Friday Beer Post: 2011 Gameday Beer-o-the-week - tOSU Edition

Each week throughout the football season I'm going to suggest a good beer for the ubiquitous pre-game tailgate. Let's be honest, with tailgates it's not always top quality that you're looking for. To steal a phrase from the heinous beer terrorists at Budweiser, you want "drinkability." (or what a real beer connoisseur calls "a session beer") So, be warned, these may not be "the best" beers around. But, in the words of Dave Chappelle as Samuel L. Jackson "IT'LL GET YOU DRUNK!" 

As far as I know, there are no breweries in the state of Ohio that produce a beer that is widely available in Colorado.  This creates a problem for me when trying to pick an appropriate beer to have when CU is playing THE Ohio State University.  So, please, excuse me as I go a little outside the box on this one.

A Buckeye, for those of you who aren't familiar with America's lamest mascot, is a nut grown from the American buckeye tree, which also happens to be the state tree of Ohio.  The nut itself is mildly poisonous, and was used by pioneers in the tanning of leather.  It makes for a very underwhelming mascot.

Fearsome looking, I know.

Since Ohio has a limited brewing culture, and their nut mascot is all I can latch onto, I decided to "hop across the pond" to tab an English Brown Ale, which are widely known for their "nutty" flavor.  My favorite of this variety is not only well-known and widely available, but also quite tasty.  I'm naming Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale as my tailgate beer-o-the-week.

After going with the exceedingly average last week, this week I've tabbed quality.  Sammy Smith's Nut Brown is a darn good beer, and one that allows you to feel haughty and cultured just by displaying it at your watch-party.

Expectantly toasty and nutty-sweet, the beer ends with a contrasting bitterness on the finish.  While malty, it doesn't taste heavy, and you can have more than one without feeling weighed down in suds.  As with most English ales, it is probably best consumed after it has warmed up a bit out of the fridge.  If you're looking for something different, I suggest buying a few of the 550ml bottles for your tailgate; you won't be sorry.



Happy Friday!  Go Buffs, Beat the Buckeyes!