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You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Beer Blogging / Monty Python’s Holy Grail

Monty Python’s Holy Grail

by Michael D.|  November 19, 20071:09 pm| 20 Comments

This post is in: Beer Blogging

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I promised myself I wouldn’t drink on my vacation and get some stuff done around the house, play with the dogs, etc. I just went over to Kroger to pick up a couple things, and walked past this. How could I resist?

Monty Python Holy Grail Ale

It’s Monty Python’s Holy Grail, and it was brewed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the comedy legends. It’s 1:00 here now, but since I’ve been up since 5 (another thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do on vacation) I decided to go ahead and drink it. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not really great at describing beer, but this stuff is pretty good. For the aficionados out there, here is the description from Beer Advocate.

Dusty orange-gold with an abundance of fine, suspended bits. The pastel orange tinted, cream colored head is sticky enough to lay down a better than average amount of lace in chunky, concentric rings. A good look.

The nose, unfortunately, isn’t so good. It smells like lightly musty grain with a subtle whiff of English hops. I’m not sure that I want it to be more aromatic because what’s appreciated isn’t all that wonderful.

Things start out promisingly enough on the palate with a fruity, spicy hoppiness. Because of undermalting, the flavor deteriorates quickly to become harsh and mineral-like with a ragged, unsupported bitterness. The beer doesn’t feel flat in terms of carbonation, but flat in terms of flavor. There’s an echo of reasonable hop flavor on the finish, but it’s too little, too late.

I disagree completely. I didn’t see any bits, and the flavor lasts. Little to no head though, which is a downside, in my opinion.

Here’s the official Web site.

Added: By the way, the little blurb at the bottom of the bottle reads: “Tempered over burning witches.” Heh.

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Reader Interactions

20Comments

  1. 1.

    Punchy

    November 19, 2007 at 1:10 pm

    Beer blogging on a Monday? uh…err….hmmmm….

  2. 2.

    Michael D.

    November 19, 2007 at 1:12 pm

    I know. I know. I’m off though! :-)

  3. 3.

    Dennis-SGMM

    November 19, 2007 at 1:19 pm

    Dang! That’s a lot of purple prose for a bottle of suds.

    My idea of a beer review:

    “Old Phillistine tastes pretty good. It’s cheap and I was shitfaced after one sixpack.”

  4. 4.

    Eric S

    November 19, 2007 at 1:29 pm

    I found a bottle of this stuff in the back of my ‘fridge over the weekend. I’m pretty sure I got it as a Christmas gift last year or maybe even the year before. A buddy and I split it and it was surprisingly good. I agree with Beer Advocate on the taste although I didn’t think it faded that badly. They are spot on with the aroma though! Knowing it had been hiding in the back of the ‘fridge for a year or more after the first whiff I almost dumped it out. Saner heads prevailed though and a good beer was enjoyed.

  5. 5.

    Billy K

    November 19, 2007 at 1:40 pm

    I was pleasantly surprised by Holy Grail Ale. Nothing to write home about, though. I’ve never felt compelled to buy it again, as there are just so many great ales.

  6. 6.

    Bombadil

    November 19, 2007 at 1:50 pm

    Glad to hear it didn’t taste bad. I figured that this one was more an excuse for the label than what was inside the bottle.

  7. 7.

    Libby Spencer

    November 19, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Back when I lived in the land of package stores, I bought many a disappointing beer, not to mention some really dismal wines because the label was so great.

    That’s one thing I don’t understand about this state I live in now. You buy booze in an ABC store, that doesn’t sell wine or champagne, much less beer. And it seems you can only get beer in the grocery store. Weird.

  8. 8.

    RodeoBob

    November 19, 2007 at 2:42 pm

    This beer is an example of the corillary to “Booze-bottle” rule of hard liquor. For the uninitiated, the rule can be stated thusly:

    “The quality of liquor contained within a bottle shifts in inversely proportions to the quality of said container.”

    Similarly, after drinking many, many microbrews and craft beers, I’ve come to the following conclusion:

    Any beer based on a pun, innuendo, or obvious joke will be bad. The quality of a beer can quickly be estimated by reviewing how many graphic designers worked on the label. Evidence includes Alesmith’s “Horny Devil”, the immaculately designed labels for the Avery Brewing products, and numerous other offenders.

  9. 9.

    Carnacki

    November 19, 2007 at 2:44 pm

    Uh, weren’t vacations made for drinking? Why would you have planned to lay off during a vacation?

  10. 10.

    Dennis-SGMM

    November 19, 2007 at 3:16 pm

    OT: Remember that Blog Reading Level thingy from six or seven threads ago?

    I set up a blog through Blogspot, chose a template and then posted nothing after that. Nada, zip. So, I just fed the URL into the rating system and it came back with “Genius”!

    I hereby claim the Zen Blogging Award.

  11. 11.

    ThymeZone

    November 19, 2007 at 3:41 pm

    I promised myself I wouldn’t drink on my vacation

    Good god man, are you mad?

  12. 12.

    r€nato

    November 19, 2007 at 4:07 pm

    I found a bottle of that stuff in Encinitas and I still have it. Empty of course.

    It’s an OK ale, not spectacular… but with that brand name, how come it’s not in every liquor store??? It’s like they are trying to keep it a secret.

  13. 13.

    r€nato

    November 19, 2007 at 4:08 pm

    oh I found that in 2004… so it’s not exactly new.

  14. 14.

    Sour Kraut

    November 19, 2007 at 4:13 pm

    Lemon Curry?

  15. 15.

    canuckistani

    November 20, 2007 at 8:45 am

    It has a bouquet like an aborigine’s armpit.

  16. 16.

    Michael D.

    November 20, 2007 at 9:45 am

    Why would you have planned to lay off during a vacation?

    I have a research proposal to write.

  17. 17.

    Adrian

    November 20, 2007 at 9:55 am

    I liked the Holy Ale too when I stumbled across it too, but due to its marketing I keep associating it with another surprisingly good beer; He’Brew.

    Their site: The Shmaltz Brewing Company (and yes it is kosher)

  18. 18.

    Tim F.

    November 20, 2007 at 10:06 am

    Any beer based on a pun, innuendo, or obvious joke will be bad. The quality of a beer can quickly be estimated by reviewing how many graphic designers worked on the label.

    You should try Marilyn Merlot some time. Ech.

  19. 19.

    Cinderella Ferret

    November 20, 2007 at 10:12 am

    Little to no head though …

    The more head the better I always say.

  20. 20.

    Fade

    November 20, 2007 at 3:16 pm

    guys that sit around and critique beers like wines should be burnt at the stake.

    … grumble grumble…

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