34/100) Mother's

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Sandy, Three Blind Mice, Tow Head

These aren't your mother's beers, but they're from a brewery based in Springfield, MO. I'm not sure why they chose Mother's as their name, but I suspect it comes from their approach to beer and life: Share. And what better way to enjoy a beer, than with a friend?

Sandy) A "Hopped up Wheat," this beer has a touch of hoppy citrus bitterness that finishes with a bit of grapefruit. Before that though, there was a resounding pop when the cap came off, and even as it was consumed, the beer was noticeably effervescent. Other than that, the wheat is not very pronounced, and I'm still not a hophead. ☆☆

Three Blind Mice) See how they run. See how they run. They all ran after the farmer's wife who likely had nothing to do with this brew. Three beer styles went into making this unusual Ale. Combining aspects of a German Altbier, an English Brown, and a Irish Red, Three Blind Mice burst forth. It still drinks like a brown ale, but with borderline porter aspects. ☆☆☆☆

Tow Head) After you've towed that lawnmower, or snowblower, around outside, this beer would be a good one to pick up. Very light, but with just enough pizzazz to give it some depth.  Nothing too adventuresome, but enjoyable. ☆☆☆

33/100) Oskar Blues

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Dale's Pale Ale, Yella Pils, Old Chub Nitro

While Oskar Blues has been around since 1997, they just made it into the Nebraska market. And let me tell you, a lot of people are really happy, including me.

Dale's Pale Ale) I have trouble with bitter beers so I cringed at the piney aroma. An American pale ale is not a true blast of bitter though, and the malty touch to this one gave it a light caramel aftertaste. This pale is solid for it's style and something I want to retry on a hot summer day. Also, the name comes from the owner of Oskar Blues, Dale Katechis. ☆☆☆

Mama's Little Yella Pils) is quite refreshing. I wasn't too keen on the mild bitterness, but the variation of flavor brought in during the middle was good. They used four varieties of hops to achieve that.  ☆☆☆

Old Chub Nitro) Give me good peated ale any day. Put it on nitro though, and now you've done something amazing. Imagine for a second if Guinness was devised by a Scotsman - I know, as an Irishman that's a sacrilegious thought -, anyway, this would be it. The initial is light and watery, and the finish moves into the lingering touch of a wee heavy. ☆☆☆☆

Now, I didn't hear anything rattling around inside of the Old Chub can, so I couldn't resist splitting it open. Of course I bent and ripped it with my bare hands, but the nitrogen unit should surprise you more. It's attached to the bottom of the inside of the can. Neat. Just the way I like my Scotch.

Do not try this at home. Do try the beer though.

32/100) Carpe Schockolate

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Shockolate Wheat, Carpe Brewem Oatmeal Stout, Schokolade Bock

Admittedly, the timing is a bit too early for Valentine's day, but should that stop consumption of chocolate? I don't think so. I found a four pack of Empyrean's Carpe Brewem (Seize the brew?) at the store and did just that. I seized - and paid for - it and two other chocolate beers. It just seemed right. 

Shockolate Wheat) Have you ever had a tootsie roll? Or perhaps a chocolate wafer snack? If you haven't, I'm going to have a tough time describing this beer to you. The chocolate sweetness is almost identical to a tootsie roll and the finish is the same as that of eating a chocolate wafer. In other words the initial and middle are chocolate, and then the wheat merges to give you the awesome feeling that you just finished something crunchy. Do I want a beer that does that? Yes, but only for nostalgia's sake. ☆☆☆☆

Carpe Brewem Oatmeal Stout) Here are the magic words: "stout" and "barrel aged." I think I am predisposed to love any beer with those words in the title. This chocolate nibbed version is no exception. Whoever chose to combine an oatmeal stout with chocolate was a genius. Oatmeal makes for a thicker, oilier mouth feel that fits perfectly with the sweetness of chocolate. The only complaint one could have is that the initial and mid are light, but that finish is amazing. ☆☆☆☆

Schokolade Bock) While this was not my favorite of the three, this bock was undeniably the smoothest of them. The initial and mid are dominated by a light sweetness that opens up into just a touch of chocolate. This one was easy drinking and very sessionable. ☆☆☆

31/100) Shiner Round 2

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Kosmos, Wild Hare, Premium Beer

Back for round 2, and no knockout yet. However, as promised, I learned more about Shiner since last time. The brewery was founded in 1909, and the first thing that pops into my mind when I hear of a brewery that old is "How did they survive prohibition (1920-1933)?" Shiner sure did. They sold ice and produced what was called a "near beer," which is an older form of non-alcoholic beer. However a "near beer" could be as high as 0.5% alcohol.
I'm really happy prohibition got repealed so that places like Shiner could go back to brewing "real" beers, and I can assure you that the following beers, while light, aren't "near beers." Although, I'm thinking of coining the term "near stout" to classify lagers.

Kosmos) A light bitter hoppiness gives this beer a larger than lager kick. Very easy drinking. Unlike my initial more cosmic interpretation, the name is taken from the founder of the Brewery, Kosmos Spoetzl, and not the Cosmos. ☆☆

Wild Hare) It's a bit bitter in the middle, but that is mostly swept away by the the light malty characteristics of the finish. With an almost raspberry or strawberry sweetness to it, this was the most enjoyable of these three for me.  ☆☆☆

Premium Beer) I can't fault a beer for being what it sets out to be. This is a nice lager with a light, peach-like touch to the finish. 'nuff said. ☆☆☆

Large Bottle) Stone's Sprocket

Sprocket Bier

Stone makes some interesting fare, primarily focused on hop head attractions. However, when I found that they had a kölsch, I had to try it out. 

Sprocket Bier) The liquid machinations this seemingly steampunk bottle live up to their well-oiled counterparts. This black kölsch is silky smooth and easy to drink. The middle and finish are dominated by the non-traditional rye aspect to this beer. In fact, a bit too dominated as it kinda lost it's connection to the kölsch world of beers. Nonetheless, it is good fare as is. ☆☆☆

30/100) Shiner Round 1

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Bock, Bohemian Black Lager, Kolsch

Spoiler Alert! Next week, I will also be doing three Shiner beers. The holiday season has been fun and crazy, and while I recover, I will look up more information about Spoetzl Brewery so that I can tell you more about them than that they are located in Shiner, Texas.

Bock) As Boulevard's Wheat beer is their staple, the Bock is Shiner's staple. And it really is a unique style. Sweet malts are accented by a smooth creaminess, and the finish is clean. This beer is hard to complain about and is just easy to enjoy. ☆☆☆

Bohemian Black Lager) As it says on the bottle this was originally made for Shiner's 97th anniversary, but it was so good they brought it back as a mainstay. The flavors are focused around a subdued set of nice roasted malt flavors. For those of you who only drink "light" beers, this one is for you. It may be dark in color, but it is still a lager. As such, it doesn't overwhelm your taste buds. I just still don't get what makes it "bohemian." ☆☆☆

Kölsch) I must forewarn you that I am biased towards liking Kölschs, but I tend to think this one had a really good balance of pepper in the finish and initial hop aromatics. Still better in Germany, but hey, I'm not in Germany right now, so it'll do nicely. ☆☆☆☆

Bonus! Do you know how to type in the German umlaut that is in Kölsch? First press down the alt key. Then while still holding the alt key press 1, 4 and 8 in succession. When you release the alt key, the umlaut should appear. Try it out!

Special) Umeshu Inspired Concoctions

First of all, Happy New Year!

When I lived in Japan, I delighted in making umeshu (梅酒), also known as "plum wine." The name in English is a bit of a misnomer since the process is less of a fermentation process and more of an infusion process. Essentially, you leave fruit alone to add fun flavors to a basic alcohol.

I have not been able to find ume, or Japanese plums, in America to continue my little tradition, so in lieu of actual ume, I have opted to experiment. Thus, I give you the first stage in some umeshu-inspired concoctions.

The Ingredients with excess stuff

 I did a lot of brainstorming and settled on these mixtures:

1) Rum and Coconut

2) Vodka and Lemon Ginger

3) Vodka and Kiwi

4) Vodka and Cranberries

5) Brandy and Cranberries|

1) Rum and Coconut

Extracting Coconut Water

Of these concoctions, this one is the most complicated since I chose to use fresh coconut. I have however often bought fresh coconut over the years and have already learned a few tricks to expedite the process.

First, when choosing a coconut, it is important for it to make sloshing sounds. Otherwise it has dried out. Usually that means it has been sitting around for far too long or that it has a hole in it. Neither are desirable.

When you get it home, you puncture two of the three "eyes" on the fruit. One of them will always be too hard to pierce with normal kitchen equipment. I use a metal skewer, but a clean screwdriver or thick knife will work. Just don't cut yourself.

Then you flip it upside down and drain out the coconut water. The presence of two holes in the coconut should make this take little time, but you can shake it up and down to speed up the dripping. I had no plans to use the coconut water in the concoction so I set it aside to enjoy later. Fresh coconut water tastes great.

Bag and Smash

The technical method I use for opening the coconut is "bag and smash." I cover the now drained nut with at least four plastic grocery bags. Then I step outside and slam it repeatedly on the ground. Be sure to swing holding on to the bag handles. Use the arc of the swing, gravity, and the hard pavement to do the smashing for you. Also, grinning insanely, while satisfying, is not recommended.

The end result is a fully opened coconut in less than five minutes. See?

Opened Coconu

It's hard to see in the picture, but my first coconut had mold inside it. You can tell by the presence of a strong sharp smell and patches of fuzzy material between the hard outer shell and the coconut meat. At this point, I was so glad that I had set aside the coconut water to drink later. The only thing to do with a bad coconut is take it back and exchange it for another. So, that is what I did.

Here's the result when everything goes well with a good coconut.

Good coconut meat

Taking the good coconut meat, I rinsed it in water. Then I cut a section of it into nice little pieces. The rest I placed in the refrigerator to enjoy later.

Cute little slices

After filling up about a third of the jar, I set is aside. The plan though is to use Cut Spike Rum in this one for a local Omaha touch.

Coconut and Rum

2) Vodka and Lemon Ginger

Lemon slices (Above), Ginger slices (Below)

In Japan, a common hot herbal remedy is a lemon ginger drink sweetened with honey. I decided to it give it a unique spin by adding vodka, local Cut Spike Vodka.

I took the lemon, washed it, and dried it thoroughly. It is very important that excess water is not added to the mix. I did the same to the ginger. With the lemon, I decided the end product could be improved by the presence of the peel, but I removed the outer edges from the ginger before slicing it.

Then I alternated the two into layers to fill about a healthy third of the jar.

Alternating slices

3) Vodka and Kiwi

Squarish Kiwi Bits

The process for this one is simple. The only thing that might be unexpected is that I intentionally selected hard, unripe kiwis. Harder fruits haven't fully ripened yet, but they'll have plenty of time to do that after I've stored the concoction away.

Otherwise, I simply rinsed, peeled, and sliced the kiwis. Then I place cubes into a jar until it about a third full.

This concoction is the one that poses the highest risk. Kiwis have a lot of excess water, and that can end up forming mold. Here's hoping that it works out.


4) Vodka and Cranberries and 5) Brandy and Cranberries

Sorting Cranberries

 I took the cranberries and washed them thoroughly. You want the fruits as clean and as dry as you can get them before adding them to the mix. While drying them, I sorted them into two piles. One got the harder fruits, and the other one was the softer fruits.

I gave the softer, squishier pile to my brother to make cranberry sauce. I feared that the excess water in them, might cause the concoction to go bad, but I didn't want them to go to waste either.

The pile of harder fruits was used to fill the two jars a third full. The theory is that since one uses hard unripened plums in making umeshu, it is probably better to use harder fruits in general.

1/3 full of cranberries

Finally) I took the five jars and added a single layer of sugar cubes to each one. The logic is that the sugar will help the flavors mellow out over time, but the fear is that you'll add too much. Sugar can always be added later to a drink so I went light for now.

Sugar cube layers

I had wanted to add honey to the ginger lemon concoction, but I have friends and relatives who are allergic to honey so I refrained from using it.

After adding a layer of sugar cubes, I poured in the Rum, Vodka, or Brandy as appropriate. 

After pouring in the liquids

Much to my surprise, I had made an amusing discovery; cranberries float. That could be good or bad for the process. I will know eventually.

Now, with these five concoctions that was the easy part. The hard part is to follow. It is called waiting. I have placed these five jars into a cool, dark place where the evil sunlight can't get at it. UV light will cause an unnecessary breakdown of the alcohol and increase the potential for nasty molds. After about three months, I will check on their progress. If there is any mold, I will have to pitch the concoction. Otherwise I will wait another three months, so that they will have had about six months to properly infuse.

Tagged, sealed, and soon to be stored.

See you in six months!