Kill All The Golfers Honey Wine by B. Nektar (8/10)

If, like me, you are a fan of the 1980's film "Caddyshack" that starred Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Chevy Chase, and many others, you'll recognize the name of this honey wine as a line from the film.  On the basis of the name and description on the label, I had to try it.

(If you're not familiar with the movie, the line is used during a conversation between the head greenskeeper and Bill Murray's assistant greenskeeper characters.  The head greenskeeper's thick Scottish accent makes Bill Murray's character think he's been asked to "kill all the golfers" instead of "kill all the gophers" on the course. Karl, Murray's character, responds with "Correct me if I'm wrong, Sandy, but if I kill all the golfers, they're gonna lock me up and throw away the key...")

Kill All The Golfers is a honey wine (mead) brewed with tea and lemon.  It's produced by B. Nektar Meadery of Ferndale, Michigan.  It's intended to be an homage of sorts to the "half and half" tea and lemonade drink popular with golfers.

The aroma is strong with honey.  In fact, you might have trouble smelling anything else.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  I think I catch a hint (but only just a hint) of the tea and lemon.

It pours a cloudy, orange-ish amber color.  It's mildly carbonated and has only the vaguest notion of a head.  If I hadn't poured it somewhat hard into the glass for the picture at the right, there'd be none at all.  What there is disappears quickly and leaves behind no lacing.  To be clear, I wouldn't really expect a mead to have a head or leave behind lacing, but I like my reviews to be as consistent as I can make them.

The flavor took me by surprise.  Mead can often be sweet, and I expected that here.  It's not, though.
 The lemon adds a decidedly tangy note to it.  Each sip starts with a definite flavor of honey.  The sweetness and flavor of the honey lasts perhaps a half-second, then the tea and lemon swell up and dominate.  From that point on, it's like drinking a strong iced tea with a lot of lemon and honey in it.  To be honest, it took me two or three drinks to really appreciate this one.  The first drink was so far from what I expected that I could only go "Wow..." when it went down.  On the second and third, I began to notice and appreciate the complexity and mingling of the flavors.  It's really quite nice.

RateBeer gives Kill All The Golfers an 89 out of 100.  Beer Advocate gives it an 81/100.  I'm right there with them.  I like this enough to give it an 8 out of 10, but not quite enough to jump to a 9.

I purchased this bottle at Savor Pint on Indianola Avenue for $6.99.  According to BeerMenus.com, at the time of this writing (June 2015) it's available at Savor Growl, 101 Beer Kitchen, and some shops elsewhere in the state.

It's a 6% alcohol by volume beverage.

Because I enjoyed the artwork and wording on the label (which calls to mind the Caddyshack scene referenced earlier), I'm including photos below.

In case you can't read the text in the picture, here it is in its entirety:

It's been a long day.  I had to hide out in my burrow for the better part of the day waiting for those damn golfers.  But today was my day, I finally did it.  I didn't even need a reason.  I wonder if they received total consciousness.  It's like a Cinderella story, out of nowhere, a former dancing gopher becomes a killing champion.  I had my special drink, a half & half, while I got in touch with that force in the universe that makes things happen.  All I had to do was stop thinking... let things happen.. and B. THE BALL.

Brasserie D'Achouffe La Chouffe Blond Ale (7/10)

Brasserie D'Achouffe's Achouffe

Belgium's Brasserie D'Achouffe is one of the most well-known breweries in that country.  The Winking Lizard actually reserves a tap for them every month.  La Chouffe is their blonde ale which is refermented both in the bottle and in barrels.

The brewery describes it as "pleasantly fruity, spiced with coriander and tinged with hops."

La Chouffe pours a gold/amber color.  It's slightly cloudy with a thin white head that lasts a while and leaves behind a thick ring of fine lacing.

The aroma is a mix of citrus, spice (mostly clove, implying a wheat base), and hops.

The flavor is kind of bland at the outset.  Then it turns clovey and bitter, and finishes with a kind of dull bitterness.  It's a subdued bitterness without a "bite" to it.  The finish is a balance of sweet and bitter elements.

It's pretty typical for me to love a true Belgian beer, but I can't say that I love this one.  It's pleasant enough to drink, is nicely carbonated, and although it's nowhere near as bitter as a pale ale or IPA, it's more bitter than I really like in a Belgian beer.

I'm rating it a 7 out of 10.  This puts me strongly at odds with the Beer Advocate crowd, which rates it a 94 to 99 (outstanding to world class) and Rate Beer, which gives it a 98.

This beer is periodically on tap at The Winking Lizard Tavern locations around town.  I've also seen it for sale at Weiland's Gourmet Market.

Boulevard Brewing's The Sixth Glass Quadrupel (6/10)

When Boulevard Brewing arrived in Ohio earlier this year from Kansas City, Missouri, I was excited because I saw that they made a Belgian Quad, which is one of my favorite beer styles.  While shopping at The Anderson's General Store in Dublin, I saw a single bottle available for purchase and picked it up.

The Sixth Glass pours a hazy orangey brown color with a thick beige head that lasts a while.

The aroma is sweet, malty, and fruity.  It's precisely what I expect a quadrupel to smell like.

The flavor doesn't completely live up to the aroma.  There is fruit and Belgian style spice here, but one heck of a lot more bitterness than I expect for the style.  My wife, who also enjoys a good Belgian quad, took one or two sips and handed me her glass to finish.  That's the longest I can remember it ever taking me to finish a bottle of Belgian style beer.

What I really don't get is that the beer is rated at 22 IBUs (International Bitterness Units), which is well within my tolerance and preference levels, and within range for the style.  Perhaps its the use of Bravo hops.  The Saphir and Saaz also used in it are typical for the style and similar to those I use in my own Belgian style brewing efforts.  This tastes like a beer that's more bitter than 22 IBUs and it's bitter in a way that doesn't taste right for the style to me.

This is one occasion where my opinion vastly differs from the reviewers at Beer Advocate and Rate Beer.  Beer Advocate gives this beer a 100 or "outstanding" rating.  Rate Beer gives it a 98 overall.  I'm giving it a 6 out of 10, which means I'd rather drink it than a macro brew - but not by much.

I've seen this for sale at The Andersons General Store in Dublin and at a couple of other retailers.  At the Sixth Glass link above you can search for other retailers in the area that may carry it.

Finch's Golden Wing Blonde Ale (4/10)

Finch's Beer Co. of Chicago, Illinois, produced Golden Wing Blonde Ale.  This American Blonde Ale was described as "easy drinking and approachable" by the brewery.  I tried it back in June 2013, and it took me until now to write about it.  You'll have to take my word for it, as it is no longer being brewed.

It pours a slightly cloudy pale gold color with thick white head that lasts a minute or two.

The aroma and flavor pretty much tell you this is an "American" blonde ale.  It's all about the hops, which means I really don't care for it.  I get a little sweetness, a little malt, but mostly just a big mouth full of hops bitterness.

The beer didn't get the best ratings from Beer Advocate or Rate Beer either.  Beer Advocate rated it a 76 or "okay" (and those tend to be people who love hoppy beers).  Rate Beer gave it only a 47, which puts them in the ballpark with my 4 out of 10 rating.

You can no longer buy this beer, unless you find an old can somewhere on a store shelf.  That's probably just as well.  It doesn't appear that most reviewers (myself included) thought much of it.

Meet the Brewers at Barley's Ale House

Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend the 20th Annual Meet the Brewers event at Barley's Ale House downtown across from the convention center.  If you are a fan of craft beers brewed here in Columbus, this event was something like being invited to a secret club meeting.  I had the opportunity to meet and/or actually talk with brewmasters from all the following:

• Barley's
• Buckeye Lake
• Columbus Brewing Company
• Four String
• Granville Brewing
• Homestead Brewing
• Hoof Hearted
• Lineage
• North High
• Pigskin Brew Co.
• Seventh Son
• Sidewswipe
• Smokehouse Brewing
• Weasel Boy
• Wolf's Ridge
• Zaftig
• Zauber

(If I missed any of the breweries in attendance on the list above, please know that this was unintentional.  For example, I thought I saw someone from Land Grant there but was told they didn't make it.)

The event begins after the assembled brewmasters have tasted the homebrew contest entries submitted for the year and brought in samples of a beer from their brewery.  The brewmasters judge the entries and pick a winner.  The previous year's winner's beer is brewed and sold on tap in the bar along with all the other breweries' products... so it's a busy time for the Barley's bartenders!

I spoke with both Mike and Jess Byrne of Lineage Brewing about how I enjoyed visiting their taproom and how great a space it is, and how much I appreciated their willingness to brew lots of different styles of beer (and do them all well).

Angelo Signorino of Barley's told me about their Infinity Grand Cru (a great beer that I really enjoy), which he says will be coming up on tap very soon, and the Point of Origin ale they brew each year when the Origins Game Fair comes to the convention center (which drives a LOT of traffic to Barley's).  Angelo is the master of ceremonies for the event and says they'll be expanding their brewing capacity soon.

Geoff Towne of Zauber and I talked at length about the beers they produce, their taproom in Grandview, and how he came about creating the brewery.  He said that Digfest at the Grandview Yard next weekend is one of his favorite beer events.  Geoff and I also talked about homebrewing, and how it's good to focus on the flavor first, then get the color right. (I recently brewed a Belgian tripel that turned out much darker than its style normally is.  I had the same issue with my last tripel, which I think is due to the extract caramelizing during the boil.  Adding it later in the boil may fix that.)

Lenny Kolada and Sam Hickey of Smokehouse Brewing talked with me a little about their plans to brew some different beer styles.  They brought a keg of Brewtus Maximus, a Belgian Quad, with them to tap at the event.  Sam did an amazing job with that beer.  I very much enjoyed it, and look forward to visiting Smokehouse to have it again.  Sam gave me some brewing advice for my next Belgian homebrewing attempts which I plan to take to heart.

There wasn't time for me to talk to all the brewmasters there, which was unfortunate.  They all seem to be a great bunch of people and they're doing some great brewing, too.  I'm sure there was much I could have learned from all of them.  Oh well, there's always next year!

Leinenkugel Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (8/10)

Leinenkugel Brewing Company of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, produced this Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale back in 2013.

It pours a cloudy mahogany with a thin off-white head that doesn't last long or leave behind lacing.

The aroma is very malty, sweet, and caramel-like with a hint of booziness to it.  Words can't do the aroma justice.

The flavor is smooth, very malt forward, but not sweet.  The dark grains and hops seem to keep a perfect balance to the malt.  There is a warming element to it, but it doesn't burn.  Although not a particularly complex flavor, it's still quite delicious and easy to drink.  The finish is malty.

Beer Advocate rated this an 84 or good.  Rate Beer gave it a 95 overall.  I'm somewhere in the ballpark, giving it an 8 out of 10.

I purchased this particular bottle as part of a multi-pack on sale at a big discount at the Kenny Road Market in Upper Arlington.  I don't know if it's still available there, but if so I'd definitely recommend picking it up if you like wee heavy beers.

Barley's 20th Annual Homebrew Competition - Sunday June 7

This Sunday, June 7, 2015, from 1-4pm, Barley's Ale House #1 downtown will be hosting its 20th Annual Homebrew Competition.  This "Afternoon with the Brewers" is said to feature some of the best talent and best tasting beer all in one place.  The winner of the competition will brew the beer on Barley's 10-barrel system in 2016.

The event is open to the public.  See the Barley's web sit for more information.