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William Orten Carlton = ORT.
SPECIAL BEER EDITOR FOR THE FLAGPOLE.
New Beers, No Foolin
Since I’m getting started early this month (as I write it’s
March 3), there just may well be two columns’ worth of new
brews to list and write about by the time April 10 rolls around
and/or this column is finished, whichever manages to come
first. We Yeasty Boys™ have been hard at work, endeavoring
to devour, critique, and do your bidding, or something like that.
(P. S. Now March 31. Two columns it will have to be. The rest
of the brews will see the light of print next week. Yawn. This is
getting to be a habit. Keeps me — and us — busy.)
But speaking of roll around, kegs roll around; yes, they do.
And Blind Man Ales has introduced their Blind Man Espresso
Stout. It is available now on draft and soon in bottles in a few
select places about town. There is nothing else like it in the
market, it is that original and good. The only similar thing I’ve
ever had is Red Hook Double Black Stout from Seattle that
someone “pipelined” to us from out thataways. Those of you
who appreciate the unusual in beers and ales will crave this
stuff; those of you who would rather have more “normal” beers
will doubtless eschew it as finally having gone too far for you
to enjoy. No matter. It is in limited supply, so if it is your bag,
man (or woman), you’d better latch onto some whilst it’s out
there. Don’t say 1 didn’t warn you. It will be gone before you
know it, and you just may cry a tear in your pint of Something
Else. Sniff.
By the way, I’ll go ahead here and let the cat out of the
proverbial bag: the “inside cover” beer column in the issue of
March 27 labeled “Brew-Ha-Haah: a special April 1 beer re
port..." was indeed an April Fool column. None of the beers
nor situations mentioned therein were real, although similar
ones in this column absolutely are. My apologies to those of
you who trekked over to Weogufka, AL 35183 and found noth
ing, because aplenty of nothing is likely just what’s to be found
there (I’ve never been, but that eventual trip is another col
umn.)! And there is good water in Goodwater, AL 35072, be
cause two homebrewers from there do make very good beer:
they were my inspiration. But before long it will not surprise
me if nanobreweries spring up (bad pun) wherever good brew
ing water exists and make, say, 250 bbl./year and sell in one
county and that’s it. Since Coosa County, Ala., is wet, it may
well end up being a field trip for that very purpose one day in
the distant future.
New beers waddling into the Athens market include:
• ZAMBESI PREMIUM EXPORT LAGER (National Brew
eries, Ltd.; no city shown, Zimbabwe, Africa). “Do they store
tires in that river?” Bob asserts. “It’s not betel nuts that make it
taste that way,” Ort. blurts out. “Those don’t grow in Africa."
Odd rubbery taste and odor which may come from mishan
dling instead of Victoria Falls. Not entirely disagreeable. Nice
340 ml. bottle, though. (Doesn’t this just prove to you that
fact really is nearly as strange as fiction? See the first listing in
the March 27 column, assuming you kept it.)
• MILLER BEER (Miller; Milwaukee, Wise.). Just as Pabst
Brewing invented a new brew called Pabst Export to put in
cans when they came out in 1935 so as not to harm the repu
tation of Pabst Blue Ribbon if the ‘Experiment” of canning
beer failed, so does Miller give us a new product that is clearly
not to be confused with its flagship “High Life" brand. But for
less excuse. “This is your classic American brewed-with-com-
and-doesn’t-taste-like-anything lager," Bob asserts. Hype and
new packaging do not always equal good beer. I don’t know
how good Pabst Export was, but it vanished. I fear this won’t
last long, either. Not terrible, just not distinctive in any way.
• DUBUQUE STAR RIVER TOWN BROWN DARK
LAGER (Dubuque Star; Dubuque, Iowa) “Smells as malty as
the unfiltered ale," Matt sighs. “But when you taste it, it isn’t,"
Ort. blurts out. This beer isn’t a disappointment in and of it
self, but when compared to Dubuque Star Big Muddy Red
Unfiltered Ale, it pales. Nice sour undertaste, though.
• PINKUS ORGANIC MUNSTER ALT (Brau. Pinkus
Muller; Munster, Germany). “That’s different from Dusseldorf
Alt," Bob asserts. “It’s a lot closer to Kolsch." (That’s a beer
type common to Cologne, whose name in German is Koln. In
nearby Bonn, the style, slightly different, is called Bonnsch.)
“Nice and hoppy,” Ort. blurts out. It will make you hoppy be
cause it has plenty of flavor without being overly assertive. It
jostles you but does not shake you. Expensive, though.
• Pinkus Weizen. “I’ve had better samples of this," Ort. blurts
out. “I’m not very excited about this,” Bob asserts. Nobody
else was, either, and it’s generally considered to be a better
beer than that. We’ll try it again another time and re-report
on it thenabouts.
• ROGUE MOGUL ALE (Rogue; Newport, Ore.). “Nice!"
Jason jibes. “As good for its style as Gray’s Oatmeal Stout
from Janesville, Wise., is for its.” We all sigh in concurring
contentment. Returning seasonally with a redesigned label
that extols its amazing 68 I. B. U. (International Bitterness
Units), this ale has a body like Hercules and flavor as unfor
gettable as your first visit to an Ethiopian restaurant (let’s
hope yours was as pleasant an experience as mine was!). Matt
(one of our regulars, absent when this was tasted) would have
sighed himself into his own private Nirvana (not a band).
Upon its second tasting, he was there. “Man!” Matt sighed
exclamatorially. “This is some heady brew! There’s no miss
ing this one." He was immediately transported to the top of
his own private mountain in Tibet, just as I had figured he
would be. This ale does not quit. It is a hophead’s delight. Ski
down and buy one while it’s available.
The Brew-52’s will meet this coming Sunday, April 14, at
7:30 p.m. at the now-open upstairs beer hall of The Athens
Brewing Co. at 312 E. Washington St. Come and make your-
self/ves welcome; bring some home brews or your local favor
ites. We all share beer and knowledge; there are no exclusive
geniuses. You’ll probably learn something and enjoy yourself
in the process.
Dagnabbit, we’re half done. See you next week with the
rest, or most of it. Prosit! (30.)
©1996 W : " am Often Carlton
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April lO, 1996