Claim Jumper Hefeweizen

Next up for review is the house brew Claim Jumper Hefeweizen.


The Claim Jumper Hefeweizen is available at all Claim Jumper restaurants and can be purchased for approximately $3.95 and is 4.5% ABV. At time of writing, there are no known bottled versions available. This one is on tap and on tap only, fellers.

History

The Claim Jumper restaurant itself has been around since 1977. It mainly has its locations on the west coast stats with a few in Wisconsin and here in Illinois. Claim Jumper is mainly known for decent hearty foods, but it also has something very, very valuable on its menu: a beer flight. The beer flight that Claim Jumper offers has a honey blonde, their original red, and the prized hefeweizen. When ordering the hefeweizen, it is listed as being the "silver medal" hefeweizen. I really wanted to look up more information on this, but since this is not really available outside of the restaurant locations. Which is still really a shame. As this review goes on you'll see why I wished there was more info

Taste

This beer was an amazing showing from the get go. The color was that of a misty, golden-amber hue. Opaque with a very good tint. This was very good when paired with the scent the brew gave off. The beer gave off a sweet and welcoming fragrant aroma. When smelling the beer I couldn't get enough of this flowery smell that had no bitter or dry touches. I seriously wanted to smell this beer as much as a creepy high school stalker wants to smell his first crush.
...
Okay, maybe not that much, but I still couldn't get over that scent. But, you're not here for that. Nobody goes to bars and just sniffs the beers and leaves. So to the actual enjoyment.

This brew was amazing. The first and nearly only tastes you get are sweet tastes. The brew starts things out with a sweet honey note that goes all over the mouth. A distinct lemon and oat taste can be sensed towards the back of the tongue. The taste is made complete with the mouthfeel being a slight tingle across the tongue and none of the sides of the mouth or the sides of the tongue. At the end of the taste, there is a distinct lack of any dry taste, only leaving a nice wet feel across the mouth.
When tasting, it is very obvious that the brewmaster in charge did all they could to keep this beer free from bitter tastes. Since that was their intention, they got nothing but success in that.
This one overall was a fun drink if ever there was one. Were I trying to intro someone to the world of beer for the first time (and believe me, I know some folks and they will be dragged kicking and screaming) I would intro them to this fine offering from Claim Jumper.

Food

Now this one was 5 shades of perplexing when trying to pair this up with a food dish. It was not necessarily light, but it had substance without being very full bodied. The sweet tastes would need some kind of decent balance. This balance, I feel, can really only be made in a dish appropriate as a simple side of Calamari. Calamari has that bit of lemon taste that can be found in the beer, but provides a decent light salt taste to balance the sweet tastes.

However,

The other thing is that since this beer is a perfect substance and a great series of sweet notes and wet-ish finish. This beer is a very good brew and can pretty much stand on it's own legs. It took me so long to come up with the conclusion that calamari would be a good match, that I feel that it is also acceptable to say that this beer can also do fine with no food pairing. It really has a relaxation beer feel to it. I could see no reason why it needs a food to match it like other beers do.

Song

Now lastly, it is the mission of this blog to make your beer come with a song. All memories come with a song and if anyone tells you beer isn't a memory is a liar, damn his eyes. Well, more to the point, this is not a serious beer but it isn't a silly one either. The hefeweizen has nothing but sweet relaxed notes. The beer wants to be your friend, so you should probably let it. Hang out with it. Relax on a summer day. Did someone say summer day? That was probably James Taylor with his song "Summer's Here". Both the beer and the song are simple to enjoy, and meant to put one into a mood of relaxation.

A sample of "Summer's Here" can be hound here. (offsite)

Overall, the beer is amazing. A great taste for the experienced drinker to relax and just enjoy or for the new drinker to simply get into the swing of things in the world of diverse beers. And if I learn you introduced a new drinker to the world of beer using a domestic mass-produced brew, you are going to catch a whooping not seen since the riots in Chicago. I don't care how many of these 9.5 out of a possible 10 Claim Jumper Hefeweizens you throw at me, I won't calm down until you get your beatings.



Until the next round, make sure the only flat notes are the ones in your music, not your beer.

All photos are copyright of their respective owners.

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

For the first review on Same Ol' Song and Drink, we will be taking a look at the Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.


The drink comes in 1 pint bottles available at most retailers for a little under $5.00. First, we will be taking a quick look at the history of the brew.

History

Oatmeal Stouts such as this one have a strong history, particularly in the U.K. Oatmeal stouts had their starts in medieval England, where ale was actually a type of alcoholic porridge. (Yes, the kind that required chewing. Bleh.) However, the oatmeal stout would fall out of favor during the mid 20th century and not enjoy a strong revival until the Samuel Smith offering was made popular in the 1980's.
Differing from the traditional ingredients of barley and wheat, oats used in beer were usually expected to yield a smoother taste when used in the correct proportion to the brew. Too much would lead to a more bitter taste. The first stouts expected the brew to be around one-third oats, where modern versions now favor a greatly decreased 5%.

Taste

Right out the gate, the Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout is upfront, honest, and not going to whack you over the head with a billy club when you are not looking. The initial taste is a very balanced darker presence without being too strong on the tip or the middle of the tongue. The beginning notes of the beer can best be described as being "hearty" and nothing else. The brew does not feel a need to beat you in the face until you call it manlier than you are.
After the initial tastes, this particular brew then goes on to leave more bitter notes on the sides of the tongue and a slight sweet aftertaste on the back of the tongue if you are really paying attention to it. When all of the tastes are combined, it gives you a very nice "blanket" effect all around the tongue. It more or less covers everything that it needs to, again, without being too strong or dominant in the tastes.
However, since the oatmeal stout does not beat you over the face and the tastes are very simple, that means that the beer has little else to offer aside from that. While it does not stand out very much on the palate, it is still a very formidable offering to other somewhat darker brews.

Food Pairing

The beer has a U.K. background and given the overall calm yet noticeable tastes the beer is offering, I would ideally like to enjoy the beer with a shepherd's pie. Both the beer and the dish would display the appropriate hearty essence while at the same time complementing one another with their strong-but-not-too-strong tones.

Song

Lastly, we get to the very point of SOSD: what song is the equivalent of this beer. The beer puts it all out there and is honest without yelling. It has few components and those mix well together. Bitter? Check. Sweet? Check (barely). So therefore.... bittersweet? You got that right. So with the hearty and strong parts of the ale, those give it a clear "rock" attitude. So if we are looking at this beer as a song, we are looking at a bittersweet, simple, rock anthem. Ladies and gentlemen I point to this beer and hear "My My, Hey Hey" by Neil Young. Both the ale and the amazingly well written and performed song have much in common and are not there to cause screaming and shouting, but rather simplistic enjoyment.
The song by Neil Young on Youtube (offsite)


In the end, due to the Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout giving a solid delivery, but not putting anything extra into the mix, I would have to give this beautiful offering an 8.5 out of a possible 10. Well done, Mr. Smith.

Until the next round, make sure the only flat notes are the ones in your music, not your beer.



All images copyright their respective owners. Sources cited: http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/5_breweries/samsmith_oatmeal_stout.html , Wikipedia.org