Favorite Beer Mixes At Home

Lads, a long day on the autobahn but we are currently "mixing" our Orvals with Charolais burgers with Abbey made beer cheese. I believe God is on our side here, and moon and stars aligned.

Any deity would be glad to be along for the ride with that pairing.

What I was really hoping the most for has not come about and that was a suggestion for a good mix of real beer & swill.

Seriously, in the context of your question, there's just no need to mix the two. I was too busy being flippant to notice, but Schlafly (St Louis) makes a great Kolsch with Gaffel Kolsch yeast from Germany, if memory serves. It is reasonably priced and ideal for the situations you describe. So is Kentucky Ale's light, a Kolsch though not by name.

We make a session-strength Belgian style called Tafel. Numerous respectable American Wheats would do the trick, too, as well as Belgian-style Wheat (Upland, as an example). These are spiced, contrary to the Reinheitsgebot's bizarre prohibitions, but then again the Bavarian Purity Law is the single most over-rated concept in all Beerdom. It came about as a price fixing mechanism, and then was applied to the important task of limiting foreign competition.

Just say no to swill, pack some of the good stuff, and carry on.

respectable American Wheats

Contradiction in terms?

[Robin Garr]

respectable American Wheats

Contradiction in terms?

Maybe I have coarse tastes, but I'll gulp a BBC American Wheat and call it a splendid summer "session beer."

Served without lemon, thankfully ...

There are respectable summer wheats, and at least one great one: Three Floyds Gumballhead.

I've made my peace with the concept, even if it's not my go-to style by any stretch.

On the topic of good American wheats:

Bell's Oberon is my go to sun and beach beer. Very tasty and not too heavy.

Readily available locally.

Cheers,

Doug

[Robin Garr]

Bell's Oberon

Another excellent pick, Doug. Also, I've got to try that Three Floyds that Roger mentioned ...

Bell's Oberon

Another excellent pick, Doug.

I'm down with that. Used to get it fresh from the brewery when my daughter went to college in K-zoo.

Bell's Oberon

Another excellent pick, Doug. Also, I've got to try that Three Floyds that Roger mentioned ...

+ 1

Be aware that the Gumballhead is my favorite because it has a fairly hoppy edge, but NOT in the sense of bitterness. Lots of flavor and aroma hops, mellow malt backdrop. Oberon's good for summer, too.

[Robin Garr]

Be aware that the Gumballhead is my favorite because it has a fairly hoppy edge, but NOT in the sense of bitterness. Lots of flavor and aroma hops, mellow malt backdrop. Oberon's good for summer, too.

I'm generally down with 3Floyds for sure, but the name of this one troubles me: Does it have an aroma and flavor profile in any way reminiscent of gumballs? This might be a problem for me.

Be aware that the Gumballhead is my favorite because it has a fairly hoppy edge, but NOT in the sense of bitterness. Lots of flavor and aroma hops, mellow malt backdrop. Oberon's good for summer, too.

I'm generally down with 3Floyds for sure, but the name of this one troubles me: Does it have an aroma and flavor profile in any way reminiscent of gumballs? This might be a problem for me.

No gumball aroma or flavor in the beer. It is named after a cult comic character called Gumballhead. While it (the comic) is not for the faint at heart, the Floyds truly enjoyed it enough to name one of their beers after it.

Gumballhead is my goto summer beer. A buddy recently brought me some 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon wheat beer back from Jungle Jim's. I'm generally not very fond of wheat or fruit infused beers, but this was one of the better beers I've had in some time.

Schlafly (St Louis) makes a great Kolsch with Gaffel Kolsch yeast from Germany, if memory serves. It is reasonably priced and ideal for the situations you describe. So is Kentucky Ale's light, a Kolsch though not by name.

I like most all Schlafly's styles, including the kolsch but was not aware Kentucky Ale made one. Took me a little while but I finally picked up a six. Sure enough, I was completely put off by the kiss-of-death word "Light" prominently on the label. Lo, in smaller print it does refer to kolsch. It's a pretty satisfying hot weather beer with much more flavor than anything else I've had labeled as "light". I can't decide if they're smart to label it Light to draw the masses to a kolsch or if they're doing more harm alienating beer enthusiasts who normally make a wide circle around "light".