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

Tonight I had a Capital Brewery Munich Dark. The beer was light-bodied with notes of caramel and a bit of chocolate. The mouthfeel was a little cloying/dry; otherwise I probably would have finished much faster. It was good, but it was also like finishing a French Silk pie that's just a little too rich for you.

That said, with this weather it was nice to have a dark beer again.

I had another Honey Weiss earlier tonight with some pizza, and that was good too. I've definitely come to appreciate Leinie's. In one way they're like the Premium of Wisconsin — ubiquitous, accessible, and local — but in another way they're like Summit.

My Wisconsin experience was limited to the Green Bay area, but it seems like Leinie's is the entry beer for most Wisconsinites interested in other styles. And they don't do a bad job: their seasonals are excellent and their Big Eddy Imperial Stout (!) is getting good reviews. I'd take Honey Weiss over some MGD nonsense any day.

(Wow, I would love to track a bottle of that Big Eddy down... something to keep an eye out for come November.)

Labels: American Pale Wheat Ale, Capital Brewery, Honey Weiss, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing, Munich Dark, Munich Dunkel Lager