Visit Dog Rose Brewing

In September the wife and I (J) visited the Ancient City of Saint Augustine Florida. We stayed at the Saint Francis Inn and did the whole walk around town thing. Pretty much hop from bar to bar to distillery. You know had a good time. The we were walking down Bridge Street, there it stood a big redish building with the word Brewing inscribed . I was excited, mouth salivating with anticipation of new never before had brews.  I walk briskly up the steps grab the handle of the door and look through the glass as the door doesn't open. Dust, unfinished bar top, paint in progress. It isn't open. Disappointment rushes over me like a kid opening an empty box on Christmas. I walk on and enjoy the rest of the trip with an emptiness inside that I must shelve for next time.

Since we come often I knew it wouldn't be more than a few months before I could walk up those steps again. So yesterday while coming for the city in lights show I decided we had to try again. After a nice dinner downtown we started the walk to Bridge Street. The anticipation mounting with the slight memories of failure from the last trip melding in the back of my mind. We walk closer this time child in tow. She's jumping on an do the crooked sidewalks laughing and singing. I think she's displaying the excitement I wish I could let out. There it is, the redish building, lights on, it looks occupied from down the road. Joy sets in new beer is on the horizon. We'll it disappoint, well it be amazing, only one way to tell.

Walking in is a nice open Floorplan. Real darts in the corner, shuffle board next to that, a large wrap around bar and several table of varying sizes. In the back the shine of fermentation tanks bring joy to my eyes and maybe a tear. On the left a board with seven colored names. Speedball Stout, Ramble on Red and Roadside IPA catch my eyes. We take a seat and I walk to the bar. How many are in your flight? "As many as you want." Oh these are my favorite words... One of each please. "I'll bring the right over." Wowzers full service, nice...

I try all seven, even the wife has a sip to see if her pallet has matured to beer. The six year old sticks to water for this trip and is enjoying the electronic device in her hands. The beers overall were good. I wasn't disappointed at all by them. It seems they are Brewing for both the first timer (bud light drinker) and the craft beer lovers. So there is certainly something for everyone. Two I would consider the New guy first step beer, either their Lincolnville Lager which is really lightly hoped or the Palace Pale Ale which is more the citrus route. My favorite here was the Roadside IPA which smells as good as it tastes. The Set Break oatmeal stout and the Speedball stout also very good.

Saying I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin in advance (mostly because it's almost always pumpkin spice) I wasn't a fan of the Jolly Jack's Pumpkin Ale. It gave me more of an Old Bay taste than a strong pumpkin spice.

All in all it is a nice brewery to visit. I'll look forward to coming out again and will certainly visit each time. It's nice to have two good Taprooms downtownish and worth the short walk to each.

Beer for Breakfast

Now I've seen a lot about this recently. It is like a craze and people are going nuts over it, I mean not anyone I know. We are all for it! For some reason, my guess is the same reason we still can't buy liquor in some places before 11 am on Sundays, having a drink before noon is still Taboo. This is ludicrous folks, there is absolutely no reason that "In the land of the free" (I know some may not be here) we are not "free" enough to have a beer with or even for breakfast.

Was it that it was a British thing to do and when we crossed the pond we threw it out? Come on you know George sat in his favorite chair in Mount Vernon with a nice stout in hand. Imagine that; Martha walking by seeing George's cup empty thinking , You're already on your second one George?, heck no the man was a general! She called to the kitchen and shouted, friends he's out again!
Here's a fun article about good old George and his Beer.

So beer was originally for breakfast because well water was horrible, carried these killer bacteria and people knew it was bad. So the solution Brewing and fermentation. I mean you could just pour yourself a glass of Airag which is a delicious glass of fermented milk, I'm guessing it tastes like the way I'm saying the word in my head (Eh - Rag). Personally I'd rather pour a glass of Chicha de jora which is drank in the Andes, you can already guess from my enthusiasm its almost a beer. As great science fiction movies would say "Would you like to know more".

 

I could keep going and who knows maybe I will do the history of beer as breakfast in the future but for today's point, get over it! Grab your favorite stout be it coffee or otherwise, sit back with the paper on whatever day your weekend may be and cherish in the fact that you're celebrating history and not breaking a single rule for life.

Enjoy your beer, enjoy your life!

The video barrier

AJBrew has just broken into the video world. Honestly this is how we planned on starting this thing but we got distracted by delicious beer. Now that we've had so much delicious beer we figure it is time to show our faces, those handsome (ha) faces.So anyway our New Years resolution (one we hope not to fail at) is post at least one video a week, may be short may be long but we will be using Periscope and\or Snachat so follow us at both those places. As usual AJBrewReview will be the way to find us. Here are the links for your enjoyment. Let us know what you think, good, bad or otherwise. On everything but the Snaps we will make sure to do them in landscape because that horizontal video thing we hate it too.

AJBrew You Tube Channel

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 DrinkMoreBeer

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Side Trip New Belgium - Quick Review

2015 Top rated beers by AJBrew

It's still 2015 and while A and J will continue drinking beers until that last day, we've composed the (it could change slightly) best of 2015 list. We've compiled the list and below are our top rated beers for 2015. Listing only our 5 cap and 4.75 cap beers for this year. A will go first because well he's A..

A's 5 star beers for 2015

Are Wheat There Yet? By: Brew Bus Brewing

I know, that's it? What the hell, hard ass.....

A's 4.75 beers. You all earned 5 stars for even making this high in J's opinion.....

Florida Cracker By: Cigar City Brewing
Fat Tire By: New Belgium Brewing Company
The Kalm  By: Big Storm Brewing Co.
Wavemaker By: Big Storm Brewing Co.
Thomas Beck By: Confluence Brewing Company
Skinny Dip By: New Belgium Brewing Company
EdDie Pale Ale By: 7venth Sun
Oats In Hose By: Big Storm Brewing Co.
Sculpin IPA By: Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits

Now it's J's turn:

J's 5 star beers for 2015 in no particular order

Bitteschlappe Brown Ale By: Excelsior Brewing Company
Strike By: Silverking Brewing Company
Pointer Brown Ale By: Court Avenue Brewing Company
Bimini Twist IPA By: 3 Daughters Brewing
Thomas Beck Black IPA By: Confluence Brewing Company

J's 4.75 come on he's a bit of a hard ass when giving out the 5's ha ha ha A only gave out 1...

Graffiti Orange Wheat By: 7venth Sun
Mothra Versus Citra By: Bloom Brew
Ozona Rush By: Stilt House Brewery
Ruthie By: Exile Brewing Company
Influence De La Floride By: Escape Brewing Company
Graffiti Orange Wheat By: 7venth Sun

So in our opinion 2015 was a great year for beer. I can only hope 2016 will be as good and maybe we can add a couple more 5's to A's list. Good luck brewers!!!

How dare you use a Pint Glass!

How dare you! Got your attention for a few seconds now? I've been reading a bit about glasses beers "should" be served in and the poor common shaker glass, the glass every American knows, is being kicked to the curb. I mean it was bound to happen. In my journey through the beer world, still a young-in to many, I've noticed something when using a shaker glass; it doesn't smell right.

So what, you're not there to smell beer!   Yes I am, I (you) need those odorants to complete the true flavor of the drink. With the introduction to the craft world I noticed first that beers often smell better than they taste. Now that my flavor profile has evolved to enjoy many more beers one of the flavors I enjoy most is the smell. So to get back to the glass issue. Try a little experiment. Take a shaped glass, any glass like a wine glass with the nice curved in rim and a common shaker. fill them both with the exact same beer. 

Look at the beer, chances are your shaker glass looks a little more clouded (thicker glass) where the wine glass will have a crisper look, colors a little brighter. Obviously don't use a super dark beer for this test, it will be harder to tell. Now smell the beer, which one smells better? This is really pronounced when using an IPA as the floral smells come out even more. Now taste the beers, first the shaker, inhale through your nose as you taste, now the wine glass... Which one was better? Your saying their the exact same beer, now give it to your friend, pose it as two different beers. which do they pick?

Most of the time the wine glass will be picked. The other thing I'm liking more is the shaped glasses, some have a bump at the base of the glass or Samuel Adams etches a line in the base. This causes the carbonation to cluster and rise from there, releasing it quicker than if it was in a standard shaker glass. More air being released the more smell into your nose as you drink. I know I sound crazy but give it a try. I didn't believe it either but it seems science wins out again and when you mix that science with a little bit of glass art beer drinking becomes an experience. 

You probably can't have a glass for each type of beer in your fridge but hey I'm getting myself a good stemless snifter for my all propose glass, and it will easily double as a large wine glass. 

Here are a couple sites that attempt to pair up glasses with types of beer. 

Beer Advocate

Craft Beer Restaurant

Real Beer (I like theirs the best, it's a picture...) 

On My Wish List!!!

Enjoy!

Why don't you brew your own beer?

We get asked this all the time, "Why don't you make your own beer? I'm sure it would be great."
Anyone who knows A & I know we enjoy going out to the Tap houses trying new beers. We are the beer snobs of our friend circle. Honestly I think we are both proud to say that these days.

At least once a week we get together and hit up @BigStormBrewing , @SilverKingBrew or one of the great places that carry a ton of the locals like @JohnnysFillin and @TarponTavern (trust me the list of locals for us is much longer but I cant name them all). So weekly we are enjoying a brew or two.
I get the pleasure of traveling part of the time for work, so I get the opportunity to visit those far off tap rooms like @ConfluenceBrew, @515Brewing and @FireTruckerBrew to name only a few of the most recent ones.

I have a passion that's developed for beer. I love the stuff, even the bad ones. To think someone poured their heart and sole into making a batch of deliciousness out of water maybe hops and malt, threw in some oddball stuff and took their valuable time to pick through various forms of yeast to find one that burps just the right amount to make perfection.

Why would I even try to step on the toes of this process by making my own brew? The first dozen batches would be insulting, it would be an assault on ones palette, a disgrace to the craft. Yeah eventually with enough practice maybe we turn out a brew that competes with the artists of the craft brew world. I'm confident if our hearts were in it we would.

But why? Right now I can sit back after a day of working drive within 5 miles from my house, meet up with good friends and enjoy a pint (or more) of perfection. No more work than that. No sweat, no tears and no mistakes. Yeah we don't get the recognition of having our names on a can. Who cares? I get my recognition by knowing my few bucks are going to support something someone absolutely loves to do. Something someone cares enough about to fuss over which yeast has the right burp, which malt to use and from what region of the world or country, which hop and when or how many times to throw it in.

It's amazing and at least for now we're going to enjoy sitting on the customer side of the bar.

Enjoy!

The Reviewers Position

So I was reading an interesting story the other day. It was from a magazine I read all the time and was about how a reviewer can ruin a beer with a single bad review. How they don't take into consideration the hard work involved. I haven't been doing this long (drinking beer yes posting my opinion about them no), and part of AJ Brew Reviews goal was to offer two peoples tastes as a guide for others. 

Everyone has a different pallet of taste. Same as with movies everyone has a different style of movie they like.  Beer should be treated no differently. If two popular movie critics  said some movie was bad, that may stop me from seeing it in a theater but it wouldn't stop me from seeing it all together. Beer should be the same way.

If we say a beer is horrible (we don't really use that wording) that shouldn't mean don't try it. What it means is that A or J said hey our palette is not enjoying this beer maybe you should try a smaller sample than commit to a full glass as you sit. The great thing about the Craft industry is they are pretty much setup this way. I have never been to a Tap House that wouldn't give you an ounce or so taste of every beer on tap.

It's almost like they want you to find the beer you like, the one your going to enjoy, the one that makes your taste buds sing.

That is truly our goal and that is why both of us post our own opinion about the beer. Some people are going to align more with A's pallet and other more with J's. Honestly there are few beers we agree fully on but many we both like.

To me the article was almost saying that we are hurting the breweries feelings and I just don't believe it. I was sitting at a Tap House the other day and the brewer said we put some pretty crappy beers out just to get rid of them some times, everyone in the back hated it, then we find ourselves making more because  we ran out so quickly. We had one brewer tell us he had a request to make a beer again and he had to tell the guy there was no way he could duplicate all the mistakes that happened to make that beer again.

The bottom line is we are not out to tear down a brewer or brewery we would like to think we are helping them just a little bit. I know for a fact we've converted a couple people from always drinking Bud Light or Coors to have an occasion a craft beer.  I've even describe beers as a great starter or Bud Light converter.

A&J's goal is to enjoy a good beer and let you know what we think. We just want a reason to go out more and drink even more beer.

Enjoy!!!

97x craft beer experience

J: A and I attended the 97x craft beer experience and enjoyed it immensely. There were many great local and some from afar breweries there representing a large number of the craft beers that most people may not have had. We met a number of people and personally I had a chance to try over 23 different beer. Some were added to the list of places to visit for a legit review, while (thankfully few) some were moved further down our list. Check in later for more to come and new reviews of venues and brews.

The Facebook Like issue

J: You know it is a very interesting thing. Post the same content in multiple places but one if extremely hard to get noticed. It's almost like the follow a different model forcing you to want to pay for the same likes and information you can get elsewhere. Well I refuse to pay for something like a like. To me it's the equivalent of walking down the street and giving someone a quarter because they might like what your offering. Isn't traffic the ultimate goal? That seems to be the model the most successful companies use, share all the content in the world your content being exposed to the masses through simple means allows us to generate income from companies who have real money.  Rant over but hey if your on the FB and want to like our page please do. I will prove them wrong one way or another.

 https://www.facebook.com/AveageJoeBrewReview