The Lovely Madame Rose

Madame Rose is a remarkable Kriek style beer from Goose Island. I tried the 2012 and decided to make a video review of it right then and there. A dark crimson color is the first thing you'll notice about it. Cloudy as hell and alluring, I must say. It's gorgeous to look at in a glass with the tiny bubbles popping at what passes for a head like a champagne. Wild yeasts do that!

God I just love wild yeast anything. I love having to tell people that we're constantly being eaten by yeast and breathing it in and that when we die, yeast will help turn us into ash and dust. It reminds me that we are all part of a cosmic process showcased by the miracle of fermented beverages.

I also just love funky sour beers. It should remind you about a whole world out there that disregards the Reinheitsgebot and the prevailing tastes of untrained palates looking for tasteless lagers.

Madame Rose is aged on cherries in wine barrels for a complex treasure.

Here's my Instagram photo of it.

3 Bros. Coffee Breath

Probably the worst video I've done, but it's a really good beer. Apparently, I couldn't come up with a better word than "amazing" seeing as how I say it like five times.

So here's what I meant to say: Troy Lucas is a local coffee roaster. He cold brewed a huge batch of coffee for this nut brown from Three Brothers Brewing. So, locally roasted and brewed coffee meets locally brewed and fermented beer for a delicious beverage called Coffee Breath. I like that.

This video was made on the fly at a steal the glass night at Capital Ale House in Harrisonburg. And even though I make this video suck (kind of distracted by how busy the place is), it's only a minute long, and you can see Troy Lucas and Adam Shifflett for a second (the coffee guy and the beer guy, respectively).

Black Crown Is Coming

I've had Black Crown, and I like it. It's an easy drinking gateway drug to craft beer. If I saw it at a party, I would drink it. If I was at a bar and they didn't have a beer I was curious about or something else I had to have, I would order it. It's that good.

Basically, it's a darkish lager that's still light enough to drink fast, but at 6% ABV, most light-weights shouldn't. I would pair it with smoky cheeses or anything with chipotle . . . or anything else smoky. The bigger body and ultimate drinkability will make a hit at Fourth of July parties and barbecues this spring and summer. I would totally drink one of these on a hot day.

And if you're thinking you're one of those people who always says Budweiser gives them a headache, I defy you to say that about Black Crown. It's smoother and rounder and tastes like they dialed back the adjunct grains but left the beech wood conditioning in. I'm not gushing about this beer, but I'm here to say it's totally worth a try and a couple repeat visits, and if it sticks around in the market, I hope to see it at parties and celebrations where I'd normally see the old red and white labelled Bud.

 

The way they're advertising it is pretty sexy. A Super Bowl commercial is going to really push it, and it's bound to sell everywhere because of that alone. Hopefully it'll have some staying power though. Black Crown is like Bud Light's sexier older brother all the hot chicks want to hang out with long enough to kiss at the stroke of midnight.

Dark Abby from Devil's Backbone. She's Here!

After some labeling issues, Dark Abby is finally here. It's a Belgian Mountain-style Dubbel that's got a bit of a sohrgum thing going on for a silky texture on the sweet side.

There's a "secret spice mix" swirling around in there that gives you an earthiness you'll enjoy plus plenty of work for your brain to do while it tries to figure out just exactly what is in the bottle. Meanwhile, the brown sugar notes preoccupy your thoughts for a moment, and well, the label is sexy too.

And there's a great story behind it all. Remember Azrael? If you don't, don't fret, she'll be back May. Anyway, Azrael's twin sister, her "dark twin," is Abby. So the girl on the bottle is related in theme and by blood to Azrael, which is kind of a nice touch for die-hard Devil's Backbone fans like myself. What thrilling adventures will Azrael and Abby get into?

The pic with the lips and the bottle cap is from a cool blog I found called A Cap A Day. Check out her beer reviews and pictures.

If you were lucky enough to get an unlabeled sample, your already know how good this beer is. If not, you only have to visit your local beer store to find out now.

3 Brothers Beer

Three Brothers Brewery is the newest brewery in Virginia, in case you didn't already know. The three Brothers are the Schifflett brothers who have been roaming around Harrisonburg for most of their lives, so most people around here know who they are. 

Adam's the oldest brother and was a submariner for many years. How cool is that? He's now the head brewer.

My favorite beer of theirs is the Coffee Breath because it's made with local coffee roasters, Lucas Roasting Company's cold brew coffee. I've liked Lucas coffee for a long time, and I really dig it when to local guys can get together and collaborate on something awesome.

Their new double IPA, the Admiral is a flowery giant IPA. It's great if you're into that sort of thing. If you don't typically like IPA's, you won't of course, but if you're like me, a person who is always looking for something bitter and complex and floral, you'll enjoy it like crazy.

I'll probably be posting a lot of pictures of them and their brewery on my blog and Instagram as time goes by and they grow.

Tonight there's a steal the glass night at Capital Ale House in Harrisonburg. It starts in a couple hours. It's going to be epic. I'll be posting pics on Instagram of people I meet there. If you see me there, tell me you read my blog and I'll buy you a beer. You can still keep the pint glass.

Tilted Kilt Cometh

They're opening a Tilted Kilt in Harrisonburg in a few weeks. Can you believe it? I'm sure it'll be a huge success. I've always wondered why there wasn't a Hooters or some other Breastaurant in the area. Finally, there's one right around the corner.

Everyone loves young women in skimpy clothing serving them greasy pub food and beer right? I'll probably stop in and have a pint. According to their online menu, they don't seem very vegetarian-friendly. But they are very beer-friendly. I hope corporate lets them put some local beers on tap.

Apparently there are 70 different locations around America. I have only known the one in Vegas. It's kind of like a Hooters with an Irish/Scottish theme. Kind of school-girl, too.

Their website encourages you to join the Kilt Clan, which is a little unfortunate in the south. But most people don't look at things the way I do.

If you see me at Tilted Kilt, say hello and I'll buy you a beer.

Watch "Lance Armstrong's Confession - Oprah's Next Chapter - Oprah Winfrey Network" on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_0PSZ59Aws&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Just as a follow-up, I wanted to post this confession of Good Ol' Lance confessing to cheating. I feel like a chump having believed his adamant denial of cheating for so long.

Here's also a link to a simple explanation of EPO.

Siren Noire

Heavy Seas's Siren Noire is one of the best beers I've tried in a while. We opened a bottle at Downtown Wine & Gourmet in Harrisonburg, and before we had poured out half the thing, the case had sold out, and I needed to run two more cases to the shop the next day. It's incredible.

It tastes like cocoa, marshmallows, vanilla bean, hints of bourbon and maple, maybe a little baking spice. The thing throws your wine brain int overdrive.

Imperial chocolate stout aged in bourbon barrels? Who wouldn't want a bottle of this? I mean, it's not horribly cheap, but it neither is a first class ticket on a jetliner, and at around $10 a bottle retail, just go for it.

I guess I should mention that this is a super-limited edition beverage, so if you see it out in your market, grab it right away because you seriously probably won't get the chance again. Siren Noire won't disappoint.

Sirens are mythical beauties who attract sailors with their mellifluous singing voices, luring them to ruin. Heavy Seas goes in for the nautical theme on the regular, and I like that because it reminds me of living near the ocean. When I was in Baltimore, visiting their brewery and ale house, it was evident that the trope is working for them. Everyone loves the taste of adventure, and most people love pirates and skulls and things of that nature.

To back all their cool imagery up with something of such a high quality imbues me with the belief that humanity is not a waste of time and that there are people out there who are working hard to make this life an awesome adventure.

Lance and His Ultra Life

In case you haven't heard, Lance Armstrong has admitted to doping and lying about it. I feel like an asshole for being one of those assholes who actually believed he was not cheating.

My company represents Michelob Ultra in Virginia, and I started thinking about how his decisions have affected the people who believed in him enough to base whole business models around him and his message of personal improvement. Something as huge as Anheuser-Busch is embarrassed by their connection to him. There are scraps of POS with his face on it all over our sign shop that have been steadily disappearing already, but now that he admitted to everything, it's just, well, sad.

Anyway, fuck him. And you know what? Fuck all sports "heroes." I'm pretty sick of them anyway. Every sports hero from my generation is a disgrace. Greedy bastards.

Old Tom Beer

It's one of my personal missions to share Old Tom with as many people as possible this year. It's in our portfolio at Virginia Eagle, and I love it. A lot of people don't know about it around here because I guess not enough people have been to England or care about big strong award-winning beers.

But it's got a cat on the bottle, it tastes great, and it's been awarded the "World's Best Ale" title so many times, it permanently adorns their label. What's not to like?

This month, I'll be doing tastings all over the Shenandoah Valley of Old Tom. I hope you'll be able to get to one. This week, I'll be at the Staunton Abbey handing out samples of Old Tom Original. I'd love to see you there.

I'll be posting them on Twitter.

You can find out more about Old Tom here. Pretty good website.
And you can follow them on Twitter here.

The very first drawing of Old Tom

Old Tom weighs in at 8.5%, so it's a big boy. It smells of toffee with a slight hint of licorice, cherry, and brandy. It's chocolatey, peppery, nutty, and is guaranteed to gobsmack ye. Most agree Old Tom is very food-friendly and a 10 out of 10.

Tonight at Billy Jack's

Tonight is the Goose Island Tap Invasion at Billy Jack's. I'm really excited about it because I want to try Bourbon County Stout on draft next to Night Stalker on draft. I have not had Bourbon County on draft yet, and I cant wait to. The thing starts at 5 in Harrisonburg. Bourbon County is bound to go quickly. Hope you get there early enough to get some!

If you find me there, I might buy you a round.

Bourbon County from Goose Island.

Got this image of Bourbon County's Doppelganger here.

Goose Island released an incredible Russian Imperial Stout this year called Bourbon County. It came in at 15% ABV(!), and it tasted like chocolate-flavored bourbon that was thicker than a milkshake. I heard it goes great with milk steak.

Yeah, it was a little expensive, but it was aged in bourbon barrels and gave me the best buzz I've ever gotten off a single beverage in my life. It was like sticking my head in a cloth bag of vibrating cotton balls.

Goose Island does this every year to commemorate their first thousand cases, which was the first time they decided to make something this awesome. I'm looking forward to next year. I'm saving a bottle so that I can compare between the two vintages.

I love vertical flights when it comes to wine tastings, but I've never done it with wine. I'm loving the idea of getting my beer cellar up to snuff to get this going.

As I'm writing this, there are only a few bottles still floating around out there on the market. But Capital Ale House in Harrisonburg, VA is going to have a Goose Island tap takeover on Jan 15 where they'll be featuring it predominantly on draft. It's probably the last time you'll have a chance to try it.

Old Tom's Copper Getting Reinstalled

I think this is somewhat beautiful. Love this old copper stuff in old breweries.

Psycho Kilter from Starr Hill

I'm excited about this new beer coming down the line from Starr Hill this month. It's called Psycho Kilter, and it's a wee heavy.

A wee heavy is a sweeter ale that has a bit more alcohol than most people are used to. They usually weigh in at over 9%. Most are called something like Kilt Lifter, Kilt Flasher, Kilt Twister, or something else that has the word "kilt" in it. This one is inspired by one of my favorite Scots, David Byrne and his band, the Talking Heads. The label has a person wearing a kilt and singing to a lamp. David Byrne sang with a lamp in a performance of "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)."

Here's a video:

I'm a big David Byrne fan. One of my favorite songs is "Psycho Killer," and one of my favorite kinds of beer is a wee heavy. I can't wait for this one to hit the market.

It's part of the All Access that Starr Hill does. So it's not going to be around for long. Pretty exclusive and made in a limited quantity through February, if you see this on out there, make sure you grab it right away since you probably won't get the chance again.