Tuesday, September 29, 2009

KIRIN: The Premium Muroka

While living in Japan, I had the pleasure of sampling many of Japan's fine brews. Being from Wisconsin, and raised with such an amazing variety of super great beers, I was initially disappointed by Japan's beer selection. However, upon further exploration, Japan has a quite good beer culture, if you do not mind doing a little work. Right before leaving Japan, I went on a weekend getaway with some friends. We bought an interesting variety of beers each night to try. I had sort of found a beer that I liked, but with my return home, quickly forgot about it. It was nothing special, but was just a good, solid beer.

This beer was called The Premium Muroka by Kirin.

Recently a couple of my friends visited from Japan. For omiyage, they brought me two bottles of this very beer! What luck!

The Premium Muroka has a nice amber color. Since it is unfiltered, it's a bit cloudy. It has a nice burst of flavor at the beginning and melts away to something very simple and refreshing at the end. For a Japanese beer, it has a rich flavor, but is a little plain. It is easily drinkable and has a unique, pungent smell. I consider this to be a light (bodied), medium beer.
What can we learn from the bottle?
- It has "deep and rich taste from non-filtered process"
- It is 5.5% ABV
Hmmm... that's it! I tried to find out more about it on the Internet, but since it is mostly in Japanese, I did not have much luck.
As I mentioned before, this beer had decent character compared to many (somewhat boring) Japanese beers. If you make it to the land of the rising sun and need a good beer, The Premium Muroka may be it!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Purple Haze

For any of you who actually know me, you probably know that I LOVE PURPLE. (I did, in fact, where something purple every day for over two years when I was in high school.) Walking through the grocery store the other day, I couldn't help but notice a beer that I had never seen: Purple Haze by Abita Beer. My initial thought was "What?! Something purple?!" My second thought was "What a cheesy name for a beer." My third thought was "I am the queen of cheesiness." My fourth thought was "I have to buy this beer."I also think it has a cheesy label... but that is beside the point.

It took me until today to finally get around to sampling this gem. This beer claims to be a "raspberry wheat brew." Considering that it contains raspberry purée, its odor is not especially fruity. In fact, its smell is quite yeasty and sort of makes my nose hairs tickle. The color is a hazy orange (thus Purple HAZE, I would guess...) and pours without a great deal of head. I have to admit, I am a little sad that the beer itself is not purple. Although, I suppose that short of artificial coloring, purple is a difficult color to achieve.

It flavor is crisp and not too sweet! Of course, there is a certain amount of sweetness, considering it is a raspberry wheat, but I was very pleased that it did not seem syrupy, sugary or anything like that. The hint of raspberry does not hit you until the after taste and is really quite tart. The flavor is not overpowering, but is not watered down. I am a former wheat lover gone hoppy, so I did not expect too much from this beer. However, it is actually not bad! I would recommend a beer like this for a hot summer day (because it is light and refreshing.) I also think that most people who like wheat beers would also like this, unless they are expecting a heavier, more dense beer like some of the unfiltered wheats. Perhaps this would be a good transition beer for people who cannot wrap their taste buds around some of the heartier brews.
According to the bottle:

- Abita fresh raspberry purée is added after filtration
- fresh artesian waters from Abita Springs, Louisiana go into the beer

According to Abita:

- you may see raspberry pulp in the beer (I did not.)
- the berries provide a subtle purple color (I did not remark.)
- the beer is best served with salads, fruit desserts, soufflé, chiffon, chocolate and brie
- they recommend drinking this beer in place of a dessert (I like the idea of beer for dessert!)
- ABV 4.2%, IBU 13, color 8

Anyway, this beer is not likely to top my list for anything, but it is a nice, light wheat. I also would consider it to be a bit of a girly beer... not bad, just girly.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Belly up to the bar and to a good book!


Have you ever been Feng Shuied? Well I have... a time or two.

Paul Dickson recently compiled a list of euphemisms for the word drunk. I heard about this book on NPR, and it sounds right up my alley. Not only do I love drinking (beer,) but I also love the glorious English language and dictionaries! The book is called Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary.

I haven't yet checked it out, but it is definitely on my "to buy" list. If you want to learn more about it, check out the story that I heard on NPR, From "Blotto' to 'Betty Booped,' A Dictionary of Drink.
If you want to buy it immediately, you can find it for sale here!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Warning - Do not drink this beer!

OK, so maybe the title is a bit exaggerated (not that I ever exaggerate anything...) I am not going to do a full analysis today, but I recently had a beer that I thought was really bad. I just thought I would share with/warn you.


Abbreviated version: I do not recommend the Sam Adams' Summer Ale.


(For those of you with time to kill, keep reading.)


I was recently at Detroit's international airport, and I had some free stuff thanks to Delta Air. A $20 gift certificate to anywhere in the airport. Nice! My layover gave me enough time for a beer! I stopped into this pub that was near my boarding place. The place had quite a few beers, but most of them were boring domestics that you can get anywhere... The only one that intrigued me was the Sam Adams' Summer Ale. I like ales, and I know that Sam Adams tries to come up with a variety of better than average beers. Why not?

I did not like the Sam Adams' Summer Ale... at all. It looks nice, but has very little head. Its odor is OK, but kind of flat and slightly bitter. It does not taste good. The very first sip was boring and earthy. The flavor peaks in the middle of the sip, but it is not intense. It got a little bit better over time, but not much. It also left a dull/bad aftertaste. This is definitely not a "thirsty" beer. It did not satisfy that certain something that keeps one wanting more...

I am happy that it was not my money that I felt was wasted, but rather Delta's. I could not finish the beer. That almost never happens to me. I cannot go into detail about why I disliked it so much, because the specifics are somewhat gone from my memory... but I do know that I DO NOT recommend this beer.

Has anyone tried it? Does anyone feel the same?? Differently??? I am open to other opinions, but not likely to agree with them in this case.

Here is what Sam Adams has to say about this beer.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Smuttynose "Finestkind" IPA

I have been an awful blogger lately... I have to admit. I have been "researching," but a lot of scribbles on napkins and receipt backs have been lost in the shuffle of an international move and a few few-too-many-nights. This, unfortunately, has left me without decent writing material. Now that my life has settled down and I have settled in a bit more, I anticipate being able to keep up more with this blog stuff!

Now that I am back in Wisconsin, a land that loves good beer, I have a great selection of beer and a lot of cool places to drink it! Tonight, I feature Smuttynose IPA brewed by Smuttynose Brewing Co. I should have gone for a Wisconsin local, but the cute label lured me in...


I got home from Miller's Liquor on Old University (my favorite because they allow you to build your own 6 pack) excited to try one of my six new beers! Upon seeing that Smuttynose was an IPA, my first thoughts were, this better not disappoint me! I just so happen to love most IPAs, but with that, comes a decent amount of scrutiny.

I microwaved some leftovers and poured myself a glass. It was a cloudy amber color with a moderate amount of head. Neither the head nor the cloudiness lasted long, but the head did leave a decent lace as it receded.

As I put the glass to my mouth, a very hoppy, citrus aroma predominated... this is not uncommon. However, I sensed a slight kick potentially lurking that is not present in all IPAs.

The first sip was quite flavorful, but it got better after that! The peak of this flavor arrives about 3/4 of the way through the sip. It literally floods your mouth and really does not die off until well after you have swallowed. It goes without saying that this flavor must be quite hoppy... it is an IPA, and like I sensed from that first sniff there is a bit of a kick that some IPAs lack. There is a slightly bitter finish, but there is not an unpleasant aftertaste. Moreover, the overwhelming deliciousness that exists when it is in your mouth makes up for everything else. Personally, I kind of like the final bitterness, because it leaves you wanting another sip.

Along that same vein, I would consider this beer to be both sipable and gulpable. As I was enjoying my reheated Jambalaya*, I found myself wanting to drink this in really large gulps. I had to stop myself, because I really wanted to experience it and be able to describe it. The hardest part was that I kept aching for that awesome flavor burst that so entirely fills your mouth! The best sip of the night was the last. This is a dry-hopped, unfiltered beer which means it has a lot of sediment (lees). (This, of course, may not be popular among the crisp, clean, light beer drinking folk.)

Smuttynose IPA is one of the best IPAs... no wait, BEERS that I have tried in a long time! If you like IPAs, you are sure to enjoy this one! If you like beer, I, at least, recommend that you try this one. I can really find nothing wrong with it!

Let's see what Smuttynose has to say about itself and its IPA.

- brewed in the historic seaport city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- "Finestkind" IPA is one of 10 beers, including four seasonals
- won the best American beer 2004 Great British Beer Festival
- a tribute to the American hop grower (and lover)
- the grapefruit hop flavor comes from Simcoe and Santiams
- the bitterness comes from Amarillo hops
- light bodied and crisp
- slightly hazy golden color
- 65 IBUs
- 6.8% ABV

Apparently this has become popular enough that the brewery has even received some fanmail poetry! Check this out! (Scroll down about half way.)

* I am not an expert when it comes to pairing cuisine with beer. Jambalaya = good! Smuttynose IPA = great! The combination = fine by me, but try at your own risk!

Crawl to the Crew - Take Two (C2TCT2) Sloppy Seconds

A quick message from one of our sponsors, By the Light of the Moon, Inc.

Last weekend, By the Light of the Moon, Inc. hosted the second annual Crawl to the Crew. This year's event included 45 participants who travelled by ______ Bus from Madison, WI to Milwaukee, WI to attend a Brewer game at Miller Park.


The hour and 30 minute long bus trip included all you can drink canned beer (from a variety of distributors) and all you can eat junk food (namely chips and cookies.) Upon arrival to Miller Park, grills were fired up and flabongos were busted out! (Perhaps I should say, remained out...?) The event included two draft Wisconsin draft beers, Miller Lite and Spotted Cow. Participants also played flip cup. Perhaps next year the event will be expanded to include beer pong or bag toss.


Not only was this event exciting and fun for all, but it also marked the unveiling of the "pan handler," a 40oz can coozie modeled after a brown paper bag (to look like that of a bum.) This was well received by the public. However, its creators are already hard at work creating a new and improved version of this novelty item! The other main novelty item of the day were (personalizeable) commemorative t-shirts!

If you or anyone else has any novelty item or event planning needs, please contact By the Light of the Moon, Inc. at bythelightofthemooninc@gmail.com.




By the Light of the Moon, Inc.
Madison, WI - Milwaukee, WI
- Party planning and realization
- Mobile and stationary events
- Athletic events to cultural excursions
- Bachelorette parties to baby showers
- Invitation and novelty item creation and consultation

We'll toast to that!