It is the question of whether or not one should put a slice of fruit in, or around, certain beers to enhance or compliment their flavor.

The most familiar to all is the Corona + Lime situation. Urban legend has it that drinkers of Corona in Mexico would wedge a slice of lime in the neck of their bottle to keep out various tropical insects that might be attracted to the beer. After tourists saw this, it became commonplace and Corona is rarely served without the lime. (In fact, Corona also sells a lime slicer on their website to assist you in this process). While this one can infuriate a lot of beer drinkers that may object to the “girly” act of putting a lime in a Corona, I’d like to assert that the lime actually adds a little bit of a crisper, cleaner taste to a Corona. I am not one to shun a beer altogether, but the clear bottle and lightness of the ale does leave it prone to skunking, and to me Corona always tastes a little bit sour or skunkish, which I can only hope that it is intended to. The tartness of the lime balances out that sourness and I would like to say, improves the beer a little. And, what’s more summery than putting something tropical in your brew? I have to admit that I often put two limes into mine, because I really like lime flavor. (but not enough to try this)

Blue Moon (or other wheat beers) + Orange slice. This one got started by playing off of Corona’s lime popularity, and because of some of the spices found in a Blue Moon, such as coriander. “Putting a new twist on the lime ritual, Blue Moon is traditionally served with a slice of orange,” their bottles say. The orange is supposed to enhance the flavors of the spices within the beer.

Similarly with some hefeweizens, they are recommended to be served with a lemon to bring out some of the citrus notes in the wheat.

The major problem most people have with these combinations is probably that if a certain beer is supposed to go with an orange or lemon to enhance the flavor, the usual response is:

“If [insert beer here] had any flavor to begin with it wouldn’t need fruit or something to enhance it”.

In the defense of the orange or lemon slice, I’d say that there may be something to the idea of scents bringing out character in beer – perhaps to better synch your taste buds to your nostrils. This doesn’t mean that the beer had no flavor initially! In fine cooking, certain herbs are used for their “aromatic” qualities only, and may be on the plate just to enhance the flavors in the main dish. Why would this be such an odd notion for beer enthusiasts? Beer tasters aren’t afraid to use their noses when examining a beer. So why not use fruit to bring out more of a good thing?

It might be a good discussion starter at least or just plain something to have fun with. (After all, we wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t enjoying it, right?) A bar in Portsmouth serves blueberry beer with huge Maine blueberries in it, and half of the point is the fun of watching the blueberries dance around in the carbonation.

I’d say that if putting an orange on the rim of your blue moon gets you away from tasteless beer, then go for it! It’s a little bonus and something more fun than drinking out of a can (or whatever else you normally drink in the summer with friends.) Maybe I’m partial because blue moon was one of the first beers that I tried once I turned twenty one and really liked… but I say give the folks with the orange or lemon slices a break.

I’m personally in support of anything that will get people drinking good beer.

Thanks for listening – The Beer Babe

I wanted to tell you a quick funny story about the first review that I ever did for the site, and why it inspired the site’s entire creation.

I was at a little place in Durham, NH that specializes in ridiculously hot chicken wings (their vapors are the equivalent of tear gas when you order the ‘way hot’ versions). There, on tap, I saw Red Hook’s Longhammer IPA, that had just been released. I decided to try that instead of the “big four” that are on every tap handle in Durham – Coors, Coors Light, Bud, Bud Light – that were my only other options.

So, I got the beer poured into a plastic cup (classy) and sat down to drink it. I was at first concerned because of its thin, pale color, and distinctly NOT IPA smell. I thought, hey, maybe I’m just not picking it up because of all the hot sauces around. I tasted it and immediately pulled out a pen. “This is, by far, the palest, most tasteless IPA I have ever tried in my life. It has a thin sourness to it which takes away from the flavor, there are no hops whatsoever…” I continued to rant and had completely written off the beer. I didn’t do anything with that review as I was just keeping notes for myself at that time.

A few weeks later, I went to the Red Hook Brewpub in Portsmouth, NH. On the wall there were posters describing Longhammer and I thought, there is no way that the beer that I tasted could be described the way they were saying, even if they were trying to put a good spin on it.

So I took a chance, and ordered the beer, hoping that it would taste at least a little better coming straight from the brewery tap.

I was floored by how good it was.

I began to realize that the beer that they had poured me in Durham was NOT Longhammer, but that the tap lines must have been switched. I was trying to review a Bud or Coors and trying to fit it into the description of it being a strong IPA. No wonder I hated it so much! I immediately created the blog so that I could share some of my experiences (good and bad) of tasting beer, and ultimately to be able to describe beer to others who had never gone beyond the big four in their tasting experiences.

Its been a fun ride and I’m looking forward to the next year!

The definite downside to having a blog that is based on taste and smell is that when you are unable to do either of those things, you can’t post!

I’ve had several nasty colds on and off for the past few weeks, most of which involved entirely stripping my nose and taste buds of their functions. So, I couldn’t in good faith write a review of beers that I couldn’t taste.

Starting tonight, I’m back in the saddle again, so look for more brew reviews soon.

Thanks!

The beer babe.

It is nearly christmas time, and I was attempting to print something with my laptop. This involved bringing my laptop in close proximity to my printer so that I could plug the two in together (I’ve not yet been able to sucessfully get them to talk over our network) and print things. What I did not notice is that near my desktop, behind – mind you, BEHIND, my flat screen monitor was a half finished, stale bottle of Sunset Wheat. I pulled the printer chord out of my destop, and managed to knock over the invisible beer. It poured directly into the back ports of my laptop, and my laptop proceeded to die.

I yanked it off the table, took the battery out, and tried to get rid of as much of the liquid as I could. I rushed it over to the friendly local computer store where I lived and they gave me a 50/50 prognosis. Either it would be salvageable, or it would be completely dead, and we wouldn’t know until they took the entire thing apart, dried it out, cleaned it, and turned it back on in the morning.

Needless to say, I was not thrilled about this. I do most of my beer blogging on the laptop, and it is a scant 3 months old. So I spent a very nervous night tossing and turning, imagining the fate of my laptop.

The computer guys called me up this morning to tell me the news. It was going to be fine – it was a total save – and everything works. I went to pick it up, brought the techs cookies, and smiled so hard that it hurt. But I was lucky. Too lucky.

The moral of this story is two fold:

One, beer and computers don’t mix – ever!
And two, never let a beer go unfinished, because “wounded soldiers” can come back for revenge!

I’m working on reviewing the Sam Adams Mix pack for you, which I hope to post shortly. My computer still smells slightly of beer… stale sunset wheat…. but its better than it being dead!

Like many of my friends, I went to college and was offered watery, disgusting beverages that were called “Beer” by frat boys, which could be bought in massive quantities for very little money. I then made two friends who had been in military families and lived all over Europe, and they taught me the basics of beer tasting.

I’ve read a lot of “beer guides” and “beer reviews” but the truth is, there’s too much jargon that’s meant to keep real people away from a whole experience. (who has ever, really smelled a “flowery almond bouquet”?) When beer tasting becomes like wine tasting (where people who don’t know the right vocabulary or technique are shunned) is when the art is lost.

My goal is to review different beer, breweries, beverage centers, restaurants and write the occasional article on beer as a whole. I will be writing at least 1 review and one article per week, so I hope you enjoy!

If you have suggestions for the site, beers you love or hate, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks, and happy tasting!