(Mostly)American  Fruit Beer – 10 Jul 09

Well the new Prez’s first tasting was, apparently, punishment for those who used their guidance and elected him.   Let’s just say that Fruit beers are not our favorite.  Granted we did taste them at room temperature to ensure we captured the flavor and aroma nuances that are masked when a beer is chilled.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  If you must drink these beers (at least most of them, there were a few exceptions) for your own sake, make sure they are as cold as possible.  Aromas of bandaids, stinky feet, cat pee, crotch rot, and “Oh My God What is that stink??” are aromas you really can do without.  These beers are best  left for those who don’t like beer, but still want to play beer pong or flip cup (yes they rank right up there with Old Milwaukee and Coor’s Light).  If you enjoy beer, and still want some fruit flavor, stay with the Belgian Fruit Lambics, or, if you’re lucky enough to have them, New Glarus Raspberry Tart or Belgian Red.  In order not to hurt feelings, the beer rankings will only have the names of the beers tasted and whether or not they made it above a 25 of 50 score

Finals – 7 June 2008

It was time once again for FU to choose a new leader.  One who would drag us from the mire of the last administration to lofty new heights of achievement.  Besides, the Prez was getting tired and wanted out.  So the FU faculty and Staff were gathered, minus a few key members who had real jobs to perform, and underwent this annual tradition of drinking lots of beer before choosing a new leader.  The line up was tough but the Prez was free with hints and all gathered were found worthy of voting.  (Yes a new system was installed to make it more “Democratic”).  After much debate, deals in smoked filled rooms, the counting of the delegates and super-delegates, a clear winner emerged.  And unlike our country, FU was not afraid to elect our first woman President, President Lucy!!  The First Lady, Howard, was overcome with emotion as he called his lovely bride to tell her the good news, and forgot how to work a phone.  There was much rejoicing in the hall as a great sigh of relief was heard because all present dodged the bullet of the Presidency for one more year!

Dark Lagers – 16 May 2008

Well the faculty and staff of FU gathered early this time to fit in the May tasting.  Saturday is Starwberry Social and next week is Memorial day.  Quite a busy May for FU.  Anyway this evenings line up was Dark Lagers – Dunkels, Schwarzbeirs, American Dark lagers and a few Dunkel weiss (different style but it’s all beer).  After tasting the German beers, the American Dark Lagers stuck out like a sore thumb.  They really need to get on the ball with this style.  After the tasting, the Prez brought out some fine Belgian Sour Ales. What an excellent way to end the evening.  Much thanks to the Prez for hosting.

Trappist Night – 19 Apr 08

The final vestiges of our trip to Belgium were consumed on this most holy of nights, as the Prez and Prof John hosted FU’s Trappist Night. All the Trappist breweries were represented including all 3 Westvleteren beers (FU followed Brother Juris’ wishes and shared the beers amongst friends). The food spread was worthy of an Abbot as our hosts went hog-wild with a Duck, goose, venison wrapped in Wild boar bacon, ribs, lamb, fine cheeses and fruit. Each and every beer was a wonder to behold and yet the highlight was the side-by-side comparison of St Bernardus Abt 12 60th Ann versus Westvleteren Abt 12. I’ll not spill the results but let’s say we’ll have to travel to Belgium again to pick up the winner. Big thanks to Prof John and our Beloved Prez for all the wonderful food and for schlepping those Westy’s all over Belgium and Germany

MEADS!!! - 12 Apr 08

Well FU had another off-site tasting as Ass't Prof Ashley hosted FU’s second Mead tasting. Starting slowly with Honey beers, things quickly picked up as we got into the South African Meads. The flavors were wonderful and all were very impressed. Then a quick tour of some Meads for Great Britain and Ireland before crossing the North Sea into Denmark. Everyone started feeling their Viking Blood by now. Then finishing with a lovely Polish Mead. The Meads should come with a warning "Hearing Protection is advised while drinking this beverage" We got loud!! Much thanks to Ashley for hosting her first (and hopefully not her last, if we promise to behave next time) tasting.

Best of the Best 2007 – 31 Dec 2007

Well this is the night we were all waiting for.  The Staff and Faculty of FU got to winnow out the sick, lame and lazy throughout the year, and came up with 20 beers rated World Class. Our job is to pick the best of the Best.  The beer was poured out of sight (to keep the bottle watchers from guessing what it was) and the beers were not identified until all 20  were tasted.  The beers were from Belgium (of course), USA, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark and Austria. despite our best efforts, many of the beers were identified by their distinctive aroma, flavor or aftertaste.  All told, we were only stumped by one beer (Pannepot).  At the end of the night, one beer rose above the rest and was crowned Best of the Best – St. Bernardus Abt 12 (60^th Anniversary). The Belgian beers took the top 4 spots with an American (Jolly Pumpkin La Roja) taking 5th.

Meet the Brewer- 28 Dec 07

Well, FU had a rare treat this evening as we tasted some fine beers brewed by our very own Professor Scott. Scott is home from Blacksburg for the holidays and brought a sample of all the beers he brewed this year. We tasted 16 beers and one Mead and there wasn’t a bad one in the batch.  The flavors ranged from light and citrusy (Dark Witte), to dark, smoky and spicy (Smoked Spiced Ale).  The depth of flavors and complexity in all the beers is quite astonishing for a professional brewer, nevermind a home brewer.  Needless to say the Faculty was very impressed.  The top beer, a Raspberry Stout was rated as World Class,  with 10 others in the Excellent range.  We wish Prof Scott the best of luck with his research, both school and brewing, and can’t wait to see what the next year bring!!

Holiday Beers Part II – 06 Dec 2007

Our good friends at SLL really know how to throw a party.  Following a FU Birthday celebration (Cecilia & Veep) a few of us headed to Elkton and joined a crowd of beer lovers like we've not seen before.  It looked like a Belgian tasting on a Saturday night!  Though we flew the missing man formation without the Veep, we met new friends (Burt and Misty) and instantly voted Burt a member of the inner sanctum due to his vast beer IQ.  We hope they join us again real soon.  Kudos to Prof John for crossing the Hex mark!

Beer, Enjoy!! – 24 Nov 2007

Well the kids were getting ready to go back to school tomorrow, so FU put on a farewell tasting for all our visiting Ass’t Profs.  No special style just some good beer and a few new ones thrown in.  There was a good crowd at the tasting table, and there was no problem in disposing the 29 beers in the flight.  As a special treat, the flight ended with 2 Cantillions, just to show that the first one wasn’t a fluke.  And so as the tasting ended, we bade farewell to visiting Ass’t Prof’s Aisha, Alex, and Eric as they go back to school and work.  I think we may have made a convert or two!!  In the last flurry of tastings, several milestones were made and passed.  Prof’s Wayne, and Bryant have passed the Hex-Centurion point, and the ladies; Grace, Ruth and Lucy; have surpassed the Bi-centurion point.  Congrats to all!!!

Belgium-Germany trip 15-29 Sep 2007

In order to further the Beer education of key FU staff members, Pres Wayne, Veep Bryant and Prof. John (along with their lovely wives Grace and Ruth), explored the beautiful lands of Belgium and Germany.  This trip was two years in the making and was FU’s first overseas excursion.  We knew it was going to be memorable when Cousin Philippe met us at the Brussels Airport at 10:30AM local time (4:30 am our time) and bought us all a Leffe Bruin. After that it was a whirlwind of fine foods, beers, good friends and lovely countryside as we explored the cities of Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Oostende and Beersel.  If you’ve never heard of Beersel, it is the home of a fine little lambic brewery called “3 Fontinien “.  We were treated to a luncheon there where we met all our relatives (T’ante Claire, Uncle Joshua, T’ante Isabel, and Cousins (in no particular order) Stephen, Paul, Bernard, Leen, Rosie and Hilda, (of course Cousin Philippe was there also) along with their husbands, wives and family.  What a wonderful time.  We were given the brewery tour by the brew master’s brother where we were fortunate enough to try 1 year old lambic from the cask, a Geuze lambic and a Kriek Lambic.  They do make wonderful beers!! We bid a sad farewell to Belgium on Monday as we took the train through Luxembourg towards Heidelberg Germany.  The scenery through the Mosel and Rhine River Valleys was awesome.  Heidelberg is a beautiful city and we took the grand tour going up to Konigstuhle and through the castle.  On Wednesday we took our pilgrimage to the greatest beer festival of all, The Oktoberfest in Munich.  It was drizzling and that kept the crowds in the beer halls.  After a few Maas of beers and Lunch, we went downtown to check out the city.  We stumbled across the Augustiner Beer Hall and had a nice break, and then searched and found the Hofbrauhaus where we made new friends and closed out our stay in Munich.  Thursday and Friday were easy days as we explored Karlsruhe, Wurzburg and more of Heidelberg to do some last minute gift shopping. it was with a heavy heart (and heavier luggage) that we said goodbye to Europe and boarded the big bird back to the states.  We’ve learned much, drank many new beers (183 new ones to be exact), made new friends, and reacquainted  with acquaintances.  We will be returning to Belgium and will explore France the next time we go (in three years??).

Harvet Festivus – 8 Sep 07

Well this was our last official tasting before going on our pilgrimage to the wonderful lands of Belgium and Germany. So I’m guessing that in order to increase our appreciation of the fine beers we will find there, our Prez assaulted our taste buds with American Pumpkin ales. This was made all the worse by checking on the research being done by Prof Scott on the taste attributes of different yeasts.  One type of beer, 6 different yeasts, 6 different tastes all of which were excellent.  Keep up the great work Scott, you’ll be President yet!! So after being lured into complacency with fine home brews, we were forced to taste that awful American concotion called Pumpkin Ales.   Luckily after we did the FU version of ‘Punkin Chunkin’, we settled down to the better fall styles of Marzens, Porters and dark Lagers. Double blind tasting showedwe do prefer our dark beers, and again kudos to FU for having the highest rated US beer of the night in Lewis Lager. 

Dawg Days o Summer – 11 Aug 07

            Well the days are long and hot and we’re all looking for that cool yella fizzy beer to quench our thirst.  However this being FU, we want to know which yella fizzy beer will do the best job.  Well actually there are a lot of light bodied ales that are just wonderful on a hot day.  We had an excellent turnout and tried a host of Summer style light (light in color but not in character) beers  from around the world.  I’ll let you check the results, but  you can probably guess the Belgian beers were on top.  Thanks go to Prof  Lucy for hosting the event. And Good luck  to  Ass’t Prof Eric  who is off to study Physical Therapy at Duke University for the next 3 years. 

FU selects new Prez. - 16 Jun 07

After a false start the weekend prior, FU has selected Prof Wayne to be its new President through the administration of a rigorous exam.   The exam not only showed the prowess of beer perception of the new Pres, but also his stamina as he correctly identified 17 of 26 styles, 14 of 26 sub-styles, and amazingly named 8 of the 26 beers, scoring a 116 of a possible 260 points.  The closest rival was Rob with 67, our new rising star Tony with 60, Lucy with a slightly abbreviated 51, and John with a very abbreviated 47.  So now the former Prez will step aside and take the Veep position, as John the former Veep steps down to a yet as-of unnamed faculty slot.  In true FU tradition, the new Prez’s first act was to leave the FU campus on a Beer Evangelism tour to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Godspeed, oh noble Prez!!

Golden Oldies – 19 Aug 2006

The night started with a review of the beers from De Glazen Toren.  They don’t make a bad beer.  However it was merely a warmup for the showdown of the night.  The question was is Achel Extra the same beer as Achliese Kluis (brewed by the same brewery but no longer available here in the US).  After tasting and much discussion, it was determined that they were the same beer, however the Achliese kluis, being two years older had a smoother more refined flavor.  The next step is to keep a bottle of Achliese Kluis and Avhel Exra and try them again in two years (Right as if we can keep Belgian beers around for more than two days).  Anyway, the aging question was further explored by bringing in samples of earlier beers that had done well and tasting them after being aged.  the results aging is good for some but not all beers.  Don’t you just love this kind of research!! Congratulations to Prof Steve L. for reaching Centurion!!