Rams are funny lookin', baby seals make me want to join a club, and a double bock makes me want to drink. Combine all three and you have yourself a beer! OK, just the last one means you have a beer, but the ram and seal don't hurt. Trust me, I've checked. Plus, the ram has this silly smushed-back face and a tail that looks suspiciously like the artist got away with painting a dick on the label (way to go, that person). I can't be certain, but the seal looks like he just watched the artist get away with this exposure, too. That seal knows, man. He knows.
This week I'm downing a Smuttynose Brewing Company (from Hampton, NH) double bock delightfully called, S'Muttonator! Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnn... It has a hefty 9.5% ABV, and comes in a 1pint 6oz (750ml) bottle. It is a dark honey amber with not much frothy-froth. But with an ABV like that, who cares about the froth, or who cares for long? Go get your lampshade and warm up your Danny Boy, this could get ugly.
The first taste is a slap full of heavy damn malt. Ker-blammers! This must be some kind of dare. A case of these might create a singularity if you left it unattended in Hollywood. It would star Nick Cage and John Belushi's hologram. But I digress. But for a good reason: this tastes just like a heavy, malty, German ale. Seriously, that is it. No surprises, no frills. Picture it, tasting it in your mind's drunkard. Yup, that's it. It is good, and I like drinking it, but it has nothing unexpected to offer. Which is not a bad thing. I'm a beer drinker. I like beer. I like it when my beer tastes like beer, and for a reason. That reason is that I like beer. So, thumbs up, Smuttynose. You have crafted a mighty good, mighty heavy, mighty malty beer, that tastes like a beer's beer.
Let me talk about this notion of a beer's beer. I will talk about it through the lens of my second glass. There are some things a beer drinker might presume to be present in a beer of this sort: an acidic and malty nose, a mild tartness to the taste of grains, a mellow yeastiness contrasted by a sharp alcohol and caramel after-tastes. It is a basic and unsurprising description. It is a description of an ale, golden to amber in color, with a reasonable booze to it. In that way, I say it is a "beer's beer." Please don't misunderstand me, this is good beer, just not surprising beer. S'Muttonator represents a solid and well executed double bock.
So, you know, try it, if the mood strikes you. You can guess what you will get. You will be right. And that is not a bad thing. I like it. I'd go on, but I think I'm kinda drunkish.
No comments:
Post a Comment