On Tap: Smorgasbord

This past week was filled with several new and exciting brews.  But before we get into that, I thought I’d share with you some fun “facts” I found on the internet.  I have no way of verifying any of these, so no idea if any of them are actually true, but they sure are fun!

• The first consumer protection law ever written was enacted over beer by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria in 1516. It was a purity law limiting the ingredients of beer to barley, hops and water.
• Sprinkling a little salt on your napkin before you set your glass down will keep your beer glass or mug from sticking to it.
• The oldest known written recipe is for beer.
• The powers that be at Guinness say that a pint of beer is lifted about ten times, and each time about 0.56 ml is lost in a beer drinker’s facial hair. That’s a lot of wasted beer!
• Samuel Adams Triple Bock is the strongest beer in the world with 17% alcohol by volume. The strength is achieved by using champagne yeast.

Ok, onto the week’s winners and losers…sort of.  Last week was a good week, in terms of beer, and I am happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed all three beers I tried.   The first one I sampled was Kona Brewing Company’s Longboard Island Lager.  I enjoyed this beer Tuesday night with some pizza and my DVR.  I can safely say this was the best lager I’ve had so far; it had a deep, rich flavor that made it very easy to drink.

The second winner of the week was a German beer by the name of Augustiner Brau Munchen.  This one and the Longboard were both from my most recent Wegman’s six-pack.  I originally picked this one out because it had foil over the bottleneck and I thought it looked fancy (what can I say, it doesn’t take much).  There were no subtle notes with this beer, just good beer flavor, with a smooth finish and not too much hops.  

The third and final beer(s) of the week was Harp Premium Lager, which was the brew selected for the St. Patrick’s Day party at my work on Friday.  This one is a little difficult to describe, other than it was crisp and refreshing.  It was easy to drink more than one and I had to be careful not to overdo it with this beer.  The last thing I need is to make an ass of myself at work (no beer necessary for that).

Well, there you have it.  Join me next week when I hope to discuss the following brews:

Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale

Dogfish Head Tweason’ale