Choices

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to write a quick note about something that has been on my mind.  I am reminded of it today due to the elections going on and so many avenues trying to shove Democrat and Republican voting down your face.  The mainstream media/public/whatever wants to make us forget that there are other, possibly better, options out there. We can't forget that there are.  I am guilty of being stagnant too. Today I realized that I am not even registered to vote in my own county yet.  I haven't even cared enough to make sure my voting rights were secured.  I didn't even know that when I moved counties that I needed to re-register to vote.  I didn't even know anything about the candidates until earlier today.  I normally say that I don't care for politics and don't want to listen to what's going on with it, which I normally don't, but we at least owe it to ourselves to not stay dormant in times like this, this election moment, or any other moment for that matter, when there is a chance to DO something.  If we are unsatisfied with the way things are, we need to take action and at least try to make a difference.  I am guilty of it too.  This even ties in to choices in the beer world.  Notice that when you go to the convenience store, music venue, football stadium, etc. you have to search around for the craft beer selection.  You have to wade through a tide of Budweiser, Miller, and Coors products until you realize where the craft selections are.  It happened the other day when I went to a venue here in town, the Municipal Auditorium, and saw Bob Dylan.  Almost every concession stand served only Budweiser, Miller, or Coors products.  You had to walk all the way to the far corners of the venue to realize there were craft offerings (although it ended up being Blue Moon(owned by Coors)), but why does that stuff have to be so hard to find?  Why aren't craft selections as out in the open and marketed?  Of course I guess because the big dogs don't want them to be.  Also though,  I guess because a dent is being made in the big beer companies' chunk of the beer industry.  I guess those live free or die, not gonna take what's fed to me, seekers of the truth's voices are being heard.  We do make a difference.  Just, make your own choices, let your own voice be heard, and don't let other people try to sell you their idea of what is right or good.

Blog technicalities

Hey folks, thanks for bearing with the technicalities that I'm having with the blog pictures and profile info.  I hope to get this site up running a lot better.  Hopefully the content has been good, but I'd like to step up what's going on over here at Music City Beer, so, again, thanks for bearing with me in the meantime and I'll get things running a lot smoother.  Lots of good reviews to come. Cheers!

Porkslap Pale

I've been wanting to try the offerings from Butternuts Brewery ever since I've seen the cans around.  In case anyone's wondering about canned beer, cans block the beer from UV rays and also have less headspace than bottles keeping canned beers from oxidizing at the rate that bottles can.  Needless to say, can beers often stay fresher longer and have a fresher taste compared to bottles, so don't knock a beer just because it's in a can!  Ha.  Also, can's are easier to recycle too!  Okay, back to the beer.  I decided to go with the Porkslap Pale Ale this time around.  In our market we also get their hefeweizen, ipa, and stout.  This pale ale is brewed with North American two-row pale malt and English crystal malt, crystal hops are used and a little fresh ginger as well.  This ale is 4.3%.

Instead of the normal breakdown, I'm just going to give an overall opinion of the beer.  After reading some of the reviews on beeradvocate, I wasn't sure if this one would be that worthwhile.  However, I really enjoyed it.  It's definitely on the milder side of a pale ale.  More malty than bitterness.  There is a nice toasty biscuit-y malt flavor to the beer.  Very similar to a fat tire taste.  The ginger in this beer really brings the flavor together.  It's definitely not overwhelming, but it provides a nice smoothness that compliments the malts and hops.  This one could definitely be a session ale.  I drank all 6 in the same night and could have drank more.  If you're looking for a pale ale with more of a bitterness like Sierra Nevada, this is not the one to drink, but if you are looking for nice, mild, toasty, fat tire-y flavor, that you could drink a lot of, as long as you enjoy craft beer, this is a great choice.  I definitely see myself trying this one again, and am intrigued at the other offerings from this Brewery.

I picked mine up at the 14th street market on the corner of Woodland St. and 14th in East Nashville, but it could probably also be picked up at Frugal Mcdoogal, Midtown Wine and Spirits, or other stores that have a good craft beer selection.  You may want to call ahead to be sure.  This is being distributed from the fine folks at Bounty Bev that are on a mission to bring more craft beer to Nashville.  Thank you for what you do guys! 

Hope this review helps anyone that was on the fence about trying these.  Drop me a line if you have any questions or recommendations on the other ones!

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

So, as promised, here is the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale review:

So I wanted to review another Pumpkin Ale since it's that time of year.  The next one I wanted to write about is the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.  This ale is a brown ale brewed with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Appearance: (The picture above is not mine, I am meaning to import my pic). The color is very clear, light to medium amber.  There was no head that formed on the pint glass.

Aroma:  The nose had a slight brown sugar hint at first, then a faint whiskey-ish smell, then cinnamon, and fading into the aroma of pumpkin.

Taste:  First a smooth, creamy texture turning into the taste of pumpkin, then maybe a brown sugar flavor, finishing with the taste of cinnamon on the back end drawing me back in for another drink.

Drinkability:  Even though it's a 7% beer, the alcohol is masked enough to make this one very drinkable in my opinion.

Overall:  A very drinkable high-gravity pumpkin ale.  Has more of a spice finish than a pumpkin finish, but there's nothing wrong with that...depends on how much you want of the pumpkin flavor.   The Schlafly one had more of the pumpkin going on and a fuller flavor.  This one is nice, but a little lighter in pumpkin flavor compared to the Schlafly.  It has a nice fall spiciness to it though  I would definitely drink again.

Rating: B

It's that time of year again...Pumkin beers and Oktoberfest

Hi and welcome to my new blog! This blog is dedicated to trying to keep readers up to date with what's going on in the beer world here in Nashville as far as beer reviews, new beers in the market and finding them, and info on what's new from local, regional, and national breweries. I hope you will find some good information here and if you ever have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to give me a shout! I hope to create a place where beer lovers can talk about new beer discoveries and get suggestions about certain ones without having to fork over $10 for every six pack just to find out. This site is meant to help you, and you can also help me and others. Let's see what we can do! This brings me to my first post.

Over the next few days I'm gonna put up some posts about some of the pumpkin beers that you can buy in the area and maybe some of the Oktoberfests that I've had recently. A few weeks ago, I was in the Oktoberfest (which started yesterday in Germany actually) mood, but now I'm all about the pumpkin beers. In the past, I haven't been the biggest fan of these, but I don't know if it's changing tastebuds or the fall weather setting in, but I am really seeking these out at the moment. They just really go with the feel of the season. The first one that i would like to talk about is the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale. It's an ale brewed with pumkins as well as spices(nutmeg, clove, cinammon). I picked mine up at Woodland Wine Merchant, but I've seen it at Midtown Wine and Spirits, and I'm sure you can find it at Frugal Mcdoogal or any other craft liquor store (It's and 8% beer by the way) in town. Let's get to tasting:

Aroma: Definately have cinammon and clove on the nose. You can smell a decent hint of pumkin as well. Definately smells like it fits the season and makes me crave pumkin pie.

Appearance: Poured into a snifter with no head forming to speak of. Beautiful color that matches the fall theme. Beautiful sunburst color ranging from dark amber to lighter orange/amber/golden hues.

Taste: Sampled at about 45 degrees (know it's probably gonna be a little more flavorful at a slightly warmer temp though). It's definately one of the more balanced "pumkiny" flavored beers I've tried this season. The spices come through nicely as well making this one very balanced and drinkable. It tastes like more of what I have expected a pumkin ale to taste. Like a nice piece of pumkin pie with good cinammon, clove, and nutmeg holiday flavor balance. Also, the alcohol content is nicely masked, but there is a hint of the alcohol warmth a few minutes after swallowing.

Drinkability: Weighing in at 8%, I think this is actually a very drinkable pumkin ale. I think 3 of them may be the max I could drink, but if you appreciate pumkin ales, I think this one is really enjoyable. Not necessarily a session beer, but a nice one to have in a snifter at the close of a pleasant fall day. One that will probably make you want one more before ending the night.

Overall: Probably the best pumkin ale I've tried this season although I've only tried a few so far and have some other good ones to taste. I think this one is exactly what one would expect from a pumkin ale. Ever present pumkin flavor, smooth body, not harsh, and nicely spiced but balanced bringing the changing color of the leaves to mind. Very good impression with this one. If pumkin ales aren't your thing, you might want to skip it, but if you're seeking out something with a lot of fall flavor, I highly recommend this one this year. Next up is the Dogfish Head Pumpkin ale. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Score: A