Sam Adams Brewlywed Belgian style ale

A friend of mine came back from a trip to Rhode Island and brought me a gift. He took a tour of the Sam Adams factory in Boston, MA and bought a beer that you won’t be able to find anywhere. Owner and founder of Sam Adams, Jim Koch, created Brewlywed for his wedding and is now selling what is leftover which is about 40 cases. It’s a 1.9 fl oz Belgian style ale that sold for around $12. This is seriously one of the best beers i’ve ever had; it’s a shame they won’t make more. It has a floral taste from the Summer and Stella hops with subtle hints of spice and clove. It has a soft hop profile and is very smooth to drink. Good luck finding this one.

Sam Adams Brewlywed Belgian style ale

Olympic Wines

What better reason to celebrate with some wine than the Olympics? Will Lyons for the Wall Street Journal reports this years London games have their very own wines.

From the article: “According to British wine merchant Bibendum, which was tasked by the International Olympic Committee with creating a bespoke Olympic wine, the brief was to produce three wines that ‘complemented the Olympic ideals, offered consumers something new and interesting, while being low enough in alcohol to promote responsible drinking.’”

I’d personally like to know how a wine can compliment the Olympic ideals. Anyhow, the three wines are a Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch in South Africa; a rose blend with Pinotage, Shiraz and Merlot from South Africa; and a red blend of Shiraz, Tempranillo and Gamay from Brazil. My first question was, “Why no wines made in Britain?”

From the article: “…Bibendum points out that the three wines needed to come from the same vintage as the games, which rules out any estate in the northern hemisphere.”

Well that solves that. I wonder how hard it’d be to get a bottle of one of these in America.

Wine & Junk Food

I came across a slideshow on thenest.com explaining how to mix wine with junk food. Their only rule is the junkier the food, the more rare the wine should be. This is great for those who can’t afford expensive cheeses and don’t want to eat a whole meal with their wine. I can’t wait to try some of these out.

• Rose + Cool Ranch Doritos (because Rose pairs well with garlic, herbs and onion because the fruit cuts the spice)

• Austrian Red + beef jerky (because spicy red wine pairs well with salty foods)

• Chardonnay + Butterfingers (because the acidic vanilla and oak flavors compliment the buttery nougat)

• Champagne + french fries (because the bubbles cut the starch)

• Sherry + ice cream (because the fruit, molasses and nut flavors of the wine accent the ice cream’s smooth texture) I wonder if certain flavors of ice cream would pair better?

Drunk French guy opens a bottle of wine with a shoe. I’m guessing he’s done this a couple of times before.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

where in Northern AZ to buy Sam’l Smith Organic Raspberry Ale?

I’m not sure exactly where in northern AZ you’re looking but here’s a website that can help: http://www.merchantduvin.com/find-our-beer.php. If you choose SS ORGANIC RASPBERRY, at any business type, then fill in the rest based on where you are and how far you want to go to buy it this should help you find it. Hope this helps!

Wine Hangovers

I enjoy using StumbleUpon.com, especially since it lets you search the internet for certain interests, such as wine. If you haven’t used it before you should really give it a try. You’ll find some interesting things.

While using my Stumble toolbar I came across an article on Calwineries.com about wine hangovers. As most people know (some from experience) a hangover usually includes headache, nausea, dehydration, fatigue and weakness. I know I personally have felt dehydration even after just a few glasses of red wine with lots of tannin. But do what causes these side effects?

According to Calwineries.com inhibition of vasopressin is the main contributor to hangovers along with congeners and acetaldehyde. Vasopressin is what keeps your kidneys secreting water, so its easy to see when that isn’t working correctly why your body becomes dehydrated.

Here’s where I learned something new. Congeners is a class of molecules that is a by product of fermentation of wine. They are especially prevalent in red wines and darker liquors. The article doesn’t say specifically why it causes hangovers, which is something i’d like to know.

Acetaldehyde is what is left behind after your body metabolizes alcohol. When there is a lot of alcohol in your body the acetaldehyde builds up and can’t metabolize quick enough which contributes to hangover symptoms.

I have some friends who drink a glass of water for every alcoholic drink to help prevent some of these symptoms which seems to work well for them. I’ve also heard drinking pineapple juice is a great cure for a hangover but have never tried this myself. Let me know if you have any other great hangover cures that work for you.

“Beer makes you mellow, champagne makes you silly, wine makes you dramatic, tequila makes you felonious.”

-Frank Kelly Rich for Modern Drunkard Magazine

Blackstone Pinot Noir 2010

Blackstone Pinot Noir 2010

Last night I had a Community marathon night. It’s a pretty funny show that I thought would only be made better with a glass of red wine. I stopped by Publix and grabbed a bottle of Blackstone Pinot Noir because it was on sale. I’ve tried Blackstone Cabernet Sauvignon before so I figured we would try a different wine by them. I believe it cost around $8 with sales tax and had 13.5% alcohol by volume. It smelled nice, like deep blackberry or cherry, and tasted fine until you swallowed. It had lots of tannin, which usually I don’t mind, but something about the after taste was not pleasing to the palette. I’m not sure if i’m just not a Pinot Noir fan or if it was the wine itself, but I would not recommend it for drinking. Maybe cooking.