A quasi-daily examination of beer and things related to beer.
Note to the Reader: This is the second review of Well's Banana Beer, for the first one check here.
A Brief Overview
Wells and Young’s Brewery began as a small brewery in the city of Bedford, UK. Originally founded by Charles Wells in 1876, it has stayed within the same family for 5 generations. Combined in 2006 from the separate parts of Charles Well’s LTD and Young’s Brewery, it has the distinction of being the UK’s largest independent brewer. Beyond carrying their own line of products (notables including Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and Well’s Banana Bread Beer), they are also the UK brewer and distributor for Kirin Ichiban, Red Stripe and Corona. While they are most well-known in the US for their speciality brews, in the UK their big money line is bitters.
Some Thoughts on Design
I don’t know what to think of this fact, but many brewers claim that water makes all the difference in the final product. The website for the Wells and Young’s seems to place much stock in its water source: a well dug by the original Wells.
My Experience
So the time came for me to have a shot at this beer. Pizza had been consumed, followed by cheesecake, and Cranium was spread out across the table. I must note that prior to my subject de jour, I drank a bottle each of Spaten Dunkel and Kirin Ichiban (I had a couple of sixers in the the fridge to choose from). So I poured this fruity beast into my favorite glass for sampling beer. The first thing I noticed was the insane head on this beer. Thick, frothy, and super white. Almost like a soda, but with much more staying power.
The first taste was sweet, a little sickly sweet, a tad contrived (not sure why this surprised me, its a banana bread beer. How much more contrived a thing can I imagine?). Lots of banana, touch of hops and spices on the backside of the swallow. Its a light empty beer without much going for it except bananas. Lots and lots of bananas. I had to force the final couple of swallows down.
Final Thoughts
I realize that when you try to create something original there is always the chance that the product may be unappreciated by the masses. I don’t consider myself to be the masses. I enjoy beers from the smallest of craft brews to the big boy breweries, but Well’s Banana Bread Beer did not impress me at all. It’s a gimmicky beer that’s more gimmick than good beer. If you are bored and itching to waste 4 bucks on a beer that tastes like bananas, be my guest.
Rating: 2.3
Pair it with: Dessert
This evening marked my first attempt at blogging while cooking, and it doubled as my first crack at one of the more famous signature dishes in all the culinary world, Julia Childs's boeuf bourguignon. It's a traditional French recipe, akin to a beef stew or carne asada. For dessert, I served a cheesecake with raspberries. Naturally, both courses were accompanied by some excellent beer accouterments.
Unfortunately, my endeavor started behind the 8-ball. I didn't have any red wine, and I was short a couple of the seasonsings. Still, I set out with what I had. The dish started with some chopped bacon in a pan; the pieces were taken out and replaced with the fat by butter, mooncap mushrooms and white onion. 
That mixture cooked for a while and was then placed in a separate dish. Back into the original pan went more butter (It's a French recipe, what'd you expect?), along with some cubed sirloin. The meat gave me in the inspiration for the accompanying dinner beers, a pair of Chimays (rouge and bleue). The Bleue is a little darker and sweeter than the rouge (which has a robust brown color of its own), but both have an earthy tone that stands up well to strong red meats. And in addition to being a great flavor match, I thought the provincial France/Belgium combination to be somewhat fitting.
To the beef was added some flour and the wine to make a gravy, and here's where the Monty and Julia script really went off the tracks. Riesling took the place of the burgundy, and while the mixture stewed, the difference was noticeable. But after cooking for a while, the scent of the wine burned off, and into the pot went some sage and thyme, as well as the mushrooms, onions and bacon.
While this mixture simmered, I quickly threw the soft egg noodles into a pan with a lot more butter. (And yes, I'm fairly certain that Dan got a kick out of the phrase "threw the soft egg noodles".) Those noodles were then plated and topped with the beef mixture, as you saw in this articles first picture.
Dessert was a plain cheesecake topped with whipped cream and raspberries. It was served with a glass of Lindemans Framboise Lambic, a raspberry beer that is also from Belgium. The lambic is extremely sweet, a characteristic that makes it a perfect match for less-sweet, creamy desserts. It's worth storing away that Lindemans is the perfect introductory brew for dates unaccustomed to ordering beers.
Raison D'Etre
Brewer: Dogfish Head, Milton, Delaware, United States
Style: "A deep mahogany ale"
ABV: 8.0%
A few years back, Esquire magazine named this the best beer in America. It's certainly one of the more ambitious, as this beer is brewed with Belgian sugar beets and green raisins, a selection of ingredients that should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Dogfish Head's methods.
Raison D'Etre starts of sweet, with the flavor of brown sugar the initial note. There is a malty feel to most of the drink, with the taste of raisins coming on towards the end. All of this expected and altogether tasty, but the closing - a wash of dryness that you'd associate more with a wine than a beer - might be off-putting to taste buds not accustomed to their beers sticking around longer than usual. This is a beer for port drinkers.
I really wanted to love this beer. Other Dogfish brews are among my favored drinks, and the unusual selection of ingredients had piqued my interest. I'm not sure what I expected Raison D'Etre to taste like. Maybe I was expecting something a lot sweeter than what I got. And while I can't withhold points because it didn't meet my unstated (and unsolicited) expectations, it's not a beer that I will frequent. Even so, it's worth trying, if only for the appreciation of the craft.
Rating: 6.5
Recommended with: Since I expected something sweet here, I would suggest that this drink be enjoyed with what it's missing: how about some green grapes and almonds, or going the other way, some black olive tapenade on French bread toast?
Brewer: Samuel Smith Brewery, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 7.0%
Regular beer drinkers and readers of this space should immediately register the qualifier "imperial" with meaning "more alcohol", and Samuel Smith's version is no exception. However, what is uncharacteristic of this style and drink is the smoothness. For certain, hints of chocolate and coffee are present - as much should be expected with any decent stout, imperial or not - but this one is has a palette that is surprisingly refreshing as well.
Having first opened its doors over 250 years ago, Samuel Smith's is Yorkshire's oldest brewery. Sam Smith's (as it is locally referred) is probably better known States-side for the excellent Oatmeal Stout. The company's Bitter, a traditional British-style pub ale is also very good, as are the organic beers, a trend that finds Samuel Smith among the pioneers.
Rating: 7.0
Recommended with: Most of the time, I would suggest a chocolaty dessert to accompany a drink as dark and sweet as this one, but I think a reversal is in order. Due to its aforementioned smoothness, I think this drink would pair well with a salty appetizer, such as calamari served Rhode Island style.
My first trip to Toro Burger (2609 N Mesa St, El Paso, Texas) consisted of these three drinks: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Brooklyn Lager and Young's Chocolate Stout (for dessert)*. This was a long awaited visit for me, having passed by the place numerous times and it coming recommended by friends just as often. Two of those friends joined me on this visit, providing the necessary third component of a worthwhile dining experience for this reviewer.
*As far as introductions go, that's an opening gambit along the lines of "Smells Like Teen Spirit/In Bloom/Come as You Are".
The menu lists house-created burgers, a roster of fried sides, some salads and milkshakes. Of course, if so desired, you can construct your own burger, selecting from a variety of cheeses, sauces and toppings. I went with the Green Chile Burger*; angus beef topped with a mass of chilés and onions. Along with a pile of sweet potato fries, mine was a more than substantial meal, the heat of the peppers just enough as to not overpower the savory and fruity flavors. Most satisfying was the actual taste of beef - too many places serve up frozen patties that taste like a hamburger but hardly like actual meat; Toro's burgers are robust.
*My dinnermates enjoyed the Veggie and Ultimate Blue Crab, neither of which actually feature hamburger.
The layout of the restaurant is of the nouveau American bistro variety: lots of metal, loud music and multicolored lighting for a purposefully cramped, urban feel. When seated inside, it's a nice look, but the outside seating, unfortunately, rests directly next to the parking lot and only a few yards from a major road. The appropriateness of the décor within context means a lot more to me than the actual aesthetics, so in that sense, Toro Burger's design works in spite of the stripmall location. Moreover, between the grub, drinks and company, the Toro Burger experience is on that I certainly would like to revisit.
(Photo via.)
Carlsberg was founded in 1847 and, even in comparison with many other famous breweries, has an incredible history. J.C. Jacobsen named the company after his favorite son, Carl, and, while that is a cute story, it has absolutely nothing to do with the beer other than its name. The Jacobsens took their beer seriously, building an impressive chemistry department that benefited the beer world as well as the scientific community. The yeast used to brew pale ale was discovered by a chemist working for the company in 1883, Emil Hansen, and was named Saccharomyces carlsbergensis. The idea of ph (the measure of acidity or basicity) was also a product of the Carlsberg chemists.
J.C. Jacobsen was an incredible philanthropist and a hell of a brewer. He industrialized the art of beer making in Denmark, building a powerhouse (number 4 in the brewing world) that fueled his other personal interest: art. His collection grew to the point that, at his death, it became its own museum: The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. The brand name is also famously attached to Liverpool F.C. in the Premiership, serving as the shirt sponsor since 1991.
Some Thoughts on Design
The green bottle and distinct script of the logo makes Carlsberg an easy beer to spot in the beer aisle. Their self-deprecating and amusing tagline, “probably the best beer in the world,” was created in the early 70s and was originally voiced in commercials by Orson Wells.
My Experience
I drank it straight from the bottle while playing cards with my wife. A pale lager, the beer has a nice aroma, grainy with a good mix of malts and hops. I like the taste as it hits the mouth, a crisp, smooth, drinkable beer, with a light bite to the sides of the tongue. This is what I imagined beer would taste like before I tasted beer. I drank two that night, enjoying both, especially the end of the second one, as I am a lightweight and get tipsy quickly.
Final Thoughts
Carlsberg is a good drinking beer. Easy to drink with almost anything, including cheeseburgers and fries. Excellent experience.
Rating 8.7
Recommended with: Whataburger.
Brewer: New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
ABV: 6.6%
You know the New Belgium flavor. Every beer the company makes has it, whether it's the slightly-there taste in 1554 or the dominant flavor as in Fat Tire, every New Belgium beer has that sweet-to-sour mouthfeel with that bitter-yet-malty finish. Most certainly a positive distinction, a trademark of sorts that comforting for fans of their beer and inviting for newcomers.
2 Degrees Below, NB's winter ale, is not immune to this characteristic. And thankfully so, because it's the prefect characteristic for a cold winter's drink. While most winter warmers get that distinction because of high alcohol levels that make the beers operate more like ports or aperitifs that usual brews. The end of the glass still offers a nice boozy feel, which for long nights in, is perfectly acceptable.
Rating: 7.2
Recommended with: A few days ago, I mentioned that I was enjoying a glass with a slice of pumpkin pie. That worked splendidly. I would think that a similarly-themed seasonal dessert, like spiced pears, would pair (sorry) just as well.