Foaming over the sides

Foam, what is it good for...Absolutely nothing! Actually foam is good for something, at least the foam that sits on top of your favorite craft beer. The foam or more commonly and better known as the head on top of beer is a good thing, always in moderation of course. The head on beer is produced when you pour a beer into the glass which then releases all of the pent up carbonation which then obviously goes to the top of the liquid. Each beer will produce a different level of head on top, some have a denser froth and will linger, while others are more loosely formed and will not leave a lot of lacing (or the story of your drink as I call it, also a great clue as to your drinking style) on the side of the glass as you down your drink. The importance of the head is that it is releasing all of the aroma that your beer was brewed with and will give you an idea of the flavors that you are about to indulge yourself with.

I love a nicely formed head on my beer, but as I said before there is such a thing as too much head on your beer. The head of a beer in my opinion should never be more than an inch or inch and a half wide, or two fingers wide at most. What this tells you is that you had a clean glass, I mean CLEAN CLEAN, and that you or the bar keep poured the perfect pint. Something to remember, be cognizant of the glass you are choosing for your beer. When going with an IPA, which is full of aroma producing hops it is best to go with a tulip shaped glass which will hold the head and also allow for multiple repeat sniffs. While a strong Belgian of this sort is best consumed from a snifter or snifteresq glass. For more information on glassware head over to the Beer Advocate.  All in all remember that some beer head is good...a little bit more is better, but too much is just sad and takes away from your drink and you have to wait for it to die down before you can sip your brew. For more in depth analysis of beer head visit Wikipedia.

Now on to your regularly scheduled blog post. I knew that I wanted to review a local beer and I had two in my hand, one was from Legend Brewing and the other was from Heavy Seas. I decided to go with the brew from Heavy Seas Brewery (fyi that link may not work, has not worked for me in a couple days) in Baltimore, MD, but it is actually brewed by some local home brewers that won the annual Heavy Seas Letter of Marque contest. According to history a Letter of Marque was used to show that someone was now a professional pirate, hence why the contest from Heavy Seas is named the Letter of Marque contest, where local home brewers can take a shot at becoming a professional. This beer was brewed by Clay Wright and Nick Boylan, I was unable to find any information on these two gentlemen, so if you know anything please pass the information along to me. Much appreciated!

There was no official name given to the beer, but they do label it as a Tripel Wit style Malt brewed with Spices. What this means it is a strong Belgian styled beer so right off the bat you know that it will be more crisp that a Lager or ale. It will also have a good amount of fruit flavor and aroma.

The Tripel poured a nice golden blonde color, also a bit hazy in the glass. It finished with a light effervescent head on top. From first smell you get the orange zest that is used during the brewing process, which will almost remind you of Blue Moon, however this is MUCH better because it is it won a contest obviously!

When diving in for your first sip you get the typical mouth feel of a Belgian styled beer, it is lighter in feel, yet at the same time very flavorful. However, on the finish the brown sugar that is added really shines through and helps this beer end with a great malty taste with a bit of an alcohol feel as well. I must admit I am not the biggest Belgian fan, they just do not tickle my fancy, yet this one was good. Having tasted other home brewed Belgians thanks to the Stafford Brewing Club, this had the distinct taste, feel and smell of a home brew beer so if you want to get a good idea of what home brew is all about this is about as close as you will get without going to your local home brew club.

Cheers!