Met up with Ben and his former roommate Matt for drinks yesterday at O'Gara's, a run-of-the-mill Irish bar near Ben's apartment.

Ambitious Brew has a very sympathetic take on American-style lager — which is refreshing after hearing so many beer snobs bash the various macrobrews — so I was in the mood for Premium.

Back at Ben's the three of us split a bottle of Ommegang Hennepin, a delicious Saison. After finishing my glass all-too-quickly, I opened up my last bottle of malty Kerberos. It's a fantastic beer to nurse in the wee hours, and the fruity hookah smoke added some interesting character.

This beer, maybe the entire Tripel style, is definitely something you want to end the night with: I felt like an old man savoring a glass of scotch.

Labels: American Macro Lager, August Schell Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Flying Dog Brewery, Grain Belt Premium, Hennepin, Kerberos, Saison, Tripel

Went over for Barry's for some baseball with Ben, Nick, and Matt. I brought along some Munich Dark and a bottle of the Sierra Nevada Stout.

As before, the Munich Dark was too sweet for me, like brown sugar in a bottle. The stout was decent, certainly better than the Munich Dark, but it didn't really bowl me over or anything.

However, it's getting very good reviews at Beer Advocate (the Bros gave it an A+), so I'll try and pay more attention next time I have it. If this is a stake in the ground, it may be that I just don't like the American Stout style. Which would just leave Imperial, Irish Dry, Milk Stout, and (presumably) the Rogue Chocolate Stout... I think I can get by.

I also had a Budweiser later on. They aren't really delicious or interesting or anything, but I can still enjoy a cold macrobrew every now and then.

Labels: American Macro Lager, American Stout, Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser, Capital Brewery, Munich Dark, Munich Dunkel Lager, Sierra Nevada Brewing