This past Thursday I hosted a Focus Group for Women Enjoying Beer, which was a ton of fun. If you have any interest in having fun and helping the beer community I strongly recommend that you get in touch with Ginger at Women Enjoying Beer! I know a lot of people told me that they couldn't make it on a week night, but that was fine because the small group that I did get had a lot of fun, and hopefully gave Ginger enough information. This isn't a beer tasting thing, Women Enjoying Beer is about gathering data/market research to pass on to brewers, beer companies, distributors and anyone else who will listen. I have to say that after the focus group, I will be thinking about my beer differently, so thank you very much Ginger! I hope to see you when you are in the Chicago area.
While the term "focus group" sounds like we had to do a lot of focusing, we were able to sneak in a few beers... I happened to have one of my favorites, Matilda from Goose Island...Matilda is a very rich flavored beer that is extremely well balanced. If course I am a sucker for Belgian style beers, but this one is very exceptional. If you haven't had a lot of experience with Goose Island's "vintage" beer collection I strongly recommend you get experienced! Sophie is another one of my favorites... and if you are in the Chicago area you have to go on a weekend Brew tour at Goose Island, I like Goose Island on Clybourn best.Saturday I had my first official beer blog meeting at Duke's Alehouse in Crystal Lake. I will spare you all the details of the meeting, but know this, there will be some new stuff coming your way! So what can I talk about? How about the beer? I had a very interesting beer from Belgium that was a mild stout. Troubador's Obscura was not really what I had expected, but was even better. I thought that the rich malty flavor wasn't overpowering like in some stouts, and there was a creamy mouth feel like you could have just taken a bite of beer ice cream (they do make that stuff BTW, and YES I am going to try it). I thought that this was a fantastic beer, probably because stouts sometimes make me feel super full and like I have a burnt taste in my mouth.
It must have been a Goose Island sort of weekend because after my beer meeting with Matt I got home and opened Juliet to share with Blake. I guess I didn't remember Juliet being so sour, but since it is a beer infused with Blackberry, I suppose it should have been obvious. I think that I just don't really like fruit beer... I mean, I know that Juliet is a good beer, but I still have a hard time finishing it. It wasn't really sweet, it wasn't really hoppy, it wasn't really malty... I got mostly a faint taste of blackberry and then sour. Blake liked it more than I did, so if you are okay with sour beer or fruity beer, you may love this one.
Now it is time for something completely off the wall. Have you heard of this "spa" in the Czech Republic that does Beer baths? Yes, you need to click on that link and see the lady taking a bath in beer... The brewery (Chodovar) is devoted to welness through beer. Can't say that is a clause I am not behind 100%, but bathing in beer seems like a bit of a waste. If you have some time, I highly recommend that you check out this from one of my favorite (and no longer on) shows, Three Sheets. The host (Zane Lamprey) actually has a beer bath as a hangover cure... hilarity ensues. So does anyone want to sponsor me to go to the Czech Republic to try this out? For blogging purposes of course... I need a beer vacation, don't you think? If you are interested in sponsoring me, or have any questions, email me at sarah@hoppybeergirl.com
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