Monday, June 20, 2005

MMMMMMM.... Beer......

The time has come to start thinking about the beer that will be served at the reception. The hall provides the bartender and we provide the booze and the liquor permit. That means at some point we need to buy the booze, but before we can buy the booze we have to decide what booze to buy. The beer must be in bottles or cans.

Which means the beer must be in bottles, because the only canned beer I've been willing to drink in the past 15 years was Oly Triple-Dark which was only available in cans (and not available any longer, as Oly sold out to Miller and became an evil beer). Oh yeah, and Guiness Pub Draught cans. Except when I'm drinking Stouts at home it will generally be of the Shakespeare variety, unless I have a happy jar of Terminator sitting around. Guiness is property consumed at the local pub. Apologies for forgetting this. And there won't be Guiness at the wedding.

The beer must also be of the micro- variety as I do not drink macro-brewed beers. I'm sorry, but if I'm drinking rice it's going to be a nice sake, and I do not buy a beer because it tastes "the coldest."

The time is approaching for one of Rogue's garage sales, and given that there is a Rogue Public House in the greater metropolitan area in which we live (and I dig Rogue beers), it is at least worth checking out to see if we can find some steals. And this, dear readers, is where we need your assistance.

Dead Guy and Shakespeare Stout are, unquestionably, my favorite of their brews, but I understand they don't have universal appeal. And even if it weren't in the graveyard I don't know that I could bring myself to serve Yellow Snow Ale at my wedding.

SO:

If you are familiar with Rogue Brews, what are your favorite brews?

And what Roge Brews do you think have the most universal appeal? (Because I suspect that my regular readers who have a response to question 1 have answers very similar to my own)

If you aren't familiar with Rogue Brews, but are a beer drinker, what type of beer do you like?

Or what beers do you think sound good from their current offerings?

My luck anything worthwhile won't be available on clearance, but we've got to give it a try.

NEW QUESTION ADDED: OK, so it's obvious that I associate with folks with really good taste in beer (I suspect GrigorPDX will cast a vote for Shakespeare Stout once he reads this post). SO, I think I've actually got a case of Dead Guy that I can provide for those of us with discerning tastes. I'll keep my eyes open for Shakespeare Stout, because worst case I'm willing to drink that later or gift it around as well. BUT, for folks who normally don't drink such quality beer what do you think THEY will like? Plenty of people have tried Dead Guy and scrunched up their face obvious they don't really care for it. And let's face it, not everyone can handle dark beer. Plus, it's a clearance sale so I need to go in with LOTS of ideas, because who knows what the heck will be on clearance. And it's not like I'll be at the brewery, it will be at the local public house. Seriously, folks, I want input!!!

12 Comments:

Blogger kaphine said...

I heart dead guy. RSG hearts shakespear. Universal appeal? Bah!

6:52 AM  
Blogger Joe said...

Research... and... beeer..... Soooo... happy....

Personally, I prefer the Shakespeare Stout to the Dead Guy, but I'm deleriously happy to drink either of them. The Chocolate Stout is OK, but I definitely prefer the Shakespeare.

I could swear I saw the Yellow Snow in the market this winter, but that might say more about the market's inventory control than anything else.

Wow. It's 10 AM and I'm thinking about making a beer run. People will talk.

(Oh, and by the way, Swankette... your handwriting is so much better than his; you were totally right about that.)

6:56 AM  
Blogger kaphine said...

Honey Cream Ale
HazelNut Brown Nectar

Should be fairly accessible to anyone with any beer tollerance. Even my non-beer sis likes nut brown ales.

6:42 PM  
Blogger Shannin said...

Since we had to get our alcohol from the place that catered (The Wine Cask in Santa Barbara, so it couldn't be that bad....) we opted for Sam Adams. I don't even think we offered a light beer, because what's the point?

My new local preference is Summit -- the darker the better, but I happen to be a spirits snob...

6:58 AM  
Blogger Swankette said...

There won't be Sam Adams at the wedding, but only because my attendants will make my life INSUFFERABLE if it's served, and instead of being Ms. Swank and Mr. RefPoet, we'd probably be announced as Ms. Sammy and Mr. RefPoet.

8:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK, I don't drink much beer these days, but I took a look at the list and these sound good:
Bullfrog Ale
Chamomellow
Brutal Bitter
Dead Guy
Honey Cream Ale
HazelNut Brown Nectar

Jess.

9:17 AM  
Blogger Greg said...

wipes a tear or two from his eye Gee. Y'all don't know me at all.

Ahh, the good old days sitting in the dearly-departed original Rogue pub in downtown Ashland watching The Simpsons (back when they were on the air on weeknights) eating pizza and drinking Shakespeare Stout. That old Bard In A Bottle taught me to like beer.

Kaphine, how'd you get in my head? Do I need to change the locks again? I also adore the Hazelnut Brown. Exceedingly yummy stuff! It's a definite winner in my book. I think the Honey Cream Ale is likely to go over well with the folks who can't understand why anyone would drink a beer that one cannot see through (or refuse one that comes in a can).

Joe, I like you already. Can't wait to meet you.

Brutal Bitter ... good stuff, but it might scare the parents. :-) American Amber might be more accessible for the non-beer-snobs. Not really my favorite style, but I'd happily drink it.

10:31 AM  
Blogger TeacherRefPoet said...

The groom likes Ginger Ale. The groom thinks beer tastes like Chanel #5. (No, I haven't tried it.) The groom doesn't mind if you call the bride Sammy.

12:38 PM  
Blogger Alison said...

I could drink Dead Guy all the live long day (and have done so on at least one occasion, but let's not get into that). I do feel a need to protest the "no good beer in cans" statement - although that's not a bad rule of thumb, the Guinness Pub Draught in the can with the little widget thingy is really quite tasty (and I prefer it to the bottled variety).

TRP, if you're a fan of ginger ale, I heartily recommend Reed's. The "Extra Ginger Brew" and "Raspberry Ginger Brew" are both seriously yummy.

3:32 PM  
Blogger kaphine said...

GrigorPDX--no you don't need to change the locks on your head. Perhaps you've just forgotten why we get along so well.

3:58 PM  
Blogger Joe said...

In the interest of science (a-hem), we just split a bottle of the Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale.

For Beer Snobs, it's kind of interesting. But there's a weird aftertaste which I can see a lot of people not liking. Actually, it kind of is Chanel #5ish. So if you see it in the clearance bin and say "that's a neat idea", think again.

How's the Rogue Hefeweizen? Everybody likes American Hefe, don't they?

7:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Blind Pig Dunkelweizen-Leavenworth.
has something for everyone. A dark hef. it has a great chocolatey texture.

11:32 AM  

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