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BOTW IV – Boulevard Sixth Glass

Not one but TWO of the deliveries I received for the 40 Days of Beer Festival were a new one for me: Boulevard Sixth Glass.  Where have you been all my life???

Thank you to GE (4-pack) and LG (750 mL bottle) for introducing me to this little bit of heaven in a bottle.  Boulevard is a brewery in Kansas City that brews a staggering variety of craft brews, from stouts and porters to IPAs to unfiltered wheats and everything in between.  (Shout out to the Boulevard folks for a fantastic website.  They provide information on the best glasses for each type of beer and suggested food pairings for each as well.  Kudos!)

For those who don’t know me, I gravitate toward dark, thick, rich, full-flavored beers.  I like Belgian Trappist-style beers especially (officially known as ‘Abbey-style’).  There are only 8 ‘official’ Trappist breweries in the world as recognized by the International Trappist Association (there is an association for EVERYthing!)  Six of those eight are in Belgium (with names you might recognize like Chimay and Westmalle), one in the Netherlands and one in Germany.  However, breweries around the world are beginning to brew more Abbey-style beers.  Boulevard is one such brewery, thank goodness.  (Stick around for our first post next week for more on Dubbels, Tripels and Quadrupels.)

Boulevard Sixth Glass is a quadrupel, which means it has a very rich and fantastic flavor; it is tremendously smooth; and it will knock you on your tail if you have more than one (10.5% ABV!) The name comes from a Hans Christian Andersen tale called, The Watchman of the Tower.  In describing what can be found in seven glasses, the main character says, “In the sixth glass sits the Devil himself; he is a little well-dressed man, most charming and pleasant. He understands you and agrees with everything you say.”  At 10.5% ABV and with such great flavor, this little beauty from Boulevard may truly be the devil!


Buy yourself a four-pack or a 750 mL bottle today.  And you’re welcome!

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Brew Reviews

BOTW, part III

A Little Somthin’

Regular readers will recall that I gave you a little hint at the end of the last post as to what our third BOTW would be.  This beer is one I received on one of the 40 days of beer.  Thank you, Ellen!

Little Sumpin’ Awesome
From Petaluma, CA we get Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale.  This is a filtered pale wheat ale that is very smooth and adds just enough hops to give it a nice crisp flavor.  But let’s break all that down.  You’ve probably had UNfiltered wheat beers, those cloudy Hefeweizens, etc.  And you’ve likely had IPAs before, ranging from slightly bitter to borderline criminally bitter.  Consider this beer a great marriage of the two: smooth yumminess from the wheat plus sharp crisp hops on the finish to leave you wanting more.  And more.

Side bar.  Have you ever wanted to try a new beer and you’ve been hesitant, for no reason other than fear that you’ll mispronounce it?  You don’t want your friends or the wait staff to think you’re uninformed.  So, you either grunt and point like a Neanderthal, say it with a heavy foreign accent (“that’s how they said it when I was in Amsterdam”) or give up and order a Coors Light.  You’re not alone… Many of us have had similar moments of trepidation.  Unibroue Ephemere (say Unibrew eff-a-mair). Tsingtao (try saying “Ching-dow.”) for this week’s beer, Lagunitas provides a handy pronunciation guide.  la-goo-NEE-tuss.  Try it. It’s fun to say.  And you’ll look extra hip the next time you say it at your favorite beer pub.

And now back to a Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale.  This is one of the beers that la-goo-NEE-tuss offers year round.  But they have a seasonal now that is called a Little Sumpin’ Wild, a Belgian Trappist style cousin of this week’s beer.  Color me there!
Oh, and FYI, the second Little Sumpin’ Sumpin tastes better than the first.  Have a great weekend everyone!
Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Brew Reviews

BOTW 2

BOTW, Part II

For our second installment of the Beer of the Week segment, I turn to one of my recent go-to favorites. But before we get there, a little about me. I used to be a creature of habit: I’d wear the same style shirts, eat the same meals while out and I’d always choose from a very limited selection of beers. However, over the last 5 years or so, I have flipped that switch and gone full speed in the other direction. While I still have no fashion sense, it is rare that I order the same beer twice in one sitting. That switch occurred when I start collecting beer ‘credits’ from loyalty programs in places like Taco Mac, World of Beer and the Flying Saucer. But that’s a post for another day.

I say all of that to shed light on how I found my new go-to favorite beer. It was in perusing the extensive beer list at Taco Mac-Crabapple that I found this and gave it a whirl. And what a treat that was for me! This is not an expensive, super-fancy beer to be saved for a special occasion. And it certainly is not a “pound a half-case before kickoff” beer either. It is a very nice, smooth beer that has great balance and is perfect to enjoy over dinner with friends, at a backyard BBQ or any other social occasion. And it’s a nice conversation-starter, too. Not everyone has heard of it … yet.

Enough preamble, this week’s BOTW is Left Hand Sawtooth. Left Hand is a brewery in Longmont, Colorado and creates fantastic choices like the 400-Pound Monkey, Good Juju and St. Vrain Tripel. But their signature beer is the Sawtooth. This is an ESB (Extra Special Bitter), but don’t let the word ‘bitter’ fool you. This is a perfectly balanced beer that has a slight hint of citrus aroma and flavor. The first time I had this was on Thursday May 28, 2009 at the Taco Mac in Crabapple (Roswell), GA. Yes, moments like this are that memorable. Right now, the best way to get Sawtooth is in the 12-pack mixer, which includes 4 each of Sawtooth, Black Jack Porter, Milk Stout and the 400-Pound Monkey. Do yourself a flavor and grab one today!

And you’re welcome.
Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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Categories Brew Reviews

Beer of the Week (botw)

Each week, I will highlight a beer I have had recently that struck me as particularly good.  And worth visiting your local pub or package store to find.

For our first installment, I’ll go with something super-extra fun and unique.  As a major fan of Dogfish Head 60 and 90-minute IPAs, I was intrigued when the bartender suggested I try “Dogfish Head 61-minute IPA.”  I had not heard of it before, but was obviously intrigued.  The 61 is basically the same as the 60, but with ONE added ingredient – syrah grape must.  (A quick Google search tells me that ‘must’ is fresh grape juice, plus all the other stuff – skin, seeds and stems.)  And that fantastically yummy deliciousness mixed in with the equally phenomenal 60-minute elixir combine to form a truly unique and wonderful flavor.

I am not usually a huge proponent of fruit-based beers.  They’re okay, but not something I go out of my way to order.  The 61-minute though was different.  This had the slightest hint of grape/wine flavor without crossing the line into becoming a sweet, syrupy fruit beer.  This was an instance of a beer that grew on me over time.  “Time”, in this case, was about 30 seconds – enough time to get through my second sip.  It has a very smooth texture with great flavor.  Imagine a sip of your favorite red wine poured into your favorite beer.  (And according to Dogfish Head, that’s where the idea came from.)

Do yourself a flavor and find this one – it is worth a try.

As always, thanks for reading and make sure to enter your email address to the right so that you can follow my weekly beer ramblings.

Mike Pennington by Mike Pennington
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