Yerevan lager

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a beer that you've likely never had.

On the rare occasion that I get to a Middle-Eastern restaurant, I'm often interested in trying something new. In this case, I spotted a beer list with several beers I'd never heard of (including "Bule Moon"...), so I opted for one to go with my kabob.

What I ended up with was Yerevan Premium Beer, imported from Armenia.

Named after the capitol city, Yerevan is considered a European Pale Lager (think Stella Artois or Heineken) that pours a hazy, light gold. The carbonation is a bit light, as is the mild 4.6% ABV alcohol content.

Likely brewed with wheat or rice, this beer has very mild flavors that are slightly sweet, a little citrus, and actually reminded me of a sweet white wine. 

This actually wouldn't be a bad summer beer, but I really think you need to keep this beer cold to maintain the flavors. If it warms up to room temp, I'm thinking it would start to get REALLY sweet - and not in a good way.

Bottom line, you're unlikely to find this, and that might not be a bad thing. It's a bit of an oddball that's fun to try, but not worth seeking out on purpose. 

If anyone else has tried Yerevan, we'd love to know what you thought.

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Centennial IPA

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian, ever the IPA lover, has an IPA that he's not quite a fan of.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I'm actually more lukewarm on this one, but you may enjoy Centennial IPA from Founders.

American IPAs, with typically very strong hops flavors and bitterness, can come in a range of flavors from fruity grapefruit or lemon (my favorite), to pine, to grass to a "resin" flavor. 

This one falls into what I'd consider to be the pine category. Some people LOVE this flavor, so don't shy away from it because of me. 

It pours a dark gold color with good carbonation, and a higher 7.2 abv alcohol content. It almost wants to be fruity, but didn't quite get there for me. It's slightly sweet with a bitter aftertaste, and lots of hops.

The fact is, Founders makes some REALLY great beer, and you can taste the quality in this one. While it's not my favorite, it's a great example of a pine-esque IPA, typical of styles traditionally brewed in the eastern US. 

If you like IPAs or pale ales, and don't care for grapefruit flavors, you'll definitely want to give this one a try. Beer geeks will love it. 

Cheers!

Christian and Eric

Hard Wired

For Tasting Tuesday, Christian has a coffee porter that'll get you wired.

It was a chilly night here in Maryland and, after a hearing a performance of a Bach concerto, a good dessert and a smooth porter sounded like just the perfect thing to finish off this elegant evening.

And there it was on the restaurant's beer list: Hard Wired Coffee Porter from Left Hand Brewing.

As you can expect from a porter, it pours a dark, opaque black with a tan head and good carbonation from the addition of nitrogen (which will give the beer a creamier consistency). It's a mild 6% ABV, which is also typical of porters.

There's a nice coffee aroma, which continues into the taste, along with mild, sweet chocolate and toffee. It also has a slightly bready taste (also typical of porters) with a very mild bitterness and a slightly dry finish. 

Overall, it's a really nice porter that has the potential for really big, overpowering flavors (coffee, especially), but is nicely balanced and nothing seems to overwhelm the other flavors. 

What really helps this is the nitro addition, which we've found actually mutes the flavors slightly. I suspect the coffee would be more pronounced if you poured this beer straight out of a bottle.

Bottom line? If you normally drink coffee, this is a great beer to try, particularly with a rich, chocolatey dessert. The flavors would complement each other nicely.

Who's up for trying this beauty? 

Cheers!

Christian and Eric