Thoughts on beer

Ah beer, how I love thee.

My long weekend was spent partaking no small part of the bounty of hops and other things. I had my Smoked Amber, my brown ales, and other beers as I tried different lunch locales over an extended President's Day weekend.

As almost an afterthought, I bought a bottle of Lava, an Icelandic smoked stout, from a taproom I visited yesterday.

As today is Mardi Gras (or, as they say in the UK, "Pancake Day"), I opened the bottle, toasted some folks and drank the beastie.

I have to say, the Icelanders don't impress me with the smoked beers.

The Germans? They can do smoked beer right. The Scots can do some good smoked beer. I expected an ice-laden volcanic island to have a good sense of smoked flavoring but while I liked my bottle of Lava for its taste, I found it distinctly lacking the "smoked" flavor I so craved. It was a tasty bottle, but severely overpriced.

Next time I'm off to BevMo to buy some bottles of the German stuff.