Two Roads Evil Twin Collaboration Geyser Gose

So back to Vermont where I had the showdown of Treehouse versus Sip of Sunshine. We'll call that one a draw. The wild card in the whole shin dig was the introduction to Gose (pronounced Go-zah or Go-Zay, or who the fuck knows really). I've never had a Gose before. Keep reading asshole. It's not like this is right next to the 12 packs of Natty Bo. In fact I never heard of a Gose before this night. Keep reading asshole. Do you know what Tempranillo is? You don't. Now shut up.

So, while this night turned into the "Treehouse is the unicorn of beers versus groovy groovy groovy Sip of Sunshine," the Gose was the most memorable thing probably because, as you the asshole already know, it's as unique a beer as one can find. And good thing the first version I tried of this was the Evil Twin Two Roads Collaboration Geyser Gose, because it is one of the most memorable beer experiences I've ever had.

It's an ale brewed with Icelandic Moss (can't be easy to procure. "Hi Sir, and what aisle could I find your Icelandic Moss?"), herbs, kelp (I didn't even know kelp was a real thing, always thought it was slang), and sea salt. Let me tell you something, that sounds awful, like the most awful thing ever put in a glass.

Once poured, it smells like the Atlantic Ocean, specifically the areas where you'd find a ton of stringy seaweed covering the sand At sunrise. It was extremely salty to the nose as well, kind of like walking around Portland Maine.
So you have to get over the description and the smell because this basically is nothing like beer, it's like something you assumed the Vikings forced their young to feed on. So, I closed my eyes, considered pinching my nose and took a sip. And it was... Great.  It's wildly unique like eating a fresh oyster for the first time, briny, salty, really unusual. But it's strangely like an aphrodisiac. It's crisp and has this vague touch of Sunkist Orange soda.
It's a burnt orange in color with the head almost disappearing as quickly as it is poured, kind of like low tide.
The salt really overwhelms the beer but ends up clean and extremely palatable. That first sip is like that unique scotch where you question how you could possibly like this but then it grows on you fast.

So the Evil Twin has done it again, forced me to like something that borders on the bizarre. I now know that Gose isn't as rare as it would seem to this good ole American drinker, but it is certainly a massive change up to whatever your or my flavor of the week happens to be. And it turned the Treehouse v Sip O Sunshine debate into a 3 party race.

Sip of Sunshine

Seth and I became fast beer friends. Our competitive sides have emerged through beer, specifically, which one tastes best. It's not a Floyd Mayweather and the guy who head butted him type of competitiveness. It's the friendly kind. But it's real. I learned this early. My wife Heather knows Anna, Seth's wife. Heather likes to introduce me to husbands, but fortunately not every husband. She has a pretty good sense of which husbands I will like and which ones I'll be nice to. Seth fell into the category of a "couple find" for Heather. And as usual, she was right.

Seth and I see eye to eye on a lot of things. So much so, he invited our family to his ski house in Vermont despite the fact that I've skied once in my life. But I merrily went because I don't mind falling down in snow AND because I knew a showdown was coming.. 

Seth and I had that type of I know that you know conversation about beer the first time we met. It turned into a raid of his fridge and a night that eventually ended on the subject of bourbon (which I take way too seriously). He introduced me to Michters (one of the original American bourbons) and I told him all about Widow Jane (New York made-don't judge) that is a hot newcomer the bourbon scene. 

The invitation to Vermont led me to Treehouse, the current pound for pound craft beer champion. I secured all I could get, 12 cans of two of their varieties and figured I'd shock Seth into beer submission. I'd be in his house, probably using his skis and have won. But Anna found out that I went to Treehouse and told Seth who mobilized to acquire a variety of the best beers Vermont has to offer. And when it comes to traveling with beer, Vermont crushes Connecticut. So when I got to Seth's place, he wasn't just ready, he was armed.

The first thing Seth says is he heard I went to Treehouse and proceeds to open the refrigerator which is stocked with an array of cans I'd never seen before. And he went for the home run in his first at bat by forcing a can of Sip of Sunshine into my hand. I had to hold back my laughter. The can is a groovy yellow and it's produced by a group that describes it's beer as "fine liquids." What is this crap? But I knew Seth wouldn't have opened this day up with something low rent even though the can gave me flashbacks to sucking on helium balloons and eating yummy yummy grilled cheeses in a nondescript parking lot before the Grateful Dead show. 

Never judge a beer by it's can. Sure the beer might have been brewed by Cheech but it's possible that Chong knows what the fuck he is doing and in the case of Sip of Sunshine, they beyond know what they are doing, in fact, I'm not sure I've had a beer I like better. 

The can demands that I "pour it mindfully and inhale it deeply." Again, cut the new age Bullshit. I get it, the beer is good, so good you might forget you drove your SUV to your second home in a upper crust ski village. It also tells me that I will be "enjoying a tropical vacation in a glass." No I'm not. I'm in Vermont. It's never a tropical vacation in Vermont. 1) There are no black people 2) Am I seriously ordering a whole red snapper baked in Carribean spices in Stowe Vermont. No I am NOT. 3) I'm skiing right now. The genius of the Jamaican bobsled team is the absurdity. 

But I did pour mindfully and they were right about that part. There are a lot of bubbles, almost like the skim over the clear blue Carribean waters Mon. The aroma is intoxicating. I don't think I've ever had a beer that wasn't clearly marked with "This thing is made with fruit" that had a better natural smell. It was tropical: passion fruit, sweet grapefruit, mango. It was almost a magic trick. 

The color of the beer is burnt orange, but be careful, the pour can turn it quickly into a giant glass of head. 

It's smoothness is what really tuns this thing into a lollapalooza. You can taste all of the fruits and it becomes refreshing in a way beer rarely can be. I felt like I was at some Marriott breakfast buffet in St. Thomas. 

And then there is the kicker, this little groovy fruity smoothie packs a whallop: 8% alcohol. So I finally get it. Drink a few of these and suddenly that can maaaaaannnnn is starting to make a lot more sense maaaaaaannnnnn. 

The big news was Two Roads, my favorite emerging behemoth in Connecicut is distributing Sip of Sunshine for the Brewers who are originally from central Vermont, a town called Warren. So it appears I'll be able to have as much Sip of Sunshine as I want. 

Round one, Seth by split decision. But I have a feeling the rematch is coming soon. One day, remind me to tell you about the party at Seth's house where we drank so many different beers between 4-6PM, I had to hold in vomit so my children couldn't see how drunk Daddy got. 

City Steam Innocence

I'm biased here. Tyler is my friend and because he's my friend I got into drinking "his" beer expecting to like it and laud it and talk about how life changes when you drink it.
Tyler's dad Ron Ronald (not making that up) is a dude among dudes. Ron Ronald hosts an annual Octoberfest at his chateau (not an exaggeration) in West Hartford and my family has been lucky enough to be invited 4 years running. The yard behind the chateau surpasses all expectations of a backyard on your typical suburban street where property is under a half acre. His chateau opens up to an actual beer garden with what could be but isn't lighted path, perfect substations for food and beer and pours out into a larger then usual, yet privatized back area that is perfect for the random fire pit or the inevitable 7 year old games of chase with sticks.
Ron likes to drink. He'll have 4-7 taps running in this back yard, a full table of whiskeys and wine and when I say full, I mean the glass is literally covered with bottles. And if you want to hang out inside, the kitchen has 3 taps running too. Ron has that good times look to him, the kind where it appears like he went to a house party in 1976 and never left. He's the original LMFAO, except that he's white, doesn't wear neon glasses and isn't faking a second of it.
Ron's friends are characters too. My favorite is someone who either goes by "Bull" or "Rhino" or something like that. He's rotund, smiley and has the perfect Octoberfest handlebar mustache. He also likes to sing traditional European drinking songs (or I just made up that part of the description of them). But doesn't Just want to do it, he wants to be asked. At some point around 4:35 PM, you'll hear "Bull" loudly pronounce that he just can't sing today and it takes about 13 seconds of light arm twisting for him to be warmed up enough to belt out some German jams. And he's for realz good, so by the time he's gotten his just due of "please please pleases," he's singing.
Bull and his other pals also cook, like homemade freshly ground kielbasas that are ridiculous.
In all, Ron Ronald and his son Tyler and all the people who congregate at Ron's house define good people, fun people.
Ron is a part owner of City Steam Brewery in downtown Hartford. It's a huge space connected to a hotel that probably was killing it when the Whalers played a block away but now caters to those who actually hang out in downtown Hartford. And that scene ain't what it used to be.

Tyler is the type of guy who didn't fall far from the tree. He's a free spirit, fun and interested in good beer. He and I have discussed my dream of having a destination brewery in a mountain setting. A vineyard experience for beer lovers. We brew, we bring in our favorites, we hang out. The problem is, I don't know anything about the business of making beer let alone the actual process of making beer. All I know is I like drinking it and being in nice places when I drink it. So Tyler said to come with him and he proceeded to introduce me to Sam, the new young brewmaster at City Steam. Sam objected to the particular glass I was enjoying and demanded I try his IPA that he recently created for the brewery, Innocence. It was great. He was lit. We talked. Upon Tyler's pushing, he agreed to let me come to City Steam one day and watch him brew and I did and it was fascinating.
He explained the process, the science behind it. I saw the grunt work of the cleaning process and we talked about why having your own pub selling your own beer is about the only way to make my kind of real money worth being in the beer business. Cool. I'm not trying to become a subsidiary of Miller. I just want the coolest brewery spot in the Shenandoah Valley.
So I'm biased because Ron, and Tyler and Sam and their crew are cool and fun and nice and generous and they also happen to make some of the best beer in central Connectciut. Sam was right, his creation Innocence, an IPA might be the best of that bunch.

It's light and crisp, the hops come way late in this one and stay with you. It's got quite a bitter edge to it. But Sam openly admits he loves hoppy beer. The hoppier the better so apparently he's putting his beer where his love is. The bitterness washes away quickly though leaving you almost refreshed. In that regard, Innocence felt a little like drinking sparkling water, but clearly packed with flavor. It has a strict beer aroma and is bronze in color. The pour I gave it left me with a pretty good head but that said there is a trick to Ron's taps that took me three years to figure out or end up with a glass of foam. All in all, Innocence was great.
City Steam's signature beer, The Naughty Nurse, (I know, amazing name) is distributed pretty widely in the area. So City Steam, while a landmark is also a pretty good purveyor. And if you stop in or happen to find yourself with one of their beers, in particular Innocence, you'll thank me.

EvilTwin Nomader Weiss

I'm having this beer at a sushi spot in the hip part of Louisville on the eve of the Kentucky Derby. The word "hip" is being used loosely here, but that's not meant to piss all my Kentuckian friends off. I don't know whether Kentuckian is a word, but it should be as in: I might as well have a doctorate in bourbon and horses which makes me an honorary Kentuckian.
Anyway, the day was spent at Churchill Downs scanning the fashion and races through some cheap RayBan sunglasses that I borrowed from a woman. Long story.
I was there for work with the Jockey Club which is the marketing arm of big time horse racing. Here's the link to what we came up with from the 2016 Derby the following day.

https://www.americasbestracing.net/videos/2016-abr-wired-bram-weinstein-kentucky-derby

OK I'm done giving you the me me me me crap. So we're at a place that specializes in sushi and other moderately Asian items. So I'm concerned the people I'm with are not culinary experts. It's hit or miss in this sport. A friend described a Derby through the lens of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith by saying it's the only event where you can meet the Queen of England and Ron Jeremy outside a pot-o-potty. The last part happened this past Saturday.
The group I'm having dinner with swore by this place even thought the menu demanded you have to save room for the tempura friend Snickers bars.
Look, I'm thinking about seersucker suits and smoking expensive cigars. I'm in no mood to slum it Kentuckian style.
And the beer list scared me. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I almost can't eat sushi without beer and in most cases, some kind of Japanese fare. The list I got had a bunch of craft things which suggested this place was so scatter brained it didn't know it's audience. Who thinks the perfect meal is  a rainbow roll, deep fried Twix and a Miller High Life?
I did recognize one brewer, which as those who travel know becomes unusual when you aren't in your region of expertise. I was in Cincinnati one night and had a beer by Rhinegeist and it was great. I assume I'll never ever see it again.
But my eyes stopped on the EvilTwin who makes insane beer out of Connecticut and the one I landed on was one I'd never had. The Nomader Weiss.

I'll get to the EvilTwin's Gose soon, but let me just tell you that one of his major partners Two Roads in Stratford CT is becoming a force. And if the EvilTwin has made it out to Kentucy then it's possible my beer neighbor is about to go global.
As for the Nomader Weiss, while I'll describe it as good, I have to admit was nowhere near the level of great I'd come to expect.
The Nomader Weiss had no head on it and the can (bizarre looking to start with) demands that I "store it in the dark."
It actually kind of tasted like a cheap champagne, like Brut or Martinellis sparkling cider that was on the verge of going flat.
It was a touch sour, almost Granny Smith Appleish (I don't know if that's a word either) and was really crisp like you just bit into it.

The can instructed me also to drink this "when I'm near Madsion Square Park in New York." OK, well, um I'm in Louisville, eating sushi after spending the day hallucinating that I'll one day own the Derby winner.

As far as the EvilTwin goes, maybe I needed to drink this at night in the NYC Park, because otherwise I'll be inclined to pass on this one for another variety. Or maybe it's just that I was in Louisville, eating sushi (and the tempura friend Snickers bar) after spending a day wearing women's glasses pretending I'm going to be one of the sport's kings.

Golden Road 2020 IPA

So my friend Saul is letting us stay in his house in Santa Monica. This is not unusual for Saul. His neighbor, who we met tonight best described him as "a wonderful man," 13 times. I'm not exaggerating. he just kept saying it as if he couldn't finish a sentence without saying that like, "If you want a great breakfast burrito, go to the place on the corner of 20th and Pico. Saul sometimes goes there, he's a wonderful man."
Now when I say Saul is letting us stay in his house, you should know he's letting my entire family stay which includes a 6 year old girl and 3 year old boy and is aware that we have a lot of extended family which means his pool might have multiple children all quite capable of urinating in his pool at the same time. But Saul (who doesn't have any children of his own) doesn't care. He is indeed a wonderful man. So wonderful I don't even know why I had any pause asking if I could stay in his house this week because I knew his answer would be yes. Saul is the type of wonderful where it doesn't even occur to him to even think about something like that. He doesn't even consider the thoughts of whether the 3 year old would shit on his couch (a distinct possibility since the 3 year old is at the stage where peeing in the toilet is a no brainer, but pooping is akin to being waterboarded).

Saul's house is an adult house with art, and nice coffee tables and things made of glass. Any parent knows what this means. We don't know what is going to break, we just know something is going to break. Saul doesn't care. He's the type of person that really couldn't give a shit if the vase he brought back from Istabul gets destroyed. And that's why Saul is a wonderful person. And it's why he won't care that I drank his beer.

I just saw it in the fridge, took it out and didn't think twice about guzzling it down. Well, I guess I did because I'm writing about it but not because I have any regret. Saul wrote on his 3 page instructions of how to utilize every facet of his home that he wanted us to take anything we needed, including booze. So I've been staring down the Tres Generaciones Tequila and Woodford Reserve wondering if drinking either of those without him is actually a step over the line? Taking his beer felt on some level assumed.

As far as I know Saul doesn't read this blog. And it wouldn't make a difference anyway, he'd think it was great because he's a wonderful man. He's so wonderful, a neighbor who Saul admits he doesn't know well told us he's wonderful.

Many people agree with Saul's neighbors sentiments. If asked if Saul is A) A wonderful man B) a good dude C) eh or D) Who is Saul?, overwhelmingly they'd pick A. In my 20's I loved and hated Saul for this. Because I know if my best friends were given that same multiple choice test about me, the majority would not pick A. My closest friends are stuck between good dude and eh but strangers swear by Saul like he's the Dalai Lama. Now in my 40's, I've come to appreciate the fact that one of my best friends is a wonderful man in the eyes of so many. So I drink HIS beer in HIS honor!

One of the reasons I took out the Golden Road 2020 IPA from HIS refridegerator was that it is made in LA and since I live on the east coast, the chances of me running into this again is slim. And also because I'm the kind of dick who not only asks to stay in your house with children who defecate publicly, but I open their fridge and drink their beer with giving it two thoughts.

It's an amber ale, almost red-ish. The head is the light coating with a million mini bubbles. It's also refreshing. No mistake the hops are present but like many of the east coast IPA's I've happened upon in recent months, the aftertaste vanishes rather quickly. I wouldn't say it has a ton of discernible flavor. That's not to suggest it is bad by any stretch. It's really drinkable, but there isn't anything that makes you go, "Ooh that's -----." There is also very little aroma. In the end though, I enjoyed this beer because it was a beer in the traditional sense. It didn't smell like a mango or taste like a pineapple but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.
So it gets a thumbs up, although admittedly part of the positive vibes are because I'm drinking it while thinking about Saul. How could any beer Saul drinks not be wonderful right?
So if I were the Golden Road brewing company, I'd send Saul stuff. Looks what happens when you associate yourself with Saul, wonderful things happen.

Detour Double IPA

I just love the can. It's got an RV on it. They point out that this beer was brewed with renewable power, wind and solar. It comes from Salt Lake City, which despite it's religious backdrop, seems like the type of place where they'd only drink good beer. Like, I assume when Mitt Romney parties, it includes a really good carved prime rib station.
I drank Detour Douple IPA with a grilled Chimichurri chicken I found on Epicurious (who as an aside should really hire me to do a web series about the average Dad who has become quite the chef). It was not the perfect compliment. So on that front, it wasn't exactly fair to judge Detour based on the pairing.
I don't picture Mitt Romney eating chimichurri, in fact I bet if I asked him what chimichurri is, he'd say a small yippy dog.

So I had to drink a second one when I wasn't thinking about Mitt Romney or grilled chicken or small dogs for that matter.

Detour Double IPA is really good. It's not heavy, but it's not light. It's got that amber Bass Ale look to it, almost red. Basically there was no head on it. The hops crash onto the back of your throat with that signature bitter splash but it doesn't last and the aftertaste is pleasantly soothing.
The aroma was a little indecipherable. I asked my wife what she thought and she said "Beer" and made an "ick" face. She's not on the IPA train. In all honesty I am only along for this ride because the brewmasters seem to have decided to make this and only this style for the time being. I'm not complaining but when German witbeers become the rage, I'm gonna party like it's 1999.
As for my nostrils, I sensed a little black licorice, not as noticeable as jagermeister but it was there.

I'd drink Detour Double IPA again and next time I'd do it with something that is from the American's chef speciality cookbook. On the beer scale of 5, I give it 4 Romneys.

Yona Yona Ale

I went to Koi, a Japanese restaurant near Grand Central terminal last night. The scene is very New York, like Stephen Hawking took an Andy Warhol painting and threw it into a rectangular room with steps. It also doubled as what the Redskins new stadium might look like, an amoeba.
So Koi is known for sushi and with sushi I drink beer. You might think, considering I blog about every beer I get my hands on that I must be drinking beer with everything I eat. Not true. I don't drink beer with breakfast, although I've considered it.  80 percent of the time I'm not drinking beer at lunch either. I did work in professional environments where that was frowned upon. It's not even a certainty that I'll drink beer with dinner for that matter.
At this point, I assume you are probably A) bored with this topic. It's obviously going nowhere and has nothing to do with the beer I will review or the sushi restaurant I ate at, B) Are sitting there like, I hate you, C) Are really curious why I'm admitting that, D) None of the above or E) All of the above. Anyone who picks E is an imbecile.
Anyway, the point is, that being the case it may come as a surprise to you that as long as it's not a sushi lunch with a workplace being the next stop after, I am almost exclusively drinking beer with sushi. Japanese beers, in particular the German style lagers like Sapporo or Kirin seem to perfectly match with a great cut of Salmon or Yellowtail. I almost can't drink anything else when I am eating good sushi.
So here we are at Koi and I'm going to get a beer and the Sapporo people will be happy to know that my go to is typically the 22 ounce can. I like to share that or if the other party isn't drinking, keep it for myself. But that's when *Bonnie, our waitress explains she has Japanese craft beers on her menu, one described as, "just like Blue Moon," and another that well, wasn't.
So I went for number 2: Japanese craft beer with unknown description. I immediately regretted this. You see, Donald Trump has it all wrong. I still think America is great, so great that I assume a "Japanese Craft Beer" would taste like ass because no one does craft beer like we do craft beer. Am I right bitches????? U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
But considering that Sapporo is as good as any lager we have and their Japanese whiskeys are scary close to a good Scotch, I should have known better.

Anyway, what I received was Yona Yona Ale. It came in a yellow can and looked like it belonged in the aisle at the off brand grocery store where they keep "Mountain Lion" soda. I know I'm being mean, I'm just an American asshole. And proud of it biiitttttccchhheeesss. U-S-A U-S-A U-S-A!
Clearly I'm biased. I want this beer to suck. I want to crow that finally we have something better then them. Keep your TV's, we don't watch them anymore! Wow that Toyota is great. Have you seen the Tesla? Steve Jobs was the creator of my computer AND phone fool? Step off.
But, turns out the beer was pretty good when I stopped having these odd hallucinations about a fake competition I believe the United States is in with Japan.

It was gold in color, but Leopard shirt thinks the lighting of the place had something to do with that. You know New York restaurants think everything needs an Instagram filter. Yes, the person I ate dinner with  wore a leopard shirt on a Monday. It was very Gronk.

The beer was quite light which for "craft" beers was unusual but for Japanese beers, at least the ones I've had previously fell in line with the norm. It wasn't very deep either which, in our craft world where sometimes I feel like I'm baselining hops, felt unusual for the word " craft" to be associated. And it was not overly flavorful. Turn off three. Done right? Wrong.
Maybe it was the sushi talking but it complimented the fish well. One of the Koi dishes we got was a "crispy rice" appetizer with either yellowtail or a spicy tuna on top. It was a deep fried small rectangle of rice deep fried so it was particularly crispy on the outside with a glob of the fish on top. And Yona Yona turned out to be a nice finishing touch.
It has almost no aftertaste,  only a mild burst of hops which lately was welcome. The burst reminded me of the poppers at Pinkberry. I realize only people with six year olds who take those six year olds to Pinkberry  probably know what I'm talking about. It's when you eat something that has a gel in the middle and it gives you that little burst of flavor.
Leopard shirt said it had the aroma of honey and she was right on.
In all, I liked it. Maybe more for the story but I liked it.Iit's not like I'll be demanding to know where I can get a six pack of it. But next time I'm at Koi and someone fries up some rice and throws some fish on top of it, I'm not going Sapporo. I'm taking Yona Yona for the ride.


*How did I know my server's name was Bonnie? Well I didn't when she told me the beer options which is among the first interactions you have with wait staff. I just want you to know I'm not one of those people who immediately ask for the servers name if that person doesn't immediately offer it. I'm not saying that's wrong or weird. Actually I am. It's weird. It's why I don't do it and why I think I had to tell you that I don't do that. The reason I know her name is because it was printed on the check. You don't see many Bonnies anymore so I turned to my dinner companion and said "Guess her name. It's realllllllllyyyy exciting." The names the other person will throw out will tell you a lot about them. If someone is like, "Is it Jennifer?" You now know this person is probably a " Kendra on Top"  fan, i.e. someone you should never devote watching TV with for the rest of your life. Why would someone assume I want to play this game if the name of the server is a name you hear 15 times a day? Now if your guest says "is it Iman?" and the server is a 5 foot 2 inch white brunette with a few extra rolls in the midsection, well you have found yourself eating sushi with a keeper.