Good Beer demands a lot from he who imbibes. It asks, perhaps presumptuously, that the drinker take his time drinking, in order to fully enjoy the depth of flavor. Good Beer sometimes costs a bit more. This can be a real kick in the teeth. Good Beer may sometimes lead to an uncomfortable sensation of fullness in the belly, which inhibits further drinking. I know--this is already a very unsettling list. Good Beer may even make eyes at your momma, or contemptuously spit on your Coverse high-tops, because Good Beer can be a bit of a snoot. Your grand-poppy's easy-going Miller Light 24-pack, Good Beer is not. And yet, still we tolerate these little peculiarities of Good Beer, because Good Beer is so goddamn good to us.
In the snooty but utopic world of Good Beer, Delaware-based Dogfish Head is the Johnny Depp of breweries--but this is just me making a lazy metaphor, because I recently finished watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The thematic link is that both of them are hella tight, and to varying degree these conspicuously idiosyncratic, art-house contenders have managed to score some major critical attention. Dogfish Head is my favorite American brewery, hands-down. Though other beers may compete for my attention in any one particular area, Dogfish Head reigns champ for overall creativity. They have an excellent track record. Nothing they make is bad; rather, almost everything is fantastic, and every single one is worthwhile.
Granted, what I really wanted to do yesterday was see Inglourious Basterds, but no one was available, so instead I went to the liquor store. I had already decided on a six-pack to compliment my Hunter-Thompson-inspired Netflix selection. Out of the sizable DFH selection, I've tried the 60, 90, and 120 minute IPAs, the Palo Santo and Palo Alto, the Raison d'etre and Raison d'Extra, the Midas' Touch, and maybe some others currently escaping my memory. The beer I picked out seemed fascinating and so caught my attention, even surrounded by the mythical DFH repertoire. It's called the Punkin Ale, and the box describes it as a "full-bodied brown ale brewered with real pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice cinnamon and nutmeg."
At home, I chilled a goblet (the kind of goblet used for beer, not by pimps), and poured myself a bottle of the Punkin Ale.
If anything, it's certainly a very orange beer, and also a very pretty beer, totally keeping in theme with the bright orange, almost Halloweeney quality of the box. The nose was mild on the first whiff, but on subsequent tries I began to detect something that can only be described as similar to the candles one smells around Autumn. As for the taste:
Well---it's definitely a good beer, but not necessarily a stand-out beer. Hm. Maybe this is just my bias against brown ales, which, although good, I find rarely to stand out (though Pig's Ear makes a pretty good one). Dogfish Head does so many extremely good things that it takes a lot to keep 1-upping their own very high standards. And the Punkin Ale seems more based around a strong concept and theme than on a particularly stellar brew. As the box lists, this is a full-bodied brown ale with a pleasant, aromatic spiciness. Despite the sugar, it's not a very sweet beer, and the effect of the pumpkin is all but negligible. To reiterate: it's a good beer, but the absence of the pumpkin on the pallette was a little disappointing. I would give it a B.
Anyway, hot damn, it's still tasty, and I'm definitely looking forward to the other three (it's a four-pack). The punk included in the title (and foregrounded on the box) is aptly applied--Dogfish Head beers, just like all Good Beers in general, and also like Johnny Depp in specific, do not take shit from anyone. Not even you, or perhaps especially not even you. Punks like DFH are willing to take creative risks and use quality ingredients and make exciting beers even when the general mainstream turns its back on them (though the food and drink critics always got yo back). Does it matter that the Punkin Ale isn't perfect? Not really, I'm still glad to have tasted it. Does it matter that Fear and Loathing is a wee bit too repetitive and contains almost no plot? A little bit, but it was still worth it to see such a creatively executed film, with an awesome actor firing on all cylinders. Sometimes a man needs to tell the mainstream to shove it, and try something new, and take a hard attitude about it, and overall just be a punk, knawumsayin'?
No comments:
Post a Comment