Beer, Bikes and Butts

A Tribute to Beer, Motorcycles and Cigars

Slightly disappointed by last night’s random pairing, the only thing to do was head out onto the Lido deck and try to do a better job.  I selected a Belgium beer to increase the odds of a good choice – Orval Trappist Ale – and a Nicaraguan cigar for the same reason.  Tonight the Force was with me.

Joya de Nicaragua Fuerte Serie B, Corona Gorda (5.0" x 46)

From what I read, Nicaragua is the fastest growing cigar manufacturing country in the world, and for good reason.  I’ve never met a Nicaraguan puro I didn’t like, and supposedly Joya de Nicaragua started it all.  This stick was no exception.  Many cigars start slow and turn into something special as you smoke, but a precious few invoke an immediate “oh yeah” from the first draw.  That was my reaction to this small, unassuming beauty.

The taste was strong with a mix of spice and leather, but without a hint of harshness.  The smoke was thick, voluminous and dark, as though to confirm the complex taste I was experiencing.  The construction and burn were perfect.  This is one great cigar, earning a 95 on The Morris Scale.

If you are interested, BestCigarPrices.com provides a detailed history of Joya de Nicaragua here.  But that site does not offer the Fuerte Serie B, which proved a little elusive.  The going price on the sites were I was able to find it was around $63 for a box of 20, which is a great price for such a quality cigar, but at the time I am writing this, Cigars International has them on sale for $40.  At $2 a stick, this may be the best cigar value I have ever found.

Orval Trappist Ale

You may not give much thought to the yeast used to make your beer, but it can make a huge difference in the taste.  If you have ever made your own beer, you may be familiar with a yeast called Brettanomyces, or “Brett” for short, that is normally viewed as a contaminant.  This yeast comes from wood, and can feed on wood, which can be a problem for breweries that ferment in casks.

But in the proper hands, Brett can be used to add distinctive flavors to beer, and is used in some sour beer styles.  If you want to experience a Brett beer (not in a sour style), Orval is the only Trappist monastery that uses Brett in its the beer making process.

The taste of the Orval Trappist Ale is amazing, especially if you take the time to really smell the beer before you take your first taste.  The aroma of Brett beer is sometimes described as damp wool.  The Orval smell is slightly citrus as well, but very distinctive, and totally belies what you are about to experience. 

This Belgium Trappist ale pours a golden brown with a frothy tan head so thick you could suspend a cherry on top if you were so inclined.  The wild Brett yeast brings an earthy taste, that is at the same time sweet, dry and citrusy.  The yeast taste was oddly reminiscent of the horrible yeasty beer I created during my first home brewing attempts, but in this case it is a perfectly balanced addition.

You need to experience this beer.  It’s a little pricey at $4.79 for an 11.2 ounce bottle, but this is a true experience.  Draft magazine rightfully rated this beer at 98.

Posted on June 6th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Bargains, Beer, Beer Facts, Beer History, Cigar Facts, Cigars, Reviews | No Comments »

California Black Beer

I tried, Dale Bros., I really tried.  I tried to wrap my mind and taste buds around this beer, but I couldn’t make it work.  You see, in concept the California Black Beer is supposed to be a classic American Style Dark Lager, according to the brewery’s website.  So, it pours dark brown with a huge tan  head, and you think you are about to enjoy something akin to a stout.  But I had done my homework, and I knew this was a dark lager that is supposed to present as a lighter tasting beer.  The problem is, it’s not even a good lager.  It tastes flat and watery, with the thinnest mouthfeel I have ever experienced.  I drank all 22 ounces, trying to squeak out some appreciation of the slightly chocolate malt taste, but it just didn’t cut it.  I like Dale Bros. overall; they make some fine beers.  This isn’t one of them.  A very thin and watery 78 on The Morris Scale.

Graycliff Profesionale, Pirate (6.0″ x 52)

Those very nice folks at CigarsDirect.com apparently signed up BeerBikesButts for a complementary subscription to their Cigar of the Month Club, which turned out to be the same selection as the one I received from Cigar.com’s COTMC for April.  I know Cigars International and Cigar.com are the same company, but as far as I can tell CigarsDirect is not affiliated.  Rather, I think they must use the same wholesaler for their COTM clubs.

In any event, one of the cigars in the package was the Graycliff Profesionale, torpedo (along with a CAO Brazilia, La Gloria Cubana, Cuba Libre and Joya de Nicaragua Fuerte).  The Profesionale Series, also known as the Blue Label, received a 92 rating from Cigar Aficionado.  It consists of an extra-fermented Indonesian wrapper with a complex mixture of vintage, long-leaf tobaccos from Brazil, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

I was not as impressed as Cigar Aficionado.  The cigar unraveled slightly even with a careful guillotine cut.  The construction was otherwise good and the burn very good, but the taste was not very complex.  I picked up only mild tastes of pepper and cedar.  The intensity was on the light to medium end of the spectrum.  The smoke was very smooth and enjoyable, and this would be a great go-to cigar when you are in the mood for something light, or if you want a cigar that won’t compete with your meal or port.  The problem is, it’s a bit too expensive for my tastes as a go-to cigar, coming in at almost $400 for a box of 25.  I’ll give this stick an 89 for its smoothness, but only an 85 for the overall experience.  If you want to rate it yourself, CigarsDirect has it here.  As always, use code BBB for a 10% discount.

Posted on June 4th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Cigars, Reviews | 2 Comments »

Pretty funny stuff.

Posted on May 30th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts | No Comments »

Another great beer festival at Irvine Lake.  The second annual (hopefully) Orange County Beer Festival was held on May 15 instead of August like the previous year, and that resulted in much cooler weather.

I went with a friend and two designated drivers (always good to have a backup at an event like this in case one succumbs), and we arrived almost an hour early.  Very good plan, since we avoided the traffic and the lines, and had a chance to eat before they opened the booths.  In the pictures below you’ll see the place was really packed, but there was never a significant wait of more than, say, thirty seconds at any of the booths.  On the food front, the organizers did a much better job this year, offering three food vendors serving really outstanding choices.

In a perfect world I would probably take some notes on the beers as I sample them, but there is just too many booths to hit in the three hours.  I settled for picking up literature on the standouts so I could remember them later.  Some of my favorites were from the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery (Long Beach), the Cismontane Brewing Company (Rancho Santa Margarita), Bierbitzch’s always refreshing Golden Pilsner (they always have great merchandise too), Tibet Brewing and their Lhasa Beer, and my favorite of them all, the new Duvel Green.

One major criticism of the beer fest is the traffic leaving the event.  We sat in the traffic leaving the parking lot for 45 minutes and never moved.  I finally had to see what could possibly be going on, and walked to the exit.  The traffic on the road was so crowded, that none of the cars could get an opening to pull out.  I helped stop traffic on the main road to get the traffic flowing out of the parking lot, and then other “civilians” from the festival joined in and we put together an impromptu traffic system, blocking traffic for a minute at a time to let the cars exit.  Had we not done this, everyone would still be sitting in the parking lot.  A special commendation goes to a woman from Bierbitzch (or who may simply have been wearing a Bierbitzch t-shirt) for stepping up and getting really aggressive with the slow-moving drivers.

The point of the story is, the organizers must hire traffic cops for the event.  And get more porta-potties.  Lots of people drinking lots of  beer.  Do the math, then multiply by ten.

I took a complete lap of the festival with my flip camera running. It’s noisy and jerky, but you’ll certainly get a sense of the party atmosphere.

Posted on May 15th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts, Micro-Breweries, News, Reviews | 8 Comments »

Life is good.  I scored with an impulsive cigar purchase, and I scored with tonight’s random pairing.

Partagas Black Label Pronto (4 3/16″ x 36)

The impulsive purchase in question was a box of Partagas Black Label Prontos.  You need to understand that I don’t buy boxes of cigars.  There are just too many great cigars out there (and sitting in my humidors) for me to commit to an entire box of anything, no matter how much I might like it.  

But the demonic laugh sang from my computer, signaling the hourly deal from CigarMonster.com.  (I really need to sign them up as an advertiser if I’m going to keep pimping for them.)  It was a box of 25 small Partagas cigars for $49.99.

“No, you don’t need more cigars damn it,” I said to myself (I should probably talk to someone about these conversations.)

“But it would be nice to have some small cigars, for the many times I can’t commit to a two hour smoke.”

“No, it’s 50 bucks, man.”

“But that’s only $2 a stick.”

“Paypal or credit card?”

Famous Smoke Shop (the bastards behind CigarMonster.com) claims these are made exclusively for them, which I will take as true.  The small sticks are made from Nicaraguan and Piloto Cubano Ligero tobaccos capped in a black, and one of the oiliest Habano wrappers, I have seen, but I say that in a good way.  I didn’t allow this to mellow in my humidor, smoking it the day after the box arrived, and for that reason I think it was a little too moist.  For that reason, the burn was a little ragged at first, and I had to relight a few times, but setting these minor issues aside, this was an amazing smoke.  I never would have anticipated the rich, spicy taste and copious smoke from such a small contender.  Equally surprising, despite my intention to use these as quick smokes, it took about 35 minutes to finish this cigar.

I’ll give the Partagas Black Label Pronto a 91 on The Morris Scale.  Put a few in your travel humidor for those times when you can’t commit to a Churchill.

Spezial Pilsner by Einhorn Beer Company

The Einhorn Beer Company claims to be a California Central Coast transplant of a German beer company.  If you examine the label on the beer, there is nothing to indicate this is a domestic beer (and notice the Spezial spelling).  The company wants you to think this is a German beer, and proudly proclaims that all of their beers are brewed according to the German Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot) which was established in 1516.  That’s a bizarre claim to make, when you think about it, because I can just imagine what constituted purity in the 1500s.

But ignoring the hype, the Spezial Pilsner is a North German style, where pilsners are traditionally more bitter than in the rest of the country.  It is a full-bodied, golden-colored craft beer and has only 5% ABV.   It contains high-quality aroma hops from the Tettnang region in Germany, a small town near Lake Constance on the Austrian border.

The beer certainly pours like a German beer, with a huge foam head.  The nose was citrus, and the mouthfeel was thicker than you would expect from a pilsner.  The taste was grapefruit and very refreshing.  Great beer.  I give it another 91.

Posted on May 13th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Bargains, Beer, Cigar Facts, Cigars, Reviews | No Comments »

For the next 17 hours (until about 5:00 a.m. on May 13, 2010), you can buy tickets to the Orange County Beer Festival for just $20.  Go here for the discount.  Thanks to Dale Conjurski for the link.

Posted on May 12th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, News | No Comments »

Hey Federal Trade Commission.  You’re telling me and all the other bloggers that if we get paid for an endorsement, we damn well better disclose that fact, or face a penalty of $11,000.  Well no one has ever paid me for an endorsement, and if they ever had I wouldn’t need you to tell me that I ought to disclose that fact to my readers. 

Let’s keep things in perspective.  I mean, seriously, when Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers turned to the camera after winning Super Bowl XLIII and said, “I’m going to Disney World!”, did anyone think that was an endorsement of the amusement park?  Of course not.  We all knew he was just showing a little love for the fine organization that had given him a very large stack of cash.

So, for example, if an outstanding cigar retailer like CigarsDirect.com gets really generous and sends me a free box of ten God of Fire cigars, by Carlito, aged two years and released only in limited numbers, you can bet I’m going to show them a little love.  It’s not going to “buy” a favorable review, but it would certainly be fair and appropriate to tell my readers that while I have not yet had the honor of ordering from CigarsDirect.com because all my humidors are already overflowing, from what I have seen CigarsDirect.com stocks some hard to find cigars at good prices, and they may want to visit the website and form their own opinions.  Heck, I’ll even show you some love if you too send me a box of good cigars, suggesting that my readers should check out your website the next time they need the services of a trade commission.

I hope this has made my position perfectly clear.  Now onto tonight’s reviews.

God of Fire Churchill by Carlito

God of Fire is one of the most limited production lines made by the Fuente family in the Dominican Republic.  It came about as a joint effort between the Fuentes and the Prometheus company, which makes cigar accessories.  The God of Fire cigars come in two blends, one designed by Carlos Fuente Jr. (“Carlito”) and the other by his father, Carlos Sr.  Carlos Sr.’s blend of the 2005 vintage, in the robusto size, received a rating of 93 by Cigar Aficionado. The God of Fire Churchill I am reviewing is the 2006 vintage, released in 2009 after more than two years of aging.

The cigar is the type that smells great even before you light it up, with a sweet caramel aroma.  The construction is impressive, and revealed no soft spots.  The burn was perfectly even with a long ash, yielding copious amounts of smoke.  The stick started a little slow in taste, but soon released a strong, complex blend of pepper and coffee.

For some reason this stick draws criticism from some quarters, claiming it is over-hyped., but I throughly enjoyed the God of Fire Carlito.  With that said, at $22 each, you’d better be sure you share my opinion before you commit to a box.  A strong 92 on The Morris Scale.

Hoegaarden White Beer

Named after the Belgian village where it was first discovered, Hoegaarden wheat beer has a rich history dating back to the middle ages.  It is the original Belgian wheat beer and part of a long brewing tradition in this agriculturally rich region.  Blended with malted barley, wheat, coriander and curaçao orange peel Hoegaarden has a distinctive, smooth flavour and subtle citrusy character.  When poured it has a soft, white creamy head and pale almost shimmering appearance. Today the Hoegaarden brewery is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev.  (Thanks to Wikipedia for the background.)

It pours with a thick head, and the beer itself is very pale and cloudy.  The nose is citrus, but the taste consists of bananas and grapefruit.  I’m not sure how this ended up in the ol’ beer fridge, and I selected it with no preconceived notions, but I was very pleasantly surprised.  This is a refreshing beer with excellent drinkability.

Posted on May 11th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts, Beer History, Cigar Facts, Cigars, Reviews | No Comments »

Dixie Jazz Amber Light

I picked this one at random, not even noticing it was a light beer.  It’s a great concept, giving you the option of a light amber beer when you want to save a few calories (just 92.5 calories).  And the taste did not disappoint.  It pours dark, with a nice foam head and creamy mouth feel.  The taste was rich and citrus, not too sweet, with a nice finish.  The Dixie Brewing company is located in New Orleans, as you might have guessed, so pick up a six pack and write it off as a donation to the Katrina fund.  I liked this beer.  An 89 on The Morris Scale.  (Since wines, beers and cigars are traditionally ranked on a scale of 1 to 100, my ten point scale was causing problems.  “I give this a 9.5.”  “Wow, it must really suck!”  So I’m selling out to convention.)

G.A.R. Robusto (5.0” x 50)

I love Nicaraguan tobacco.  The G.A.R. by George A. Rico (oh, I get it) contains a blend of Nicaraguan long leave tobaccos and a Corojo wrapper.  Perfect construction and burn.  The stick was very spicy, to the point that I could feel the spices on my lips.  The taste was complex and strong throughout.  Not a truly great cigar, but a very good, enjoyable cigar.  An 87 on The Morris Scale.

Posted on May 6th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Cigars, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Any app that can help with the task of finding and researching beer is okay in my book.  I found a couple that now hold places of honor on my iPhone.

The problems with so many iPhone apps that rely on data bases is that the data is so sparse that they little more than novelties.  Both of these apps did a really good job of finding the information they were supposed to find.

BeerCompass

The very cool BeerCompass app finds the bars, pubs, and taverns closest to you and detects the very quickest path to beer refreshment.  When you open the app, two beer angels drop down with a large compass.  Just touch the  screen, and BeerCompass takes you to the nearest beer joint.  Select one of the search results, and you are taken to Google maps for directions to said beer joint.

A nice touch is that the sounds of a bar play while you are reviewing the search results, getting you in the mood for being among fellow beer drinkers.  It occurs to me this could be used to ditch calls (“sorry, I can’t hear you, it’s too loud in here”), although in most instances people are trying to hide the fact that they are at a bar.

The searches weren’t perfect – Jamba Juice came up as a beer destination – but most of the best beer establishments near me did appear in the list.

Available for just .99 at iTunes.

BeerCloud

Powered by GreatBrewers.com, BeerCloud can track down your favorite beers in your neighborhood, and provide information about the beer and brewer. 

BeerCloud simplifies the process of picking a beer while you are staring at the racks at your favorite liquor store, and/or knowing what you are drinking once you get it.

I entered a number of beers, and it nailed most of them, returning extensive information.  Supposedly you can take a picture of the barcode on a beer, and it will callup the information, but I sure couldn’t get it to work.  But that’s a minor point, since it’s probably faster just to type a few letters from the name of the beer and find it that way.

The app is free, and is also available for Android devices.

Posted on May 6th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Bargains, Beer, Beer Facts, Reviews | No Comments »

Always drink responsibly.

Posted on April 29th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts | No Comments »