Tuesday, Feb. 07, 2012

Spring has sprung when it comes to brews

Beerman, Colin Burch.

 

I think the groundhog had a hangover – how can there be six more weeks of winter when we haven’t had any winter?

I had wished for a mildly catastrophic ice storm, but winter has mostly ignored the Grand Strand this year, so we might as well drink in the spring and its accompanying seasonal beers.

Let’s start by heading to Handley’s Pub & Grub for Somer Orange Honey Ale from Rogue Brewery in Oregon.

Somer – not summer – Orange Honey Ale isn’t new to Rogue, although the barkeep for my recent visit told me it was new on tap at Handley’s, an establishment that feels like a traditional place for beer drinking, with dark wood tones, plenty of taps and a refrigerator well-stocked with bottles. The atmosphere is a nice balance between American sports bar and British soccer pub. It’s located at 3873 Renee Drive in the Carolina Forest area of Myrtle Beach.

Although not technically a seasonal beer, Somer tastes like spring and summer because it’s brewed with orange peel and honey. The orange and honey flavors are light, just enough to taste, not enough to offend, and very easy to drink. This pint set me back $4.75. It was worth every penny.

Next, let’s grab a six-pack of Dig Pale Ale, the spring seasonal from New Belgium Brewing, the Colorado-based brewery behind the famous Fat Tire.

Dig Pale Ale is one of those crisp and zesty beers, thanks to five different types of hops, the cone-like flowers that flavor beer. At the top of the list are Sorachi Ace hops, which provide a lemon aroma, according to New Belgium. The Nelson Sauvin hops are alleged to provide “bursts of passion fruit, mango and peach,” New Belgium says.

I’m not sure I detected “bursts of passion fruit, mango, and peach,” but the lemon zest and maybe a touch of peach flavor were in there. Then again, this isn’t fruit-flavored beer. Hops, a traditional ingredient for beer, contribute all the flavors.

If you like lighter beers with complex flavors, if you like the innovation of Fat Tire, you should give Dig a try. It’s a beer for warmer days – and for Januarys and Februarys when we have more spring than winter. Six-packs cost around $8.99.

Meanwhile, I’ve already seen Oberon Ale in our market. Oberon is the acclaimed summer seasonal beer from Bell’s Brewery in Michigan. Here it is, February, and a summer seasonal is already on the shelves.

Never mind the groundhog’s forecast. The beer distributors say spring has sprung.

Back to winter for a sec

Actually, we still have time for a cold snap or a snow storm. Growing up in Raleigh, N.C., I occasionally got out of school for a substantial snowfall in March or even April. As unlikely as that might be for Myrtle Beach, we still have some winter beers around, just in case we keep a little chilly weather for more than a couple of days.

One of those would be Fireside Nut Brown, from the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. in Wisconsin. Fireside Nut Brown is only available from November through February, according to the Leinenkugel company. I ordered Fireside after my Somer Orange Honey Ale during my recent trip to Handley’s.

After drinking the Somer, Fireside seemed a little bitter, but that’s to be expected without properly swishing water around in my mouth and eating bland crackers between samples. Luckily for me, what began as bitterness became richness, and I appreciated the flavor the more I drank. As always, the more I drank, the more I appreciated the miracle of fermentation.

The malts used in Fireside don’t seem like they ought to make for a dark – they’re Pale and Red Wheat malts. Maybe the heartier, toasted flavor rises from an added “natural hazelnut flavor.”

I have a vague recollection of buying Fireside in bottles. Whether six-pack or draft, it’s worth trying. I paid $3 for a pint at Handley’s.

Bud Light dog abuse

Bud Light should be charged with cruelty to animals.

The Bud Light commercials during the Super Bowl starred a dog named Wego, like We-Go. The ads were funny and all, but then think about what they were doing. They were sending the poor, cute doggie to get Bud Light, one of the worst beers in history. Not funny. The doggie can’t possibly understand its complicity in a crime against brewing.

Just like Mitt Romney’s recent caucus and primary wins, Bud Light proves that enough marketing dollars can trick masses of people into buying any watered-down product with slick packaging.

Contact Colin Burch, the Beerman, at beerpour@yahoo.com, and read his weekly online column Strange Days at http://thesunnews.typepad.com/strange_days