Ramblin' BEER!

Beer Reviews, Homebrewing, and more

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Today's beer review is of Old Chico by Sierra Nevada. This is the lightest beer in the Sierra Nevada line, and doesn't disappoint! Somehow they are able to maintain their signature style, while completely creating something we've never seen from this brewery before. Hit play to find out how we rated it!

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Today's featured beer video come to us from the AlbinoRhino on YouTube. We mostly picked this one because we hear Great Divide beers are awesome....oh, and because of the awesome hat! Ha!!

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Pour it in a Glass - Rant

I try not to be too much of a beer snob.  Sure I dis on the big 3, but there is are a few American Macro Lagers I can stomach (guess which?).  I think style should be flexible.  I find the large majority of Micros palatable, from the most widely-distributed to your artisinal-local-seasonal-limited-special-collaborative release.  

I don't care to tell others what to drink, but I will laugh at the most egregious offenses. (In college someone once told me "Bud Light must be the best because they sell the most" ...hmmmk).  

What will I call people out on? Drinking from the bottle (or can)!  Don't do it!  Even all but the most watery American Lagers will taste better in a glass.  Using a glass is simple:

Get a glass

Pour

Don't accept a bottle or can just because that's what was handed to you.  It's ok, ask for a glass.  No glass? Get a cup.  Plastic cups are fine.  Try a coffee mug! Almost anything short of styrofoam is a preferable experience to drinking from the container. Why?

Because drinking from the container restricts your exprieince of the aroma (which means less taste as everyone knows smell is a major taste component), and fails to encourage the release of carbonation, meaning less head and more burping.

Did you get a glass yet? Good. Wait. Don't put it in the freezer, that is a bad idea, too.

There are only 4 situations that warrant drinking from the container.

You are attending an event where a class or cup is unavailable (and you asked)

You are standing in a parking lot or at a trailhead (if you don't understand, don't ask)

You are moving and all of your glasses are packed

You are doing heavy-duty yardwork, auto repair, or cleaning and you need to keep foreign materials out of your drink

So get a glass already, and enjoy your beer.

-Eric

Do you have a favorite type of glass or drinking vessel? Do you like breaking the rules and making beer lovers cry on the inside?

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Today's homebrew vlog is about LOVE. Sorta...It's our two year wedding anniversary soon, so we want to brew something special. Hit play to find out how you can help! Cheers, and happy homebrew Wednesday, everyone! 

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Thanks to @themorningfresh for digging up this amazingly awesome video! This is the first time we have featured your Monday Movies pick!

Honorable Mention:

@LoganOutdoors re-shared a hilarious video about a jogger in a horse mask.

And one of our other choices was this ski movie trailer vid by @GumptionScott

We’ll do it again next Monday! All you gotta do is tag a post #MonMovies on Twitter and share a video link! See you next week!

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Today's featured beer video comes to us from Gez1308 on YouTube. In this review he tastes North Cost Brewing's Brother Thelonious. I just had this beer for the first time the other night and really enjoyed it, so it's cool to see someone else's take on it. Hit play to find out how Gez rates this brew. We like it a lot, in case you were wondering. Have you tried Brother Thelonious?

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Cran-apple Cider Coming Along!

Really this is the only way that you can get it in the ballpark of the price of beer, otherwise fruit-based alcohol is much more expensive (unless maybe if you drive to the farm).

We always make our ciders dry, mostly because we're too lazy to backsweeten them. Fruit juice ferments out much more completely than beer, as there are few sugars that the yeast can't handle.  Regardless, this tart cider still has some hint of body or sweetness, and we're not sure exactly how that is... but it's good!

Look out for a full video on this cider in the coming weeks!

Do you ever drink cider? Do you like it sweet or dry?

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Carl stops by to collaborate on a Stout, one of his favorite styles.  We've made quite a few porters, but no stouts, so this was quite a foray into the unknown.  We ended up using # chocolate malts: pale chocolate, chocolate malt, and chocolate wheat--along with a healthy dose of fine cocoa powder and some secret ingredients! Watch the video for the whole scoop! (recipe coming soon).

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Today's beer video comes to us from YouTuber BeerichiTuba! In this review he checks out a beer by Deschutes Brewery called Chasin' Freshies Fresh Hop IPA. Hit play above to find out what he thought of this brew that features Bravo and Fresh Heriloom Cascade Hops.

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Pales in Comparison - Recent Beer Impressions

Devils Postpale - Mammoth Brewing Co.

Kenneth picked this up in the Yosemite Village store.  Never seem to find Mammoth beers in the Bay Area, and boy how do we love them.  

This has an west-coast flavor, almost that of an extra pale more than anything else, but the unique (hot rocks!) brewing process, complexity, and overall strength really make it stand out.  It has all the flavors! (and surprised to see centennial not totally overpowering the malts here).

Extra Pale Ale - Almanac Beer Co.

This ain't your usual extra pale.  It's not a west coast-style hoppy XP with light malts, nor is it the type that comes off as a balanced but toned down pale.  It's an extra pale modeled after Belgian pales and like most (all?) of Almanac's beers, has some local produce added as well!  In this case it's an extra dose of fruitiness from Mandarin oranges!

This beer was surprisingly good! Fresh, fruity, smooth, and was an excellent accompaniment to our dinner at Portal, a hip new bar/restaurant in our neck of the woods.  They had delicious food and a great beer selection so you might want to pop in next time you're in Oakland!

Follow us on Twitter or Untapped to catch more of our tasting impressions, and don't forget to catch a new video every week 

What new beers have you had lately?

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Today's beer review is of Knee Deep Brewing Company's Simtra Triple IPA. This beer had crazy flavor and some really fruity/bitter undertones. As Amber said, "It's a whole experience!" To find out what kind of experience it was, hit play and watch away! Have you tried this brew?

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New Ramblin' BEER Posting Schedule - Announcement

We're mixing things up, so here's the updated posting schedule for beer.ramblinbears.com:

Tuesday - We post a Featured Video from one of the many beertubers we follow!

Wednesday - A New Video from youtube.com/ramblinbeer, rotating between Hombrew Wednesday videos, Beer Reviews, and more.

Thursday - We're adding a Beer Blog post for Thursdays, who knows what will happen?!

Don't want to miss anything? Follow this blog on Tumblr - Subscribe to the YouTube channel - Or get either delivered to email!

And if you're curious, the schedule for ramblinbears.com is:

Monday - "Movie Monday," where we feature other video creators by posting a favorite video to the blog. (or maybe a recap of several, who knows?!)  Join in and share on Twitter: #MonMovies

Tuesday - Typically a Blog post, but occasionally a new youtube.com/ramblinbears Vlog or Video.

Wednesday - We'll post one of our Photos, new or old, for an almost "Wordless Wednesday" along with a link to the Flickr photoset or Instagram feed.

Thursday - Always a New Video! from youtube.com/ramblinbears

Friday - "Fitness Friday" a brief blog post documenting our struggless and sucesses trying to get and stay in shape!

Thanks for watching and reading and rolling with the changes!  As always you can give us feed back here on the blogs, on our community Tumblr, or on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. What posts are you most looking forward to?

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In today's beer review we check out Ballast Point Brewing Company's Sea Monster Imperial Stout. This brew had a ton of fruity flavors, and wasn't at all what we were excepting! Check out our video above to see what Amber, and featured beer taster Carl, thought of this San Diego beer.

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Today's featured beer video comes to us from "sjporr" on YouTube. This video is awesome because it features all 105 beer-tubers in an amazing tribute montage to his one year anniversary on YouTube. If you watch closely, you may see some familiar names and faces, like ours! Hit play to see a wonderful tribute to all the homebrew rockstars out there on YouTube. Thanks, Sjporr! 

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Happy Homebrew Wednesday! This week we debut our recipe experiment for a Northern Brown Ale. We were trying to mimic a barley wine without all the alcohol, so we played around with Crystal 120 & 77, while mixing in a little roasted barley for color. Check out our video to find out how this beer came out!

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Sour you doing today? LOL. JK. We were never big on sour beers until we really got to dig into them during SF Beer Week.  In today's featured video, Chris at Beerk Geek Nation tells us all about Dutchess de Bourgogne, a classic Flemish sour!

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Join us for another beer review! This time we check out Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company's Stagecoach Stout. This delicious and refreshing stout almost boarders the porter side of the fence, but doesn't disappoint. Hit play to discover all the different qualities this beer has to offer!