I t’s that time of the year when everyone becomes Irish and drinks green beer. I haven’t had any green beer yet but that’s because 2 brews I’ve had are so dark you wouldn’t notice they were green. We arrived about the right time to get a decent place to sit. Mr. Ben had a bag ready to fill with candy and beads.
I volunteered to get me and Mrs. Dan a cool malt beverage.
The first I had was a draft from Stillwater Saloon. A scotch ale from a brewery I didn’t recognize. I took a picture of the tap handle and checked it out later. (I got her a Stella Artois).
It was a Drafty Kilt from Monday Night Brewing. I had never heard of these guys but they are out of Atlanta. I will have to try their Fu Manbrew Belgian Style Wit. This is nice and malty. I wish I had savored it a bit more. I kept sipping as I walked back 2 blocks to where we parked our seats. At $4.50 a plastic cup and 7.2% ABV I decided I would venture out for something else to try.
This time I crossed the street and decided to stop at the first place I came to. It was The Playground. Their draft brews sounded boring. So I asked about any dark or seasonal brews. She came up with a Shocktop End of the World Midnight Wheat.
Interesting. A dark, chochately, wheat beer. Has chili spices. Starts off smooth and creamy then shifts to a very dry finish like a wine with tons of tannin. The finish leaves you with the taste of chili powder like chili flavored Fritos. Now I found this beer to be very interesting. I think I would appreciate it if paired with something appropriate.
The label says it was brewed with midnight wheat, chocolate malt, chili and spice.
Some familiar faces in the crowdI checked out their website and there’s no mention of this beer. Their blog doesn’t even mention it. The link to their “Midnight Wheat” doesn’t work. I read some reviews on various sites and it doesn’t sound like this brew is being received with glowing praised. “Isn’t as bad as I had thought” said one. I assume this label is a reference to the end of the world based on the Mayan calendar.
<p>Beer Advocate might have shed some light on the mystery. They said that “‘midnight wheat’ is a proprietary brand name for a dark wheat malt from Briess Malting in Chilton, Wisconsin.” Maybe Anheuser-Busch, Shocktop’s real owner had to take the name off their site.
Or they just don’t bother to update their site. For one thing this brew definitely changes as it warms up. Even more Fritos tasting.
This is worth checking out. Not sure you want to buy a full six. But if I had to choose between the 2 I would go for the Drafty Kilt.
Well the parade is over. Time to head over to Ninth Street Wine Market and their St. Patty’s Day Drop-In tasting.
Shocktop End of the World Midnight Wheat
The label says it was brewed with midnight wheat, chocolate malt, chili and spice.
From: St. Louis
Brewery: Shocktop (Anheuser-Busch)
Monday Night Brewing Drafty Kilt
A roasty scotch ale with a hint of smoke. Full-bodied, but not overpowering. Smokey, but not in a creepy bar kind of way. Sweet, but not obnoxiously so. Sound like your ideal mother-in-law? Fair enough, but it also is a pretty dead-on description of our Scotch Ale. In a difficult hop-growing climate, Scottish brewers relied on other ingredients to impart flavor and bitterness – one such ingredient was smoked malt. Drafty Kilt is a dark, malty bombshell of a beer. 7.2% . 26 IBUs–From their Website
Brewery: Monday Night Brewing
