Stellar Margaritas and Mexican Beer

This evening I had dinner and drinks at El Guapos, which is a Mexican restaurant noted for their margarita selection. Although the focus of my research is on beer, I couldn't resist ordering a couple margaritas. I started out with a Margarita Ponche de Fruta Blood Orange, which tasted like a fruity ice cream slushy. Yum yum. My next selection was the Hibiscus Margarita, described on the menu as "the beauty of a Mexican flower infused with a margarita." It was pink, sweet and delicious. Once I had my margarita fix, I decided to switch to beer.

El Guapos offers a decent beer selection, including a variety of Mexican beers. I ordered a Carta Blanca. I looked up the English translation of the phrase and apparently it means 'unlimited power.' Interesting name for a beer. Many of the Mexican beers seem to be pretty similar in style. Pale lagers with slightly more flavor than Bud Light. I found Carta Blanca to be one of the better Mexican beers I've tried. It tasted very crisp with a light and fairly carbonated body. There seemed to be a hint of fruitiness to it, but I wouldn't describe it as a sweet beer. I tried to check out their website to get some more insight on the beer, but unfortunately, no hablo espanol. I thought the beer was easy enough to drink, non offensive, but not much complexity to it.

After I finished the Carta Blanca, I went for a Pacifico, but I put a lime in the bottle and the only descriptive word I could come up with after that was 'limey,' if that's even a word. I'll have to give that one a try at some other point, without the lime.

Oktoberfest

This weekend I'm visiting my friend in Dallas, who conveniently lives in an apartment complex located just a couple minutes walk away from the Oktoberfest in Addison Park, which ended today. In a historical context, Oktoberfest is a festival meant to celebrate the marriage of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage in 1810. In a more contemporary context, Oktoberfest is basically an excuse to do the chicken dance, wear stupid hats and drink beer. Good beer. Oktoberfest style beers are generally seasonal lagers, brewed especially for the occasion. Many of the Oktoberfest beers are moderately darker and stronger in taste and alcohol than other lagers, featuring a malty and complex flavor.

Upon entry into the festival, I headed straight for the beer tent. Paulaner, a brewery in Munich, Germany, was the official sponsor of the event. They offered two beers: Paulaner Oktoberfest and Paulaner Munchen, which is their original lager. The 16 oz. beers were priced at $4.00, and 20 oz. souvenir stein glasses featuring the Paulaner logo were available for $11.00 (beer included). Not a bad price for such a tasty beer. I opted for the Oktoberfest beer (naturally). The beer went down very smoothly; perhaps it was the hot and humid Texas weather that made it especially desirable, but it really hit the spot. It is a beer that's reddish-amber in color, with a faint hoppy taste. As previously mentioned, Oktoberfest beers are a bit stronger in alcohol content, this one being 6%. After my second one I was feeling slightly tipsy, and the German food became equally appealing as the beer. The skillet potatoes had been highly recommended, so we waited in line for 15 minutes to try them out. I did still have a beer in my hand, which made the line more tolerable. Well worth the wait.

On another note, what they say isn't true: not EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas. Tulsa's Oktoberfest blows Addison's out of the water. I'm very much looking forward to attending the festival in my home town, which takes place October 18-21. The Tulsa festival features more beer, more food, more people, and more fun than Addison. Beers from German breweries Spaten and Warsteiner will be available, as well as domestic beer (not recommended): Budweiser, Coors, and Miller. I'll be hanging out by Die Bierstube (German for "the beer tube") wearing a stupid hat doing the chicken dance.

In the meantime, if you're in the mood for some good Oktoberfest beers, McNellies has them in stock. From now until the end of October, a different Oktoberfest beer will be featured as the weekly special. We also have an Oktoberfest flight (for those that are unfamiliar, it's a platter of beer samples) which is a good way to go if you don't want to just choose one.

Cheers Darlin'

It's my job as a bartender to know about beer. Especially working at a place like McNellies, with 60 beers on draft and another 200-ish in bottles. I've decided to expand my knowledge, and yours, by drinking more beer and blogging about it. It's important to know what I'm selling, don't you think? Hanging around in the pub for three years has given me ample opportunities to drink a lot of different beers. I've always considered it a recreational pastime, but now my focus has changed to educational purposes. From this day on, I will drink beer for the sake of research.