Deep Ellum, Buffalo Bayou, New Belgium... who you kicking out of the Hot Tub?

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....

Beer Log: Right now
State: Watching the Bootleg Storage Wars aka Storage Hunters
Man Storage Wars kills Storage Hunters.  All we have are big stereotypical black women.  Damn shame.

New Belgium Lips of Faith Belgian Style Blond
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.

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.

Beer Log: Earlier Today
State: At the Flying Saucer in Sugar Land

Deep Ellum Dallas Blond on cask
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.

Buffalo by you 1836
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.

Beering in DC Metro: Red Line

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.

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 Firestation #1 Restaurant and Brewery to watch some preseason ball, have some local beer, and ham it up with the townies.

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.

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..

Beer Log: August 18, 2012

FH1 Avenue Golden Ale
Clear and light straw. Light nose and light flavor of cracker and a pinch if metal. 2 stars.

FH1 Stout
Dark brown and cloudy. Deep beer with a body like guinness. Light coco roast with a pinch of lemon. Low 3stars.

FH1 IPA
This ain't working out too well. Maybe a little sour and whatnot. Smooth like an English pale ale. AT is all bready.

Later on in the flight I get a soda hoppy Heavy Seas Loose Cannon IPA.  That was some good stuff.

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.

Beering in DC Metro: Green Line

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.

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.

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.

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

Beer Log: August 15, 2012
State: At Bier Baron, just relaxing getting some dinner

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...

Port City Wit
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.

Port City Pale
Clear amber caramel nose. Nice light hoops and malt. Clean, no butter. Crisp. Loving it  4 stars

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.

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.

to be continued...

Divine Reserve 12

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.

Beer Log: Right now
State: Watching the Russians screw it up on the balance beam, slight heartburn from the crawfish spaghetti

Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 12
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.

AC just got fixed in the house

From the Kangs of Austin Beer.

Beer Log: Right now
State: Knees in some pain, sitting in our house which is pretty hot due to our just getting the AC fixed.

Jester King Das Wunderkind
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

Texas Pint Nite at the Sugarland Saucer

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.

Beer log: Right now
State: Hungry, hanging out with the family at the Saucer. Watching the Olympics.

Buffalo Bayou Wit da Eff
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.

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.

Deep Ellum Double Brown Stout
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.

Austin Beerworks Flying Headbutt
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.

Brewery London

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.

Beer Log: Right now

State: Watching Chicagolicious with the family

The Kernel Imperial Brown Stout Brewery London

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.