Thursday, March 31, 2011

More Fruity Thangs

About ten days ago I said "I'm thinkin' I've had enough of this fruit-beer thang for a while."  Well, I lied.  Here's Round One of today's Happy Hour...


That would be a Lindeman's Cassis Lambic, rated B+ at Beer Advocate.  Here's an excerpt from one of the reviews:
Pours a dark purple red color with a thick light pink head and a ton of lacing. Super pretty. Smell is of currants and tartness. Tastes super tart with tons of oak, funk, and currant flavor. Mouthfeel is medium with a heavy carbonation. Overall, this is an awesome brew from a great Belgian brewer.
It's the tartness that makes a good fruit beer good, IM(NS)HO, and this is where the fruit beers I've sampled recently have gone wrong  -- they are all much too sweet for my taste.  Lindeman's, however, hits that sweet spot on my palate, which is a lame-ass attempt at a pun.  I really enjoy this beer but it's only an occasional treat for me, seein' as how the folks at Lindeman's are right proud of their product.  While it's true the price the Cannon Class VI store charges is cheaper than most of the prices at the link, they're not all THAT much cheaper.

Another thing... the observant will note opening a bottle of Lindeman's is a right royal PITA.  You uncap the bottle in the usual way but then ya gotta pull a freakin' cork.  Can ya say "overkill?"  Sure ya can...

Now if you'll excuse me, Gentle Reader, it's time to go set my ass down under the awning and enjoy what's left of this beer.

Update, 1600 hrs:  This might be heresy, but for Round Two of Happy Hour I combined one of those Leinenkugel Berry Wheats with about two inches of left-over Lindeman's Cassis in my pint glass.  The result was pretty danged good, as the remains of the Cassis had just enough tartness to take away the cloying sweetness of the Berry Wheat.  That was a one-time good deal!

12 comments:

  1. I didn't notice the cork right away but did see the pretty foil wrapper and thought "Gee, aren't that purdy?". How pissed would you have been if you didn't have a cork screw?

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  2. How pissed would you have been if you didn't have a cork screw?

    Heh. There are NO words fit for a PG-13 blog to describe that situation. But... like your average Boy Scout, I'm usually prepared. ;-)

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  3. Looks like something you could enjoy poured over ice cream.

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  4. It ain't thick enough for that, Matt. Not sweet enough, either. ;-)

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  5. Looks like a Kir Royale! Only with beer rather than champagne.

    A cork and a cap though... yeap, over kill.

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  6. Pink's my favorite color - and I noticed the color first thang.

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  7. Darlin', that color is all wrong for beer.

    Apologies for my absence. I don't have a good reason for my disappearance, just not doing the blog thing much lately.

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  8. Anon: A couple of the faavorable reviews at BA likened the Casiss to champagne... prolly coz o' the price.

    Lou: It's just the head that's pink... the brew itself is a marvelous red in direct sunlight.

    Daph: No apology required; I haven't been gettin' around as much of late, either.

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  9. It's as though Andy had a beer made to match his bedroom colors.

    But call it dark mauve, I don't want to start anything...

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  10. Oh Marc, you crack me up. But that IS quite the example of a PINK bedroom, isn't it? Andy's gonna come uup here and kick our collective arses!
    heh: WV frati, is that Italian for fruity?

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  11. So its kind of like blended beer, like they do with scotch. Cool!

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  12. Marc and Deb: Heh. (I think "frati" is a perverted sex act, since you asked.)

    Anon: Yeah... sorta!

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