DerekRx

Just a few in the last few days before heading off to a wedding this weekend. Pretty good stuff. A nice smoked bacon taste mix well with lots of caramel and molasses sweetness with a little bit of roasted coffee and grassy hop kick in the finish Finally, Alaskan Smoked Porter from Alaska, #89 in the US Top 100, got this one in a trade A fairly decent IPA with lots of spicy, earthy, and grassy hop flavor as well as a solid malt/grain and even a touch of citrus and pine. Not overly hoppy though, not like the West Coast IPAs Fort Collins Rocky Mountain IPA comes all the way from Fort Collins in the Rocky Mountains! It's true Just loaded with hoppy goodness, yet with a nice caramel backbone to boot First, an old favorite that seems to taste better each and every time, AleSmith's IPA

Our final stop on this Memorial Day weekend trip was to Waldameer to finally ride the Ravine Flyer II, a coaster that has been in the works since before I was a coaster enthusiast. I heard some good things about the coaster, but I didn't really follow its construction or layout or anything, because frankly I like to be a little surprised. And boy was I ever! The park was fairly empty first thing on Monday afternoon when they opened at 1pm, which works fine for us, and seems to be the norm at all parks over Memorial Day. Even with the whole lower queue of RFII filled, the wait time was only about 40 minutes with a 1 train operation. Again, like Behemoth, they were only allowing 1 trains worth of people into the station, but if you were nice, they'd let you wait for a particular row. I won't ruin the ride with a full fledged dissertation on the ride, but I will say it's a good one, like a mini-Voyage, only a fraction of the size, more rideable, and without the witch hunts for evil doing rule breakers. This ride will definitely boost Waldameer's attendance, and I'm glad to see they went with 2 trains from the get go. It's freaking great to see the Ravine Flyer II finally become a reality! not very big, but it offers a different ride from the other Jr Woodies out there, what few there are one final credit for Nicole before heading back for more Ravine Flyer thrills is the park's old Jr Woodie, Comet, which is really cute and fun another carousel, another photo for you fans of the animals that go around in a circle, sometimes bobbing up and down it made me sad, I like being the only clown she enjoys sitting with Nicole enjoyed sitting with some clown at Waldameer or maybe this Lifeguard frog freaked them out Waldameer also has a waterpark, but not many people seemed to be there yet. Maybe they were in line for Ravine Flyer II like every other soul in the park While it's no Dragon's Fury, this thing is fun and if you arrange your group right, you spin real good. 90 degrees! I love a good Maurer Sohne spinner, and Steel Dragon is no exception One of Waldameer's newer additions is the X-scream Pirates Cove is a walk thru sort of like Noah's Ark with lots of different rooms and some prop gags With lots of black lights and cool gags, Heath was easily frightened Besides an awesome wood coaster, Waldameer also has a few good dark rides. This one is cool, and disorienting The new park map, but you shouldn't have looked at that either! The best you can do from inside the park is this sign. Maybe you shouldn't have looked at that if you wanted to be surprised. Sorry! You can't see much of the ride from inside the park, adding to the mysteriousness, and accentuating the thrill First order of business, the new Gravity Group goodie Welcome to Waldameer, now let's get to work!

On Sunday we got up bright and early and made our way to Canada's Wonderland for opening so we could experience Behemoth with the least amount of waiting. Crossing the border was a piece of cake for us, but getting into the park was still a giant clusterfrak thanks to the greatness that is Cedar Fair's pass policy. After we ran into mass confusion and passes that wouldn't scan at Kings Dominion earlier in the year, we went right to Guest Services to get our comp tickets. After waiting for about 15 minutes with only 3 other parties in front of us, we're told "oh, you have Platinum Passes, we don't give you tickets, you just scan your pass at the gate." Grrrr.... So we go to the gate and the dude looks at us confused, tries to scan the pass, tells us to go to Guest Services to get comp tickets. We explain we were there, they told us they don't give us comp tickets. He runs over, talks to them (because I ain't getting in a line that now looks like it's about 45 minutes long) tells us to wait a few minutes, and then some other dude comes over, punches in some numbers and we're all good to go. We'd be good to go like 20 minutes sooner had Cedar Fair yet figured out what Six Flags and Busch figured out years ago, make your scanners universal across your chain! Basically, the gist I get so far is old Paramount park passes are good everywhere chainwide, as Heath and Kims passes scanned. All old CF park passholders still have to go to Guest Relations, at least at Paramount parks. Behemoth really surprised us, the seating isn't too retarded to understand unlike the Deja Vus, and the extra length of the train really helps dish out more airtime. With all three trains running, a full queue plus additional temp queue only ended up being about a 50 minute wait, and they were stacking trains (but they'd only let 1 train of people into the station at a time, except for the front rows, they could have 3 trains worth). Good airtime, speed, a good forcefull helix and a nice view put this towards the top of my B&M hyper list, just below Goliath at SFOG, but I did keep my expectations low. Rode it twice, both times in the last car, once on the end, and once in the middle. Hopefully we'll ride this thing again soon because it was excellent! and coming back across the border, here's a shot of Niagara Falls that some of you may see come August Time to head back to the US, but here's one final shot of Behemoth for you. Probably would be better without the random light post in the shot, but whatever Offering you the Lamest Name Award, Flight Deck, is BACT Team Extreme member Heath. But that honor is saved for you, oh ever so lamely named Flight Deck! LOL, Time Warp! What is so Time Warped about this?! Almost the lamest name ever....almost horse butts! (you had to be there to understand the random sync of it all) for those carousel building enthusiasts out there Boo to the giant wine corkscrew known as Sledgehammer being broken A little over 2 years ago I did this at the same exact spot, only now Nicole is used to it A little over 2 years ago I did this at the same exact spot, only without there being a diamond on Nicole's finger. I just wanted to point out how funny I think it is that Six Flags thinks people don't like flat rides, yet this thing had a full queue One ride we won't skip though is Thunder Run, another top "coaster" in the park, even if it is powered. We skipped the Fly (and many other rides) on this visit because we did them before and they had long lines now. But the extra ride on Behemoth was worth it Paul proves that he can get a normal hand stamp and that he doesn't have bad circulation like we were led to believe 2 years ago Even with a full queue, this sucker eats lines when running two trains. Do NOT skip this! Leggo my egg turn! unlike most Arrow suspendeds, this one only has one lift, and really has a lot of speed and high swing to it Vortex, now the 2nd best coaster in the park, but still one of Arrow's finest Minebuster would like to remind everyone that it is still there and it is still an out and back and is older than Behemoth. As an added bonus it even offers free chiropractic sessions to all who ride airtime = good. airtime on standup = ouch elsewhere in the park we're reminded of the old Canada's Wonderland, but with bright new paints! The lift has a great view of the park and the skyline of Toronto, and the drop has some nice air It really is a Behemoth, and it really is a great coaster. At first I wasn't expecting much from it, but it really surprised me, and it's early in the season! No Evel Knievel-esque stunts are allowed while in line There must have been some sort of morning ERT for some company, as by the time we got there, Behemoth already had a huge line like everyone else, we first went to Behemoth Finally we're inside and saying hi to Wonder Mt again. It's been too long, my friend (yes, I know it's a fake mountain, and it's not really alive so it can't be my friend) There's the reason. 2 windows opened on a Saturday at one of the busiest parks in the Western Hemisphere? Sounds like old Paramount mentality to me Why do we look annoyed and frustrated? The new park entrance could this ride be even better than Canada's last offering to the world, Canadian Geese?! there's a new hulking goliath err behemoth greeting patrons to the park The skyline sure has changed about 2 hours later, here we are, at Paramountless Canada's Wonderland Before we could make the venture into Canada, we needed Tim Hortons, it's a requirement now, just like passports

After lunch and brews in Syracuse, our next stop was Darien Lake to take advantage of their after 5 admission prices and to try out the new for 2008 OCC MotoCoaster. I hadn't been to Darien Lake since 1999 when Superman opened, but from what I can tell, not much has changed. It's nice to see that at least the new owners are investing in the place with this new coaster. OCC Motocoaster was surprisingly fun, like a launched rollerskater. The restraints are definitely more comfortable than Vekoma's motorbike restraints, and the operations were great! Full queue was like a 25 minute wait. The location was a bit weird though, and you had to technically leave the park at the campground entrance in order to get into the plaza for the new ride. here's some stuff from Buffalo that I love, all in the same photo at the same time Hello Anchor Bar, bring me your wings! We departed Darien Lake and the beauty of Ride of Steel for Buffalo. Hopefully it won't be another 9 years until you get a coaster! Our last ride of the evening was Predator. Even though they're retracking like the whole thing, I think they need to invest in non-trailered trains to make any sort of difference. It still blows the lilacs were in bloom so Nicole was happy riding over water > riding over a field with tram car and Ultra Twister scrap pieces and it still delivers a great ride and has a nice location, even if the crew is really slow and the station smells like a dumpster _______: Ride of Steel, dumb name, but it sure beats Flight Deck! "I can only eat pureed fish, sonny!" Why, he's SharkGums! Time to visit with SharkTums' relative. But what the heck is wrong with him? I think Six Flags added this during their reign. It didn't have much of a wait this day. We did ride the log flume though, and didn't get very wet. Twas actually a pleasant though simple ride No Mind Eraser for us today, we all already have the credit. Sure looks pretty though, doesn't it? Brain teaser still eludes us, curses to those who say this is only for children! For being built like in 1982, Viper is still pretty fun and thrilling for those of you who still think I like vertical loops, here, have some Viper Oh Predator, you look like you could be a nice wood coaster, you deceiving devil! Bummer that we got here too early to witness the OCC cycle on display for the ride. Hopefully we can catch it on tv If you look at the last car you will see...the handicap row where they just tie your wheelchair onto the actual ride! I would have thought they would have tried going for more OCC inspired motorcycle cars, but oh well. And where's Bruno, I saw him on the park map!? The restraints were much more comfortable than the Vekoma ones, and very simple yet effective The launch caught us a little off-guard, and you gotta love a flywheel style launch Hooray for new coasters that open before June! Some cool I-beam logos The new owners were pretty smart by adding in New York's own Orange County Chopper dudes into the theming On the other side of that lake we find Zamperla's first motocoaster in operation They call the park Darien Lake for a reason, it's on the Darien Lakes. This be one of them Yup, we're at Darien Lake, the atomic coaster logo says so When you see this giant mass of Intamin goodness, you know you're at Darien Lake...or you somehow got lost in the Largo area and are driving in a field, which would make you pretty dumb

As usual, on a holiday weekend we like to utilize our extra day off by heading somewhere a little farther away. Since there was so much new stuff opening around the Buffalo area and Nicole wanted to show off her bling to her parents anyway, we figured this weekend would be a great opportunity to get there. Even better was that every one of the new coasters in the area was already opened for the season, that rarely seems to happen anymore! The first stop was Sylvan Beach, a small park outside of Syracuse that Nicole visited last year and I tried visiting the year before but it was closed due to rain. Sylvan Beach is a really cute little park with some older rides, as well as newer old rides. Apparently they just added a Rotor this year. It reminded me of a smaller Conneaut only nicer and actually opened. The dark ride was good, though a little too dark to catch all the stunts, and best of all, we got a credit in the Galaxi there. We could have easily spent more time there if we wanted. and Nicole and I do our sappy myspace style picture at the lake As Heath eats his ice cream, he ponders his next beer but that didn't stop some people from finding some water recreational fun in Lake Oneida It was still a little too cool out to go in the water for swimming and frolicking waves crash onto the shores of Sylvan Beach We had some time to relax so we decided to check out the actual Sylvan Beach and Lake Oneida. I bet these bbq grills were used later that weekend Heath and Kim are not the scares, but they seemed to enjoy themselves Lots of good classic effects, but some were too dark to see right. There's a good scare or two in there though Next up, Laffland, the park's haunted pretzel dark ride The carousel looked pretty good, but no ring grab that I could see another train full of happy riders Nothing too painful in this ride, fairly smooth for its age, and with minimal braking 4 whiteys in a Galaxi, finally a new credit! except this year it has a companion in the form of a Rotor which was just added. So new in fact that it stole Galaxi's entrance queue! The coaster sets back in the corner all by itself With our tickets in hand, it's time to do what we do at parks Typical older flat rides, but Sylvan Beach has both a Rock-O-Plane and a Roll-o-Plane Its midway has a classic sort of feel to it, I bet it looks a little like Lakeside at night As soon as you cross the bridge into Sylvan Beach from the Thruway you can't miss the park, it's right there!

Been away on a fun-filled trip with BACT Team Extreme this weekend up to the Western NY area. Maybe I'll do a PTR of all that later, but for now, here's the beers. On our way to Waldameer on Monday we visited Fredonia and Nicole's old college stomping grounds. Unfortunately for us Ellicottville Brewing's Fredonia chapter was closed for Memorial Day. Bummer! Oh well, Ravine Flyer II was awesome and Fredonia is midway between Waldameer and Nicole's parents, so I'm sure we'll get back there sometime soon. Now back to reality :\ and so we all do! Everyone got something different, and each one was great. They're like small strombolis, only they look like Mayor McCheese the artwork on the walls tells us to get the pods Heath enjoys the Flying Bison Maibock and Kim goes with the Duchesse. Everyone finds something to drink at Pizza Plant Nicole goes for the Middle Ages Raspberry Ale while I enjoy some Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA The tap list may have changed since March, but that's good as it means the place gets business and at least it's still all good stuff on tap After some time at Canada's Wonderplace, it was back to Buffalo, where we decided to eat dinner at Pizza Plant, a place we scouted on our last visit to the area in March and here be our wings and onion rings death meal of awesomeness. For even more greatness, dip the onion ring in the bleu cheese and then the wing sauce. Yum! After we were seated we decided to indulge ourselves with some local draft beer that even excites the brewers at Selins Grove, Genesee Cream Ale from High Falls Brewing in Rochester. Refreshing and low in abv with good vinegar and butter flavor. Whats up with the butter up in WNY?! Since the line was long, Heath called in his order The vibe is very TGI Fridays cluttered junk on the walls, but with motorcycles and license plates after a stop at Darien Lake we found ourselves in Buffalo. Only one place to go to start off our time there, Anchor Bar, origin of the Buffalo Wing Heath went right for the Dragonslayer Russian Imperial Stout while I tried the ImPaled Ale, which also tasted like butter. Maybe it's the type of malt or hops they use? Or the Syracuse water is tainted with butter It's only a tasting room like Troeg's, but they bottle everything, and here's a good chance for us to try some of their stuff Our next stop was a few blocks away, Syracuse's own Middle Ages Brewing Pretty cool vibe though, even if it was more of a locals hangout since there was no signage as to how to sit or order food or drink and I went with the Syracuse Pale Ale from Middle Ages right down the road. For some reason it tasted like butter, lots of butter! Bad tap perhaps? Heath decided to go with the Hop Sun from Southern Tier since we were in NY and all 69 taps, lots of pretty good stuff, though most of it we can get down our way somehow Saturday we drove thru Syracuse during hungry time, so we decided to stop off at The Blue Tusk for some food and drink Really hoppy to go along with the malt, but also really boozy and medicinal as it warmed up. Not one of Pizza Port's better brews for some odd reason Friday night we headed to our departure point, Heath and Kim's house! I brought with me some Port Brewing Shark Attack Double Red Ale just in case they didn't want to let us in at first

Ravine Flyer II. Definitely the best woodie in Western Pennsylvania.

This week I decided to dive into a series of beers that we picked up while up in Michigan. I also visited a newly renovated place, but that's been done already recently so I'll save those pics for another day. As for now, onto Dark Horse's Holiday Stout series minus Plead the 5th since we sadly never found any of that. Another sort of a let down, just a touch of smoke flavors, not very different from the One Oatmeal stout except this had more dark fruit and coffee notes. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I was expecting more smokiness, especially after how roasted all their other stouts were Finally, Fore- a smoked stout Wow, definitely blueberries in there, really fresh with some chocolate and a touch of coffee as well. This was definitely unique and tasty Now, Tres- a blueberry stout, this aught to make Matt happy Not very creamy though, very bitter and roasted with just a little bit of lactose coming through Next, Too- a cream stout Fairly good with lots of burnt and roasted flavors First up, One- an oatmeal stout

The weekend's fun drinkingness. Nice coffee flavors, but a weird tart aftertaste and high carbonation. finally, yesterday it was time to open up a bottle of Berkshire Brewing's Coffeehouse Porter that I got back in February Accompanying my dessert, some White Horse Porter on cask. nice way to end the evening for dessert they were out of the lemon cheesecake, but they did have Swiss Chocolate Cheesecake instead which worked fine for us Next up, a small Organic Pilsner. Pretty good and fruity with some good earthen hop finish. Check out that head! For dinner we each got the Pad Thai I jumped right into their IPA, so West Coast style and so incredibly awesome But that's ok with Nicole because the Phoenix Kriek is still on, and still tasting like liquid cherry cobler. Two awesome Phoenixes in the same day, ain't much better than that. Not really! With college out there was not much of a problem getting a seat at the bar, though table seating was a little longer of a wait. Here's the tap list, sadly no root beer Selins Grove Brewing on a Saturday evening, bad idea? Even this Autobot in disguise didn't have any ideas. Luckily I've got an idea after riding the Phoenix several times it was time to get some beers nearby. Where could we possibly go? Saturday it was off to Knoebels to meet up with some TPR peeps Dark Horse's was pretty satisfying, like a brown ale meets strong ale First up, Dark Horse's part of Dark Corner Ale, 2 ales brewed with the same recipe by Corner Brewing and Dark Horse Brewing at each of their locations for 2 different tastes

^^Now I know why you were telling me not to go to Victory last Thursday, you just wanted to steal my thunder here on TPR! Oh well, I'll get there soon enough to try the Wild Devil and friends. ^You've done more drinking in Orlando on this trip than I have in all the time I lived down there, you go girl! My latest brews... I'm not sure if this face of disappointment is from the lame Smallville season finale or the fact that this Bell's brew didn't do it for me. Too much medicinal alcohol flavor in here, blech! Finally, Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock I had this previously but this baby is definitely sessionable and has great flavors. Not sure how much longer this special release will be around before the Grand Cru comes out Troeg's Scratch 11 is next, an ESB. Definitely a unique spin on a brown ale with great flavors and a good hoppy finish Next up, finally about time I tap into this Lumpy Gravy from Lagunitas that I picked up who knows how long ago Hops, rye, caramel, alcohol, it's like the rye pale ale, only twice as nice! First up, a gift from Joe, Terrapin's Spring seasonal, Rye Squared.

Just a couple of brews over the last couple of days, but nothing to turn up your nose at! I can see why it's in the top 100, this thing is tart, effervescent, and really easy to drink. Lots of tart and sour fruit flavors like peach, apricot, lemon, grapes, and apples mixed with spices and some wine notes. Must get more! I couldn't wait any longer to break into some of Russian River's greatness, Temptation got the best of me. Time to enjoy this Blonde Ale brewed with Brettanomyces and aged in Oak barrels I liked it a lot better this time around (maybe that's because I didn't have a whole bunch of beers beforehand). Very solid IPA with a nice mix of citrus, pine, and grassy hops as well as a sweet caramel and biscuity backbone. Time to enjoy some more goodies from Dark Horse, the Crooked Tree IPA, something I had on tap at the brewery last month A pretty flavorful Pils lager with nice balance and a solid crisp finish, low in abv too, easy to session and really refreshing in hot weather Starting out with a bottle of Ithaca Pils that I picked up in New York over Easter

Weekend goodness Very good for being a light lager and less than 3% abv! Really sweet and bready with a nice floral hop and lemon kick. and when I got home, time for some International delight in the form of Mahr's Leicht, a light lager from Germany As you can see, because of Mother's Day the bar was just as packed as SFA was! But since I hadn't had it yet, I went with the Hellrazer IPA instead. Fairly decent, not very hoppy, but still enjoyable The tap list was missing a lot, so here's a look at the taps themselves. Current seasonals include Blackout, Celtic Fury, and El Guapo Today, after a few hours at SFA, time to hit up Bowie's DuClaw. Pretty sessionable, nice sweetness, grass, and floral notes First up, Ithaca's Pale Ale

Wild One, glad to see the staff working hard to get the thing running again today, it was riding great and worth the wait!

Disturbed- "Inside the Fire"

^yeah, I know, I use them to protect my beer stash. Wedding researching is tough, but is a little more fun when you make it Double IPA night! "Blimey Zartan, this stuff tastes nothing like grape soda!" Not sure what part of this the Dreadnaughts like so much, but it's definitely a hop bomb and leaves a nice bitter Cold Slither as it makes its way down. Yummy! Next up, another Chi-town localish that is as fresh as 2 weeks ago, the #16 beer in the world, Three Floyd's Dreadnaught, a double IPA with pinecone out the wazoo Slam! Duuh duuh duuh, duuh duuh duuh, let the boys be boys! This stuff is awesome, lots of citrus and pine flavoring with a nice biscuit and honey backbone. I enjoyed it a little better on tap at Bell's, but that may be because it was on tap, AT Bell's! First up, upon Heath's recommendation that now is a fine time to enjoy, some HopSlam from Matt's favorite local brewery that is difficult to get, Bell's!

Breaking Benjamin- "Forever"

Having some great weather here lately, better have some great brews to accompany it. While it's no Rubaeus, it is refreshing and easy to drink with lots of honey, lemon, and a nice tart raspberry kick, but not overpowering. With temps near 80 today, time to enjoy something lighter and fruity, Dark Horse's Raspberry Ale, picked up on the DLD trip Not the hop bomb I was expecting, but really refreshing and sessionable with a nice mild hop presence Can't wait any longer, gotta enjoy this sweet rare brew One of the best IPAs out there, lots of malty sweet character mixed with some spices to back up the powerful hop presence But first, time to enjoy a bottle of Hop Rod Rye, picked up for $3.99 down in Virginia Woohoo! Always a good sign when you arrive home to find a package containing some great beers from Joe-gia

Today's Cinco de Mayo, but since I carry no beers of Mexico in my house and am fresh out of limes, I'll just have to get as close to Mexico as I can while still having quality, so here's some brews from Texas! I'm a fan of rye ales, but this one fell a little short. Lacking carbonation and much hop presence it just tasted like caramel and some liquid bread with a sprinkling of grass clippings. I'll have to enjoy a real rye ale soon Then we have Blanco, Texas's Real Ale Brewing Company's Full Moon Pale Rye Ale, also a gift from some dude at DLD Elissa's a pretty solid sessionable IPA, more on the English side with a solid malty backbone and not a big hop punch. Reminded me a lot of HopDevil Tonight I'll start out with Houston's own Saint Arnold Brewings Elissa IPA, named after some Texas Tall Ship, not TPR's Head Mistress, though maybe they're just saying that Wow, that's some good stuff. It's no St Bernies ABT 12, but it's got great sweetness, dark fruits, and peppery spices holding it all together with a nice alcohol warmth First, last night in honor of Joe sending me more beer I decided to open up my Pannepot- Old Fisherman's Ale, a top ranking Belgian Quad

Time to play catchup from the last couple of days. A look at the future ales, definitely have to go back later in the month Nicole got a little daring and expanded her horizons by getting the Belgian Pale Ale, tasted better as it warmed up I chose to go with the Maibock, which was really light, sweet, and crisp A look at the current selection of ales and lagers Things were pretty light on a Sunday afternoon Today was such a nice day we decided to make an impromptu stop in Lancaster. First up, Iron Hill, where I can finally use my mug again Nicole seems to like the Agave Wheat for its sweetness and different flavors and who am I to argue. Great flavor combinations of banana, caramel, molasses, chocolate, orange, and vanilla Ranking in on the Top 100 as being a pretty darn tasty Weizenbock Back at home after constructing a table, we decided to drink to it. Time for some Aventinus and Agave Wheat Next stop, IKEA for some furniture and Swedish Meatballs But the Chocolate Thunder was my favorite. Really smooth and chocolately, but also with a nice coffee finish of the four beers, the Red Velvet was one of my favorites, being a combination of the Sunset Red and the Chocolate Thunder While I had a really good piece of salmon served with ratatouille and couscous Nicole didn't have a beer, but enjoyed a blackened catfish sandwich with fries I went with a sampler for maximum tasting; Chocolate Thunder Porter, Pacific Pale Ale, Red Velvet, and Sunset Red Everything on tap at the moment, all brewed downstairs A look at one of the two bars here. Supposedly the place is haunted, but I saw no ghosts. Maybe I needed to drink more, or come back at night. The place was built back in like 1732, that's almost as old as Jeff Johnson, folks! Saturday we decided to finally check out The General Lafayette Inn and Brewery down outside of Philly since we were heading down that way anyway Another good beer that's low in alcohol. Really creamy and tasty, sure beats Guinness! A gift from Heath, Beamish's Irish Stout, caught in mid-fall. Love those nitrogen cans! Quality stuff, lots of tasty sour and tart fruity notes, and pretty low in alcohol, meaning it's time to follow it up with something else Friday night I decided to crack open a bottle of one of the top Gueuze's in the world, Girardin Gueuze 1882, the Black Label

Now that the DLD photos are done, time to show what else I've been enjoying this week. I gotta make room for the Michigan stuff first! But the beer itself is darn tasty. Sweet and crisply bitter with a slight alcohol taste, which is unusual since it's only 5.5% ABV Wow, what a scary looking clown dude, all Coney'd up for today's generation Finally, better enjoy this Shmaltz's Coney Island Lager that I got back in Feb Lots of sweetness, alcohol, and a crisp hop finish Time to enjoy that growler of Troegenator Dopplebock I bought as a trade at DLD, but the guy got in an accident and didn't make it to Three Floyds, but he's ok Wow, lots of apples, peppery spices, banana, clove, and alcohol presence in this beer. Hope Joe will like it when I send him a bottle. About time I enjoy the Troegs Scratch #8, a Tripel A fairly well made Oatmeal Stout, but lacking that extra oomph I've been accustomed to tasting lately Next, Flying Bison's Blackbird Stout Smooth! This thing is definitely packing in the coffee flavors First up, the Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout all the way from Japan.

After escaping Dark Lord Day's massive crowds, we headed to our next destination in Benton Harbor, MI. With a nice view of Lake Michigan during the drive we were more relaxed and glad to be done with the sea of people and able to enjoy ourselves at The Livery, a place that brews some great stuff. Then it was time to conclude the trip with a stop at our most sought after brewpub. to end our trip I got the Oatmeal Stout on Nitro while Carolyn got a mix of the Rubaeus and the Imperial Stout. Heath (not pictured) went with another Imperial Stout. Definitely want to get back to Founders, maybe I'll take the Greyhound since the Depot is right across the street Heath was happy to get Rubaeus' Ruben I went with the French Bread Pizza, also very good To start, some chips and fresh made guacamole that was refreshing and flavorful Much like Pizza Port, you order your food at a separate area. Founders really only has appetizers, sandwiches, and pizzas but they're good Kim goes with the Rubaeus while Heath also gets the Imperial Stout. Great flavors, balance, and mouthfeel, definitely worth its ranking First up for me is the Imperial Stout, one of the top 100 brews, while Carolyn gets the Vanilla Porter The tap list. While there isn't any specialty ales on tap, there is plenty of other things we want to try, and everything is worth getting too bad we don't have enough room in the car to take a few of these home with us. Oh well, next time perhaps down to the chairs themselves with the logo in the backrest This place is beautiful looking, lots of expense went into the S shaped bar Really psyched to be here, and it seems lots of other people are too Next up is the new and improved Founders Brewing just down the road Next up, another beer run stop in Grand Rapids to fill up any remaining room, but we gotta save a little bit of room for merchandise because... A cool old lift left from the buildings older days adds to the decor Also a nice little bar upstairs. Plenty of room for mingling and listening to music, and an upstairs area too with seating Afterwards we got a little tour of the upstairs from our bartender. Here's the stage that they use for concerts, which they usually have on Friday nights. Maybe BFD will play here some day Heath tried the King Cole Porter on cask, good flavors and creamy, while the girls played Battleship at the bar Next up I went with the raspberry weizen, tastes of a hefe with raspberry and lemon added, nice and refreshing Quite nice being the only people in the place, with the downstairs bar looking like a basement Heath started off with the Hoppy Chick IPA on cask while I went with the Double Paw IPA, a really citrusy double IPA. We found some good stuff on tap, 4 things on cask, ciders, lagers, ales, and some things that were hard to pronounce! But they had beer, so we risked battling zombies and gangs of renegade bikers Here we are at the very run down town of Benton Harbor. On a Saturday afternoon there wasn't a soul around, it looked like a post-Apocalypse city.

Saturday brought us to the main reason for the trip, to pick up bottles of Three Floyds' Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout on the one day a year in which it is released to the public. Had the bottle Heath gotten from Deuane last year not been among the top 5 beers we've ever tried, we wouldn't have been going, but quite frankly it was firmly seated in the top 3, so we knew we had to obtain more bottles for ourselves. So, time for us to battle against 4000+ other people to obtain our 6 bottles each that we're allotted of the 12,800 bottles made. Let the fun begin! This will hold us over until we reach our next stop back in Michigan. if for nothing else, the cheese curds! Heading out to our next destination we pass a Midwest staple and have to stop at Culvers We've still got room for more beer! Sure, the event was crazy and way too crowded, and needed better organization, but the other beer people vibe was kinda cool. I think we would have enjoyed ourselves more if the Dark Lord sale was done ahead of time like online or something and the whole day could have been spent doing other stuff, like hanging out drinking and talking with other people, and not so focused on just getting the beer. Plus it'd be nice if the eBayers wouldn't be allowed in. We'll probably skip DLD next year, but in time we'll head back. Hopefully they find a way to make the day work better The line for the brewpub exclusive Oak Aged Dark Lord was too long for us to want to wait. Huge crowds, long lines pouring out into midways with no idea what is wher... it's official, Three Floyds is the Kings Island of the Beer World. Time to find out what line to get into to leave! and tried to make the day more fest-like and had guest offerings from other top breweries, but the event was poorly organized with no signage at all about what was where. We never figured out where the Russian River or Lost Abbey stuff was, or even what Three Floyds stuff was being offered. I didn't see the merch either, just a sea of people and lines everywhere. They had bands set up inside the brewery too, as well as random lines to stuff It is done, and only took 1 hour and 40 minutes once the place opened, not including the 2 hours prior that we stood in line! We have obtained our stash of Dark Lord for the year. I feel bad for those beer enthusiasts who didn't get any, but it's crazy how early you have to show up. Behold! The 6 tables to purchase Dark Lord and other Three Floyds beers at I can see the front of the line! Only a few more minutes left in this line! 1 hour and 20 minutes later we're inside the brewery Big decision, which to drink first, Masala Mama IPA or Wisconsin Belgian Red Gotta get some Wisconsin Belgian Red while the getting is good! As we pass by the Beer Advocate tasting table, we decide to enjoy a few samples Officer Sassy will enforce the line for us 11am and the gates are opened, unleashing a sea of crazed beer geeks and entrepreneurial frat boys, looking to make some big bucks by selling the stuff on eBay, upon the brewery to purchase bottles The line gets a lot longer thanks to the local media hype. Locals who figure this beer would taste like Guinness would show up not knowing anything about the stuff, how much it costs, or even that you needed cash on you While here amongst the crowd we partook in some sampling, like more Kate the Great, another top 3 beer in our books Back to Three Floyds on Saturday around 9am to get our spot in line. Looks a little different than it did the night before

After leaving the Detroit area, we stopped off at a few more places before heading into Indiana. First up was a place we were really excited to visit after trying some of their brews at Extreme Beer Fest up in Boston. The other places we stopped at I'm sure you all heard about before. and yeah, Larry Bell proved that! Lots of grapefruit and other citrus flavors along with a nice caramel backbone, big pine presence and some good alcohol warmth to show you who's the boss! This update was hard work, and really made me miss the places we stopped at, so I think I want a beer from there tonight. Luckily I managed to get a guy to trade with me at DLD and I obtained a Bell's Big Head San Diego Style Ale, a double IPA that Larry Bell brewed to show California that not all good IPAs have to come from there. and we shall end this night much like we did back in 2006, at the keg! While I chose to go with one of the top 100 beers, Behemoth Blonde Barleywine Heath went with the brewpub exclusive Blackheart and Carolyn the new Topless Witch The tap list, with a few guest taps as well as the usuals and some brewpub exclusives We arrived late enough that the place was pretty cleared out and we could sit in the bar area. But we also arrived just as last call was going on, so only room for one round In this shot I don't have to worry about making sure heads aren't in my way Final stop of the evening before the hotel, Three Floyds in Munster, which will look totally different tomorrow during the day and after seeing my shirt and knowing my love for hops, the bartender kindly offered me a nice sample of HopSlam which I couldn't turn down, it's too fricken good! At certain times they have bands, tonight was one of those nights. They were jazzy more random eccentricness, a clarinet bowling ball lamp Time to enjoy some brewpub exclusives, Heath the Wild One, a wild ale, and me the Poolside Cherry Wheat, a cherry wheat ale, both fantastic and a look at the taps A look at the tap list The Eccentric Cafe looks like a cross between an attic and the Adventurer's Club. Lucky us, we got seats at the bar OK, now back to Bell's but before we head in, gotta pick up a few purchases at the General Store before it closes Yup, we're at Bell's Eccentric Cafe in Kalazamoo! Next up, a place that proudly raises the US flag, the MI flag, and the Bell's Flag Located across the parking lot is the merchandise shop AND a tattoo parlor right next to it. Good thing we don't live closer, we'd already have Dark Horse logos branded onto our bodies. Instead we'll suffice with t-shirts and pint glasses Love the menu! To drink along with our meals, I go with the Crooked Tree IPA and Heath the Special Reserve Black Bier Lots of mugs cover the ceiling and walls, and each one has an owner who knows exactly where their mug is kept The current tap list It may look at Deliverance from the outside, but inside it's pretty cool and served in this crazy trailer First up, Marshall, MI's own Dark Horse Brewing. Beer is brewed in this Wacky Shack

^yeah, whatever you say. Just stay home, drink Lakefront, and leave the adventures to Team Extreme and the Dark Lord drinking to those of us who really want it (as well as those frat boys who really want to sell it on eBay for a profit). Time to venture into uncharted territory in the Beer Thread as we continue our voyage to Indiana on Friday. After a stop at one great liquor store outside of Cleveland, we continue onto Detroit and surrounding points. This will probably be the biggest of all the updates. mmm, cherry Timbits and coffee!!! Because he was close enough to Canada that Tim Horton's existed around him! While driving through the area, we came across Eminem's old stomping grounds. He didn't have it that bad... and I end my stay at Dragonmead with a 6Ts Dortmunder, fairly light and sessionable, but no Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold A closeup of their tap handles. They really go all out here with the theme While Heath goes with the Imperial Bourbon Stout Next for me, the Crown Jewels IPA. Good and hoppy Time for some pepper jack cheese and crackers. They had a very limited menu, but encourage you to bring in outside food. They just want you to drink! They proudly show what awards they won around the area for their brews, mostly like the Final Absolution, Erik the Red, and Crown Jewels IPA Heath goes with the Final Absolution, a very stealthy Belgian Triple at 10%, but that you cannot taste any alcohol at all! mmm, Nicole tastes like caramel, banana, bread, cinnamon, clove, and citrus. Next up for me, something that caught my eye, the St. Nicole's Weizenbock. Had to get it, just for the name Showing off more of their very beautiful theming around the bar Heath goes with the Imperial Stout while Kim enjoys the Redwing Raspberry Wheat and Carolyn the Honey Porter on Nitro Time to start enjoying some of these brews. First up, the Ring of Fire, a chili beer, and quite spicy! and all the stuff is brewed on premises back here in the little fermentation farm they have set up 37 things on tap currently, with up to 50 things available. The entire menu was basically the taps list! and more taps and theming. In fact... More sweet theming showing the rest of the dining area Stained glass windows with dragons on them, way cooler than the Enchanted Oak Tavern at IOA simply because they serve microbrews here Turns out the place was awesome. Themed to the gills AND they had plenty of stuff on tap Our next stop was Dragonmead. We didn't know much about this place, their website showed they brewed like 40 different beers, but we weren't sure how many and which would be on tap at the time, and we hadn't heard anything about the place, but since it was in the same town as Kuhnhenn and we had a Garmin with us, we decided to check it out and thanks to our rental upgrade, we've got "plenty" of room for more Needless to say, we bought enough to keep the beer thread going strong! Yeah, this place is awesome!! And very cheap to boot! Selling 4 packs of Blackout Stout for $9! Oh dear! stuffed lions too?! OK, this place rules, but what about the beer selection? and any place with a stuffed moose is ok in my book. Well, it seems pretty impressive in terms of wine and liquor Next stop, a local liquor store to see how this place fares and holy crap, it's a visit from Kuhnhenn Sr, the owner! He seems grumpy every time we see him, but we're told he's just very serious, but loads of fun after he's had a few of his own beers. Works for us, keep on brewing! While Heath and Carolyn are both jealous of my awesome Creme Brule Java Stout and have to get their own (as you can see behind them, the homebrew shop has been moved next door. Either they're in the process of remodeling and expanding the dining area, or they're setting up bingo) Time for different beer #1500 for me, Kuhnhenn's American IPA. Really hoppy with good backbone as well. I could definitely drink this daily Next up, just because I could get one, a $2 sample of Tenacious Cassis. At 16.5% I wouldn't want more than 2oz of this, as tasty as it was! Kim goes with the Loonie Kuhnie Pale Ale and Carolyn the Silly Simcoe (which was actually a Belgian Pale Ale, not an IPA like she thought) I start out the day with the Creme Brule Java Stout and Heath the Aldebaran Double IPA. Both were tasty, especially the Creme Brule The current draft list, they'll also make sandwiches and stuff for you, if you ask nicely From this shot you can see the bar and the brewery equipment thrown in behind it. Not too fancy, but it gets the job done First stop of the day, Kuhnhenn Brewing, a place that makes both wine and beer, and makes some of the top ranked stuff in the world. All that from a family that used to run a hardware store in the same building until the Lowe's and Home Depot's closed them up. Thanks hardware superstores, us beer guys appreciate it!

Lots of stuff to cover over the last couple of days for our trip out to the Midwest exclusively for beer. I'll cover each day separately over the next couple of days. Thursday I left work at 12 and had some time to kill before Heath got done working, so I decided to tromp around Harrisburg while waiting. But rock on, the bartender got us some bottles of it, score! Too bad the merch shop was closed, I would have liked to buy some more glassware and a shirt, and maybe a bottle of their Lake Erie Monster Double IPA since they were out of it last year when we stopped by. and Carolyn couldn't help but end her stay with a Blackout before we called it a night and headed to our hotel outside of Cleveland. Heath took on the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Its full body sank to the depths of Heath's stomach quickly For round two I went with the Moondog ESB, seeing how good Troegs ESB was earlier. This one was just meh A look at the taps Kim and fellow BAer Carolyn both went with the Grassroots Ale, packing notes of ginger and lemon grass. Heath and I decided to officially start our trip off with some Blackout Stout, another well rated Imperial Stout. Lots of sweetness in this beer the tap list But lucky for us, the brewpub was still opened for drinks, just not food With good traffic conditions and Kim's driving we made it to Great Lakes Brewing before midnight. Sadly the brewery was closed for the night, as was the merch shop Scratch #11 is an ESB, and good stuff! Glad I got a 6pack for later enjoyment. After a few more tasters and talks with the dudes in the brewery, it was time to tag and bag Heath and head on out and since there is some new stuff on the board I haven't tried yet, let's have a taste or two while waiting Next up, a quick stop down the road at Troegs to pick up some goods to take with to Dark Lord Day and it's pretty good. Nice and crisp, easy to drink, and sessionable For all you dudes in San Jose, this brew's for you. It's highly ranked too, for a pils A look at the taps reveals that they've got it on tap, as well as several others, some that were released last July! First stop, Appalachian Brewing so I can finally try their April special ale