New Beers Make (Male) Summer Partygoers Happy

New Beers Make (Male) Summer Partygoers Happy

Men (we are assured by wives and girlfriends) are simple creatures with clearly defined needs.

Over the past month, I’ve helped engineer several neighborhood parties for between 50 and 150 folks, and I have discovered that the surest way to make male partygoers happy is to provide beer they’ve never had before.

When I go beer shopping at Binny’s or Famous or wherever, I look for labels I don’t recognize. Aside from that, I shoot for a good blend of ales and lagers, with a few porters plopped in for variety, but the main motive is to present partygoers with brews they’ve never sipped, flavors they’ve never savored.

This is a very simple strategy for ensuring the happiness of partygoers; and it makes guys extraordinarily pleased to sample new permutations on an ancient drink.

Most of us find an everyday beer we like, buy case after case of it, with the result that our appreciation for the “house brand” rarely rises much above our appreciation of tap water.

So I go for brands that are relatively new to me. I’m not talking about real exotic stuff – and many major labels produce smaller batches of stuff that has been getting rave reviews from discerning pals.

My good buddy Roger raved about the Sierra Nevada Big Foot Ale I recently selected, not a very rare beverage but not common; it was a mouthful and I’m glad I had it later in the evening rather than right out of the box.



I really liked the Red Seal – again, not exactly an exotic brew, but full flavored, not too heavy for a summer night, and a welcome change from MGD.



And that’s what this comes down to: something a little different, a sip of strange.

Frustratingly, many female partygoers (The Wife foremost in this group) cannot be budged from their lite beers – they just don’t care. So be it. More of the good stuff for me and my friends.

During the summer, it’s easy to get into a rut with the same damn drink; with very little (if any) additional investment, and just a little effort to avoid reflexively grabbing for the usual six-packs, you can make guests (and yourself) happy with less well-known beers that surprise and delight.

Hammond

I agree with the sentiment (of course, I'm a male), but I try to limit my new beer experiences to those that are local. Sure, to some extent it's a conceit, but on the other hand, we are awash in nearby beers. Hell, it can take all summer to work through the offerings of Goose Island (at times overlooked?); DuPage Brewing, Sprechter, Capital, New Glarus each deliver multiple brews to try. Hell, two breweries that were once go-to beers for Illinois kidz sneaking over the border, Point and Leine, have re-invented themselves as craft breweres. I have not tried any of the new fancy Point stuff, but I do like what I've tried from Leine.

Also, I should add, that us boys like booze generally (no?), and I'm having a ball drinking local this summer. I've found Michigan grappa and Michigan pear brandy and Illinois Bavarian style apple wine. I've improved my infusion making this summer by removing the fruit after about ten days of soaking, and the strawberry-vanilla and rhubarb have been hits so far. Working its way towards potability is an odd concocation of fennel fronds, lemon (not local), blueberries and a cherry. Who knows what that will taste like.

So, yes, make us guys happy with beer (and other booze too).

Vital Information wrote: Hell, two breweries that were once go-to beers for Illinois kidz sneaking over the border, Point and Leine, have re-invented themselves as craft breweres. I have not tried any of the new fancy Point stuff, but I do like what I've tried from Leine.

VI, there are many times I have grabbed Leine over others...but check out this blistering critique of a recent Leine offering -- Sunset Wheat - which Martha Bayne judges to be "the worst beer of all time":

http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/food/200 ... not-drink/

I'm doing some research on Two Brothers brewery in Warrenville. I've had several of their beers (Prairie Path and the Ebel's Weiss), and found them both good though not earth-shaking (need to try more, obviously).




David "Beer minus zero, no limit" Hammond

I will present myself as a female partygoer who enjoys trying different, non-lite beers. Mr. X and I are currently working through our stash of Bell's Oberon, New Glarus Yokel and Spotted Cow, and Tyrannea Brewing Company's Three Beaches Honey Blond. I recently took an assorted 12-pack of Flying Dog beers to help a friend move into her new condo. Our volleyball league goes to a BYO every week and purchase different six-packs from the corner liquor store to accompany our pizza. One good find was the Red Hook Blonde. One atrocious find was the Leinenkugel Berry Weiss.

I will speak up as another female who loves trying new beers. (And, given my druthers, I'd ruther have a beer over almost any other alcoholic offering.)

However, I will also speak up in defense of light beers. As someone who has been trying to make healthier food/beverage choices (and has lost 64 pounds since last September by doing so), I often chose the 67 calorie light Beck's over a beer with 3 times as many calories. not *always*, of course, but sometimes I do, simply because of caloric content.

Sad, from a foodie point of view, but from the point of view of someone who's trying to lose weight and still drink beer...

Which leads me to ask... With so much focus on weight issues in America, why don't more breweries offer lower-calorie choices? I'd buy 'em in a heartbeat if a small local place offered me a decent light beer!

David Hammond wrote:VI, there are many times I have grabbed Leine over others...but check out this blistering critique of a recent Leine offering -- Sunset Wheat - which Martha Bayne judges to be "the worst beer of all time":

http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/food/200 ... not-drink/

Hammond,

Speaking of abysmal beer, thirsty, hot I quickly scanned the draft offerings of a corner tavern, Blue Moon, a Belgian-style white beer, sounded microbrewish, perfect. Pint glass garnished with an orange (orange?) looked promising, one long flavorless watery pull convinced me I had been the victim of yet another bit of advertising illusion.

Turns out Blue Moon is macro, not micro, a product of Molson Coors Brewing.

Enjoy,
Gary

David Hammond wrote:
I'm doing some research on Two Brothers brewery in Warrenville. I've had several of their beers (Prairie Path and the Ebel's Weiss), and found them both good though not earth-shaking (need to try more, obviously).

I quite enjoy the Ebel's Weiss on tap much more than bottled, though I still do buy it that way. I am a big fan of hefeweizens, so it is nice to have a something like this that is carried at bars not known for great beer selections.

Make sure you add Victors MemoriAle Altbier to your list of Two Brother's beers to try. Split a bomber of it last night with my wife and was quite enjoyable.

My wife and I have been playing beer roulette this summer. It is nice to have some variety in the fridge and beers to look forward to opening. It is also nice to have a wife that comes home and opens a Goose Island Matilda or Maredsous 8 to unwind from a long day at the hospital
Jamie

G Wiv wrote:Speaking of abysmal beer . . .

. . . has anyone tried Chill and isn't embarrassed to admit it? There's no possible way Miller's salt and lime flavored brew can be good but I'm still curious about it. Not curious enough to spring for a six pack though.

I will admit to trying Chill...because it was a bottle option at the open bar during a recent charity event in my town. It was bad. No, not just bad, it was an insult to the greater beer-drinking populace at $7.99 per sixer, which is what its price point at the local grocery chain store.

Chill tasted to me like diluted Miller Lite (would that, then, make it doublydiluted?) with some sweetish, lime-y tasting chemical thrown in there. I could detect no salt flavor at all and it was the first drink or food I had that evening so the taste buds were still working. At least with that god-awful Tequiza you could taste the salt and tequila in the profile. I took two tastes to try and discern more from the profile but could take no more and dumped it.

I've had numerous chelada drinks both in the US and in Mexico and really enjoy them. If Miller thinks this product is aiming for that kind of flavor they need to go back to the drawing board, IMO.

G Wiv wrote:I quickly scanned the draft offerings of a corner tavern, Blue Moon, a Belgian-style white beer, sounded microbrewish, perfect. Pint glass garnished with an orange (orange?) looked promising, one long flavorless watery pull convinced me I had been the victim of yet another bit of advertising illusion.

While it is a Coors product, I think Blue Moon is quite serviceable, even enjoyable.

I believe eatchicago (or Cookie?) first mentioned the garlic fries and Blue Moon at Candlelite, which I found a delightful combination on several occasions.

I've also found it nice to have an option when I find myself at a bar supplied only by the big boys. I wonder if you may have gotten a particularly bad draw.

The bottled version, in my experience, more closely matches your description.

I like the orange too.

Re: Chill...thanks for taking one for the team Davooda. I stood in contemplation of a 3.2 six-pack for the pregnant wife in search of something light and beer-y for a good ten seconds, before sanity reclaimed me. And, since the O'Doul's was out picked up a six of Coors NA.

Aaron Deacon wrote:I've also found it nice to have an option when I find myself at a bar supplied only by the big boys. I wonder if you may have gotten a particularly bad draw.

Aaron,

Possibly, but with the multitude of beers I'd like to try the odds of me giving Blue Moon another go are fairly slim.

Enjoy,
Gary

David Hammond wrote:


I'm doing some research on Two Brothers brewery in Warrenville. I've had several of their beers (Prairie Path and the Ebel's Weiss), and found them both good though not earth-shaking (need to try more, obviously).



I quite enjoy the Ebel's Weiss on tap much more than bottled, though I still do buy it that way. I am a big fan of hefeweizens, so it is nice to have a something like this that is carried at bars not known for great beer selections.

Make sure you add Victors MemoriAle Altbier to your list of Two Brother's beers to try. Split a bomber of it last night with my wife and was quite enjoyable.

I would also highly, highly recommend having a pint or seven of their Cane & Ebel. I think it is their best beer. I also have a bottle of their kriek -10 - that I will be trying this weekend.

As to the general concept of new beers make men (and women) happy, we had a gathering this last weekend that proved this point. I went with an array of summer beers - Anchor Summer Beer, New Belgium Mothership Wit, New Belgium Skinny Dip (a light beer in disguise), Goose Island Summertime. All were a hit. Moreover, makes for a great conversation starter.

I'll be on the lookout for New Belgium Skinny Dip (though kaffir lime in a Belgian-type brew sounds challenging) -- I'm trying to break The Wife of her Amstel habit.

David Hammond wrote:I'll be on the lookout for New Belgium Skinny Dip (though kaffir lime in a Belgian-type brew sounds challenging) -- I'm trying to break The Wife of her Amstel habit.

The kaffir lime in Skinny Dip is no where near as overpowering as it was in Blue Moon's Spring Ale, so I don't think you have to worry much about it.

I've been a huge fan of Dogfish Head beer -- especially their new (I think?) Immort Ale. Might be a little heavy for easy summer drinking, so I'd recommend their 90 Minute IPA (steer clear of the 60 Minute variety).

I also think Two. Brothers beer is great. Their French Country is nice, and if you like hops, their new Hop Juice Double IPA is seriously intense.

danimalarkey wrote:I've been a huge fan of Dogfish Head beer -- especially their new (I think?) Immort Ale. Might be a little heavy for easy summer drinking, so I'd recommend their 90 Minute IPA (steer clear of the 60 Minute variety).

The 90 Minute was much too intense for me -- which is not to say I don't like it, but just that it blew the back of my head off. I wonder what one might eat with such a brew. Raw garlic? Chitterlings?

danimalarkey wrote:I've been a huge fan of Dogfish Head beer -- especially their new (I think?) Immort Ale. Might be a little heavy for easy summer drinking, so I'd recommend their 90 Minute IPA (steer clear of the 60 Minute variety).

I also think Two. Brothers beer is great. Their French Country is nice, and if you like hops, their new Hop Juice Double IPA is seriously intense.

I'm a big fan of Two Brothers as well--their Cane & Ebel Rye is one of my favorites. On the Dogfish Head end of things, I wonder what you have against the 60 minute IPA? The 90 minute is great, of course, but is a bigger beer and I think a bit on the heavy side for summer drinking (though of course, sometimes that's what you want no matter how hot it is outside) while the 60 minute is more of a session beer that I think goes down very well on a summer evening.

Two Brothers' "Domaine DuPage" is great, full-bodied but not too heavy for a summer afternoon.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:I wonder what you have against the 60 minute IPA? The 90 minute is great, of course, but is a bigger beer and I think a bit on the heavy side for summer drinking (though of course, sometimes that's what you want no matter how hot it is outside) while the 60 minute is more of a session beer that I think goes down very well on a summer evening.

I would agree with your assesment of 60 min vs. 90 min. 90 is a great beer, but definately not a "session" beer as they say. 60 is much better suited for a warm day.

When it comes to Dogfishhead in the summer, though, I would recommend going with Aprihop. It is a summer seasonal that has the a hop bite that is nicely balanced by the apricots. I am not a fruit beer fan, but the apricots here are subtle enough just to round out the beer.

I have seen the Aprihop on shelves, I have read good things about it, but I keep getting scared off by the fruit aspect. (Also not a huge fan of fruit beers) (though I have had a good fruit beer or two in my time) I guess I'm going to have to try it soon!

G Wiv wrote:
Speaking of abysmal beer, thirsty, hot I quickly scanned the draft offerings of a corner tavern, Blue Moon, a Belgian-style white beer, sounded microbrewish, perfect. Pint glass garnished with an orange (orange?) looked promising, one long flavorless watery pull convinced me I had been the victim of yet another bit of advertising illusion.

Turns out Blue Moon is macro, not micro, a product of Molson Coors Brewing.

Enjoy,
Gary

If you're looking for a "real" example of the same style, I strongly recommend Allagash White from Maine. I once had the luck to have lunch with Pierre Celis, founder of Hoegaarden, and he called it one of the best Witbiers he'd ever had. Not sure what part of town you call home, but it's pretty widely available in bottles and on tap.

Blue Moon -

I really enjoy this stuff, but, I am not a big beer drinker, and I will be the first to admit that I like beers with relatively no flavor. I can't say I like bud or miller, but the few low flav beers that are in my current rotation are Blue Moon Summer (orange and honey I think,) Newcastle, and Pacifico. So, maybe the Blue Moon likers might enjoy a Newcastle or Pacifico. I have no problems with admitting I like beers with little flavor - even if all of the folks who enjoy the uber-hoppy stuff tell me "my beer is like water." To me, Sierra Nevada India Pale Ale tastes like ground up aspirin in club soda. Maybe it's a genetic tongue thing, or a learned response. Sometimes I wonder if ppl actually LIKE the bitter beers, or if it does not taste bitter to them. I also wonder if ppl actually like the skunkiness of Heineken, or St Pauly Girl, or if it is not skunky to them.
Also, I have heard or read, that the skunkiness is caused by poor bottling along with storage in sunlight??

P.S. For those of you thinking the same thing - yes, there's a joke in there somewhere about what I like to be "skunky"...
I'll just leave it at that.

Frustratingly, many female partygoers (The Wife foremost in this group) cannot be budged from their lite beers – they just don’t care.

I'm a female, and I NEVER drink lite beers. Admittedly, I've been lucky and have not had to worry too much about the caloric content of anything. It's funny because in my experience I've found it to be the female partygoers (granted, the ones who aren't solely drinking wine) to be the more adventurous in trying new beer varieties. It's outside the party context, but a female friend and I went to Hopleaf for the first time three summers ago. Upon sitting down, we immediately set as our goal to taste all of their beer offerings (in multiple visits, of course). We even got yelled at by a waitress on that first visit for writing down notes and the order in which we would try everything in what we initially thought was the disposable beer menu.

happy_stomach wrote:I'm a female, and I NEVER drink lite beers.

You may be an exception (I know for a fact that you are exeptional! ), but my point in distinguishing between male and female beer drinkers at the last two relatively large parties I hosted is that the guys were the ones who would come up to me and express their extreme satisfaction and thanks for providing them with new brewed beverages.

I don't want to fall into a trap of sexist stereotyping (hey, I bought my first daughter a dump truck and if I had a boy I'd buy him dolls/action figures), but I think beer tends to be more of a guy drink...not that we're not more than willing to share with our excellent spouses/gfs.

Hammond

Great Lakes Brewery's Dortmunder Gold is in my estimation the perfect summer beer. Two Brothers makes a Dortmunder as well but it's not as good.

seebee wrote:I have heard or read, that the skunkiness is caused by poor bottling along with storage in sunlight??

Yeah, that's why brown bottles are better than green bottles, or (even worse) the clear bottles used by Samuel Smith's. If UV gets into the beer, it'll turn the hops skunky. It doesn't have to be sunlight, it can happen with the fluorescent lights in many retail establishments.

I never buy beer in green bottles. Almost every bottled Heineken I've had here has been skunky (interestingly, Heineken in Holland comes in brown bottles, which are pretty good at blocking the UV and protecting the hops).

I'm told that there's a market segment that inaccurately considers green bottles to indicate higher quality beer. I don't know how that got started, but there's a lot of weird beer stuff out there.

I winch every time I'm on the El going past Wrigley Field, and see the large sign promoting Miller Light as a "true Pillsner."

nr706 wrote:I'm told that there's a market segment that inaccurately considers green bottles to indicate higher quality beer. I don't know how that got started, but there's a lot of weird beer stuff out there.

I seem to recall hearing once that Heinekin in the US was originally in brown bottles, but due to a shortage during one war or another, brown glass became scarce and beer shipped to the US were bottled in green glass. As the story goes, once the war was over people had gotten used to the green glass flavor and insisted that the company keep doing it.

David Hammond wrote:New Beers Make (Male) Summer Partygoers Happy

Men (we are assured by wives and girlfriends) are simple creatures with clearly defined needs.

Over the past month, I’ve helped engineer several neighborhood parties for between 50 and 150 folks, and I have discovered that the surest way to make male partygoers happy is to provide beer they’ve never had before.

When I go beer shopping at Binny’s or Famous or wherever, I look for labels I don’t recognize. Aside from that, I shoot for a good blend of ales and lagers, with a few porters plopped in for variety, but the main motive is to present partygoers with brews they’ve never sipped, flavors they’ve never savored.

This is a very simple strategy for ensuring the happiness of partygoers; and it makes guys extraordinarily pleased to sample new permutations on an ancient drink.

Most of us find an everyday beer we like, buy case after case of it, with the result that our appreciation for the “house brand” rarely rises much above our appreciation of tap water.

So I go for brands that are relatively new to me. I’m not talking about real exotic stuff – and many major labels produce smaller batches of stuff that has been getting rave reviews from discerning pals.

My good buddy Roger raved about the Sierra Nevada Big Foot Ale I recently selected, not a very rare beverage but not common; it was a mouthful and I’m glad I had it later in the evening rather than right out of the box.



I really liked the Red Seal – again, not exactly an exotic brew, but full flavored, not too heavy for a summer night, and a welcome change from MGD.



And that’s what this comes down to: something a little different, a sip of strange.

Frustratingly, many female partygoers (The Wife foremost in this group) cannot be budged from their lite beers – they just don’t care. So be it. More of the good stuff for me and my friends.

During the summer, it’s easy to get into a rut with the same damn drink; with very little (if any) additional investment, and just a little effort to avoid reflexively grabbing for the usual six-packs, you can make guests (and yourself) happy with less well-known beers that surprise and delight.

Hammond

If you enjoyed the Bigfoot I'd recommend keeping some around each year to age and then doing verticals after you have a few vintages. Age really mellows the Barleywines and gives them a whole different character which can be fun to compare. Also the recipe seems to change a bit every year keeping things interesting. I really enjoy Bigfoot and think it is a great value.

I've recently been successful in getting BudLiters to enjoy Scrimshaw, a pilsner from North Coast Brewing Co. Not exactly a traditional pilsner, but it's a very easy-drinking brew, subtle floral notes, not too hoppy, a nice summer beer.

JimTheBeerGuy wrote: On the Dogfish Head end of things, I wonder what you have against the 60 minute IPA? The 90 minute is great, of course, but is a bigger beer and I think a bit on the heavy side for summer drinking (though of course, sometimes that's what you want no matter how hot it is outside) while the 60 minute is more of a session beer that I think goes down very well on a summer evening.

Personally, I thought the 60 minute was a little unremarkable. Not to get too ephemeral about it, but I didn't feel that there was a great reason to be drinking it. It was good, sure, but no better than the Goose Island IPA or Mad Hatter, even. I like that the 90 minute has more character, and I consider it as more compelling.

I really like most of the TJ's branded beers, too, especially their Hofbrau and Vienna Lager. Good stuff, and the price can't be beat ($6 for a six-pack, usually).