Type:  Fruit Beer – Ale

Before I start flinging my opinion let us see what Wells and Youngs have to say about their own beer…

“This unique brew combines all the traditional qualities and style of a Charles Wells beer with the subtle flavour of banana

Wells Banana Bread Beer is a popular beer in the Wells and Young’s range of ales. The beer has achieved a number of accolades including winner of “Beer of the Festival” award at CAMRA’s London Drinker Festival in March 2002.

Available as a draught seasonal cask beer, Wells Banana Bread Beer can be found on the bar and, in its popular bottle format, in all leading supermarkets.”

Now on to what I have to say about this BANANA bread beer, emphasis of course on the BANANA! I’ll try to be subjective and not freak out over the fact that there is a beer with banana, well banana bread but does that really even matter because banana bread still has bananas.

Did I mention I’m a monkey? …. BANANA + BEER = well I’m not quite sure but I think you get a Nobel Peace prize for something like this.

The beer poured a nice amber color and smelled just like it should, fresh banana bread. It gave off a strong malty taste, a sweet bitterness. Not like I just bit into a banana taste, but a mild smooth banana bread taste, emphasis on the bread. If you inhale a deep breath after a sip/gulp you can really get that banana-y goodness.

I’m really not sure what this beer would pair well with but I would chalk it up as a dessert beer, although not sweet like other desert beers that are overly fruity because this one had that bread/malty aspect to it.

I really likes this beer (Shocker) but it was more of a novelty beer and I’m not sure this would be a beer you’d want to tilt back a twelve pack of for the whole night. No, this is more of a sweet tooth filler. Some people have an after dinner mint, well this is for those who need an after dinner sweet beer but don’t want the feeling like they just blew the ginger bread man’s lolipop.

Overall I give this beer a 4 out of 5 bananas (hehe that’s funny because it’s a banana beer, yeah I know you get it but it stills bares mentioning…..monkey damnit!) for a fruity beer, because it gives fruity beers a manly kick where others are more like a champagne of sorts.

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New Brew Tuesday: Wells Banana Bread Beer is a post from: Monkey Brewster

However there are a few shows that seem to embody what travel is all about, while other shows are more of a vacation exploration and more even still I have yet to figure out why they are on the Travel Channel. Cable, being what it is, I’m sure some of these shows are validated by the ratings they bring in and not for sticking to the main topic of travel. Let us look at the good, the bad and the ugly side of travel as shown on the Travel Channel.

The Good

Anthony Bourdaine’s No Reservations – Who doesn’t like this guy? OK, well a lot of people, I’m sure Emerald would like to BAM! Anthony in the head but for those of us with a sardonic twist of humor, we love his commentary. You could say he is real, but what is really real anymore when the likes of Flavor Flav, dancing Kate (sans 8 ) and Eric Nies are all on the same plane of being famous (or brought back to fame for the former) for being ‘real’?

I digress, from my Bourdain’ish rant, that Anthony Bourdain depicts interactions and experiences that you or I could hope to come across if we simply hopped off the tourist bus and took a look around us to really see and experience the place we are visiting. He seems to get it, that travel is about the sites we see and the experiences we have in some distant land becoming, if only for a moment,  intertwined in the lives and stories of the locals.

Dhani Jones’ Dhani Tackles The Globe – You could chalk this up to a jock merely trying to show off his macho-ness around the globe but there is more to this show. First, on more or less an obvious but shallow scale, he’s Black -  if you watched the episode where he went to Senegal (which is in Africa) you would understand why this has such great importance. The connection to who he is and was forever linked to some far off land of spirits passed came rushing together in something that cannot be explained and I believe changed this man for life.

The world is so diverse and varied yet travel is depicted, dare I say it, white washed, that it is good to see someone different showing us their experiences across the world. Furthermore, Dhani really gets to know and interact with the locals training with them building a bond that reaches far beyond just making a good TV episode and that my friend makes a great TV show.

Zane Lamprey’s Three Sheets – Sure he goes around and gets tanked, yeah I know you don’t like it because, well you want that job. Don’t worry, you and me both in fact you could say this site is a bit Three Sheets-ish and we both share something greater than travel and alcohol combined – MONKEYS! Outside of those three awesome bits is the fact that Zane really gets in deep to explore where the drink comes from, how it is ingrained (hehe liquor – grain….get it….ahem) into their culture and sits down with the locals and lets them show him how it’s done. At the very least, this is a mirrored image of a few hostel goers you have encountered I’m sure of it, love it or hate it alcohol and travel are longtime bedfellows.

The Bad

Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods -I like Andrew Zimmern, not in a creepy stalker “we’re friends” kind of way but because he is a dork, I mean really dorky which goes hand in hand with travel and travel blogging. You can’t fake that kind of goofiness. Yet, just because I like the guy doesn’t mean I think he represents travel all that well. He is there to gross you out and he does it very well since he likes every rotted fermented blood and bile soaked thing he eats, grossing out even the locals. Andrew Zimmern depicts the other as an undeveloped uncivilized savage in his exploration of travel, that is the barbaric foreigner doesn’t have a working fridge and therefore eats these disgusting concoctions. Though often the locals are looking at him in horror as he eats some rare food that he had to go out of his way in search of for your viewing pleasure. I’m not saying that this is always the case, but the idea of it definitely sends the wrong message about travel, and will more likely deter someone from traveling because they can’t find anything edible in a certain country than inspire them to pack their bags and head out to explore wherever Andrew goes.

Those cultures that do eat such exotic items are merely served up here for entertainment and any historical/cultural significance is lost somewhere between Andrew’s teeth.

Ghost Adventurers – Is this even travel? Even if they are in some new and exciting location all I ever see is the night vision close up of Zak Bagans face in some basement. I’m not sure if this show is supposed to be scary or funny but it doesn’t really hit either. Not only that but they never catch anything except maybe a creaking door in the background and a shadow someone saw move off camera. I’d rather watch the Chow Down Count Down for the millionth time than another episode of this.

Samantha Brown – She used to be fun to watch, now I feel like I’m watching a Sex and the City travel spin off. Maybe it’s not her fault but the producers, either way after 10 years on the Travel Channel her way of traveling has certainly upgraded. If you can afford this lifestyle, sure there is nothing wrong with it, but for the rest of us who actually need to save to travel you won’t find us dropping a few hundred dollars at all the top shopping spots of every place we visit nor staying in a nice single suite hotel. That is unless the ‘S’ fell off the sign and we are staying at a very nice ‘ho tel’.

On the opposite side of things it is nice to see a women travel host, since this seems to be a very male dominated field. However I doubt she provides any real advice for your solo woman traveler, and thus seems to have its good and bad but still lands itself in the bad category. Sorry Sam, I still think you are adorable @(^_^)@

Here is a list of women travelers who you should follow.

The Ugly

Bert The Conqueror – To be honest, I’ve never seen the show and while I’d go out of my way to watch most of the shows in the Good category I can’t speak on the show itself other than it seems to be an attempt to grasp viewers by showing a big furry trembling man whimpering like a toddler. Although now that I say it like that I kind of want to check it out. If all else fails to reason this into the ugly category, simply look at that photo, pure terror is not sexy – but at least the Travel Channel has Samantha Brown.

Man V Food – Adam’s sex appeal can be debated another time because that is not the root of what I’m getting at but the pure gluttony as I become full just watching him chow down a steak 3 times the size of me. I wondered why he only visited restaurants in the  US until I realized that the rest of the world doesn’t boast its belly busters like the US. Throughout the rest of the world you are more likely to see a Kilogram restaurant, where you pay by the weight of your plate, instead of an all you can eat buffet.

Travel means something different to each and ever person depending on so many factors that what you or somebody else experienced before will never be more than a memory or the chasing of past experiences. That in itself could be reason why the Travel Channel doesn’t show real travel, because what is real at the time can never be replicated by anyone else no matter how many times they try to relive the experience they once saw on their TV screen. Yet, what does come across and what really makes people long to explore are the stories and impact that people share in their explorations of far away places to learn a little more about themselves.

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The Travel Channel: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of TV Travel is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Pisco Sour By caseywest, May 20, 2010 via Flickr Creative Commons

After watching one of the greatest shows ever, Three Sheets, I became sad to see that the host Zane Lamprey never got around to show casing the Peruvian side of this liquor. Instead we only saw the Chilean side, which seems to be more regulated in its creation of Pisco. The side by side taste test will have to wait till I’m able to locate some pisco from Chile, until then these pompous pisco producers will have to deal with a full Pisco breakdown where both sides get a full review.

Some of you may not be too familiar with pisco, but may be more familiar with its Italian cousin grappa. Grappa is made from wine discards while pisco is made from fresh grapes and in Peru it includes the typical discards. Both drinks were once considered a poor man’s drink but nowadays both can be seen in high class cocktails for man and monkey alike.

I’ll try not to pick any sides because I haven’t been to Chile yet, but the Peruvians lay claim as the originators, after all it is named after the town where it was first exported. While Peruvian pisco’s production isn’t under strict regulation like Chile’s, from my experiences in Peru it was still a great drink.

In Chile it is only pisco if it is made from muskrat grapes from the third and fourth region of Chile. While in Peru pisco is made using mainly (but not exclusively) muskrat or italia grapes including skin, seeds and stems along with, at times, corn, grain and sugar cane nectar. (Thanks for the info Zane) Since this Peruvian version does not meet Chilean standards they do not recognize it as Pisco.

Yet don’t let Chile fool you into thinking that Peru doesn’t have their own complex variations of pisco. There are three styles of pisco in Peru: Quebranta, Acholado and Italia. ¹

Now that you know what the heck it is, now on to the important stuff, like how to drink it.

If you have ever had a mojito or caipirinha then you may just like this classic Peruvian/Chilean variation the Pisco Sour. This spirit/liquour mix is made by mixing pisco, sugar, limes, dry egg whites (really?) and bitters. Or if you are like me and are afraid of dumping an egg in your drink you can buy a powdered mix and just add Pisco and ice.

There are other variations and cocktail mixes for pisco, but I tend to stick with the classic.

Why is this drink so important that it must be written about, well my friends this lovely drink has it’s own holiday which lands on the first Saturday in February every year. I’m embarrassed to say that I did not make it to the town of Pisco even though I was less than 30 minutes away in Paracas but that only means I’ll have to make it back there – and this time for the celebration.

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New Brew Tuesday: Pisco is a post from: Monkey Brewster

In 1990, Ichiban’s debut made a splash in the world of super premium beers. The luxurious single wort (or first press) process yields a unique, complex flavor. With his gold label and “Special Premium Reserve” appellation, Ichiban outclasses and outperforms. But don’t be fooled by a snooty attitude — this is a great beer that goes with anything.

What makes Ichiban great

Prominent wort. Finest barley malt, premium hops, smooth finish, no bitter aftertaste.”

I happened to have flung together a nice dinner of sashimi (tuna and salmon) along with a few rice balls for a nice Japanese style dinner, and had this beer in my fridge. My first assumption was that it would be a perfect pairing. It didn’t necessarily fall short of my expectations but it didn’t exceed them either. It is a good beer but it seems like Anheuser-Busch was holding this mystical kirin back from greatness, like a pit bull on a leash it just wasn’t what it was all cracked up to be.

The beer has a nice malty taste with a spicy finish, the malty flavor threw me off because I was expecting a rice beer flavor more like Saparro. Yet here with Kirin Ichiban there was a malt flavor, so I can’t tell what is different since this one hails less from the east where the sun rises and more towards the west coast of California. The spicy finish had a sweet lemon like twist to it that came off nice and full of flavor. So with all this malty spicy goodness why am I complaining, well it tasted as if it was slightly watered down or diluted which is definitely not how I like describing my beers. Especially after you just read the ego stroking description with words like ‘special’, ‘premium’ and ‘luxurious’.

I give this mystical beer a 2.5 out of 5 banana rating. I had higher expectations, especially since I drank this with a Japanese dish. What’s your take on this beer – does it tickle your taste buds or fall short of expectations. Who knows maybe Japanese lagers just aren’t my favorite, but I’ll do some closer examining when I visit Japan this December.

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New Brew Tuesday – Kirin Ichiban is a post from: Monkey Brewster

The Legend of ‘Hop’ Wallop

“So Horace ‘Hop’ Wallop headed west a broken man. For in the city of Blues a Miss LuLu Bell Lager had left him thirty for more. Drawn by wild tales of riches to be had in the gold mines, Hop pressed on westward. His last nickle spent on a prospecting pan Hop’s hunger got the best of him. Two fist fulls of barely and three of some wild and Wayward hops tossed in a pan with some clear water was to be his meal but sleep overcame him and he later awoke to a bubbling cacophonous concoction overjoyed with the beautiful ale he had made, Hop realized the secret of the green gold he had discovered in those fresh hops. Celebrated far and wide Hop Wallop lives on this vivid ale with his words, ‘Hoppyness is Happiness’. Enjoy!”

That is one mouthful of a story to place on a beer bottle! I’m not sure how true the story is but one look at that lovable face of ‘Hop’ and you just can’t help but want to believe it. I believe this may be my first double IPA, now I’m not to sure what the difference between an IPA and a double IPA but I assume it means double to hoppy bitter taste.

This beer didn’t let me down, it has a good strong IPA taste. Was it double what your average IPA is? Well I don’t know, but it sure was hoppy. No not hoppy as in my friend @BouncyMcTigger likes to bounce, hop and skip (it’s really just bouncing, she would best leave the hopping to rabbits). The aftertaste lingers with that rich bitter taste and there isn’t a strong taste of alcohol even though it has 8.5%.

I could picture myself drinking this beer on a regular occurrence, which is why I give this beer 4 out of 5 bananas. Are you an IPA drinker, because if so I’d recommend you picking up a bottle with that lovable guy ‘Hop’ Wallop on it.

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New Brew Tuesday: Victory – Hop Wallop is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Wine – Concord
Name: Matus Winery – Martin’s American Concord
Price: I got it for free
Made: Wakeman, Ohio
Alc/Vol: 12%

“A sweet red wine made from Concord grapes picked from Uncle Marty’s 50 year old vines.”

This wine was given to me while I was out camping for Memorial Day weekend, while moving between a Pinot Grigio and some Boones Farm – yeah we spare no alcohol on a camping weekend. If you saw the list of beers we were drinking the wine mix wouldn’t surprise you. While chit chatting over our love for alcohol and sampling the drinks for the night I was offered a bottle of Concord wine from Matus Winery. Yes, ladies and gentlemen this is a Monkey Brewster first – a freebie just because I’m a blogging drunken monkey.

Let me start out that no free drink is a bad drink, and in this case after my initial taste test I’d go out and buy some. The scent from this bottle smelled like I had my furry little nose hard pressed to the vine, so fresh I swear I could smell the morning dew from when it was flung, err umm I mean picked.

The taste was so sweet at first that I could feel it in my cheeks, but finished with a nice mild bitter aftertaste. After the initial taste the sweet sour boldness that first hits you fades away to a nice clean taste. I wouldn’t pair this wine with a meal, but maybe a nice desert. While it is sweet I think the bitter finish would pair better with a piece of banana cream pie rather than your steak. I give this wine a 4 out of 5 bananas for a sweet wine, it’s not the best I’ve ever had but it is good. I especially like the locality aspect of it, a small local winery made not far from wear it purchased – goes with the green mentality.

What’s your take on this wine, love it, like it hate it let me know.

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New Brew Tuesday: Martin’s American Concord is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Beer
Name: Mythos Hellenic Lager Beer
Price: $1.99
Made: Sindos, Greece
Alc/Vol: 5%

To this beer I say drink up, it is my way of supporting Greece in their time of financial crisis, for there is no better gulp of beer than one that helps another. This lovely beer was enjoyed on a hot day as I try to pawn off my belonging in a garage sale in preparation for my move. (Read why here) I used a screw driver to pop the cap off and gulped down my first sip as I sat in front of my former riches, giving me a King Kong complex of sorts. So what did I think of this self proclaimed, ‘ first authentic Greek beer’?

Even in my garage this beer had a sour, Heineken like smell that hit my nose right from the start. The taste however had a mild sweetness to it but that gave way to a bitter finish, all of which was very light. It was a smooth refreshing beer on a hot day which makes me like it but even under these circumstances I’m not a huge fan. Although, I’m not a big fan of Heineken either which this beer reminds me of, and after some research I’m not surprise to learn it’s a subsidary of Carlsberg. Which if you read my post on their Elephant Imported this one seems to be it’s long lost brother in beer.

Overall I give this beer 2.5 bananas out of 5. I had high hopes for this beer but alas, it seemed to be an Athenian tragedy in itself, that or I missed the plot somewhere to this beer.

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New Brew Tuesday: Mythos Hellenic Lager Beer is a post from: Monkey Brewster

New Brew Tuesday: Anchor Steam Beer

Type: Beer
Name: Anchor Brewing’s Steam Beer
Price: $1.89
Made: San Francisco, California
Alc/Vol: 4.9%

This beer was forgettable, I kind of wish I wrote down all the fine points as I was drinking it but truth be told even with my notes there wasn’t much there. I didn’t think that this was nesecarily a bad beer, but it had such a light taste with a dry finish that it left little to talk about. It was one of those beers that if someone had asked me what I thought of it after I drank it I would of given a, “Meh” response and that would have been pretty acurate.

It is an easy drinking beer that you could enjoy any time anywhere really. It has a bit of a sweet scent but doesn’t taste sweet, you know there’s hops but it isn’t bitter. I would recommend this beer for someone who is intimidated about drinking a darker toned beer after drinking pilsners.

I give this beer 2 out of 5 bananas, I wish I could speak more on this beer but it hasn’t left me much to fling about. What’s your take on this San Francisco beer, love it-hate it, let me know.

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New Brew Tuesday: Anchor Steam Beer is a post from: Monkey Brewster

Type: Beer – Belgian Dark Ale
Name: Rinkuškiai Werewolf
Price: $1.99
Made: Birzai Region Lithuania
Alc/Vol: 8.2%

This big bottle o’ beer knew how to get a drunken monkey’s attention – a big red tag that says, ‘Hey look at me I’m full of alcohol, good and strong not like that sissy crap that might as well be a Zima.’  OK so it actually just says 8.2% alc/vol however on the bottle it does say, “You must be sure you want to taste it.” Which I like because if the she-wolf wasn’t sassy enough that statement makes sure it is.  Truth be told the only thing out of Lithuania that I can name, other than this beer now, is Žydrūnas Ilgauskas who plays for the great Cleveland Cavaliers and I can’t even say his name I just say ‘Z’. Although,this could explain the giant bottle because if the average Lithuanian is 7′ 3″ tall then this wouldn’t seem like that big of a bottle.  So did this beer have me howling at the moon….

Not exactly. I liked the beer and expected a strong bitter taste due to the high alcohol content, but instead it surprised me with a soft sweet taste. The aroma was mild and sweet, which should have tipped me off that this was no malt liquor alcohol stooped broozer of a beer but instead a delicate flavor-full drink. There was only a hint of bitterness to it, with a spicy-hoppy flavor that rested in your throat. The flavor was hard to describe because nothing stuck out in the flavor, which gave me a 180 from what I was expecting.

It has been awhile since I’ve had one, but for some reason I kept thinking of a Sam Adams Winter Lager as something to compare it to. That sweet spiced flavor that was good but more of a specialty beer, not something that I would drink all night. To be honest by the end of the bottle I was done with this beer and ready to move on to a different drink.

I gave this beer a 3 out of 5 bananas, and even then I don’t know where to put it. It’s good but in small doses, full of flavor and spice but not distinctive and it has a high alc/vol but not a strong alcohol taste. I think I was more confused by this beer than anything else which is why it ends up somewhere in the middle. Have you ever tried this beer before, what’s your take on it – love it/hate it let me know and fling me your opinion.

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New Brew Tuesday: Rinkuškiai Werewolf is a post from: Monkey Brewster

OK,  whew breath monkey breath…

Back to the point, and yes I’m sure you are thinking Cinco de Mayo why not choose Corona. Well my furless friend, it is for the same reason I didn’t pick Guinness for my St. Patty’s Day NBT. Although, I didn’t venture far off because the makers of Corona, Grupo Modelo, also happen to make these two popular Mexican beers. I purchased a 6 pack of each costing $8.47 each so that I had fully completed some extensive research on this comparison, I take my research serious like any great scholar. Hmm Dr. Aesop research beerologist, I like the sound of that.

A notable aspect of these beers is the gold foil wrapping on the bottle neck which if not cleared off completely will end up mixed in your drink. This reminded me of a favorite Brazilian beer of mine, Itaipava, which always had a loose fitted foil wrap over the mouth of the can but those came off easily while the Modelo foil was stuck on there good.

What is your take on these two beers, did I insult your Cinco de Mayo favorite or did both of these beers leave the same dare to be average taste that I experienced. Leave a comment and let me know.

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New Brew Tuesday: The Battle of the Modelos is a post from: Monkey Brewster