Back in Town, DVR Marathon

Just loved the trip with the family to Central Florida. Lot's of great beer in Walt Disney World Resort. A brewpub, a couple of beer bars, a good cigar bar. Not to mention I found some decent beering out on the town. Anyway, I'm back home and will probably just spend a few hours recapping all the beering and travelling I've done this year since I haven't had the chance to do more than microblog (@beerbrotha) much this year.

But I'm back here with the wife at the house and we doing a DVR marathon. While we are here, we are going to hit some good beers in the cellar.

Boulevard 21st Anniversary Fresh Hop Pale Ale

Enjoying this in my Stella Artois goblet. Yes I know Bully's anniversary is a year ago and one should probably drink a fresh hop beer as soon as you get it. Moving on. Amber color and kind of cloudy with a huge tan head. Nose has a huge flowery hop head. Just awesome. I get a pinch of chalk just before a rush a great caramel and grassy hop goodness. The beer is rather simply done with a nice caramel malt (reminds me of bread pudding or something with that caramel topping) and with another sip I get a pine cone thing going on. Must have been all the pine trees in the Magic Kingdom influencing me. The mouthfeel is still a chalky yet finishes incredibly dry, which begs you to have another. Low 4 stars. Probably would be all aces if I drank it immediately. Won't let that happen with the next round.

...and later on

Saint Somewhere Lectio Divina

Sounds divine? Smell that jolly rancher once we pop the cork. Ruby amber color with a highly effervescent rapidly dissipating head. Taste has a moderate sourness with a regular old school bubble gum taste. It has a nice moderate caramel to it. It's like someone took a red jolly rancher and cherry coke (two things I typically don't like) and made a beer out of it. Very nice. High 3 Stars.

Reader Recommendation: Strongbow

One of my readers tweeted me saying that they are having a Strongbow Cider right now and I have to try it. I happen to doing my traditional beering-while-catching-up-on-work-at-the-Saucer Friday, so let hit it right now.

Beer Log: Right now

State: Pretty hungry, at the Saucer, need to catch up on Project reports

Strongbow Cider

Clear amber/gold color, kinda like the off-spec gold Georgia Tech football wore in Paul Kelly's first year. Maybe the glassware is off, but this thing is all effervescent with bubbles all over the glass. No real head but the nose has a bitter-beer smell which too me back to my days as a kid when Dad would let us take a sip of his Keystone knowing we would hate it. Taste has a moderate apple, leaves a filmy residue on the tongue (no homo), and some sort of a grain backbone. It's actually a little confusing and I may have to look this one up before we walk away. Right now I'm still not a cider guy though I'm expanding my reach into ciders, scotch, and cigars. That's it, that smell reminds me of gasoline. Just weird all around. The taste is just fine, and I'm sure is very refreshing on a hot day on the links in the UK. Cold day in Houston when I could be drinking some Ranger Creek... 2 stars.

Nick Diaz: Sierra Nevada, Don't be scared homie

One of my many beer traditions is to drink beer from the home area of the main event fighters of the UFC. I would normally do this all the time, but how much Xingu can a brotha drink. Anyway, this time I'll review a beer from the winner of the main event of UFC 137, Nick Diaz of Stockton, CA.

Sierra Nevada Juniper Black Ale

Beer pours a very dark brown, I'm sure it's black in some lights, with a huge deep tan head. Head has a nice soft chocolate and some sweet grapes. I'm sure that is supposed to be Juniper needles or something. Beer has a nice moderate chocolate and something pretty weird going on. Let's see, it's roasty, bitter like bitter chocolate. I'm thinking they just used roasted malt and added hops early on, as the nose has no real hops going on. Leaves my mouth a little chalky (no homo). Other flavors in there include a bitter cherry (like the pit or the stem), and maybe some smoke. While I can see where they were going with this, I'm not digging it too much. Just a bit much on the hops, and that's after we aged it for months. While I rewatch this UFC b/c I don't feel like going to sleep, this beer is just about as bitter as Nick was when calling out GSP. Don't be scared homie, but I'm giving it a high 2 stars.

Let us Blog: Mortality Stout

Here at the house and I have some downtime before I got to get some more work done. Otherwise, things are going very well.

Beer Log: Right now

State: Watching Dragon Ball Z Kai with the baby

Reaper Ale Mortality Stout

Picked this up years ago, I think at the Specs downtown or maybe Marcello's in Lafayette, LA. And here we go. Nose has a cherry lemony thing, with a chocolate powder thing going on. The taste is kinda bland and sour right off the gate. Probably held on to it too long. The mouthfeel is pretty gritty kind of like a saison. I'm curious to see how this warms up. After the warmup, it doesn't seem to recover the stoutness. No rating as I'm going to call this one aged too long. #fail

Schlafly Biere De Garde

Before I fire up a Cigar, let's Biere De Garde it up.

Beer Log: Right now

State: Chilling out, doing some Linkedin networking on the computer

Schlafly BDG

Nose has a nice light fruity sour thing going on. Auburn color with a white head. First I notice the high carbonation, then a quick citrus-sweet thing going on. The second sip and I get a nice light ginger snap cookie flavor, but it leaves off your tongue faster than it shows up. It's like the Texans' season. It's over just after it starts. Nice flavor and very refreshing, but this thing just vaporizes off my tongue. Glad I picked up this puppy in early April when I was out in St. Louis. Certainly makes up for the fricken snow we had out there in the Lou at the time. High 3 Stars.

Game Live Blog: Fort Valley (Sweetwater) vs. Florida A&M (Cigar City)

So it's finally FAMU football time and we are stumbling out of the gate. We are playing against Division II Fort Valley State. For all 2 of you that read my blog that are in fact black, you may know all about Black College Football. I am a FAMU alum and a rabid FAMU football fan. My wine doesn't taste as sweet whenever FAMU loses. So here we go.

FAMU goes down early to FVSU (no homo) and after a virtual minstrel show of cacophonic buffoonery on the field by FAMU, the Rattlers manage to start pulling away at the half. FVSU 12, FAMU 21. I'm actually still polishing off my Saint Arnold Bock for U of H beating the Bruins, but I'll take one for the team and pour another beer.

OH NO, the CC Maduro is a GUSHER!!!!!!!! Beer is infected, still foaming up 5 minutes after I opened it. For those new to the beer world, that typically means we got some bacteria that got into the beer and it will taste uber-sour and terrible. Happens. Let's get Infected


Thrilling game. We took this D2 school to the wire and messed around and won a 95 yard touchdown. I'm getting a beer.

Cigar City Jose Marti
Pours very smooth with a huge tan head, brown and opaque. Taste is a bold malt, roast, and dammit if that's not cigar flavor. I may even have some bourbon and oak in there. Just blown away at the melody of flavor! The aftertaste leaves a bitter coffee bean/hop thing in there. Not bad at all. Bold, yet with a smooth flavor and moderate body. Not cloying at all. I may call this the first 5 star porter I've ever had. Ok, after one more sip, this amazing beer is right there. Just has it all for me. 5 Stars. One of the best I've had all year.

UCLA at UH Live Blog and Beer

So it's time again and it's my weekend to watch the baby. Which means that I have to depend on my chump friends to set something up to watch the UH game. Which means I am at HOME with the baby watching the game by myself. I figured that when I can, I may as well combine my football watching and beer blogging. I thought about reviewing a beer from the home city (or state) of each school for my favorite schools. Since I managed to pick up a potbelly and I just bought some expensive slimming french cuff shirts, I'm back on Weightwatchers. Which means unless I hit Memorial Park hard, I can only have a couple beers a day. So I'll just review the beer of the team in the lead at halftime and at the end of the game.

I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of Cigar City for FAMU and I think I have enough Sweetwater and Terrapin for Georgia Tech. But here we go.

UCLA (Sierra Nevada) vs Houston (Saint Arnold)
UH gets the ball first and basically throws and runs all over the field like they have diarrehea. Get the BIG touchdown. While I spoon in a couple scoops of rice in my mouth (no homo), UCLA is already punting. UCLA 0, UH 7

2:00 left in 1st Quarter. Hell, U of H is running all over these boys. They make it to the red zone and then stall out of an offsides penalty. Houston's field is good and they have now run 27 plays to UCLA's 3. Damn shame. Funny how they are showing the quarterbacks drafted recently who are Kennum's age. Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, and Matthew Stafford. For me that's 2 busts and a possible, like a bad game of blackjack. Bruins 0, Cougars 10.

14:21 left in the 2nd Quarter. And the Bruins are on the board. After getting an old fashioned mashin in the first quarter, UCLA brings the pain offensively and blasts out with some huge passes to get the touchdown. UCLA 7, UH 10.

12:39 left in the 2nd Quarter. UH stalls out like an old El Camino. UCLA 7, UH 10

Down goes Prince. Down goes Prince!

9:45 left in the 2nd quarter The new QB for UCLA screws it up and UH gets the ball back. UH's defense actually holds but an unsportsmanlike conduct screws it up. Anyway, UH is driving. Same score.

TOUCHDOWN COOGS. These boys are slicing and dicing through UCLA's defense. Looking like it may be a Saint Arnold time at half time. Thinking I'll clear out the cellar with some Winter Seasonal beers. 7:18 Second Quarter. Yookla 7, Houston 17.

The Surfers are not going away. UCLA gets the ball and looks very classy making their way to the end zone. The WR, Fauria, for UCLA is looking like he is going to wreck shop all day. Old boy transferred from Notre Dame, good idea looking at how the Irish are playing against USF. Things are getting a little bit tight now. UCLA 14, UH 17, 2:50 left in the Second Quarter.

TOUCHDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNN! UH just ran the ball right down the Bruin's throughts. This is just an amazing run by Michael Hayes. He must have Juggernauted his way through the entire UCLA Defense, Offsense, Chemistry Department, and Marching Band. Unbelieaveable!!! The Bars 14, Coogs 24.

Halftime in the UCLA/UH game. This is a great game so far as I wait on the FAMU game to start. Houston's offsnse is looking VERY VERY SHARP AND HERE'S ANOTHER TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can tell that I start typing this a pinch early. Oh MY MY MY MY MY MY MY. I'm thinking someone is going to the ROSE BOWL! At halftime the score is UCLA 14, UH 31. And it's not even in HD.

Saint Arnold Winter Stout
"I'll take you shopping out of season, buy you summer clothes in the fall" Nose has a great chocolate, caramel and cherry. I think this one is a couple years old. The deep velvety brown beer has a nice soft dark cherry/malt flavor, followed up with some great light bitterness in the aftertaste. This beer seems to have aged nicely. I'm getting a more nutty flavor (no homo) as it warms up, something like almonds. Kinda like that poison in those Robert Ludlum novels. Hopefully I won't keel over here. If I do, it would be worth it. I'll go ahead and rate the aged Winter Stout at 4 Stars out of Five. Awesome.

Ok, I'm going to see if I can get this Rattler Vision working...

8:28 into the 3rd Quarter and UCLA has garnered a hard fought touchdown. I still haven't finished my beer yet, and I cannot get Rattlervision to work just yet either. Dammit UCLA 21, UH 31.

Sorry, I've been dealing with this online streaming crap. Anyway UCLA just scored and they are down now 34 to 38 after the botched extra point. Butts are geting tight as UCLA is looking for the onside kick with only 1:18 minutes left in the game. While we're at it, I planned on doing the same beer review thing with FAMU taking on Fort Valley State, but I just now got a local radio station online radio as opposed to a streaming service FROM THE SCHOOL THAT I PAID FOR, which is not working. And it turns out FAMU is losing, looks like I may be chugging a bomber of Sweetwater Dank Tank Barleywine if that game doesn't work out.

Anyway UH got the onside kick, so they are kneeling er down in VICTORY FORMATION. HOUSTON WIN HOUSTON WIN HOUSTON WIN. Let's wrap it up with another Saint Arnold Seasonal.

Saint Arnold Spring Bock
The hue is a nice dark copper wiht a sustaining offwhite head. The nose has that steely malt that we like and the taste is much the same. The beer has softened up a bit since I first bought it earlier this year. Nice sweet cookie caramel malt, low hops, and just very well done. Again out of season beering here, but this one has held up pretty well. 4 stars.

Thanks all. I'm onward for the FAMU game. We're up nearly 21-12 over Fort Valley, so it looks like Cigar city is the ticket.