beauty and the brew

I've kind of been working a lot recently.

I don't mean to brag, but once January ends, I'll have worked every day this month except three. And not just short, quick shifts. Long, grueling, 8-13 hour days and it's been awesome, because it's all for Kalamazoo Beer Week.

Because of how involved I've been in this year's KBW, I feel like it's been particularly magical, and I want you all to know about it, whether you're in Kalamazoo or not. But right now, it's just not fesable for me to write a comprehensive blog post.

So I'm going to encourage you, if you feel so inclined, to follow me on twitter @beautybrew

I'm trying to update as frequently as I can without risking dropping my phone into my beer, so you won't miss a second of beer week awesomeness.

And to make up for this shamelessly promotional post (not to mention it's incredibly short), I'll include some photo highlights from KBW thus far.

Enjoy, and cheers!

So I made the stunning transition from non-smartphone owner to iphone owner in December. What's stunning about this is that I am in my twenties, so I understand this makes me an anomaly, being a millennial that just joined the 21st century, but not owning a smartphone.... well, to put it gently, it showed me how to not be an asshole.

I have, too many times, been that person that sits and tries to have actual face to face conversations with people who hardly look up from their device(s) to give me the time of day, and I just do not want to be that person, ever. There are too many real, tangible experiences you'll miss out on!

However, having an iphone has allowed me to actually take pictures, on the spot, no preparation necessary. Something I have never been able to do, so every time since I've gotten this phone, taking a photo has been equally liberating and exhilarating.

We had a great tour, ate a delicious meal complete with every type of pizza on the menu and the best wings I have ever had in all the years I have lived on this earth. Honestly, they made chicken taste way better than anyone else has ever been able to. So juicy, full of flavor, and the perfect amount of hot.

Another week down, another weird flu bug obtained.

It's possible that, because my house is larger now, Abe and I have entertained more and have more people filtered through out humble abode (aka more germs), but I have been sick more times than I am in an entire semester in the two months we have lived here. It's starting to feel excessive.

It might also be because I don't really have enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I need to do. Ever. Bottom line. At the beginning of this week I was flipping through a GRE practice test on the treadmill only to come home to an email asking me to pick up two more shifts at one of my jobs.

So again, I have been off beer for health reasons, but as my sinuses begin to clear up six days later, I decide to crack open something that sounded equal parts unique and celebratory.

I recently acquired a bottle of Samuel Smith's Organic Apricot (5.2% abv), which is USDA certified organic. This is only the second apricot beer I have had, the first being Dogfish Head's Aprihop. The two are not really comparable by any means, being of two totally opposite styles.

Poured into a classic pint, this beer is a beautiful sight. It's exactly what you'd expect. Nice white head holds steady with great retention. It's a gorgeous orange, translucent exactly like a dried apricot. Not too much haze.

It smells fantastic. Like stone fruit nectar and a plethora of malts, from caramel to biscuit. There's certainly some honey laden sweetness as well.

The taste is... well, it's a too sweet for me to finish the entire pint, so I split it with my boyfriend. It's really impressive how much concentrated apricot flavor they have in this beer, though. Really spot on without any sort of fake, syrupy sweetness. I'm getting the slightest touch of marzipan with provides the extra sweetness for an otherwise fairly tart fruit beer. At the finish, there's a touch of metallic on the very tip of my tongue. It's not unpleasant.

Mouthfeel is full of great carbonation, which lightens the thick, sticky sweetness that would otherwise make this a fairly heavy drinking beer.

I'm definitely a fan, but this is a dessert beer. It would be great to drink with a cup of vanilla bean ice cream or panna cotta. There's a creamy element to this beer that is dying to be emphasized by food.

So the greatest thing in the world is happening starting tomorrow, and its name is TIME OFF FROM WORK.

 Yes, you heard right, I am actually going on two back to back voyages into Michigan for five total days of workless freedom.

I figured I had to at least write one more review before I disappear into the wilderness, so here are my last words in case I get eaten by a bear or drown in the river attempting to remember how to canoe, something I've done since childhood but because it's not a desk in front of a computer I might just flop around like a limp noodle and then fall out of the boat.

 So I guess, if either of those happen, I can say I at least reviewed a beer I really loved!

 Today I tried the Spruce Pilsner from Short's Brewing Company (7% abv).



 Smells a bit like rosemary. Mixed with the yeasty, biscuity notes, I'm getting rosemary bread, fresh out of the oven. Definitely a little floral and just so herbal, almost like a holiday spice rub for all your savory dishes. There is also a touch of resin.

The beer looks like the most golden olive oil with a slight head that reduces to a very, very light mist of foam after about thirty seconds. No lacing. I'm surprised it didn't pour more murky, because there was still a thin layer of sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

 This is an incredibly unique beer with a taste I've never experienced before. They chose a possibly challenging ingredient, but nothing says Northern Michigan quite like a blue spruce tree.

 The spruce comes through less sappy and more like a nice juniper. It starts a bit sweet, like a saltine cracker without the salt crystals on top, and then gets incredibly piney and herbal in the middle, and then finishes just hoppy enough to remind you that it's a beer, not a liquified herb-crusted pork roast. The hops linger and mingle with a mild earthiness.

 Mouthfeel is a little oily, a tad sticky.

 Overall, this beer is a huge success for me. I just, flat out, do not like pilsners. I know that is a horribly broad statement, but I've reached far and wide, across countries even. But they do provide a good starting block for more experimental flavors, like blue spruce.



Short's should be very proud of this one, it really does scream "I AM A MICHIGAN BEER" at the top of its fermented lungs. It's got our state tree (well... almost... our state tree is the white pine, but they're all evergreens goddammit), it's made in Michigan, it's unique, and it's really, really good.

 I'm taking this beer camping tomorrow and I plan to drink it exactly where it belongs: out in the middle of Nowhere, Northern Michigan with good company.

And I’ll leave you with that.