NEWS

The only downside I’ve been able to find with my favorite winter beers thus far is my expanding waistline. Who has two thumbs and has been sucking in his stomach to fit into his 30x32 Dockers before work? This guy!

Despite the very real need to go to the gym with more frequency, though, I’ve been perfectly happy with all the outstanding varieties of stout I’ve been able to try as of late. Thanks to Free the Hops, we’ve got more than just Guinness, which is great, but some of the newer-to-Alabama stouts have really opened my eyes to a style of beer – like “The Beast” – I can’t say I enjoyed right from the start.

Stouts come in several different variations (Imperial, Russian Imperial, English, Chocolate, Oatmeal and American to name a few) and most are very dark brown or even pitch black in color. Very generally speaking, if you’re a chocolate or coffee lover and happen to be looking for a tiny bit of a buzz from something other than liquor, this sweet ale is for you.

I can tell you from some intense “total immersion” research over the past month that Great Divide’s Yeti Imperial Stout, Samuel Adams’ Imperial Stout and North Coast Brewing Company’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout are all good selections from which to start your love affair with darker beer. Don’t go overboard on any of these, though, as they’re all big boys ranging from roughly 9-percent to 10 percent in alcohol content. Sipping one or two over a reasonable period of time will do the trick.

If you’re going to oblige and have Tiger Woods-style transgressions with any of my suggestions, do it now. I swear they taste better when it’s below 65 degrees.

Other selections that have caught my attention and are available at many Mobile area beer stores are: Both Bell’s Java Stout and their Kalamazoo Stout and Left Hand Brewing’s Left Hand Milk Stout. There’s many more out there. Don’t be afraid to explore beyond my suggestions.

Mobile “select”ed by Abita
Speaking of stout, Louisiana brewery, Abita, has selected Mobile as one of the cities lucky enough to receive its “select” series of beers and the first batch, an Imperial Stout, has already made its way across state lines. According to the Abita Web site, the select series changes every couple months and in the past has included an India Pale Ale, an Alt (German for old), a few different styles of Pilsner, and a Nut Brown Ale. I haven’t had the chance to try this most recent offering, but Abita’s Web site says the select series is available on draught only. The only tap pouring this stuff that I’ve been able to confirm is Hopjacks. So get to LoDa soon for this one! If any other drinking spots are “select”ed, we’ll let you know.

Also, if you feel as if your quality of life would have improved considerably by knowing this information a few days earlier, you might wish to access this amazing invention known as the “World Wide Web.” If you haven’t heard of it, look around your house for the glowing rectangle connected to a bunch of buttons and go wild.

Mobilian and local chapter head of Free the Hops, Dan Murphy, is blogging about beer in the Port City at www.portcitybeer.wordpress.com. I haven’t had the chance to meet Dan yet, but I’m sure he’s a gentleman and a scholar and possesses a substantial amount of beer knowledge.

The Port City Beer Blog is visually pleasing, easy to navigate, informative and well written. Hopefully I’ll be able to share a round with Dan soon!

Good NA brew?
Among some of the e-mails I received after the first edition of “Beer Goggles” hit the streets was a message from Cameron McCord who not only had a question but also posed a pretty interesting challenge.

Cameron is a beer lover, and is also bold enough to point out what could be considered an injustice within the beer world.

“I love beer,” Cameron says. “I try to keep it down to 2 on weekdays and 4’ish on weekends. Like I said, I love beer, and I’d drink a lot more except for the getting drunk part, the getting fat part, the alcoholism part, and the peeing all the time part. A good NA beer would address all those problems except the peeing part. So what’s a good beer? In my book, it’s low to medium maltiness and lots of hop bitterness and hop aroma. Burnt malt bitterness (Guinness) is OK.”

Seems as if Cameron is on to something. If any Alabamian over the age of 21 can now sit down and enjoy high gravity beers, why can’t Cameron sit down and enjoy a no or very low gravity brew?

Got any pointers? As of right now, I certainly don’t. Send me an e-mail and we’ll try to find Cameron a suitable alternative.

Until next time, I hope you enjoy whatever you might be drinking as much as Brett Favre enjoys slapping other dudes on the bum. Yikes!