How to Get Rid of...

On occasion you might find yourself with beer you just have no desire to drink*. At our house there's a few beers especially reserved for guests - the "here, maybe you'll like this" stash. Perhaps unfortunately, most of our guests these days know their beer. And so we're left to getting rid of this beer by our own devices.



With that in mind...

Lakefront Cherry Lager - A fizzy golden body supports an active head. Nose of sweet cherries and alka-seltzer, lively front, but drinking reveals little character - a light cherry flavor on the back end... a hint of apple? It's kinda like Budweiser plus a weak cherry tootsie pop flavoring.

Blatz Beer - The last of the left-overs from the Retro Beer Challenge. Poured with a thin head that quickly settled to nothing. Looks like a glass of yellow water... Nose - a hint of old trash can. Front - not too bad, really doesn't taste much like anything. Weird mouthfeel - kinda alkaline maybe? Not in taste, just in feel.

So what happens if you mix the two?



Lakefront Cherry Lager + Blatz - Half a finger of head, copper colored, quite lively. Nose - seems like it brought the cherry out more, actually... somehow it's almost like the Blatz filled the beer out MORE. Really odd. I think it's actually an improvement? If you really like Lakefront Cherry Lager but don't want to pay for more than one... Then again Blatz is only available by the case.

Well that turned out ok, what if I add something else? And in the spirit of Chelada...


Lakefront Cherry Lager + Blatz + Diet A&W Root Beer (were you expecting Clam Juice?) - Root Beer is beer, right? Two and a half fingers of head, nice copper/brown coloring...the root beer appears to be sitting on top, mostly. Actually looks really tasty. Nose of root beer and a hint of alcohol. Front is all root beer, but as it works it's way in I get a hint of corn flakes, or bran maybe. Once again, I think this is an improvement! You know the way soda works in an ice cream float, with the really thick pillowy head? Same thing here.

I'll admit this was a dumb experiment, but surprisingly enough I drank the whole thing. Not bad at all!



So let that be a lesson to you.

* * * * *

*I'll admit this concept may be foreign to you.

Roundtable # 30 - Retro Beer Challenge - Round 2 (Wisconsin Region)

As we sat down to sample all 12 of the Retro Beer Challengers, I think the realization hit us all at about the same time: "Oh god, I've got to drink all of these." While this statement was probably said in ecstasy by my neighbor, who inherited the leftovers, there was only regret in the minds of the participating Knights.

I don't want to knock anyone who drinks this stuff regularly - it's pretty much an American tradition to drink this kind of beer. But once you've gone on to something better, there's really no turning back. You've got to trust us on this - this stuff really isn't good. If you don't believe us, come on out to a roundtable some time - we can prove it in two drinks. I'll even buy.



Round Two featured three beers from Wisconsin - Old Style, Old Milwaukee, and Blatz. You might think that these beers are easy to find, but it took trips to multiple liquor stores to find them. Blatz and Schlitz (which is featured in an upcoming round) could only be found in 24 pack cases, and when we brought the beer to the counter at PartyPak Liquors, the clerk said "I didn't know we had this." Such is the grip that Bud/Miller/Coors has on the local liquor scene. Or maybe it's just lack of demand - we saw Dogfish Head products more often than anything from the Pabst family (click on "Our Beers" to see the expansive selection).

All three of these beers looked exactly the same, but there were differences in taste.

Beer 1 was described as malty, soapy, and bitter. Kelly noted "this reminds me of high school - shitty beer drank in a corn field."

Beer 2 had a bizzare smell - skunk and/or vinegar. It was described as bitter and flat.

Beer 3 had a faint skunkiness, with notes of water and malt. It wasn't as offensive as the others, and had a "well balanced pissiness."

As you can probably figure, beer 3 (Old Style) advanced to the next round, with beer 1 (Old Milwaukee) narrowly beating beer 2 (Blatz) in score.

And so, the Cub beer moves on. There you go, Cubs fans! That's what a win looks like!

Ok, low blow.