You know what I really love about Bud Light?  It seem that every time I go camping and I make my ritualistic stop at Safeway to buy beer and ice, the damn stuff is always on sale- score!  Make sure you bring enough along for yourself, and any of your beer moochin’ friends, I know you’ve got at least one or two of them!

I like to go camping way in the middle of nowhere, and I use my trucks 4×4 action to make this happen.  There are a ton of National Forests within a 3 hours drive from my house, and they seem to be congregating grounds for other avid drinkers of Bud Light.  The first thing that’s required once you pull the ignition out of your vehicle, is to pull a nice cold Bud Light out of your ice chest and enjoy it with your friends, no friggin’ excuses!  And from there, you just keep on drinkin’ and drinkin’.

I go camping quite often, so setting up my tent is just like throwing on a pair of jeans to me.  I’ve had to break it down in the middle of a downpour, and a few weeks ago I had to do the same but only in 40 mile an hour wind gusts (I was camped under a tree and it felt like a branch might break off with the high winds).  Watching your friends trying to set up their tents is a spectacle in itself!

Even if you wake up with a headache and hangover, staying in bed all day is sacriligious when you’re out in the wild.  If you’ve got some advil, take some and eat your breakfast, but realize that once the afternoon rolls around, the Bud Lights always seem to break loose from their captive ice prisons.  All hail the mighty Bud Light, and its ass kickin’ powers to stop an angry redneck in his tracks when presented with a nice cold bottle or can.

Now onto the beer!  Oregon Honey Beer is classified as an American pale ale.  It pours a light and hazy gold with a fair amount of head.  It smells more like a lager or pilsner with a hint of honey.  I took a sip of the beer, and I began to wonder about all that dust that had accumulated on the bottles.  Had this beer been sitting on the shelf for a prolonged period of time for a reason?  Unfortunately, this may have been the case, as I was very unimpressed by this beer.  It goes down rather smooth, but doesn’t have much body or taste at all.  The honey used in the brewing process becomes slightly evident in the aftertaste.  This beer really does not have a lot of character, and the honey is really the only thing going for it.  After drinking this beer, I felt that a honey beer would likely be better paired with an ale that had a much more robust taste.  Oregon Honey Beer tastes severely watered down, almost like something you’d drink out of a beer bong in college.

While it’s not a bad beer, nothing really stands out about this pale ale except for the honey.  2 out of 5 barrels-o-beer from the Brew Haus!

With the great minds of America, we’ve been fortunate enough to make great leaps and bounds with clean and renewable energy in a very short period of time.  There are two breweries leading the charge in this arena, one being primarily solar powered, and the other being wind powered.

Anderson Valley Brewing Company is a solar powered brewery located in beautiful Mendocino County, about 2 hours north of San Francisco.  Back in 2005, AVBC spent nearly a million dollars installing solar panels on the southern roof of their cellar and packaging facility.  The solar panels supply about a third of their electrical consumption.  According to their website:  For four of the last five years, Anderson Valley Brewing has received a WRAP Award , from the California Integrated Waste Management Board. The WRAP Award (Waste Reduction Awards Program) is awarded to businesses that take extra efforts to save energy and resources. “We forgot to send in the application in 2002,” said Head Brewer, David Gatlin.

I have to make a judgement call here, but maybe it’s just pure unadulterated fact that beer and solar power go together.  I find it not coincidence that the Solar Living Institute based in Hopland (Hops = beer!), which is right on Highway 101 in Southern Mendocino County.  With the explosion of Solar fabricators and installers on the West Coast, I assume it’s only a matter of time before more breweries of all sizes jump on the solar band wagon.

In California, it makes sense to harness the power of the sun’s energy.  But closer to the great plains, there’s the unending energy source of wind.  New Belgium Brewing Company is famous for their Fat Tire beer.  The Fort Collins, Colorado based brewery has also become quite well known for their efforts in sustainability.  It was the employees of Fat Tire who felt it important enough to make the move to wind power despite the fact it would lessen their weekly take home pay.   New Belgium Brewing has an entire page on their website dedicated to their sustainability efforts.  They look at every single corner to reduce their carbon footprint, whether it be lighting, HVAC,or sustainable materials, New Belium is up to the task.

What’s so great about supporting energy-concious breweries?  Well, aside playing the role of good corporate citizens, both Anderson Valley and New Belgium have some indredibly tasty and kick ass beers.  I don’t believe I’ve ever had a single beer from either brewery that I’ve ever been disappointed with.  Go green and drink a beer from Anderson Valley or New Belgium today!  That’s what I said, drinking beer is going green, so get on it!

Calico Amber Ale is described as a California style amber ale that’s brewed with a blend of four hops.  This ale smells has medium body character of caramel roasted hops.  It pours a the beautiful amber you’d expect from a California amber ale with a good amount of head.  With a few great beers, you know within the first sip or two if you’re in love.  Then there are other beers that may take finishing half a pint, an entire pint, or maybe even two pints to genuinely gauge how you feel about your beer.  This beer falls into the latter category.  I knew right away I liked this beer, but as the contents in my pint glass lessened, I began to notice all the little subtleties in taste that weren’t evident in the first sip.  I actually love beers like this, because you discover more about the brewer’s secrets as you imbibe more beer.  This ale goes down incredibly smooth with a strong caramel flavor that is evenly balanced.  The aftertaste is rather mild, but one can taste the mix of different hops as they bloom with steady gain.  The initial taste and aftertase are well balanced in the malt department.

This is one of those beers you can enjoy just about any time of year, from a cold Winter’s night, to a scorcher next to the BBQ grill in mid-August.  The less intellectually savvy beer drinkers should have no problems kicking back a few cold Calico’s, and your friends who know their beer should appreciate this beer as well.  I imagine it would go great with BBQ chicken and an NCAA or NFL football game.

The Brew Haus says keep the pint glasses of Calico Amber Ale comin’, and pour some for our friends.  If we can find a pony keg of this stuff, we’re bringing it to the next weekend BBQ session!  A solid 4 out of 5 barrels-o-beer from the Brew Haus!

I find myself in this type of situation quite often, wandering through the beer aisle with a couple of 22 oz bottles, and a six pack or two, and then suddenly, there’s a beer that catches my eye.  This time it just so happened to be Brown Shugga’ Sweet Release Ale brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Co out of Petluma, California.  Amazingly enough, I find myself rarely drinking Lagunitas beers, which is somewhat interesting given their popularity with folks from the North Bay.  But for some reason this time around, my intution was telling me to grab a sixer of this beer, and I’m not one to argue with my intuition!

From the name, you probably guessed this beer contains brown sugar, and you’re darn right about that.  As a matter of fact, it contains no less than 200 lb of pure brown cane sugar in per 30 barrel batch- YUM!  Apparently the good folks at Lagunitas were working on a batch of their Olde Gnarleywine back in 1998 when they biffed the formula and came up with this tasty mistake. Brown Shugga pours a resilitantly amber color with not too much head.  The aromatic character of this beer is something very similar to a West Coast IPA, it’s very strong in the hops department.  However, upon first drinking the beer, it goes down smooth and you can immediately taste the sweetness of the brown sugar.  It feels more like pale ale that’s been sweetened, but wait for the aftertaste, oh yah, there are your lucious and oh so bitter West Coast hops!  This is a beer that should be enjoyed in one of your favorite pint glasses and thoroughly enjoyed.  It would also be great around a bonfire on a cool Autumn or Spring’s night whilst enjoying the company of friends.

The Brew Haus loves this beer.  The Brew Haus is going to pick up more of this beer and figure out how we can clone it and give it to our friends.  This is a fantastic seasonal ale that we intend to stock up on and share with all of our friends for the ensuing chilly months.  But be careful, this beer packs a punch with 9.84% alcohol content!  4.5 barrels-o-beer from the Brew Haus!

If you know anything about Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, is that they’re full of new age hippies and ecofriendly freaks, not too mention a ton of potheads, pot farmers, and beer lovers!  Back to the beer.  The bottle says it’s a golden ale that’s brewed with Yerba Mate.  Yerba Mate is actually a plant indigenous to South America, and it’s often brewed in Yerba Mata tea and contains a number of naturally occurring stimulants such as caffeine and theobromine.

MataVeza pours a bright gold that is very easy to see through.  There’s very little head, which is indicative of the fact that this beer contains very little carbonation.  One can also detect a hint of the Yerba Mata the beer is brewed with.  To be quite frank, this beer does not have a lot of taste upon reaching the mouth, and the aftertaste takes a little while to kick in.  It’s in the aftertaste that you really pick up on the Yerba Mata the beer is infused with.  The beer is actually tastes like it’s a little watered down, and could use some more help in the taste department.  You can taste the hops ever so slightly.  This beer would make a great treat during the warmer months of the year.  It’s quite easy to drink, and there’s nothing really bad about this beer.

The Brew Haus says this beer is one rung on the ladder above mediocre, and while nobody will throw you out of the party for bringing the beer, we doubt anyone will be praising you for bringing it either.  2.5 barrels-o-beer from the Brew Haus!

Around a week and a half ago I made my weekly pilgrimage to BevMo and picked up a few new beers to review.  I’ve been eyeing the limited edition Smoked Porter from Alaskan Brewing Co my last couple of trips to the beer aisle.  I finally gave in and picked up a 22 oz bottle.  I have to admit the fact that this Beer is a Gold Medal Winner at the The Great American Beer Festival.

Alaskan Brewing Co’s website produces their Smoked Porter in limited batches every year.  And because it’s smoked, it can actually be aged like wine.  I happened to pick up the 2008 edition of the Smoked Porter.

This beer pours extra dark like you’d expect from any good porter, and there’s not a lot of head.  Once you put your nose to the glass, you can immediately smell the smoke in this beer.  Right before you open your mouth and before the beer touches your lips, I could actually taste the beer- amazing!  This stout is semi-bitter and its smokey aftertaste comes on fast, and it’s quite tasty.  While it smells of roasted hops and coffee, the smoke content adds a different dynamic that I’m not accustomed to with darker beers.  While darker beers are often enjoyed during the colder months of the year, or year round if you live somewhere like Ireland, I could definitely see myself drinking this any time of the year if I was able to find a bottle.  I’d also like to see how this beer ages and changes taste with time.  Perhaps I’ll have to buy a few bottles and store them away.

All in all, this is a very satisfying beer.  The folks at The Great American Beer Festival have pretty darn good taste in beer as well!  4.5 out of 5 barrels-o-beer from the Brew Haus!

Quality, quantity, vastness of choice all make the beer aisle so very magnificent at BevMo.  However, what I really love about visiting this glass bottle wonderland are the beer description cards below every single different type of beer.  The cards give great descriptors of what to expect.  Are you looking for something that is heavy on roasted hops with hints of caramel and chocolate- read the cards!  Often times the cards will tell you if the beer has won any awards, like the Gold Medal at the Los Angeles County Fair.  And who could forget about the BevMo Beer Ambassadors?  These guys give ratings one a 0 – 100 point scale, and I’ve gotta say they’re pretty damn good with their rating system.  I’ve found quite a few good beers to purchase based on their ratings.

So here is my ode to the BevMo Beer Ambassadors and the people who write the little card descriptions below the beer:

Bring me to the BevMo beer aisle
Glass bottles stacked tall and neat
Little white cards, help me find a new beer to drink
Oh BevMo Beer Ambassadors, I love how you think!

An amber ale, a black one, and a brown one too
Oh Beer Ambassadors tell me what to do
A subtle hint of honey an aftertaste of cream
Little white cards and full pint glasses are the things of dreams!

My local BevMo is just stacked to the brim with so much great beer- local, domestic, European, and beyond- it blows my mind every time I’m there.  Once again I’m parusing the beer aisle trying to figure out who the heck I’m taking home with me tonight.  I’m not usually sold on marketing gimmicks, and I love supporting local businesses, which is really easy when it comes to beer because there’s so many good breweries all throughout Northern California.  But hey, those little labels below the beer at BevMo can be pretty damn informative from time to time.  The description for Moose Drool Brown Ale said it was the best selling beer in the great state of Montana.  I figured since I’d only reviewed California beers thus far, it was time to give something else a shot.

Aside from the fact that Montana has about the same population as San Francisco, the only other thing I knew about the place is that it’s known as “Big Sky Country.”  Moose Drool Brown Ale just so happens to be made by Big Sky Brewing Co- the neanderthal in me loves simplicity like this!  Onto the pouring of the beer, which was done into a newly purchased pint glass.  The beer pours a moderately dark brown amber color with a fair amoun of head.  Under the light, it looks like a glass of Coca-cola once the ice has melted and it’s become diluted with water.  Right away, you can smell the roasted hops that also give off the aroma of coffee.  This isn’t a beer you want to gulp down, but enjoy with a sip here, and a sip there.  It goes down smooth at first, but the aftertaste kicks in very fast.  It gives off tastes of coffee, a fair amount of roasted hops, and slight amounts of caramel and chocolate.  I knew I liked this beer after I finished about half a glass, but wasn’t sure just how much.  By the time I was on my second glass, it had already grown on me much more.  Moose Drool Brown Ale falls into the class of beers that actually continue to taste great as the increase in temperature.  This would be a great beer to enjoy around a campfire with friends, or just about anytime from Autumn through Spring. I’m going to have bring over a sixer to share with friends at our next Sunday Football BBQ… next weekend?

Big Sky country is packin’ some big taste too!  4 out of 5 Barrels-o-beer from the Brewhaus!

I’ll drink the stuff every so often, but it’s usually when one of my burner friends shows up to a party with an 18 pack of the stuff.  Tecate is one of those beers that people rarely drink out of the bottle, and almost always out of a can.  You know the class of beers I’m talking about (just think back to your college years); Natty Ice, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Old Milwaukee, etc. The reason my friends bought stuff like Natty back then was because we were broke college kids.  If you’re paying $300 for a ticket to Burning Man, there’s a pretty good chance you can burn a little cash.  And with the throngs of tech geeks from Silicon Valley who flood the Black Rock City every year, there’s quite a presence of well to do white collar professionals looking to blow wads of cash in the middle of the desert- all in the pursuit of… Tecate?!?!  So yah, it makes sense that you probably shouldn’t go parading around drunk out of your gourd whilst drinking anything out of a glass bottle that could easily shatter into a thousand tiny shards of glass across the desert floor- which could become a real problem for the next shoeless hippie prancing across the desert just as drunk as you are.

Almost all my favorite beers come only come in bottles, except for maybe one or two, which really narrows down what you could drink at a place like Burning Man.  And with Budweiser, Miller, and Coors all being owned by non-American companies now, maybe drinking Tecate is the next most patriotic thing you could do.  Cuz hey, we all know that PBR is for those hipsters and they’re single geared bikes that hang out at the Beauty Bar in the Mission District.  I guess when you’re making $11 an hour at Amoeba records you can’t afford to drink anything that costs more than $2 a beer at your local bar.

Still, I haven’t figured out exactly why Tecate = Burning Man.  I’ve searched far and wide, drank the stuff til I damn near went blind, ate a mouthful of playa dust, and skinned the artificial pink fuzzy fur of a burner’s back, and I’m still just as clueless the first time I found out about this phenomenon.  If you have any insight into the mystery of Tecate and Burning Man, please give me a shout.  My head is starting to hurt trying to make sense out of this illogical matter, and I think it’s time for another beer review.  No, I’m not gonna review Tecate!  It wouldn’t be fair to review this party beer without being in the middle of nowhere with incredibly loud music, and no less than twelver of Tecate.  With that being said, I promise you such a review that meets all the requirements before the year’s over!