Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Michelob Porter


A couple of months ago, Anheuser-Busch had a promotion on Michelob, which consisted of a $15.00 rebate if you bought 4 six-packs. Now, I'm not a huge fan of A-B, and I rarely buy 6-packs, but this promotion appealed to my inner cheapskate. (My family would tell you that I don't have an inner cheapskate. It's very much out in the open. But I digress...) At any rate, a rebate of more than 50% got my attention, so I bought the four sixers, just to see what they're doing at A-B these days. To be honest, I'm kinda impressed. First off, I did not get my usual A-B headache from any of the Michelob varieties I have tried. Secondly, these beers are pretty good. Tonight's beer was Michelob Porter. Anyone that's read this blog for a while knows that Porter is my favorite beer style, which is why I named my dog Porter. Michelob's version of a Porter is nicely roasty, and quite dry. It has some chocolate flavor, but not sweet chocolate. It's probably a bit more carbonated than it should be, but it wasn't distracting. It poured a deep brown, with a small cream-colored head that dissipated pretty quickly. I enjoyed this beer, and I'm not concerned about having a full six-pack of it. The best part of this whole Michelob experiment is that the company was very prompt in getting my rebate to me. Kudos to Anheuser-Busch. I have a number of other varieties I'll be talking about in the near future.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Sorry for the absence....

Again, I find myself back at the keyboard, apologizing for my disappearance from this blog. Life has been challenging for my family and me this year, and I found I was writing this blog out of a sense of commitment, rather than for my enjoyment. I think I'm at a point where I would like to get back to it. I may not post every day, but I will be visiting here more frequently.

Unibroue Ephemere Apple Ale


Unibroue, a brewery based in Chambly, Quebec, Canada brews a plethora of Belgian inspired beers, each of which is unique in its own way. Today's beer is Ephemere Apple, a light summer brew, made with apple juice, coriander, and Curacao (a type of orange). At 5.5% alcohol by volume, it's a tad stronger than the "normal" summer beer, but lighter than many of Unibroue's other offerings. It poured the color of apple juice, with a long-lasting but small white head. The beer is quite effervescent, which makes it nicely thirst-quenching. The apple juice is quite obvious, and makes the beer taste almost like a cross between a witbier and a cider. Hops are very subdued, but the coriander and orange peel give it a Belgian Wit character. Unibroue has also brewed peach, strawberry, cranberry and raspberry versions of this ale. This came in a 4-pack from World Market called the Unibroue Taster Pack. Also included in the pack was a bottle of Chambly Noire, Blanche de Chambly, and Raftman. I'm looking forward to checking them all out.