One Million Beers: Beers 1-10

Here we go on my mission to drink One Million Beers. Because I expect this will be quite boring reading for most everyone on the planet, at least until I get up into the 600,000 range and have to drink beers with names like "Yellow Zombie Armpit Sweat," "Yak Piss" and "This Smells Infected," I will only update my beer adventures when I have several to list.

I need to find a store around here that sells beer by the bottle, rather than the six or twelve pack, otherwise I'm going to become very fat and/or very poor. I should note that I am lazy and not very good at describing stuff, so my reviews will be mercifully short. Should you want a good review, go ask Michael Jackson (the beer hunting Michael Jackson, not the boy hunting one).

Here we go, in the order I drank them.

1. Sam Adams Triple Bock- I bought three or four bottles of this like ten years ago and they've been waiting ever since. I popped one open my semi-monthly football gathering a few weeks ago, quite sure the contents would kill me since it sat so long. It didn't, but it was pretty foul. The second bottle was also pretty foul tasting. I don't know if Triple Bock is supposed to taste like burned maple syrup, or if it "turned" in '02. Because I've never met a Samuel Adams product I didn't like, I'm going to guess that this one went over to dark side all on its own. (I wish I had a better picture of the bottle, they're very sharp looking!)

2. Sam Adams Boston Lager - This is my default beer, that which I order if they have it but don't have Guinness It's a great beer, and we should all reverently thank the Boston Beer Company for introducing it and thereby starting the "microbrew" revolution.




3. Sam Adams Black Lager- This is my current favorite from the Sam Adams "brewmaster collection" It's not a heavy beer as one would expect from something so dark. It's not bitter, either, like the darker English beers. Very mellow and smooth, just like the Idiot gets after a few of them.




4. Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale- In honor of Halloween, I bought a six-pack of this (as well as a twelve pack of beer #5, see, I told you, fat and broke in 2006!). I was kinda sad to see that this is now brewed by Coors, because I think that the last time I had a Blue Moon product it was an independent brewery. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyhow, this is a good beer that they produce seasonally and does actually taste like pumpkins and pumpkin pie related spices, but it's a thinner slightly more bitter brew than I remember. I may buy more for future Halloweens, but it's not likely.


5. The Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale This is a very good beer that I look forward to drinking in the fall. It's maltier and sweeter than the Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, and actually tastes like pumpkin pie, as it's flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg. It's a wheat beer that is only produced in the fall and is definitely worth a try if it's available near you.



6. The Shipyard Blue Fin Stout- This is a surprisingly good stout. I say surprisingly because I've not found a lot of "microbrew" stouts that are good, and this one is. Because it's a stout, I poured it into a glass before swilling it to take a look, and it's a nice rich color. I'm not sure if I'd buy this again, since they're on the shelf next to Guinness, the best Irish stout in the world, but I'd certainly drink it again.



7. Corona- Once upon a time, Mrs Idiot and I went camping at the Verizon Wireless Center in Indiana. A band was playing two nights there, so we bought tickets to both nights, packed up the Idiotmobile, and rented a camping spot at the venue with all the other hippy people. Mrs. Idiot, in a rush to get going, poo-pooed my suggestion to stop and get beer on the way. "We'll get it in Indiana," she said. Well, it was Sunday, and Indiana doesn't sell bottles or cans of beer on Sunday. (I don't know if that's a state or county thing, but in any event, we were dry). After the show, back at the campsite, I managed to talk one of our camping neighbors into selling me a six pack of Coronas. I think that this bottle may have been left over from that trip, which was like three years ago. Yeah, in a nutshell, I'll drink Corona in a pinch.

8. Heineken- I read somewhere that it's light getting through the green bottle that causes the "green beers" to have that "skunky" taste, and so you need to get Heineken (and other beers in green bottles) before they've sat around a long time. Having chased beers around for a while, I've found it to be case that some bottles of Heineken are more "skunky" than others, so there is definitely something to that. Sadly for the companies that use green bottles, there are enough beers that come in brown bottles (which filter the harmful light) that I don't often bother searching for fresh Heinys.

9. The Shipyard IPA- I'm not a fan of India Pale Ales, (which is what IPA stands for), because they're so bitter. This one is not bad, but because it's an IPA I wouldn't have bought it. (I believe it was orphaned by a guest). Back in the sailing days I think they created these beers with a lot of hops and bitterness because they needed to keep while the ships traveled all the way from England to India, or something like that. They are refreshing on hot days, and like I said, this one is a pretty good one.

10. Sam Adams White Ale- This is a seasonal brew from the good people at Boston Beer. I'm a big fan of white ales, which are sweet and usually taste of spices like orange and coriander. It's an unfiltered wheat beer, so it looks cloudy and yucky but is actually delicious. If you've not tried a "White Beer" or "wit beer" do so!



There we are, only 999,990 to go!