Johnnie Walker White Walker

I feel like a traitor writing a review of this Scotch. Most of my friends and probably several people who have followed this blog over the years know I am an avid Game of Thrones fan and have been showcasing the beers from Ommegang for a long time. Johnnie Walker White Walker was the first Game of Thrones Scotch release from Diageo and it is a blend which includes single malts from Cardhu and Clynelish. So let’s break it down.

The Good
It comes in a temperature-sensitive ink technology label (themocromic ink) which reveals a special message when it becomes cold.

The Bad
Serving this Scotch cold. Heck, serving this Scotch room temperature or at all. Also the message wasn’t all that special although I did like they blue eye glow when cold.

The Ugly
Make that the ugly truth. This Scotch blows cold. This Scotch blows at room temperature neat. I suspect this Scotch just blows no matter how you try to consume it. I started cold to see the message and thought it would be a miracle if ice cold this was good. It was decidedly not good. It was fusel with citrus notes and alcohol. After warming it was much better, but still fusel with citrus notes and alcohol coupled to caramelized sugar.

In the end the $40-50 price point is far too steep a price to pay for a thermal reacting ink bottle of rubbing alcohol. At half the price this is still crap. At a quarter of the price it would still be a hard pass. Do yourself a favor and find something you like more and enjoy that instead of purchasing this.

PS: Whoever was responsible for this blend should be introduced to Ramsay Snow (Bolton).

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Left Hand’s vs White Labs

Haven’t posted in awhile, will try to do better in the future. News broke last week about the lawsuit filed by Left Hand against White Labs claiming contaminated yeast. Specifically that yeast was contaminated with diastaticus. Now I gotta admit I don’t know as much about yeast and yeast variants as I should, but my understanding is diastaticus will chew up sugars other yeasts leave behind and Left Hand has a very popular Milk Stout which undoubtedly contains lactose which is widely accepted as largely unfermentable by most yeast. Add in a yeast which chews up anything which is thrown at it and you have a recipe for disaster. Left Hand contends they had to dispose of over $2 million in beer and White Labs didn’t even send a condolence card.

At first you might be thinking what I am thinking how do you prove this is the source of the contamination? If you perform a web search you will find many instances in both the Pro and Homebrew arenas where people complain about contaminated batches of beer and the commonality was White Labs yeast. For me a single instance or brewery is not enough proof as anyone can have an off batch if they are not careful with cleaning and sanitation, but when you begin to add all of them together there could be some merit in the claim. I read somewhere diastaticus takes a week to incubate and most breweries don’t have time for that, but you would think a yeast company should be running long term QC checks.

At any rate, this one should be interesting. Does it move forward in the court system, settle outside of courts, or ultimately go to trial. I know I’m grabbing the popcorn and you should as well.

International Beer Day 2017

You know the drill, hoist a pint of your favorite to celebrate!

No Sunday Morning Libations For Kure Beach

In a bonehead move Kure Beach has denied Sunday morning alcohol sales. We knew somewhere in North Carolina a governing body would stand on religious principal and the evils of alcohol, but I wouldn’t have suspected it to be a tourist area. It is their prerogative to decide if Sunday morning sales should be allowed to happen, but it is ridiculous to put it in a religious context. Someone should remind them religious organizations meet all the time, not just on Sunday morning. The mayor, Craig Bloszinsky, cited traffic getting worse in town if alcohol sales were to occur beginning at 10am. I guess Craig has realized what I learned long ago, they only put those fish symbols on the back of cars who cannot drive in the first place. I think they have a meeting at church to decide who gets a fish and who doesn’t and they want the highest possible visibility so it goes on the car who drives the worst and is most likely to draw attention to the symbol. I’m kidding of course, but to say it will add to traffic is quite short sighted. People having a bloody with 10am brunch are not apt to get sloshed by noon when the neighborhood churches typically let out. Anyway, I know where I won’t be visiting when planning my next vacation if that is the attitude of Kure Beach. Sounds like they didn’t want visitors there in the first place.

Ommegang Bend The Knee

Finding Ommegang Bend The Knee prior to the first episode of Game of Thrones proved to be a bit of a challenge. Despite numerous Facebook posts by Total Wine announcing the beer, it was MIA at the one closest to my home. Finally I went by one in a different city and they had a large display for the beer so I was able to grab all three labels. The next challenge was deciding which house to consume since I now had a Stark, Targaryen, and Lannister in the fridge. I ultimately went with Lannister and found the 9% ABV to be deceptively smooth and understated. The alcohol was hidden behind a mild flavor of malt and fruitiness which was quite alluring. I’m sure the other two bottles will present the same way, but it will be awhile before I consume them if all goes according to plan. Perhaps another halfway through this season and the third at the end. At any rate, this one is nicely done, keep searching and you should be able to find it.

Ommegang Valar Dohaeris

Tonight begins the new season of Game Of Thrones. To celebrate I cracked open a beer which has been lurking in the fridge since October. It is Ommegang Valar Dohaeris Belgian-style Tripel. It poured with a ridiculous amount of coagulated proteins which made the appearance less than stellar, but luckily the peppery aroma and flavor had a wonderful phenolic which more than made up for the appearance flaw. Valar Doharis means “all men must serve” and they must serve this tripel if they like tripel. This one is quite good and while it may be difficult to find out and about, if one still lurks on the shelf you need to snag it because it is delicious! At 9% ABV it is no slouch so tread lightly and share with a friend. The season begins in a few hours, but this is the perfect beer to enjoy while catching up by binge watching all of season six. Get some if you can.

Happy 4th of July!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

How About This BA?

Someone posted the graphic below on Facebook as a suggestion for improvement over their upside down bottle mentioned earlier in the blog. A much better seal IMO. What do you think?

Sunday Morning Drinking – Almost

You may or may not have heard Senate Bill 155, the Brunch Bill, has been sent to Governor Cooper to be signed. This bill was actually entitled ABC Omnibus Legislation and made several changes to the law including the definition of Homebrew. Assuming he signs it quickly that does not mean you get to run out and have a bloody the following Sunday morning. In fact now you will have to wait for your city or perhaps county to allow those sales. Yep, it may be quite some time before you actually can have a Sunday morning libation in a restaurant or bar depending upon when the governing body for each area meets to allow or disallow those sales. I suspect you will be walking into a small town restaurant next year on a Sunday morning and order that mimosa only to be told the town has still not approved those sales. I’m all for big government allowing small cities and towns to be the master of their fate, but I’m also for uniformity, especially when it comes to alcohol. I should be able to expect the same rules in each and every place where it is sold in NC. Anyway, the bill has passed and soon enough the larger cities will jump on the bandwagon. No more waiting until noon to head out to Sunday brunch. Now I can thrown on a hat and have some hair of the dog first thing in the morning.

There are many other tweaks to the law in the bill. The text is available here.

Great Idea BA! Horrible Graphic!

The Brewers Association has rolled out their Independent Craft Brewer seal and I gotta say that is a great idea. On the other hand the graphic kinda sucks. Who had the bright idea to put an upside down bottle on the seal? If you read about it the thought process is craft beer is turning ideas about beer upside down, but who exactly is the target audience with the seal, those who will read about it, or those who may not understand which beers are craft and which are BudMillerCoors? To me the seal is a negative and I expect more than one person to see it the same way and plenty of others who will applaud the seal without truly putting any thought as to the target audience. Go back to the drawing board boys before your members start putting that seal on marketing materials and labels. It isn’t all that and a bag of chips, it is the chip that fell on the floor and you are trying to decide if the five second rule applies and whether or not you should pick it up or throw it in the trash. I vote for throwing in the trash!