Glass of foam, anyone?

I had no idea what Rayon Vert meant, so naturally, I googled it. Turns out it is French for Green Ray.  Green rays and green flashes are rare optical phenomena that typically occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise.  When looking at the sun, a green spot appears where the sun is when there is a clear view of the horizon.  This spot is visible for a short period of time as the last piece of the top (rayon) of the sun dips below (sunset) or first appears above (sunrise) the horizon.   Depending on visibility, sometimes a green ray appears to shoot up from the sunset point.   

Ahhh, now the brewery/bottle art makes much more sense...

Rayon Vert Belgian-Style Pale Ale (7% ABV)
Green Flash Brewing Company
San Diego, California

Once you get past all the foam (be patient, it lingers in the glass FOREVER), this is a very tasty lil brew.  It is just exceptionally carbonated and foamy.  But after reading other reviews of this beer, it has nothing to do with my storage or pour.  It just likes to foam.  

Maybe that's what they meant when they wrote "continuously evolving" at the bottom of the label...

Where to buy:  this came from my neighborhood Beer Fairy, but I suspect Total Wine

Cost:  unknown

Tart Ale or a boozy soda? You decide.

I generally love fruity beers.  My favorite fruit beer in the world is Fruli Fruit beer, a Strawberry Beligan White Beer, brewed in Ghent, Belgium, which I first tasted at the Secret Beer Garden in London in 2007.   It is more of a smoothie than a beer...which probably has something to do with why I enjoyed it so much.

Who knew when I took these pictures over 6 years ago that they would come in handy for my future beer blog?  On that note, if someone had told me 6 years ago that in 6 years I would be: married, living in a house in suburbia, the mother of two, a dog-lover, a part-time consultant, a part-time fitness instructor teaching 3 classes every week, a home brew junkie and a beer writer on the side -- I would've laughed in their face.  Life is funny like that.

 Today's beer is another one of the beers delivered by the neighborhood Beer Fairy...

Blackberry Tart Ale (5.8% ABV)
Coors Brewing Company
Golden, Colorado

Although I'm not a big Blue Moon fan (unless in a can in my pool), I enjoy trying all their various styles/flavors just to see what they're up to these days.  I was a little excited about this because like I said, I enjoy fruit beers.  But this wasn't much of a beer so much as it was a soda with 5.8% alcohol.  Poured up with a slightly red/purple tint and not much carbonation.  Went down a bit like syrup.  Might have been better on ice through a straw.

But hey, now I know...

Help!! Drink Local, Part 2

Hey Arizonans --- once again, please consider skipping your $4 latte/coffee/bagel for a day and instead put your money to work and help support these three guys and their dream to produce more local beer!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/456929572/veritas-brewing-co

az.worldclassbeer.com

Future home of the new Veritas Brewing Company, hopefully opening soon in the Southwest Valley:
https://veritasbrewingss6.squarespace.com/

veritasbrewingss6.com

Colette and the neighborhood beer fairy

www.beanos.com

I'm not sure about the neighborhood where you live, but my very stucco and suburban neighborhood has a BEER FAIRY.  Yup, you read that right.  A real live beer fairy!!  He/she flies around after dark and occasionally delivers a random assortment of beers to the people in our neighborhood who she knows appreciate good beers.  He/she is a pretty amazing beer fairy because if the beers being delivered are cold, he/she is kind enough to send an email or a text to let you know there are beers outside.  It is quite magical.

The beer fairy left me today's beer hiding in my flower pot out front as part of a mix-and-match six pack a week or so ago.  This should also tell you that my flowers out front are not doing so well if there was room for a six pack in them.  <sigh>

Anyway, according to the brewery website, "Colette is our homage to the saisons that Belgian farm workers have enjoyed for centuries. Brewed with barley, wheat and rice and fermented at high temperatures with a special blend of four different yeast strains, COLETTE is fruity and slightly tart, with a dry finish that makes it that rarest of treats — a beer as refreshing as it is complex."

Colette Farmhouse Ale (7.3% ABV)
Great Divide Brewing Company
Denver, Colorado

It was crisp and clean.  Very bubbly but I happen to think that compliments the farmhouse style beer.  Not overly yeasty like some farmhouse/saison-style brews.  In my world, this is a beer well done.

Recommendations:  ask your real estate agent if there is a beer fairy known in the area before purchasing your next home.  It is a definite perk in our neighborhood.  Grab a few of these and save them for warm weather.  They are crisp, clean and refreshing -- oh, and 7.3% ABV.  Then be sure to get a plastic cup and enjoy this one in the pool throughout the looooooong upcoming summer.