It doesn’t happen very often, when you travel across country to drink a beer that’s being brewed with choice hops from your own backyard. Well, that’s what happened with I ventured into the Capitol City Brewing Company in Washington, DC. Located in the heart of the downtown, this is also known as your typical tourist trap of a restaurant/bar.

Highlighted as a seasonal brew, the Amber Waves Ale drew me in thanks to the Northwest connection described on the menu:

An American amber ale with loads of American aroma hops from the famed Yakima Valley on the west coast and a healthy malt bill to support them. Initially bitter and finally sweet. Winner: Bronze Medal 2002, Gold Medal 2005, Silver Medal 2006 Great American Beer Festival.

Now, Washington State is the largest supplier of hops in the United States so I’m thinking the Amber Waves Ale is going to taste like some of the great ambers I get out in Seattle. Unfortunately not. Initially bitter is the biggest understatement on the menu, the bitterness fucks you up! I had to do a double-take and look at the taps to make sure the douchebag bartender didn’t accidentally serve me up the Pale Rider IPA or the E.S.B. I was hoping that “finally sweet” part would finally kick in, but it didn’t…I think the bitter took the sweet out back and kicked its ass, never to be seen from again.

Overall, it was a disappointing experience, it was my one beer I was looking to enjoy on my lunch break from work and it was awful. No wonder the beer hasn’t been able to get back to its 2002 form, and I’m guessing their going to blow it again at the Great American Beer Festival this year too. In fact, the only good thing about the Amber Waves Ale is the t-shirt.

Well, summer is almost over. Even in Seattle we’ve enjoyed a late burst of Summer weather, but a little rain here and there, some of the leaves have started changing and the 10-day weather outlook is definitely headed in the direction of Fall. In honor of the end of summer, today’s beer review is Ayinger’s Ur-Weisse. A traditional summer brew, with ties to its relative, Hefeweizen.

The Ur-Weisse is just a little bit darker than your typical wheat-beer - sort of like a wheat/amber concoction - but still packs that refreshing taste with a hint of fruit, of course topped off with a lemon wedge. That slightly darker color means a higher alcohol content too, 5.8% (hollering!). Here’s how the folks at Ayinger describe it:

“The union of wheaty freshness and dark malt often produces a fullness of taste and complexity”, explains the world-famous English beer commentator Michael Jackson. This also applies to the Ayinger Ur-Weisse, which is a strong amber-colored, yeast cloudy wheat beer. The beer is strong with the first taste and malty in aroma. The top-fermented, yeasty taste sensation is unmistakable. This beer is rich in sparkle and has just a touch of a special bitter quality. The fruity, malty mild aroma will have you won you over immediately!

I loved this beer, it’s pretty much everything good in the world packed into a brown bottle. Finding one of those bottles is now the hard part. Luckily I discovered it at a restaurant, at first I was slightly peeved they didn’t have anything on draft, but I really can’t complain if you’re at least going to make up for it with some awesome and unique bottled beer. Try your local up-scale grocery store (Whole Foods) or hopefully you have a place like Bottleworks in your neighborhood.

I recently got back from a trip to Southeast Asia and being the beer enthusiast that I am, of course I had to try all the local brews. However, throughout the whole trip, the one beer that was everywhere was Tiger Beer (the English translation of “Tiger Beer” is “Budweiser”). Tiger Beer is available for three prices: Stupid Foreigner/Tourist Trap Ripoff, “Happy Hour” Special Cheap or Thank-God-the-U.S.-Dollar-still -has-some-value-in-SE-Asia Cheap. Bottom line, if you were paying more than $1.25 for Tiger Beer, you were getting ripped off. With the exchange rate, we found it for as cheap as $0.18 in a bar on the coast of Vietnam.

Now, who am I to really complain about the taste of beer when it’s costing me less than a quarter? Plus the fact that it’s usually served ice cold and the only beer that’s regularly on tap. These little things matter when you’ve been sweating since you woke up and the humidity is taking away your will to live. So, yeah, I fucking love Tiger Beer!

Honestly, Tiger Beer is a very generic lager, and although the Web site likes to proclaim a “strict brewing process…taste testing over 10 different water samples…more than 200 quality checks…a brewing process which takes over 500 hours,” it’s going to remind you a lot of the mass produced beers of the States (read: Bud, Miller, Coors). They do have a trophy case of over 40 international awards and accolades, so you know it’s at least a quality product.

Tiger Beer has an extensive distribution across the world, so give it a try if you see it around. And if you venture into Southeast Asia, I highly recommend it…and the cheaper the better! They even have some funny/clever commercials.

I spent about 20 minutes staring at the beer section of my local Top Foods last night trying to decide what I should pick out to review. Mostly I was just cursing myself for not checking the archives before I left so I could make sure I didn’t buy something we had already covered. That’s basically how I ended up picking out Stone Brewery’s Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. If someone had reviewed this shit I would have remembered.

When you crack the top on the BCOS and pour it into your glass the first thing you are going to notice is that this shit is black, like motor oil black. This stuff makes a Guinness look light. It pours pitch black with a fairly thick head that is a dark milk chocolate / cafe latte brown color. Much like it’s dark color the BCOS has a deep chocolate, coffee, and roasted malt smell. This beer is silky on the tongue. I almost forgot I was drinking a beer. It has a slightly bittersweet chocolate flavor on your tongue and little bit of the bitterness lasts after you swallow. There is also a slight oatmeal flavor at the end that I almost think makes this thing taste like a darkly baked chocolate chip cookie.

I love a good stout but honestly I couldn’t make a night out of drinking these things. It’s a heavy beer that sits surprising light on the stomach but the full flavor is just too much if you are looking to play Kings Cup all night. The good news is that BCOS packs a malt-liquor-esque punch. The BCOS comes in with a rating of 9.2% Alc/Vol. So really you don’t have to drink it all night. Buy a couple of 22 oz’s from your local market and you should have a pretty healthy buzz once you get to the bottom.

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Yeah, Yeah I know I did a Mexican beer last week but we had a little fajita party last week and I am trying to clean out the fridge. That being said this is the third time this summer I have had Dos Equis XX Lager Especial and it is quickly becoming my favorite Mexican beer. It’s the only beer that I have tried that comes in a green bottle and doesn’t taste skunky. If you wonder what I mean by that last sentence try a Heineken, a Rolling Rock or a Grolsch. They all taste skunky.

Dos Equis XX Lager Especial is brewed by the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma brewery in Mexico which has been in business since 1897 and exporting to the U.S. since 1973. Dos Equis XX Lager Especial is a pale lager that pours smooth with almost no head and has a color just slightly darker than a Budweiser. It’s got a smooth clean taste that just goes down easy. There is no reason for a lime so just set it down. Buy some Corona or Miller Chill if you’ve got a real itch for lime in your beer. I could easily burn through a twelve pack of these things without any problem other than the fact that I would be piss drunk from the 4.45% alcohol by volume.

I would definitely say that Dos Equis XX Lager Especial is my new go-to beer for all Mexican dinners. That’s a big endorsement and I was a little borderline until I saw these “most interesting man in the world” commercials with their tag line of “Stay thirsty my friends.”

Dos Equis Product Page

If you like to catch a buzz and you like to do it playing cards then a set of King’s Cup cards from DrinkingDecks.com is your ticket. I am going to assume that everyone reading is familiar with the drinking game Kings, if not you can check out the rules here, but if you aren’t familiar what the fuck have you been doing?

The main problem with Kings is that everyone has their own set of rules. There is the “this is how we played in college” rules, the “this is how my buddies back home play” rules and the “we’re already so fucked up we can’t remember all the rules” rules. DrinkingDecks.com makes things easy by printing the rules right on face of the cards. This prevents the half drunk assholes that are gathered around the table for the game from arguing over which card is category and which card is rhyme time.

I busted out the DrinkingDecks.com King’s Cup cards at a party last weekend and it was probably the most fun I have ever had playing Kings. It was fun because 30 seconds after we decided to play we were actually playing. There wasn’t 10 minutes of drunks each trying to yell louder than the other making up rules. I’m also pretty sure the game was responsible for sending me time traveling (blacked out).

If Kings is in your regular drinking game rotation the $9.99 price tag is definitely worth it and if Kings isn’t in your regular rotation you need to remove your head from your ass and get it into the mix.

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Last week I wrote about my impending trip to the Oregon Brewer’s Festival, the annual trip I make down I-5 (although I took the train this year, fucking gas prices!) to drink the sweetest brews from across the country. So here’s a short round up of some of the beers I at least remember tasting.

Coffee Bender, Surly Brewing Co. - I wasn’t about to throw down 4 tokens ($4), or even 1 token for a taste, of this beer. I can’t stand black coffee, so my opinion on this one is probably a little biased. It had a very strong bitter coffee taste and I could only handle a couple of sips. This beer is probably great if you like coffee and looking for something to give you a jolt of caffeine late at night.

Zon, Boulevard Brewing Co. - Normally you know what you’re getting into by the title of the beer, but all the sign said was, “Zon,” so I figured why not. It’s actually Belgian Witbier and kind of light in alcohol content (4.4%) - but had a great, smooth summer taste with a hint of orange. They even had great placement at the end of one of the tents, which means I could totally jump into the front of the line and get a refill with the quickness. Yes, I am that asshole, deal with it.

Quilter’s Irish Death, Iron Horse Brewery - I tried this on name and alcohol content alone. At 7.8%, I made sure to try this bad boy out early in the evening, before I turned into Irish Death. Iron Horse represented properly for Ellensburg, WA, as I was fearful of a stout…but it’s classified as an Imperial Sweet Stout, therefore it wasn’t too bitter or strong. But you could definitely tell you were getting your tokens’ worth of alcohol.

Dick’s IPA, Dick’s Brewing Co. - Some people may like Dick’s, nothing against its color, size or aftertaste, but I’m just not a huge fan of Dick’s… Dick’s IPA that is, of course. This year, more than the previous ones, I swear it was overloaded with IPAs, and we all know I love my ambers. They claim Dick’s IPA is “hopped to the extreme”, maybe that was my problem with this beer, but it just didn’t sit right with me. Maybe women will like the Dick’s better, who knows.

20th Anniversary Wit, Deschutes Brewery - We hit up the Deschutes Brewery for dinner one night, so I felt it was necessary to check out what they were pimpin’ at the beer festival. They pulled out all the stops for this Wit (my preferred genre for outdoor summer drinking), it was almost like a tastier version of the Zon. More orange and some other spices give it a bit of kick to go along with the refreshing aftertaste. I’ll be searching for this limited brew around Seattle this weekend, as it’s only available through September.

All in all, another successful Brewfest. Woooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

We have been slacking with our beer reviews here lately and it’s time we got back into the game. On the way home last night I picked up a 22oz of Full Sail’s Nut Brown Ale which is part of their Brewmaster’s Reserve line of beers. The Brewmaster’s Reserve doesn’t mean it’s something super special it’s just whatever Full Sail brewmaster John Harris decided to concoct. About every 10 weeks John releases a different brew. Most of the Brewmaster’s Reserve beers are brewed on a seasonal basis (calendar here) but everyone once in a while John busts out something new.

Here is what Full Sail has to say about their Nut Brown Ale.

A smooth, chocolaty & thirst-quenching beer. Nut Brown is a soft and mildly spicy beer that has a medium body and an extremely smooth and thirst-quenching quality.

Does anyone else get the impression that this beer might be thirst-quenching?

I don’t want to just repeat what Full Sail said but Nut Brown is ridiculously smooth and doesn’t have any kind of hoppy after taste. If you stick your nose in the glass without getting beer up it (yes, it happened to me) the Nut Brown definitely smells like chocolate. Held up to the light the Nut Brown has a very deep and rich brown color. Sitting on my desk or on a table in a bar it almost looks black like a Guinness.

Despite the dark color this isn’t a heavy beer. You could definitely put down a few 22 oz’s without feeling bloated and twenty pounds heavier. I don’t think I would make a whole night out of the Nut Brown just because it would put me on my ass too quickly. However I think a Nut Brown would complete a steak or even some spicy barbecue chicken really well. The great thing is that Full Sail is available pretty much nation wide and a 22 oz is only about $4. So you can give it a whirl and if it isn’t your gig you’ll still have enough coin in your pocket to get a real buzz on.

Product Page: Full Sail

The second most enjoyable thing about Smithwick’s, after the kick-ass goodness it delivers when it hits your palate, is the story behind the beer.

Smithwick’s was originally brewed in St. Francis Abbey Brewery in Kilkenny, known as ‘Smithwicks Brewery’ until c.2000. The brewery is situated on the site of a Franciscan abbey where monks had brewed ale since the 14th century, and has ruins of the original abbey on its grounds. It is Ireland’s oldest operating brewery, founded by John Smithwick in 1710 on land owned by the Duke of Ormonde. It is the major ale producer in Ireland.

I was in Boston a couple of weeks ago and everywhere I went there was Smithwick’s on tap. So, everywhere I went I had one. The great thing about Smithwick’s, especially when compared to Guinness, is that it’s a little bit lighter than a Guinness and not nearly as creamy. To me, cream = full gut/slowed down drinking, which is never a good thing. I could easily drink 10 of these at a steady pace and not pass my top button threshold. I’d probably get a little shit-faced though. These babys are sitting comfortably at 5.0% ABV. I recommend you try some of ol’ Ireland.

Check out the Brewer’s Page here.

Last year Soulja Boy managed to take his one-hit wonder “Crank That” to epic heights thanks in part to a YouTube video with Barney.

But this year belongs to Lil Wayne. His album, Tha Carter III (read the TastyBooze review), sold more than 1 million copies in the first week and his next single featuring T-Pain, “Got Money,” is already getting tons of radio air play.

With no official video out yet, and considering our love of the Smurfs and Lil Wayne’s short stature, we thought this was a perfect pairing. TastyBooze now presents Papa Wayne featuring Smurf-Pain in “Got Money”:

Does Lil Wayne hold the title of “The Best Rapper Alive”?

Well, maybe not. But the best rapper currently signed to a major label, that’s could be up for debate.

Most “best rapper” lists give you the standard:
Tupac: Dead.
Biggie: Dead.
Nas: Slowly coming out of his “Nastradamus” and “I Am” malaise.
Jay-Z: Retired after a mega-hit, then came out with his biggest piece of shit CD to date.
Eminem: Am I the only one who thinks his rapping style has gone off the deep end? How many farting and burping sounds can you put in your music and still be taken seriously?
Snoop: Now more a caricature of his gangster image then anything else, and his only really good album was well over a decade ago.
50 Cent: The hard core gangster rap revival lasted for about one CD, and well, now it’s over.
Dre: Awesome producer, great mind, mediocre rapper.
Rakim: The 80’s are over.
Big Daddy Kane: Ditto.
KRS-One: Super ditto.
Kanye: See the Dre comment.
Talib Kweli: Maybe the best lyricist, but these days rap is about making that cash.
Common: Yes, I realize this is a contradiction to what I just said about Talib, but get off Kanye’s cash dick, you used to be better.
Outkast: Together they are great. Solo? We won’t go there.
Tribe: Same.
Diddy: I can’t believe I wasted time writing his name.

So given that the so-called best are either dead, coming off a shitty album or albums, no longer rapping, or just plain not that awesome, maybe Lil Wayne has an argument as the current best rapper alive.

Regardless of your opinion, here’s ours of his latest work…”Tha Carter III.”

So Baba, what’s your favorite and least favorite song?
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Some people say drinking a beer with a natural peach flavor is like looking at a picture of a shirtless Alex Trebek. It’s warm but it’s also uncomfortable. Other people think drinking a “fruity” drink is unmanly. However, smart people know that the Festinal Peche, a summer brew from Dogfish Head Brewery, is actually the best thing you can do on a summer evening besides watching videos of The Price is Right.

Here’s what Dogfish Head has to say:

In our Festinal Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup - open and enjoy!

Here’s what I have to say:

Beer is situational and interactive. The right beer accentuates your mood and often improves your social situation. For example, going to see the Sex And The City is awesome, but add a beer and the whole experience is just fantastic!

Well, summer is here and your situation is that you are sitting in warm weather and you need a beer offset the hotness of your terrible sunburn. You need a beer that tastes good but also says you enjoy the finer things in life like opera or masturbating. The Festinal Peche is the beer for you.

Look, it’s simple, Festinal is a beer and a peach together. It’s soft on the pallet, doesn’t fill you up that fast, and tastes ridiculously good. More specifically, its golden body and slight head looks so good when poured into a perfect pint that you will get an emotional erection (see: Alex Trebek) watching the pouring process. There’s really nothing more to say.

As I was drinking on the nice, dark Dick Danger Ale, I was having trouble placing it’s taste among some of my other favorites. I decided that it’s taste was somewhere between Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Alaskan Amber. Not that it’s an amber beer, it just has some of the similar great qualities.

After reading the brewer’s page I realized that my first assessment was a little bit off. It probably had something to do with the fact that I’d had 30+ beers in the last two days and my palate was a little hungover.

Dick Danger Ale
Our flagship beer. A large percentage of black malt give this distinctive ale its dark brown/black color and that slightly roasted flavor. Magnum hops provide a backbone of bitterness and large additions of Mt. Hood hops later in the boil come right through in the finish.

The result is a highly drinkable dark ale which bridges the gap between pale and porter.

I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with this beer. At 5.2% it packs it’s kick in an enjoyable manner. Easily consumable in high quantities, I will be picking up several more six-packs in the coming weeks. Locally brewed in Centralia, WA, Dick’s Brewing Company has 21 different varieties of beer. Do yourself a favor and try out some of these delicious beers from the Pacific Northwest. You won’t regret it. Well done, Dick. Well done.

Yesterday was the nicest day of the year in Seattle, and today is supposed to even more the bomb. I went to my 2nd BBQ of the season last night and I felt the urge for something crisp and fresh, like an outdoor piss, to accompany my Hebrew National beef frank. No, Pyramid Curve Ball doesn’t taste like piss. Haven’t you ever peed outside, in the mountains perhaps, and just stretched as you took in a deep breath as the cool wind brushed across your bare… nevermind.

The Mariners weren’t playing last night so I needed something else to put me in a state of delirium as well as give me the feel of the ballpark.

“Not your straight over the plate summer brew!

Inspired by the traditional Kölsch style beers of Cologne, Germany, Curve Ball boasts a clean, crisp slightly herbal taste and a lighter body. With its sporty packaging and refreshing taste, Curve Ball is the perfect accompaniment to summer grilling and ballpark outings. Try swingin’ at it on a hot summer day!”

Pyramid Ales are brewed locally in Seattle, right across the street from Safeco Field. After tasting this fine beer, I am wondering if Ichiro sweat some of his greatness into each bottle.

This Curve Ball was the shit. With 4.9% ABV it doesn’t hit your consciousness out of the park, but it provides an excellent buzz for kickin’ it in the sun around the BBQuizzle. I, however, got plenty fucked up after 7 of these babies and was saying shit I wasn’t supposed to… breakin’ people up… no big deal. They were bad for each other anyway.

Curve Ball has a nice, sunny taste and is brewed seasonally (March-Spetember). If you prefer heavier beers, A) get over yourself and B) try a Curve Ball in the sun. You won’t be disappointed.

While not appealing in name, Lumpy Gravy is a good spring/summer brown ale that smells heavily of malts and chocolate. Smooth on the throat and pleasant on the taste buds, Gravy is refreshing and not too hoppy. Gravy comes from the fabulous Lagunitas Brewing Company, makers of the slap you in the mouth Maximus. Like everything LBC makes, this beer is delightful.

The other night I was at a seasonal beer tasting with samples ranging from barley wines to light lagers. Gravy stood out as one of the best with its unique flavors and general pleasantness. In general, people seemed to like the chocolate aftertaste and the nutty slightly sweet initial taste. Needless to say, I liked it so much I recently stole some from my local beer store.

Ok, onto the nitty gritty:

Will people make fun of you for ordering this? No, this beer is the shit. However, telling people you are drinking lumpy gravy is a good way to keep them away from your beer. I’m looking at you Gary.

Will I get drunk? Indeed, at 7.2% ABV this beer will make you feel comfortable with your ragged appearance sooner than later. Thankfully, unlike other high ABV beers this one doesn’t leave your mouth parched after a couple of minutes. I don’t know why, but is doesn’t.

When is the best time to drink Gravy? When you are awake.

Why haven’t I heard of this before: Well, you are a ignorant or stupid. Ignorance can be solved.

What else? Luckily, Lumpy Gravy is served only in 22s and kegs. Thus, you should go get a keg of Gravy, throw a party, and write your own review in the comments section.

Overall, this unique and awesome brown ale has everything you want in a warm weather semi-dark beer. Caramel at the front and the end. Hops that are pleasant, but don’t overpower your throat, allowing you to comfortably imbibe at whatever pace you wish. Plus, it goes real well with sandwiches and burgers. So take this ale out the ball game or something like that.