You Won't Believe It....Big Foot Part Duex....American Standard Lager....

You:

Well, I have to tell you all something that you won't believe. I am a card carrying member of the American Homebrewers Association. Yea, I know, you're all totally shocked by that fact. Well, anyway, with that membership you get a subscription to Zymurgy Magazine. Well, Jim Parker, the editor of this publication, is a pretty good guy. Well, I was reading the January Issue and Jim was asking for members to write in their top 20 favorite beers at this time. They could be imports, domestic, craft, whatever. I appear to have been the first person to respond. Jim was pretty impressed with my quick response and the "color" that I provided on each. So he e-mails me and tells me he is in a bind. He has to get the next issue to the publisher, and he's missing one of the regular features known as "you gotta drink this". So he asks me if I want my own 15 minutes of fame. Well, who doesn't right? So I say what do you need. To make a long story a little shorter, he needed 150 words on some great beer that I drink that would make others be interested in seeking it out and drinking it. I provided him with the obligatory 150 word item and voila', it appeared in the March/April Issue. That means that yours truely, is now a published author in a long time periodical that is read literally by tens of hundreds I think (actually the circulation is around 20,000). So this means I'm famous and any of you out there who get this magazine and want it autographed, well, have your people call my people and we'll attempt to work something out........

Big Foot:

The second Big Foot Barleywine that we tried was the 2000 vintage. This beer had the same label and bottle and even the same style cap. The only exception was that is was the 2000 vintage. Well, this beer poured with about the same color and body as the 1999 version. The head had that same tightly beaded tan color. That is about all of the similarities though. The aroma of this beer was still thick with hop character along with malt and some alcohol presence. There were some dark fruit esters in there as well. The first sip yields much more hop bitterness and flavor. In fact the hops dominate the first flavors of this beer that you taste. It was much more hop assertive in the bitterness. Then after that snap to attention bitterness, the malt flavors begin to flourish. The flavors of toffee and caramel with a hint of chocolate and even roasted grain become evident and come at you in layers. In the finish, it was much drier and had a hint of hop flavor in the finish compared to the malty sweet flavor of the 1999. This beer was much more balanced and even though the malt flavors still were dominant, the hop character was very evident and lasted throughout. This beer, like the 1999 is a joy to drink and I thank my lucky stars that I got the opportunity to taste this brew. But that's not all!! If you order today,.....oops, sorry, that's another tirade....It really isn't all as there will be another review of the 2001 vintage and then (drum roll please), I will reveal my favorite of the group.......I know you can't wait and are twitching in anticipation. I know I am.....

American Standard:

You know, the last keg was Da' Beast. I know that is uncharacteristic of me, but it was pretty good. So today I was out getting another keg. Darn if I didn't get another keg of Da' Beast. Now this beer is really good. This keg is clearly very fresh and tasty. It's down right good. It is in the American Standard style and is better than most of the tasteless lagers you get today. I have to say that if I am going to drink this style of beer, its probably going to be Old Style, or Da' Beast (Milwaukee's Best for the great unwashed). It has flavor. The big shame is that American Beer could be in the Munich Helles style and be so good today that it would be a favorite world wide. Even the Pre-prohibition lagers at the turn of the century were outstanding beers. Too bad that Coors Light and Bud Light are the market leaders. At least these Miller products have some flavor. No one has ever argued that the big three make beer that is extremely well made. I just wish they hadn't ruined it from a flavor standpoint. Now don't worry, I'm still a craft beer guy through and through and support my local establishments every chance I get. And I will continue to do that. This month however, its Da' Beast in the cooler and I feel pretty good that I have an open mind to it....

Now go get some great beer and brew some great beer too!!!!!!!

Mark, The Brewer, and exploring all of the beer options out there........
- posted by Mark @ 8:21 PM

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