Rivertown Brewing Co. Helles Lager

Look guys, this beer is just really, very good.  Go drink some right now.  I'm not kidding, stop reading this post and go drink a bottle, and your day will be better for it. 

Rivertown Breing Co. Here-weizen

Rivertown Brewing Co. What ales you?

Hefe-Weizen- an old world Bavarian style, top frememted wheat ale. It has a full body, refreshing taste, and savory aromas of sweet male, spicy cloves and fresh bananas. it is bottle conditioned and naturally cloudy. Best  served at 40F in a wheat glass with a slice of lemon. Enjoy!

rivertownbrewery.com

The Rivertown Brwing mpany is a locally-owned micro-brewery specializing in traditional handcrafted ales and lagers. We brew with only the tinest import and domestical malted barely, choice hopa sn pure water. our beer is carefully hand-crafted an is never pasturized giving our beer a distinctly fresh cloacor.

Whatever this beer claims is true! It tastes of delicious bananas, and is still drinkable when it starts to warm up!

BA-NA-NAH
 

A Little Research on Beer

Just in case you were questioning whether or not to have that drink, here's some info to help you decide:

Beer is one of the best nutritional sources of silicon, which is essential for bones. As little as 10 fl oz a day could help prevent osteoporosis, which cases more than 200,000 fractures ever year, most of them in women.

There's more good news about beer: recent research reveals that the hops used in traditional brewing are a good source of phyoestrogens, which are natural plant hormones that ALSO protect against osteoporosis. If you want really strong bones, have a piece of cheese and a glass of beer with your lunch. The calcium in the cheese along with the silicon and phytoestrogens in the beer are perfect bone-builders.

Beer is also rich in vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid, which many women lack in their diets, all of which lead to faster growing, stronger hair and nails (plus it makes your unborn babies not mutants). As a bonus, hops have a natural antibiotic action that kills Helicobacter pylori bacterium, which is the cause of most gastric ulcers. With lots of potassium but little sodium, sensible quantities of beer can be good for blood pressure.

So have a beer, any beer.

*All information from SuperFoods: Nutreint-dense Foods to Protect Your Health by Michael van Straten and Barbara Griggs

Periodic Table of Beer Styles

Buffalo Bill's America's Original Pumpkin Ale

Ale brewed with REAL pumpkin and natural spice flavors

Huh, okay.  Whatever you say Buffalo Bill.  This is the second Buffalo Bill beer we've tried, and while pretty tasty, it really didn't live up to the standard placed by the Buffalo Bill's Oranges and Awesome beer.  It did taste of delicious pumpkins, but tasted less like pie than the Dogfish Head Punk'in Ale.  A bit more sour and less sweet and less nutmeg pie spice taste. It tasted in fact like plain pumpkin, which everyone knows is not that awesome. Not bad, but not something we've made a regular drinking beer here at the EBB.  

That being said, the majority of  that six pack has been sitting in Laura's fridge slowly going the route of all unwanted beers- into the pot. We've made a very satisfying chili out if it just this Monday, used it in some stir fry, and dumped a whole bottle into our Mardi Gras Jambalaya. Delicious.

Please Stand By!

While we're working on some new posts, please enjoy this awesome flow chart compliments of Geekologie.  

Epic Mailing List

Beth and I are hard at work on 11 new posts of awesome and awful beers. In the meantime, if you would like to be part of our brand new Epic Beer Mailing List, send us an email with your mailing address to epicbeerblog@gmail.com

This is not your parents mailing list, this is guaranteed handmade awesome from us to you.

Superbowl Pirate Beer Special!

Pirate Beer Special...that happens to coincide with the Superbowl!

As always, we found ourselves at Biggs, staring longingly at the spot where the jug of beer used to be.  And then we saw it!  A chest of treasure hidden in the beer!  

But, we're too full of food and beer right now to finish this post.  So we're just going to post this as a "preview" and get back to you later.  Happy National Commercial Day everyone! 

We love this beer so much!

We love this beer so much.

Why do we love it so much?  Because it tastes like oranges and awesome. 

At first, I wasn't sure about a beer that advertised it tasted like oranges and cream, I imagined something halfway between Sunkist orange soda and Miller Lite.  Something epically Not Awesome. Luckily, Laura talked me into it.  It was great!  Light and fruity, and totally worth the trip to the Party Source! 

Unfortunately, the scores were listed on that same yellow envelope the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale scores were written on.  You know, that same one that was lost when Kat and JM were here...I'm pretty sure the couch ate it. 

Anyway...Here's what their website says about it:

Okay, so I can't get their website to load, something about needing flash player...which I have downloaded, updated, and successfully installed three times now.  Just...just look it up yourself okay?  I'm sorry.  Here:  http://tinyurl.com/y952ws4  

Or, just go get some of the beer yourself.  Trust me on this one.  It tastes like flowers.



Update: So apparently every one in six of these tastes like soap.  Don't let this deter you, the other 5 are still delicious.   

Hornsby's Amber Draft Hard Cider

for those Friday nights when you're too depressed to drink real beer.

I give it a 10 in every category. All of them

Throwback Post!

While looking for pictures to submit to a local gallery I stumbled upon this. Our very first adventure as the Beth and Laura's Epic Beer Blog team!!!!


We weren't very good at this back then....


(Please don't expect a review of all of those beers you see. It was a long, long time ago!)

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

We tried Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale as part of a beer tasting extravaganza to celebrate my (Laura's) birthday, way back in November.

I'm not going to lie, we tasted way too many beers for me to remember anything about it. We wrote our rankings down on the envelope to a birthday card I had gotten. I can tell you it was yellow and I took it over to Beth's house when Kat and JM were here. That is all I know.

I can say with certainty that Punkin was delicious. Not HOW delicious, but at least vaguely delicious.

Since I am useless, let me tell you about the information I found on the Dogfish Head site.

"A full-bodied brown ale with smooth hints of pumpkin and brown sugar. We brew our Punkin Ale with pumpkin meat, organic brown sugar and spices. This is the perfect beer to warm-up with, as the season cools."

They also have some awesome links to the Punkin Chukin that the beer is named after and the Discovery Channel videos of it.

I could go on plagarizing things from the Punkin Ale site, or I can just post this message from the maker of Dogfish head.

Enjoy:

They claim the following, and we couldn't agree more:

Food Pairing Recommendations: Turkey, roasted duck, lamb, stuffing, dessert dumplings (we had Laura's Taco Soup and more beer)

Glassware Recommendation: Pint (We put ours in the freezer, as you can see above)

Tasting Notes: Malty, pumpkin, caramel, brown sugar (I guess that must be why we like it!)

We will get back to you on rankings when we find our notes (or more Punkin Ale to retaste).

We are working on a backlog of posts, promise.

But until we managed to finish them, here is something to hold you over:

20 Things Worth Knowing about Beer 

Courtesy of The Oatmeal.

Mississippi Mud

Merry Pre-Christmas Eve from both of us here at EpicBeerBlog!

We are, like everyone, incredibly busy this time of year. So when on an emergency cheese run to Bigg's at Skytop (a silly name for something at the BOTTOM of the hill), buying some beer seemed like a pretty good idea. (Although, I just remembered we opened a bottle of Sangria during the present wrapping part of the evening... oh well.)

This is what we found:

 (Don't judge us, we were out of clean glasses)

Mississippi Mud Famous Slow Brewed Black and Tan

At just $2.99 for a full quart of beer we declare this a EpicBB Best Buy!

Now, we can't claim that it tastes anything like a classic Guiness and Beck's black and tan, but it sure tastes 2.99 worth of awesome.

We would like to claim that we just liked it for the taste, but you know us. We bought it because we were at the grocery store at 11PM in our slippers and the other people there were looking at us like we might be stoned. 

So, SUPRISE! It did taste mighty fine. And we're fairly sure that it is not the stress induced alcoholism talking.

Stress?

Why yes... let us show you.

2 pounds of cheddar later, I'm not exactly sure what we managed to make... other than a huge mess.

But nothing makes us feel better than drinking straight from the jug.

 

 We were unable to find any sort of website for the Mississippi Brewing Company, but according to the back of the bottle they are located in.... Utica, New York... which is not Mississippi.

The description on the back of the bottle is:

Dating back to 18th century England, the custom of blending pale and dark beers has kept the  "Black and Tan" a favorite of experienced beer drinkers for centuries. Our famous recipe combines a robust Classic Porter with a fine Continental Pilsner, preserving the character of each while creating the classic taste of the legendary "Black and Tan". In true American style, we bring you the best of both beers as they meet in Mississippi Mud.

Swear to god, that's verbatim. Even the misplaced punctuation.

We were also unable to find an ABV, but another blog* lists it as only 5%. (However, they were rather mean with their review and I choose not to believe them too much.)

Epic Beer Blog gives the following ratings:

Magical Rareness: ?- Found at Bigg's, but never seen before

Deliciocity: 7- tasty with Beth's Bagel Cheese Spread** 

Aesthetics: 4- Not only a jug, but a reusable twist top!

*Bitchy Beer Blog

** No, you cannot have the secret recipe yet, that is for another post 

Update: I have discovered that there is no info on the web about Mississippi Brewing Company because it is owned by the elusive Ferolito, Vultaggio & Sons. The same fellas who make Arizona Iced Tea. To them I say Huzzah! You have brought me two wonderful things! Beer in a jug AND my daily go to- Arnold Palmer Half and Half Lite- the most delicious blend of iced tea and lemonade to ever happen. Plus that super awesome bracelet my mom got for me in California that is made out of one of your green tea cans! -Laura

Update 2: For those concerned, the unfinished bottle of sangria is safely in the fridge. 

Schlafly Grand Cru

Brewed by the St. Louis Brewery, delicious Schlafly beers have been served up in Missouri's first brew pub (The Schlafly Tap Room) since 1991*. The company also boast St. Louis' first new production brewery since the end of Prohibition in 1933*.

But, who cares. Here in Ohio we get our beer the same place any sane person does. In Kentucky.

 

We started this epic beer adventure several months ago, when money was good and times were warm. Ahh, the good old days. As always, when superior beer is desired (or at least superior looking bottles), The Party Source** in Newport is the place to be.

I (Laura) picked the Grand Cru based on it's bottle. It is one of a set of 4 beautiful bottles featuring variations on a Fleur de lis in epic Art Deco style. I learned later that they are a complete set of "bottle conditioned beers" offered by Schlafly. I guess I must be really new to this, because that means nothing to me.

Update: I looked up bottle conditioning, which now makes perfect sense. Yeast is stored in the bottle with the beer to prevent it breaking down and tasting like ass, thus allowing it to survive for years. This is very useful knowledge as now I know how to make long lasting beer for when the apocalypse destroys all the crappy beer.

 

But let's get to the important part.

The Schlafly website lists the Grand Cru as:

Fruity, spicy aromas and flavors contribute to the complexity of this golden-colored Belgian ale. Medium body and effervescence contribute to a light, dry impression, despite its strength and sweet, smooth finish.

ABV: 9%
OG: 18.3
IBU: 20

(No, we do not understand any of those numbers)

We tend to agree. Although I couldn't tell a Belgian Ale from my elbow, JonMikel informs us that this is an excellent example, going as far as to claim it the equal of the Brew-master in Lander, WY.

Personally it not only met my criteria of not tasting like butt, but far exceeded it with a smooth taste that was neither bitter nor harsh. It did, as promised have have a pleasant spicy, fruity flavor that hid the large alcohol percentage nicely.

Epic Beer Blog gives the following ratings:

Magical Rareness: 3- found at The Party Source

Deliciocity: 8.5 - Delicious in general (this number is the average rating given by 4 tasters)

Aesthetics: 4 - Beautiful and large enough to be reused in case of emergency

Thank you to our guest tasters Jonmikel and Kat. 

All photos taken by Kathryn Byerly.

*http://www.schlafly.com/brewpubs.shtml

**thepartysource.com

Where's the beer!?

So, to ease our readers into the world of beer, we've decided to have a little game. :)

See if you can spot the beer!

Is that a beer?

 

No, that's Christmas Cheer!

Is that the beer?

No! I'm making that ramen disappear!

Is that a beer?

No! That's a kitty in fear! (or you know...anger)

Is that the beer?

 

No! That's an EPIC souvenir!

Is that a beer?

Good job Team, you found the beer! 

Now, here is an easy one...  Spot the impostor here.

Please contact Beth and Laura at EpicBeerBlog@gmail.com for prizes.

Welcome to Awesome!

Hello!

You're welcome.

We're doing this for the benefit of Humanity. Namely Susan. And Science. No relation.

Oh, and Deno.

And Rick.

And Tommy and Kat and JM.

And your mom.

This is the best blog ever. No kidding. Except for the Bloggess. We don't want to get stabbed.