Haven't been blogging or tweeting in a while. Plenty of beers have come my way since last blogginig, including the EXCELLENT beers at the Stone Beer Dinner and the Camp Beer Stoutapalooza. I've just been burned out recently with the job, trying to submit a paper for a technical conference, planning 3 different "diversity" events, still running the investment club, entertaining the parents and inlaws for my daughters birthday party, and of course some beer reviews and blogging. Something had to give, and the blog was what was it. Too bad too as we have a new fridge in our garage and we promptly filled it up with the huge amount of bombers and specialty beers we have all over the kitchen. Not to mention our regular fridge broke, we're trying to get the roof fixed, and the wife is busting my chops about getting a new car and a new house in some far away neighborhood way north of town.
I'm finally getting my nose above water with all the work going on, and I may get some good blogging going on. I've just visited an old friend's new bar "Zanzibar" at the old Westheimer Pub location. And lo and behold she had some Shiner Oktoberfest and a couple other good beers on bottles. Maybe she could use a Cicerone.
On to the beer, as I've said I have been drinking some fantastic beer. Just finished off another can of Modus Hoperandi by Ska. Great beer right out of the can. Med-light body, great malt/hop balance, but a rather West Coast beer. Finishes a little dry, which is fine. Low 4 star. I've been running away from the dunkel and malty lagers/ales. I need crisp, I need big hops balanced with malt. I've actually been in the mood from some citrus/acidic IPAs like the Snake Dog IPA I had at Alamo Drafthouse.
Anyway, great reviews to come. Great travel on the way to San Francisco and Indianapolis. Maybe a quick trip to Austin as well. Looking forward to it all. Holla.
Showing posts with label ska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ska. Show all posts
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
It's Friday, Imperial IPA please
Well, last night we figured we would just stay home and crack open a few bombers. So I went down to Coaches Pub on Barker-Cypress and I-10 to pick up a couple pounds of crawfish and had at it.
Beer Log: Last Night
State: Pretty tired after the job, week of hard work getting that oil.
Rogue Ale Northwestern Ale
Great caramel and choco nose, with huge poofy tan head. I would saythe color is caramel as well. I like the big caramel malt up topwith a pinch of choco, and it is followed by harsh pointed grapefruit hops, not cascade. Moderate carbo. I actually think the hops actually screw this oneup a bit. Just too unbalanced near the end there, but I like the hard grapefruit. I'm sure it fits a style, but what? Kinda likea beer with all the leftovers. High 3 Stars.
So the wife looked this beer up and it turns out most consider it an India Red Ale. I think that description is spot on. Biting caramel, a little chocolate, ruddish color, and biting hops. No softness anywhere.
Rogue Imperial Red Ale
Not to be confused with Northwestern, but this is the IRA in the fancy claylike bottle. We bought this one nearly 2 years ago and let it age in our cellar (on top of our cabinets in the kitchen). Dark brown color with tan bubbly head. Nose is caramel. The taste is a robust maltiness and a muted yet strong hops. Not much more I can really say about it than it is an aged version of the Northwestern, without the chocolate. 4 Stars.
Ska Decadence
Switching gears and losing sobriety, I really want to see what this one with the skeleton and the waxed up bottle cap. Dark amber color with a white head. Steel hops and malty nose. The taste is steely hops as well, thought not metal. The beer tastes much softer after the hardcore Red Ale's I've been drinking. Pleasant. 4 Stars.
Beer Log: Last Night
State: Pretty tired after the job, week of hard work getting that oil.
Rogue Ale Northwestern Ale
Great caramel and choco nose, with huge poofy tan head. I would saythe color is caramel as well. I like the big caramel malt up topwith a pinch of choco, and it is followed by harsh pointed grapefruit hops, not cascade. Moderate carbo. I actually think the hops actually screw this oneup a bit. Just too unbalanced near the end there, but I like the hard grapefruit. I'm sure it fits a style, but what? Kinda likea beer with all the leftovers. High 3 Stars.
So the wife looked this beer up and it turns out most consider it an India Red Ale. I think that description is spot on. Biting caramel, a little chocolate, ruddish color, and biting hops. No softness anywhere.
Rogue Imperial Red Ale
Not to be confused with Northwestern, but this is the IRA in the fancy claylike bottle. We bought this one nearly 2 years ago and let it age in our cellar (on top of our cabinets in the kitchen). Dark brown color with tan bubbly head. Nose is caramel. The taste is a robust maltiness and a muted yet strong hops. Not much more I can really say about it than it is an aged version of the Northwestern, without the chocolate. 4 Stars.
Ska Decadence
Switching gears and losing sobriety, I really want to see what this one with the skeleton and the waxed up bottle cap. Dark amber color with a white head. Steel hops and malty nose. The taste is steely hops as well, thought not metal. The beer tastes much softer after the hardcore Red Ale's I've been drinking. Pleasant. 4 Stars.
As per all black men over the age of 25, whenever I think of "ska", I think of my babymomma Gwen Stefani...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wife Out of Town Beering: Part 3
So after a three hour nap, I wake up at 7 AM on Saturday to hit the golf course. Apparantly the word got out that I would be getting up early, b/c the wife and some friends decided to call me at 7:05. Anyway, I made it to the course at 8, just in time to see the course under construction. So we make it to another course nearby. I thought I had a club meeting at 10, so I only had time to hit the driving range.
I drove down to Rice Village just to find out the meeting was next week. I was still kinda tired and I went to my friends herbal tea shop. We all sat around and chatted it up for a couple hours and got some food at Ruggles. She gave me a shot of Ginseng and I was ready to roll. I made it back home with the thought that I would have a few hours to catch some zzzz's and relax before hitting the Flying Saucer and then the Dynamo game.
But as soon as I sat down with half a pitcher of Margarita, one of the guys called me saying he's got a case of beer and some cigars. So I jump in the car for the 20 mile ride to Cinco Ranch. The man normally drinks Corona so brought a party pack of beer from my own cabinet just in case. But turns out he had a case of Sam Adams Summer Seasonal. Granted we drank it out of bottles, but the Summer Seas White Ale seemed a lot better this year than what they had last year. We smoke a couple cigars and chat it up with the neighbors, then it was time to hit the Sauce once again.
I had the Lagunitas Correction Ale which claimed it was an American Ale. It was damn near a double IPA, but I don't know if they make a session beer out there. After that, I got some IPA from Ska that was not even as strong as the American Ale from Lagunitas. The Ska Modus Hoperandi was a pleasent yet kind of harsh IPA.
Afterward, my friend and I made it to the Dynamo game. The Houston Dynamo was apparently celebrating the Don Taylor Wife out of Town weekend, as they scored three goals on Toronto FC in like 5 minutes. Very very hype! Afterward, I made my way to my other boy's pool party back on the Westside. I don't know if it ever was a party, but there were a couple of old friends. We drank mostly Modelo Especial and Corona as we traded stories of visiting gay clubs, strip clubs, and generally getting slizzard with each other over the years. I must have been winding down b/c at about 1:30AM the girls wanted to hit a random after hours dance bar but I just wasn't up for it. The more I think about it a day later, I probably should have gone.
After some sobering up, I finally made it back home. An excellent weekend to be sure. One more day to go and I have a couple days during the week to keep it going before going back offshore.
I drove down to Rice Village just to find out the meeting was next week. I was still kinda tired and I went to my friends herbal tea shop. We all sat around and chatted it up for a couple hours and got some food at Ruggles. She gave me a shot of Ginseng and I was ready to roll. I made it back home with the thought that I would have a few hours to catch some zzzz's and relax before hitting the Flying Saucer and then the Dynamo game.
But as soon as I sat down with half a pitcher of Margarita, one of the guys called me saying he's got a case of beer and some cigars. So I jump in the car for the 20 mile ride to Cinco Ranch. The man normally drinks Corona so brought a party pack of beer from my own cabinet just in case. But turns out he had a case of Sam Adams Summer Seasonal. Granted we drank it out of bottles, but the Summer Seas White Ale seemed a lot better this year than what they had last year. We smoke a couple cigars and chat it up with the neighbors, then it was time to hit the Sauce once again.
I had the Lagunitas Correction Ale which claimed it was an American Ale. It was damn near a double IPA, but I don't know if they make a session beer out there. After that, I got some IPA from Ska that was not even as strong as the American Ale from Lagunitas. The Ska Modus Hoperandi was a pleasent yet kind of harsh IPA.
Afterward, my friend and I made it to the Dynamo game. The Houston Dynamo was apparently celebrating the Don Taylor Wife out of Town weekend, as they scored three goals on Toronto FC in like 5 minutes. Very very hype! Afterward, I made my way to my other boy's pool party back on the Westside. I don't know if it ever was a party, but there were a couple of old friends. We drank mostly Modelo Especial and Corona as we traded stories of visiting gay clubs, strip clubs, and generally getting slizzard with each other over the years. I must have been winding down b/c at about 1:30AM the girls wanted to hit a random after hours dance bar but I just wasn't up for it. The more I think about it a day later, I probably should have gone.
After some sobering up, I finally made it back home. An excellent weekend to be sure. One more day to go and I have a couple days during the week to keep it going before going back offshore.
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