The mission: "How did you get into good beer?"

Now that's an interesting question.

First off, the phrasing is interesting. I've never been into bad beer. I've never even been into light lagers, which is what all too many beer elitists mean when they refer to bad beer. I would think that one wouldn't "get into" something unless it was felt that that thing was good. So why specify good? Shouldn't the question simply be, "How did you get into beer"? Well, I guess it's not really that important.

I remember the first time I drank an alcoholic beverage. A couple of months prior to turning 22, I had some wine. I don't recall the year or the producer, but I know that it was a single-varietal Greek wine made from Moschofilero. I didn't care for it. I also remember the second time I drank an alcoholic beverage. About a month later, I tried Glenfiddich. Now this was something I could get behind, as it didn't taste like spoiled grapes. In fact, it tasted downright good. Being the highly logical person that I am, this caused me to embark on a mission to become a connoisseur of non-distilled alcoholic beverages derived from Vitis vinifera. Yes, that's right: I went back to wine and began amassing as much knowledge as I could about how it was made and how it was supposed to be approached. A couple of months later, having gained a new appreciation for wine, I went back to whisky and other distilled spirits and read voraciously about them.

What does this have to do with beer? Well, it seemed only natural to me that I should give it a try; after all, it was a fairly major division of alcoholic beverages. Having two introductions to disparate beverage families under my belt, I determined not to make the same mistake with beer as I had with wine--it seemed to me that I could do this by learning something about it ahead of time. Sadly, I'm much better at determining that sort of thing than I am at following through. A few days later I was perusing the shelves at my local Trader Joe's and saw beer! Right next to the wine! So I grabbed a four-pack and put it in my cart. Tried a couple of the bottles over the next week, but found it unimpressive. Then I did the voracious reading thing again, tried a few more beers, and haven't looked back since.

So I suppose now is as good a time as any to do some looking back. That first beer was Ommegang's Abbey Ale, and I just so happen to have the fourth and final bottle from that original purchase cellared.

---

Ommegang Abbey Ale

Background: Dubbel-style bottle-conditioned ale from Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York. Non-vintage, and no age code on the bottle; purchased in 2006.

Appearance: Seal is still good and the cap hasn't rusted. A bit of foaming even before the pour. Pours a brownish burgundy with a cap of red-tinted foam.

Nose: Sweet and sour cherries, burnt toffee, plums, and a bit of spice.

Taste: Rich, malty, and fruity, with a lot of spiciness on the high notes and a somewhat wine-like impression overall.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and silky, a bare hint of alcohol.

Overall: Definitely good. Really wants to be paired with food, though; I'd like a nice leg of lamb right now.

Rick Lyke of Lyke 2 Drink hosts this month's event, and has chosen an intriguing topic: animals. To hew purely to the rules, either the beer or the brewery should be named after an actual animal. Personally, I'm not great at rules.

The Kelpie is your standard fairy trickster. A weary traveler coming upon a young horse standing by the side of the road might not be inclined to question his good fortune, but would be wise to do so. The shape-shifting kelpie is particularly fond of that form, and if mounted will bear its rider down to a watery grave. 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth' is not a dictum to follow when dealing with this denizen of the fairy kingdom.

There's also a breed of dogs named the Kelpie, but that is not the source of today's beer's name.

---

Kelpie Seaweed Ale

Background: Brewed from malted barley, hops, and seaweed by Heather Ale Ltd. in Scotland. 4.4% ABV, 500ml brown glass bottle. Purchased as a single bottle for $3.99, best before June 2008.

Appearance: Pours a deep, dark brown (almost black) with a nice creamy tan head.

Smell: Very interesting. Malty sweetness with an earthy, salty seaweed aroma playing over the roasted malts.

Taste: Cocoa and dark chocolate from the malt, the earthy and vegetal seaweed notes add some nice depth. Sweetish, hard to detect any hop influence. The seaweed is almost lost in the porter-like base beer, but does barely manage to hold its own.

Mouthfeel: Almost full-bodied, medium carbonation. Carries you along nicely.

Drinkability: Excellent. Not (as one might expect) just a gimmicky powerfully seaweed flavoured beer, but actually a beer where all the disparate parts of the brew work together to form a harmonious whole. Givvus another, willya?

This month's Session is hosted by Greg Clow of Beer, Beats & Bites, who selected "fruit beers" as the theme for this installment. Fruit beers occupy an interesting niche in the beer world, with a lot of people deriding them as girly or as attempts to cover up the taste in order to appeal to people that don't like beer. Having no such prejudices myself, I decided to cover two very different winter release beers made with cherries.

First up is the local boy: Bell's Brewery in Galesburg, MI produces a Cherry Stout, which is made from barley, malt, and cherry juice and clocks in at 8.5% ABV. Purchased as a single 12 oz. bottle for $2.59.

---

Bell's Cherry Stout

Appearance: Deep, dark brown with a very slight red tint. Minimal reddish-brown head quickly dissipates.

Smell: A hint of roasted malt at the beginning is quickly overwhelmed by sweet and tart cherry aromas.

Taste: Malt presents mainly as cocoa, with a bit of coffee flavour. Sweet-tart cherry overlays the rest, but the flavour doesn't feel integrated at all. Sweet with a sharply sour bite from the cherries. The finish is fairly pleasant, and sticks around for a while.

Mouthfeel: A bit light for a stout, but a good level of carbonation.

Drinkability: Persistently mediocre. Not bad, but not good either.

---

Well, that was a bit disappointing. Let's hope the next beer will do better.

The second is Quelque Chose, a spiced cherry ale from Unibroue in Quebec. This beer is made with roasted malt, and whole cherries are soaked for months in a mildly bitter ale before being blended into the beer. 8% ABV, purchased in a 75 cl bottle for $9.99; the bottle is marked as best before 7-17-2021.

---

Unibroue Quelque Chose

Appearance: A vigorous pour produces no head whatsoever. Deep garnet in colour, slightly cloudy.

Smell: A bit of citrus, some sweet cherry. Mild cinnamon and allspice notes.

Taste: Sweet cherry at the beginning, Christmasy spices start to come through in the middle. Hints of plum. Slightly tart, but mainly just sweet.

Mouthfeel: Thin and syrupy, with minimal carbonation.

Drinkability: Oh, it's definitely drinkable. Beautifully balanced clean flavour, but a nagging question remains: where's the malt? This is definitely pushing the boundaries of what I would consider to be a beer. It's delicious, but the taste is so centered on the fruit that it's more like a wine than an ale.