Then one day a week or two ago, I tried the Gigabit IPA from Hopworks. The initial excitement was mostly out of novelty, but as I was drinking, I couldn’t help but think to myself “wow, this is really good”. I thought perhaps it was a fluke, but now having had a few in the interim, I can say something I never thought I would.

I like IPAs.

And I blame Todd Stadelhofer. A few days ago, as I was sitting on the fence about my newfound flavor appreciation, famed homebrewer Todd brought by his newest concoction: Mayday IPA. And I was worried. Todd values his beer recipes, and I value getting free beer. So I was really a little timid about drinking it, for fear that my virgin interest in IPA flavor would prove to be a passing fancy.

Then I sipped. And I sipped again. Then a hearty gulp. Hot damn. This is good. Real good. I don’t feel I’m nearly qualified in the hop arena to make any particular “toity” remarks, other than to say it was really tasty. Refreshing, and although tinged with hoppiness, not so much that my cheeks felt like I’d been on the shoe end of Chuck Norris. It was even so good that the wife stole the second half of the 22.

I’m new to the IPA world folks, so bear with me as I explore the limits of the fresh tastebuds. Nonetheless, I can effectively blame and thank Todd for solidifying a new era in Frosty Goodness lore. Liver be damned.

Mayday IPA

Samuel Smith’s Organic Strawberry Fruit Ale (0/6)
Don’t drink this. Its terrible in a way that only bad fruit ale can be. Rancid sharp strawberry flavor, in otherwise fine ale. Admittedly, I didn’t expect it to be any good, but even I was surprised just how little I was able to drink before I had to pour it out.

Red Hook 8-4-1 Expedition Ale (1/6)
Your mileage may vary on this one, but I just didn’t like it. There was something about it that didn’t jive with my taste buds, and I was generally unhappy with the results. It’s not terrible, rather just the epitome of “That boy ain’t right”.

Full Sail LTD 02 (4/6)
Yay LTD! I just love this stuff. It’s on the maltier end of the Easy Drinkin’ spectrum, but it definitely qualifies as a cooler filler if the occasion arises.

Bridgeport Blue Heron Pale Ale (4/6)
Up to this point, Bridgeport’s Haymaker was holding the crown as one of my favorite Easy Drinkin’ beers. But now that I have had this, I think Bridgeport may have unseated itself. It’ll be perfect for the July 4th BBQ, when you force those family members who drink Budweiser products (…sorry I just threw up a little in my mouth…) to drink quality beer. Easy, non-offensive, tasty.

Great Divide Collette Farmhouse Ale (5/6)
I like Farmhouse Ales, but usually just for tasting. They tend to be a bit strong for a six pack or even a full 22. Collette, however, is an exception. This ale is great. And, although being farmhouse tasty (mmm…farm taste), its mellow enough to be had regularly. Or in large quantities *drunken stumble*

Widmer Sunburn Ale (2/6)
The blogosphere gave this beer a lot of happy thoughts recently, but I just didn’t see why. Widmer has decided to use some new “Citra-hop” variety of hops, which although novel, is super distracting to the taste. Its like beer flavored orange juice. Not a fan.

Dick’s Pale Ale (2/6)
Despite promising to do a huge run of Dick’s posts, I purposefully didn’t mention this one. Not because it’s bad, but just because it practically non-existent. It takes Pale to a new level by being the taste equivalent to translucence (see I know big words!).

Jonathan Edwards “Lost Finale” Lager (4/6)
I round out this blast of posts with a nod to our favorite local homebrewer Jonathan Edwards. Recently, he dropped this German Lager down on my desk, and I can happily say it was yet another notch in his impressive homebrew collection. Its crisp yummy taste helped drown out the sorrows of watching the Lost Finale. And made me buzzed enough to not care about the cheesy cork in the island scene. Prost!

This time around, we welcome a new face into the stable of home-brew heroes: Todd Stadelhofer. When not battling the ravages of bad software code, Todd takes the time to make some ridiculously meticulous beer varieties. Todd has the current distinction of being the only guy in cubicle land who posts his recipe outside his cubicle. Beer geeks are awesome!

Todd’s inaugural beer was a tasty dry hopped Pale Ale title “Springboard”. I couldn’t tell you more about the varieties of hops or anything, cause that’s not the sort of thing I do. I can tell you however, that despite not generally liking overly hoppy beer, I found Springboard to be wonderful for an all night design session. I was hesitant at first, but man, nothing makes a crap-tastic project go by quickly quite like a 22oz. of refreshing Pale Ale.

So here’s to you Todd. May your brewing skills live on, and your beer geekery reach new heights. My liver salutes you.

Ninkasi Radiant Summer Ale

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

I 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

We 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.

I’m easy, I admit it. When a generous soul walks up to my desk with a fresh free beer to try, they officially become one of my favorite people. So much so that I have decided to come up with a simple acronym, FAB. Favorite Amatuer Brewmasters. These folks, show the appropriate disdain for my liver and deliver to me brewed delights of all flavors.

Jonathan Edwards: “Herdwick Pale Ale”

For reasons unknown to me, Jonathan decided to name this beer after sheep. See? Luckily for me, it didn’t taste anything like that seat covers I used to have in my car. This is the third beer by Mr. Edwards I’ve had. And true to FAB form, I have liked every one. But the fun thing about Jonathan’s brews is that they don’t tend to taste anything like I expect them to. Take this one… it wasn’t “baaaaaaaaad” at all. Get it? Baaaaa …like a sheep…. never mind. Sheep references aside, this Pale was among the yeastier beers I’v had since summer. To his credit he warned me ahead of time, but to be honest I imagine I actually enjoyed it more as a result. It had that crisp Pale refreshment, but the yeast seemed to keep it from ever entering into the cheek smash territory that makes IPAs so offensive to me. At least I think that was it. Maybe I’m just getting less picky in my old age. Kudos Jonathan!

Chris McGowen: “Sweet Brown Holiday”

Using a recipe nabbed from the internet, Chris decided to try his hand at making a Brown Ale. I’m a huge brown fan, so I was looking forward to this entry particularly. FAB hero Jonathan Edwards tried it ahead of me, and referred to it as “too sweet”. Sweet? In a brown? But there is a reason he is FAB. The pour, and color said brown ale, but the flavor said “I wish I was Stumptown Tart, but I didn’t have any berries handy”. To be honest, I actually liked it though. I love fruity beers, so even if the taste wasn’t intentional, I give it two thumbs up anyway. Look for a revisit of this brew in a month or two to see if Mr Edwards “it needs more bottle time” assessment is correct.

So there you have it, two true FAB heroes, brewing their way into the Frosty Goodness hall of fame. Liddell, Boyer, Sherwood…time to step up.

First off, as we all know I am a sucker for labels. For a homebrew, this one has got a great one. An oregon license plate “Hit n Run” with the alchohol level (just a guess or the real valu?) and IPA as the registration stickers. Nice. Well done.

Beyond the label, it proved to be a very easy drinking IPA. Mr. Edwards apologized ahead of time that it was a little weak. But in a world where IPAs and IIPAs seem to overcompensate for art with more hops, I found it enjoyable. I love a hoppy beer, but it can definitely be taken too far. I could say that Hit ‘n Run needs more hops but I won’t. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Just do what the big microbrewers do (ahem, Fat Tire), just name it something different! If it tastes kinda like an IPA but is easy drinking, just call it Easy Rider IPA or something and put something about how you were trying to capture the drinkability of a lager and the hop-roots of an IPA. Viola!

This is incredible. I mean, they just drop beer by my desk! Sweet! I need to start reviewing video games, exotic cars, and HDTVs! Recently, my friend Ben brought his brother’s homebrew by my desk. I was surprised, and quite frankly a bit scared when I heard this was his brother’s attempt at a coconut curry beer. Yes, coconut curry. What in the hell? I agreed to drink and review the beer on the condition that he be prepared to have it totally lambasted.

That weekend I had my in-laws over for a BBQ and finally got the courage up to try it. I opened the bottle and took a whiff. Yup… definitely coconut. Definitely curry. He wasn’t joking. Still beer though. I closed my eyes, clenched my stomach and took a swig.

Hmm. Not too shabby! Although the flavors were unconventional, they blended together for a taste that seemed to fit. Unlike other flavored beers, like Old Market Pub’s Chili Pepper beer, it didn’t taste like some pilsner or IPA that someone haphazardly dumped some Mrs. Dash in to. It tasted complete. I gave my in-laws a sip.

Sideways glances and skeptically furrowed brows gave way to smiles. My father-in-law thought it would make a great marinade. My mother-in-law and I are big Indian and Thai snobs and both thought it would make a great addition to some Massuman Curry or Pad Prik. We both agreed that an entire 6 pack might be too much, but it would definitely make a great companion to good curry-based cuisine.

So, Ben’s Brother (sorry, I lost the mail with your name)… keep up the good work! You might even want to consider marketing this as an Indian beer. I would buy it at my favorite local Indian restaurant.

Now, some of you who know me well may be wondering about me using the words “pleasure” and “Bitter” in the same sentence. I have been know in the past to strictly avoid Bitters, every since Grandpa Goodness had me try one that was the beverage equivalent of being punched in the teeth. So it was with a bit of trepidation and politeness that I geared up and gave Jonathan’s freshman brew a swig.

And wouldn’t you know it, as it turns out, Mr. Edwards has no idea how to brew a tooth punching Bitter. And I love him for it! This beer was really good. Despite its depressingly low alcohol content (2.6%!), it was a perfect complement to the Disney character shaped pasta the little Frosties and I had were having that evening. Full flavored, with a touch of hoppiness. After finishing it, Mrs. Goodness and I both remarked that it was very close in flavor to some of the Red Ales I enjoy. Kudos Jonathan, for renewing my faith in “Bitter” as a term not indicative of the experience of drinking it.

Personally, every time I’m thirsty and am looking for solid alcoholic beverage to chill with on the patio, I thank Chris. Cause by golly, does this guy brew some tasty beer. Not just tasty, but in a true nod to the comfort in his manliness, a fruity beer. Very fruity, and perfect for a warm evening BBQ, or for boozing up your lady for a night of lovin’.

Chris’s entry was a tasty ruby ale that we at the Goodness have name “Ruby McGowen”. The name makes me think of one of those waitresses you’d order pie from in a Texas diner. Sweet, but with a hint of sharpness if you push her. In this case, Ruby had a cool, sharp flavor on first sip, then went down with a mellow fruitiness.

And unlike some fruity beers I’ve had, it had no sugary aftertaste to sicken the palette. (McMenamins!!) All in all a worthy brew that I hope I can con Chris into giving me some more of.

As an aside, I would like to acknowledge my restraint on not making a joke after I wrote the words “went down with a mellow fruitiness”, as well as give a mild taunt to the one called “Jilot”. Mr Packer, along with Chris himself, claimed that Ruby was overly “heady”. Well my friends, take a look at the picture of this pour. I call it skill. Or perhaps a testament to how much I drink…