WV Gourmet

I saw these strong beers at Capitol Market. So far, I’ve only seen some Rogue and Harpoon products.

http://thegazz.com/gblogs/beerstoyou/2009/04/25/bty-tastes-three-organic-fruit-beers-from-samuel-smith%e2%80%99s/

““If you like drinking Cheerwine or Big Red with you pork bbq, the Sam Smith Raspberry might be for you.” With regard to all of them: “Keep a few of these beers in your fridge for when you have a lady friend over.  Chicks should really dig these beers.” – Chris Workman  “

For several months, my friends have been regaling me with tales of this mythic beer from Bell’s Brewery called Hopslam.  I have finally tried this beer and will tell you about it. 

Let’s get one thing clear: I love hops.  The greatest beer experience of my life came one evening a couple of years a go in our nation’s capitol, while sitting at the bar in The Brickskeller.  That was the night I tried Russian River Brewing Company’s Pliny the Elder, ran throuh a Randall (an amazing invention whereby draft beer is ran through a filter of fresh hops just before passing into your glass).  Flash forward to about a month ago when my friend Vivek compared Hopslam, about which I had heard only good things, to that glorious Randalized Pliny the Elder.  Now, I had to try it. 

Hopslam is an American Double IPA (”DIPA”) - the greatest kind of beer.  I’m pretty sure that when I shake St. Peter’s hand, he will have a DIPA on his breath.  Hopslam weighs in at a meager 10% alcohol by volume and finishes very dry (thanks to the honey used in the recipe).  This beer had a nice grapefruity smell, but it didn’t fill up the room with it’s wonderful aroma the way I feel a DIPA should.  This beer is bitter as all getout (a very good thing), but is missing out on hop flavor.  Oh, it has the wonderful flavor of American hops, but they don’t tingle the tongue like the aforementioned Pliny the Elder, rather the hop flavor is a bit subdued.  It finishes with a touch of honey flavor, but not so much that I’d call this a “honey beer.” 

In summation, this beer is very good, but failed to live up to Vivek’s description.  Clearly, he is a liar.

West Virginians no longer have to bootleg mediocre beer.  Now all bootlegging efforts can be focused on bootlegging beers that are actually worth drinking. 

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200903230678

There was an article in today’s Gazette.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200903090628

“People don’t go out and buy a $9 or $10 six-pack of craft beer, and drink them all down,” Casey said.

Clearly, this Casey person has never been around during one of the Workman/Smith drinking sessions.

Rich Ireland, the Charleston Gazette’s beer expert, brings us word of the latest attempt to legalize beer with an alcohol-by-volume level greater than 6%.

House Bill 2719 has been introduced and is sitting idle in the House Judiciary Committee. This year’s bill is very simplified and to the point; West Virginia should raise the permissible alcohol limit to 12%ABV on “non-intoxicating” beer…West Virginia stands only with Mississippi in proclaiming our utter ignorance when it comes to modernization of our beer laws. We can change this very easily and with absolutely nothing but a positive effect on consumer choice.

As Rich says in his post, please call or write your delegates and ask them to support this bill. A similar effort last year was stifled for fear of arousing the ire of neo-prohibitionists conservative voters. Now the election’s behind us, perhaps this is the year where we can finally get this pointless loophole closed.