First, the Not So Awesome Brew…

Every month, a Not So Awesome Brew is featured as a baseline. After all, what is an Awesome Brew? Awesome compared to what? Compared to something like this:

Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Schwarzes, 14.0% ABV

A funny thing happened to me on the way to a Star Trek: Discovery viewing party at my friend’s house about two months ago.  So, my buddy and fellow Oddysee member Wylde, who is a huge Star Trek fan, decided to have a viewing party for the first two episodes of the series at his place.  He had snacks lined up, paid for CBS’s content services, and as always, did everything he could to make this party as awesome as all his others.  I accepted his invitation of course and decided that I’d pick up some interesting beer on the way.  So I stop over at Red, Wine and Brew and quickly circle around to the international coolers, thinking I’d grab a few 6-packs of Stiegl Goldenbrau for the night’s events (one of his favorites).  Lo-and-behold… NEW STOCK!  Sitting in those coolers were 4-packs of what looked like fancy Austrian beers!  They were pricey.  They looked fancy.  They had to be mine.  I immediately grabbed a 4-pack of the one labeled “Schwarzes” which meaning “black” in German and typically refers to a dark-beer, all of which I like.  I didn’t look beyond that as I was in a hurry, and with the new 4-pack in one hand and a 6-pack of Stiegl Goldenbrau in the other, I paid and zipped out of there.

So, I arrive at Wylde’s place, and I open two of my new brews – which at this point, I still didn’t even know the name of, with the font being one of those unreadable crazy Germanic ones I thought went out of style with World War 2.  We clink bottles, take our first sip and both wonder what the hell it was that I bought.   Grabbing the bottle, I began looking for it’s ABV, because this crap was strong.  We’re talking half-orc with a girdle of giant strength strong.  The taste was like if a German Dopplebock, a Colt 45 and a bottle of Robitussin DM all had a 3-way love child.  It was heavy and caramel flavored like the Dopplebock, but strong as heck like the Colt 45 or any other malt liquor.  Where did the Robitussin fit in you might ask oh intrepid readers? The syrupiness is where. This stuff had the viscosity of drinking a thin maple syrup.  Needless to say, we quickly switched over to the Steigl for the rest of the night, and I took the other two bottles of the Samichlaus Schwarzes home.  I pawned one off on Kash Munny and the other has sat in my fridge until tonight, when I swore I’d use it in a review.

Ok, I had no idea I was buying 14% ABV Austrian Malt Liquor.  If I would have taken the 10 seconds to read the front of the bottle, I would have realized that mistake before I spend a whopping $18 on the four-pack.  I tend to go out of my way to avoid malt liquor as it’s typically cheap, horrible tasting, hobo-fuel in this country.  This stuff, while pretty nasty, was quite a bit different though.  It actually did have a certain refinement to it, probably because despite the malt-liquor alcoholic overload, and if you can get past the syrupy sweetness of it, it tasted like a good German Dopplebock. It has the flavor of berries, malt, caramel, fig and molasses which aren’t too bad for a brew as complex as this.  It doesn’t surprise me it has very high marks on many beer review sites and many people very much enjoy it.  If they could thin this stuff out and get rid of some of the sickly sweet flavor, it would actually rank high in my list and be fairly Awesome, but to each their own.  Serve cold with baked ham, scalloped potatoes and greens and a copy of the 1977 classic Cross of Iron starring James Coburn.

And Now, the Awesome Brews…

Revolution Brewing’s, Anti-Hero IPA, 6.7% ABV

To anyone looking to start their own micro-brewery out there, let me lay out this truth: Can-art sells. I love an interesting can or bottle art and many times, when I’m searching for interesting things to pick up that I haven’t tried before, it’s the deciding factor of what I grab and shove into my mixed 6-pack carrier.  This beer is no exception to that rule, because when I saw the parachuting green hops and the hops dictator and giant green fist on a can proudly labeled “Anti-Hero”, I knew instantly it was one I’d be taking home with me.  Revolution Brewing was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 2010.  It started out as a brewpub, and has in a very short time, become the largest independently owned brewery in the state.  I’ve stated before that IPAs are typically the very first, flagship beer a fledgling brewery produces and Anti-Hero is no exception.

Typical to an IPA, it’s bitter, but smooth.  The taste of hops is strong but not overpowering, and this stuff is made from four varieties of hops!  It pours a beautiful copper color with a wonderful lacy foam head.  There’s a slight sweetness at the end of each sip that leaves your pallet ready for more.  For an IPA, this stuff is a bit of a fast drinker, and I can certainly see myself picking up a 6-pack of it in the future.  I have to admit, Revolution Brewing is a new one to me, and to the store I get most of my beers at, and from tasting Anti-Hero, I’m anxious to have more. Serve semi-cold to cold with Swedish meatballs or a hearty beefy mac and cheese and a copy of The Dark Knight.

Shirakabe Gura Tokubetsu Junmai Sake, 15.5% ABV

Like many of the better sakes I’ve had the pleasure of drinking over the years, there’s very little, if any English on the label of this one.  When I walk into the store with the thought of: “Awesome!  I can’t read anything on this bottle!  I’m going to drink that!”, this is a distinct danger.  It’s for this reason I suppose it’s a good thing beer and wine shops don’t carry other oddball foreign liquids or next thing you know, I’ll be downing half a liter of Chinese shark cartilage juice or bottles of Korean perfume.

Shirakabe Gura, or “White Wall” is bottled by Takara Sake, the same group who make Sho Chiku Bai, perhaps the best mass-market table sake that’s exported to the United States.  Why it’s called “White Wall” is totally beyond me.  Maybe the brewery has white painted walls, or maybe they’re referring to The Wall in Game of Thrones… I haven’t a clue.  What I do know is that the name shouldn’t be a barrier for you to try this premium sake.  The taste is clean and smooth, but not crisp and sharp like many other premium sakes.  The taste of alcohol is strong in Shirakabe Gura, but it does not have the alcoholic bite.  As a result, you don’t have to fear making the “whiskey face” at your date across the table while drinking this sake over a dinner of fresh sushi; and that is going to be my recommendation for this awesome brew – serve chilled with fresh sushi and miso soup with a copy of 1991’s Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

Some of the pictures taken for Awesome Brews were done by Diane Schuler of Schuler Photography