10-15-13 Tigers and Atwater

Flashback

On October 13, 2012 the Detroit Tigers had a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth against the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS. Jose Valverde's meltdown had been brewing for some time having struggled all season and already blowing one save in the playoffs [the Tigers lead the A's 3-1 in Game 4 of the ALDS and eventually lost when after Jose Valverde gave up three consecutive hits to the A's]. Valverde entered the bottom of the ninth of Game 1 of the ALCS and gave up two home runs. The Tigers eventually won in the twelfth but Jose Valverde was no longer the closer the for the Tigers.  The only thing that I really enjoyed while Valverde completely broke my heart was the Atwater Dirty Blonde I had in my hand at the time.

Papa Grande during his playoff meltdown

Buy or Sell

The Tigers Bullpen

I'm selling the Tigers bullpen, it was the downfall last year in the playoffs and I don't see it as being any other better. In Game 2 of the ALCS the bases were loaded with  2 outs and the Tigers had turned to their closer Joaquin Benoit to shut down the Red Sox. David Ortiz hit a grand slam off Benoit and nightmares of Jose Valverde's return came flooding into my head. For a second I thought it was 2012 all over again and Papa Grande was on the stage. Even after four relievers and Joaquin Benoit the Red Sox were able to tie the ALCS at one game each. The Tigers bullpen features AL Albuquerque Jose Veras, Jeremy Bonderman, and Phil Choke er I mean Coke. There's no arguing against the strength of the Tiger's starting rotation, their bullpen is a totally different story.  Albuquerque is the best pitcher in the bullpen with an era of 2.98, which is worrisome for the Tigers especially when Justin Verlander pitches scoreless innings but doesn't get any run support. I thought back in the spring that the Tigers should have made a move for Brian Wilson [he does have a career postseason era of 0.00], if the Dodgers don't sign Wilson to a long term deal the Tigers ought to or at least  try to get better relievers,  after all relievers have been [as of late] and are going to continue to be the kryptonite of the Tiger's, especially in the playoffs.

Phil Choke [I mean Coke]

Back to the beer

While Valverde caved under pressure in the playoffs, I did only what any other heartbroken Tiger's fan would have done-I drank. I sat on the couch drinking one of the last summer beers I could get my hands onto -Atwater's Dirty Blonde Ale. Atwater Dirty Blonde Ale was one of those ales that I remember being bland. It's like Atwater is trying to mass produce their beers and steer away from the true heart of craft brewing -beer taste. On my phone I keep a sort of journal to record my musings on different craft beers which I try, looking back on Atwater's Dirty Blonde this is what I had written down

Atwater's Dirty Blonde

[1] Clear yellow body

[2] Citrus smell

[3] It combines nicely and has a sweet aftertaste and finish

[4] A smooth and sort of creamy beer

Overall Dirty Blonde isn't that bad, but it isn't that great either. It's one of those beers that lies in the middle, it isn't as bad as mass produced beers but it feels like it lacks the handmade quality of good craft beers. It's one of those beers that I just find it hard to rave about.

History Lesson

 Atwater Brewing was founded in 1997 with the sole purpose of carrying on the rich history of breweries in Detroit [Stroh's anyone?]. Atwater uses a traditional style of German brewing operating on a Kasper Schultz brewing system. They bought the system itself from a company in Germany and use German malts and hops for their traditional style lagers while their specialty beers use American hops.

Atwater's current owner Mark Reith started investing in Atwater in 2002 and by 2005 he owned the company outright. With his ownership he brought a vision of producing the highest quality beers while putting Detroit back on the national brewery map [didn't I say something about Dirty Blonde Ale feeling more like a mass produced beer than a quality craft brew?].

Atwater currently produces 19 different beers, 8 are year round,  6 are seasonal and 5 are single batch series. The beers Atwater produces are as follows:

Year Round

[1] Atwater Dirty Blonde

[2] Atwater Vanilla Java Porter

[3] Atwater Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale

[4] Atwater Detroit Pale Ale

[5] Atwater D-Light

[6] Atwater Grand Circus IPA

[7] Atwater Purple Gang Pilsner

[8] Atwater Voodoo Vator

Seasonal

[9] Atwater Bloktober

[10] Atwater Cherry Stout

[11] Atwater Mai-Bock

[12] Atwater Summer Time Ale

[13] Atwater Traverse City Cherry Wheat

[14] Atwater Winter Bock

Single Back Series

[15] Atwater Conniption Fit

[16] Atwater Shaman's Porter

[17] Atwater Teufel Bock

[18] Atwater Uber Ursa Imperial Pils

[19] Atwater VJ Black

One Final Note

Atwater seems to be another big brewery that tries to mass produce its "crafts" and in doing so they lack in true quality of craft. The Tigers also lost a close on in Game 3 of the ACLS with Mike Napoli hitting a solo shot in the seventh. Thank goodness it's a seven game series otherwise I'd start to worry. I still think the Tigers have the stuff to go all the way to the World series [again] but I still strongly believe that their bullpen is going to be the reason that they don't win it all [unfortunately].