Month: August 2013

New Beer Blog Arbor Brewing Mackinac Island Fudge Stout

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In this beer blog, we are going to get into another beer from Arbor Brewing Company. The beer is one of their seasonals and it is called Mackinac Island Fudge Stout. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on this brewery, you know the history of it. If you have not, please, read those posts to get to know this brewery. Let us get into the beer.

It has a jet black color with a tan head that is strong when pouring but disappears after a while.  The smell is a rich coco to the stout.  The taste is burn but smooth to creamy chocolate.  The aftertaste is a dry coco to it.  To me, it is drinkable but to the general beer drinker, it is not drinkable.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.arborbrewing.com

Twitter:  @ArborBrew

Closing, this stout was really good and it is up on my top five list.  I was pretty stun on how good it is in the bottle.  I love how they used Fudge from Mackinac Island.  I love the packaging and the name.  They kept this a Michigan proud in the name and the type of packaging.  I highly recommend you trying this beer.  I did not see it on their website so I am not sure if they still making this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Music Monday Blog Drowning Pool Resilence

In this Music Monday blog, we are going to get into the new release from a 2000’s hard rock and metal band, who is Drowning Pool.  The record is called “Resilience.”  We are going to get into the history of the band and then into the music.  Let us get into the history of Drowning Pool.

History

Drowning Pool was founded in 1996 in Dallas, Texas founded by C.J. Pierce, who is the guitar player, and Mike Luce, who is drummer.  They met Stevie Benton, who is the bass player, and then Dave Williams, who is the original lead singer.  Their first record, which is “Sinner” was released in 2001 and band went into the mainstream when they played Ozzfest. Dave Williams was founded dead in his tour bus.  He had some heart problem that he did not know about.  In 2003, Drowning Pool replace Dave Williams with Jason Jones.  They shift the music style from the dark to more of mainstream sound.  They band release their second record called Desensitized in 2004.  They band had success with a single called “Step Up” however, the record did not do that well.  Jones band left the band in 2005.  Ryan McCombs, who is the former ex singer of Soil at the time, replace Jones on vocals in 2005.  In 2006, the band recorded a new song for The Saw movie.  The band then signed a record contract with Nikki Sixx’s new record label, which is Eleven Seven Music.  Drowning Pool released their third record called “Full Circle” in 2007.  In 2009, the band released their first live record called “Loudest Common Denominator.”  The band started working on their fourth record which would be self-titled.  The record was released in 2010.  This mark a first in the band’s history that the band had the same lead singer on two records in a roll.  The band started working on their fifth record, however, Ryan McCombs left the band to reunite with his former band, who is Soil, in 2011.  Drowning Pool replaced McCombs with Jasen Moreno in 2012.  That same year, they released their first single, which was called “In Memory Of,” for their up coming record on the ten anniversary of their original lead singer’s death.  It was a tribute song for Dave Williams.  “Resilience” was released in 2013.  This is the record that will be featured on this blog.  Let us get into the music.

Track List:

Anytime Anyplace

The opening track is in your face and driving music.  There is some nice heavy guitar, drums and bass.  I love the singing from the singer.  It kind of reminds me of their first lead singer.  The drumming is pretty solid.  This is a pretty heavy song and reminds me of the music from their first record.  Jasen singing is solid and lyrics are very good.  This is a great opening song to “Resilence.”

Die For Nothing

I love the beginning for the music.  There is some soild guitar, bass, and drumming playing here.  I love Jasen’s singing on “Die For Nothing.”  He wrote some solid lyrics.  This is a pretty solid song and straight in your face.  I love the guitar break towards the end of the song.

One Finger and a Fist

I love the start to the song.  It is just Jasen singing.  I love the pace of this record and song.  I love the drumming, bass and guitar playing on this song.  This song is clearly going around the singer which was the case on most of their songs on the first record.  I love they have gone back to that for their roots.  This is Drowning Pool music.  Jasen has written some nice lyrics and his singing is pretty solid.  There is a quick guitar solo towards the end of the song.  This is song is in your face from the start to the finish of the song.  I can understand why this was a single off this record.

Digging These Holes

I love the guitar riff at the beginning of the song.  I love the drumming and bass playing.  The singer is singing is spot on with some great lyrics.  I love the guitar and bass playing towards the end of the song that lead into a pretty good guitar solo.  This is a pretty solid song.  It is in your face but in a nice way.  The ending could have been better.

Saturday Night

This is another single off this record.  I love the music at the beginning of the song.  I love the singing from the lead and back up singers.  I love the lyrics  on “Saturday Night.”  I love the guitar break between the singing.  The drummer is playing his ass off on this song.  What was that?  That was a great guitar riff that should have been explored at the end of the song.

Low Crawl

I love the music at the beginning.  The drumming is off the charts with some nice support from the bass player.  I love the singing from Jasen with some great lyrics.  I love the pace of the guitar playing.  There was some great guitar work at the middle part of the song.  I love the drop off on the heaviest of the song to a nice calming music just to be built back up to main riff.  I love the ending to this song with some music in your face with the singer screaming.

Life Of Misery

I love the guitar playing at the beginning.  I love the drumming and bass playing.  I am not fan of Jasen’s singing at the beginning of the song.  It does not fit but it starts to fit deeper in the song.  There is some solid music and great lyrics.  I love this song but I did not like the beginning on the singing side.  I guess it is one of those songs that needs to grow on me.   There is an awesome guitar solo with some awesome hard-hitting drumming at the end of the song.  I love how the guitar player echos the singer.   The bass player is right in your face.  This is a great song.  I am glad Drowning Pool is back.

Broken Again

This is classic Drowning Pool guitar riff at the beginning with the effects on it.  The drumming and bass playing is solid.  During the main riff it drops off but the singing puts it in your face in a nice way.  Jasen wrote some nice lyrics on this song.  I love the pace of this song.  He has a pretty good range on this song.  I am glad they let the bass go to front line at the end of the song.  I love the well placed back up vocals on this song.

Understand

I love the sound sample that they use with a nice drum intro.  The guitar playing is solid.  The music drops off into versus.  I just do not like all the effects on the singer vocals.  They put it off pretty quickly to some nice singing over some heavy music.  They wrote some awesome music on “Understand.”  Jasen wrote some great lyrics on this song.  I am glad they let the bassist run front before it was covered back up by the guitar player.  I love the ending.

Bleed With You

I love the nice heavy gutiar riff to a nice acoustic guitar riff.  The music is pretty solid on this song.  There is some nice music and great lyrics.  I love pace and theme of this song.  This song, which is “Bleed With You”, should be their next single off this song.  I love the meaning of this song.  I love the singing towards the end of the song.  This band knows they have a great singer and they are using him in all the right ways.  This song is a great example.

Skip To The End

I love the guitar and drumming work with the bass echoing at the beginning.  I hate all that reverb on the singer’s vocals.  The music is OK.  It is kind of let down for being the last song.  Jasen wrote some great lyrics on this song.  I am not a fan of this song. It is kind of disappointing song before the bonus tracks.

In Memory Of

This song is memory of their first lead singer, who was Dave Williams.  It is first song they record with Jasen.  I have to say  they put some thought behind this song.  The music is pretty solid.  I love the lyrics.  I love the guitar work on this song.  The semi guitar solo throughout the song.  Drowning Pool did a great job on this tribute to their first singer and long time friend and music brother.

Blindfold

I love the Black Sabbathish guitar riff with effect at the beginning.  I love the drumming and bass playing on this song.  The drumming is off the charts.  I love the singing and lyrics.  For being a bonus track, “Blindfold” shows the world that this band has some great unreleased songs.  I love the ending of this song.

Original Line Up:

  • Dave Willians – Lead Vocals
  • Mike Luce – Drums
  • C. J. Pierce – Guitar
  • Stevie Benton – Bass

Current Line Up:

  • Jasen Moreno – Lead Vocals
  • C.J. Pierce – Guitar
  • Stevie Benton – Bass
  • Mike Luce – Drums

Former Lead Singers:

  • Jason Jones (2003 to 2005)
  • Ryan McCombs (2005 to 2011)

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.drowningpool.com

Twitter:  @DrowningPool

Closing, I am glad this band has went back to their roots.  I love the last two records with Ryan McCombs of Soil.  Jasen Moreno has taken to band back to their roots and to another level.  I also love the record they did Jason Jones and I understand why he was let go from singing.  This record from start to finish ids solid from the music, lyrics, and singing.  They have a great singer and I hope he is around for a while.  I am really looking to seeing this band live.  I grew up listening to this band when they had Dave Williams.  I love their performance on WWE or WWF Summerslam PPV.  I was sad to hear of his death.  I thought it was death of the band too.  I loved their next record but it was not Drowning Pool.  I came back to the band on Ryan’s second record and loved it.  I was pretty upset when he left for his crappy band called SOiL.  I love this record and I love Jasen’s singing which is better than Ryan.  The music is Drowning Pool and they found ways to work with their new singer.  This is a solid record and I believe this record is just the start for this great band to return to the mainstream.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Beer Blog Goose Island Oktoberfest

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In this 400th blog post, we are going to get into new fall seasonal from Goose Island.  It is the return of their Oktoberfest after six years absence.  If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this Chicago craft brewery.  If you have not, please, read those beer blogs to get to know this brewery.  Let us get into the beer.

It has a clear amber copper color without a head on the beer.  The smell is caramel.  The taste is a heavy sweet creamy caramel without an aftertaste.  It is pretty drinkable beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.gooseisland.com):

Brewer’s Notes:

Brewed in the traditional Märzen style our Oktoberfest pours a brilliant copper over rose color with a bone white head. Notes of toffee and burnt sugar in the aroma and flavors of sweet dried apricots are delivered in a dry malty body with the mild earthy bitterness that is the hallmark of Hallertau hops.

Recipe Information:

Style: Märzen Alcohol by Volume: 6.4% International Bitterness Units: 17 Color: Copper Hops: Hallertau Malts: 2-Row, Carapils, Munich 10, C-20, C-40,  C-120

Availability

Seasonal Bottles: 6pks Draft: 1/6 & 1/2bbl

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.gooseisland.com

Twitter;  @gooseisland

In closing, over the years, I have grown to start to dislike fall beers.  It just seems like they disappointment me every year to year.  I was happy to hear that Goose Island brought back their Oktoberfest in package.  This beer does not have that Goose Island taste like the rest of their beers.  This beer is a little different.  It is little bit more hoppier than the normal Oktoberfest.  This beer is not my favorite but it is really good brew.  It also gives me hope for all the fall seasonals again.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Beer Blog Stone Brewing Wootstout

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In this beer blog,  we are going to get into a special limited release and special beer to me.  It is from Stone Brewery and the beer is their Wootstout.  This brew was team brewing process from Drew Curtis, Greg Koch, and Wil Wheaton.  If you read my early beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this brewery.  If you have not read those posts, please, read those beer blog posts to get to know this brewery.  Let us get into the beer.

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It has a jet black color with a constant tan to light brown head on the beer.  The smell is chocolate cover pecans.  The taste of this light to medium body beer is chocolate cover pecans notes. There is some vanilla notes that blends nicely with the pecans. The aftertaste is a dry coffee to toffee pecan aftertaste.  For being a stout, this is scary and extremely drinkable beer.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

“Wil Wheaton first called us in 2004 to ask if it’d be OK for him to put the Arrogant Bastard logo on this blog’s website (back when people still asked permission to do such things), and I just so happened to answer the phone (back when I still answered the main line sometimes).  Since he was so damn enthusiastic about our beers, I said ‘Sure, no problem.’ all the while thinking ‘ Hmmm… this guy’s name sounds familiar.’

Months later, in a serendipitous turn of fate, I reached out to our 10,000th email newsletter subscriber … drumroll … Wil Wheaton.  Since his gigs in the iconic Stand By Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wil has become quite the renaissance man, adding author, w00tstock innovator, and homebrewer to his resume.  His enthusiasm for the fermentable arts and our beer was such that after many occasions of sharing grog over the years, we decided it was time to brew in collaboration.

It was no-brainer for us to choose Drew Curtis – who many know as the twisted mind behind Fark.com – as our third cohort.  Drew was an old friend of Wil’s that I had serendipitously met (when he saw me and told me, ‘Dude, I love your beer!’) and enjoyed many beers with at the famous TED confenece three years in a row.  The beer you told before you is an Imperial stout made with wheat (Wil pretty much insisted), and we also paid tribute to Drew’s Kentucky roots by adding rye and pecans to the mix and partially aging the beer in bourbon barrels.  The result?  Nothing short of serendipitous.”

Greg Koch @stonegreg CEO and Co-founder, Stone Brewing

“Being a geek isn’t about what you love:  it’s about how you love it.  I’m a sci-fi geek, a disruptive technology geek, and a tabletop  game geek.  I’ve been lucky to do lots of work in those fields, but this is the first time I got to be a professional beer geek, and it was awesome.”

Wil Wheaton @wilw Actor, Homebrewer and Professional Geek

“Beer tastes like my website … all over the map, but I’ve never met a beer I didn’t like.”

Drew Curtis @drewcurtis Founder, Fark.com & News Geek

www.stonebrewing.com/collab

Here is a description from their website (www.stonebrewing.com/collab):

From the most unlikely yet intensely imaginative trio that is actor and uber-geek champion Wil Wheaton, alternative news website Fark.com creator Drew Curtis and Stone CEO/Co-founder Greg Koch, comes an imperial stout unlike any ever made. Brewed with rye, wheat malt and pecans and partially aged in Bourbon whiskey barrels, this viscous yet silken brew erupts with an oaky, nutty bouquet and rich flavors of vanilla, toast and bitter chocolate. Enjoy now or cellar this celebration of nth degree passion and geekery applied most gracefully to the craft of brewing and collaboration-Drew Curtis/Wil Wheaton/Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout!

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.stonebrewing.com/collab

Twitter:  @stonegreg @wilw @drewcurtis and @stonebrewingco

Closing out, many of these beers hit the shelf and go pretty quickly.  In most cases, these beers let many of the beer drinkers down with the liquid.  This brew is totally different.  These three guys put a ton of thought behind it and put their stamp on it, which you can see the details above in description from the beer bottle selection.  This is a great brew.  I love the stout and the wheat malt makes this stout light in body.   I love the chocolate and the pecans gives this brew another element.  It blends nicely with the beer and then age the beer in barrels that gives some nice vanilla notes.  If you can find this beer, I highly recommend this brew.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Beer Blog Fuller’s London Porter

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Fuller’s London Porter is the next  brew that will be featured on this beer blog.  If you read my beer blog post on their ESB, you know the history of this brewery.  If you have not read that beer blog post, please, that beer blog post to get to know this brewery.  Let us get into the beer.

It has a jet black color without a head on the beer.  The smell is rich chocolate black coffee.   The taste of this light to medium body beer is dark chocolate and coffee with a dry dark chocolate aftertaste. It is not drinkable beer.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

Fuller’s London Porter is an award-winning example of this historic English style; smooth and creamy with delicious chocolate and coffee flavors derived from the roasted malts.

The Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London, has been brewing fine ales since 1654.

The Fuller, Smith & Turner partnership, dating back to 1845, brews an excellent range of award-winning ales, many of which are available in the USA, including London Pride pale ale and the world’s original ESB.  I hope you will enjoy trying all our fine ales.

Here is a description from their website (www.fullers.co.uk):

London Porter

Fuller’s London Porter, is widely regarded as the World’s Finest Porter: having won awards all over the world, London Porter is regularly voted the number one Porter on beer websites such as http://www.ratebeer.com, a tremendous accolade to our brewing team. The origins of Porter date back to London in the early eighteenth century, and the beer has seen fame around the world, from Ireland to the USA and Australia. It was the dominant beer style in London for quite some time, and takes its name from the street and river porters of the city who carried goods around the streets.

Tasting notes

Fuller’s London Porter captures the flavours of those original brews perfectly, although you won’t find a cloudy pint these days! Rich, dark and complex, at 5.4% ABV the beer has an outstanding depth of flavour.
It is brewed from a blend of Brown, Crystal and Chocolate malts for a creamy delivery balanced by traditional Fuggles hops. The range of flavours works well with a wide variety of foods, ranging from rich meat dishes, to oysters, and even chocolate puddings.

Here is their website and twitter addresses;

Website:  www.fullers.co.uk

Twitter;  @London_Pride

In the end, this is a great classic porter from Fuller’s.  This beer is rich and smooth with a ton of chocolate and coffee notes.  There is a lot going in this brew.  I can see many American Craft Breweries trying to make their own version of this great beer.  If you love porters, this is one porter you have to try before you make any judgement on other porters in the world.  This porter is in my top five porters of all time.  I recommend you trying this brew.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Beer Blog Fuller’s London Pride

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In this beer blog, we are going to get into the flagship from Fuller’s Brewery and the beer is London Pride Pale Ale.  If you read my beer blog post on their ESB, you know the history of this brewery.  If you have not read that beer blog post, please, read that post to get to know this brewery.  Let us get into beer.

It has a clear copper color with a constant white head.  There is no smell to this beer.  The taste is a malty caramel with a light carbonation with a tropical fruit aftertaste.  It is drinkable and refreshing beer.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

Fuller’s London Pride is an award-winning English classic premium beer, rich and smooth, with a good malty base and well-developed hop notes in the finish.

The Griffin Brewery in Chiswichk, London, has been brewing fine beers since 1654.

The Fuller, Smith & Turner partnership, dating back to 1845, brews an excellent range of award-winning beers, many of which are available in the USA, including London Pride premium beer and the world’s original ESB.  I hope you will enjoy trying all our fine beers.

Here is description from their website (www.fullers.co.uk):

London Pride

Fuller’s London Pride is the UK’s leading premium ale.

An intrinsic part of London, London Pride has been brewed by the banks of the Thames from the very first brew.

Known and loved for its smooth, distinctive malty base and rich balance of hops flavours, London Pride is London and the UK’s favourite premium ale.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.fullers.co.uk

Twitter;  @London_Pride

Ending, this is a great beer but I am not a huge fan of the malty base pale ales.  This is how all English Pale Ales.  There is nothing wrong that brewing styles.  Europe set the standard for the classic beer styles.  I love the hops that they use in this brew but I just feel this beer would be better if it did not have a huge malty backbone.  This is what the brewery and the brewmaster at the time was going for in the recipe.  So for what it is, it is well made beer. I highly recommend this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Beer Blog Dark Horse Safety Meeting IPA

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In this beer blog, we are going to get into an India Pale Ale from Dark Horse Brewing.  I had  their Safety Meeting IPA on National India Pale Ale Day.   Dark Horse Brewing was founded in 1998 by Bill Morse and Aaron Morse.  They opened in Marshall, Michigan.  They later moved to their current location off South Kalamazoo Road in 2000.  They brew several different beer styles.  They are known for their flagship which is called Crooked Tree IPA.  Let us get into the beer.

It has cloudy amber color without a head on the beer.  The smell is piney and citrus.  The taste of this medium body beer is citrus to hints of pine with a wet hop finish.  It is pretty drinkable.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.darkhorsebrewery.com

Twitter:  @DarkHorseBrewCo

Happy IPA Day!, I enjoyed this beer and I love the hops that they used in this beer.  This beer was pretty well-balanced beer.  I was pretty stun by it.  I was on my way back to Michigan from Chicago and I wanted to stop by the brewpub to have lunch.  I had a few IPA’s at the brewpub and enjoyed them.  I had a chance to talk to some of the regulars that come into the brewpub.  Chuck was a really nice guy and I hope to meet him again the next time I come back through the brewpub.  The food was great and everyone was really nice.  I highly recommend this beer if it is still available and checking out the brewpub.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser