Things that are confusing

I thought this kind of thing was illegal.

With no caffeine, how does it awaken you?

Rye lager? Make it so.: Rye Lager by Phase Three Brewing Co.

Years ago my annual trek to Chicago TARDIS down in lovely Lombard, Illinois meant a visit at Binny's where I'd eagerly snatch up some Hoss, a rye Märzeny kind of brew from Denver's Great Divide. At some point, that beer, quite unsurprisingly, stopped gracing Binny's shelves in the fall when I was there. This made me sad because this autumnal pilgrimage had become a tradition and Hoss was (is?) a great beer. Oh well. All good things and whatnot. As time wore on, I became inured to being rye lager-less as the winter solstice approached.

Until this year.

Chicagoland has many a brewery which can make perusing the local beer shelves at Binny's something of a chore because a lot of breweries means a lot of IPAs. As in a number that feels like it approaches infinity. There's a mesmerizing quality to scanning the shelves as the letters fly by...I-P-A. Soon every beer looks to be an IPA. And so it was last month. Until I ran across Phase Three's Rye Lager. Could it really be? The IPAs beneath and above and to either side beckoned me.

"Come taste of our faux tropical fruit..."

I felt like Captain Picard in that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where he's being tortured.

"There are four-packs of rye lager!" I roared back in defiance of the Citra siren calls.

Shaking off my hypnotic haze, I found that indeed there were four-packs of rye lager staring back at me from the shelf. I already had two Rauchbiers, a Dovetail flavor I'd never had, plus multiple brews from abroad. Did I really need more beer?

Yes!

Phase Three is a brewery in Lake Zurich, Illinois, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. I have no doubt seen their brews before but don't recall ever having tasted any of them. Without meaning to sound overly cynical, I admit to tempering my expectations. There were a lot of Phase Three IPAs on the shelf too so could they pull off a decent lager?

Luck was on my side and I managed to capture one of my pours where there is some head. My glass was happy to have a lot of the light tan foam and, thankfully, it stuck around a while. The brew was a lovely clear amber and I saw a fair number of bubbles inside. No haze; a good start. My luck continued as I took a whiff and smelled grains: a bit of bread, at first, and then some earthy rye. A berry-like fruitiness followed as did some herbal hoppiness.

A medium-light body held a firm fizziness. My initial sips were malt madness with bready and doughy flavors complemented by that earthy-spicy rye goodness. The hops stayed below the fray but I could taste their herbal tentacles weaving themselves between and among all those malt flavors. The rye and a touch of malty sweetness lingered on the finish but eventually ceded to the hops which took on a deliciously spicy aspect. Fizz and hops united for a mellow dryness accompanied by a gentle bitter bite .

What a wonderful surprise. I had my doubts about what appeared to be another IPA factory dipping its toes into the lager waters but Phase Three meant business. For me, this was an easy drinker despite being 6.6% A.B.V. and I had a hard time sitting there with a rye lager in front of me and not pouring it down my maw. The rye flavor was great and benefited from the beer not being particularly sweet. Plus the hops complemented the malt flavors perfectly and I appreciated how they orchestrated a refreshingly zesty finish.

I hope Phase Three brews this again next year so that rye lager returns as an autumn tradition.

Junk food pairing: Pair P3's Rye Lager with a big bag of Mike's Hot Honey potato chips from Utz. (Utz's Mike's Hot Honey potato chips?) The mild sweetness from the honey and potatoes will complement the rye perfectly. These chips don't burn like the fires of Hell but that little bit of heat goes well with the hops and really accentuates their peppery taste on the finish.

Ribbed for my pleaure? - A Salt & Vinegar Miscellany XIII

I ran into the Oishi cracklings at Viet Hoa Market in Monona. For some reason, it had never occurred to me to traverse the junk food aisles of Asian grocery stores in search of salt & vinegar snacks. Why wouldn't the snack architects of the Pacific Rim be seduced by the scrumptious wiles of salt & vinegar?

But caveat emptor!

These Oishi cracklings are really a simulcrum of cracklings. They are flavored wheat and tapioca paste shaped and formed into snack size bites. I found no ingredient on the packaging that sounded like it came from a pig. Alas, the flavoring was artificial.

They seemed to be a bit on the salty side but, despite having a trio of acids - citric, malic, and lactic, they have very little tang. Perhaps these are homeopathic "cracklings" with more and more wheat paste having been added until the acids were diluted. I was left only with the memory of vinegar taste.

I see here that Top Fox offers pumpkin seeds and only pumpkin seeds. That and they're in central Illinois which makes them neighbors and me happy to buy their product.

As one would expect when eating pumpkin seeds, these had a big, hearty, nutty taste. (Himalayan) Salt levels were definitely elevated. Organic natural flavor, organic vinegar powder, and citric acid gave the seeds a nice tang, if you ate enough at once. If you pop just a few in your mouth, the vinegar is noticeable but not prominent. Pour a whole bunch into your maw and then your tongue will feel it.

These are highly recommended.

The Corona Diaries Vol. 91 - Prelude: Mounds

(Now read entry #91.)