July Rundown: Ninkasi Summer, Session Black, McGowen Wit

Sorry for the delay all. I was busy getting bitten by mosquitos (some call it camping), and not drinking beer. Then when I decided to drink again, I had a fridge full of Haymaker, Mothership Wit and Stumptown Tart to get through. For those worried about my liver, yes, I did spread it out over a few days. Luckily I did manage to sneak in a few extra new beers here and there. Most were good. Some not. Such as…

Ninkasi Radiant Summer Ale

hop-field

I have decided that the Ninkasi Brewery is one that I just don’t “get”. The thing is, they seem to have this unhealthy obsession with hops. With the exception of their respectable Oatmeal Stout, every beer I’ve tasted of theirs has been a cheek smashing hop fandango. Without much effort you can imagine what their Summer seasonal was like then. First sip. Decent, if a little hoppy. The problem was those other sips. I started by thinking to myself, eh, 4 rating maybe 3. But with every sip, the score went down. Until finally the rest was undrinkable. Not to mention the face that SwillJockeys wife made when she tried it. Remember those “bitter beer face” commercials? Yeah that.

Full Sail Session Black Lager

sessionI have decided that I just have an affection for “Black” beers. Note the distinction from Porters, Browns and Stouts. Those are awesome too, but there is something special about a 1554, Lompoc Strong Draft or Session Black that just makes them awesome. Perhaps its the manliness of having your beer be more daunting than the wiener with the IPA next to you. Maybe it’s the fact that even though you can’t see through it, its still got that easy drinking feel. Whatever it is, I dig, and Full Sail’s new Session Black is full of it. Its a crisp dark lager, that balances machismo with easy drinking for a nice summer pick. Although I didn’t get to drink it from one of those impy little bottles (a big mention in the Full Sail marketing material), I can report that the draft didn’t disappoint. To use the vernacular of the cool kids, with LTD03 and Session Black, Full Sail is “the hotness” this summer.(do people still say that?)

Chris McGowen Wheat White Wit

ChrisWe like Chris McGowen. Why? Well apart from him being a nice guy, he’s one of the stable of local Favorite Amatuer Brewmasters that routinely supply me with tasty concoctions. His latest edition is one I affectionately call Wheat White Wit. Cause although to beer snobs there’s a distinction, when I asked Chris what he made, those three words all made it into the descriptive response. But hey, whose counting? Its free beer! Super duper cloudy (Chris spilled grain in the beer..doh!), it was a nice easy drinking wheat/white/wit beer. Perfect for a summer BBQ. If you can get your hands on some, I highly recommend taking his advice and mowing the lawn while chugging it down. There’s something about controlling a 3ooo rpm spinning blade of death and alcohol that just go together.