beauty and the brew

What a weekend!

And it started on such a high note, with the Shakespeare's Pub 10th Anniversary Party. While an enormous thunderstorm raged outside, and I later found out uprooted tons of trees and cut the power in many neighborhoods, I spend the night safe and sound in the bar with a pint in hand, totally oblivious to the mayhem. Of course, the draft list was spectacular and included the following (from their tentative list posted on Facebook):

1. Spinnal Tapper- Right Brain- IPA
2. Rye Wine- Perrin
3. Black Goat-Perrin- Double Black Lager in Bourbon Barrels
4. Rocket Sauce-Perrin- Imperial Golden
5. Batch 100-Perrin-Double IPA
6. Blue Agave Lime-Shorts-Pilsner
7. Peanut Butter & Banana-Shorts-Wheat
8. Paw Paw Brewin g Wheat
9. Pure Michigan Vanilla Stout-Founder’s-Stout
10. Prickly Pear-New Belgium- Saison
11. Lost Abbey-New Belgium-Abbey Dubbel
12. Sonoma County Stout-Lagunitas-Stout
13. Uberon-Bell’s-Barrel Aged Oberon
14. Bells-TBD15. Bells-TBD
16. Apollyon-Arcadia-Strong Golden
17. Napoleon Pils-Arcadia-Pilsner
18. Mosaic IPA-Blue Point-IPA
19. Honey Lavender Ale-Arbor
20. Dirk’s Secret Stash-Arbor-Belgian IPA
21. More Fun Session Sour-Arbor-Sour
22. Northwest Porter-Avery-Porter
23. Berry Cider-ACE-Hard Cider
24. Pear Cider-Wyder’s-Hard Cider
25. Compass-Southern Tier
26. Brush Tail-Big Sky
27. Arch Angel-Northpeak
28. Broken Promises-Greenbush
29. Double Skull-Epic
30. Oatmeal Stout-Great Lakes-Stout
31. Chateau Jiahu-Dogfish Head
32. Ice Ice Tasty-New Holland- Brown Ale
33. Fifth Voyage-Cranker’s-Coconut Porter
34. Mermaid Pils-Coney Island-Pilsner
35. Human BlockHead-Coney Island
36. Fat Bottom IPA-Oddside Ales-IPA
37. Beatnik Blonde-Tapistry-Blonde
38. David’s Sling-Hebrew-Pilsner
39. XS Scotch-Rogue-Scotch Ale
40. Minion-Dark Horse-Amber
41. Fat Bottom IPA-Oddside Ales-IPA
42. Bourbon Barrel Night Tripper-New Holland
43. Cream Soda-Sprecher
44. Mandarina Bitter-Victory
45. Dolly Dagger-Short's-Belgian India Red Ale
46. Hazy Daze-Short's-Rausch Bie
r47. Sagejuana-Short's- Experimental IPA
48. Chocolate Banana Stout- The Hideout
49. Bubble Gum Aviator- The Hideout- Pale Ale
50. Caramel Macchiato Brown- The Hideout

All the beers were ones that had never been on tap in Kalamazoo ever before! It was so hard to choose, and I almost decided to drink flights all night, but one of my favorite bands, Roster McCabe, was playing and I feel like it's definitely difficult to stand up and dance with a flight in your hand. So I ended up trying two.

The first was New Belgium's Prickly Passion Saison from their Lips of Faith series (abv 8.5%). 

Now that's a decent saison.

Gorgeous clear ruddy golden color. Little retention on the head, but what was there was pure white. Smells of ripe apples and mangos, with quite a bit of classic saison yeast. Not a lot of prickly pear or passion fruit in the nose.

Mouthfeel is a little syrupy on this one, but fortunately doesn't get too overwhelming thanks to the effervescence. I do get a bit of tropical passionfruit, a little pineapple and quite a bit of apple and white grape. There was a nice, warming finish. Still missing the prickly pear sadly, but it tastes good so I'll let it slide only because it adds something memorable to the name. Who doesn't like to say "prickly pear?" It has a good, healthy amount of yeastiness. It's tart, crisp, and refreshingly simple. Sounded a bit adventurish, but it was just a nice, well-crafted saison with a slightly tropical twist. 

The same cannot be said for the next beer I tried, which was truly adventurish in taste and in name.

The anahata chakra refers to the heart of the chakra system. The seven chakras are the vital points of energy in our bodies according to yogic traditions. It is also the name of the beer I enjoyed friday, the Anahata Chakra from Arbor Brewing Company (7 % abv). It was a honey lavender experimental ale, and poured much darker than I honestly expected! Virtually no lacing, it poured the color of slightly undersaturated black tea. 

The aroma was spectacular, really strong and pure lavender scent. Literally like walking through a field of fresh lavender, and it was incredibly soothing. Maybe it was even calming for my anahata chakra, who knows?

Smooth and silky, the honey was present in the mouthfeel, and added a touch of sweetness, but just like with the aroma, lavender was the star player. Lavender isn't an easy flavor, sometimes coming off soapy when done wrong, but this was luscious. Very herbal, a little minty and woody.

I really want to try this beer again, preferably with some home-cooked french provincial meal.

Anyway, that was just the beginning of a great weekend made complete by my family from Mexico coming to visit, which didn't allow for much beer time considering they are six and eleven. But it was worth it, and I will be getting more than my fill when I attend the Michigan Brewer's Guild's Summer Beer Festival thanks to the generosity of my job. I already feel like a kid waiting for Christmas just thinking about what a great opportunity this festival will be! So look forward to a lot of reviews and a whole lot of pictures next weekend! In the meantime, look for some posts on some non-Michigan beers. Consider them a palate cleanser for the feast of Michigan craft deliciousness that will be coming your way!

So I spent the evening with the always lovely (and recently engaged) Heather Nephew. We decided to head downtown and enjoy a little bit of what Kalamazoo Restaurant Week had to offer. Now I am a Restaurant Week veteran, normally trying at least three restaurants biannually as there is one Restaurant Week in the winter and one in the summer. Yesterday I went to The Union with my boyfriend, and though we didn't sample any of the more.... fermented options, as I had to work immediately afterwards, the meal was, as always, completely delicious and we had a great time.

Heather and I decided to hit Epic Bistro, one of many fantastic restaurants participating in creating a special menu for the event. While the food was spectacular and innovative and all that jazz, especially the arugula salad topped with capers, tomatoes, garlic, and a fried soft shell crab (seriously, get it now if you can), we also did not forget that Epic Bistro is attached to Central City Taphouse. While it was so hot that the only thing Heather could think about was a cool, refreshing Oberon, I decided to revisit a brew from my hometown of Holland, Michigan.

The Monkey King Saison from New Holland Brewery was just what I was looking for. It was about 96 at its hottest peak today, and I honestly had been dreaming of a nice cool saison to settle in with.