What Kind of Beer Drinker Are You?

Everybody seems to have a unique drinking style, but we never seem to notice it about ourselves. It's only our friends' styles that we seem to notice. Thrillist.com posted an article depicting 43 different types of beer drinkers, and I have to say I find them amusing and strangely accurate.

I have a friend from home who drinks only Bud Lite. (And I don't make fun of him for it, it's a personal choice. Just perhaps the wrong one...) According to Thrillist.com my friend is labeled as "The Light Beer Loyalist". Every time we hang out for a night of drinking I can count on him to have a giant rack of Bud Lite cans. He will try the occasional sip of some other beer someone offers him, but rarely is another kind of beer seen in his hand. Another close friend of mine likes anything strong and abrasive. This pertains mostly to his hard liquor, but he enjoys a good dark brew as well. His favorite being Guinness Stout, and since he's actually been to Ireland he claims it's better across the Atlantic. I wouldn't know, but I don't think a bottle of Guinness changes flavor just because it's been shipped across an ocean. This particular guy is obviously "The Guy Who Orders Guinness and Always Insists it's Better in Ireland". I've been able to label a few other friends from the list as well. I myself am probably "The Guy Just Trying to Pad His Untapped Stats". Or at least I've become that guy since I've started this blog and attempt to catalog my beer exploits.

Curious to know what kind of beer drinker you and your friends are? Visit Thrillist.com and find out!

Koppi Coffee IPA: A Diamond in the Rough

I walked into Sidecar today thinking I would just sit at a table, relax with a beer, and get some homework done. Little did I know I would make an impulse buy on the spot for the most expensive beer I've ever bought. (Though to some who really enjoy their unique craft beers I may not have paid that much.)

While I was standing in line at the counter I overheard the barista talking to the male student in front of me. Apparently he was the only one so far who had bought and tried a particular beer and was asked how he enjoyed it. Naturally I was curious to know what beer this was because it might influence my purchase decision. I asked the barista what beer he was referring to and he responded the Koppi Coffee IPA. This particular beer is hard to find around here because there are only 6 of these beers (to the knowledge of the barista) in North East Iowa, and they were all purchased by Sidecar. With this in mind and a natural desire to own unusual and rare things I jumped at the opportunity to be the second buyer of the Koppi Coffee IPA. It cost a pretty penny ($14 plus tax to be exact) but when I saw the size of the bottle I felt better about the expenditure. 

So how did Sidecar happen to acquire all 6 of these unique beers? The barista informed me they had a personal connection with the brewer. The brewer in question, Friedreich of Abu Nawas Brewing Company helps supply Sidecar with artisan beers and ales. This selection includes Prarrie, Mikkeller, and Evil Twin. The Koppi happened to be Mikkeller.

Now that I purchased this rare beer I find myself in a dilemma. Should I drink it or is it unique enough that I should keep it untouched in the bottle to show off? If anyone knows more about this beer and has a suggestion, please leave a comment. 

But since I have not yet opened the Koppi IPA, I also purchased Goose Island's The Muddy Imperial Stout to sip on while blogging. So I suppose I should do a review about that as well. 

Beer Review: 

Goose Island Beer Co. The Muddy Imperial Stout is quite a strong beer. Naturally because it is an imperial and contains 9% alcohol by volume with an IBU of 32. IBU stands for International Bitterness Unit. Usually the hoppier a beer is the higher the IBU. So if you don't like hoppy beers or IPA's look for a beer with a low IBU. But I digress. The Muddy has a deep rich dark flavor with a hint of licorice. Like most dark stouts this stout is also creamier than a regular ale. Just as the name suggests, The Muddy is a very down to earth stout. As a kid I'm sure most of you played the game Candy Land. In Candy Land if there was a deep dark cavern, this stout is the underground lake that occupies the center of this cavern. I give this beer a 4 out of 5 rating, though I caution that this beer is particularly suited for dark beer consumers. 

Pabst Blue Ribbon Turns Russian Red

Pabst Blue Ribbon, once the beer of choice for the hard working American man, was bought out by a Russian company. Billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos was the previous owner of the now iconic Hipster beer along with his two sons. PBR was sold to Moscow-based Oasis Beverages. Chairman of Oasis, Eugene Kashper, shared his sentiments. "The opportunity to work with the company's treasure trove of iconic brands, some of which I started my career selling, is a dream come true."

Perhaps in a twist of fate, beer will be the bridge peacefully connecting America and Russia. For the full article on PBR defecting to Russia visit the Huffington Post online.

Sidecar Coffee Shop: When Coffee Just Doesn't Cut It

College Hill is home to the Sidecar Coffee Shop. In my opinion the best coffee shop in Cedar Falls. Perhaps a bold claim, but one I intend to prove. When you walk into the Sidecar you are presented with a lot of stimulus. College kids crowd around the small tables enjoying their coffee and paninis as they study together or simply converse with enthusiasm. The mellow lighting and music offers a relaxing and enticing atmosphere. As you continue to walk towards the counter and glance around you would notice the painting lining the walls. Every few weeks a new artist features their work providing a unique experience with every gallery.

As you walk up to the counter you are greeted by a smiling barista prepared to take your order. The service is usually swift, and for any time consuming order the barista will serve your food or drink to you at your table while you wait. The menu choices are quite extensive for a coffee shop as well. There's the usual coffee related drinks as well as soups, salads, paninis, breakfast pastries, desert bars, and an eclectic selection of beer when coffee just doesn't quite cut it. I've had a few of the beers and I'm quite happy with what they have available.

Beer Review:

Two Hearted Ale is a crisp bubbly IPA with a bitter bite. The bitter piny hop flavor is the overriding characteristic of the ale. It has a deep amber color in the low light of the Sidecar ambiance. All these IPA's I keep drinking are helping me develop a taste for them, though I think it will still take a while to truly appreciate and enjoy the taste completely. The Two Hearted Ale made me think of biting into an acorn. Now I have no idea what an acorn actually tastes like, but I imagine it's something similar to this IPA. I would recommend this ale to any IPA lover, but not to anyone who doesn't enjoy the bitter taste of a hoppy beer. I give the Two Hearted Ale a 3.75   out of 5. 

The Cuvee Renee is a lambic style beer. Absolutely one of my favorite beers I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. There's a premium cost to purchase it, but worth every penny. It had a light crisp bubbly sensation as you sipped it from the glass. Bubbles rose in a continuous column causing a slight fascination. The beer had a distinct sweet citrus flavor with a tart and slightly vinegar over note. A glass of the Cuvee Renee reminded me of a champagne more than anything. Merchant duVin can offer more information about the lambic style beers. I rate this beer a 4.75 out of 5.

Craft Terroir: a Reflection of Craft Beers

Tuesday evening, Sept. 16, I attending a talk about craft beers by a Kentucky University professor. Jeff Rice, professor of writing, rhetoric, and digital studies was asked to present a talk about craft beers and how they reflect the land upon which they were crafted. Needless to say I was very excited to hear what Mr. Rice had to say, and I walked into the talk with the expectation of having great things to blog about. Unfortunately that wasn't quite the case.

As Mr. Rice stood at the podium the room fell to a hush with an almost palpable anticipation . The first words uttered by Mr. Rice were lost upon me as my ears adjusted to the poor acoustics of the room. His voice emanating from the speakers behind him was muddled as the sound reverberated around the room making it difficult to understand what he was saying.

After a moment of adjustment I realized Mr. Rice was recounting his experience with the Pliny the Elder beer, an IPA crafted by the Russian River Brewing Co. in California. He used various words to describe the ale; floral, piny, hoppy and citrus among others. A brief history of hops followed to explain the name of the beer. Lupus salictarius, the origianal botanical name for hops which translated into “wolf among scrubs” grew wild among willows. And Pliny, a man who lived in the first century - 23 to 79 A.D. was credited being the first to name the plant or at least write about it. Hence the name of the ale.

Soon after the point about the original name of hops was made I was lost again. Jeff moved from topic to topic before I had a chance to understand what he was speaking about leaving me in a state of confusion and desperate strain for understanding. He read his talk from a paper like a speech rather than talking to his audience. I liken him to a man presenting a reading at a church service.

The most interesting part of his speech was when Mr. Rice started explaining terroir which means land. beers should reflect the land upon which they are crafted. Terroir was originally a political concept to protect food and products by tying them to the land of origin. Contemporary meaning of terroir is more closely associated with the culture surrounding the product than with the product itself. The land gives the product identity. Mr. Rice was making the argument that every ingredient that goes into the crafting of a beer reflects the land from which it came and gives identity to the beer. Emotional connections are also made between consumers and the craft beers from their region.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take away any more information from the talk given. The concept of Craft Terroir is interesting and I may have to do individual research into the subject. I wish the talk by Mr. Rice was more substantial and less about his own personal experiences with craft beers on the West Coast. Though some parts were interesting, on the whole I found the talk to be unengaging and difficult to follow. I attribute a large portion of that to the bad acoustics. Perhaps the venue for his next talk will have better sound.

Back for Another Beer at Singlespeed

Once again I find myself sitting at the small round table in the window of Singlespeed Brewery. This time I just happened to be a victim of circumstance. My mother allowed me to take her old touring bike to college. Now keep in mind this bike is 30+ years old and needs a lot of maintenance. Just a couple days ago the breaks started to go out on me. I procrastinated fixing them because of the unusually cold weather, but after warming up slightly today I jumped at the opportunity to ride to Main St and submit my bike to Bike Tech. Singlespeed sits just next door so I took a hop, skip, and a jump over to the brewery to sit and relax with a cold brew while waiting for the cycle surgeons to finish operating.

Beer Review:

On this occasion I chose to try a guest microbrew courtesy of Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. located in Decorah, IA. This particular beer is named Dorothy's New World. It has a slightly sweet wheat flavor that lingers in your mouth until the next sip. A fantastic beer for drinkers who do not like hoppy brews. If you enjoy light beers, this is a good one to mix up the game. It packs a lot of flavor but in a subtle way. As  an added note there is a very subtle hint of hop to it that I didn't notice until I closed my eyes to envision the flavor in my mind. In one word the beer depicts camaraderie. Fully in my mind this beer makes me see a close group of guys cheering with wild enthusiasm during a Sunday afternoon football game and clinking their glasses filled to the brim with Dorothy's New World. I give this beer a 4 out of 5 rating.

And I realize this is the third post in a row about Singlespeed. I promise I will visit another venue very soon to write about.

Beer Tour at Singlespeed Brewery

Anybody walking down Main St. for the Cedar Falls Art-a-Palooza may have seen me between the hours of 2:00 and 3:30 sitting behind the window at the Singlespeed bar-counter. I returned for my second visit ever on Saturday for the 2:00 beer tour guided by one of the brewers. It was interesting to listen to the brewing process, but I happened to be stuck at the back of the tour and couldn't hear too well and don't recall many details about the brewing process. But my main concern was the free beer after the tour. It's hard to turn down the opportunity for a free beer.

Before the  tour began I sat at the bar and purchased a beer titled The APA. Supposedly it's just a less hoppy IPA. I had only been sitting with my purchased brew for a couple minutes when the tour started to commence. During the entire tour presentation I kept sipping on my beer and fine-tuning its taste in my mind. (Now I am a very visually oriented individual so a lot of my beer descriptions will be images that formulate in my mind as I drink. For you other visual people out there, my reviews may be very entertaining. Hopefully you others who are dominantly either auditory or kinesthetic will still be able to relate to my flavor descriptions.)

Brewery Tour

The most amusing moment during the tour for me was when the tour leader paused and took a sip from his beer. He commanded the attention of the group, so when he paused to take a drink several others all raised their glasses in unison to drink as well. It was a subconscious response to mimic his actions, and I found it amusing from a psychological standpoint.

After the tour ended I returned to the bar to claim my free beer, so I have two beer reviews today.  The second beer was their Raspberry Farmhouse, a slightly hoppy ale brewed with fresh raspberries for a genuine raspberry flavor. Very refreshing on that particularly hot day.



Beer Review:

The APA had a flavor that reminded me of approaching Christmas. The beer had subtle hints of orange citrus flavor and a mellow hoppiness. It was like pine needles and candied orange peels being swept up in a light snow flurry on a December evening. I give this beer a 4.25 out of 5. I would definitely have this beer again and suggest it to anyone who wants to dip their feet in the pool of hoppy beers.

The Raspberry Farmhouse has a much simpler flavor image. It's a raspberry hop sandwich. After taking a sip you are initially hit with a wave of strong raspberry then replaced a moment later with the piney bitter hops only to end with a lingering raspberry flavor left on your tongue until the next sip. Great to drink with a spring salad or just to enjoy on a hot day. (or really any time for that matter.) Also rated a 4.25 out of 5. I think any beer drinker would enjoy drinking this beer as long as they enjoy a fruit flavor in their beer.

A Steady Speed at Singlespeed

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Click photo for link to SingleSpeed website

I sure was swept off my feet when I walked into Singlespeed brewery for the first time. As I opened the door the first thing I noticed was the small cozy interior. Framed prints of art depicting beers and bicycles lined the red brick walls. A long wooden bench sat along the right wall with two small tables, while several high top tables stood on the left. Two little round tables sat in each corner window overlooking the Main St. of Cedar Falls. The bar stood at the back of the welcoming room beckoning me to come closer. The surrounding atmosphere and quaint decorations were soon forgotten as my head tilted back to take in the entire blackboard of with the beer menu upon it written colorfully in chalk.

My head got dizzy just staring at seven different microbrew options, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. I didn’t know what to expect. I needed to put all this stimulus in context. The bartender, a ruggedly handsome fellow who looked to be in his late 20’s maybe early 30’s, was hard at work writing new beer names on the menu as I made my way over. Briefly I explained to him the nature of my visit and said I was in search of the best brew in the Cedar Valley, to which he replied, “Well the best beers are here.” And if this is true, my search ended quicker than it begun, but I will still have to continue to other breweries before I can make a decision on that point.

I arrived at Singlespeed with the intentions of having an interviewer with a brewer or manager who could shed some light on the business, how it started, and explain some of the technical aspects of the brewing process, however that didn’t happen as planned. The assistant brew manager was too heavily laden with work to be able to come out to chat, though he expressed much enthusiasm in getting to talk to someone so interested in the beers they craft with such artistry. So for today I had to content myself with simply ordering a beer and writing my opinion about it’s flavor.

After trying a couple samples, I narrowed my choice to their Saison Six. Apparently a saison contains some hops but not enough to categorize it as an Indian Pale Ale. (I had no idea there were other beers other than IPA’s that contained hops. I always assumed by definition, a hoppy beer was an IPA.) But I digress.

Beer Review: Saison Six

The official description of the Saison Six offered by Singlespeed goes as follows; “The latest launch in our Experimental Saison Series. This one steers West of traditional, featuring a handful of fruit-forward hops while restraining the clove-like, spicy notes. We are describing it as tropically cool. We aren’t certain what that means though.”

Honestly this entire description basically went over my head, so I will present my average drinker description in a moment. I don’t particularly care for hoppy beers. I think they taste either like soap or pine tree. However this saison beer was different from other hoppy beers I’ve tried in the past. The hoppy flavor was much more subtle with a true fruity undertone. So ultimately I would describe the flavor of the Saison Six as a mellow pine tree relaxing on the beach surrounded by tropical oranges. If you can take that mental image and think of it as a flavor, that is what the Saison Six tasted like to me.

I would definitely get this beer again presented the opportunity, but not until I’ve also tried some others first. I would recommend the Saison Six for all you beer lovers who enjoy hops or for those of you looking for an easy transition into the realm of hoppy beers. Since I don’t particularly enjoy hoppy beers myself, this was the perfect microbrew to help me transition into the hoppy realm. So how would I rate this beer on a 5 star system? I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Beers with Bennett: An Introduction

Greetings to all you beer fans out there. My name is Bennett Becicka and I am a senior marketing major studying at the University of Northern Iowa (Go Panthers!). I am currently taking a digital advertising class and have to create a digital presence across several different social media. Our class project is to generate and post content over a topic we are passionate about. I have chosen beer! Which makes this the best class project ever! Who doesn't want to drink beer and get a grade for it?

My personal branding statement sums me up along with my goal for this project. I am a goofy, fun-loving, enthusiastic college student interested in reviewing beers and their venues because I want to generate ideas of what works and doesn't work for my future ambition of owning a bar. So what is my plan for this blog exactly? Well, I plan on going all around the Cedar Valley finding the best craft beers, microbrews, and unusual bottled beers from breweries and retailers and reviewing them. I have little prior knowledge about the brewing process or any correct terminology about beer or their descriptions, so my reviews should resonate with the average consumer. I am not a beer snob by any means.

My blogging will not just stop at reviewing and critiquing beers and their venues. I will also share my new knowledge about beers and how they differ as I educate myself on the subject. Also there will be some interviews with brew masters who will help explain the brewing process for all of you who have thought about home brewing and just haven't quite gotten to it yet. So stay tuned for more Beers With Bennett; "beer reviews by the average drinker, for the average drinker".