A white field is the new Boise blue

Clarification: To decide who gets to go first I’ll flip a coin.  Philadelphia always picks heads.  The winner always defers to the second half (the better half, in my opinion). Game on!

Lakefront Oktoberfest vs. Sly Fox Oktoberfest – Battle of the Märzens

Philadelphia won the toss so Lakefront is up first.

Lakefront (LF) – Comes out strong with a crystal clear, beautiful amber/copper color with a mid sized white head.

Sly Fox (SF) – SF tries to counter LFs early strike with its own color profile of copper and a white head, but it come up just short.  WHile it originally looks mighty pretty, upon further inspection it’s rather pale.  WIll that missed extra point come in to play later in the match?

7-6. Lakefront leads after one.

Needs to spend more time in the gym and less in the mirror

LF – Has a pleasent aroma of toasty malts, medium sweet fruits, some caramel malt, and a touch of herbal hops.  Solid.

SF – A much lighter aroma than LF.  Light biscuit malts, honey, light caramel malts, too. Wasn’t expecting that honey aroma.  Nice touch.

13-10. Sly Fox pushes one in for seven on the legs of honey and takes the lead.

LF – Has a crisp, medium thick body that is full of carbonation.

SF – Medium bodied.  Super tiny bubbles really give it a bite.

16-13. Sly keeps it’s lead but this is anyones game.  A slugfest for sure.

LF – Flavor has plenty of biscuit malts, caramel sweetness, some medium fruity sweetness, but not much in the way of earth or herbal hops that had a minor role in the aroma.  I gotta say that I’m a little underwhelmed with with the flavor.  Sure, it’s solid and there is nothing wrong, but it’s just a little dull.

SF – Again, SF is more muted.  In this case that’s not a bad thing, though.  While LF was full of flavor, it wasn’t all that great.  SF isn’t great, either, but a bit better.  Nice grains, sweet malts, a bit of toffee, and that honey comes back just slightly.  Still, not enough to get in for seven.

19-16. Seems after some early fireworks, both beers have slowed down and just can’t get over that goal line.

A fast start but tires quickly

LF – Overall I’d say this is a solid beer but not really memorable.  It has some doughy malts, fruity sweetness, caramel malts, and in the aroma, a bit of herbal hops.  It quenches the thirst, which is always a plus, but it’s just boring and I’ve nearly forgotten it already.  Would I buy this again?  Not if there is another Oktoberfest available to me.  So, what started out promising with it’s gorgeous color really let me down with it’s substance.

SF – This is a nice beer, but I can’t say it’s in the upper ranks of Oktoberfests.  It has distinct pale lager notes throughout because it’s flavor profile is really very muted.  I liked the honey notes, but is that enough to really make this a beer to seek out?  Maybe it’s just something about Sly Fox and my tastebuds that don’t get along too well.  While I think their pilsener is an amazing beer I believe their pale ale is a beer I can really do without.  The Oktoberfest is more drinkable than their pale, but it has some similar characteristics.  Is it the yeast?  I don’t know.

Final: 22-19. Sly Fox Oktoberfest wins week one of the Gridiron Showdown and making Philadelphia proud.  It’s a solid beer and well brewed.  It wasn’t without it’s first game jitters, though, and could improve on things down the line.

Philadelphia: 1-0.  Up next: Philadelphia travels to Detroit – Philadelphia Newbold IPA @ Bells Two Hearted IPA

(I learned a lot during the week one showdown.  I need to devote more time to these, take more photos, think about what I’m saying a bit more, and hopefully come up with solid and repeatable scoring guidelines.  But, for week one I think it went pretty well.  The rest of the season looks bright!)

Rules:

• Beers pitted against each other will be of similar style to try and keep it fair.
• To be considered the beer must be from a brewery that is within a 100-mile radius of the city the football team is from.
• Beers will be scored on five factors: aroma, flavor, appearance, body, and overall enjoyment.
• Beers will be awarded 7 points for each factor I’m impressed with, 3 points for each factor I still enjoy but aren’t amazing, and 0 points when it doesn’t do anything to aid my enjoyment.
• I don’t know exactly how this is all going to work and I assume I’ll modify the scoring as the season progresses.  I haven’t yet decided if I’ll go back and adjust previous scores or leave them be as-is.
• If it becomes impossible to find a beer from, say, Indianapolis or its surrounding area, I then grant myself the right to chose any brewery from Indianapolis’ rational fan-base to represent the Colts.  If I’m forced into that scenario then that beer will be docked a field goal from its final score as a penalty.
• The beer does not have to come from the same state as the team so long as the beer is from within the radius.  From there, the same 3-point rule applies.  If the Jets/Giants don’t have to play in New York than why would I hold the beers that ridiculous standard?
• In the unlikely (although growing) possibility arises that I can’t find a beer from anywhere near an opponents town, within the radius, or the rational fanbase.  I will choose a beer from the closest brewery I can find to that team.  In that case I will dock a touchdown from it’s final score.
• A note about “rational fanbase:” it means anywhere with a large population of fans of a team even if it’s outside immediate area.  I would include much of Northern Delaware or Southern Jersey as the Eagle rational fanbase.  If, for whatever reason, Des Moines, Iowa, sported a large Eagles fanbase it would not be considered as part of the acceptable fanbase.
• If I can’t find similar beer styles from the two areas then I can fudge it a little.  An American Strong Ale can go up against an Imperial IPA if that’s the best I can do.  No points will be docked.

My prediction for the season: Philly beers go 11-7.  Not really sure what I’m gonna do if the Eagles/Philly beers make the playoffs but I have a season to figure it out.

September 12 vs Green Bay Packers – Sly Fox Oktoberfest  vs Lakefront Oktoberfest

September 19 @ Detroit Lions – Philadelphia Newbold IPA @ Bells Two Hearted IPA

September 26 @ Jacksonville Jaguars – Victory Storm King Imperial Stout @ Holy Mackerel Mack in Black

October 3 vs Washington Redskins – Weyerbacher Fifteen vs Heavy Seas Smoke on the Water

October 10 @ San Francisco 49ers – Yards Philadelphia Pale Ale @ Anchor Humming Ale

October 17 vs Atlanta Falcons – River Horse Hopalotamus vs Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster

October 24 @ Tennessee Titans – TBD @ TBD

Bye

November 7 vs Indianapolis Colts – TBD vs TBD

November 15 @ Washington Redskins – TBD @ TBD

November 21 vs New York Giants –  Southampton Pumpkin Ale vs Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale

November 28 @ Chicago Bears – Tröegs Pale Ale @ Two Brothers Pale Ale

December 2 vs Houston Texans – Weyerbacher Blanche vs Celis White*

December 12 @ Dallas Cowboys – Yuengling Lager @ Lone Star Lager

December 19 @ New York Giants  - Stoudts Double IPA @ Captain Lawerance Imperial IPA

December 26 vs Minnesota Vikings – TBD vs TBD

January 2 vs Dallas Cowboys – TBD vs TBD

*Yes, I’m stretching this one quite a bit.  But, it is the same beer that was brewed at the Austin, Tx based Celis Brewery before it closed down and with Texas beers hard to find around here I’m letting it go.  Still, it will be docked the 7 point penalty.

As you can see, the beer match-ups haven’t all been decided yet.  I was out at the foodery today looking for good beers from around the league and this might take more work/beer hunting than originally assumed.  I’ll get them before gameday, though, don’t you worry.  I’m most concerned with finding beers from Indianapolis, Nashville, and Dallas.  That’s three beers, which is worrisome, but we’ll get there.  If you know of some good beers that can fit in to the schedule I’m all ears (I need to be able to find them in the Philadelphia area)

I have a feeling I’m going to make a lot of revisions to the scoring as the season progresses.  I already have a growing list of changes to make for next season.  The biggest change will be to start gathering the beers earlier so I can assure myself of finding beers from all of the Eagles opponents cities instead of what I’m having to do this year.

I can’t wait for kickoff!

I’ve been trying to drink as many Philly brewed beers as I could get my hands on lately so when I saw the Yards Brewing Co. Variety case I quickly snatched one up. The four different beers that were inside were all pretty solid; Brawler, ESA, Pale Ale, and IPA. But the winner has got to be that IPA. It’s a very relaxed ipa but it’s highly refreshing, too. Plenty of floral and fruity hop tones through this one with a medium bitterness on the end. While it won’t stand up next to a west coast ipa, it’s a great porch drinking beer in the warm evenings that are a coming.

It’s been nearly three weeks since I left the land of the rising sun and arrived in America. In that time I’ve drank many good beers, visited many brewpubs, bars, and bottle shops. I’ve been to nine different states already and have been opened up to many breweries unknown to me before. It’s been fun so far.

The one thing I hadn’t done was to pick up that most glorious of purchases- a mixed six pack. In Japan the closest store was a 90 minute train ride away from me. At my current location in Maryland the closest beer store is maybe a five minute drive. There, I bought as much as I could afford at the time. Here, I can pick up a sixer and be on my way.

It’s nice to be home.

Quality from left to right

Sapporo’s Premium Malts Dark is a fixture at the American style restaurant, T.G.I. Fridays.  I’m not one to frequent that type of place but I have been known to stop in for their happy hour and kick back a Dark or two.  I am human, after all.  The Yebisu Black Beer is another fairly common find in and conbini or market.  The only wildcard can be Asahi Black but really, I’ve found it to be around enough to not fret when in need of a can of schwarz.  This one turned out to be the closest showdown with mere fractions separating #1 from #3.  On with the showdown!

Sapporo Yebisu Black Beer – 5% abv. Pours dark brown with a fizzy, short lasting head.  Molasses and light chocolate malts with a faint fruit aroma as well.  Body is pretty thin.  Flavor is definitely one-sided, but it’s not bad at all.  A bit of molasses, sweet malts, light cocoa powder, some roasted malts, and faint fruits.  This is a solid macro Schwarz.  While it’s #3 on the list it’s not a bad beer by any means.  Easy to drink, flavorful, and not a pale lager.  I’m in.

A close third

Asahi Black – 5% abv. Pours dark brown, ruby highlights, and a big off white head.  Aroma has light roasted malts, some caramel, light chocolate, and definite fruits.  Watery body.  Pleasant flavor of lightly roasted malts, some chocolate, and faint fruit.  This one is pretty light from top to bottom.  Light aroma, Light flavor, Light Body.  But that doesn’t mean it’s bad- it’s quite tasty and the lightness of it all makes for a refreshing brew.  Asahi Black is easily my second favorite Asahi beer following only their stout.  As close as the Yebisu was to being the winner, Asahi lost out by the thinest of margins.  Closer, even, than Murphy’s was to Beamish.

Best looking of the bunch

Suntory Premium Malts Dark – 5.5% abv. Pours dark brown with a small tan head. Lightly roasted malts, some caramel, and cocoa in the aroma. Medium bodied schwarz. Flavor has some roasted malts, some molasses, light fruits, and a touch of cocoa. A really nice beer. Easy to drink but with plenty of character (for a macro).  I won’t go so far as to say it could be mistaken for a proper German brewed schwarzbier, but for a canned macro schwarz this is a mighty fine offering.  It earns that coveted showdown gold.  You could even say that Suntory was able to “Own the Podium” for the macro schwarz category.  Sorry, Canada.

Wins by a nose

Really, all three were good and you should be able to enjoy your can o’ macro regardless of which one you pick up.  Now comes that time of night when I’ve consumed three beers, I’ve finished writing a post about it, and I don’t have work in the morning.  Bars?  I’ll see you there.

Hosokawa Shuzo Sake and Beer brewery makes Ise No Kuni Beer.  When my friends and I happened upon them in a shop we were a bit surprised to see beer none of us had any idea existed so we naturally picked up a few bottles each.  While the beer wasn’t that amazing it was nice to see another brewery in the area producing drinkable beer.

The dunkel was a little too vegetal for my liking.  Still, it had an overall nice caramel maltiness that made it a pretty nice drink.  The helles was quite nice and the better of the two.  Grassy hops and a nice malty flavor with a medium body made for a good brew.  I don’t know if I’d pick up the dunkel again but I’d go back for another round with the helles.  I do love those little breweries.

On the web: Hosokawa Shuzo

Train Beers

Isekadoya - Kumano Kodo Beer. Nice.

Isekadoya IIPA in the streets of Ise

A wall of Isekadoya bottle labels

Isekadoya Taster set (damn you, Suntory Malts!!)

Keg, Nagoya. Only JiBeer. Only GOOD JiBeer.

Isekadoya - Imperial IPA. Good, but better on draught.

Don’t fret, my words will return in full force soon.  That’s probably not a good thing.

If you are a New Orleans Saints fan, an Indianapolis Colts fan, an American football fan, a sports fan in general, or just someone who likes a fresh pint of beer to start their day, The Aldgate is the place to be Monday morning.

Join me for a pint?

Caprese, sushi, Asahi’s The Master.