tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75036196868760725672024-02-19T00:15:20.262-06:00The Beer BrothaReviews of Breweries, Brewpubs, and Beers from a Beer EnthusiatThe American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.comBlogger522125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-49083388764392395162013-03-17T20:30:00.000-05:002013-03-17T20:36:03.675-05:00Beering in Austin, TX: Bangers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Figured we could clear out the ol' Ipad of beer notes</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So back in November I was asked to do some interviews for the company. The beauty is that after the convention I had a little down time and the family came up. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> As I was in Austin, TX, good beer is pretty much EVERYWHERE. The 7-11 has a killer craft beer selection. So we needed some food in someplace new, so I found this German beer garden that specialized in wild game. Winning!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">State: At <a href="http://bangersaustin.com/" target="_blank">Bangers Sausage House and Beer Garden.</a> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">First off my daughter was not having ANYTHING to do with what they called Hot Dog at Bangers, so I had to walk to IHOP to get Bella a waffle. It was either that or leave all together. Boy I was upset and thirsty as hell. Ordered the flight of hops and grain and local stuff</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.thirstyplanet.net/" target="_blank">Thirsty Planet Yellow Armadillo</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Very clear with a banana light nose. The beer has a great banana and some poofy ester character. The beer is incredibly lit and refreshing. Just a little watery for a hot second but gives to a light lemony bitterness. Low 3 stars</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.hopsandgrain.com/" target="_blank">Hops and Grain Alt-eration</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Very lacy head with ruby brown color with cinnamon caramel nose. The taste has a nice cookie caramel thing going on. Great bitterness throughout probably making it a little more American. The hops are a pinch harsher than I expected for an alt, but this can work. 3 stars.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Oh good the venison and antelope with cinnamon and clove sausage showed up. That's right, Venison and Antelope with Cinnamon and Clove.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hops and Grain Pale Dog</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Great hoppy nose, almost piney and malty. Damn that's good. Perfectly balanced malt and hops. Maybe the best pale ale I've ever had. Can I call it 5 stars with that simple perfection?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.pedernalesbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Pedernales Lobo Negro</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What you call me? Great light body with a fantastic dark malt character. High 3 stars. Could become my new go to beer when I'm in the Hill Country.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hops and Grain Belgian Pale Ale</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Oh yeah, that nose has the same pale ale but with some Belgian esters. Fantastic beer with a mod piney hops, caramel malt, and the yeasty notes for the Belgian side. 3 stars.</span></div>
The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-4532696566827057372013-03-10T18:59:00.000-05:002013-03-17T20:37:15.622-05:00Beering In China: Shanghai Nights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Day two and we roamed the streets of Shanghai looking at the fantastic scenery, an interesting mixture of western shopping and eastern shopping and Cuban cigars. Lots of fun around The Bund.<br />
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<img src="http://p21chong.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/the-bund-area-in-shanghai.jpg" /><br />
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The one thing I'm not sure about is who took more pictures. Me of the amazing Chinese modern and colonial architecture, or the Chinese people of me. It was like I was a part of the damn tour! It was not so the personnel that were local citizens. It seemed like it was more of the tourists groups from other Asian countries. <br />
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"And over on the left we have the American Negro. You typically will only see them on television rapping and this one may 'bust a rhyme' for you if you ask politely. Feel free to use flash photography."<br />
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Before Obama I imagine all they saw of us was 50 Cent and P. Diddy, fantastic. We all just went along with it after a while. I can only imagine what it's like if some these guys when they come to and they find themselves surrounding by blackfolk on like the MARTA.<br />
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But I digress.<br />
So we hit the tour bus and make our way to Suzhou. After hitting some tourist destinations we hit the Brussels Beer and Wine Bar on our own. How we got there was I looked it up on Google Maps and go the walking directions, however they called a cab for us at the hotel. It was located on the Jinji Lake with one road in and one road out, the Li Gong Di baby!!<br />
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<img src="http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/1034687.jpg" />. <br />
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Around 9PM the area was bouncing with a series of western style bars We figured we would start at Brussels and then waltz over to the German beer house across the street after some cigars and beer for starters. The cafe was supposed to have live music, however it had the male DJ singing Mary J. Blige on Karaoke. Otherwise this place was huge and it was empty.<br />
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The place however was FULL of cigars, Huka, and beer. SCORE!!<br />
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Beer Log: October 14, 2012<br />
State: At the Brussels Beer and Wine in Suzhou<br />
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<a href="http://www.chimay.com/en/en.html?IDC=27" target="_blank">Chimay White</a><br />
Came in the bottle but had the proper goblet. The bar was very comfortable by the way with the dark red decor. Not bad. It was three of us so we just hung out in the back Beer was a dark amber color with a big white lacy head. Light estery banana, caramel, and cherry nose. Moderate bitterness with a strong caramel and plum flavor. It's kinda off though and a pinch cardboardy. I think it may have been there a while actually. No rating.<br />
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While we were just shooting the breeze, the bartender came up and said "We are going home". So we packed up and made our way outside to hit that German place. When we walked outside the Li Gong Di was a GHOST TOWN. All the bars and restaurants were dead. Lights off. No people. Minimal street lights in comparison to the LED and Neon wonderland we walked into just 2 hours prior. <br />
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And it was only 11PM. We saw one taxi driving into the peninsula, and I told our folks we are walking 2.5km through the city or getting this taxi when he comes back, as there is only one road. We did flag the taxi however the dude did not speak or read mandarin as far as we could tell. Luckily I had a little charge on my phone and still had the directions on them. I just pointed our way around town and we made it back to the hotel.<br />
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Apparently, after about 11PM you can forget it.</div>
The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-54427581623022345272013-02-03T09:49:00.000-06:002013-02-03T09:49:02.209-06:00Beering in China: The Flight Out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So it turns out that our International vacation in 2012 found us going to China. We were thinking Brazil... well honestly I was thinking Europe. As far as I'm concerned, I can travel to Europe EVERY year. First off it has incredible Continental infrastructure so I don't have to THINK about driving or getting on a stodgy bus to get around. Great architecture, cooler weather than Houston (which isn't saying much)... and um LOTS of different types of beer.<br />
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The wife and I like to travel with other couples and some friends of our were going to Shanghai with their employee network and we were allowed to tag along. So a few grand and some Mandarin food planning sessions later and off we go.<br />
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So I figured for this trip I'm going to throw out all my old assumptions and just blog up every beer I have on this trip if possible. So let's get started.<br />
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Beer Log: October 11, 2012<br />
State: Late Morning flight (just after Beer 30). Flight is delayed to San Francisco. Hanging out in the United Lounge<br />
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Besides the great networking opportunities, comfortable seating, and great wireless, the United Club also has free beer and spirits. Each club around the world tends to have a local beer on tap as well as Heineken and a Bud Light. However I am a Heineken guy ever since my last trip to Amsterdam, so let's go. <br />
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<a href="http://www.heinekenusa.com/pages/agecheck.aspx" target="_blank">Heineken</a><br />
Clear and straw colored. Head is thin and white with some decent lacing on the glass. The nose has a little bit of fresh green beans. Taste has a cracker thing to it, almost like sun chips or maybe a lowfat pita bread you can get from Kroger, not so much the pita bread at one of the good HEB's. 4 Stars for one of my go to beers. The wife is chopping it up with George Foreman, who actually hangs out in this lounge all the time at Bush Airport. I do have on my Precision MMA shirt on, so I could feel froggy. But nevermind.<br />
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So the flight was so delayed that our pick up flight to San Francisco was going to be a photo finish. Our trip coordinator left their thinking cap at home and did not bring her cellphone, so everyone was basically on their own. The wife and I ended up getting on two seats to a flight going to LAX and then onward to Shanghai, getting us there about 30 minutes after the original flight. Plus that flight to LAX and then to Shanghai had TV's with all the movies while the flight from SFO featured the sound of a jet engine as in-flight entertainment. SCORE!<br />
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State: LAX was a new airport for both of us so we ended up not having time to hoof it to the United Club and found our way to a little Karl Strauss bar near the Baja Fresh. Apparantly Baja Fresh is the best place known to man if you ask the folks out there.<br />
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<a href="http://www.karlstrauss.com/" target="_blank">Karl Strauss Amber Lager </a><br />
Amber color, good caramel and toasty nose to it. Tastes fantastic after the flight for sure. The flavor is a nice melange of toasted English muffin with a dusting of brown sugar. High 3 stars.<br />
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They did not have anything else available so we hit the flight. Luckily they had free drinks on the flight although we were in Economy Plus and I made it through all the Avenger series of movies. <br />
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After landing we caught up with our team, waited for a few folks, and made it late to the hotel. We found our way to what they call the "American Embassy"... Kentucky Fried Chicken. I was eating fried chicken like it was nectar and ambrosia. We checked in to the Marriot (very American I know) and found the hotel bar. Although I've had it very often, we got ourselves some...<br />
<img src="http://business.missouri.edu/zou/Pics/China/shanghai-KFC.jpg" /><br />
State: Headache, been up 36 hours, late night in Shanghai.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tsingtaobeer.com/" target="_blank">Tsingtao</a><br />
They had it in a bottle instead of on tap. Whatever's clever. No nose and brilliantly clear. Taste has a light sugar sweetness and moderate hops yielding some veggie flavor. Refreshing after being up 36 hours. High 2 Stars.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tigerbeer.com.sg/index_web.asp" target="_blank">Tiger Draught</a><br />
Green 22 oz bottle. Clear again and very fizzy gold beer. Not much to it in the taste. Bud Light of Singapore if you ask me. But that's all we go so I'll have another. 1 Star.<br />
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The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-24580073141133540702012-12-27T14:28:00.001-06:002012-12-27T14:28:50.700-06:00Shiner Farmhouse AleFirst Shiner makes a Pale Ale which turned into one of my favorite session beers in Texas, and these guys are making a Farmhouse Ale! In the words of Wally from Dilbert "that's crazy talk". Anyway I found a nice six pack of the FM966 at the Kroger by my house. That Kroger must know some beer nerds are near by, as they went from standard BMC fare to plenty of Saint Arnold, all three Karbach, and seasonals from Sam Adams and Shiner. <br />
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Beer log: Right now<br />
state: relaxing at home watching A Football Life<br />
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Shiner FM 966<br />
Poured this one into my Central Market Brewniveristy tulip glass. I forgot how badass Marcus Allen was... Pours orangish and clear with a lasting white head. Nose has a nice sourdough cracker and lit banana. The taste is a light lemon sourness and choppy carbonation. The beer has a flavor that's hard to nail, but its almost like a leathery saddle or something. I think that's perfect for the farmhouse style. Congrats to Shiner for making very clean beers with ever expanding styles. Low 3 stars for me, still not a huge sour man. I always wondered what would happen if the cleanliness, skill, and consistency of a 100 year old plus brewery put its food in craft beer. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6vRKQCzM0Ff-FZSatm5S-RcS3gwAeVRQgcgwanVhW_yCoCXrbFjBUdFkQz6z6Rha2iwspdRnJwJ-ekHkUN53fQ_h-0EnskpiFjGZRuzvPKwnHTu3x_ESBLkw-fpWUSwOFMDLswy24Rgy/s640/blogger-image--1502857791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6vRKQCzM0Ff-FZSatm5S-RcS3gwAeVRQgcgwanVhW_yCoCXrbFjBUdFkQz6z6Rha2iwspdRnJwJ-ekHkUN53fQ_h-0EnskpiFjGZRuzvPKwnHTu3x_ESBLkw-fpWUSwOFMDLswy24Rgy/s640/blogger-image--1502857791.jpg" /></a></div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-4260079781480219642012-12-02T19:46:00.001-06:002012-12-02T19:49:27.030-06:00Beering in Midtown Atlanta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As usual the early Fall season means you're going to find me doing some corporate travel, and that almost always means Atlanta and Georgia Tech. I typically stay in Midtown near campus at the Georgia Tech Hotel and this time was no different. Every year the only option I typically have is the Taco Mac at Metropolis and if I feel like not going local, the Gordon Biersch on Peachtree. This time however, I was pleasantly surprised when setting up my itinerary I stumble upon <a href="http://cypressbar.com/" target="_blank">Cypress Street Pint and Plate</a>. <br />
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The place is within walking distance of my hotel and has a more Petrol Station feel to it. Only a few beers on tap, all craft beer, that rotates throughout the day. I actually missed their Beer Geek night and just had lunch there.<br />
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Beer Log: September 12, 2012<br />
State: Chilling with one of the guys at Cypress Pint and Plate<br />
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I ordered the chicken since I was in Atlanta.<br />
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They were out of EasyRider so...<br />
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<a href="http://sweetwaterbrew.com/" target="_blank">Sweetwater Lowryder</a><br />
Light amber and clear wtih low head and not much of a scent. The taste had a nice hop bite to it and a little bit of a light caramel malt. A pinch of bread, pine cone, and a wet aftertaste (if that makes sense). Low three stars.<br />
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Later on I had all the other beers they had there and ended up with some stuff we have not prayer of getting in Houston.<br />
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<a href="http://21st-amendment.com/beer" target="_blank">21st Amendment Back in Black</a><br />
Just love the name of this beer. Black color and whatnot. Great chocolate and hops flavor. I just went ahead and enjoyed this right out of the can... that's right cans. 4 stars for the San Franciscans. </div>
The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-70887985377445387112012-11-22T14:40:00.000-06:002013-01-06T19:23:45.471-06:00Stone Beer Dinner at Central Market<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">So it turns out it was the wife's birthday on September 17th, and I was asking what she wanted to do. As I have an amazing wife, one of the things she wanted was the Stone Beer Dinner at Central Market in <a href="http://www.shophighlandvillage.com/" target="_blank">Houston's Highland Village</a>. I got there a pinch early and just shot the shyte with the chefs until it was game time.<br />
<img height="213" src="http://images-81.har.com/e1/mediadisplay/81/hr3020081-15.jpg" width="320" /><br />
Beers we had a the time were Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale (which the wife almost got one the brewers to tell us the recipe), Sublimely Self Righteous, and Stone IPA. One beer that was totally new to me I had to take notes with...<br />
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Beer Log: September 20th<br />
State: At Central Market for the Stone Beer Dinner<br />
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<a href="http://www.stonebrew.com/" target="_blank">Saison du Buff by Stone</a><br />
Everyone knows I'm a big fan of saisons. With this incredibly hot climate here in Houston these past few years, the saison style has really suited me well. This one is yellowish with a great herbal nose. I'm getting parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. The beer has an excellent quadpack of herbs with a nice lemony zip (I know) and light banana. Uber clean and drinkable with light hops. Just fantastic collaboration for Dogfish Head, Stone, and Victory. 4 Stars.<br />
<img src="http://beerpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/saison-du-buff-black.png" /><br />
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And since we are talking collaborations...<br />
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And the day before<br />
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Beer Log: September 19th<br />
State: Just hanging out with the crew<br />
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<a href="http://mikkeller.dk/" target="_blank">Mikkeller Not Just Another Wit</a><br />
Has a brilliantly clear color and kind of a smoky lemony thing in the nose. The beer istelf has a light lemony sourness with a great light bitter bite. It think this may be a hefty amount of lemon zest in this beer. I like the beer but only 3 stars, just too much zest or bitterness for me.<br />
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<a href="http://terrapinbeer.com/" target="_blank">Terrapin Special Anniversary Ale</a><br />
Clear with a slight straw tinge. Nose is all funky. Taste is like a steely malt and big ginger snap cookie. Like those ginger snaps cookies that are in the brown bags with a clear plastic window we would OD on back in the day. Nice big sweet flaovr that lasts on the tongue, though the beer is a pinch dry. High 3 Stars.</div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-79503880728765048732012-11-22T13:56:00.001-06:002012-12-16T21:04:13.800-06:00What the heck is a Lime-A-Rita?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img src="http://lushworthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Bud-Light-Lime-A-Rita.jpg" /><br />
Beer Log: September 16, 2012<br />
State: At a friend's house in Cyrpress, TX watching the Texans kill the Jaguars, having a BBQ<br />
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My highest viewed posts are the Budweiser and Miller posts, so why not blog up this one. I'm at a friend's house kind of going between a Karbach and Saint Arnold beer. I try to enjoy Houston area beer when the Texans or Dynamo are playing. But they had a small slim can of <a href="http://www.budlightlime.com/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2flime-a-rita-about.aspx" target="_blank">Bud Light Lime-A-Rita</a>, and I had my Ipad open watching my Fantasy Football scores. So why not...<br />
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Bud Light Lime-A-Rita<br />
Comes in a small can, kinda like a short Red Bull Can. Pours incredibly clear with a clear yellowish green color. Light white head with a very lime nose. Beer has a nice soft lemon lime flavor which reminds me of Sprite or 7UP. Which is funny as I think the last time I had either one of those without Gin in them was 20 years ago. And the last time I had either one of those with Gin was 10 years ago in college. No real bitterness but a slight sweetness that was missing from the original Bud Light Lime. Oh I know, this reminds me of Smirnoff Ice from my college days. My beer geek evolution went from Smirnoff Ice (year 2000) to Miller Lite (Chicago White Sox game in 2002), to Shiner Bock (Lil Woodrows in 2005 at a training course), to Victory Golden Monkey (Flying Saucer in 2007), all Craft Beer.<br />
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It wasn't nasty or anything like that, just not what I reach for as a beer man. 2 stars. Just give this to the sistas at the beach in Miami and call it good.<br />
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The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-26791145296694244562012-11-22T13:20:00.001-06:002012-11-22T13:20:28.368-06:00Beering in the Ohio River Valley: Wrap Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So my brother-in-law elected to have his wedding on Labor Day weekend. Our family was in the wedding party along with our toddler, who is making a career out of being a flower girl. I think she has been a flower girl about 10 times in 5 years of life. I'm going to have to get her set up with a miles account. <br />
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Though I was born in Cleveland and the wife in Maryland, we've never spent time in that part of country where West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio meet. I asked Pennsylvania beer king <a href="http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lew Bryson</a> on twitter what I can find for beer and he said there was nothing. Well as luck would have it, the rehearsal dinner was a <a href="http://www.rivercitybanquets.com/" target="_blank">River City Restaurant</a>. The restaurant in the middle of rustic Wheeling, WV, which is an island in the Ohio River. The area has a great banquet hall and wouldn't ya know, the place used to be a brewery! Adjacent to it is what looks like a sports bar with PLENTY of Great Lakes beer on tap. And oh darn, the bride is late getting to the rehearsal dinner. So the wife and I enjoyed plenty of Great Lakes Burning River Dortmunder and one of my favorites of all time, Oktoberfest. <br />
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The history of Wheeling is that it used to have over 20 breweries operating before the dreaded Prohibition took affect. The place we were actually was in operation as of 2003, but shut down due to a flooding of a Ohio River. BUMMER! The place is now the <a href="http://www.artisancenter.com/index.html" target="_blank">Wheeling Artisan Center </a>with tours and plenty of beer paraphernalia and lots of craft beer on tap at the bar. <br />
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Otherwise the beer selection in the area was pretty slim, which is sad as Pennsylvania and Ohio have great beer scenes. I mostly consumed a ton of <a href="http://www.yuengling.com/over21/over21.php?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yuengling.com%2F" target="_blank">Yuengling</a>, which is my go to beer when I'm in the Mid-Atlantic.. I typically go for their traditional lager as opposed to the Black and Tan. <br />
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Overall I would say the various operating and abandoned steel plants and breweries give you the impression of a place who's time has come and gone. I cannot help but contrast the quiet former glory of the Ohio Valley Area's former industrial might with Shanghai's ever growing world we were just a month later. At first it's depressing but then the scenery in the early fall has a beauty and charm to it. I remember back in high school that we learned Venus fell in love with Vulcan, the ugly blacksmith (if you will) of the gods. Well now I can see why people love this area, even if they call it the Rust Belt.<br />
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Of course I did not have my notebook but we enjoyed some serious beers at Bar Symon at Pittsburg's airport: Founder's Dirty Bastard, Troegs Dreamweaver Wheat, and Big Eddy IPA by Leinenkugels. Not a bad experience overall. <br />
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<img src="http://podojilbuilders.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Photo32-605x402.jpg" /><br />
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The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-21882770039637314152012-09-16T20:22:00.002-05:002012-10-10T19:23:27.972-05:00Allagash Black Belgian Style Stout<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Beer Log: Sunday night after the Texans whipped up on the Jaguars<br />
State: Chilling out at home, the wife is frying up pork chops, going to put the baby down soon.<br />
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Allagash Black Belgian Style Stout<br />
We actually had this in our cellar for what must be years, this one is Batch 14. Anyway we had this with us at our friend's house for the game but did not open it up. Anyway let's crack 'em. Mixed in with the pork and cajun seasoning smells in the air, I get a chocolate and jolly rancher like nose on this one. Maybe something akin to star annise. This deep brown beer with tan head has a great malty flavor at first, I'll take some dark caramunich for $200 Alex. Also it feels like cinnamon, a pinch of raisins, and sweet chocolate come all over the tongue after it warms up a touch. This is one of those beers that makes you thirsty as the very dry nature of the beer and it's sheer effervescence get's it right off the tongue just as you are really ready to take it all in. I love the slight banana ester as well. A perfect marraige of a black stout and belgian styles. Shouts out to Tatiana Silva. 5 Stars!!!!</div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-35977134754525779692012-09-16T20:08:00.001-05:002012-09-16T20:08:06.222-05:00Beering in the Burbs: Cypress and Sugarland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As any good Cy-Fairian knows, the place with the coolest restaurants for beer in our neck of the woods are in straight up Cypress and dragging as down to Sugarland. So we made it up to Rockwell Tavern to catch up on some specialty brews. Always nice to have a good beer bar without having to pack a lunch to get to the bar.<br />
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Beer Log: May 4, 2012<br />
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<a href="http://www.drinkrangercreek.com/" target="_blank">Ranger Creek Strawberry Milk Stout</a><br />
Deep black with a great lasting tan head. Taste has a nice chocolate stout flavor with a nice fruity aftertaste. Very drinkable with low hops. I'm going to assume that I'm getting that strawberry in there, however the flavor can be overpowered by the chocolate stoutiness, however Ranger Creek did not fall for it. 4 stars once again for the San Antone.<br />
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<a href="http://www.karbachbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Karbach Hop Baron</a><br />
Nose has a noticeable hops with feint chocolate notes. This black beer is basically the stout version of the Rodeo Clown. Awesome! Clean hops with light roast and chocolate. 4 Stars.<br />
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<a href="http://nolabelbrew.com/" target="_blank">No Label Jalapeno Ale</a><br />
Oh boy. I've never been a pepper beer guy, no matter how much I've tried. I'll keep trying as I do not want any particular type of beer to be off limits to me (there used to be a time I didn't like hoppy beer). Anyway we are in the burbs and so that means I'm drinking No Label. Jalapeno nose comes through just barely. Beer has strong flavor but no bite. Some hops and malt in there but not overdone. Aaaaaaaaaaand not long after that I start coughing and I'm getting that heat. 2 stars, but I'm not a pepper beer guy anyway. <br />
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A couple weeks later I make it back down to the Flying Saucer in Sugarland with the family. We tried to kill some time with the baby by going to City Park but the mosquitoes jacked us up. No wonder they call the baseball team the Sugarland Skeeters. The Skeeters... HA!<br />
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Beer Log: May 19, 2012<br />
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<a href="http://www.newbelgium.com/LegalPurchasingAge.aspx?ReturnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.newbelgium.com%2fshift.aspx" target="_blank">New Belgium Prickly Passion</a><br />
For a company where even the damn JR Crickets in Atlanta has Fat Tire on tap and in the neon sign, New Belgium is showing their naked ass with all these various beer styles. These guys are hitting it at both ends apparently. Congrats to the New Belgians. So anyway the Prickly Passion has an orange amber color with light head. The beer has nice banana, sour apple (I guess pear), nose. Nice moderate sourness in the flavor with low carbonation. Beer has something like a brett sour and cinnamon to it. Maybe something akin to pine needles like thing for the hops. Light sour aftertaste. This beer is all over the place. Just wish they took down the ABV to make it more session-able. High 3 star - Low 4 star.<br />
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<a href="http://greatdivide.com/" target="_blank">Great Divide 18th Anniversary</a><br />
No nose but great malty oak, wood, vanilla and pine hops. To put it simply, just amazing. After that my daughter got my beer book and wrote all over it. She did managed the words "Beer is Good".<br />
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The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-82900435571535134142012-09-16T17:52:00.001-05:002012-09-16T17:52:42.104-05:00Catching up: New Belgium, Indy, Lagunitas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just going through the my beer notebook and wanted to clear some things out. I've had some fantastic travel this summer mostly family related, lot's of time in DC which<a href="http://thebeerbrotha.blogspot.com/2012/08/beering-in-dc-metro-red-line.html" target="_blank"> I've already chronicled</a>, as well as some beering out on the Ohio River. Lastly I finished up my most recent travels back in Midtown Atlanta once again, and that part of town is absolutely great for beer, with many spots within decent walking distance.<br />
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Beer Log: April 15, 2012<br />
State: Hanging out with the family at Petrol Station, absolutely starving.<br />
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<a href="http://www.newbelgium.com/LegalPurchasingAge.aspx?ReturnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.newbelgium.com%2fshift.aspx" target="_blank">New Belgium Dig Pale Ale: </a><br />
For some reason we could not find this beer on <a href="http://untappd.com/login?go_to=http://untappd.com/home" target="_blank">Untappd</a>, which is weird for a New Belgium beer. Didn't feel like spending the time to add it in, so I figured I would just hang out and write my notes. Amber color and clear with a decent finger or so of head. The taste has a great hops and malt. Beer is very clean with lemon like character which I'm attributing to the hops, yet it's balanced. I love the slight sour aftertaste and nuttiness and caramel flavor of the malt just peaking through. 4 stars for the New Belgians.<br />
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<a href="http://www.independencebrewing.com/" target="_blank">Independence Easy Riser Stout</a><br />
Now I've been hunting the durn Mandarin Saison between when I had this beer (April) and when I'm writing this up in the blog (September), I've not seen it. Damn shame. That beer was unreal! ANyway the ERS is a deep brown with a tean head, great coffee ground and roasted malt nose. Beer has a dry character with coffee and chocolate. It's dry yet very poofy (if that makes sense). How about I call this like Saint Arnold Santo but with more kick all the way around. High 3 Stars.<br />
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And later on...<br />
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State: Just had some Lazy Magnolia beer at the house, and now going to split a bomber with the Misses while watching some Bill Maher.<br />
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<a href="http://www.lagunitas.com/" target="_blank">Lagunitas Bavarian-Style Dunkelweizen</a><br />
Nice cloudy orange color in the sunlight (I'm BLIND) with a thin white head. The nose makes me think of Halloween candy and banana. I actually wrote "mmm, sweet sugar wheat beer". Nice softness and light bitterness. Taste of sugar sweetness, lemon hops, and banana flavored bubblegum. No hint of 9% alcohol content. Loving life. 4 Stars. </div>
The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-33600086275432704672012-08-26T19:00:00.001-05:002012-08-26T19:00:11.338-05:00Deep Ellum, Buffalo Bayou, New Belgium... who you kicking out of the Hot Tub?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So I'm hanging out with the wife and child and we actually elected to skip the Flying Saucer party downtown. Just too much with the baby. But we did compromise and make it the Sugarland location for some Texas Beer. Hold up....<br />
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Beer Log: Right now<br />
State: Watching the Bootleg Storage Wars aka Storage Hunters<br />
Man Storage Wars kills Storage Hunters. All we have are big stereotypical black women. Damn shame.<br />
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New Belgium Lips of Faith Belgian Style Blond<br />
Pour this one in our Oak Aged Yeti Snifter. It has a nice golden straw hue that is a little cloudy. Thin white head. Nose has a great limon and banana nose, Taste is not as sour as I thought, more a sugar cookie sweetness with a wet yet dry aftertaste. High carbonation and very drinkable. A nice mixture of sweet and sour, smooth and dry. A battle of extremes that juxtaposes just right. I could drink this one all day even with 8%+ ABV. High 3 stars.<br />
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So at the Saucer I went ahead and grabbed a couple of beers from the great state of Texas. Some of the new stuff. You know what, I'm actually going to let the Voice annotation on my Droid Razr 2 stand and not correct it, save the links and some capitalization. Figured this would be fun.<br />
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Beer Log: Earlier Today<br />
State: At the Flying Saucer in Sugar Land<br />
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<a href="http://www.deepellumbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Deep Ellum Dallas Blond on cask</a><br />clear install color, with a great malti nose. fantastic like honey crackers and light caramel what flavor, makes with yes to the hospital make it worth it. I get a nice chance of ok as well which really as a nice touch to what should be a great session beer and they can get it in a can in time for football season.</div>
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<a href="http://www.buffbrew.com/" target="_blank">Buffalo by you 1836</a><br />amber color in clear with this and why Ted. That beer has a great multi band Steely know as well as Chase. I get something like it ok meal cookies and some great lights soda pops. Check that's probably tiny hops. I am really enjoying this beer. Another great session beer for the tailgate. Go Texas.</div>
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The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-67815722826413680862012-08-26T11:14:00.001-05:002012-08-26T11:14:12.505-05:00Beering in DC Metro: Red Line<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So after pounding a Budweiser at the wedding just to get the Wedding Badge on Untappd, we all get together in Silver Springs to play some cards with the old crew. <br />
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Turns out the fricken red line is all screwed up with Construction and once we get to the Red line transfer, we actually have to take the bus. We didn't time this just right so my friend and I were about 45 minutes early as we hoofed it through a very nice Silver Springs, MD. We call up our boy and he starts bitching that he said 8:30PM. So we end up taking a very slight detour and walk to<a href="http://www.firestation-1.com/" target="_blank"> Firestation #1 Restaurant and Brewery </a>to watch some preseason ball, have some local beer, and ham it up with the townies. <br />
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State: Belly up to the bar and I just go ahead and order the flight. My friend doesn't drink but gets a banana split. The Jets are playing the Giants and I'm over here yelling to everyone that I just want to see Tebow. I don't care for the Jets, I DO care about GOOD TELEVISION.<br />
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As we were engaged in deep philosophical conversation about Rex Ryan and the new rules assisting passing quarterbacks, I did not get the most thorough of notes on the beer, so pardon me..<br />
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Beer Log: August 18, 2012<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">FH1 Avenue Golden Ale<br />Clear and light straw. Light nose and light flavor of cracker and a pinch if metal. 2 stars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">FH1 Stout<br />Dark brown and cloudy. Deep beer with a body like guinness. Light coco roast with a pinch of lemon. Low 3stars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">FH1 IPA<br />This ain't working out too well. Maybe a little sour and whatnot. Smooth like an English pale ale. AT is all bready.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Later on in the flight I get a soda hoppy Heavy Seas Loose Cannon IPA. That was some good stuff.</span></div>
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It looks like FH1 has elected to go the English style of beering as opposed to what I would call American. That actually makes a lot of sense as this makes the beers a little beter for mass consumption, but I've never been an English style beer guy. German yes, Czech Hell Yes, American West coast shit yeah, Mexican Si, but never got into the English. I'm sure I'll have to catch up one of these days.</div>
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The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-70676633143957636602012-08-26T11:02:00.003-05:002012-08-26T11:02:40.600-05:00Beering in DC Metro: Green Line<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Good to be back on the horse. I've been out of commission these last few weeks as I had some knee surgery. The MRI seemed to show a slight meniscus tear but during the scope they found it was just a chondromalacia patella or knee ice sickles. This is caused when your knees are not exactly aligned and will eventually get all screwed if you try to lead an active lifestyle with high impact sports. <br />
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I was a band nerd in high school but did the following pursuits since turning mid college: Power weightlifting for two years, rugby for 3 years, long distance running for 5 years, and now mixed martial arts. I've been laying on my couch and basically unable to work out for weeks, and it's killing me. <br />
<br />
Well now my knee is all cleaned out and after I finish rehab, I'll just have to warm up very well and make sure my legs are nice and strong. Afterward, should not have much more of a problem. Not only that but I'm going to bias toward low impact activities. I really enjoy kayaking but may take up mountain biking. Golf may kick up a bit and will continue yoga. MMA will remain, though I may switch to just Brazilian Jitz and cry as I put down my kickboxing. Damn that will really suck. Distance running may have to go by-by in place of 10K max running and distance cycling and maybe even get some swimming going.<br />
<br />
But before that I managed to visit some old college buddies in the DC area for one of their weddings. Very sweet that all the old crew is getting married. Anyway, my friend and I elect not to rent a car and to just hang out utilizing only the Metro, which worked out well all weekend as we made our way to Dupont Circle area and Silver Springs<br />
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Beer Log: August 15, 2012<br />
State: At <a href="http://www.bierbarondc.com/wordpress2/" target="_blank">Bier Baron</a>, just relaxing getting some dinner<br />
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So we make it to Dupont Circle's metro stop and it is BUTT NAKED out there with Washington Nationals fans. They are simply everywhere. Turns out the last thing you want to do is ride the Green Line at all during a Nats game. Folks are pretty fired up for the team. Luckily we were going to the big money part of town, which means we minimize the amount of hooligans we'll run into. As my friend is a huge Yankees man and I'm a 'Stros fan. So we hoof it over to Bier Baron as we have not been here in ages. We go down to what I can only imagine was the dungeon, belly up to the bar, and order some local beer...<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.portcitybrewing.com/" target="_blank">Port City Wit</a><br />Yellow cloudy with a thin head. Nose is fluffy banana and clove. Taste is the same. High quality wit beer, mild carbo, some lingering bitter bite. Three stars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Port City Pale<br />Clear amber caramel nose. Nice light hoops and malt. Clean, no butter. Crisp. Loving it 4 stars</span></div>
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Later on that night we make it out to Birch and Barley, but my phone was nearly dead, so I couldn't take any notes or log them in on Untappd. Hate when that happens.</div>
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So the next day we hit the golf course and then score some killer chinese food. Along with it we stop by the liquor store and grab some Yuengling and Amish Four Grain. No review for either but they were great session beers for us throughout.</div>
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to be continued...</div>
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The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-36494014016678110232012-07-31T21:56:00.001-05:002012-07-31T21:56:15.282-05:00Divine Reserve 12<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://brewbound-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Saint-Arnold-divine-reserve12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://brewbound-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Saint-Arnold-divine-reserve12.jpg" /></a>Aaaaaaaaaaaand the race was on. I managed to get about three six packs and a bomber today in the great hunt for Divine Reserve. Of course, I'll be drinking this beer at every bar I can find for this weekend (assuming any makes it lasts that long). Twitter was going crazy today with people more doing jokes about the beer than where to find it. <br />
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Beer Log: Right now<br />
State: Watching the Russians screw it up on the balance beam, slight heartburn from the crawfish spaghetti<br />
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<a href="http://www.saintarnold.com/" target="_blank">Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 12</a><br />
Pours a somewhat murky ruby amber with a very thin head in my Old New Orleans Rum glass. The beer tastes very caramel sweet with some faint hops barely holding on. I can say things like ruby, plum, raisin, and caramel, maybe a pinch of chocolate all in that order. But what I can really say is that the beer is probably not all that ready yet for consumption. I think I'll great out one say once every 6 months and see how it changes. <br />
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<br /></div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-32621298715769515732012-07-30T19:24:00.001-05:002012-07-30T19:24:22.485-05:00AC just got fixed in the house<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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From the Kangs of Austin Beer. <br />
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Beer Log: Right now<br />
State: Knees in some pain, sitting in our house which is pretty hot due to our just getting the AC fixed.<br />
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<a href="http://jesterkingbrewery.com/" target="_blank">Jester King Das Wunderkind</a><br />
Cloudy orange color with a very low head. Beer has a great moderate sourness. I love how the yeast is cultured from the Texas Hill Country! They've been working on this for a while. Beer is rather sour but not kick-you-in-the-balls sour. Has a great light malt and hops. Is just a fantastic sour beer, though not very complex, which I think lends to its genius. The beer has a light chardonnay and whatnot. I'm running low on identifiers as I typically don't frequent the sour beers. But this one is excellent. 4 stars for the Kangs<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aGrI8FMPc08" width="420"></iframe></div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-39573721427877800122012-07-29T17:23:00.000-05:002012-07-29T17:23:49.629-05:00Texas Pint Nite at the Sugarland Saucer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Love coming to City Walk on a nice Sunday. Got the Dressage on the screen, great AC, could always do a little restaurant hopping and shopping. But most of all it's Texas Pint Nite, and the Flying Saucer in Sugarland is plenty family friendly enough.<br />
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Beer log: Right now<br />
State: Hungry, hanging out with the family at the Saucer. Watching the Olympics.<br />
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<a href="http://www.buffbrew.com/" target="_blank">Buffalo Bayou Wit da Eff</a><br />
A new one from the boys on the Bayou. Anyway, let's see. Beer has a nice clear tinged straw color with a light head. Not much of a nose beyond some light banana. The flavor however has a great banana and spicy character to it. Will came up to us and tells us it's actually basil. An interesting spice for a Belgian wit or German hef. I still remember when someone at Saint Arnold busted my ass on this blog for confusing the German Hefeweizen style with the Belgian Wit style on the first release of Weedwacker, so I guess I'll call this one a bit of both. This beer however is perfect for the hot summers we've have in these parts. Kinda wish I had this one while I was kayaking on the Buffalo Bayou. High 3 stars. <br />
<br />
Ok that Dressage was boring as all get out. Not the beach volleyball women are wearing full singlets (must be cold out there) instead of what they normally wear, next to nothing. Moving on.<br />
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<a href="http://deepellumtexas.com/" target="_blank">Deep Ellum Double Brown Stout</a><br />
Big black with a tan head. When I ordered this puppy I'm thinking I'm getting a brown ale, turns out it's Baltic Porter to Imperial stout. Not that I'm complaining. Beer has a great light roasted coffee grounds nose to it, maybe a pinch of sweet chocolate going. It tastes the same, like a bitter coffee with a dry and chalky aftertaste. It's very drinkable with low carbonation. The dry feeling makes one want to drink more. Otherwise, it reminds me more of a regular english porter than a baltic porter. But maybe that's just me. High 2 stars.<br />
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<a href="http://austinbeerworks.com/age-verification/?from=/" target="_blank">Austin Beerworks Flying Headbutt</a><br />
Slightly cloudy tinged straw with a bubbly yet thin head white. Kind of like the Brazilian women's beach volleyball team. Beer has a slightly acidic and grapefruit hop flavor. Beer tastes very crackery at first, like non-saltine crackers. After that it's a little hoppy and dry. I'm not getting much malt here. Just a bitterness without much backbone. You'll have no CLUE that this beer is 10% ABV until you stand up from your chair, so be careful. Otherwise the beer comes off kind of flat to me. First 2 star beer I've had from the Beerworks boys. The beer gets more enjoyable as a summer drinking beverage the more one drinks it. Nothing too bold, which may actually be the idea.<br />
<br /></div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-23252916694307385272012-07-24T21:06:00.000-05:002012-07-24T21:06:46.814-05:00Brewery London<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So the wife made a trip to London last year and find us some beers to try. We both forgot about some of this stuff and it's sat in our beer fridge for months. Looking forward to trying it now.<div>
<br />Beer Log: Right now</div>
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State: Watching Chicagolicious with the family</div>
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<a href="http://www.thekernelbrewery.com/" target="_blank">The Kernel Imperial Brown Stout Brewery London</a></div>
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This beer comes in a regular 12 ounce brown bottle. Going to pour this in my Old New Orleans Rum small goblets. Deep dark brown color with a great full city roast, chocolate, and dark cherry nose. Beer has a strong bitter coffee and chocolate flavor, strong hops that cut through in the aftertaste. The drink is even more bitter and hoppy the more I drink it. The hops have a cascade flavor of all things. Looks like the Yanks are hanging out in London again. If they called this an imperial dark IPA, I would have been happy. Just tons of toasty and coffee flavor. Low 4 stars.</div>
</div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-4884798191096211212012-07-24T19:30:00.001-05:002012-07-24T19:30:19.708-05:00Beer in Dupont Circle: Early Afternoon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So last week I'm flying into DC "on the hush hush" for my Grandfather's 80th birthday surprise party. God bless my father's side of the family, but man they are not the best at planning. I pretty have to book my flight for the entire weekend as I didn't know the time of the party until a few weeks out. For all I know this is a whole weekend trip. So the festivities do not begin until 6:30PM on Saturday and I fly into DC on Friday at Noon. So I figure with all that down time I could probably catch up with some colleagues and do some pub crawling. Where better than in the DC area than the Northwest area. I find a hotel as close as I can to Churchkey and get things started.<br />
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Beer Log: July 13, 2012<br />
State: hot as all get out, drinking at <a href="http://www.eatyourpizza.com/" target="_blank">Pizzeria Paradiso</a><br />
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I hit up my twitter account (@beerbrotha) to ask where I should go first. Paradiso is the big suggestion and I make my way to the area. I'm wearing my Dynamo gear to represent. I belly up to the bar and find myself in a somewhat crammed bar with elegant natural lighting restaurant behind me. The bartender is a cool guy and I ask what is the good local stuff. Turns out there are TWO new breweries since the last time I was beering in Washington DC, one is DC Brau and the other is the elusive Chocolate City Brewing. <br />
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<a href="http://braubeer.com/" target="_blank">DC Brau</a> The Public<br />
Comes in a can and pouring into a pint glass. Amber color with a thin white head. Bigger than expected malt nose and citrus hops. Very tasty malt-hop combo. Something akin to caramel with a cut of lemon. Great all-the-time drinking beer. I'm not too terribly thrilled at the 6% ABV and I think they would get more traction at 5% or even 4.8%, but that's just me on my session beer kick. Give me four stars for what would likely be my go to beer.<br />
<br />
So at this point my pizza with mussels show up and I'm doing pretty good now.<br />
<br />
Hold up<br />
<br />
Beer Log: Right now<br />
State: Watching Storage Wars with the wife after work, kind of thirsty<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.southaustinbrewing.com/" target="_blank">South Austin Belgian Style Golden Ale</a><br />
Pours actually a nice straw gold in my Stella Artois goblet. Huge white poofy head with a banana and apple nose. The nose also has some great sour jolly rancher in there as well. Beer has a very belgian golden taste. Lot's of white grape and banana, a good bitterness that does not leave one's mouth all icky (no homo). The white grape and peach flavor lasts pretty long on the tongue with a moderate residue feel. The beer is not very dry but has a great shock of flavor every time I take a sip. Give me low 4 stars.<br />
<br />
Ok back to DC.<br />
<br />
DC Brau The Citizen<br />
Again in a can poured into a goblet this time. Light orange and great banana nose along with flavor. Extremely simple beer with light body and malt. Fresher and cleaner than Outkast. 4 Stars.<br />
<br />
DC Brau/Epic Brewing Brainless Corruption<br />
As I polished off the pizza, I had to participate in the JulyPA3 they were having. And sticking with #golocal, I took my last beer as a collaboration beer with DC Brau and Epic Brewing. Huge head on dirty straw color. The nose is very fruit, like pineapple with grapefruit hops. Taste is incredibly smooth. They have a program of special IPAs throughout the month of July, which they call July PA3 (third year in a row). Great soda and grapefruit hops. I get a nice moderate banana ester and jully rancher. Moderate to strong hops. Just amazing. At 6.2% ABV I think this is on eof the best beer I've ever had. Worth the price of admission. 5 Stars!!!!!<br />
<br />
Afterward I made it over to Scion as the folks at the bar said they had Chocolate City beer. I hoof it over to Scion and elect to sit outside, as my Best Of app tells me it is one of the best places in DC to people-watch.<br />
I had my paperback with me (The Litigators by Grisham), lay off the food, and get a few 4 oz beer from Widmer. Nothing big to write about until I see a beer named after Marion "Bitch Set me Up" Berry.<br />
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<a href="http://widmerbrothers.com/" target="_blank">Widmer Marionberry Gose</a><br />
Bright red with some orange ting. Not much of a head. Slight fruity (apple, peach, and grape) smell. Taste is not very bold. Has a lemony character with not much else but salt. Dry and chalky aftertaste. I still have a lot to learn about gose but maybe later. 2 stars.<br />
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<br /></div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-21301345489492238302012-07-21T20:52:00.000-05:002012-07-21T20:52:46.901-05:00Beer Brotha Movie Review: Mint IPA and the Dark Knight Rises<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Beer Log:</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">At Alamo Drafthouse on Mason, watching The Dark Knight Rises, thirsty as hell after Jiu Jitsu class</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Dark Knight Rises</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">DKR is a pretty good movie. I just don't think ANYONE can match the seductive performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Dark Knight. Bane did have some of that Occupy Wall Street feel to it throughout, but whatever. Great movie that had great drama, very dark and very melancholy. Of course I'm a melancholy guy at heart despite my sense of humor and social nature, so it fits in well with me. Otherwise, the only problem I had was the ending. In my opinion, it would have had HUGE effect if they just... let's have some beer.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://nolabelbrew.com/" target="_blank">No Label Mint IPA</a></span><br style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Amber and cloudy with killer malty and hoppy nose. Had that pine tree thing going on. Taste has a fantastic malt up front, quickly yielding to a serious tangy hop bite. I'm sure there is something like peppermint in there but it only plays a small in the overall pineyness of the drink. Aftertaste is fleeting and the beer finishes dry. A dangerous combo for binging. 4 stars. May be the best No Label yet right up there with Elda M. Milk. Maybe they really don't need no stinkin' labels. As a Katy man myself, #GOLOCAL</span></div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-81418314877255921092012-06-06T21:49:00.001-05:002012-06-06T21:49:20.098-05:00Go Rattlers!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Could be I've had a bit much of the Austin Beerworks tonight. But just want to show support for my school...<br />
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<br /></div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-58023089347510209292012-06-05T22:08:00.002-05:002012-06-05T22:08:41.707-05:00Back from Austin: Rogness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Beer Log: Right now<br />
State: Just finished my MMA and Jiu Jitsu courses at Precision MMA<br />
<br />
Just got back from Austin on Sunday and at Whip In we got a growler of this new Austin brewery Rogness.<br />
<a href="http://www.rognessbrewing.com/images/rogness-405.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.rognessbrewing.com/images/rogness-405.png" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.rognessbrewing.com/" target="_blank">RognessYogi</a><br />
Deep brown color with a tan head (1 finger no homo). I got a great mint tea nose. The beer has a nice strong grapefruity hops that lasts throughout as well as a great chocolate and mint flavor. It's leave a mint flavor on my nose. Kind of like those Tazo teas you get at the Starbucks. Maybe a hint of Earl Grey with a nice dosing of fresh mint leaves. This thing is chock full of cinnamon and say star anise and clove, maybe some oak. High 3 Stars for the Rogness.<br />
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More Austin posts coming soon.</div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-7454681393554280212012-05-28T12:43:00.002-05:002012-05-28T15:37:47.408-05:00Sam Adams Longshot Memorial Day Beering<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well I just changed out the smoke detector in the most un-ergonomical place in the house. And now I just changed out the toilet internals in the bedroom. The wife is out getting some Saint Arnold Homefront IPA and some bison meat for the grill, so I'm going to take a break before going to the other toilet and the other smoke detector.<br />
<br />
And what do you know, we have all this Sam Adams Longshot beer that we have not sampled or blogged about yet. Somebody hit the music.<br />
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<a href="http://www.samueladams.com/age-gate.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2findex.aspx" target="_blank">Sam Adams Fred Hessler. Derf's Secret Alt</a><br />
For a while there a few years back I was really on the alt/dunkel kick. I was slamming as much Boston Ale and Heineken Dark as I could handle. Anyway, I've been big on pilsners and saisons (gotta love how one's tastes change), so let's see if this dude can bring me back to Alts.<br />
<br />
Pours with a huge head in my Saint Arnold 16oz glass. Nice deep brown color that allows a ruby light through it. The nose has a fantastic caramel and brown sugar thing. Kind of reminds me like making sugar cookies but with brown sugar, which rocks btw. Thicker than I thought it would be is the first sensation, but that quickly gives way to the FANTASTIC caramel, maple syrup and brown sugar flavor. My mouth is left with sour dark cherry that I am just thrilled about as well. Low hops and just utterly fantastic. I have that great alt yeast affect in there, kind of like a bit of copper that just works perfectly. I get ZERO alcohol in this thing, which is scary as I may just slam this thing in about 15 minutes. 5 stars all the way.<br />
<br />
And later on...<br />
<br />
I just got the other toilet finished and smoke alarm. That checks off two big items on Remember the Milk and I'm ready for a Longshot<br />
<br />
Sam Adams Five Crown Imperial Stout<br />
Splitting this one with the wife. Enjoying this in my Old New Orleans minigoblet. Deep dark brown with a nice thin tan head. The nose gives me a great dark malt, chocolate, and plum. The taste has a nice chocolate and coffee, maybe some dried fruit. I get a nice sourness as well in the middle of this beer. Has a decent bitterness and a nice dryness in the finish. Low 4 Stars.</div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-11144929407383579632012-05-26T21:18:00.000-05:002012-05-26T22:57:47.146-05:00UFC 146 Beering<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Going to be doing some serious beering here at the house while watching UFC 146: Heavyweights. <br />
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Rahr and Sons Winter Warmer<br />
This bottle is maybe 3 years old. Poured into a pint glass with a light carbo. I first thought that it lost its carbonation and I needed to pour it out. But rather it's pretty pleasant. No nose but a nice light chocolate and cinnamon with a nice pinch of coffee. Is extremely smooth and goes does very nicely. I get a light sourness and whatnot, not sure if that's supposed to be there, but I'll take it. Low 3 Stars.<br />
<br />
I'm stuck with the baby tonight so I have to watch this on PPV at the house. The wife came in early tonight, so hopefully she can sleep through it, because I'm going to be fired up.<br />
<br />
I called it on twitter. If Struve got this puppy to the ground, he would win this fight. He damn near broke Big Lavar's arm. I'm telling you, this entire pay per view will last 90 minutes. I still didn't finish my Rahr and Sons. Damn. The blackfolk are down one already. Just 1:05 into the first fight.<br />
<br />
So Del Rosario got the elbow of death in the fight. Ok, now it's time for the Overhand Right of my main man Big Country. I need more beer.<br />
<br />
Widmer Dark Saison<br />
Nice brown color yet kind of clear. Big light tan head. I'm rooting for Big Country hard here. Nice ginger snap cookie smell on this beer. Light metal in this one, but otherwise a nice faint lemony zip and bready banana thing going on. Feels good otherwise on the tongue. Not quite at the level of the Independence Brewing Saisons, but I can give Widmer a pass as they don't have the same distance to travel as a brewery in Austin. Low 3 Stars.<br />
<br />
Man I'm fired up all over the place. KO from Big Country, KO from Dan Hardy, KO from Jamie Varner. Call this one UFC 146: The Concussions. This is absolutely fabulous. I need another beer.<br />
<br />
Lazy Magnolia Deep South<br />
Hell yeah some quality Reb Ale. Love the toasty amber ale. love it more as a lager, but Lazy Mag bring the heat with this one. Nice toasty malt with a moderate hops. If I still lived in Mississippi, I would drink this beer everyday and twice on Sunday. 4 Stars.<br />
<br />
And speaking of bringing the heat, Cain Velasquez just sent a message to tho the UFC heavyweight division. He cut up and jacked up Big Foot like a simple gatekeeper. This UFC is just awesome. They are beating ass all night long. And now on to the Main Event.<br />
<br />
Game fight for Frank Mir, but Dos Santos was just a BAAAAAAAAAAAD matchup for Mir. Great Second Round TKO.</div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7503619686876072567.post-87711036227059488392012-05-06T20:04:00.002-05:002012-05-06T20:04:38.121-05:00Allagash, Ommegang, New Belgium, who you kicking out of the hot tub?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Had a great weekend beering it up for Cinco De Mayo. Actually had some Victoria, Bud Light Lime, and Bud Light Platinum. It was also a killer weekend for sports. A horse called "I'll Have Another" won the Kentucky Derby. At that time I was beering it up at Petrol Station while Drinking Made Easy was taping. That was just awesome. We had a great time watching UFC on Fox, with the big win for Big Lavar Johnson and Nate Diaz, not to mention Floyd Mayweather won his fight, while coming out to the ring with 50 Cent, Justin Bieber, Triple HHH, and a guy that looked like the Chinese Ambassador to the UN. Ok enough jaw jacking...<br />
<br />
Beer Log: April 12, 2012<br />
State: A little Borgias, two sheets to the wind, a rough day at the office.<br />
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<a href="http://www.allagash.com/">Allagash Victor 2009</a><br />
Nothing like a aged Allagash. Translucent amber with white lasting head. The nose has a light appley sourness along with something like sweet grapes. Taste is exactly the same as the scent at first, and it gives way to great light sour green grapes. Low carbonation caps off a 4 star beer.<br />
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Beer Log: April 15, 2012<br />
State: Starving at Petrol Station. <br />
<a href="http://www.newbelgium.com/LegalPurchasingAge.aspx?ReturnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.newbelgium.com%2fshift.aspx">Dig Pale Ale by New Belgium</a><br />
Had a heck of a time finding this one on Untappd. Amber color and clear with a decent head. Went straight to drinking this one an I got great hops and malt. Clean flavor. The beer has a lemony hops but very balanced. I get a lemon hop aftertaste as well. Love teh light nuttiness and caramel along with the hops. 4 Stars.<br />
<br />
Beer Log: Right now<br />
State: Mouth is dry, watching the Borgias with the Misses<br />
<a href="http://www.ommegang.com/">Ommegang Adoration</a><br />
Enjoying this one in a snifter. Blood amber color with a frothy yet disappearing light rusty head. The nose has healthy notes of cinnamon, brown sugar, orange peel, and coriander. A little Christmas in the summer time never hurt anybody. The taste has a nice full caramel, brown sugar and cinnamon flavor up front. This gives way to soft notes of orange and coriander. Not overdone at all and a true testament to the professionalism of Ommegang. This beer is just a great foil after all the summer madness we've been drinking. It's tempting to break out the cigars, but screw that, this beer needs to be by itself. Low to moderate carbonation with a light bitterness. Very well done Ommegang. Give me all 5 stars.</div>The American Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05404663929961039814noreply@blogger.com1