A Million Beers- #23-36

Here we go further on my quest to drink a million different beers.

First, the beers for which there is no photographic evidence:

#23. Homebrew Porter- a porter brewed by a friend that he dubbed Father James, since the process of brewing it was so complicated he had to send up many prayers and invoke the names of quite a number of saints. The prayers worked as it was an awesome batch of beer.

#24. Bud Light (in a can)- My nephew invited me to watch the then #1 ranked UNH Wildcat football team play the University of Northern Iowa in the playoffs. At the pregame tailgate I had a couple of cans of Bud Light. Keep in mind that with the wind chill it was like three degrees above zero outside, and the game started at 11:00am. Nothing will make you feel old like standing around with college kids who are actually excited to drink cans of Bud Light before noon in the frigid temps. UNH lost in an upset, and I got chapped lips, but it was all good fun.

#25- Budweiser- Ah, the King of Beers. I took that same nephew to see Dave Matthews last week, and I let the lad buy me a beer in return. I ordered a "Bud" which he referred to as a "Diesel." I don't know why.

#26- Budweiser Select- This was also at the DMB show, though this was the show in Boston. The lounge had aluminum bottles of the stuff, which I had never seen before and was pretty impressed with. As W pointed out, the aluminum bottle should really help in cutting back the injuries sustained in bar fights.

#27- Harpoon IPA- This was a draft beer from the Boston show. Yes, in fact, I did drink a lot that night. (We won't even mention the Jagermeister). In general I'm not a fan of Pale Ales, but Harpoon makes a good one that I'll happily drink.

#28- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale- One of my all-time favorite beers that appeared as if by magic as we were chatting after both the shows. Smooth and crisp and just the right amount of tart. Mmmm.

#29- Guinness- I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to count beers that are poured from a tap as separate from those that come in a bottle. For example, Sam Adams Boston Lager on tap would be "one", and Sam Adams Boston Lager from a bottle would be "two". True beer geeks would probably be ok with that, and it's really the only way I'll get anywhere near a million, but since that kind of major policy decision requires much thought, for now, I'm only going to count Guinness from a tap as a separate beer since it's truly the only way to drink Guinness. I had several jars of the stuff at bars 14-16.

#30- Guinness Draught- (in a bottle). Before the discovery of whatever that little plastic thing in the bottle does, there was no way to enjoy good Guinness except at the pub that serves it. (The draught cans were ok, these bottles are better). They truly are brilliant, because this is the best beer in the world, by far. If only the bottles were a bit bigger. (I think they only hold like 10 oz. of beer and they're pretty pricey).




#31 Sam Adams Winter Lager- a darkish beer with some spices, maybe cinamon or something. Very nice for cold weather. I'll definitely be taking this to tailgating next year instead of mooching Bud Lights.







#32-Samichlaus Bier- This is the heaviest lager in the world, and one of the heaviest beers. It's brewed one day a year (Dec. 6, St. Nick's Day (Samichlaus means Santa Claus in Swiss-German) and then "lagers" or ferments for a whole year before they bottle it. This particular bottle was bottled in 1996, which, yes, means it was brewed in December of 1995. It has been in my refrigerator even since.(I know, I know, I need to clean the fridge more often). I finally popped it open and drank a good portion of it (from a shot glass) before I lost interest in it. It's extremely thick and very high in alcohol, more like a port wine or liquor than a beer, but not as sweet.

#33- Samichlaus Bier- This one was brewed in 1996 and bottled in 1997. This one wasn't refrigerated all that time like the other one was, and seemed a little less smooth than its friend. It might have been my imagination, as I was pretty nervous as to what I would find in bottles of beer that have been sitting around for ten years.





#34 Sam Adams Holiday Porter- (yes, I bought one of their winter sampler packs, can you tell?). I'm a big fan of porters and this is a good one. It's very malty but still reasonably light. To the credit of my friend's porter mentioned above, I actually liked the Father James better than the Sam Adams.







#35- Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic- I'm a big fan of lambic style beers and this is a pretty good one. It's tart but not as tart as some of the Belgian lambics. It's a bit on the wild side for an American beer, but not so wild that Americans wouldn't want to drink it. The Boston Beer Company is good at knowing their audience.





#36 -Sam Adams Old Fezziwig- Very heavily spiced, heavy beer. Great for cold nights and its sweetness is like a christmas cookie or something. Great beer for the holidays and a great beer for winter hot tubbing.