Spinach Beer

[elfs]

I mentioned some time ago that I was looking for a replacement beer for Stella Artois, a beer with obscene food-miles, and had found 1554 from the New Belgium Brewing Company of Colorado. Much closer. 1554 is not a replacement for Stella Artois; it has a very different flavor, but it's delicious in its own way.

Omaha and I went out to eat last night and one of the thing I ordered was a Mac & Jack African Amber, the restaurant's "house beer," and it was pretty good. Kinda complicated, kinda nice, touch of sweet and citrusy, but not too difficult.

I cruised through a few "beer review" websites and discovered, to my surprise, that Stella Artois is almost universally reviled as a "beginner beer." And as I read through the list of "recommendations" made to newbies, I realized that a lot of the people on these review sites weren't looking for the best-tasting or most drinkable brews; they were looking for bragging rights.

On the left hand, I suppose that it's okay that we've got so many microbrews and so much spare time on our hands that beer has started to reach the snootiness of wine. On the other hand, I can't stand the "Drink this, not because you'll like it, but because it'll be hard for you to wrap your head around." I want that from mathematics, not beer.

Comments

[rfreebern.livejournal.com]

I drink my mathematics shaken over ice, with a splash of non-Cartesian bitters and a helical twist.

[alienor77310.livejournal.com]

At a guess, 1554 is probably modeled after 1664, the quality brew of the French brewer Kronenbourg.

I agree that there is a lot of beer snobbery. There's also a race for bitterness as ridiculous as the hottest chili competitions, at least for me, since I find most lagers and pils too bitter already.

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

Big Time is local; some of Pyramid is. Might be worth a visit to their brewpubs to ask what would be the closest. Rogue is in Newport, Oregon and has some nice ones; some super-bitter ones too, though, so caution is needed. One of their soba beers might do the trick (though I've only tried it with cheese).

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

Beer has *started* to reach the snootiness of wine? You haven't been in the Northwest very long then... ;p

The Tyler family brews just about anything that can be fermented. I never cared for the beers that much, but believe me, it's a very serious thing in my family.

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

I have a terrible sense of taste. I hear all the stuff about all the flavours, and most of it I miss when I drink the stuff. But some of the stuff floating around when I started drinking beer was pretty vile. I'm glad the brewers have to pay some attention to the taste.

Although I do like fancier beers as well...

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

most of the time I just drink beer brewed .2 miles from my house by these folks. moosl's current favorite beer is No. 15. Alas, my favorite of their brews isn't available at this time year. It's the Kölsch, which doesn't come out until April 11. I like No. 15 all right, but it doesn't delight me.

I like Stella Artois as well. I take your point about imported beers and food-miles. Sigh.