I have tasted a few that would be well received in England and Germany.

What I HATE over here is the Belgian-influenced fruit flavored or fruit decorated beers. I mean, I like oranges, lemons, raspberries, blueberries, etc. quite a lot -- but not either brewed into or floating on my beer. To me, they're all poor copies of the traditional Berliner Weisse which tasted like mildly alcoholic syrup.

A recent abomination over here -- and we   starsnstripes really have the ability to screw up beer -- is the "a-rita." This concoction requires a huge frozen Maragarita [think a medium-sized fruit bowl] with a bottle of American or Mexican beer shoved head first down into it. It's served with multiple straws. Yeech.

[ToodlesMcToot]

"a delightful depth to the flavor profile"...   Come on, now.  I understand it's a novelty beer, and all that, but doesn't that perfectly sum up  the pretentiousness of the craft beer movement?  It's almost creeping into the province of the wine critic.  Instead of talk of bouquets, hints of this and that, after taste, we have talk of the "head", "gravity", "final gravity", and a grains count, whatever that is.  

Sounds pretentious doesn't it? But, I didn't write this (taken from the brewers site) and it isn't exactly a novelty or 'craft beer' as this is the main Mississippi brewer (albeit only 13 years of age) and is sold in 18% of the states, an area larger than the whole of the UK put together!

To be fair, this has been tasted by a number of ex-pats over here and they tend to like it. As I said, not in the ESB or real stouts range of tastes, perhaps closer to the IPA range, but it does have a certain tang and aftertaste to it that makes you want more.

I've had Southern Pecan on several occasions. Not my favorite but, I like it from time to time. And, I agree, this beer is not intended to be a novelty beer. I was under the impression that this beer is one of their year round brews and a standard bearer for the brewery.

As to the point of pretentiousness within the brewing community, it most definitely exists and is catered to. I do get tired of hearing about notes of this and that, finishes, etc. I just want to know that it doesn't taste like waste water. I'd be happy to try most any beer once to see if it suits me. Love the stuff.

[Holders]

Local and regional craft breweries have become huge over here. One of the places I play  :HD:regularly generally has a dozen real ales on tap, all of them local/regional. I'm partial to IPAs and other brews with some substance. Some folks get too free with the hops, but most of them are pretty good. There's no "typical" American craft IPA because everyone wants his brew to taste significantly different than the others, but I have tasted a few that would be well received in England and Germany.

What I HATE over here is the Belgian-influenced fruit flavored or fruit decorated beers. I mean, I like oranges, lemons, raspberries, blueberries, etc. quite a lot -- but not either brewed into or floating on my beer. To me, they're all poor copies of the traditional Berliner Weisse which tasted like mildly alcoholic syrup.

A recent abomination over here -- and we   starsnstripes really have the ability to screw up beer -- is the "a-rita." This concoction requires a huge frozen Maragarita [think a medium-sized fruit bowl] with a bottle of American or Mexican beer shoved head first down into it. It's served with multiple straws. Yeech.

In an attempt to innovate there can be a temptation to go too way out. I can't see the point of putting fruits in beer, and certainly not in cider (though there's a bit of a tradition for Blackcurrant) but the range of "fruit ciders" (cider is apples only, pears is Perry) that seem to be proliferating these days is appalling. Most are over-sweet and sickly. A whole new generation of kids soon won't know what real cider is. Maybe US brewers just need to get over the novelty stage and settle down to competing with each other on quality rather than gimmick. Having said that, the pecan ale sounds interesting.

recent abominations over here include putting ice in cider, worse still a slice of lemon(!) and thinking it's clever to drink out of the bottle.

[Logicalman]

"a delightful depth to the flavor profile"...   Come on, now.  I understand it's a novelty beer, and all that, but doesn't that perfectly sum up  the pretentiousness of the craft beer movement?  It's almost creeping into the province of the wine critic.  Instead of talk of bouquets, hints of this and that, after taste, we have talk of the "head", "gravity", "final gravity", and a grains count, whatever that is.  

Sounds pretentious doesn't it? But, I didn't write this (taken from the brewers site) and it isn't exactly a novelty or 'craft beer' as this is the main Mississippi brewer (albeit only 13 years of age) and is sold in 18% of the states, an area larger than the whole of the UK put together!

To be fair, this has been tasted by a number of ex-pats over here and they tend to like it. As I said, not in the ESB or real stouts range of tastes, perhaps closer to the IPA range, but it does have a certain tang and aftertaste to it that makes you want more.

I've had Southern Pecan on several occasions. Not my favorite but, I like it from time to time. And, I agree, this beer is not intended to be a novelty beer. I was under the impression that this beer is one of their year round brews and a standard bearer for the brewery.

As to the point of pretentiousness within the brewing community, it most definitely exists and is catered to. I do get tired of hearing about notes of this and that, finishes, etc. I just want to know that it doesn't taste like waste water. I'd be happy to try most any beer once to see if it suits me. Love the stuff.

Totally agree there mate. The good thing is that the US is shaking off it's 'Monty Python American Beer' tag. and there are some great breweries starting up some great beers.

If you get near to Chicago, try out Three Floyds, a local brewery I believe to Munster (just south of Chicago), their Robert The Bruce, Alpha King, Gumballhead and Dreadnaught are all quite exceptional for the lighter beers.

In addition, mostly Mid-West I believe is the Arrogant Bastard range: Double, Arrogant & Lucky, they are a little more powerful than most, with a great aftertaste, though smooth in going down.

[Forever Fulham]

Logicalman, there are some great craft beers from microbreweries out there.  No argument from me. 

[love4ffc]

I'm not a fruit in my beer kind of person.  I do know a couple of ladies who tend to drink "Wild Blue".  A beer with blueberries.  They love it and insist it's the best.  Still haven't tried it though. 

[Forever Fulham]

I've been seen taking a Fat Tire Belgian style beer with an orange wedge in the glass before. Guilty, your honor.  Please don't take my Man card away from me.  What can I say?  It was good.   And by closing time, the beer all tastes better and the women are better looking.  Reminds me of that bit about the 10 stages of drinking.  Stage 10: Bulletproof. 

[love4ffc]

I've been seen taking a Fat Tire Belgian style beer with an orange wedge in the glass before. Guilty, your honor.  Please don't take my Man card away from me.  What can I say?  It was good.   And by closing time, the beer all tastes better and the women are better looking.  Reminds me of that bit about the 10 stages of drinking.  Stage 10: Bulletproof. 

I had an orange flavored beer recently.  Wasn't Fat Tire and I can't remember the brand but it was pretty good.  Couldn't drink it all the time but on occasion it would be ok. 

[FortCollinsFulham]

I've been seen taking a Fat Tire Belgian style beer with an orange wedge in the glass before. Guilty, your honor.  Please don't take my Man card away from me.  What can I say?  It was good.   And by closing time, the beer all tastes better and the women are better looking.  Reminds me of that bit about the 10 stages of drinking.  Stage 10: Bulletproof.  

I think you may be confusing Fat Tire, which is an amber (made by New Belgium Brewing in the city I live in) with Blue Moon, which is made in Denver and is a Belgian white typically served with an orange.

Regardless, I'll take anyone traveling to Colorado (the Napa Valley of beers) on one of the greatest brewery tours of their live's  082.gif  :beer:

[Logicalman]

I've been seen taking a Fat Tire Belgian style beer with an orange wedge in the glass before. Guilty, your honor.  Please don't take my Man card away from me.  What can I say?  It was good.   And by closing time, the beer all tastes better and the women are better looking.  Reminds me of that bit about the 10 stages of drinking.  Stage 10: Bulletproof.  

I think you may be confusing Fat Tire, which is an amber (made by New Belgium Brewing in the city I live in) with Blue Moon, which is made in Denver and is a Belgian white typically served with an orange.

Regardless, I'll take anyone traveling to Colorado (the Napa Valley of beers) on one of the greatest brewery tours of their live's  082.gif  :beer:

R O A D   T R I P

[Forever Fulham]

I've been seen taking a Fat Tire Belgian style beer with an orange wedge in the glass before. Guilty, your honor.  Please don't take my Man card away from me.  What can I say?  It was good.   And by closing time, the beer all tastes better and the women are better looking.  Reminds me of that bit about the 10 stages of drinking.  Stage 10: Bulletproof. 

I think you may be confusing Fat Tire, which is an amber (made by New Belgium Brewing in the city I live in) with Blue Moon, which is made in Denver and is a Belgian white typically served with an orange.

Regardless, I'll take anyone traveling to Colorado (the Napa Valley of beers) on one of the greatest brewery tours of their live's  082.gif  :beer:

That's right!  My mistake.  Blue Moon.  A decent beer.  They of the orange wedge.  As I squeeze my orange juice and pulp into the neck of the bottle, I count the tattoos on the bar maid.  It's a brave new world.

[bunter]

Evening gents. I tried a pint of this over the weekend http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/wadworth--ishii-brewing-minagof-smoked-porter/359984/. Very different indeed. Its part of Weatherspoons beer festival, which is ongoing currenty - well worth a try!

[HatterDon]

I was pleasantly surprised a few years back to discover that Utah -- a state dominated by highly religious folks -- has a thriving industry. There was a pub in the Salt Lake City airport that featured a good dozen or so bottled varieties. It was a long layover, and I drank three or four. As a result, I can't remember the names of any of them. Good stuff, though.  :beer: