Beer as Art Part II: Success!

A couple week ago I posted about a little art project I started using labels from the beer bottles that I've drank over the course of the last year or so. Yesterday, that venture came to a conclusion with the pasting of the last few labels onto the foam board. The poster now sits on the wall overlooking my bed and I must say, it is a very artistic addition to my room. As of now I have not used any adhesive to seal the labels onto the board; they simply sit, glued to the board. I am considering getting some spray on adhesive to ensure that the labels do not peel off. Another way to do this that I found online is to cut a bunch of glue with water to make a solution and paint it on top of all the labels but I'm a little weary of doing this because I found that watery glue makes the labels more prone to ripping.

If anyone has any questions about how to do this, on any scale (even small posters look great) let me know and I can answer any questions. Also refer to my previous post for instructions on removing labels from the bottles and pasting them onto the board. A quick note about gluing and the effect of paste on a foam board; when you glue the labels on the front of the board, the adhesive grips the board and pulls the edges towards the middle. The result is a foam board that is concave and very difficult to mount to a wall with any sort of poster-hanging material. An easy way to counteract this is to take any sort of paper and basically do the exact same thing you did to the front; glue those sheets of paper to the back. This will create the same curling effect in the opposite direction; compensating for the concavity that formed. Good luck to anyone trying this out and keep drinking good beer!

Beer Review: Founders Red's Rye Pale Ale

The beer pours a dark amber color; almost red (I'm assuming this color can be attributed to the rye character of the beer. Minimal head and the little bit that does exist disappears quickly.

Smells of hops and more hops. A tinge of sweetness does enter the nose if you really hold it up to your nose.

The taste is an extremely interesting medley of flavors; first, big hop flavor assaults your taste buds. The beer is a lot like an IPA in that sense but then one notices a surprising sweetness; it's more of a candy sweetness than a fruity sweetness sometimes found in pale ales. The combination makes for a very enjoyable and full flavored drinking experience.

The beer has a decent body though it is more on the “refreshing” side. While not thin, the beer lacks the substantial backbone of the some of the meatier ales out there.

Echoing the sentiment above, the beer is very refreshing and easy to drink. At 6.6% it's not light by any means but easy to put back a couple because of the body and great taste.

A 6-pack of Red's Rye ran me $10.99 +tax so it's not a cheap beer but I'd say it's worth it. I was really impressed with it's unique taste!

Score: B+ 4.0/5

Beer Review: Weihenstaphener Hefeweissbier Dunkel

This is a beer called a dunkelweizen which roughly translates (I don't really speak german) into “dark wheat beer.”

This beer pours a cloudy, amber/brown color with a huge fluffy head. The head lasts forever and really makes this a great looking beer.

Smells of banana, cloves, a faint detergent smell and some citrusy notes. Pretty typical for a weizen beer; if I hadn't looked at this before smelling it, I would have thought it was a normal hefeweizen.

Big banana taste upfront followed by a medley of spices and a little bit of lemon. The difference in the hefeweizen and dunkelweizen really shows through here. While the smell was almost identical, the dunkelweizen has a much heavier malt taste. Personally I think that the almost roasted flavor somewhat detracts from the other superb flavors present (and as such I prefer the normal weihenstaphener hefeweizen) but it is still a very flavorful beer.

Mouthfeel is silky and light. A yeasty richness gives way to a crisp finish that is very refreshing; definitely one of the best qualities of this beer.

Drinkability is high, as with most wheat beers. At 5.3% abv it is quite easy to drink many of these without noticing any alcoholic effect and the light palate experience simply exacerbates this.

I purchased a .5L (16.9oz) bottle for $3.29 +tax and I thought I got my money's worth. Weihenstaphener has a variety of german styles so I opted for this bottle format so I could try a couple. It's a very tasty beer despite the slight contradiction in wheat and toasted malt flavors and a great example of the style.

Score: B+  4.0/5

Beer Review: Brooklyn Lager

This is an amber lager from Brooklyn brewing company.

An aggressive pour produces less than an inch of head but the nice clear amber color makes up for the lack of head. Lots of bubbles produce a steady layer of (minimal) head that persists.

Smells of creamy malts and lots of hops for an amber lager. Lots of floral notes in the nose.

First sip tastes sort of watery but the flavor is there; following the smell, there's some sweet malt taste upfront followed by a substantial bitterness on the back end. Kind of one dimensional hop flavor towards the back but pleasing nonetheless. The aftertaste is somewhat bitter, certainly lasting and makes it seem a bit fuller than it is.

As stated before, it seems watery at first but this feeling did not last and by the end of the glass I was of the opinion that this was a much bolder beer than I first thought. Crisp and smooth on the palate and moderate carbonation make this a great mouthfeel.

Very high drinkability typical of the style. Refreshing and flavorful at the same time; definitely a good combination.

Bought a 6-pack of this for $8.99 +tax which is a good deal for a refreshing, quality beer. At 5.2% abv, its a good beer to have while hang out with friends and kicking back a few.

Score: B  3.5/5

Beer Review: Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

This is a Double or Imperial India Pale Ale which basically means prepare for a bitter, hoppy delight.

The beer pours an orange/amber color with about an inch of head. Lots of bubbles rising to the top of the glass. The head persists for a while and when its just about done there's a nice creamy thin layer on top of the beer just holding in all that hop aroma.

Speaking of hop aroma... WOW this is a pungent beer! The floral, intense citrus flavors show through in a big way; a foreshadowing of what is to come in the ensuing sips.

The hop flavors hit you right off the bat with some pretty intense bitterness. Tastes a little like grapefruit and citrus rinds going down with a pretty significant malt taste in there too. Extremely flavorful, very bitter and so satisfying.

Quite an interesting mouthfeel; starts off crisp and refreshing until all the flavors assault your palate which gives the impression of a much heavier beer. The significant amount of hop oil definitely gives this beer a unique consistency.

Not highly drinkable, but at 8% abv I wouldn't expect it to be (although the alcohol is nowhere to be found). Pretty refreshing for a “big” beer and it certainly goes down easily.

The beer is only available in 22oz bottles and I bought it for $4.49 + tax. It's a great deal considering the taste, but I love bitter beers; others might not consider this such a tasty beer. In the end I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, especially those who are new to craft beer, but if you're adventurous and/or love bitter beers, this one comes highly recommended.

Score: A-  4.0/5

Beer as Art aka "What to do with your collection of beer bottles"

I told myself that this year I would not put my collected beer bottles on the shelves of my room but it seemed like a waste of effort to simply throw all those gorgeous bottles in the recycle bin. I decided that a poster with all the labels on it would look a heck of a lot more classy and put those labels to good use. I started taking the labels off the bottle about a week ago and was met with a few stubborn bottles, namely the Great Lakes beers and Flying Dog Raging Bitch. 

Unfortunately those labels do not currently reside on my poster, which is a shame (particularly for Raging Bitch) because the artwork is pretty cool. What I did to take the labels off is fill a trash bin with hot water and let the bottles soak anywhere from 10 minutes to 10 hours; the water loosens the glue on the bottle and makes it pretty easy to just peel off the label. There exists a difference in time needed to soak because different companies use different glue strengths (for instance almost all euro imports were extremely easy to get off and required the least amount of soakage time).Once all the labels were off I pressed them between textbooks and let them dry before getting them prepped to go on the poster board. When they were all flat and ready to go I got some white glue and cut it a bit (3 parts glue to 1 part water) and painted the mixture onto the back of the labels with a paintbrush. 

 

After sticking all of the labels on the board I found that I had a bit of white space to fill so the project is currently on hold (as you can see in the picture) but I anticipate completion within the next 2 weeks. Just a note on gluing things to foam boards; apparently if you glue around the edges as I started out doing at first the sides of the board will curl inward. To combat this, I would first make sure the glue dries for a little while, then flip the board over onto a table and put some heavy objects on top of it to keep it straight and flat. I've had to keep it weighed down constantly in hopes that it flattens out. 

Stay tuned for more photos and feel free to post any questions about doing this yourself.

Beer Review: New Belgium Abbey Belgian Style Ale

This beer is a Belgian dubbel which means it uses a double fermentation process for the yeast. My 2^nd beer from New Belgium, a company from Colorado that, as you can guess, specializes in Belgian style ales.

Pours a dark amber color with a head varying in size (I've found) depending on how cold the beer is. My 2^nd beer I let sit for a while and warm up and the result was a substantial head that is a dark cream color. The cloudy mahogany liquid looks very inviting.

Smells of grapes, malt and general sweetness. Not terribly complex in the nose but, like the color, very pleasing.

Lots of fruity taste upfront; mostly grape and raisin flavors. The strong malt presence in this beer shows through in every sip and there is some discernible hop character on the back end of the sip but no bitterness to speak of. Furthermore, even as the beer warms, there is no sign of the alcohol. Love the taste of this one.

Has the rich Belgian yeast feeling on your palate; perfect balance between flavorful boldness and refreshing lightness in my opinion.

Had a couple of 12oz bottles on this occasion and they both went down delectably. The 7% abv is nowhere to be found though you will feel it if you drink more than a couple.

At $8.99 + tax for a 6-pack, I think this is an incredible value. The fact that it is wonderfully flavorful and has a near-perfect body make this a beer I'm definitely going to buy again.

Score: A  4.5/5

Beer Review: Unibroue La Fin du Monde

This is a Belgian Tripel which means that it employs a triple yeast fermentation process.

The beer pours a golden yellow; a bit darker than a wheat beer but very similar in character. Belgian beers are supposed to be poured into a tulip glass or goblet but I have neither so my wiezen glass filled in. There is a substantial creamy white head that dissipates slowly. A very easy beer to look at.

There is a pleasant spicy scent that is immediately noticeable. Lots of cloves and citrus fruits. Not too complex in the nose, but very pleasing.

Sweet nutmeg, cloves, lemon, orange and banana tastes assault your palate from the get go. Through the middle a certain light bitterness hits you; some hops are present on the back end but not much to speak of. At times I thought I detected a hint of alcohol, which wouldn't have been surprising (at 9% abv) but on the whole the alcohol taste was not present.

As with most belgian beers, the yeast makes for a rich palate experience and this is no exception. Feels like a Saison (see review for Ommegang Hennepin on this blog) but with a noticeable kick of spiciness.

Highly drinkable though I forced myself to take my time with this one. The 9% abv is pretty much invisible and the taste is clean, crisp and pleasing throughout. Great drinking experience!

As you can see from the picture, I bought this in large bottle format; a 750ml bottle. It put me back $6.99+ tax which is on the expensive side so while I enjoyed it very much, it is not something I will be buying with exceptional frequency.

Score: B+  3.75/5