It Wasn’t Me, It Was You

I’ll be honest to what’s already evident- I’m having a hard time meeting this Monday morning deadline.  I’m late/light once again.  Better late than never.  So…did I mention that the tastings are my favorite part of this blog?  I did…last week…..just in case you didn’t read it. This week’s fun time started as a Saturday night out at Piece Brewery (brewpub) with my good friends PantsOn and Berto.  You’re familiar with PantsON, and well Berto- he’s in love with PantsOn and beer, so we have plenty in common.  While out, Berto suggested a BEERded Lady tasting.  I happily agreed.  I’d been looking forward to tasting with Berto for several reasons:

1. He works in the beer industry and has been privy to many samplings with the pros..aka he knows his shizzle.
2. He’s a straight-talker so you’re guaranteed a candid opinion.
3. I just really love drinking with him.

The beer we picked was the Worryin’ Ale.  Now up until this point I have been wowed by all of the beers I’ve blogged about.  But get ready, its your first not-so-hot beer review….

The Brew: Worryin Ale Rye Beer, 5%, Piece Brewery(Pub), Chicago, Illinois

In 3 Words: Cider, Weak Sauce, Forgettable

Where it Came From:  From tap to glass to mouth

Look:  The beer is a really pretty deep amber color.  There’s barely any head, maybe just a couple bubbles at the top.

Smell: Hmmmm…we can’t smell anything.  Now given we are in a bar and there’s food around, subtle aromas could go unnoticed.  But we sniff our other other beers and can definitely smell those.  So we get the impression that this one doesn’t have much of a bouquet.  Maybe the smallest hint of caramely malt…maybe.

Taste:  We take a sip together and then just stare at each other.  Time passes.  Finally, Berto says, “It’s f’n weird.”  I concur.  It takes a couple sips to even figure out what’s going on.  We can’t tell if something is wrong with the tap or the beer is just tastes weird.  I find it hard to believe that it’s the latter so we keep sipping.  It basically tastes like a dry cider.   Its light and effervescent and has a bit of a sour aftertaste.  A little malt and a little bitterness, and overall simplistic flavoring.  Could explain why there wasn’t much to smell.

Ferment on This:  So we’ve talked about wheat beers and barley beers (which is most) but this one is a rye beer.  Rye is a less commonly used grain in beer. Rye beers are said to have a distinct, refreshing and slightly spicy flavor.  Distinct alright…

Bottom Line:  Now, even though neither of us like this beer, Berto “sips” it about 3x’s faster than me.  As he finishes the last of his, he looks over at my half-a-glass and says, “Slam that shit.  Get it out of your life!”  We all agreed that we would not want to order this beer again.  Considering the amazing flavors of the other beers at Piece, we found this one to be a disappointment.  Sorry Piece.   Maybe it was us.  Maybe the “rye” flavors were just new to us and we hadn’t accommodated yet.  Ya know, like the first beer you ever had.  That one was gross too.  But now you chug Miller Lite likes its water.  Yeah, it had to be us.

Mediocre pic for a mediocre beer