Written by we’re continuing on with the series of Michael Jackson’s videos! Here’s part 3 in the series. “The Bohemian Connection”. Enjoy!
Part I
Part II
Part III
Monthly archives for December, 2011
Beer Hunter Videos Part 3 – The Bohemian Connection
Captain Cook Brewery – Black Porter
Written by This is one of those beers that was given to me to review for The Brew Club; on this occasion by a good friend on his return from a trip to North Yorkshire.
The Captain Cook brewery is named for Captain James Cook, an eighteenth century sea captain and explorer who is credited with ‘discovering’ Australia and New Zealand – much to the surprise, I suspect, of the Aboriginals and Maoris who had lived there for centuries!
The brewery itself is situated at the White Swan pub in the village of Stokesley, North Yorkshire, just a few miles from where James Cook was born. They bottle three of their brews and it is the 4.2% ABV ‘Black Porter’ that Tom kindly brought back for me.
There’s quite an interesting blog report on a visit to the brewery here.
If you want to get all beer geeky, the recipe is said to combine “Halcyon, Chocolate, Oat, Wheat and Crystal malts with Challenger and Celeia hops”… hmmm, an interesting combination.
As the name suggests, it pours black, very black, no, blacker than that; even a halogen light struggles to shine through this brew, but it’s topped with a rich, foaming mocha coloured head.
The nose, I found a little disappointing, with faint threats of that soapy/goaty smell that betray the presence of Caprylic Acid, so I approached the tasting with a little trepidation.
No need, you get a wonderful rush of deep, dark complex flavours, with hints of tar, espresso coffee, redcurrants, smoke… and dark, bitter chocolate. It’s a complex brew, with a complexity that belies its 4.2% ABV.
Having spent a summer (and ‘Indian summer’) drinking pale and golden ales, this was a welcome return to darker winter ales; and at only 4.2% it’s something that would almost make a winter session brew.
Okay at 4.2% ABV it’s not necessarily a ‘porter’ in the true sense of the word, but nonetheless it’s a rich, dark winter ale that goes down a treat.
As for rating this, looking at my notepad I started by giving this 4 stars, then considered that maybe I was just celebrating going back to ‘the dark side’ and marked it down to 3½ stars. I then took another sip and realised that this wonderful flavour was accompanying a modest strength brew and ranked it back up to 4 stars.
I suspect that this isn’t widely available; it should be, and if you ever find yourself in North Yorkshire, I recommend a trip to the White Swan.
Rating: 
Bob the Brit
Carlsberg Beer Stunt – What Would You Have Done?
Written by Bob the Brit sent me this little video and at first, it seems pretty funny. But put yourself in the shoes of the subjects! What would you have done? Watch the video and then scroll to the end if you want to read my thoughts.
I think its easy to mock the people who decided to leave the theater once they saw it was packed with bikers. How many of you thought that the people who left were infected with negative stereotypes about bikers? Stupid, biased, people!
I did too at first. Especially after they were rewarded with a tasty Carlsberg beer and thunderous applause.
But that’s easy to do from the comfort of your chair! Also, the title of this post and the video sort-of gives the thing away as a promotion. You knew as an observer that things would turn out OK even before you hit the play button.
But can you really blame the people who decided to leave? Heck, they could have at least been given a glass to avoid having to drink directly from the bottle, but that’s another issue.
I would argue that many people have become so sensitive to not ‘offending’ anyone (like bikers would be offended if you didn’t sit among them to watch Planet Of The Apes anyway!) that they literally turn off their brains to the concept of self-preservation.
Look. If I went into a theater with my Wife or one of my mistresses (did I write that?) and A) saw that it was filled with scowling Belgian bikers, and B)there were ONLY two seats left – I’d leave too and wouldn’t care for one second. (Actually, I’d probably leave anyway if it were that crowded regardless.)
Interesting video – I just think its too easy to mock the people who left, but I’d argue that the people who stayed actually have brain damage.
Does that make me a bad person? What would you have done in that same situation?
Best Beer Quotes
What are the best beer quotes? Considering that beer is literally a drink that grew up with civilized society, there’s plenty of great quotes by famous, and not-so-famous people about beer.
There are a few beer quotes that come to mind that everyone seems to have heard of, especially the misquoted Benjamin Franklin quote about beer being proof that God wants us to be happy. (The quote was about wine not beer, but the sentiment is the same!) Anyway, I thought I’d dig around for some other beer quotes to share with you.
I hope you’re inspired, and please share your favorite beer quote with the class!
- “All right, brain, you don’t like me, and I don’t like you, but let’s just get me through this, and I can get back to killing you with beer.” – Homer Simpson
- “The other day I was so desperate for a beer, I snuck into the football stadium and ate the dirt under the bleachers.” – Homer Simpson
- “Sir, you are drunk!” and ”Madam, you are ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober.” – Bessie Braddock and Winston Churchill
- “A woman drove me to drink, and I hadn’t even the courtesy to thank her.” – W.C. Fields
- “Homer no function beer well without.” - Homer Simpson
- “Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today.” – Edgar Allan Poe
- “Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.” – Dave Barry
- “Why is American beer served cold? So you can tell it from urine.” – David Moulton
- “You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline – it helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons but at the very least you need a beer” - Frank Zappa
- “He was a wise man who invented beer.” – Plato
What are some of your favorite beer quotes?
Long Trail Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout
Long Trail Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout is the last of the Brewmaster Series for me to try. Or at least I thought it was! On my last trip to Vermont, I saw a new Brewmaster Series beer (the name and style escape me) but it was a type of Red Ale that celebrated the anniversary of Vermont’s ‘Long Trail’. I also noticed that this new brew was cloaked in a new black and silver label. Perhaps a new look for the Brewmaster Series?
Needless to say, I passed on that beer for now, but I was really looking forward to the coffee stout. Its just a beer style that really clicks for me, on top of the fact that the other Brewmaster Series beers like the Winter White and Imperial Porter have been well received by yours truly. Actually, I expected this to be my favorite of the bunch,, but as we’ll see it was not meant to be.
Long Trail Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout started off well enough. It poured an almost black color into my glass, and created a fantastic-looking head with impressive retention and thickness. Its hard to tell from the picture, but this brown beauty looked like pillowy foam on top. Quite nice actually.
The aroma was nice too. They use Vermont Coffee Roasters coffee in the brew, and while I’m not famaliar with that outfit, the beer smelled nicely of roasted, bitter coffee. There was some subtle malty sweetness too, but mostly coffee and not much on the hop front here.
I was really happy until I got to the taste. While good, I thought that the alcohol flavors came through a little more that needed, and the alcohol flavors lingered a bit on my tongue after each sip. Not a bad thing necessarily, it just stood out to me as a little unbalanced. Keep in mind that this is an 8% ABV brew, so some alcohol flavors shouldn’t be a surprise. What’s my point? Who knows. I did enjoy the mild warming created by this beer going down the hatch. Good stuff for Winters in Jersey, that’s for sure!
The other slight turnoff with this beer was the body ans mouthfeel. I let this brew warm up a bit before diving in, but I found that the beer was more thin than I would have preferred it to be. Much thinner than I expected, but not a dealbreaker.
So, what do I think? I think that the Brewmaster Series Coffee Stout is a great looking beer, and certainly a good looker and the taste/body/mouthfeel were acceptable. I think if the other Brewmaster Series brews were not so damn good, this beer would have been rated a little higher, but in that light it just wasn’t as good, but still good enough for a solid 3-stars here on The Brew Club!
Still, you should do yourself a favor and pick up any of the Brewmaster Series beers that you see and give them a try! I got my bottle for around $4 which is amazing for a 22oz bottle of quality craft beer. Long Trail is a good value I think, and the beer usually exceeds the expectation of the price. The coffee stout just came up a little short, but its still a winner at three stars.
Rating:
Recent Comments