Drink Vegan Beer: May 2013

On Sunday Michael and I spent most of the day cleaning the house on Sunday. But in the afternoon we had enough and decided to look for decorations for the living room. Somehow we ended up at BevMo!...I wonder how that happened...

I was looking at the beer selection and saw more Ass Kisser's (check out my last post for information on the brewery). They did not have the American Style Hefewiezen that I wanted to try, but the Strawberry Wit sounded pretty good too.

The minute you open the bottle you can smell strawberry. Lovely golden color, with a little bit of pink tin. However, as much as it smelled like strawberries, I could not taste any. I did like the taste though, do not get me wrong. The website lists lemon zest as an aroma, I argue to tastes more zesty than it smells. I like the citrus though, very cleansing. I think a "full-bodied Belgian Wheat Style Ale" listed on the website is a better reflection of the beer than calling it strawberry. Overall, I liked it, I enjoy full-bodied beers.

Still going to look for the Hefewiezen...

A few weeks ago, Michael and I went to Monterey for the day. We are trying to visit all the old missions along the El Camino Real, so we decided to check out the Carmel Mission. We took some side streets through the center of town while we were deciding where to eat, when he suddenly he remembered this little deli and it magically appeared on the corner if front of us.

Compagno's Market and Deli looks like a little hole the wall, but do not be deceived, it has an awesome menu and market selection. I got the Veggie on foccasia, with no cheese. The sandwhich comes with sprouts, mushrooms, avocado, cucumbers, bell peppers. All very fresh and local. There was a nice selection of beer too, which we could not resist. I selected Ass Kisser Vanilla Pale Ale, mainly for the name. We ate on lunch at the beach.

Ass Kisser Ales is a small, family owned company in San Jose and is partnered with Hermitage Brewing. They make traditional Reinheitsgebot style beers and specialty ones, like the Vanilla Ale.

It has a mild vanilla taste. Nothing overpowering though, not like vanilla cream soda. It is more of a background flavor. The company's website lists a slight cirtrus flavor. I do not recall citrus exactally, but it was very light and crisp like citrus. Maybe I just missed it while I was taking in the view. It did not pair that well with our deli sandwhiches, but that is not the beer's fault. I would suggest drinking with appeteizers or dessert. Although the vanilla is sublte, the malt is not and would pair better with a richer food. If I ever throw a beer tasing dinner party, I would serve this with some cashew cheese, dried fruit, and crackers as an appeitizer as people arrived.

I am very interested in trying Ass Kisser's American Style Hefeweizen. I love wheat beers and want to see how theirs stacks up. Hopefully I can find a distrubutor in San Jose!

By the way, if you ever get the chance, check out the Carmel Mission. It is beautiful and full of history.