TLDR Beer Club

[Tree Surgeon]

Quick question: How does everyone pronounce 'Rochefort' and 'Chimay?'

Is it ROCKfort or ROSHfort? Kimay or is the 'ch' pronounced the same as in 'chip?'

[MrWookie]

My guess at Rochefort is ROAK-fort (Roak rhymes with oak and toke).

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
Quick question: How does everyone pronounce 'Rochefort' and 'Chimay?'

Is it ROCKfort or ROSHfort? Kimay or is the 'ch' pronounced the same as in 'chip?'

[/ QUOTE ]

no, it's like more shh-may, with a quick "ih" between the shhh and may.

glad I could explain that so clearly

[RunDownHouse]

Yeah, I felt like a huge idiot for always asking for a "Ki-may" and then hearing someone say it "Shy-may."

Kind of along the same lines, I went to a St. Louis micromicro-brew a couple weeks ago. Its literally 20 paces from where I was staying, and they make good beer, so its a favorite. My mom ordered their weizen, but the waitress informed her that they were out. She asked what they had that was similar, and I spoke up right away, telling her to order their saison. The waitress added that she may like a German bock, because it was the most similar to the weizen and the saison would be "a lot darker" than the weizen.

I didn't say anything, but looked at the beer list again, and it flat-out stated that the weizen was close to their saison, and of course when the beers came out the bock was dark as [censored], while the saison I later ordered was lighter, spicier, and in general a closer match.

I still think not saying anything is the right course, because there's always the chance that you're wrong and because often making a fuss causes more problems than it solves. But then I think about my mom getting a drink she didn't really want, and I think about someone asking for a white wine recommendation and getting a red, and I think its ridiculous for a waiter at this small brew pub to be so clueless. I mean, I can understand not picking up on the finer points of IPA v. APA, but a weizen/saison/bock difference seems about like BMC/stout to me... especially when the menu says that they're close.

In any case, I'm fine with going to a ballgame and guzzling BMC to get a good buzz, and if its the right situation, I'm fine with getting an $8 Belgian to go with my food, but I'm never sure where the "beer snob" line stands, and in this case it caused me not to say anything when I knew the waitress' recommendation was clearly not something my mom wanted.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

she should know the difference between a bock and a saison.

I think your play is to nod politely, and then say "perhaps, but I have hunch the saison is a better choice here"

[GMontag]

Has anyone had a chance to taste the Ten Thousand Brew Ale from Rogue? I'm really interested in trying it, but I don't feel like spending the $20 for a bottle only to find out it isn't worth it.

[born42slippy]

many good things Great about beer, but i use it to wash down the brandy on my good days

[MrWookie]

Tonight, I'm going to do a little roundup for a variety of beer I've never tried before: Maibocks. I picked up three, one from Einbecker, the German brewery that I believe invented the Bock style of beer. The second is from Munich's famous Hofbraeu Haus, and the third is an American imitation from Flying Dog. I'm not really sure what to expect from this style of beer. I just know its brewed similar to a Bock, and it traditionally comes out in May (Mai auf Deutsch). Yes, I'm a little out of season, but I forgot about this one when I was out shopping last at BotW. I paid $2.29 for the 11.2 oz bottle from Einbecker. It's a nice 6.5%, a little on the strong side, which is common for bocks.



The beer pours a clear orange color without much persistent carbonation.



The beer smells, well, not all that strongly. It smells like it's malt is a little on the light side, and the hopping is similar to a decent pilsner. There's just a hint of sweetness and of apples. Taking a sip, it's about what I expected based on the smell, which isn't really an inspiring variety of beer. It's a little sweeter with a caramel-ish flavor and a hair maltier than the average pilsner, and it does have that hint of apples. All in all, though, I'm not really impressed. I'm going to give it [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], and I considered giving it a lowly 2 hearts.

I'll do the offering from Hofbraeu next. Theirs was a little more expensive, $2.65 for a 12 oz bottle. They don't specify the ABV.



The appearance is almost identical to the Einbecker - orange w/o much head at all.



The aroma is similar, too. It smells a little bit hoppier. The flavor is a little hoppier, too. It's also a little drier. I like the hops in this better, but I miss the hint of sweetness. I think I like this one a shade better, but not enough for a higher rating. I give it the same [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and a half [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

Alright, the last beer up to try and save the variety is the American offering from Flying Dog, which they call their Heller Hound Anti-Spring. It weighs in at a comparable 6.2% ABV, and it was a little cheaper, at $1.99 for a 12 oz bottle.



The Flying Dog pours a shade lighter than the German Maibocks, and it has a little more head. It's still not all that persistent, but it hangs out at least a little longer.



The aroma of this beer doesn't seem to be as hoppy, but I smell a richer malt. Taking a sip, and it's clear that this is my favorite of the bunch. The malt comes through better, and I like the hop make up more, too. There's more of the citrus flavor to the hops that I like, along with a little bit of woodiness and sweetness in the malt. I'm going to give this beer [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img][img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], which might be a little generous. I think that Maibocks are just not my style of beer. Maybe someone out there likes them better than I do, but if this was all I had to drink during the spring, I'd be lamenting the end of the bocks and eisbocks from the winter and longing for the hefeweizens of the summer. If I was going to reach for a lightly hopped, light malt beer, I'd reach for an APA, say, from Flying Dog or DFH, over one of these every time.

One thing I should note, though, is that the German Maibocks were in green bottles. These generally aren't as good to the beer as brown ones due to damage from light. It's not a big deal in the very short term, but I couldn't tell you when exactly they were bottled. If it was a long time ago, they might have deteriorated. Still, given the quality of the Flying Dog Maibock, which was better, but featured similar flavors, I wouldn't expect the German ones to be that much better. Beer lovers reading this might pick up one or two bottles of these if they're curious, but people just looking for a good beer to drink probably shouldn't bother.

[Skjonne]

RDH,
We need to get rid of ignorant waitresses at brewpubs. I think you over-polited it. I would've told her to stfu and to bring my mother a damn saison asap. Bock=Weizen? OMG get the [censored] outahere

Tree,
The Rochefort is from the french part of Belgium. It's pronounced 'Roshfor' or something. Rosh rhymes with Posh ( Spice Girls) and the t is silent

[RunDownHouse]

[ QUOTE ]
RDH,
We need to get rid of ignorant waitresses at brewpubs. I think you over-polited it. I would've told her to stfu and to bring my mother a damn saison asap. Bock=Weizen? OMG get the [censored] outahere

[/ QUOTE ]
I dunno, I felt like that was a lose-lose. Its a tiny ( under 300 barrels) brewpub, the waitress is obviously clueless... I guess I just felt like having some good food without disruption was probably better than insisting on a proper match. My mom likes to have an ice-cold Rolling Rock after she cuts the grass, so who cares, right?

Sometimes, though, when I eat out a a place that has a wine list four pages long and then only offers BMC, I feel like shaking whoever is in charge and shouting, "Beer is such a better match for all your plates!"