Day 178, June 27 / Sunray Wheat

Day 178 /  June 27, 2011

Sunray Wheat

Terrapin Beer Co. / Athens, GA

A

NG

P

G

VG

O

As sweet as Tupelo honey…

And brewed with a touch of it too.  Terrapin Sunray is a good summer wheat beer, with the typical tastes of cloves, banana and just a little honey.  The honey is not overpowering and not too sweet.  The beer pours a cloudy but bright yellow color with a thin head.

To the best of my recollection, my dad only had three albums – Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five”, The Associations Greatest Hits (they had more than one?), and Herb Alpert’s “Whipped Cream and Other Delights” (I liked that one).  So when I was a senior in high school, I was discovering all the music that may parents should have been listening to when I was growing up.  So I bought a Time Life six record set of the greatest rock and roll hits of the 60’s. 

Today’s Song of Summer was on that collection.  Enjoy!

Day 177, June 26 / Smuttynose Summer Weizen

Day 177 /  June 26, 2011

Summer Weizen

Smuttynose Brewing Co.  /  Portsmouth NH

A

NG

P

G

VG

O

I spent a nice afternoon at the Nova Summer Brewfest in Leesburg and had the pleasure of sampling several beers, in mini pilsner glasses!  I ran into some friends, smoked a cigar, had some buffalo jerky and a chili dog.  What’s not to like?

Thankfully, one of the first beers I came across was the Smuttynose Summer Weizen – I also happen to have a bottle of this in the fridge too.  This was a nice, crisp wheat ale, definitely great for a hot summer day.

Down below the song of the day is the full published list of the beers that were allegedly on tap at the festival, and no, I did not sample them all. 

SSOTD:  Is this a summer song?  Don’t know.  But I heard it again today for this first time in a long time, and you should too.

Beers of the NoVa Summer BrewFest

16 MILE                     AMBER SUN/GOLDEN BLUES/OLD COURT

21ST AMENDMENT       BACK IN BLACK/FIRESIDE CHAT

ABITA                       PURPLE HAZE/RESTORATION ALE

ALLAGASH                 WHITE ALE/BLACK ALE/CURIEUX

ANDERSON VALLEY      WINTER SOLSTICE/WEE GEECH/BOONT AMBER

ANHEUSER BUSCH       SHOCKTOP/SHOCKTOP RASPBERRY/MICHELOB AMBER BOCK

APPALACHIAN             WATER CAP WHEAT/TRAIL BLAZE BROWN/HOPPY TRAILS IPA

BALLAST                    BIG EYE/BLACK MARLIN

BLUE POINT               SUMMER ALE/BLUEBERRY

BOSTON                    SAM ADAMS LAGER/SUMMER ALE/CHEERY WHEAT

BROOKLYN                 LAGER/BROWN

BRUERY                     ORCHARD WHITE

CAP CITY                   AMBER WAVES ALE

CLIPPER CITY             LOOSE CANNON/IPA

COTTRELL                  OLD YANKEE ALE/MYSTIC BRIDGE IPA

CRISPIN                    ORGINAL ORIGINAL SIN APPLE

DC BRAU                   CORRUPTION/PUBLIC

DUCK RABBIT             MILK STOUT/RUSSIAN IMPERIAL STOUT/PORTER

EPIC                         MID MTN MILD/SPIRAL JETTY/SOUR APPLE SAISON/SMOKED & OAKED

EVOLUTION                LUCKY #7 PORTER/SPRUNG/LOT #3 IPA/MENAGERIE #5

FLYINGDOG                DOGGIE STYLE/ RAGING BITCH

HARPOON                  IPA/SUMMER BEERS

HEBREW                    CONEY ISLAND LAGER/ALBINO PYTHON/HUMAN BLOCKHEAD ALE/LENNY RIPA

HIGHLAND                 FIALIC ALE/OATMEAL PORTER

KONA                        LONGBOARD/WAIALUA WHEAT

LAGUNITAS                IPA/LUCKY 13/LITTLE SUMPIN SUMPIN

LAUGHING DOG          ALPHA DOG/DOGZILLA

LEFT HAND                THE STRANGER/MILK STOUT

LEGEND                     BROWN ALE/HEFEWEISEN

LONG TRAIL               DOUBLE BAG/IMPERAIL IPA

LOST RHINO               FACE PLANT IPA/NEW RIVER PALE/PACIFIC PILS

MAD FOX                   KOLSCH/WEI HEAVY

MAGIC HAT                #9/WACKO

MILLER                      BATCH 19/BLUE MOON SUMMER HONEY

NEW HOLLAND            GOLDEN CAP/DRAGON’S MILK/POET/FULL CIRCLE KOELSCH

NORTH COAST            RED SEAL

OLD DOMINION           BEACHHOUSE/OAK BARREL/HOP MT/

OLIVERS                    ALS TBD

OMMEGANG               BPA/HENNEPIN

OSKAR BLUES             DALE’S PALE/MAMA’S YELLA PILS/G’KNIGHT

PORT CITY                 OPTIMAL WIT/MONUMENTAL IPA/ESSENTIAL PALE ALE

REDHOOK                  LONG HAMMER/PILSNER

RJ ROCKERS               BALD EAGLE BROWN/BUCKWHEAT AFTER DARK

SCHLAFLY                  KOLSCH/DRYHOP APA

SMUTTY NOSE            IPA/SUMMER WEIZEN

ST GEORGE                IPA/SUMMER

STARR HILL                NORTHERN LIGHTS/THE LOVE

STOUDT’S                  SCARLET LADY/SEASONAL

TALLGRASS                OASIS/BUFFALO SWEAT

THE RAVEN                LAGER

TROEGS                    TBD

UINTA                       ANGLERS PALE

VINTAGE                   50 TBD

WIDMER                    PITCH BLACK/ROTATOR IPA X114

WILLIAMSBURG           CHESAPEAKE ALE/WASHINGTON’S PORTER/TAVERN

WOODCHUCK              AMBER/LIMITED SUMMER

Day 176, June 25 / Beach House Golden Pilsner

Day 176 /  June 25, 2011

Beach House Golden Pilsner

Old Dominion Brewing Company  /  Dover, DE

A

NG

P

G

VG

O

I knew I should’ve brought one with me…

So yesterday, we went to my college friends’ annual pig roast – they’ve been doing this for over 20 years now.  One whole pig, roasted for about 16 hours, tons of side dishes (including my jalapeno poppers), great music, lots of kids (some of whom are now of drinking age), and lots of beer.  Granted, not as much as we used to put back, bill still a lot.  2 kegs and a bunch of bottles.  But no summer beers.

I even stopped into a bar with a  friend afterward, and no summer beer to be had there either.  So when I got home at around 11, I reluctantly cracked open the Dominion Beach House Pilsner.  Reluctantly, because I really didn’t want another beer.

My palate was sufficiently numbed from Yuenglings, Bud Light (yeah, I know) and jalapeno poppers, so I don’t know if I can give an accurate review of the beer, so we’ll just give it a Good, OK?

The Song of Summer is from the official soundtrack of the 2011 Pig Roast.

Day 175, June 24 / SommerBrau

Day 175 /  June 24, 2011

SommerBrau

Gordon Biersch Brewing Co.  /  San Jose CA

A

NG

P

G

VG

O

Suzanne Somers:  1970’s ditzy, jiggly TV star, Thighmaster spokesperson and infomercial queen.

Pat Sommers:  Eigthies and nineties rocker, and rock and roll mentor to dozens (hundreds?) of kids.

SommerBrau:  Gordon Biersch’s summer seasonal kolsch style beer.  Definitely a good representation of the style, smooth and crisp with a nice bite from the German Tettnang hops.

Summer Song:  Here’s Pat Sommers and one of his and my favorite students doing a classic Beatles tune.