Today is National Beer Day, and you're either working from home, or you're stuck at home with nothing to do (like me). In either of those situations, there's no reason to wait until 5 o'clock to crack open a beer and celebrate this most joyous of days.
In the spirit of such a great holiday, I've put together the ultimate playlist to enjoy a frosty beverage with. Everyone knows a beer is enhanced when you've got some good music to listen to. So whether you're drinking a local craft beer or Natty Light, sit back, crack open a brew and enjoy this carefully curated playlist.
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If you've been reading my blog posts, you know I'm a big fan of bourbon. So when Budweiser came out with their collaboration with Jim Beam in the fall of 2018, it was something I had to try.
When I was going through our fridge recently, I found one bottle hiding in the back, so I decided to crack it open and do a beer review. As far as bourbon-flavored beers go, this one has a lot less of a bourbon taste than the Hardywood Bourbon Cru that I wrote about last week. Budweiser says they aged the beer on Jim Beam bourbon barrel staves, so it imparts some of the flavors you would get in a bourbon without being overwhelming. The official description of the beer says it has a "toasted oak aroma, a deliciously nutty taste with caramel rye and vanilla notes, and a smooth finish." I've said before that I'm not an expert beer taster, if there is such a thing, but I know what I like. I can tell you that this is a very smooth beer and I definitely got some nut and rye flavors while I was drinking it. Budweiser has been putting out some great stuff with their Reserve series, and I think this might be the best one they've release. I still need to try the Discovery Reserve and the Nitro Gold, but for a brand that my parents always told me was like drinking water, they've brewed some quality beers recently. Untappd Rating: 3.75 out of 5 For those of you that live in the Harrisonburg area, you know we have some pretty good breweries around here. There are the staples downtown that have been there since the start of the craft beer boom, but it seems like new ones pop up every month. The latest addition to local breweries is Elkton Brewing Company. When my parents told me Elkton was getting a brewery, I was a little shocked. But they've been there multiple times since it opened, and I think it may be their new favorite brewery in the area. One of the things that made my dad like it so much was their selection. Most breweries are heavy on the IPAs and real bitter beers, but Elkton's selection has almost every type of beer you could want. The ones that stood out to my parents were the red and brown beers that they offered. The brewery, like almost every other business, has shut down the taproom due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it's still open for to-go beer. My dad stopped by there recently to pick up some crowlers, and I was thoroughly impressed with the product. The first one that I tried was the red lager, Reddish Knob. First off, I love that they name their beers after local landmarks and history. The Reddish Knob has all the characteristics that you would expect in an excellent red lager - nice amber color, toasty and caramel malt flavors, and some hops, but not too bitter. I was a big fan of this beer. My dad bought three 32 oz. crowlers, which I thought meant we each got our own, but my parents didn't go for that idea. Untappd rating: 4.00 out of 5
It seems like every day is some sort of unknown, made-up holiday. Not today.
The day that we know as National Beer Day actually has some meaning to it, other than an excuse to drink beer (which, let's be honest, who really needs an excuse?) According to Untappd, National Beer Day is celebrated each year on April 7 to mark the day that the Cullen-Harrison Act went into effect. The bill, signed in 1933 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, amended the Volstead Act by permitting the production and sale of beer up to 3.2 percent alcohol by weight, or 4.05 percent alcohol by volume. The 18th Amendment was repealed later that year on December 5, marking the end of Prohibition in the United States. So when you have a beer (or a few) today, you're not just partaking in a made-up day on a calendar. You're actually celebrating history. And that's worthy of a toast. If you need recommendations for something to drink today, check out our beer reviews here. I think today's Saturday, but I'm really not sure. As my mom has started saying, every day is "Blursday." Whether this is a weekend or not, my parents decided to me to work while I'm home for quarantine and we spent the morning cleaning windows. And drinking beer. Don't judge us too much, though - we had a Daylight Cravings Breakfast Stout from Brothers Craft Brewing in Harrisonburg. Since it's a breakfast stout, you've gotta drink it in the morning, right? For a brewery that is known for some fantastic stouts, this one did not disappoint. The bottle describes it as a "Maple Bacon Breakfast Stout," and while I didn't get much of a bacon taste, there were definitely some notes of maple throughout the beer, especially in the aroma. The taste has all the flavors you expect from a stout - malty, sweet, etc. - but with some coffee and maple added in. From the Brothers website: "We’ve jam-packed Daylight Cravings with all the sweet and savory flavors of a hearty country breakfast. Smoked malt and a drizzle of rich maple syrup impart the essence of your favorite cured meats, and as with any good morning meal, we’ve rounded off this beer with rich cold brewed coffee. A delectable pour as suitable to start a day as it is to end one." Brothers also brews breakfast stouts in with flavors such as chocolate chip pancakes, hazelnut cream, coffee maple and blueberry donut. This particular version of the Daylight Cravings is made with coffee from Merge Coffee in Harrisonburg, and it makes for a great way to start a day full of chores. I've spent a lot of time in Richmond over the past year and a half, and I've learned that the city is arguably the best location in Virginia for craft breweries. Since my first trip to Scotts Addition, where most of the cities breweries are located, I've visited seven different breweries in Richmond and none of them come close to the quality brews that Hardywood Park puts out. Hardywood's beers range from the light and crisp Richmond Lager to the smooth and sweet Gingerbread Stout they release every Christmas season. The Richmond Lager is what introduced me to Hardywood. The marketing really appealed to me, as I love anything related to Virginia. Baltimore has Natty Boh, New England has Narragansett, and the Richmond Lager seemed to me like it was Virginia's beer (although higher quality than the aforementioned lagers). If you've read my recent blog posts about my Quarantine Cocktails, you can probably tell that I like bourbon. So when I last visited Hardywood and saw the bottles of Bourbon Barrel Cru, I knew I had to get some to bring home to my parents. According to the official description on the bottle, this beer is "brewed in the fashion of the abbey quadrupel, the grand cru of many of Belgium's revered monastic breweries." The beer is aged in drained bourbon barrels from the A. Smith Bowman distillery in Fredericksburg, Va. While I've had other bourbon-flavored beers before, none of them let the whiskey shine as much as this one. I've had enough beer to know what I like and which styles of beer I enjoy, but I don't claim to be an expert beer taster by any means. I can sense some flavors that really stand out, but any of my descriptions should be taken with a grain of salt. With that said, the Bourbon Barrel Cru is a dark and strong beer, but it has a smoothness to it that is really enhanced by the bourbon flavors. There are notes of toffee and vanilla, as well as plum and dark cherries throughout the beer (I got those from the description on the bottle). From a brewery that has produced some of my favorite beers, this is one of the best I've had. I gave it a 3.75 rating on Untappd, which I consider to be a great beer. I usually tend to prefer lighter drinks in warmer weather, but this dark beer is perfect for an evening spent sitting outside enjoying the warm weather. |
AuthorMatthew Atkins, Journalist and Baseball fan. Archives
March 2023
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