DerekRx

Yesterday I went down to the Baltimore Aquarium, a place I haven't been in a good 10 years. Mom wanted to spend a day with me since we hadn't done that in a long time, so that seemed to work. The main thing we went down to see were the Diamondback Terrapins, one of which I owed for 12 years, and who's birthday would be coming up soon if he were still alive. Of course, we saw them right away, but also checked out the rest of the aquarium and all its fish, turtles, frogs, and anything else. It was actually pretty cool, though a bit fish smelly at parts, and WAY too crowded. Onto the photos and since there were no shout outs to Robb, here's some Nerds Rope just waiting for you to get back to Baltimore and I'll end this with one final picture, that being of the diamondback terrapin. She says "gimme some ooze so I can turn into a ninja!" See, he kept coming back for more. Turtles rule, especially Cameron-like ones from Australia These turtles were too happy to get their picture taken While there are no giraffes for Wes at the Aquarium, this extremely long-necked turtle will have to suffice Newly added was the Cameron friendly Australia area, with lots of Australian fish and such "Yo, I'm a frog, and I'm green, and I'm sitting on a twig. Gimme some flies" says the frog This Green sea turtle lost its front flipper due to infection. Apparently it got caught in the Gulf Stream and ended up off the coast of New York/New Jersey. Probably the Jersey water caused the infection, but at least she will live the rest of her life in Baltimore, and not in Camden Shout out to Sharktums Nicole would probably like the rainforest room too, because she loves waterfalls I also liked the rainforest room because they have some turtles that are just chillin on a log I always loved the rainforest room at the very top when I was a kid. Mainly because it was always warm up there I see Marlin and Dory are still trying to find Nemo, that darn ADD fish I often wondered what these fish think as all sorts of people walk up to them, squint their eyes, and start pointing. Oh well, they're fish, they probably don't remember much of anything, except "I need food!" Lots of pretty fish to look at, including this one. Baltimore's Aquarium, right on the harbor

I spent the weekend with my mom instead of riding coasters and stuff. But she's understanding, and made sure to accommodate my desire for beer! and then back home for some more HopDevil and hummus (which I picked up at Wegmans on the way home) Got me some goods for the week! No trip to Baltimore would be complete without a stop at Shawan Liquors and to finish, I went with one of their Belgian Tripels, the Green Peppercorn Tripel. Really nice and spicy, but not all pepper, strong alcohol too. I got the Tomato, Artichoke, and Gorgonzola salad. Yum! Mom decided to skip the beers again and just ate a Caesar Salad As far as beers go, I started with the Sluggo, their summer sessional. Really lite, but hoppy and a good Belgiany finish This is the dining room The place has lots of different rooms, upstairs bar, downstairs bar, downstairs lounge, upstairs dining room, and the upstairs lounge. This would be the upstairs lounge They only open at 4pm, and only start serving dinner at 5:30, so just lite fare for us today. Here's the upstairs bar After the Aquarium, we headed to Brewer's Art for dinner. The #44 place to have a beer eluded me for some time, but that's all gone now I was going to get the Hefeweizen, but they were out of it. Then I thought about the Fuel which was on tap, but figured an Imperial Stout was a little much for the first drink of the day. I settled on the Capitol Kolsch. Nice flavors and easy to drink That's right, Baltimore's Capitol City location is right there in Inner Harbor. Before it decides to skip town, I better have another brew Saturday saw us at Inner Harbor, in need of lunch before hitting the aquarium. Lucky me I know just the place! Friday night I arrived home to find she purchased some HopDevil for me. How'd she know I liked that?! She stuck with her Cabernet Savignon after smelling the HopDevil

^^Wow, nice to see Bubba with some normal expressions for a change! ^What, no more good American stuff? Couldn't you handle anything other than 1 Dead Guy? Just plain good stuff tonight from me, no theme other than "awesomeness from a bottle". I'm not a big fan of coffee, but I'm a big fan of coffee flavored beers. This'll keep me up for a little longer! and we'll finish off with some Bell's Java Stout Just look at that head, so thick and frothy, just like it was a milkshake made of pure beer goodness Follow that up with another extremely amazing brew, the Storm King Imperial Stout While I'm not a big fan of lagers, this one has enough flavor and attitude to keep me coming back for more First up, start on the lighter side with some Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold

^Um, ok Bottlecap Pirate Bubba. Best be gettin ye to thy BevMo if ye knows whats best for ye. Tonight's theme, Scratch. Much better stuff. Even though it's lighter in color, it's heavier in flavor. Forget Old Scratch, it's time for newer Scratch, #1 from Troegs Amber in color, but not in taste, not much going on First, Flying Dog's Old Scratch Amber Lager

"The Touch" - Stan Bush

^Quit stalking me dude! One of those really grapefruity IPAs, just darn great! Next up, something you can get in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, pretty much anywhere but Chicago, all the way from Comstock Michigan, Bell's Two Hearted IPA Shockingly pretty good! A nice flavoring of hops and sweet malt, though with more of an alcohol finish than I like. Oh well, this is Saranac we're talking about, they're far from perfect Yeah, like Heath, I started off the night with the Saranac Imperial IPA, something I picked up in Albany a few weeks ago.

Just kicking back with a beer I grabbed up in New York a few weeks ago from Cooperstown Brewing, a place I haven't been yet but maybe someday that'll change, assuming their beers are good. Not too bad. Not much lasting flavors, but a fairly tolerable oatmeal stout. Good coffee bitterness, but not anything else. Oh well, it's at least worthy of another try for their beers Strike Out Stout, an oatmeal stout, with a cute little baseball bottle cap and all.

I don't even know if I have a favorite all-time beer, it all depends on what mood I'm in. My favorites would include: IPAs- Port Brewing Wipeout IPA, Sierra Nevada Harvest ale, Alesmith IPA, Victory HopDevil, Bell's Two Hearted, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Stone IPA, Selins Grove IPA, Legacy Hoptimus Prime, Troegs Nugget Nectar, Dogfish Head 60minute IPA, Selins Grove Old Snafu IPA Stouts- Alesmith Speedway Stout, Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Victory Storm King, Avery Mephistopheles, Bells Expedition Stout, Rogue Chocolate Stout, Bells Cherry Stout, Rogue Shakespeare Stout, Great Lakes Blackout Stout, Stone RIS, Founders Breakfast Stout Others- Founders Blushing Monk, Selins Grove Solstice, Founders Rubaeus, Legacy Hedonism Red, Rodenbach Redbach, Lindemans Framboise, Selins Grove Phoenix Kriek, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Port Brewing Carlsbad Chronic, Troegs Hopback Amber, Dogfish Head Aprihop. Now I'm thirsty.

Found myself stopping off at Dorney today, ended up riding Hydra. Upon realizing Hydra would have been my last coaster ride for a few weeks, we quickly ran down to Steel Force, also with no wait. At least I rode something a little better to hold me over. No wait was a plus, but the ride was still just meh and vibratey. Front row ride, just for the view

Fellow TPRers and beer lovers Rick and Gyendolynne were in my area today, after doing some more of their Coaster Palooza 2007 year. Since he enjoyed HopDevil so much when I gave him a bottle back in March in SoCal, I figured why not take him right to the source, since it's right here. Then more fun ensued on my random Sunday of visiting. and on the way home, I happened to run into Rich and Mel who were just fresh back from Spain, and we played minigolf. Later on Tom came back from the neighbor's pool to refill his Hoegaarden. Then it was back to the refreshing waters next door. Don't mind if I fill up a glass of the Sunshine for myself and good stuff on tap too, Hoegaarden and Troegs Sunshine Pils Still plenty of stuff in the fridge, that's a good sign Being in the area, I decided to check up on Tom, to see if he's still alive and drinking. No sign of him, but the door was opened, so I let myself in Of course we rode in the front for the best views, and everything is better with a jojo roll. But yeah, one ride and they were done with it and to make it official a Beer and Coaster Team day, we had to ride a coaster. Hydra was our choice since they needed the credit after enjoying the Troeg's 13th Anniversary Imperial Pilsner, Rick decided to get the Founders too and follow it up with a Sierra Nevada Torpedo Ale, now regulating properly and so that's definitely what I'll enjoy first, the Founders Centennial IPA. Excellent Awww yeah, no wonder it's in the top 50, they've got Founders on tap! Lots of goods on tap, and plenty of room at the bar on a Sunday afternoon. And what's that beer I see?? Can't not stop off right down the road at the #45 place to have a beer in America, The Drafting Room Goods for the road, they really liked their visit to Victory. But we're not done yet! and I also went with a HopDevil on cask. Afterwards us guys got some Braumeister Pils and hit the giftshop Beerwise Rick got HopDevil on cask and Gyen got some samplers of the Lager, Prima Pils, Sunrise Weisse, and Whirlwind Wit. Yup, still hotdog watery Back to Victory, where a huge group of motorcyclists stopped off. Surprisingly, some of them were actually driving Victory Bikes.

"Passion's Killing Floor"- HIM

With nothing on the agenda for the day, I decided to check out a nearby brewery that I haven't gotten to yet since my return to PA, even though it's only 40 minutes away. But first, some goodness at home. Oh so flavorful compared to much of what I've had today. So wonderful that they decided to bottle this in smaller bottles this year. Just plain hoptastic! and to finish the night, some Ruination, thanks to Stone Definitely not a Belgian session blonde ale, but with more carbonation than Bube's Alois Lager! Back home, it's time for some Tire Bite Golden Ale from Flying Dog. While the beer may not have been as enticing as I would have hoped, they did have Troegs, Dogfish Head, and Swashbuckler on tap as well, and the history and food will bring me back again to Bube's. Upstairs we find the gift shop, and more of the museum, set up like things were 150 years ago. Quite dark and eerie looking, the Catacombs offers the most expensive food on the menu. Bube's also offers a Medieval Feast down here once a month, as well as monthly ghost tours throughout the whole building for those willing to explore The Catacombs is a highly ranked place to eat, being down in the depths of Bube's, where the wines and beers used to be stored many years ago Back inside, we find another dining room area at Bube's, the Catacombs While my lovely companion, Nan, drank the Alois Lager, a pilsner made using Alois Bube's original lager recipe. With poor carbonation and very bitter notes, Lionshead still reigns supreme for her. Notice the hops growing off to her right in the garden. After having some of their "almost famous" dry rub pulled pork and beef BBQ sandwich, I enjoyed the Caveman's Wit, a wheat beer First up for me was Bube's own American Pale Ale, not bad stuff, nice citrus notes Outside of the Bottling Works is the Biergarten, where we chose to eat. Same food, just a different atmosphere. Here you can see the boiler that powered the brewery many years ago, still stitting there Now the Bottling Works is more like the "brewpub" dining area at Bube's Up in the museum you can see some of the older bottles that used to be filled with beer from Bube's The place is huge, and separated into several "dining rooms". One of which is the Bottling Works, where they used to bottle the beers years ago. Next up, Bube's Brewery (yes, pronounced like 'boobies') in Mount Joy, PA. A brewery from 151 years ago, it's still around, in some fashion Very similar in yeast to the Vertical Epic, but not quite as flavorful, more of a session beer Sticking with the Belgian theme, next up the Leffe Blonde Abbey Ale Very Belgiany, lots of spices and good flavors, and higher abv too at 8.4% Better finish off the rest of that Vertical Epic 07.07.07 before it goes flat

Wow, this thread is old, and so uncivilized. American beers having no taste nor flavor? Spend a day out with us and we'll give you plenty of bang for your buck, microbrew style! Then you can TRY to go back home to your fizzy yellow beers, and just see what happens. BACT Attack!

As cool as Rock 'n' Rollercoaster is, I'd vote for Big Thunder Mountain as your 100th. RNRC is the same in layout and soundtrack to the other one, just with different theming props; whereas Big Thunder has a totally unique layout on an island of its own, and while it may not be the most extreme of coasters, it's definitely one of the best mine trains out there. I haven't been on Crush yet, but out of all the coasters at DLP, Big Thunder is the most standout in my mind for quality.

"This Moment"- Disturbed

Season 4 won't start until next February. Hopefully by then my head won't explode everytime I read one of Nrthwnd's posts.

I was pleasantly surprised by Transformers. Sure, it was big Bay and pretty much his version of Independence Day, and there was a little too much humor in it, especially for its rating of PG-13. But the action and robots were pretty awesome, even if they didn't all resemble the Transformers I grew up with. Plus Megan Fox was F-I-N-E fine!

Hooray! It's finally here, the next in the Vertical Epic series, 07.07.07. This year Stone's batch was a mix between a Saison and a Belgian triple, pretty much a Belgian Pale Ale. Would it be as good as last year's 06.06.06 Belgian Dark Ale? Though after one sip, it did leave me vertical! Every year, a different style. This Belgian Pale Ale is pretty good, lots of spices and Belgian yeastiness. But I still prefer last year's recipe Besides today, another bottle shall not be opened until 12.12.12, the Vertical Epic series, beers meant to be aged, if you can wait that long

Tonight's theme, stouts! (Nicole should be very jealous) Not as fantastic following a Founder's KBS, but still darn tasty. Nice coffee notes but with a hoppier finish than a lot of other stouts. And still weighing in heavy at 9.1%. and finally, another excellent stout and brewed nearby, Victory's Storm King. Bubba like? As great as a sample was in February, a full glass is even better! Great flavors of coffee, chocolate, and the bourbon barrel aging mask the 10%abv very well. Glad this isn't my only bottle! Every day should start with (Kentucky) breakfast (stout) Finally cracked opened the #2 American Beer out there, the Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Stout Pretty much just like drinking coffee and eating a chocolate covered cherry at the same time. Excellent! first on the agenda, Bell's Cherry Stout, just for Matt for his feeble attempts at stealing my girl away

^Yeah, after Andy pointed it out, the cinderblock walls do make it look very dormy. Or maybe that's just part of the theme, a pirate castle.

At least we didn't have the same pint glass choice for the evening!

After Kim scored us the new batch of Scratch on Tuesday, I decided to make tonight a Troegs night. Getting a little old, but lots of pinecone goodness really coming out now, though losing some of it's carbonation and finish. Time for something that tastes like it's supposed to, Nugget Nectar Smell was very coffee-like, but it was almost too hoppy, like a red ale and had other weird flavorings, with a cocoa aftertaste. Very odd, but still good. Just took a little getting used to First up, the newly released Scratch #2, a porter

Nice PTR. Thanks for sharing the pics of the Hotel, it looks really nice, very similar to Hotel Phantasia, only with different theming. Love that shower!

If only they'd get rid of those pillars of faces in front of Spaceship Earth, that would be even better. And then change Journey back to the old old version and we'd have a fantastic gift for the 25th Anniversary of the park!

Still a little bit cooler for summertime, but it feels good. With really refreshing weather, why not have some refreshing beverages too. It may taste like Tang or Orange soda, but it is refreshing. Of course, it wouldn't be the only beer I'd drink for the night, but a good finisher Next up, the Buffalo Bills Orange Blossom Cream Ale Nice and citrusy, something Bret likes too First up, the Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale