The Governator

[hopjack13]

i saw this beer at bevmo and i guess it's only available in california from the pumping iron brewing co . and get this in portland or.
has anyone tried this stuff? i thought it was some kind of scam or something so i didn't pick any up. but im curious to how it measured up ? tastewise ?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107517,00.html

and here (http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-002105.php)

[Tweek]

I have heard of this but havent seen it yet. As soon as I do I will try it and let you know what I think.

[hopjack13]

from what i've read it's an esb...but i'll wait for your report ;)

[davesarman]

Heard about it, haven't tried it. I can't believe they made it an ESB. With a name like Governator, it should be a dopplebock! Plus it would give them the perfect tag line of "I'll be bock!" :p

[hopjack13]

lmao :D they shoulda talked to you first!

[steveh]

Originally posted by davesarman
With a name like Governator, it should be a dopplebock! Plus it would give them the perfect tag line of "I'll be bock!" :p

Indeed, in both instances! And it is an ESB. The Paulaner Monks aren't going to be at all happy!

http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-002105.php

S.

[S.F.B.]

The beer is actually brewed by Portland Brewing and is available here as well, if I'm not mistaken. Here is a link to their site.

http://www.macsbeer.com/brews_governator.html

[hopjack13]

wow...they lost me????

The Governator Ale is a craft-brewed ESB (extra special bitter) styled after England’s finest “session” beers. The ale is easy-drinking, well-hopped and a bit stronger in alcohol than most craft beers.

if it's high in alcohol it's not really a session beer is it?
i wasn't aware that an esb was a fine "session" beer???
Mr. English??? can you confirm?

[chazwicke]

I've heard and read about it too. Now we need one of you Californians to step up and give us a review.

[hopjack13]

i'll wait for tweek, then again i may give it a go. but here's (http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/ShowBeer.asp?BeerID=29937) ther reviews so far.

[Tweek]

im on it as soon as I find it.

[threecb]

Originally posted by davesarman
I can't believe they made it an ESB. With a name like Governator, it should be a dopplebock!


I'm with you, I woulda thought that it was for sure gonna be in that style...

[fretlessman71]

I'm sure they wanted it to sell AND be tasted and consumed... and for those who just wanted the collectors item, what's the point of making an expen$ive brew of they're just going to put the bottle on the windowsill for the next 8 years?

Congrats on 300 threecb!

[davesarman]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
I'm sure they wanted it to sell AND be tasted and consumed...

I think you got it right with that observation, fret. I sent an email to the brewer from their website asking why it wasn't a dopplebock. Here's the reply I got (I don't think he'd mind my posting his response here):

Dave,
Thanks for your cogent comments on Governator. You are correct on the "ator" suffix denoting a doppelbock and we here at Portland Brewing do in fact make an 18 degree plato doppelbock under the Saxer label (Jack Frost). However, the secret to every successful brewery is to make a profit. To that end we have produced a delightful hoppy ale that is more akin to the Kaleefornia Kraft palate than the afore mentioned Teutonic Blitzkrieg and it has the added benefit of not rendering you unconcious after consuming one bottle. We were just trying to inject a lttle mirth into the Kaleefornia Gubanatorial proceedings.
Best Regards,
Alan Kornhauser
Brewmaster


I thought it was good of him to respond personally and to be honest in saying that it was basically a sales move to make it an ESB. I still think it shoulda been a dopplebock tho...:)

[fretlessman71]

Hmmph... "KALEEfornia..." Damn Democrats.... ;)

(Just kidding! I have no idea what his political leanings are, nor is it a concern to me. All I really care about is that he makes good beer, and seems to be a reallyi nice guy.)

[threecb]

definitely cool of him to respond,
and inject some wit into it as well...
the big three'll tell you that marketing makes the world go round...

thanks for the congrats, fret. may I one day attain such prestigious
heights as you have...:p

[fretlessman71]

Hey... just be glad you have a LIFE... :p

[threecb]

actually, it's probably because I don't have
a high speed connection at home!

[chazwicke]

OK Fret you won!! you deserve a mega congrats for that 900th!!!

[S.F.B.]

I was thinking about going down to the brewery for the dock sale. I will see if they have some of this in the tap room to sample.

[chazwicke]

Happy 400th post SFB!!

[hopjack13]

hey , they have a lot of those doc sales out your way don't they?
i've never heard of any down here..... i have a friend i trade with up there (batkins you out there?) and he has mentioned doc sales at rouge and other brewerys in the portland area. he even sent me a skullsplitter from rouge. i guess it was a test batch (thats what it said on the bottle) but when i got home my wife had consumed it already! DAMN IT!:mad:

[S.F.B.]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Happy 400th post SFB!!

Thanks chaz.

[S.F.B.]

Originally posted by hopjack13
hey , they have a lot of those doc sales out your way don't they?
i've never heard of any down here..... i have a friend i trade with up there (batkins you out there?) and he has mentioned doc sales at rouge and other brewerys in the portland area. he even sent me a skullsplitter from rouge. i guess it was a test batch (thats what it said on the bottle) but when i got home my wife had consumed it already! DAMN IT!:mad:

I had only heard of the ones at Portland Brewing. I just got an e-mail from them and Governator is on the list as available on the dock. I am going to have to try it before I commit to a case of 22 oz'er, though. They also have the Black Watch Cream Porter Boubon aged on sale. $28 for a case of 12 22's. I'll have to look into the others sales.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by chazwicke
OK Fret you won!! you deserve a mega congrats for that 900th!!!

I'm starting to wonder if congratulations are in order or sympathy anymore.... :p

[hopjack13]

Originally posted by S.F.B.
I had only heard of the ones at Portland Brewing. I just got an e-mail from them and Governator is on the list as available on the dock. I am going to have to try it before I commit to a case of 22 oz'er, though. They also have the Black Watch Cream Porter Boubon aged on sale. $28 for a case of 12 22's. I'll have to look into the others sales.

so i take it you can only buy by the case? i think thats what batkins told me a while back, he bought some mocha porter and....something else but he bought them all by the case too.
( hey batkins why don't you post anymore??) i think he could tell you better then me, but i wish they do stuff like that down here!

[fretlessman71]

Someone needs to buy a case of these and swap them out all across realbeer.com land! Any takers?

[hopjack13]

maybe for the collectability but i couldn't vouch for the beer.

[chazwicke]

I still want to send you some decent bottle conditioned beers Fret. I am done with travel for a few weeks (except for this weekend) I'll get together a box for you. I want to send another to Steveh too.

[Tweek]

and Tweek too Damnit!

[toneyc]

And, and, and Toney, too! ...yeah! That's it! Toney, too!

:)
Toney.

[S.F.B.]

Would anyone be interested in some trades for a bottle of this? Maybe a group purchase or something? I am probably going to go down to the dock next week to check it out. If there is enough interest I would be willing to grab some.

[fretlessman71]

I'm curious.... don't know if I'd be interested... on the other hand, I could send you some extra homebrew with the 2 bottles I already owe you ( think I'm going to wait until my stout gets bottled... it's SO much better than the porter!), and maybe that would warrant a bottle of "I'll be back"! Whaddya think?

[toneyc]

I would definitely be interest in several bottles.

:)
Toney.

[danno]

I would be too, if it's any good...

[fidcastro]

I got 4 bottles on Friday. Didn't try it until about an hour ago when I was lamenting the day in Football.:(

Not that I'm a big Colts or Eagles fan. I'm actually a Chargers fan, so my season was shot months ago... Anyway, about the Governator...

I'm surprised they are calling it an ESB. Much too sweet to be an ESB, and not especially bitter at all. It was very smooth, but like I said, very sweet, and neither hoppy nor malty. It was easy to drink with no real pronounced flavor. My guess is that they were going for "easy to drink" and counted on the name to sell it. Not a stellar beer. My wife likes it though, so she gets the other 3 bottles.