First, some unfinished business: when I did my "I know what you drank this summer" post last week (I didn't actually title it that, but now I'm kind of wishing I did), I forgot one brew. That right there should tell you what I thought of the beer.
It was Smuttynose Summer Weizen, and yeah, it was pretty forgettable. I'm not crazy about weizens - which are wheat beers that go really heavy on the wheat - but Smuttynose is a pretty reliable brewery, so I thought I'd give them a chance.
"The taste of the spices was way too harsh and overpowering, prevented the beer from being good to drink while chilling on the porch or while eating dinner." If that last sentence sounds familiar, it's because I wrote the exact same thing two years ago when I last gave a Smuttynose summer weizen a chance. D'oh. That's how forgettable this beer is - I had forgotten that I had already given it a chance. Either that or I'm just getting more forgettable in my old age. But it can't be that.
Now, what was I taking about again?
Oh, right, beer. Now some good news: I don't think I've mentioned it before, but late last year I signed up to be a "founding subscriber" to Beer Advocate magazine. The two brothers who have run the BA website for ten years were putting out a monthly magazine for beer snobs like myself and I signed up before the first issue was even printed (maybe before it was even written?).
I didn't know what to expect (theirs is the only monthly beer magazine out there), but it's a good looking magazine - heavy stock paper with great photography - and the writing is very good and gets better with each issue. It turns out that there are a lot of good writers out there who like to write about beer, and Beer Advocate seems to get them all to write for them.
Anyway, other than getting a calendar from them (which, surprisingly, is twelve months of washed-out photography on cheap paper), there hasn't been any benefit to being a "founding subscriber."
Then last month, out of the blue, Jim Koch over at Samuel Adams decided that he wanted us - the truest of true beer fans - to be the first to try out his newly-designed pint glasses. I first read about the offer on the BA blog, which said we would each get one of these glasses in the mail. But when the box came, there were two of them in there. Sweet!
Now, are the glasses - which supposedly were designed so Sam Adams brews can be enjoyed just the way Jim Koch intended - any better than the usual pint glass? Well, they do have all those features you're been waiting for, like "a neck-and-lip design that helps sustain the head of the beer, which enhances the release of signature Noble hop aromas found in Samuel Adams Boston Lager." All I know is that they look really awesome. And the pair of them are worth $15!
I haven't actually tried to release the signature Noble hop aromas found in Samuel Adams Boston Lager in them just yet (sounds kind of dangerous to me), but they work just fine with my Yuengling Traditional (pictured, above). But soon, Mr. Koch, I promise, I'll try them with one of your beers (but it ain't going to be that wine cooler you call Cherry Wheat, that's for sure).
Oh, and thanks!