The Rotation - Beer Post

As you all know, I am an unrelenting beer snob.  Okay, snob may be too strong of a word, because I will happily drink whatever beer given to me at a party.  But if I'm going to spend my own money, I'm not going to buy Pabst.  Not that there's anything wrong with Pabst. . .okay, there totally is something wrong with Pabst, but that's a topic for another post.

Now, thanks to my days spent at the Green Leafe Tavern, I break down my beers into two categories - beer I drink to explore the world of beer, and beer that I drink because I want to drink beer.  Seems odd, but once you get into beer, you find that there are thousands of flavors in beer, from sweet to sour.  Belgium has really lead the way in this, though it does seem ironic that a country without a functioning government, and which is constantly on the verge of splitting in two, could lead the world in anything, but its true.  I have had my mind blown by the likes of Oerbier by the Mad Brewers of Belgium, Rodenbach (the first sour beer I've ever tasted, and easily the best), Allagash Interlude (from Maine, true, but very Belgium-ish). 

But, like I said, sometimes I don't want my mind blown, I just want to drink beer.  For these times, I have the Rotation - beers that I tend to buy that are almost always in my refrigerator.  Like any good rotation, I go from one beer to the other depending on mood, but I almost always come back to these beers.  So, without further ado, here are the beers that are in my rotation:


Stone Brewing - IPA - Stone is the godfather of San Diego's craft brewing scene.  Okay, maybe not the godfather, but definitely the leader, defining San Diego's brewing style for the past 15 years.  And for me, the best beer Stone produces is the IPA.  Its light, crisp, and bitter as hell - the product of a ridiculous amount of hops added to the beer that gives it its fragrance and spice.  Now, I love all of Stone's beers, but I always come back to the IPA.  Always.

Grupo Modelo - Pacifico Clara - Here's proof that I'm not a beer snob - I drink Pacifico.  Its basically Corona, but with slightly more character.  I don't know why I prefer Pacifico to Budweiser or Corona or Coors, but I do.  There, I said it.  Let's move on.


Ballast Point - Yellowtail Pale Ale - Okay, as a rule, I dislike pale ales because every craft brewer makes a pale ale.  It is, after all, the easiest beer for a homebrewer to make, and is usually the first beer that craft brewers learned to make.  As a result, most brewers hold onto the pale ale out of nostalgia.  That said, Yellowtail Pale Ale is not a true pale ale, but rather, a German style Kolsch ale.  As a result, its a sort of a cross between a pilsner and a pale ale. . .definitely a plus for a rotation beer.


Julian Hard Cider - Hard Cider - Okay, here's the curveball.  Julian Hard Cider isn't a beer at all, its a cider.  At around 7% abv, its alcohol content is pretty much like a beer, but instead of being made of barley, hops and yeast, its simply apples and yeast.  Anyway, the cider made it to the Rotation by being so damned good and food friendly.  Its completely dry, slightly acidic, smells of apples, light and crisp.  The only problem I have with this cider is that my girlfriend likes it as much as I do.

Guinness/Czechvar/Pilsner Urquell - Okay, these are three very different beers, but they fit into my foreign beers category.  While Czechvar and Pilsner Urquell are both lagers, they are completely different from Pacifico.  Specifically, both are crisp with a good amount of hops.  Seriously, try Czechvar and you'll never really want to drink Budweiser (which stole its name from Czechvar, long story) again.  Guinness, of course, is the great beer of Ireland.  And as much as I hate the conglomerate that owns the brewery (Black lager? Seriously?) I love the beer.  Whenever I'm drinking out with friends, and I don't know what to order, I'll order a Guinness.  Its my go-to beer.

So, as I said, here are the beers in my rotation.  Are they my favorites? Not really.  But they are all good beers (or ciders) in their own right.  So, if you haven't tried them yet, do so.

Beer and Monogamy

Ah, the glories of the internet. Without it, I would never have found this article linking alcohol consumption with monogamy. After reading the journal article, there is certainly a question as to whether or not alcohol consumption and monogamy have a specious relationship, like storks and babies (there is a positive correlation between stork populations and birth rates in Sweden caused by the fact that storks live in rural areas where the residents have more kids), or a positive correlation. Unfortunately, the authors never really describe why there is a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and monogamy that exists to this day.

So, why is it that alcohol consumption = (at least in theory) monogamy? If I had to speculation, I would say that the reason is beer goggles. That is, the tendency of drunk people to engage in riskier sex than they normally would (and alcohol, we love you for it). This tendency leads to some problems, especially in the area of determining the parentage of the child. Plus, there are some drunken hook-ups that should never be discussed (beer - helping ugly people breed since 1800 b.c.) What's interesting about monogamy is that its a statement that all children born to the wife are assumed to be the children of the husband. All other relationships with other women, under the Roman/Greek version of monogamy, as stated in the article, are strictly informal, and the children produced were considered illegitimate. Problems with beer goggles solved.

As women gained more equality, there was a push to do away with informal polygyny (because, apparently, women don't like it when their men have sex with other women), and we are left with what we have today.

In the more, ahem, sober world, there was no need to worry about spontaneous hook-ups because, well, everyone was sober. So, rather than informalize relationships - to the point of ignoring their existence - these societies formalize them into marriages. The problem is that polygyny is inherently biased towards younger, poorer males - the exact kind of people who tend to do fun things like lead revolts and commit crimes - because they can't compete with older, richer men for mates.

Anyway, for whatever the reason, HOORAY BEER!!!

Pre-Thanksgiving Rant

For what seems like an eternity, the corner of 6th and Broadway, about two blocks from where I work, was empty or in construction.  About a month ago, they finally put in a brewery and restaurant.  Now being a bit of a beer snob, I was pretty stoked.  A decent brewery right by work would be kickass.

But then I walked by the place today and saw the name: Beer Company Restaurant and Brewery.  Seriously, "Beer Company?" What, were the owners too lazy to come up with a cliche Irish name? And it gets worse - the house beers are called: Brown Ale, Pale Ale, Hef, IPA, and Red Ale.  And the menu?  Well, its literally the standard pub fare.  There is absolutely no originality in the menu, in the name, or anything.

And that pisses me off because the whole point of the craft brewing movement was specifically to avoid generic beer.  Don't get me wrong, the macrobrews are just fine, but craft brewing is all about experimentation, fun, and some profit.  What's the point of brewing beer if you're going to brew the exact same beer as everyone else.  More to the point, why have a restaurant when you don't even have a name for it? Just call yourself Applebee's and be done with it.  Actually, wait, Applebee's has an original name.

Ugh.

How About Them Padres. . .

In case you haven't heard, my favorite team, Los Padres de San Diego (heh), are in first place by 3 and a half games and owners of the best record in the National League.  Woot!  As a Padres fan and season ticket owner, I feel its necessary to gloat at this moment before the whole thing comes crashing down.

Going into this season, most of us diehards were cautiously optimistic about this season.  Unlike last season, where the Padres were beset with trade rumors and over-the-hill veterans (which lead to total disarray in the infield, outfield and pitching staff), the Padres entered the year with a solid core of young players at all positions.   It was this group that did exceptionally well toward the end of last season, and gave me some hope.

However, this team has exceeded my expectations in surprising ways.  For instance, every year for the past four years, I heard the same story - the Padres are going to steal more bases this year - and every year the Padres were one of the worst baserunning teams in baseball.  Suddenly this year, the team leads the majors in stolen bases.  The pitching is phenomenal - teams that are behind after seven innings have no chance.  Right now, the Padres have kept opposing teams to two runs or less in 17 games out of the 34 games played.  17 games!

Now granted, some of this has to do with playing in Petco Park ("where fly balls go to die"), but here's the thing - for the first time since Petco opened, the Padres are built to play in Petco.  No more station to station players.  No more guys dependent on hitting opposite field home runs.  No more slow pokes.  And the front office has figured out that "hey, pitchers free agents will play at Petco for a discount because they get to pitch at Petco."

So, I'm glad to be able to go to the games, and if you live in San Diego, so should you.  Sure the food continues to suck, but the beer is cold (and at $8 a beer, it better be), and the team is hot.  Woohoo!

Hooray Beer!

Per the Men's Journal San Diego is the best beer town in the country. Suck it Portland! Anyway, in a belated post, being the week after Beer Week, I thought I'd write a tribute to beer in my hometown. Hooray Beer!

Contrary to the blandness that tends to befall San Diego (the result of waves of immigrants from the Midwest and elsewhere), the craft brews in San Diego have a distinctive local flare. In this case, we're talking about hops - the bitter herb used in the brewing process to preserve beer, and to give it aroma and spice. The classic San Diego style beer is the double IPA (which I could describe, but I much prefer that you all go and try it). The leader in this overhopped revolution is Stone Brewery, maker of such beers as Arrogant Bastard Ale (my favorite is Stone's IPA).

Interestingly, there is a second school of San Diego brews focusing on Belgian style ales. Of particular note is the Lost Abbey Brewery, which makes beers that have all the complexity of the best Belgian ales. My personal favorite is the Ten Commandments Ale.

But here's what I love about beer in San Diego - we have a lot of breweries to satisfy you. Check out this site for information on other breweries.

With all that said, for the life of me, I can't figure out how San Diego managed to pull this off. Los Angeles, which normally dominates everything in Southern California, has a pretty crappy beer scene. While there are Mexican breweries nearby (Tecate is made in Northern Baja, just south of the Border), none of them make the kinds of beer that San Diegans are drinking.

Moreover, the great cultural plague of my city is the constant flux of people moving in and out of San Diego. Most of the people I know in San Diego are from somewhere else. As a result, people tend to look outside of San Diego for culture. So we have Bronx Pizza (makes pizza "just like home"), and Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria, etc. For the longest time, it appeared that San Diego didn't have a culture of its own. The rise of craft brewing in San Diego shows that we do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting thirsty. Hooray Beer!