Cloob Line-up #1

The other night, we went out with a couple of friends and a couple of people we didn't know. And over a couple of drinks, a couple of pizzas, and a couple of slabs of decadent chocolate cake, we six created...The Cloob. It's a beer club, and it's awesome.

We agreed that the function of The Cloob would be to gather together a modest group of people interested in tasting and learning about various beers. All participants would bring a six-pack of "good" beer to Cloob gatherings, and we would proceed to taste them and talk about them and eat snacks with them and tell jokes to them and generally just discover good beers.

Last Friday, we gathered at Cloob Masters Erik and Natalie's house. Twelve grown-up-type people, a baby, an elderly dog, a bowl of mango salsa, some fake meat, and a line-up of ten beers later, the first meeting of the Cloob was declared a rousing success.

I have no vocabulary for this sort of thing, but I'm going to list the Cloob line-up and then I'm going to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 for you. I'll call it Jenny's Scale of Beers (JSOB). Unless you're drawn to A. cheap domestics, B. Hefe-Weizens, or C. beers that taste like fruit, you can read 10 as being the best and 1 as being the least best. If you're partial to A, B, or C above, simply read the Scale backwards. Brilliant!

Paulaner Hefeweisen
JSOB rating: 4.5

Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Brew - a new favorite of mine. Plus, the cyootest little owl on the label - superscore! Hoot!
JSOB rating: 9

Full Sail Amber
JSOB rating: 3

Stone IPA - Stone can produce no evil, although they'd like you to believe otherwise.
JSOB rating: 8.5

Stone Ruination IPA - if you don't like smoke or hops in your beers, this beer will probably remind you of sprinkling salt on slugs. Otherwise, you're in luck.
JSOB rating: 9

Stone Arrogant Bastard - a personal favorite, although someone else brought this one to the Cloob. Stone was a popular offering.
JSOB rating: 9

North Coast Brewing Co. Brother Thelonius Belgian Style Abbey Ale - with a picture of Thelonious Monk on the label, who could say no?
JSOB rating: 7*
(*Raphael: "I think this is a great beer. It's a beautiful, delicious, smooth brown Belgian ale that deserves a 9. On top of that, it has a picture of Thelonius Monk.")

Speedway Stout - coffee and chocolate with a bright, fruity finish - we mixed this with the Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat and wound up with a chocolate-covered cherry flavor that was tipsily proclaimed "Hey! Yum!"
JSOB rating: 9

Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat
JSOB rating: 4

Leinenkugels Berry Weiss - refreshingly sweet and fruity and very, very pink. I couldn't believe I liked it as much as I did. On the wine-cooler-ish side.
JSOB surprise! rating: 8

Cheers!