So, trying to keep up with my blog I just finished last nights Edmund.  I'm sitting here enjoying various beers getting ready to enjoy my beer'o'd'night.  I can't help but wonder if reviewing/reading the side of the bottle will not "influence" my mind, thought, feelings of this beer.  It states on the side of the glass "A Robust Porter made with Chocolate and Coffee malts.  We then add the finest coffee and vanilla to our award winning brew, which is sure to please!  Open it!".  So, after drinking the Edmund last night, I'm sitting here wondering just how this beer could be.  I'm wondering if the couple beers I've had before it could possibly persuade my thoughts.  As we must do, its time to open, drink and review...Well, if the label influenced me I'm not sure exactly how; I do get some of the flavors that they speak of in the description.  I'm beginning to think that these styles/flavors are just not for me.  The chocolate once again tastes a bit artificial to me.  The sweetness is huge.  The vanilla shines through fierce.  I am disappointing in the head retention of this beer;  frankly it doesn't seem to be there at all.  As I look at this beer it seems to have lost all head.  I see a small bit of carbonation bubbling to the top but it is not sticking around for lasting effervescence.  As I'm drinking this and thinking about this I view the bottle a bit closer; I believe what the bottle is showing is it was bottled in August of 2011.  I believe Porters are able to withstand time but I'm also thinking I really have to find a new distributor.  I once "loathed" this place but my father-in-law talked me in to going back.  And now I'm back - most beers seem like they have sat around for awhile.  I wouldn't be terribly scared of this but I'm not sure this place focuses much on temperatures either.  SO, that said, now I'm not sure if it is the beer, the age, or what.  Honestly though, I'm going to blame the beer & here is why:  I taste a HUGE amount of vanilla - which I think they were going for; personally its to much for my taste.  It is a bit to SWEET.  I could not drink more then one of these in a sitting.  I do not get a ton of chocolate - and of the chocolate I get - it is that completely artificial chocolate that leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth.  The smell of this beer is HUGE vanilla.  Basically, I get no other smell from the glass.  If I reach hard and dig deep I may be able to say that I get a small bit of coffee in the glass.  I will compare it to those K-Cups my wife buys for the Keurig Coffee Pot; those vanilla coffee or Hazlenut surprise drinks.  They do have the flavors but to me they are "forced".  It doesn't taste natural or balanced.

Maybe this is biased after drinking the Edmund.  That was a great Porter.  Maybe it is biased as I'm not a HUGE fan of Porters.  Either way, I'm not a fan of the Atwater Block Vanilla Java Porter.  I do not see myself drinking many if any more of these any time soon.

What incredible vessel this must have been; weighing in at 13,632 tons empty, a whopping 729 feet long - a true modern marvel of its age in 1958.  Sadly, it met its demise in 1975; I will never have the pleasure of meeting this beautiful girl.  I think I've always had a fascination of ships, be it boats/planes/barges.  With all the incredibly bizarre stories of the Bermuda Triangle, Amelia Earhart, people trying to circle the globe, the 'Perfect Storm' (still one of the few books I've read cover to cover).  All of these have such passionate stories; many such bizarre and unanswered endings.  These people had a passion far greater then most people I know have for anything.  It takes a special person to be in the air flying from city to city, country to country; or be in a boat for 4-6 weeks or longer at a time never seeing land trying to make a living.  These people risk their lives every day to provide a service to all of us "land lovers".  Well, the Edmund and its story are similar but unique as all these stories seem to be.  Please visit this site I found at SSEFO.COM to read more about this beautiful vessel and the demise of 29 captain and crew.  To this day, no one is really sure of the last few minutes/hours of the crew and ship's life.  I can't fathom the concept of what these people and their families have gone through and my heart and prayers go out to them.  As Gordon Lightfoot wrote:
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee'
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy

The only parallel I can draw in my life (all be it small and weak) to this that even remotely makes me wonder why I am interested so, is that I grew up on the mighty Susquehanna River.  I can tell you that my father and I logged 15-20 hours a week at least 30+ weeks of the year between my ages 11-17'sh.  That is a lot of my life ( doing the math roughly 2250 hours or just shy of 100 days of my life were spent on or beside or in this river).  Sure, as many of us do that time is probably slightly exaggerated but there is no fish tale when I say my father and I had the best times of our lives on that river together.  Those times that will never be forgotten easily.  The one rule, the one lesson that my father instilled in me then that lives with me today and probably will never be forgotten is that you must ALWAYS respect Mother Nature.  She is more powerful visibly then maybe any other force out there.  I believe the captain of the Edmund had respect.  But no matter how much respect you have - when Mother Nature gets Angry and god makes his calling - it will be your time.  My heart and prayers go out to the 29 men on that ship and the families they left behind.  I have so much respect!

The Great Lakes Brewing have paid their own tribute to the Edmund in a Porter style beer named after the wonderful ship.  At 5.8% this is not a large alcoholic beer so you could definitely drink a few of these with out worrying to much.  This beer pours into the glass a pitch black color; I'm wondering how much inspiration of this black color came from thinking of the black night and dark waters that this ship went down in that cold November night in 1975.  I have to believe the smokey taste was completely inspired by the coal burning lady of the '50's that was eventually converted to oil in 1971-72.  The DEEP BLACK coffee taste that comes in EVERY sip of this beer quickly turns my mind to the coffee that the captain and crew surely brewed and drank every morning and night to stay alert and sharp during the operations of this fine vessel.  The complexity of this beer attempt to educate us on the 17 years of crews and captains and cargo that this ship must have shipped up and down the rivers and through the great lakes.  There is NO WONDER this is a Gold Medal Winner from the GABF from everything I find.  It is a bit bitter smokey and roasted coffee smell to it.  My self personally I didn't like the bitterness to it but I think that is true to the porter style.  But this beer was nice and drinkable and I enjoyed every last sip.

I don't typically do this but I wanted to leave this last tribute to the ship.  As frankly, it is a story that I found a bit of interest in while reading through it.  I've heard this song many times and never really knew it was about a real ship (not to mention how many times in the past I drank the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter not knowing of its history).  So beer really can be educational and I just proved it.  Anyway, I leave you with this - listen to the words as it is a tragic yet incredible story:

PS.  In case those cupcakes look to tastey - my wife has the recipe that she created/used to master these beasts on her blog at Butter is Better!  Please check it out for your viewing pleasure.

Colorado makes great beer.  There I said it!  It seems I haven't met a beer I have not liked from Colorado!  And beers from Great Divide do not disappoint.  I thought I would give my taste buds a TRUE shock to their system after the crazy economy week I've had!  Some people have asked why I was dedicated to drinking economy all week.  Or why drink economy at all.  Its simple.  This is a beer journey!  I am not going to discount any beer because of taste/cost/color/origin.  NO!  That is not what I'm here to do.  I remember days a of yore where Malt Liquor like Mickey's Wide Mouth Bottles gave me the best night of my life (usually followed by one of the largest hang overs but still).  I remember nights where a $12-15 dollar bottle of 12 oz golden goodness sang to me.  Every beer has a story.  Every beer has a history.  And every beer has a place.  Yes, I had some low beer this week.  And no, I didn't really like many of them at all.  None of them were complex.  Most of them actually did not smell pleasing at all.  But, they were all beer and deserve a spot in my 365 journey.  I hope to get back on top of my game with blogging here as I know the past few weeks have been slow.

With beers like this "Old Ruffian" Barley Wine-Style Ale, I have so much to talk about.  In searching for a definition on Barley Wines I came across THIS LINK.  Now, I did very little homework here.  The guy could be total smoke and mirrors but what I read was interesting stuff.  Barley Wine really is a "RANDOM" style of beer.  Heavily hopped high alcohol beers can be classified as Barley Wines... but do not need to be.  Seems like barley wines and old ales are similar.  As I'm not totally familiar with "old ales" I'll need to add that to my to do list of 2012.  I've had some old ales I believe but just have little education on them.  Guess I have some light reading to do in the next few weeks - anyone have good info on this please let me know.

Anyway, as for this Old Ruffian, this is right up my alley of beers needed after a 'economy week'.  It is bold, it is hoppy, it is malty, and it is smooth.  Some people have said that 'barley wines' that I've drank taste similar to cough syrup.  And they may be somewhat accurate.  There are some "similar" qualities between cough syrup and these beers.  This probably sounds bad but it isn't far from the truth.  It has a very thick taste in your mouth.  It is syrupy and hangs around in your mouth long after you swallow the beer.  The carbonation is extremely low so it is a bit creamy or (again) syrupy in texture because there is little carbonation to make it fizzle and fuzz!  It has a cherry brown color in the glass and is maybe a little hazy to see through.  The hops power through (maybe this needs to be aged a bit longer next time) this beverage and make it bitty and a bit bitter.  I know some barley wine recipes (one or two I've brewed at home even) call for using raisins in the brew to kick up the sugar content (in an effort to kick alcohol content).  I can't tell if it is the hops or a large amount of raisins used - but I get a huge mouth full or sugary raisin in every sip.  The caramel barley shines in the background and works on evening out this beer.  This is probably where it starts to break away from the "cough syrup".  It has to much beerness to it!  You heard it here first - Beerness!  haha - so, do not let the cough syrup description shy you away.  Its greatness in a glass.  Its complex and something that deserves several sips with a lot of thought provoking analysis behind it before you judge this beer.  Please do enjoy.

These beers are generally brewed to be "aged".  And this beer was brewed on Jan 3 2012.  So, that is only 2 months ago.  This is a young brew.  I should have "thought about that" when buying it.  But is it to young to be drank?  I'm sure this is another arguable topic.  I say, drink now, drink later, and drink much later!  And see what you think.  Personally, this is a little to raisiny and bitter for me now.  But I think that is a matter of timing.  I hope that we sell our house soon and I can get my new house and work on a basement to be able to age beers a bit better.  Because if I had that - I'd probably go out and buy a few more of these to sit and grow old.  I'm saying this is worth having in the cellar.  Go out now and find it... buy it... and WAIT... WAIT... WAIT...

Wed - 2/29/12 - Enjoying a bit of the "High Life".  I am a little biased here as Miller Lite was what I was born and raised on.  OK, so know my parents did not raise me on beer.  But my father drank Miller Lite.  So that was what was in the fridge as I was growing up.  This is what I snuck out of the fridge on occasion when I was a "boy being a boy!".  I'm not going to spend time on this - basically, the body of this was a bit more then is expected.  It is not as LIGHT and Watery as many others.  It has a creamy taste to it and the carbonation is really sort of nice and refreshing.  It definitely is "sweeter" like many of the economy beers are.  I don't know if that is from using more "corn" (or if Miller even does that) to save on cost.  This has the name the "Champagne of Beer" on the bottle.  The cool thing about this is I visited a brewery about 8-9 years ago in Terre Haute Brewery (I guess) I don't even know if it is still open.  And they claimed to be the 2nd oldest brewery in America still in Operation (1st being Yuengling).  Well, they also had a Champagne Velvet beer on their list which I found interesting.  Anyway, good memories of that brewery - I hope it is still in operation.  The French Dip sandwich I had there was AWESOME.  Anyway, High Life and chips/salsa - was not a bad way to spend the night.

Well, I thought I would be able to save Miller Lite till MUCH later in the year.  Turns out - I had no more "economy" in the house and this was there (as it often is in my house).  If you read the last post you'll know that I'm partial to this beer.  I think it is sweet and refreshing.  I do think it is a little watery but still that adds to the refreshing part.  It always holds a nice head on the top.  I didn't even use the "vortex" bottle for this beer - a revolutionary tool to "assist" the beer from exiting the bottle.  I have to say that I think it does make me drink this faster even if it is brilliant marketing.  For a light beer this is a medium bodied beer.  The thing is that this is ALL UP FOR discussion; the whole "tastes great/less filling" - versus different Large brewery beers that all have fancy commercials; cute gimmicks; and usually highly attractive people claiming their beer is the best.  When in actuality - it is ALL REALLY REALLY close to the same.  The truth is this is like arguing a FORD or a CHEVY is the best - when they are both pretty bad.  Oh, before I piss to many people off... I'm all about the American made blah blah blah; but I think EVERY can admit that the heart and soul of that is gone.  And that most "AMERICAN" made anything is not made in America.  And lets face it - we are GLOBAL now... so to find many products that are completely made here is tough.  Hence why I love beer - if it is brewed in America - it can claim - Made in America 100%!

Corona Extra - I remember going to Spring Break in Panama City, Fl about 12 years ago.  I was 2 years out of college and had a decent job making "decent money".  While, everyone was drinking Busch and Nati Light - my room was buying cases of Corona - cause "we had the money for the good stuff!  haha... Yea, the good stuff.  Well, I mean - on a hot day this is a beer I will add a lime to on occasion to enjoy.  No it isn't great.  But you know - it does have a mystical way of transporting me back to the beach every time I drink it.  I actually do not have any "tasting" notes on this one as I drank this "LATE" Friday night (almost didn't make the midnight cut because I had forgot) after having some quality beer with quality people for my wife's Birthday Party.  The party was a success.  Those cupcakes in the back were INSANELY GOOD!  And made by the birthday girl herself (check out her cooking blog for the recipe to be added some day soon).  I do have to give props to my friend 'Lite'.  Once again, I still did not have any "economy beer in house - so I called him up knowing he was coming over for the birthday party and true to nature he had this and had just finished drinking his last Coors Light (so I couldn't have one of those).  Thanks to 'Lite' for providing this to the blog.

Michelob Lager was yesterday's beer.  Now this picture to the left was actually taken today.  I thought I took a picture last night but could not find it.  So, I had one left over in the fridge - I actually thought about "sampling" this beside a Miller Lite for comparison & still may do that but... I need'd the pic.  As you can see the machine in the background is what I use to make the magic happen here at 365Beers!  In general, I have NOTHING good to say about Michelob.  I mean it basically is a "step above" water.  I drank 5 of these last night and had little of any feeling from it.  The taste is thin and watery.  As with any of the other lagers it is a bit bitter and corn like flavor.  I do not get much "barley" taste in this at all.  The hops do make an appearance in this beverage which probably makes it taste the "most like beer" of anything.  I am obviously not a fan here.  I guess for kicks I'll put this beside a Miller and see what I think... I'll post on FB my results.  Trying to play catch up here on the blog.

Out with the Economy back to the good brew!  Can't wait for today's FINE BEER OF CHOICE... I hope to have the blog written later tonight.  Thanks for reading.