My Church's Unofficial Beer

Time for another beer tastings review.  This time it's St. Peter's IPA, my church's (un)official beer.  That's a joke because I attend St. Peter's Lutheran Church, and Lutherans, being German, have no qualms about (responsible) alcohol consumption.  My friend Whit and I have talked about this beer, wanting to try it just because the name matches our church's name, and when I took a trip into the local grocery store's walk-in beer fridge, I found this and decided to give it a shot.

It came in a green flask-shaped bottle.

Let's start with the bottle.  This is a pint serving (16 US oz.) and green in color, which doesn't imply quality as anything less dark than the brown bottle allows light in which harms hops molecules and breaks them up, giving the unwanted skunkiness associated with a beer that's been sitting out in a clear glass for a while.  And this being an IPA, you'd want as much of the hopiness maintained in the final product.  The bottle's shape is simple, with an unassuming label with their brewery symbol: a blackbird holding a key.  There's also an embossed label in the glass above the paper label.  The top is a pry-off, so that speaks to some level of quality.  Not all great beers are in pry-offs bottles, and not all screw top bottles house crappy beers.  It opened easily and poured nicely into the glass with good foam formation.

Poured product and original bottle.  Head formed well, but settled by the time I took the picture.

So how did it taste?  Good, but different from what I expect in an IPA.  The label on the back of the bottle describes the beer has having a "zingy hop character," and that's the best way I can describe it.  I've been drinking American craft beer IPAs for most of grad school (that's since 2005) and so my palate is fairly well attuned to IPAs, or so I thought.  From my reading about beer this past year I've learned of the difference in American, English/UK, and European beer styles, brewing, and character.  This beer, brewed in the UK and distributed throughout the US, is innately different than all the IPAs every single American craft brewery produces.  I noticed this difference, and although I didn't think it was "bad," it did take a few gulps to get used to it.  The body was thin but not weak, definitely something to enjoy in warmer months.  By the end of the bottle I can honestly say I enjoyed it.  Definitely an IPA, just one with a different flavor profile than what I'm used to.  Don't know if I'd buy another one, but maybe if I'm looking to bring something to drink at a party and don't want to spend or drink a 6-pack, I'll get one of these and impress everyone with fancy bottle.

Lest you feel I leave you so abruptly, I give you a preview of my beer review project for this month (and probably into January).  I visited Mentor Discount Tobacco and Beverage Sunday afternoon to purchase one bottle of as many Christmas and winter themed beers as I could find, and I came home with 10.  Then I realized I could do a 12 Beers of Christmas thing, needing only two more beers.  As you can see in the photo I don't have Cleveland's own Great Lakes Christmas Ale.  That can be easily gotten anywhere and I want to buy a 6-pack of it anyway.  For my twelfth beer I'd like to get a bottle of Troeg's Bad Elf, but the clerk at MDT&B said they won't get it until Friday, so I'll have to wait to pick that up.  I found a beer from most larger craft breweries that distribute in Northeast Ohio, and a few from breweries with which I am not familiar, but look forward to drinking nonetheless.

Ten bottles of Christmas beer!

Here's a list of the beers I have purchased and plan to drink, take notes, and write up a review to be posted by the Twelfth Day of Christmas (Jan 6, Epiphany, for you unaware folks):

Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale

Weyerbacher Winter Ale

Breckenridge Christmas Ale

Abita Christmas Ale

Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale

Great Divide Hibernation Ale

Bell's Christmas Ale

Rogue Santa's Private Reserve

Lakeside Brewing Holiday Spiced Lager

Southern Tier 2XMAS 

Troeg Bad Elf (to be purchased)

Great Lakes Christmas Ale (to be purchased)

If there's a beer you can suggest for this list, I'll try to get it but can't get everything in NE Ohio.  Case in point, I had a pint of New Belgium Snow Day, their winter seasonal beer this year, while visiting my in-laws in Detroit.  That brewery recently started distributing to the Detroit area, but still isn't in Cleveland, so while I greatly enjoyed that beer, it'll have to be an non-participant this year.

Until next time friends, happy brewing!