The Secret of Her Success
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Mayor Campbell By Default
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Taking Their Ball and Leaving Home
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More Beer Sampling
On Saturday, Generations Beverage & Liquor out in Mentor held a beer tasting. Since the place opened a few months ago, they have had regular wine tastings, but this was their first foray into beer tasting. The beer tastings were sponsored by Cavalier Distributing, a
beer distributor based out of Cincinnati. They primarily distribute smaller breweries from around the countries. All but one of the beers they offered up for sampling was from
North Coast Brewing Company.
North Coast is considered one of the best breweries in the US and consistently receive awards for their beers. By coincidence, I had picked up their
Red Seal Ale the previous week. Luckily they did not offer that one.
The tasting was not heavily advertised. I had lucked into learning about the event because I had stopped by during the week. There was only one other person in the store who came by for the tasting. Otherwise, there were several employees on down time offering opinions or who stopped by.
Usually you start with the lighter, crisper beers but I was in a contrary mood. I put things completely out of order. I started with the
Old Raputin Russian Imperial Stout. Most stouts are rich and malty with hints of chocolate and coffee in the flavor -- generally very filling. (In my younger, less discriminating beer drinking days, a friend once described splitting a pitcher of Guiness like drinking a loaf of bread.) Not a Russian Imperial. It is a very smooth beer with a rich taste, but it ends with a surprising crisp bite at the end. Great flavor.
The extra bite can be partially attributed to the higher alcohol content. This beer is just under 9% ABV (alcohol by volume) as compared to around 5% for your standard Bud. The feeling was that this was a beer for colder nights, and especially with a good cigar.
Completely shifting gears, I went to the
Blue Star Wheat Beer. Now this is a summer beer. Very crisp and clean in taste. Completely refreshing. While most wheats have a hint of citrus, such was barely detectible. A well balanced beer that you would want to drink while watching a baseball game.
Next was the
PranQster Belgian Style Golden Ale. A beer for hop-heads. Strong floral scent from the hops and the type of yeast used. It has a very cloudy gold color. It has a very strong taste, that includes strong overtones of clove. A very pleasant beer.
The
Scrimshaw Pilsner was the low beer on the totem poll. It's not that there was anything wrong with it. It's that there was nothing particularly great about it. It has a lot of carbonation to it, is very crisp and finishes clean. And that is about it. It kind of just ends abruptly.
The last beer was
Stone Brewing Company's Arrogant Bastard Ale. I've reviewed this
before. It's got a strong amount of hops but it doesn't reach IPA levels. Because of that there is just the barest hint of a floral scent, but not quite. It's a great flavor and almost lip-smacking in the way it lingers.
Not a bad way to spend an hour or so on a Saturday.
