Welcome to week 2 of our variety eight-pack from the Lakefront Brewery
in Milwaukee, WI. Hopefully, by now, you've recovered from St.
Patrick's Day. Us? We're still game for more, so this week's tasting
is most appropriate: Snake Chaser, an Irish-style Stout. The name and
label are obviously a tip of the hat to St. Patrick, who drove pagans
(oops, we meant snakes) out of Ireland. But we digress.

Lakefront Brewery Snake Chaser Irish-style StoutIrish Stouts tend to
be dry, light to medium in body and low in alcohol content, with a
distinct bitterness that comes from both roasted barley and some hops-
though the roasted character will be more noticeable. They're
sometimes served on nitro-draught, to mimic Guinness Draught and
provide that signature velvety-smooth head and feel on the palate, but
the nitro serving method isn't always preferred.

The Taste
The 12-ounce bottle pours a pitch-black, topped with a creamy tan-
colored head that leaves a healthy ringed lace as it settles, with a
bit of stick on the glass. Deep roasted malts, some acrid notes,
blackstrap molasses, fresh grist, moist earth, and hints of chocolate
and coffee grounds. Nearly medium-bodied, with a mineral-tasting and
slightly sweet malty roundness. Some carbonation-induced creaminess on
the palate segues to an expected dryness and tangy, astringent roasted
barley bite. A touch of hop bitterness provides some citric edge and
melds with the acridness of the brew for a perceived sourness. Smoky
characters emerge as the beer warms, as do subtle drops of caramel.
The overall dryness of the beer carries through to the finish, with a
semi-burnt linger and bitter end.

Final Thoughts
Currently, there are only 20 reviews of Snake Chaser on our site, but
it's received fair marks so far. That said, we suspect that many of
the reviewers are confused as to what a Stout like this is meant to
be. Personally, we think Snake Chaser is pretty damn spot-on for the
style. It's not too thick; it has plenty of roasted malt and dryness
for what you'd expect out of an Irish Dry Stout, and at 5 percent
alcohol by volume, it's a good candidate for a decent session brew. We
recommend giving this beer a chance to warm up a bit before you enjoy
it, and try pairing it with some barbecue or sharp cheddar cheese.

For more info: lakefrontbrewery.com

Respect Beer.

http://beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/705

>>>>>>it's a good candidate for a decent session brew...


I feel sorry for anybody who sits down for the night with one particular
beer at one of these "sessions" I keep hearing about.

Do any of you actually have "sessions" like this? Are they fun?

Douglas W Hoyt wrote:
>>>>>>> it's a good candidate for a decent session brew...
>
>
> I feel sorry for anybody who sits down for the night with one
> particular beer at one of these "sessions" I keep hearing about.

Well, if you're talking about feeling sorry for someone who drinks the
same beer all night, yeah, I feel that way, too.
Obviously, not everyone does- thus the popularity of the home draught
beer systems. (To me having to drink a keg, even a sixtel, of the same
beer for days/weeks, sounds like a session in hell...). At most I'll
have 2 bottles of the same beer in a day (out of a daily total 3 or 4).

As for the "session"- I don't think anyone really uses that word in the
US for an *event* ("tasting" is more common), but the US good beer
drinking sub-culture has adopted the British concept of a "session beer"
(low in alcohol, that can be consumed in large quantities during a
period of time at the pub).
I heard some suggest that the term "session" originally applied to
limited hours that pubs were open during the day.

Typical of the US's other "adoptions" of foreign beer concepts, we've
changed it, of course<g>. Because good "under 4% abv" beers just don't
exist in the US, the alcohol level's been bumped up by many (I've seen
it as high as 6%- which is eye-opening for the UK readers since they
call Stella Atrois "wifebeater" because of it's "outrageously high"
alcohol content- a bit over 5% IIRC).

Lew Bryson adds some interesting other criteria in his recent blog
entry, which I think are important to a session beer-

"1. Alcohol under 5.5%.
2. Flavor in balance.
3. The beer doesn't overpower the conversation.
4. Reasonably priced "

> http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2007/0...1st-entry.html

One of my pet peeves is, even as the new Prohibitionists have grow in
strength in the US, both the alcohol level of many beers and serving sizes
have grown as well. Where once the common serving size in most bars was
a "glass" (6-8 oz. sham pilsner was common in my part of the country) or
a "mug" (10-12 oz), now the "shaker not-quite-a-pint" is standard but
some joints will offer a "large" 22 oz. weisse beer glass, as well. (I
suspect those larger sizes are more for the convenience of the bar,
tho'). If I do go into a bar with a good draft selection, I'd much
rather drink several small glasses of a variety of beers.

In the UK, even tho' we were told that "half pints" are for women, we'd
drink them in free houses and came to notice that the fellows with the
more manly imperial pints were still working on the same one while we
were finishing up our third or fourth "half".

>>>>> In the UK, even tho' we were told that "half pints" are for women,
>>>>> we'd drink them in free houses and came to notice that the fellows
>>>>> with the more manly imperial pints were still working on the same one
>>>>> while we were finishing up our third or fourth "half".

I think that in Prague they have solved that manliness issue (at traditional
places like the Golden Tiger) by serving beer in uniform glassware and when
there is only a small puddle left in the glass you automatically get your
glass swapped for a full one even if you can't possibly handle another. An
endless session!

> wrote in message
...
> Douglas W Hoyt wrote:

>> I feel sorry for anybody who sits down for the night with one particular
>> beer at one of these "sessions" I keep hearing about.
>
> Well, if you're talking about feeling sorry for someone who drinks the
> same beer all night, yeah, I feel that way, too.

You're both idjits.

Seriously, what's wrong with drinking one beer in a given evening? If you
were talking about drinking only one beer, period, you'd have a point.

But I challenge you to go to someplace like Zum Uerige and drink the altbier
all night and walk away disappointed with your lack of variety. Or spend a
evening drinking nothing but fresh casked Fuller's ESB or nothing but
Augustiner's Edelstoff.

I'm a big fan of variety.

I'm also a big fan of quality. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with
sticking with an enjoyable beer for an evening. In fact, I admire the hell
out of a brewery that produces a beer that I want to drink over and over
again. Some of my favorite places in the world serve just the one beer, and
I've been far from disappointed with sticking with their single offering for
the night.

> Lew Bryson adds some interesting other criteria in his recent blog
> entry, which I think are important to a session beer-
>
> "1. Alcohol under 5.5%.
> 2. Flavor in balance.
> 3. The beer doesn't overpower the conversation.
> 4. Reasonably priced "

I'd agree with three of Lew's four. His abv is still too strong (although I
realize he's adapted to an American audience).

> One of my pet peeves is, even as the new Prohibitionists have grow in
> strength in the US, both the alcohol level of many beers and serving sizes
> have grown as well.

I agree on the former. I'm heading off the UK in a week, and I can't tell
you how much I'm looking forward to drinking some amazingly flavorful beers
that clock in at 3-3.5 percent abv. To me, the brewer who can make
outstanding beer that's small is loads more impressive than so many
"bigger-is-better" American breweries. It's why I yawn at the likes of Stone
(also because while I like hop monsters, I find flavorful balanced beers to
be a far stronger test of the brewer's art).

(I really should stop picking on Stone. While the AB is a ****ing mess of a
beer, they brew some outstanding ones, and they found a niche. There are
plenty of other breweries that go big that aren't anywhere near as good.
Say, Rogue or Lagunitas.)

> Where once the common serving size in most bars was
> a "glass" (6-8 oz. sham pilsner was common in my part of the country) or
> a "mug" (10-12 oz), now the "shaker not-quite-a-pint" is standard but
> some joints will offer a "large" 22 oz. weisse beer glass, as well. (I
> suspect those larger sizes are more for the convenience of the bar,
> tho').

Maybe. But I think the larger sizes are better - if balanced out with a beer
that's not too strong. The English serve their beers in imperial pints, the
Germans and Czechs serve most of theirs by the half-liter. I think those are
good sizes.

> If I do go into a bar with a good draft selection, I'd much
> rather drink several small glasses of a variety of beers.

Depends on my mood. To be honest, it's rare I'm in checklist mode anymore. I
may wander a bit, but I'd rather find a good beer I'm happy with and enjoy
it for the evening. Then again, maybe my perception was warped by living in
Munich and having been to so many of the world's great brewing centers.

> In the UK, even tho' we were told that "half pints" are for women, we'd
> drink them in free houses and came to notice that the fellows with the
> more manly imperial pints were still working on the same one while we
> were finishing up our third or fourth "half".

That's not a bad thing. It's not a race.

-Steve

"Douglas W Hoyt" > wrote in message
...

> I think that in Prague they have solved that manliness issue (at
> traditional places like the Golden Tiger) by serving beer in uniform
> glassware and when there is only a small puddle left in the glass you
> automatically get your glass swapped for a full one even if you can't
> possibly handle another. An endless session!

I don't recall that in Prague. Everywhere I drank there (as well as the rest
of the CR), beer came in half-liters (occasionally 4 cl). And you had to ask
for another.

The only places I've encountered the continual refill are in Cologne and
Dusseldorf.

-Steve

Steve Jackson wrote:
> > wrote in message
> ...
>> Douglas W Hoyt wrote:
>
>>> I feel sorry for anybody who sits down for the night with one particular
>>> beer at one of these "sessions" I keep hearing about.
>> Well, if you're talking about feeling sorry for someone who drinks the
>> same beer all night, yeah, I feel that way, too.
>
> You're both idjits.
>
> Seriously, what's wrong with drinking one beer in a given evening?

Well,since you ask "seriously" I'd say nothing... (my "feeling sorry"
comment was poking fun at beer geekiness...).

>
>> Lew Bryson adds some interesting other criteria in his recent blog
>> entry, which I think are important to a session beer-
>>
>> "1. Alcohol under 5.5%.
>> 2. Flavor in balance.
>> 3. The beer doesn't overpower the conversation.
>> 4. Reasonably priced "
>
> I'd agree with three of Lew's four. His abv is still too strong (although I
> realize he's adapted to an American audience).

Well, I, too (in a snipped portion) thought it too high and would say
that his choice was probably also limited by what's available in the US
market but, agree that much of the American audience isn't familiar with
good tasting lower alcohol beers - thus we see posts like "When will we
get REAL BEER" in such-and such a state which was a ABV limit of 6% or
so or the "surprise" to many people when they learn that Guinness
Draught Stout [considered "strong" tasting to the typical US beer
drinker] is lower in alcohol than a Budweiser.

>
>> One of my pet peeves is, even as the new Prohibitionists have grow in
>> strength in the US, both the alcohol level of many beers and serving sizes
>> have grown as well.

> Maybe. But I think the larger sizes are better - if balanced out with a beer
> that's not too strong.

Yes, my observation (which pertained to changes in the US on-premise
market) was based on the *combination* of the move to larger glasses and
increased availability of higher alcohol beers. I suppose, along with
the number of taps increasing, I'd like to see an increase in the
selection of glassware and the volume of same.
..
The English serve their beers in imperial pints, the
> Germans and Czechs serve most of theirs by the half-liter. I think those are
> good sizes.

Yes, I say so, too. For a US 8-10% abv ipa, I'd rather have a 6-8 oz.
glass.

>> If I do go into a bar with a good draft selection, I'd much
>> rather drink several small glasses of a variety of beers.
>
> Depends on my mood. To be honest, it's rare I'm in checklist mode anymore.

I've never done the checklist or rating race. But, I come across a bar
with a good selection so seldom in my part of the US, that when I do,
I'd like to re-visit old favorites (HopDevil, Brooklyn beers) and at the
same time, try something new or a limited release - after having a US
"shaker pint" of a German lager and then a HopDevil, I found out that
the Flying Fish tap was their limited "Espresso Stout" but since it was
mid-afternoon and I was driving I had to pass...


>> In the UK, even tho' we were told that "half pints" are for women, we'd
>> drink them in free houses and came to notice that the fellows with the
>> more manly imperial pints were still working on the same one while we
>> were finishing up our third or fourth "half".
>
> That's not a bad thing. It's not a race.

Hmmm...wasn't really racing, just found it amusing that our "natural"
drinking speed was a bit faster than the UK drinkers so that the "macho
factor" ultimately was based on the quantity of beer one holds in their
hand rather than consumes (which is the criteria for the non-beer snob
beer drinker in the US). Similar to the response we were surprised to
get back then (early 80's) when we looked for Bass No. 1 and Courage RIS
and a few other UK barleywines- "Ah, no, we don't carry 'em- only old
ladies drink those...".

>>>>>> But I challenge you to go to someplace like Zum Uerige and drink the
>>>>>> altbier all night and walk away disappointed with your lack of
>>>>>> variety. Or spend a evening drinking nothing but fresh casked
>>>>>> Fuller's ESB or nothing but Augustiner's Edelstoff ... Some of my
>>>>>> favorite places in the world serve just the one beer, and I've been
>>>>>> far from disappointed with sticking with their single offering for
>>>>>> the night.

These world class places and experiences, preceded by dedicated journeys,
are worth their sessions (though if a Munich pub carries a full Ayinger line
I am very tempted to have more than just one of the offerings).

But for every pleasantly-yielding-some-flavor 4% beer that gets reviewed in
a magazine and has a couple of nice notes that gets listed as a good session
beer, I start to wonder who is going to sit down at that kind of session,
without the journey, without the corresponding romantics to drink it
exclusively. The number one "session beer" in the world, in the true
dedication sense, and which its adherents would assert fits the admirable
Lew Bryson definition, is Bud Light. I pub crawl in London and enjoy many
~4% beers and my bladder adjusts accordingly, but since I don't get to
London more than once a year I like to try a whole meandering crawlful in
just one night.

Anyways--great posts Jesskidden & Steve Jackson, and points taken (and I
will hope to take them frequently). :>

On 3/28/2007 4:49 PM Douglas W Hoyt fell asleep at the keyboard, and
awoke to find this:

> These world class places and experiences, preceded by dedicated journeys,
> are worth their sessions (though if a Munich pub carries a full Ayinger line
> I am very tempted to have more than just one of the offerings).

There are a couple of places in Munich where you can get Ayinger, but
it's also pretty easy to get out to Aying on the S-Bahn, then take the
pleasant walk out to the brewery's pub-restaurant-hotel. In and of
itself, that qualifies as a world-class experience, whether you content
yourself with a single beer style for a session, or go for more variety.
--
dgs

dgs > wrote:
> There are a couple of places in Munich where you can get Ayinger, but
> it's also pretty easy to get out to Aying on the S-Bahn, then take the
> pleasant walk out to the brewery's pub-restaurant-hotel. In and of
> itself, that qualifies as a world-class experience, whether you content
> yourself with a single beer style for a session, or go for more variety.

I got over there in 2003, and Aying was probably the best day of all,
no offense to Munich and the Oktoberfest and all that... Heinz gave
a great tour, and apologizing that they were setting up for a rare
wedding reception in the bar, he moved us to the balcony for our
samples. My god... The weather was beautiful, the beers were great,
and there were hot air balloons popping up toward the mountains on
the horizon. Wow.

--
//*================================================= ===============++
|| Russ Perry Jr 2175 S Tonne Dr #114 Arlington Hts IL 60005 ||
|| 847-952-9729 VIDEOGAME COLLECTOR! ||
++================================================ ================*//

"Douglas W Hoyt" > wrote in message
...

> These world class places and experiences, preceded by dedicated journeys,
> are worth their sessions (though if a Munich pub carries a full Ayinger
> line I am very tempted to have more than just one of the offerings).

There's an Ayinger house across from Haufbräuhaus.

And I used to live in Munich. It wasn't a dedicated journey to me.

But the journey was not the point. For millions of people, the examples I
mentioned aren't journeys. And the point was that if a brewer puts their
mind to it, they can easily brew a fabulous beer without having to get into
the ABV/IBU dick-wagging that so many American brewers get into. (Not all;
there are definitely those out there who get it.)

> But for every pleasantly-yielding-some-flavor 4% beer that gets reviewed
> in a magazine and has a couple of nice notes that gets listed as a good
> session beer, I start to wonder who is going to sit down at that kind of
> session, without the journey, without the corresponding romantics to drink
> it exclusively.

I would do so, gladly. I know a lot of people who would. People tend to like
being able to drive home afterwards without wrapping their car around the
tree or spending the night in the drunk tank.

> The number one "session beer" in the world, in the true dedication sense,
> and which its adherents would assert fits the admirable Lew Bryson
> definition, is Bud Light.

In the world? Guinness Draught is probably more popular worldwide, and is
lower abv.

> Anyways--great posts Jesskidden & Steve Jackson, and points taken (and I
> will hope to take them frequently). :>

When it comes to beer, my crusade (half-hearted, at best) is to break
Americans of this stupid notion that bigger beers are automatically better.
Nobody would give a rat's ass about Arrogant ******* if it weren't big and
have the attitude. It's a ****ing mess of a beer, but it's big (both in
profile and attitude), so it must be good.

Meanwhile, outstanding "average" beers like several from Goose Island, or
Sierra Nevada, or Great Lakes, fly largely under the radar.

As I stated elsewhere, there are plenty of big beers I enjoy. I drink more
Racer 5 than anything else. But I love and admire well-balanced beers that
don't have to rely on being huge, and that applies whether I'm drinking Zum
Uerige or Lees Mild, or Goose Island's Summertime or Craftsman's 1903.

-Steve

> wrote in message
...

Just to start off, I did miss a couple of your points first time around.
I'll blame it on the very non-session-like 22 oz bottles of Racer 5 I was in
the midst of consuming.

> Well, I, too (in a snipped portion) thought it too high and would say that
> his choice was probably also limited by what's available in the US market
> but, agree that much of the American audience isn't familiar with good
> tasting lower alcohol beers - thus we see posts like "When will we get
> REAL BEER" in such-and such a state which was a ABV limit of 6% or so or
> the "surprise" to many people when they learn that Guinness Draught Stout
> [considered "strong" tasting to the typical US beer drinker] is lower in
> alcohol than a Budweiser.

And this is perhaps what annoys me more than anything else about the modern
American craft brew drinker. This whole "bigger = better" thing is nonsense
(and not just limited to beer; it's one of the absolutely most annoying
things I find about living in this country). One of the most impressive
beers I've ever had clocks in at 3.5 percent abv. JW Lees Mild, on cask.
Blew me away. Outstanding. Full of flavor.

Any yutz can brew a flavorful 1075, 8 percent abv, 75 IBU beer. It's not
hard.

It's incredibly challenging to make flavor stand out from (relatively
speaking) next to nothing. A brewer like Lees frankly kicks the sorry ass of
a brewer like Rogue all over the place.

And yet the American craft beer consumer rewards the easy, not the
challenging. Becuase somehow so many have developed this notion that
something has to be overly assertive to be noticed. And I have nothing
against big beers. Some of my absolute favorites are big: Rochefort 8,
Andechs dunkel, Augustiner Maximator. Then again, all those are quite
complex and not one note or muddled.

> Yes, my observation (which pertained to changes in the US on-premise
> market) was based on the *combination* of the move to larger glasses and
> increased availability of higher alcohol beers.

Good point. There comes a point where an 8 percent abv beer in an Imperial
pint gets a bit silly.

Then again, the pub down the street from my old flat in Munich was tied to
Augustiner, and served half-liters of Maximator (their doppelbock) during
Starkbierzeit. It worked. My motor skills in the 30-meter walk home didn't
work so well, though.

> But, I come across a bar with a good selection so seldom in my part of the
> US, that when I do, I'd like to re-visit old favorites (HopDevil, Brooklyn
> beers) and at the same time, try something new or a limited release

That makes sense. I guess I've been lucky to live in locales where I get a
pretty decent selection. But even when I travel to a location that has a lot
I don't get out here in LA (or didn't get in Chicago when I lived there), I
find myself quickly settling into something I like. Comes a point I don't
want to think too much about my drinking.

-Steve

"Steve Jackson" > wrote in message
news:Ft0Ph.32190$xE.14108@trnddc08...

> There's an Ayinger house across from Haufbräuhaus.

Christ, I know my German's gotten rusty, but "Haufbräuhaus?"

That would, of course, be Hofbräuhaus.

-Steve

Steve Jackson > wrote:
>And this is perhaps what annoys me more than anything else about the modern
>American craft brew drinker. This whole "bigger = better" thing is nonsense
>(and not just limited to beer; it's one of the absolutely most annoying
>things I find about living in this country).

Just to bring this thread around full circle, that's
what's wrong with most (if not all) the web-based beer
forums. Lots of circle-jerking and sycophantism built
around who can trainspot the biggest, baddest cult beers.

>One of the most impressive beers I've ever had clocks in
>at 3.5 percent abv. JW Lees Mild, on cask. Blew me away.
>Outstanding. Full of flavor.

I may never know.
--
Joel Plutchak "They're not people, they're HIPPIES!"
$LASTNAME at VERYWARMmail.com - Eric Cartman

"Steve Jackson" > wrote in message
news:Ft0Ph.32190$xE.14108@trnddc08...

> ...Arrogant ******* ... It's a ****ing mess of a beer, but it's big (both
> in profile and attitude),

Yeah, that beer was way too mish-mashed to have any pleasantness for me...

ers (Joel) wrote on 30 Mar 2007:
> Steve Jackson > wrote:
>>And this is perhaps what annoys me more than anything else about
>>the modern American craft brew drinker. This whole "bigger =
>>better" thing is nonsense (and not just limited to beer; it's
>>one of the absolutely most annoying things I find about living
>>in this country).
>
> Just to bring this thread around full circle, that's
> what's wrong with most (if not all) the web-based beer
> forums. Lots of circle-jerking and sycophantism built
> around who can trainspot the biggest, baddest cult beers.

It's a lemming mentality. Someone in a perceived position of
authority posts a Kleinian reacharound of a review, and the minions
swallow it whole, even if it makes no sense. Even when the beer in
question lives up to its cult following, there's always someone who
takes it too far, whether that be offering their firstborn in a
trade, or buying a keg of a non-bottled beer to bottle and
distribute. That's a good thing?

>>One of the most impressive beers I've ever had clocks in
>>at 3.5 percent abv. JW Lees Mild, on cask. Blew me away.
>>Outstanding. Full of flavor.
>
> I may never know.

Shit, I thought the streets of Manchester were washed in Lees Mild.
Of all the luck.

Witzel

Dave Witzel > wrote:
>It's a lemming mentality. Someone in a perceived position of
>authority posts a Kleinian reacharound of a review, and the minions
>swallow it whole...

Just reading that makes me want to go shower. Ew.
--
Joel Plutchak "They're not people, they're HIPPIES!"
$LASTNAME at VERYWARMmail.com - Eric Cartman

>>>>>> There's an Ayinger house across from Haufbräuhaus.
> Christ, I know my German's gotten rusty, but "Haufbräuhaus?"
> That would, of course, be Hofbräuhaus.

"Hauf"bräuhaus as in 'haufen' (of humanity drinking inferior beer) might be
more fitting. The Ayinger place across the way has outdoor seating so you
can watch the hordes file in and stumble out across the way.

A friend told me that the way to steal beer steins from the Haufbräuhaus is
to swagger toward the door, singing in full voice, with a half-filled stein
in one hand. They will confiscate the half-filled stein, and then you
continue out with the three other empty steins in your other hand covered by
a raincoat.