Posts tagged Teachers
So I (Brian) have this friend that home brews. I know I know….big deal…who doesn’t home brew these days?!?! Well, first of all the beer is VERY good, and they “brew good and do good” — please check out our friends at NOEL Brewing
Here’s what makes them stand out besides just really good bee. They’re mission is bigger than beer, I know that may sound shocking to some but it’s actually really cool. Until NOEL becomes a household name (which we’re pretty sure it’s going to become) they are using their brew to generate profits that they will help people in need. I attended a fund raiser to help out a friend of Michael Gilbert (co founder of NOEL) who has recently incurred some pretty hefty medical bills. So I got to try 3 different NOEL brews and my donation was going to a great cause…perfect!
THE BEER: Ellie’s Amber Ale - Originally brewed to help raise funds for Ellies’ Run For Africa. It is what an Amber Ale should be. Hints of hops that aren’t overpowering, a sweet malty finish that leaves you wanting more. Very, very good.
Byun in the Sun - this was brewed specifically for the fundraiser I attended. It’s a summer ale with a hot day in mind. There are a number of Summer Ales out there that don’t seem to think of the season! It’s HOT in the summer people, keep it refreshing. Well, NOEL brewing does exactly that. It’s lighter in color and taste, with just the right amount of hops.
The IPA - I got a small taste of NOEL’s IPA. WOW! Can’t wait to have more of this. It’s hoppy and wonderful.
One more great thing about NOEL: BREWGIGS! What’s a brewgig??? “Well, it’s like food catering, only it’s better because it’s beer.” The folks from NOEL will come to your event and provide the beer. What else could you ask for really. It’s what they do! Check out their site for more info.
NOEL BREWING: A
Check out their site: Here
If you’re on Facebook then become a fan: Here
Happy New Year! ~ Our new blog is live and our new campaign “Strong in ‘09” is in full swing. Well, it’s going to be anyway……we wouldn’t say ‘full swing’ yet but fear not. Anyway, we got together last week to discuss all things beerschool and (of course) to have a brew. We met at one of our favorite ‘after school’ hang outs the 12 South Taproom in Nashville. The brew of choice was Lakefront Organic ESB (Extra Special Bitter).
ESB’s are British style ales that traditionally have a little less carbonation but are still rather hoppy. We liked this beer, we’re always up for trying organic brews and this one did not let us down. You can definitely taste the hops in this beer but because of the lower carbonation it has a smoother finish. We’re not sure where else you can find this one in the Nashville area so you might just want to visit the taproom. It’s in a bottle but make sure you pour it into a glass to bring out the flavor. I know I know, we’re starting to sound all beer snobby now but it’s true, the beer will taste better when poured into a glass. GRADE: B+
On 11.13.08 Yazoo Brewing tapped a keg of their Fresh Hop IPA at 12th South Taproom in Nashville. This was a part of their one keg events held in and around Nashville and also in Memphis TN, Birmingham and Huntsville, AL. They tapped one keg at various pubs for one night and when they were gone, that was it. We were excited to be able to check it out.
Hops preserve beer. Pale ales originated in Britain but because of the heavy trading between Britain and India (mostly for spices) the IPA (India Pale Ale) was born. Because they were traveling by ship the British had to find ways to keep their Ale fresh for a longer period of time. So when they traveled to India more hops were added for preservation and this is why India Pale Ales have more of a hoppy taste.
The Fresh Hop IPA is awesome. It has a little bit of a bitter (citrus rind) taste that stays in your cheek bones for a second when you first sip it but the finish is really smooth. The smell is somewhat floral with a little bit of pine needle. It kind of smells like Christmas. GRADE : A
Rather than just crafting our thoughts from this wonderful evening into something fancy we thought we’d share them as we wrote them down. We drank three different IPAs…here you go!
Christmas
Bitter…Citrus Rind…Bitterness stays in your cheek bones
Floral
Smell is amazing!
It’s smooth for an IPA.
Nose(smell): spiced wine? Red wine….spiced red wine (haha)
Completely different.
Chocolate covered cherries that didn’t get tipped all the way…..covered in pine needles.
You’re in the happy forest, getting happily slapped by pine trees. Really strong. Oh wow that’s strong. Pine tress equal hops.
Conclusion:
Yazoo was super consistent and balanced. Didn’t lean too much to one side. If we were going to drink more than one IPA in a night we would have the yazoo.
Dogfish head - closer to yazoo than the Samuel Smith
Ever wondered what the difference is between lager beer and ale? It’s simple…yeast on the top vs. yeast on the bottom. Lagers are brewed with bottom fermenting yeast. They’re brewed over a long period of time because they’re always brewed at cool temperatures. Ales are brewed with top fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures thus, only a short period of time is required. There are a bunch of different styles of lager (Bock, Doppelbock, Dunkel, Oktoberfest/Maerzen, Pilsner). The differences between them can be subtle but the key is they’re all lagers. Yeast on the bottom means you’re drinking a lager.
One of our favorite styles of lager is the Pilsner. Pilsner beers come from Bohemia in the Czech Republic. A good pilsner will have high carbonation, tangy Czech hops, and a crisp bitter taste. A fresh pilsner will have thick white foam (head) and when done well, is ultra refreshing. When done poorly…skunky, stale and nasty. Usually the cheaper varieties of pilsner are brewed with a mix of corn or rice which makes them more cost effective to produce…and you get what you pay for. Ever had Coors, Budweiser, Miller, Heineken, Corona? They’re all classified as pilsners. We don’t know why. Maybe it’s because that sounds fancier. A real pilsner can and will blow your mind. A bad pilsner could make you question your love of beer……and we don’t want that.
That brings us to North Coast Brewing Co. out of Fort Bragg, CA. They make an old-school pilsner that might as well come straight from the Czechs. It’s called Scrimshaw and it’s good. The hop flavors are subtle. The taste is crisp and the after-taste (finish) is dry and somewhat bitter. Exactly what a great pilsner should taste like. If you like more of a sharp taste to your beer (Pale Ale or IPA) then you’d dig this particular beer. You can get it several places in Nashville. Brian had it on-tap at 12 South Taproom. Josh picked up a bottle at Old World Leaf and Ale in Brentwood.
Comments from Josh: The first time I had this beer was at Fall For Greenville in Greenville, SC. I got it on draft. I sipped as I walked around downtown Greenville and noticed that the flavor of the beer got better as it got warmer. It was weird but it was amazing! I grabbed a bottle from Old World and actually let it warm up for 15 minutes before I drank it. It was and is one of my favorite beers. If you get it, taste it cold and then let it warm up a bit…you’ll notice a subtle change in the flavor. A sweetness develops and it’s oh so wonderful. Grade: A
Comments from Brian: I noticed some similarities to a good Pale Ale with the Scrimshaw but it’s definitely not as strong as an IPA. I say this because I don’t want anyone to shy away from this beer because we compared it to a Pale Ale, it’s really not that strong. It’s 4.4% alcohol content really takes a lot of the edge off. Some pales (especially IPA’s) can be up near 6% or more. The sweetness outweighs the bitter character. Not sweet like a cider (nowhere near that) but sweet as in fresh. I liked it. You should try it and let us know what you think. Grade: B+
Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale by Rogue…..Keeping in the spirit of the beerlympics, we wanted to spend some time with international beers. Honestly we grabbed this one because it has some cool Japanese lettering on the bottle and we figured any beer with the word obi in it must be good because as we all know Obi Wan Kenobi is our only hope
You just don’t mess with a jedi or his beer, we can’t emphasize that enough. You could get yourself killed and we (as your teachers) just don’t want to see our students sliced in half by swords made of light…..sorry…some say we care too much.
Ok so this beer isn’t really from a jedi but it is from the jedi of food Iron Chef Morimoto.
We both liked this one! Its a pretty standard black ale. What that means is it tastes a tad bitter but it’s tolerable. We think black ales are that first step before you dive into the world of “stout” and “porter” - Grade B
p.s. we’re not freaky star wars fans, or trekkies, or anything else like that….not that there’s anything wrong with that!
OK ~ So you’ve all probably heard about this company InBev that purchased Anheuser Busch for 52 billion dollars. We weren’t going to blog about this because 1) It’s all over the place and people probably already know a lot more about it than we do and 2) It doesn’t really have a ton to do with what we’re trying to accomplish with the ol bloggings :) But hey, if someone comments about something and asks our opinion, we will answer. We’re all about you….the students :: or something like that. Anyhoo, here’s CH’s comment
CH, on July 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm Said: Edit Comment
So, I’m curious what the Beer School Blog thinks of A-B being purchased by InBev in Belgium…? They say they will keep everything the same for ‘The King of Beers,” but will they really? And is that a good thing? Do you even care, because chances are, you haven’t had a Bud in years. HA!
Well CH - first, thanks for the comment. We won’t say much about the ins and outs of the buy out because frankly, we don’t know a lot about the specifics. We will say this….ahem…throat clear…… IF the InBev buy out of A-B helps to further their fine products and “unlock Budweiser’s potential in countries where the beer is not widely available” we’re all for it. IF a bunch of nice folks lose their jobs because of it. That kinda sucks :: Buy outs always produce change, here’s to hoping the changes at A-B are for the good.
Dang, might go pick us up a sixer of Bud (regular) ~ we’re feeling all sentimental
For more on the buy out go here
Welcome to Beer School Blog. We’re two guys in Nashville, TN who love beer. That’s really how this whole idea started. We thought “we’re gonna drink it anyway, why not share some things we learn and help others learn too” Below are the 3 T’s. They represent what we’ll be and what we’ll do.
Teachers – We’re two (very) normal guys who will give you our take on beer. Any beer. All beer. We won’t use fancy language or words you’ve never heard. Straight gut talk from the moment the beer hits ours.
Tasters – This might be the best feature of this blog for you…..our students. Basically. We’ll try any beer. If there’s something you’ve heard about but never tried, send us a message, or leave us a comment and we’ll hunt it down, take it in and give you our opinion. Plus, you will get the props on the blog. Good suggestions = an A+ grade for you. Bad suggestions (beer that sucks) = detention. Basically we’ll make fun of you on the internets.
Talkers – We will profile (by area) some of Nashville’s great beer drinking / beer purchasing establishments. Everything from the price of the beer to what beer(s) a place is known for.
The long and short of it is, we don’t know everything. In fact, a lot of you probably know more than we do about beer. We’re totally fine with that. We’re here to learn and pass along to you! You’re homework is this: Put the second T to the test. Tell us what you want us to taste. What beer have you heard about but never tried? We’ll try it for you and let you know what we think.
