Innis and Gunn Tasting – Cable Beverage

The first thing you notice when you sip an Innis and Gunn original is the pronounced vanilla taste running through it.  Apparently, it gets that flavor from the oak barrels it is aged in.  This is the flavor I fell in love with when I first tried it.  So, when I had the opportunity to sample 2 other styles by this Scottish brewer, I jumped at the chance.  The girl from the distributer was half filling plastic, shot sized cups right outside Cable Beverage on Route 304 in Bardonia, NY.  After a little prompting and a promise to buy some product when we were through, she agreed to refills. 

The original was as good as ever: smooth, sweet and satisfying.  The rum cask ale had a sweet liquery taste, but not overpowering by any means.  In fact, I thought it didn’t taste quite rum-enough.  It could have been stronger without turning too many people off.  All the participants at this tasting seemed to be happy with its taste. 

The Highland Cask Ale was the one we all were waiting for.  This one is not readily available in the states and has been aged in casks that once contained a single malt Scotch whisky.   This one had a stronger profile than the rum cask ale.  The whiskey was there without taking over the whole show. I could see myself sitting in front my fireplace on a cold night sipping this beer and warming up inside and out.  I was impressed enough with the selections that I bought a sample pack that contained the first two and a seasonal winter ale along with an I & G glass for $9.99.  I’ll let you know how the winter tastes when I work my way through the set, hopefully before winter

Fruit Beers of Summer - A husband and wife review

In search of the perfect summer fruit beer my wife and I visited Spirits Unlimited next to the big A & P in Seaside Heights, NJ. I was surprised that they were open at 9 on a Sunday morning. We felt a little sleazey walking out of the place with 2 sixpacks when most people hadn't even had breakfast yet. But it is the price we pay to find the perfect beer.

The store was big with a huge selection of wines and extensive craft beer section in coolers. They do not allow customers to break up six packs. I was drawn to a cherry beer from Lakefront Brewery in Wisconson. I had never tasted this flavor before and was anxious to try one. My wife settled on a Mich Ultra with dragon fruit and peach.

Lakefront Cherry Lager (5.5% ABV)

The cherry was a lager that poured with little head and had a nice sweet bouquet. I felt the fruit taste was almost too light to detect . My wife was pleased with it though. Maybe there is something to the idea that females have better senses than males. The head disappeared quickly but the abundance of bubbles made it seem like it was almost super-carbonated. So much so, that after one sip the tickle in the back of my throat made me cough some beer out my nose. (If you didn't like the beer before this, now you are really turned off by my visual - sorry). The after taste was a little medicinal not unlike that of gin. My wife felt that it was tart like a cherry should be. To each his/her own.

Mich Ultra Dragon Fruit and Peach (4% ABV).

The Mich Ultra had a perfumey peach smell. It is a lite beer but I felt it had more taste than the Lakefront. The taste and scent seemed to blend a little better in this beer. It left a little lacing of the head around the glass. We both thought the peach after-taste was pleasing to the tongue.

Final analysis:

My wife thought the cherry was mediocore, but I felt that it was below average as far as fruit beers go. We both thought the peach would quench our thirst on a hot day. So we loaded the cooler with the peach and head for the beach.

J. Canals Superstore

On the way back home form the Jersey shore, I was looking for a place to buy craft beers that are hard to find in our New York stores. So I googled: "craft beer jersey shore" and found J. Canals in Woodbridge, NJ. Finding the actual store would take about three phone calls and several turns coming off the Garden State Parkway. It is actually only about 100 yards from the Parkway on Rt 1 south, but there is no exit for Rt 1 coming from the GSP North. So you have to take Exit 131b to Gill ave to Rt 1 South. I tell you this because their web site does a poor job of directing you and I don't want you to get discouraged and miss this beer geek's nirvana.

Once on Rt 1 South, you can't miss the giant beer bottle in the parking lot. Upon walking in, I was a little disappointed to see isles and isles of wine and liquor. But then I met Zack Goldberg, who led me to the craft beer section at the other end of the store.

Zack is their beer manager and a true conasseur of good beer. He understands people's different tastes and has tried many, many of the beers he recommends. As a case in point, a young woman asked him for a raspberry beer and he said "It's not my favorite style of beer but here's one I've tried that is good." And he handed her a six pack of Abita Purple Haze http://abita.com/brews/purple-haze.php . As a fruit beer lover, that is the beer I would have pointed her to.

Though the majority of the store is dedicated to other alcoholic beverages, their beer selection is very extensive. The whole far wall of the store consists of coolers containing mostly micro-beers. Across from the coolers are shelves of more craft beers, many of which can be purchased individually.

I told Zack about the styles that I prefer and regions I was looking for. For each style he recomended his personal favorite. Here a some of the examples of his recommendaations and my subsequent purchases:

Brown Ale - Tommyknocker Imperial Brown $1.79/12 oz 
IPA - Firestone Double IPA $8.49/750ml
Spice Beer - Dogfish Sah'tea $12.49/750ml
Bock - Troeginator $1.89/12 oz
Red Ale - Red Seal Ale $9.39/ 6 pack
Colorado - Breckenridge $1.89/12oz
Jersey - Climax - Roselle Park, NJ $9.99/ 1/2 gallon growler

The Sha'tea's price tag made me a little reluctant to purchase it. They happened to have this brew as one of the six beers on tap at there growler filling station. Zack gave us each a taste and we were sold on this pungent, flavorful beer. If we weren't so far from home I would have had fun tasting the other selections. But we had another hour to drive and a carful of new brews to sample when we returned home.