Beer Roll: December

Since I've been so busy, I figure I needed a solid way to make sure I post at least once a month for you all.
So this new feature I'm calling "Beer Roll" - a roll call for all the beers I've tasted during the month. This will include new tastes and the standards.

Beer Roll for December 2011:

• Bell's Christmas Ale
• Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Ale
• Corona Light
• Dark Horse Raspberry Ale
• Magic Hat #9
• Royal Oak Brewery Aged Java Porter
• Sam Adam's Chocolate Cherry

Beer News: Happy Prohibition Repeal Day

December 5 marks the anniversary of the 21st Amendment of the United States Constitution.

"We celebrate Repeal Day because December 5th marks a return to the rich traditions of craft fermentation and distillation, the legitimacy of the American bartender as a contributor to the culinary arts, and the responsible enjoyment of alcohol as a sacred social custom." - http://www.repealday.org/
Happy Repeal Day !

Beer News: Google Beer

Well, Dogfish Head is at it again, and this time it is collaborating with Google and Google's bees.

From Mother Nature Network

Since it was announced late last month, Google's new beer has been creating a better buzz than anything related to its terrible online app (Buzz was officially killed off last week) — and I'm happy to hear that Google bees had a hand in it. 

Didn't know Google kept bees? The online tech giant installed four hives in the spring of 2010 and ended up with more than 405 pounds of honey during the subsequent fall flow. “The honey is being put to good use — everyone who participated in the extraction got a jar to take home, while the rest of the honey will be used in the cafes and for cooking classes organized by Marc Rasic, an executive chef at Google and one of the people behind the beekeeping initiative,” wrote software engineer Rob Peterson.

Like the White House, Google has recently put some of that honey to use for an official company beer. In partnership with eccentric Delaware brewery Dogfish Head (the same guys with their own series on Discovery Channel), the search giant included the sweet stuff — along with many "interesting" ingredients from around the world to create "Urkontinent." PC World lists some of them as wattleseed from Australia, amaranth from South America, green roobios tea from Africa, and Myrica Gale from Europe.

"It’s what Google does every day — take a fractured world of information and put it into something cohesive and whole," Dogfish Head founder and president Sam Calagione told the site.

URKontinent went on tap Sept. 27 and may be packaged for full distribution depending on how people like it. So far, reviews over on BeerAdvocate.com trend towards the positive. 

"I was expecting the worst given the aroma but it was completely different from what I imagined," said one. "The wattle seed really came through in the end, with a little malt back bone. Overall very smooth. Mouthfeel was nice, not as heavy on the mouth as the appearance would suggest, but light and good carbonation."

You can check out a comprehensive 13-minute video on Google's new brew. The company, however, is careful to point out that it has no interest in entering the beer business and will not make a dime off of URKontinent. Bottoms up! 

Beer Website: I'm a Beer Hound - Find a Michigan Retailer

Are you interested in finding Michigan beer near you? Are you interested in brewing your own beer? I'm a Beer Hound has a searchable database of retailers that specialize in Michigan craft beer.
This site has more than just the obvious places!

Beer Review: Dark Horse Brewing Raspberry Ale

 I recently tried the Raspberry Ale by Dark Horse Brewing Co. I found it at Crunchy's of East Lansing, and I ordered it in a mug (25 oz.) Clocking in at only 5%, this was a refreshing drink and I wasn't hammered when I was finished.
As described by Dark Horse Brewing Co. "This is a light bodied easy drinking ale. We only use real raspberries so the flavor is very mild fruit and balanced, not what you would expect from a "fruit" beer. The way we see it is we're brewers so lets make good beer, not some fruity carbonated malt beverage. Oh yeah, our motto..."beer first, fruit second"."
At first look of this beer, it's a light orange-yellow color, and made me think of summer. The head was creamy but still light. (What little head was left. The waitress slopped our beers all over the table.) At the first taste, I had some trouble tasting the raspberry. What this is, is a really solid, light and refreshing wheat ale. Where in a lot of brewers add citrus notes to their ale, Dark Horse has added raspberry. That subtle hint of raspberry, where it's least expected, makes this beer a stand-out in the ale category. And true to its claim, it tastes like real, fresh, raspberries -- this is NOT a "fruity carbonated malt beverage" which is so common with purported fruit beers. (Sam Adams fruit beers come to mind.)
The bitter hops flavor is really subtle and well-balanced as well. What the subtleties add up to is a really great ale that you can drink all night, with just about anything to eat along side.