Bubba83

I tried a very good stout tonight, but was actually pleasantly surprised by the Hefeweizen i tried first as well. Great roasty bitterness, with a little bit of a chocolate finish. A very nice stout, infact, I believe it is now my favorite stout. Look for this one Scaparri! #55 in the world, Rogue's Shakespeare Stout. ABV 6.0% Looks really appealing, and doesn't let you down! Schneider's Weisse Original Hefeweizen. ABV 4.9% Quite citrusy with a nice sparkly kind of feel. A darker hefeweizen with lots of good flavor.

Tonight, I tried another new bomber from my BevMo run. Something from San Diego this time, a Ballast Point brew. Yep, still amazes me every time I take the first sip. I hope you can find this somewhere scaparri! Reposting my favorite beer that I ended the night with for scaparri, the Deschutes Black Butte Porter, 5.5% ABV. It's almost like a cross between a pale ale and a kolsch, but not as good as either of those two styles by themselves. The Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale. ABV 4.6% This says it is inspired by the german style Kolsch ales, but it doesn't taste like a Kolsch to me really.

I tried two new beers tonight. The first was a local pale ale, and the next was an Irish Stout. Ended the night with a Murphy's Irish Stout. A pretty common brand over in Ireland from what I understand. More chocolatey than Guinness. Quite good, but it didn't really stand out to me as being different from the crowd. The Poleeko Gold Pale Ale. 5.5% ABV This was a pale ale done in the american style with tons of hops, it really bordered on being an IPA for me.

^ Deschutes Black Butte Porter It's my favorite beer out of everything I've tried. I don't know how much luck you'll have finding it out there though, it's from Oregon. I was able to get it at Safeway in Arizona though, so that might be a good sign... Usually comes in six packs, I don't even think they distribute any bombers. Tonight, in honor of it no longer being American Craft Brew Week, I tried something from London, Fuller's ESB. Yummy! I liked it a lot, if you let it sit on your tongue a bit you can get a nice toffee flavor, and when you swallow you get a little bitter after-taste. Overall, I think I really like ESBs, they seem like a Brown ale with more character! This was the first ESB I've ever had. I wasn't really sure what to expect. It really wasn't bitter at all, at least compared to most pales or IPAs I've had.

Cool I am glad you finally decided to post your models here!!! I like the layouts of these inverts a lot!

^I've ridden Grizzly at Paramount's Great America, ridden Ghostrider, ridden Colossus, and ridden The Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I'd have to say, The Giant Dipper is by far the best in my opinion. It's not as big as Ghostrider, but it's a hell of a lot more comfortable, and provides more ejector air time. I still haven't had a chance to ride Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom though, but I will get on that one in about a month!

I've ridden a few stand-ups, and Riddler's Revenge is way better than any of them. It is incredibly smooth and still has great speed, pacing, and it is pretty forceful too. I really can't imagine another standup being better than Riddler's, and I think it is generally considered the best stand up coaster, but I'm not sure. I really didn't like my ride on Mantis at all.

^^^ Nice bar picture Derek, I'm taking notes. My end to American Craft Brew Week was a pretty awesome Sunday. My cousin from Seattle was in San Francisco for a Conference this week, and he decided to come see us today. I hadn't seen him in something like 6 years! We mostly just chatted, and then we went to a cool little authentic mexican place in Mountain View. After we dropped him off at the train station so he could get back to San Francisco, I came home and hours later figured something from Stone would be a good way to wrap up American Craft Brew Week. What? No more left? Noooooooo!!!!!!!! Hey, is there anymore left down there??? My best attempt at a Heath pose. I know, I'm smiling a little too much and my dimples are a little too pronounced. But hey, can you blame me, I'm drinking something from Stone here! Beer heaven! By far my favorite IPA thus far, even though I've only had 4. It edges out Bear Republic's Racer 5 by a bit. Yep, I love it! I gotta send a thank you out to Derek for the excellent suggestions about which IPAs I should try that I'd like. Very good! Hmmm... Tastes a little citrusy, but not much, and I feel like I'm in the woods with all the pine needles i'm smelling. Hoppy! The Stone IPA, as suggested by Derek. 6.9% ABV, and a nice head! I was apprehensive about IPAs until the Racer 5, how do you think I liked this one?

Oh my god, when did they take Psyclone out???

I think Mean Streak is very underrated. It's my favorite wooden coaster, though I must admit my wood sample size is rather small.

Derek got a haircut =P Looks like a fun night for you guys. Is Kim an expert chef? It sure appears so. I had a fun night of my own... My uncle and I went to Trader Joe's today to get some beer and beef. My mom was craving Rib-eyes so I got some angus rib-eyes to BBQ. My uncle and I also got a few brews, some of which are highlighted later in the thread. First beer we tried was the Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale. This stuff is weird, it was only $2.99 for the six pack so we were a little worried at first, but man, it tastes just like pumpkin pie! It's interesting for sure, and I think it might be a nice treat every once in a while, but I probably wouldn't get it again. Ended the night with a Red Tail Ale. This had a rather small head but high carbonation. Made me burp a lot and was just okay for me. Enjoying the Red Rocket Ale. Thanks for the recommendation Heath! I know the beer probably looks foreign, but that's because I had to use the flash for lighting, thus making the beer darker in the glass! Next up, the Red Rocket Ale from Bear Republic. Awesome balance for a red ale, it was sweet but had a nice bitter background. Better than the red at Tied House the other night. Over in my Uncle's garage again... He lives just across the street and a few houses over so it is convenient. We try the mississipi mud, a very good black and tan! Dinner is served. My mom cooked up the red potatoes and artichoke. I love artichokes, that is one thing I missed in Arizona, good artichokes. By the way, the Ribeyes were medium rare and awesome! My uncle makes an appearance. He runs his own gardening business around the neighborhood and was in our backyard as I was BBQing. BBQing Rib-eyes for my mom and I. The last of the Apricot Weizen six pack is in my hand. It's a great beer to BBQ with!

beer. yes, beer. that is my happy thought.

Wow, worst B&M invert you've been on? I never expected to hear that one... What other B&M Inverts have you been on? Why didn't you like Alpengeist? It's my favorite Invert, and I've been on Raptor at CP. As for my most overrated coaster... I'm going to have to go with Top Thrill Dragster.

The log ride picture with the sun rays is cash money! Talon looks really good to me, why isn't it? I want to visit Pennsylvania for theme parks. The last time I was there we only went to see Independance Hall, and the Mint in Philly. Oh, we also went on some Amish tour where we brought some AMAZING bread from a shy little amish girl.

Yeah yeah, so I'm starting American Craft Brew Week a bit late... Oh well! I went to BevMo yesterday and picked up quite a few bombers of different American Craft Brews. Last night I tried the Hefe Doppel Weizen from Marin Brewing in Larkspur, California. I took this one over to my Uncle's garage where we enjoyed it while watching the DVD of a live performance by Gary Moore. This guy had some serious guitar skill! Onto the beer... The beer started out by pouring all head, couldn't see anything but head. After it calmed down we were able to enjoy what started off as a highly carbonated beer, but mellowed out towards the bottom of the glass. This beer has some great flavor up front and a little bite at the end enhanced by the carbonation. As we kept drinking it, it became more mellow at the bottom, with lots of unfiltered yeast. The bitter bite at the end becomes sweet as well. I had to use the flash since his garage is so dark, the flash never captures the true color of the beer. This beer is quite a bit lighter in color than the picture shows. ABV 7.0% Hey, whose Bud Light is invading my picture!

Cool avatar Antoine. Are you running Linux on a Mac or something?

Okay okay, I have a confession to make. I went to yet another microbrewery tonight and took no pictures. This time in San Jose, CA. Tied House was pretty good. Thursdays are their 89 cent half pints deal. Unfortunately we sat at the bar and there was only 1 bartender, on top of that, he fooled around way more than he served beer. I did try their Cascade Amber, Ironwood Dark, Seasonal Maibock, and their Stout. However I was really dissapointed to find out they didn't have a single beer on tap that was even partially bitter. No ESB, no pale, no IPA, dissapointing. The beers I tried were pretty good though. Again I don't know why I didn't take pictures. I always come home kind of annoyed with myself for not taking them, but at the time it just felt weird. Maybe it would have been better if we had been at a table instead of the bar. I am so fired. Oh well...

Pft, her rack isn't even that nice! Which Seuss book is KidTums' favorite? I've got money on One fish two fish red fish blue fish. Anyone wanna take that bet? Yeah, I'm hiding from the beer thread because I didn't take pictures of my microbrewery experience yet again. I am so fired as Derek and Heath's apprentice.

When does Victory Brewing release their Kolsch? I hear it is quite good for the style. Wish I could find anything from Victory Brewing out this way, but I haven't even seen Hop Devil anywhere.

Tonight I felt sort of dreary, not sure why... I broke out a beer to suit my mood... I didn't know that this week was American Craft Brew Week, am I fired as a beer drinker? Maybe I'll look for some American Craft Brews to finish out the rest of my week. Back for another bottle of the Curveball Kolsch. Honestly, while I do think this Kolsch was better than the one at Four Peaks, it was nothing compared to the one on tap at Faultline the other night. It tastes too much like a regular wheat beer. Guinness Extra Stout. Hey whadda you know, Guinness beer is inside the Guinness glass! As you can see from the first picture, this beer cheered me up quickly. What's that in the ol' Guinness glass this time? Well it's none other than...

I spent $3.97 yesterday on... The beer thread owns me.

Wait, what? Your wife wanted to go fishing? Was there a shopping center near the lake? I've never heard of a woman wanting to go fishing before! Nice pictures! Looks like your family had a nice time there, I like Mt. Hood, though it has been a while since I have been there.

Thanks for the recommendation Heath. Looks like ABC Harrisburg was fun... Happy 1st Anniversary Derek and Nicole, though I think Nicole got the better end of the tradeoff deal with Superman: Ride of Steel. For Mother's Day my Uncle brought over a beer he bought at Trader Joe's earlier today. Surprise surprise scooterdoug, it was a 2006 Vintage Ale, exactly like you had just a few days ago! This was another very different experience for me. It tasted a little bit like the finish of the Stone Imperial Russian Stout, but it wasn't as sophisticated. It had that sort of sweetness the whole way through, but not nearly as sweet as Anchor's Barley-Wine Style Ale. It was very carbonated, almost as high carbonation as soda. The head is big at first but has little retention. The mouth feel is a little weird because of all the bubbles, and you can't drink it very fast because of this either. Overall my uncle and I agreed that we liked it quite a bit! ABV 9.0% Comes in a rather large 25.4oz bottle with a champagne style cork.

Sounds like Shapiro is moving in the right direction on all fronts. Let's just hope the execution of these goals is as good as intended.

^ 16% ABV? Jesus! How much did that thing cost you? =P I took Derek's advice and found Bear Republic's Racer 5 IPA at a local liquor store. I didn't see it when I went to BevMo before. Also of note... They had Bear Republic's Red Rocket Ale at the same liquor store. Have any of you tried it? Does it come highly recommended? (Who am I kidding, Derek and Heath have both had it on multiple occasions, I assume.) Up to this point, I generally haven't liked IPAs, because they are too bitter for me, but I do think with time I will eventually grow to like them. The Racer 5 was the first one that I can say I would gladly buy again. Onto the pictures... I've always liked the citrus flavor of the first taste of the IPAs that I've tried. The middle-end has always been the problem with the others, but this one eased into the bitterness that grew and grew as I swallowed. Really enjoyed it! ABV 7.0% The head retention was pretty crazy. I shot a couple pictures of the head sticking to my upper lip/nose, but they looked a little too much like, well you know, so I decided not to post them!