1/16: Sprecher's Shakparo

Shakparo is a gluten-free beer. Instead of wheat or barley, the grains used are sorghum and millet. It looks like the ales and lagers that I am used to, with a bright golden color. It smells like beer too. But the taste... I'll let Sprecher tell it...

"An unfiltered, light, crisp ale with a cider or fruit profile and a dry vinous aftertaste..."

"Vinous" means "related to wine" or "wine-like," but if it meant vine-like or grass-y, then they would have described what I tasted. In every mouthful I had three distinct flavors; at first ale, then apple juice-y sweetness, and lastly the lingering taste of dry grass. The grass-y aftertaste was not pleasant, but much preferred over the overly sweet apple juice flavor. The only part of the flavor that I liked - the ale stage, was the one that lasted the briefest. 

It is a West African style of beer - a region of the world where wheat and barley don't readily grow.  It was first brewed for Milwaukee's African World Fest, but being glutten-free meant people on certain restictive diets could drink beer again.  That audience buys enough of this beer to keep Sprecher brewing it year round.

I am glad that they make beers for people with celiac disease, or other gluten issues, but since I do not have these afflictions, I do not think I will ever have another of these.  I give it a 2.  But God help me, Sprecher makes another gluten-free beer made with bananas, sorghum and millet.  It is called Mbege, and I am thinking that I should try it sometime.  Maybe I am a gluten for punishment.  (Sorry about that.)

-Jim from Milwaukee

1/15: Sprecher's Russian Imperial Stout

In Ultimate, (p. 118), MJ calls porters and stouts "winter warmers" and "the most wintry beers of all."  Describing them as "extra-strong, almost tarlike."  In Companion, (p. 189), he defines stouts as "strong porters,"  "brewed strong to travel."  Much of this style when to North Sea ports, where it was popular among Scandinavians and Czarist Russian court, and this is why the variety became known "as Russian Stout and Imperial Stout,"  Ultimate, (p. 118).

"Tar" was the first word that came to my mind when it hit the back of my throat.  Its blackness coated my mouth with a warmness that lingered in my mouth.  As for flavor, I agree with MJ, "tar-like notes with 'burnt' fruitiness and alcoholic warmth," (Companion, p.189).  I like his description, "the fruitiness is reminiscent of the burnt currants on the edge of a cake that has just been removed from the oven."  In my head it was somewhere between cherry and raisin, and I think currant fits the bill.  There is a hint of sweetness, but I wouldn't call it sweet.

When it comes to the alcoholic part of the equation, MJ describes  one variety as "whiskey-ish," another as "rummy" and yet another as "sherry-ish."  I fear I don't have enough experience with these beverages to classify Sprecher's variety.  Its alcohol content is high; 7.9% abv, but it is lower that that of the two imperials that MJ spotlights in Ultimate; one being 8.9, and the other 10.0 abv.

Yes, I'd gladly have another (3) on a cold winter's day (or night.)

Jim from Milwaukee

1/13: Chameleon's Witty

WWitty, a wheat ale brewed with spices.  Like yesterday's 312 wheat ale, this one looks like lager.  But I would never confuse these two due to the spices.

These spices are right up front and in your face.  But what spices are they?  I could identify a lemon-y back end due to the yeast, but I couldn't identify the overpowering spiciness.  Maybe ginger, maybe rosemary, something sharp and bold.  So off to the internet I went.  The answer was "grains of paradise, coriander and orange peel."  I have had "Belgian White" beers with coriander and orange peel before, so the "different" thing must be "grains of paradise." 

Wikipedia (the previous link) says grains of paradise is an African spice in the ginger family that is rarely used in America except in some beers.  Also the article says that it can be used as a substitute for black pepper.  I can see that now.  An hour after I finished the beer, I can now identify a peppery tingle in my mouth.

Okay, so now that I know what that taste is, what do I think of it?  I think others might like this beer, but it isn't for me.  So that is a 2 on my rating scale.

Now on to "Chameleon Brewing Company, Glendale, Wisconsin."  I bought this beer at the gift shop at Sprecher in Glendale when I purchased the another non-Sprecher brew brewed in Glendale, Bucky Blonde. Bucky was attributed to Lithia Brewing, so I figured it was brewed under contract by Sprecher.  Maybe that isn't the case, because that is not true of Chameleon.  According to their website, Chameleon was founded by Randy Sprecher.  So Sprecher Brewery is making and selling Chameleon for Randy Sprecher.  Maybe these off labels are trying to be bold and be loved by a few, and that is a noble effort, but they don't connect with me.

1/9: Sprecher's Abbey Triple

Welcome to Belgium. 

OK, this beer was brewed here in Milwaukee County, but this is the first Belgian style ale that I have had in My Year of Beer.  In Companion, MJ lists six types of Belgian ales - one of which is "Trappist."  The Trappist religious order maintains six different monasteries - five in Belgium and one in the Netherlands.  They make about 20 different beers, and only these beers can be called "Trappist."  But if you want to brew a beer in that style - relatively strong, bottle-conditioned, plenty of yeast, fruity and aromatic - you can use the word "Abbey" instead. (pp. 131-133) The "fruit" that I taste is apple, and it has a crispness like an apple cider.  It even looked a bit like apple cider. While with yesterday's red ale, I felt that the malt kept the hops balanced, with this beer, I feel the yeast is accomplishing that task.  So what does "relatively strong" mean?  Well in Ultimate, MJ lists the alcohol content of American Ale, Redhook ESB at 5.4 alcohol by volume (abv), Goose Island's Honker's Ale at 3.8 abv, Franziskaner Kristallklar Weissebier st 5.0 abv... and this Abbey Triple tips the scales at 8.4 abv.    Four of the five Abbey Beers he details in Ultimate are between 8.0 and 9.0 abv.  The other, Orval, is "only" 6.2 abv.  According to MJ, single, double and triple correspond to the strength of the beer.  I'm feeling the triple.

MJ and other beer aficionados take their Belgians very seriously.  In Ultimate, he calls abbey beers aperitifs - a beverage to whet the appetite.   Elsewhere he says, "some of the abbey beers are excellent, characterful brews, but none is a classic." (Companion, p. 133)  Maybe not, but I'd have another of these - so it rates a 3. 

1/1: Bucky Blonde Ale

 

Beer #1:  Bucky Blonde Ale by West Bend Lithia Beer, brewed in Glendale, WI by Sprecher Brewing.

 

I chose this one to celebrate the Badger's playing in today's Rose Bowl.  One Bucky didn't have a great game in Pasadena, and the other Bucky didn't have a great showing in my glass.  The label mentions that this is a pre-prohibition recipe of West Bend Lithia Beer, "brewed with the finest mineral containing water."  Whatever. 

 

I picked this one up at Sprecher Brewery in Glendale.  At first I thought that Sprecher was highlighting some local micro-microbrews, but in small print on the side it says, "Brewed in Glendale, WI."  So this is brewed under contract by Sprecher.  It has a nice golden color, with a good head.  It was hoppy and crisp and dry on my palate... but I don't like ales. I give it a 2; "I can understand why others drink it."  Ale is just not my cup of beer.