Carolina Blonde - from the can this time

Back in October when I was on vacation, my nephew gave me some Carolina Blonde to try - two bottles and two cans. I reviewed the bottled variety a short time ago here. My nephew made it clear that he preferred it from the bottle rather than the tall skinny can. Since we're having a Mexican style dish tonight (enchiladas made from turkey) I thought this light lager/pilsner might masquerade as a Mexican style beer. The first thing I noticed when I poured it from the can is that it had no head - none. It has plenty of carbonation, but none of it wanted to form a head. To be fair, I don't remember the bottled version very well, but I do know that it had a head for a short time. The canned version also seems a little fruitier than I remember. Once again, this is an easy-to-drink light colored beer that's very refreshing. I understand why my nephew likes it, although I don't think I have a preference between the bottle and the can.

Carolina Blonde - Ale or Pilsner?

Here's another beer I picked up during my vacation. My nephew spent some time in North Carolina recently, and really liked this beer, so he gave me a bottle of it to try. It poured a golden yellow color with a small white head. It's a very light beer in flavor and in body. In fact, it's pretty fizzy. Drinking this beer reminds me of my college days, when the only thing I drank was Miller High Life. All the German and Canadian beers were too "heavy" for my tastes at the time. That was in the mid 70's when not much was available other than American macros. The Carolina Blonde website describes this beer as a golden ale, while on the bottle they refer to it as a "Genuine Pilsner style" beer. Since a Pilsner is a lager style, rather than an ale, I'm not sure how this is brewed. By taste and body, I feel it's a pretty typical light lager/pilsner. The aroma is very light malt, and the flavor is somewhat grassy, with a little hint of citrus in the finish. There's not much going on in the way of hops. This beer goes down really easily, and would make a great lawnmower beer, but I wouldn't search it out.

Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager

Flying Dog has another fine beer in their lineup called "Old Scratch" Amber Lager. This was part of their assortment pack that I got a couple of months ago. It poured a copper color with an inch-tall off-white head. It had a bit of caramel-malt flavor, with a modest level of hop bitterness. Carbonation was relatively low in comparison to others in this style, but it's not a fault. This was a smooth easy-to-drink beer, and of course, the labels are always entertaining on Flying Dog beers.

Dinner at Macaroni Grill

Tonight, my wife and I had to deliver some necessities to our son in college, and we decided to take him out to dinner while we were there. Macaroni Grill is one of our favorite eateries and there is one near the college, so it was an obvious choice. I inquired about their draft beer options, and there were only 2 non-Anheuser Busch offerings - Coors Light and Yuengling Traditional Lager. What is it with chain restaurants having crappy beer menus? I know that they would sell more beer if they had a little variety. It's a pretty sad situation when Yuengling is their most adventurous beer. The problem is that Macaroni Grill isn't alone - Red Lobster, Long Horn, Chili's, and all the other ones are just as pathetic. The only chain that had a semi-decent selection of beers was Bennigan's, which is mostly shut down. Oh well, enough of my complaining.

I ordered the Yuengling, because it was the only choice I had. I also ordered the Penne Rustica, which is a smoky spicy pasta dish with a creamy sauce, shrimp, chicken and prosciutto - all topped with parmesan cheese and baked in their wood-fired oven. This is a wonderful dish, and about a million calories! Needless to say, after a couple of bites of Penne, the Yuengling tasted less and less like beer, and more like water. The beer actually tasted pretty good at first, a bit maltier than most lagers. It also had a fresh taste since it was draft. Unfortunately, it never stood a chance against the Penne Rustica. A nice hoppy Sam Adams would have been better, or an IPA. Actually, the best beer for this meal would have been a nice smoky Robust Porter. THAT would have still tasted like a beer, even at the end of the meal. I still have half of my dinner left, so tomorrow I'll be giving that combination a try.

Sam Adams Light

I have a bunch of Sam Adams Light left over from my birthday party, so I decided to try one today. I've had it in the past, but my memory of the experience eluded me. It poured a pale amber color, with a small white head. The aroma was malt, which is unlike most light beers. One taste told me that if I had to drink a light beer, this would be the one. It does not compare to their Boston Lager for sure, but it is head and shoulders above the Beck's I had a while back. This is much more malty, with a better body than the Beck's. Of course, at 119 calories, it should be, since the Beck's was half that number. Of course, bottled water has no calories, so it would be a better choice than the Beck's.

Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager

I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to post tonight. Work is killing me! I work from home, and today was a long day, finishing up just a few minutes ago. I wanted to post about Dixie Brewing Co.'s Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager before I forgot what it was like. I've seen this beer numerous times over the years, and I always wanted to try it. It definitely has a cool label. The Dixie Brewing Company was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and while the brewery is rebuilding, the beer is being brewed in Wisconsin by the Joseph Huber Brewing Co. No matter its origin, this beer is somewhat in the style of a Schwarzbier. It's a dark lager, with some chocolate and roasted malt notes, and it's smoother than a dark ale. It's a bit watered down in comparison to some other beers of this style, such as Samuel Adams Black Lager. It poured a deep brown, not quite as dark as a Schwarzbier generally is. The head only lasted a short time. This isn't a bad beer, just not an exceptional one.

SURPRISE!!

Today started out as a pretty normal Sunday, except that my sister and brother-in-law are down from New York, on vacation. Being a good sister, she brought me some Saranac, and some beer from a brewery I was unfamiliar with - Otter Creek Brewing, which is in Vermont. We ate a late breakfast, and had plans to do an early dinner at my daughter's house, so my sister could see her niece's new home. I decided to go do some shopping, in preparation for my 50th birthday, which is coming up in a week, so my sister and her husband and I jumped in the car and took a ride. Our shopping trip ended just in time to get to my daughter's home at the designated time. I knocked on the door, and as I was let into the house - SURPRISE!! My family had thrown me a surprise birthday party for my 50th. I was floored! Totally clueless! I never suspected a thing. It was a great party, with good friends and family, lots of good food, and plenty of good beer. I was touched that they had planned this for me, and I had a great time. When I knew I would be just in time for "dinner", I asked my wife to bring one of the new Otter Creek beers with her to go along with my meal. So the first beer I had was Otter Creek's Stovepipe Porter, a roasty robust version of the style. I then switched to Flying Dog's Snake Dog - a very snappy, hoppy IPA. I cut myself off at 3 beers, so I picked a classic - Samuel Adams Boston Lager. I think this is one of the best lagers on the planet. The time flew by, the party ended, and I think everyone left smiling. I had a great early birthday! And now I know why my wife wanted me to get a haircut!

Margaritaville Brewing Co.'s Landshark Lager

Tacos were on the menu tonight, so I looked thru my beer fridge to see what I had that was Mexican. I came up blank, except for a bottle of Margaritaville Brewing's Landshark Lager. I know it's not Mexican, but it was the closest thing to it. I don't know how much input Jimmy Buffett actually had in the production of this beer, but I do know that it's brewed by Anheuser-Busch. It's bottled in a nice sharkfin-embossed bottle with a painted label, and it poured a light golden color with a 1-1/2 inch tall white head. If Jimmy was going after a Corona clone, I think he nailed it - based on my memory of Corona. This was a refreshing light beer, and went perfectly with my tacos. I'm sure that a lime would feel at home in the neck of the bottle, if you're into that sort of thing.

Iron City Lager

I saw this beer in the liquor store and recognized it as another beer mentioned by Stephen king in one of his books - this time it's in Christine, which I happen to be reading right now. Iron City is brewed in Pittsburgh, in case you hadn't guessed. It looked like a typical golden lager, and tasted like a typical golden lager. Like the Naragansett, this is old school beer. It was refreshing, and enjoyable, just not very interesting. Went fine with my fish tacos.

The Famous Narragansett Beer

I saw this at my local beer store - Knightly Spirits for those of you familiar with Orlando, FL - and I recognized it from the writings of my favorite author, Stephen King. King mentions it in a few of his books, including It and The Stand. The price was right too - a buck for a 16 oz can. So, it was a no-brainer. As you can see in the picture, it has a great big fluffy white head, and a typical golden macrobrew color. This is old-school beer - reminds me of my high school years (way back when the drinking age in NY was 18. I was only slightly illegal). This is not unlike Schlitz, Schaefer, Piels, Pabst, or any of those other inexpensive brews from the 70's. It tasted of corn, and grass, with a little bit of hops thrown in. This would be a good lawnmower beer. It went fine with my pasta. Nothing offensive, but nothing to write home about either.