Craft Tasting With Non-Craft Drinkers

What A Day, What A Day. Converting the masses one person and one tasting session at a time. Just this last weekend my buddies were throwing a house party and I figured, you know what… ,I will try and make this one a little more interesting than the usual BMC, Beer Pong, Shots, Wrestling, and Loud Music. I picked up various bottles of my favorite brews and a random collection of ones I have not had before. We still had the usual stuff for the party but I was actually able to enjoy beer this time around. I even picked up some little disposable wine glasses to add to the character of the night.



The hardest part of setting this thing up was trying to decide in what order we should get the tasting going. Wells Banana Bread made the top of the list because I wanted to show them that beer could actually have quite a bit of flavor and it isn’t that fizzy yellow drink that they are so used to. I had a request for the Golden Monkey to be next. Not what I would have went with but I was not going to disappoint my tasters either. After this I set up the rest of the night like a taster tray and poured the Dundee beers. I have never had these ones before but the variety pack was actually a pretty good deal and gave us more of a variety. Poured the English Ale, Nut Brown and Porter. Followed that up by a personal favorite, New Belgium 1554. Probably my favorite beer. For sure my first beer love. After that Sierra Nevada Summerfest, Delirium Tremens, Sierra Nevada Pale and to end the night Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA.

I am going to let one of the tasters who is actually beginning to appreciate beer give his opinions on the brews. He actually took the time to find flavor, see what I was talking about, and tasting it for himself. Besides the Dundee’s, these are all some of my favorite brews that I have had and will continue to have time and time again. Though, when it came to the Nut Brown and the Porter, Dundee did not disappoint. I thought the English Ale was pretty solid but not one that I would go back to with other options around. So, here are his thoughts…



Wells Banana Bread: Your drinking bananas. It was fantastic, I had never had a banana beer before but it made me want to find other ones. Mom’s banana bread in a blender. Simple as that.

Dundee Nut Brown: One of my favorites of the night. I remember a hazelnut taste that was just enough nutty. The after taste lasted all the way until it was time to try the next beer, and because of that I didn’t want to try the next one. I had a permanut taste in my mouth.

Dundee Porter: mehhh… I’d say it was ok. Not a huge Porter fan in the first place, I remember it being a lot more hoppy than I expected. Of the 3 Dundee beers that I tried this was my least favorite, only because I enjoy beers that arnt so hoppy. Everybody else that had it really seemed to like it though, so I think it all just came down to my preference in beer. Try it for yourself, see what you think.

New Belgium 1554: This beer made me want to take a beercation to Belgium. 6 stars on a 5 star scale. I loved it. This is the beer I will open on the day of the birth of my first born son. I want 1554 body wash so I can smell like it at all times. Actually scratch that, I just want it to come out of the showerhead. I went out and bought 1554 footy pajamas. This beer made me cry, not because I was sad… It was just that at this point in my life I knew I was complete.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest: I
Delirium Tremens: Was
Sierra Nevada Pale: Too
Sierra Nevada Torpedo: Wasted.