Hennepin Saison - Brewery Ommegang

Louis Hennepin: Priest, Explorer, Beer namesake. Father Louis Hennepin is perhaps most famous for being the first european to discover (and write about) Niagara Falls. So it seems only natural that a man of his intrepid character would grace a beer that is adventurous, complex, and exciting. Hennepin is a Saison from Brewery Ommegang, available in both 4-pack and Euro-Bomber (750ml). As i’ve mentioned before, Ommegang is my favorite brewery, but would Hennepin be able to hold up to the hype? I’m not even much of a Saison guy (My previous experience with one being the Panic Attack Saison from Holy Mackerel, a story for another beer), but I pressed on, dear readers.

Dusting off my new Tulip glass, I popped the top off a bottle of Hennepin. I Opted for the 4-pack so on the off chance it was terrible I didn’t have to drink it all at once. The packaging is very nice, with a purple tinted illustration of Father Hennepin on a Canoe going over a waterfall. The label spoke of “Ale brewed with Grains of paradise, coriander, ginger, sweet orange peel”, an enticing new world of tastes awaiting my pour.

And what a pour it was! Three beautiful fingers worth of luxurious thick off-white head, topping off a light, almost blonde color. The head hangs around for a bit, but when it dissipates it leaves some very beautiful lacing, clinging to the glass like ivy up a brick wall. I really wish I had a camera ready when it was in the glass, because it truly was a thing of beauty. My mouth waters just remembering it.

Shoving my nose into the glass, I took in the bouquet of smells that hennepin had to offer. Sweet, fruity notes. Amazing balance, with not a hint of alcohol to be had. Impressive for a 6.8 beer. Truly Hennepin is a delight to look at, smell, but what of the taste?

With the first sip, it was true love. Such sweetness, how is that possible from a Saison? and yet, it’s incredible balanced, with a nice astringent quality to it. The fizzyness lifting the drink right off the palate, leaving hints of apricots, lemon, and a whole lot of grape. Could this be the beer that unseats Three Philosophers as my favorite offering from Ommegang? possibly, further research is merited, certainly.

So should you give Hennepin a try? Of course! You’d be doing a grave disservice to the spirit of Father Hennepin himself if you didn’t. His intrepid spirit flows through this beer just like water flowing over Niagara falls. And the great thing about Hennepin is that it’s down for whatever. Be it a drink on the porch after a hard days work, or combined with a blackened steak, Hennepin is ready to stand on its own or enhance anything else. Truly it is a wonderful Saison.

• Brewer: Brewery Ommegang 
• Style: Farmhouse Saison 
• 7.7 APV 
• Price: $12.00 
• Rating: 9.4 out of 10 

MACRO MONDAY WEEK ONE: Yuengling Lager

I'm very proud to debut a new weekly feature: Macro Monday! Not content to be your run of the mill beer snob, I'll run a write-up on one of the widely available Macro (as opposed to Micro) beers. All the pretension of a more expensive beer at a fraction of the cost. That's the Baucom On Beer way!

This week, we're starting off strong with Yuengling Lager! Yuengling is a very distinguished beer, having the honor of not only being the oldest established brewery in the United States, but also being one of the largest by volume. There Lager is so well known in the Tri-state area that it can be obtained just by asking for a lager at a bar. It's also the favorite beer of Obama, so ya know, take that how you will. 

I cracked open a bottle of Yuengling and poured it into my brand new Pilsner glass. Immediately I'm taken aback with what a nice color it is; a charming ruby red, fading to a nice amber. It strikes me as a very dark beer for a lager, full of mysterious deliciousness topped with a thin, off-white head.

Lagers are not a specialty of mine, but Yuengling has an impressive scent to it as well. Not watery or ricey like Budweiser, but very floral, sweet with hints of peaty moss type goodness. The old joke about American Lagers being like having sex in a canoe does not apply here, thank goodness.

The taste was likewise very lovely. Some light hoppiness, mixed with some nice sweetness reminiscent of spring grass, combined with a hint of lemon and a touch of malty smoothness on the way out. A pretty robust tasting beer, but still very drinkable. It sits very light on the tongue, and goes down nice and easy.

You gotta give it up for Yuengling's Amber Lager, it's got a lot going for it; It's unique but accessible, it's refined, but versatile, it has a lot of flavor without being overpowering, but most importantly it's dirt cheap and available anywhere. You could literally stumble into a 7\11 anywhere and pick up a sixer for 7 bucks. And it's just as good with a plate of wings as it is sitting on the porch in July or Tailgating in October.

That about wraps it up for the first installment of Macro-Monday. Let me know what you guys think about it in the comments section and be sure to check in next week for another review of some good-ole-fashion Macro Beers. 

Player 1 Bar and Arcade

On my 28th birthday my wife and I checked out a Bar & arcade called Player 1. Right outside the gates of Disney World nestled in a nondescript strip mall, Player 1 is a haven for retro-gamers with a taste for unique craft beers. Stepping past the front desk, you walk back in time into a world of blue neon paradise. Amazing cabinets from my childhood tucked away in every corner including X-men, TMNT: Turtles in Time, Frogger, Star-Wars, The Simpsons, Centipede, Pac-Man, Galaga, and Marvel Vs Capcom

All of the Machines are set on free-to-play and while some of the machines were in need of some maintenance (dead zones in joysticks, sticking buttons, CRT burn-in) for a $5.00 cover the value is second to none if you’re nostalgic for the golden age of the Arcade. And rest assure, for all the rough edges, these are the real mccoy, not sloppily done emulation driven hackjobs.

The bar set up is pretty phenomenal. A great lineup of Microbrews including everything from Arrogant Bastard to Nitro Vanilla Porter, clean glasses, nice and friendly bartenders, decent prices (5-8 bucks) combined with a laidback nerd-noir decoire. Plus they serve theater style popcorn and Gourmet root beer on tap for those of us who need to space out their good times. All they really are lacking is Pizza for that perfect nostalgia 3-play. A Chucky-Cheese for adults? C’mon, what’s not to love about that!

Most importantly, the Bar itself is very comfortable. True to its arcade routes, the place is dim but not dank. The bathrooms are clean, the crowd is nerdy but not neckbeardy, cool but not conceited. It’s very laid back environment without feeling clunky. Everything is geared toward enjoying a good beer with a good game, including nice deep cup holders on the side of every cabinet for your pint or bottle and cushy couches in the game lounge.

In short, if you’re in central Florida and are a nostalgia junky like myself, then you owe it to yourself to check out Player 1. Doubly so if you have a strong love for Craft Beer. It’s a fun, unique little piece of Arcade paradise in the Attractions district of Orlando. I’d even go so far as to say it’s the perfect diversion from the line waiting joy of Universal and Disney.

Laughing Skull Amber Ale - Red Brick Brewing

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone"

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Vortex Bar and Grill is an institution in my beloved Atlanta. Some people mistakenly believe the quintessential Georgian burger is served at the Varsity, but those poor saps have never stepped through the skull-face into the Vortex to wolf down their famous Coronary Bypass burger. Unapologetic to the core, The Vortex caters to smokers, red meat lovers, motorcycle riders, scooter-pushers, rebels, rockers, punks, pretty-boys, cool kids, and your various PBR swilling hipsters. It’s one of the last bastions of true adult joy left in this world and I love every second of it.

With that being said, I am loathe to admit that I never tried The Vortex’s own line of beer, Laughing Skull. But finding myself with a little bit of free time and some Florida sunshine, I sought to rectify this immediately. Laughing Skull is brewed by Red Brick Brewing, formerly Atlanta Brewing Company, which is the oldest Craft Brewery operating in Atlanta (edging out competitor Sweetwater Brewing by three years). But will two plus decades of experience and a team of excellent driven brewers make a winning combination?

Laughing Skull pours a beautiful, rich ruby color that is murky bordering on opaque. It looks warm, but most importantly, utterly refreshing. A very light head to be had, totaling maybe half a finger worth of creamy white stuff, but there was some pretty good lacing to it. A good sign all around.

The aroma is very nice, very sweet, with hints of a little bit of hoppy goodness and freshly cut grass. The Aroma often tells half the story of a beer, and this one involves a lot of tasty things eaten on a hot summer day. I couldn’t help but think about how much I yearned for a Black and Bleu burger, medium well, and some french fries doused in ketchup. 

Finally, I could hold back no more and dove right in. The first sip of this sanguine beauty and I knew it was truly summer. Crisp hoppiness with light sweetness, a bit of citrus peel, and just the right amount of smoothness at the end to bring it all back home. But where did those floral, grassy notes go? I smacked my lips a few times and took a few dozen more sips, savoring that light and smooth mouthfeel around, but it took half the glass before I could finally taste them, so very delicate, so very light.

And that, my friends, is the sign of an excellent product. Something that is unique, while staying true to its intentions. Something that is bold where it needs to be, but not brass. While not as coarse as a trip to the Vortex, Laughing Skull Amber Ale is a worthy standard bearer for the Vortex name. You’d be hard pressed to find a more refreshing summer beer to chase those summertime blues away.

• Brewer: Red Brick Brewing
• Style: Amber Ale
• 5.7 APV
• Price: $8.99\6
• Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Fire and Blood Red Ale - Brewery Ommegang

“And I will take what is mine, with fire and blood, I will take it!”

-Daenerys Targaryen

Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals, the First Men and the Rhynoar, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons. Love her or hate here, one cannot deny that the lady has some classy titles working for her. So naturally it makes sense of the mother of dragoons to lend her house motto to this incredible Red ale, Fire and Blood.

It’s important to note that Brewery Ommegang is not some novelty Brewery cranking out swill and riding on the coattails on the Pop-Culture lightning rod that Game of Thrones has become. On the contrary, they are one of the premier micro-brew producers in the nation, specializing in Belgian-style craft beers. Their love for beer is very evident in the care they take, not only in crafting unique and notable brews, but also in the fine presentation and craftsmanship in the packaging.

In this regard, Fire and Blood matches the excellence of other Brewery Ommegang beers. The beer is offered in a thick 750ml glass bottle, and topped off with a rather large cork letting you know from the moment you lay eyes on it that this is no ordinary drink. The label is very well done, complete with an artistic representation of one of Daenerys dragons . It’s a very subtle thing; Matte Black printing, with subtle metallic ink outlining the bottle, seems true to the mythos of the Game of Thrones series, while still being more at home on the shelf of a classy bar, not just something to slosh into a Solo Cup at a Dragon*Con hotel party (Not that there’s anything wrong with that).

After uncorking it and pouring it “slowly, to not disturb yeast sediment but with vigor to make a luxurious head and to unleash the bouquet” per the instructions on the bottle, the first thing to notice is it pours a beautiful, deep fiery red with a thick and lovely head. I’ve always worried I’m not pouring a beer perfectly, but after looking at this mysterious and exotic Red Ale, I knew I wouldn’t need to worry this time.

The scent is marvelous: not too strong, not too sweet. I had recently dabbled in a local High-Gravity beer the week before that overwhelmed the scent of the beverage with thick ethanol scent. But at 6.8%, Fire and blood is just right. I couldn’t quite pick out the hints of Chili promised on the label, but there were little peaks of spicy hops mingling with the strains of Belgian yeast, giving it a sweet, slightly fruity but luxurious smell to match its deep and mysterious color.

And finally, it came time to taste it. I had high expectations of this Beer, as Ommegang is one of my favorite breweries and Game of Thrones is one of my favorite shows, but I shouldn’t have given it a thought. It was amazing. Love at first sip, truly. As it washed over my mouth, I couldn’t help but delight in its balanced but bold flavors. American microbreweries often have an affinity for overloading beers with Hops, aspiring to add character, but Fire and Blood stands on its own without the need for this. The first few smooth, delicious sips were almost hard to pin down. The malty smoothness of it all contrasts with just the right amount of carbonation, with a pleasant, spicy and almost fruity end.

Unfortunately, much like summer, this beer will not be around forever, which is a shame as this beer is really a pleaser. It’s perfect for sipping on after a long day, or to compliment the perfect meal (I chose Blackened Salmon, and grilled Kabobs). If you can find a bottle, I’d highly recommend picking it up. Even if you’re not a fan of A Game of Thrones, this is a beer worthy of paying the iron price.

• Brewer: Brewery Ommegang
• Style: Red Ale
• 6.8 APV
• Price: $12.00
• Rating: 9 out of 10