Blackberry Backhand

Last night I finished off a six-pack of Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier. First off, I do know how some men, well call them the Macho Skunk-Lovers (MSL), say you should never put fruit in beer. However, it must be said that the beer should be enjoyable to drink. If you like beer with a little fruit flavor then I say go for it. And for all you MSLs out there, piss off. Blackberry Witbeir is a slap in the face to all you MSLs who would rather consume the sad beer of a multinational conglomerate rather than beers made by beer lovers for beer lovers.

The flavor in this brewer’s special from Sam Adams was splendid. It had the familiar smooth and citrus flavors comingling perfectly with a light blackberry taste across the tip of your tongue. According to Samuel Adams they sourced the wonderful real blackberries from the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. The fresh flavor was apparent and I can not say enough about this glory that is a real solid craft beer.

The aftertaste was smooth, sweet, and a bit tart right at the end. Most of the more common beers, like Budweiser or Coors, trail off quickly due to the inclusion of rice or corn in the mix that result in a mild bitter, almost skunky, taste. The attempted craft brew-like beers from those monster companies simply do not make the grade. Sam Adams is notorious for loading their beers with a variety of rich malts and aromatic hops. The Blackberry Witbier is a winner and I would serve this at any function I could. I may have to create something to celebrate just to be able to jam one of these wonderful brews into another beer lover’s hands. Well, actually I don’t really need a reason to drink a great brew with friends.

Lone Star in the Lone Star State

Last weekend I took the family on a little road trip to Austin, Texas. We, of course, attended a Texas Longhorns game. They smacked around the University of Central Florida 35 to 3. Needless to say the family and I left the stadium quite happy with the victory and perhaps a little sunburned.

Later that evening we made our way over to the iconic 6th Street for some fun. Being our first time in Austin we were very excited to traverse the famous boulevard. We perused the oddities, shops, and restaurants along the way. We decided to take in a midnight movie at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. However, since the movie was hours away we killed time by walking the street like the other hooligans and scantily clad ladies. We decided to cool our heels in a little restaurant on 6th Street, a quaint little Mexican restaurant with a very tasty menu.

I ordered a Lone Star and proceeded to enjoy. The beer had a mellow lager taste that reminded me of Samuel Adams Boston Lager—though not as good. The flavor was one that was well hopped and liberally used barley malt. Unlike the Boston Lager, Lone Star supplements the malt with corn. This adds greatly to the smoothness of the beer, but cuts on the flavor. Corn is a common supplement in the American diet. It is cheap and can add bulk to some food items. However, it has no real place in beer. In spite of the unfortunate use of corn it is still a fairly tasty beer. It would go well with many meals and alright for a hot summer bar-b-q. Just don’t expect the beer to be comparable to some the top microbrews on the market today. That being said, I would take a Lone Star over a Budweiser, Coors, or a Miller any day.

With a lack of many Texas micros on the market Lone Star is certainly a win. Strangely enough Texas is a strong beer-loving state; unfortunately the state has barely a handful of microbreweries anywhere in this expansive state. What they do have is pretty good, but there is plenty of room to improve upon.