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Beer Run: The Front Door

For my first Beer Run I decided to grace the fine establishment The Front Door.   A beer lover’s oasis nestled inside what is a relatively decent-beer-barren-sixth-and-main desert.  Tucked away in the under-belly of The Reef, The Front Door offers up fifteen beers on tap (including one Cask), and an astounding eighty non-domestic bottled brews.  As well as a selection of liquors, wines, and full menu of italian style chow.

I had hoped to enter The Front Door and find a cozy, quiet seat in the corner.  But no.  Walking in I noticed there wasn’t a seat to be immediately found.  It was, quite literally, packed.  An obvious sign of a quality restaurant since, and I’m sure you’ve noticed, so many downtown shops have fallen victim to “these economic times” (as one might hear in the media).  I finally spotted a lone seat at the end of the bar, bellied up and asked the bartender “have anything new?”  To which she hailed “we always have something new!”

Mendocino Brewing Company: Seasonal Imperial IPA

Released November 25^th, 2008.  7.5% ALC/VOL.  On tap $4.50.  I started off with this beer because I have, by tradition, disliked IPA’s.

Appearance: This beer is deep amber in color.  In the light it's clear and brilliant.              

Nose: The first aroma I picked up on was, as the bartender said it would be, grapefruit.  

            Hops was not nearly as apparent as I would have thought for an IPA.

Taste: The aroma well foreshadowed the taste.  I immediately picked up on the 

grapefruit/citrus.  Above average carbonation.  The hops was balanced well with the sweet malt.  Resulting in minimal bitterness.  It has an uncharacteristically mellow finish, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it accompanied the balsamic vinegarette from my salad.

Overall I enjoyed this beer and am giving it 3.5/5 kegs.  It didn’t follow in the steps of usual IPA’s, and kick me in the face with hops.  Others may take away points just for that reason, but I’m not a “hop-head” and appreciated it for not suffocating the malt and aroma with bitter hops.

Lagunitas Brewing Co. : “Brown Shugga” Sweet Release Seasonal

Not much info on their website about this one.  9.9% ALC/VOL.  On tap $5.00.  I can’t lie the main reason this one caught my eye was it’s name.

Appearance: Very dark amber.  Head is thick and sticks to glass for awhile.  Not too

            translucent.  It looks like it’s name.

Nose: Now my wise beer buddy was shocked at my reaction, but to me this beer had a

very distinct and harsh aroma of a black permanent magic marker (“a f*ing felt pen!” for all my Tarantino buffs).  I sampled this beer before getting a full glass, and after smelling it, had to get one because I thought (pause for anticiaption) I’d hate it.  I kept swishing it like wine and smelling it saying to myself “this isn’t right, it has to smell different than this.  But alas, it never failed.  I was about to drink a magic marker.

Taste: The initial taste was very much like drinking a black marker, but that was almost

instantly gone.  Leaving me tasting a very tame, sweet brew.  Very low in carbonation I drank this one slow to let it warm up.  There was almost no hint of hops.  The scales were very obviously tipped on the side of sweet, molasses malt.

Brown Shugga grew on me.  Weighing in at 9.9%, this one will get you in trouble.  You’ll start off in nostalgia, rememenicing about a childhood trip to the candy store to find the biggest, sweetest candy bar.  And end up realizing you’re just getting really drunk.  I give this beer 3/5 kegs.  I don’t recommend it to those of you counting calories.

Amazon Beer: Xingu Black Beer (Shin-goo’)

Imported from Brazil.  I could not track down the ALC/VOL.  Bottled $4.00.  “Explore the Heart of Darkness,” dares Amazon’s website.

Appearance: Fully opaque, black in color.  Thick head.

Nose: Very minimal aroma.  A slight hint of sweet (if you consider that a scent), maybe

            even some ginger.

Taste: Very similar to a brown ale.   Smooth, with mild carbonation.  Not heavy as some

may expect from it’s dark appearance.  Not very complex but a light sweetness.  Absolutely no presence of hops.

Amazon’s website sums up this beer with two words “Black Silk.”  OK, if you can sum up a beer in two words, then it’s probably not a very great beer.  Unfortunetly for this brew, I would have to agree with the summary.  It is very straighforward and bland.  If you like Newcastle, which I do, you’ll probably think this beer is OK.  It seemed that it was probably low ALC/VOL.  I could see this beer being a good cooking ingredient in some deserts, but not much value beyond that.  I give this beer 1.5/5 kegs.

So this concludes my very first Beer Run.  My evening at The Front Door was very enjoyable.  Good brews, good food, good ambiance.  Check out their website, thefrontdoorboise.com, for updated beer lists and menu. 

Until next time.  Visit your favorite beer house, belly up to the bar and try something new.

I'm Levi Bettwieser, Your Beer Run D.D.

I’m Le