Sunday, February 5, 2012

Blacktop Blonde (TailGate Beer, San Diego, CA)

Looking through the fridge for this evening's beer, and came across this one from TailGate and figured today was the day to drink it with the Super Bowl.

Stark white head that bubbles up and leaves a surprising lace. Straw gold would be a bit too dark of a description; effervescent and clear in the glass.  American lager cream corn in the nose, but there is also a light malt and spice that goes with it.  Spice could be hops or maybe even the yeast. Checking out the website for TailGate Beer, it reads like it's an unmentioned aroma hop that can be credited.  Lightly sweet malt with a minor earthy hop underneath of the continued cream corn.  Mouthfeel is fuller than it looks.  The beer warms up fairly well, which is a test that most beers of this style fail miserably.

Honestly, I bought this beer because it was extremely cheap and to tick off a new brewery on the database, but it's better than expected.  It did make Maxim magazines top beer list (according to the website), so maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.  Not going to buy another one (in case you missed the sarcasm of the last sentence), but not upset about drinking this one for the big game.

In looking for the link for the Maxim beer list, I found a few other interesting beer related items.  In the Booze section, Maxim beer awards come in ten categories.  Blacktop Blonde is listed under Drink of Champions, which is beer to drink when men hit other men in an athletic way.  An article that is a craft beer glossary is also interesting to for not only what they included but what was left out.

Cheers and enjoy the game!

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