(Just to make it official.)
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UPDATE: On 11/19/2011 I am reaffirming this. This is still my favorite brew in the entire world.
I’ve held off making this announcement for over six months, because I wanted to make sure. I’ve sampled it six times now, five times in bottles and once on tap. I am in fact drinking it again as I type this.
I came to the same conclusion every time: this ale scores a perfect 10 on the Holy Grail Scale.
Being that today, August 5th, is International Beer Day, I thought it fitting to finally come out and announce it. My search isn’t actually over, because there may be more than one Holy Beer – and remember this is totally subjective. My Holy Beer may not be your Holy Beer. But this is definitely my Holy Beer.
Let me quote directly from my beer diary:
Dragon’s Milk from New Holland Brewing
OMFG I may have just found the Holy Beer!
Smells like: Nothing. Vague hints of brewski, nothing else. Translates very little to the olfactory sense. Maybe a whiff of molasses? If so it’s just a ghost.
Taste: OMFG.
Light. Sweet. Sweet biscuit with touches of honey. Very well balanced hops dancing like ballerinas over the top of exquisitely tuned malts. Echoes of bourbon, as it was aged in oak barrels. It’s freaking NIRVANA.
10.00 ON THE HOLY GRAIL SCALE! The Holy Beer is discovered!
If you check out the comments on their webpage you’ll see I’m not the only one who thinks this: Dragon’s Milk – New Holland Brewing
Bravo, New Holland. Bravo. Well done.
Tags: The Holy Beer of 2011
SADLY, I have to update the review of this beer. Something has happened to it. The last four I’ve tried over the space of nearly a year have all been TERRIBLE.
Flying Dog, what the hell did you do?
All the good things I’ve said about it below, I now have to take back. I now have to recommend Okocim above this Porter. Highly above this Porter.
—===—
I already know I love this beer, but how much do I love it? How good is it, really? I’ve been drinking it for about a month now – for pleasure – and am just now getting around to reviewing it. So let me put on my professional beer reviewing hat, and let’s jump right in…
Popping the top and giving it a sniff: It smells of molasses with a dark undertone of yeast and toasted malt.
Taking that first wonderful swig: Sweet dark malt, molasses, pecan and walnut notes, sting of hops, smooth bitter finish. One of the best Porters I’ve ever had. But, dare I say, is it better than Okocim Polish Porter, which has been up until now my favorite beer in the world?
Let’s test! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a bonus section! Here, for the first time ever, I bring to you the GroovyBrew.com Head-to-Head Porter Smackdown!
Gonzo: Lighter. More fizz.
Okocim: Thicker and richer, not so much fizz.
Gonzo: Better high notes.
Okocim: More complex tail end, sweeter finish.
Gonzo: Sweeter up front, more black coffee at the finish.
Okocim: Definitely smoother.
Gonzo: More for swilling, more likely to drink one after another.
Okocim: More for sipping and savoring. Less likely to down one after another.
Gonzo: 12 oz. bottle for about $2.50 (Chicago area price).
Okocim: A bit over a pint (500ml) for about $2.50 (Chicago area price).
Gonzo: 7.8% alcohol.
Okocim: 8.3% alcohol.
Gonzo (final impression): Would happily drink it every day.
Okocim (final impression): Would save it for an occasional treat.
WINNER BY A MARGIN: Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter!
Seriously, they’re both wonderful beers, and I love both of them, but all in all I’d have to rate the Flying Dog “.1” more. So since I’ve given Okocim a 9.8 on the Holy Grail Scale, I must then award Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter a 9.9!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the closest to the Holy Beer I have yet found!
To see it full size (and to buy it) click the picture.
Thanks to my friend Brad for sending this along.
Awesome infographic by Phil Howard & Ginger Ogilvie.
I’ll be celebrating International Beer Day with all the gusto I can muster, God help me. Probably with several of these:
Concept packaging for a beer that doesn’t exist, but should. Design by Marco Manansala and featured in Packaging of the World.
I’m not sure where this came from, but my friend Brad sent this to me, so I thought I’d share it…
– this post created with BlogPress on my iPad
I’m happy to announce that the novel I’ve been working on for the past three years (or has it been longer than that?) is now finally released for the Amazon Kindle, and is also available from Barnes & Noble for the Nook and the Apple iBook reader.
From Amazon.com’s Editorial Reviews:
Jon August is dead.
If that weren’t bad enough, the place he lands in the afterlife is one where souls prefer vodka, not beer. That’s a problem because Jon is a beer lover. Not just any beer, either. Good beer. Great beer. Because he knows that mankind’s civilization owes everything to beer. It’s the actual Holy Water.
Jon meets and falls under the spell of a mysterious goddess who helps him find his way back to the land of the living. Under the Bridge of Eternity, through the Sands of Time — to emerge not as a ghost, but a living mortal, one who can die again.
His mere presence upsets the balance of our world, and Jon finds himself a pawn in a power struggle between the modern gods — in particular, the feuding daughters of Time and Fate. One is acting as his guardian angel, while the other is trying to kill him. Jon must stay alive long enough to find the Holy Beer and, in the process, stop the power grab being made on our Universe — a struggle where not only is humanity’s fate hanging in the balance, but also the fate of our eternal souls.
Links:
- Kindle Version
- iPub Version from B&N (works on their Nook eBook reader as well as Apple’s iBook reader)
…at Arroyos restaurant in Stockton, California. Unfortunately he couldn’t sign an autograph for me, being that in actuality he’s made of cardboard.
LOOK! IT’S JERRY’S BOOKS!
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