DerekRx

Saturday started out at Appalachian Brewing's main headquarters in Harrisburg, about 20 minutes from Hershey. Good beers with good friends is good times But again we drank a little too much and were a little too tired, so we ended the night with dessert beer Next was some Rogue's Santa's Private Reserve. Nice and hoppy with nice spices Still a big hit! Next up, Ommegang's Red Bach, the hit of the Beerfest Adam and Dave watch some footage of us at Oktoberfest while enjoying the Anchor Christmas Glad I didn't have to drink all this by myself! With Christmas on the brain, its time to break out my giant bottle of Anchor Very good winter brew with nice cherry hints After an Alpha King I tried the Winter Solstice from Anderson Valley After CCL its time to warm up. Even Kim can handle a few Dreamweavers But I can still pull Heath away for more beer. Now the Elfenator and Mad Weaver The men get a little too excited over the new merchandise Meanwhile, the Adamenator was very horny Heath had troubles deciding on the growler for $7 or the giant bottle for $60 I enjoyed some free samples of Dreamweaver while Dave went with the Mad Elf 3 minutes away we made it to Troegs Everyone was having fun, but we had places to go and beers to drink Grinnin' Grizzly Adam drinks a Grinnin' Grizzly Even Dave managed to finally come out, and enjoyed their amber, the Grinnin' Grizzly With dinner I went with a Hoppy Trails IPA. Very citrusy with a hoppy aroma A very nice beer with some maltiness, hops, and spices First up for me (and almost everyone else) the December brew, Volks Weizenbock Heath was there to welcome us to beer

Lots of crazy drinking again this weekend with the BACT gathering at Hershey. First up, Friday. And Janna tapped into some of the Lagers Still my 2nd favorite IPA But it was getting late so we decided to finish off the night with one more. Stone IPA for me A few hours later Dave and Janna showed up and enjoyed some brews too I don't believe Stone brews a bad beer But the surprise was Ellen, who really liked it He definitely dug it Next up I broke out the Stone 10th IPA for Adam to try I started the evening with a Bell's Two Hearted while Adam had a HopDevil and Ellen had a Purple Haze Ellen just chilled while we waited for the beer to chill too As soon as we arrived at our suite, Adam and I took care of the important stuff, filling the fridge

more photos The final picture is a Christmas gift to Robb. Fire AND turkey legs both at the same stand The final ride for us for the evening was the antique cars. I hope they don't replace these with a dive machine, then we'll have nothing to ride at Christmas Sorry Joe, no lights on the Schwarzkopf for you. Santa is still trying to get off of Comet's lift More rides that make you even colder than you are already in December Ellen's smart idea of the night, hot chocolate, with marshmellows, chocolate chips, AND whipped cream Here I am with my stupid idea of the night, garlic chips. I'm still tasting them today The darker it gets the more lights come on and the more people pour into the park time to check out some smelly reindeer

A few years ago Hersheypark realized people would actually go to their park in the wintertime for more than just Chocolate World. Recently they added a drive thru lights spectacular and have had portions of the park opened for over a decade. Every year things seem to grow a little bit more, and this year they finally got rid of the free admission, pay per ride, and POP wristbands in exchange for a simple $10 admission and all you can ride. Things have really picked up, lots of rides are opened, though no water rides (duh) and sadly not one coaster. Why they can't run a coaster is beyond me, there is definitely enough people crazy enough to do it, and even Dollywood and Japan do it. The place was pretty crowded throughout the night, even rides like the monorail had a good 20 minute wait. I now remember why its not a good idea to go to parks when its cold though, as freakishly warm as it was here on Friday, Saturday was right back in the 30s by nightfall. But thats what you expect at Christmastime. As the sun goes away, the coldness really comes out And we were crazy enough to ride the flyers. Awww, poor Storm Runner was doing its Kingda Ka impression Hello, I'm the Great Bear, I'm in hibernation oooh, piece of candy. and its free for riding the darkride, yay! and they had pseudo-holiday theming for the event too Dave and Janna try scoring points by shooting me, but it doesn't work Dave's gonna get another darkride credit! and a darkride car, which can only mean one thing.... Check it out, its cardboard people With all Six Flags parks closed for the winter, the vandalizers had to come to Hershey to get their fix Here I get my rash placed with ease Adam may be married now, but that won't stop him from dabbling Which was very popular with everyone else in the park too apparently and to attract Dave, they even opened the darkride for the event Hersheypark welcomes Joey and his people Even the characters are decked out for Christmas A big honking Christmas tree and Santa and friends ride Comet even though the rest of us can't until April Now instead of being stuck inside a fountain, Milt's in the middle of a poinsettia garden How can you hate a place that has penguins, Elissa? Even in the early afternoon Hershey was starting to fill up Eeek! Sadly no Lightning Racer this time of year, though they probably could run them Moving on to Hershey, we find the whole place decked out for the holidays and Dave drank! But thats a story for another thread Even Dave came up and we honored Robb with some fondued green pepper Adam and Ellen went with the fondue Before heading to the park though, we stopped off for lunch at ABC

Looks purdy, Cameron. It was in the 70s here in PA today, but now that front is coming our way. No snow, just temps down towards the lower 40s by tomorrow.

One more for the night! #9, figured why wash another glass later

Originally tonight was going to be the start of "Winterfest" for me, but seeing how it was in the 70s today, I decided it wasn't very appropriate. Instead I just grabbed any nonWinter I could find! Definitely among my favorite American brewed Oktoberfests. Followed that up with a Festbier, gotta get rid of the Oktoberfests while its still November As usual, the warmer it got, the more the hops came out. Easy to drink, yet slightly dangerous! So good I quickly refilled the glass! I cracked it opened on my tummy. Some nice hops and a bit of an alcohol finish. Good stuff First up, a bomber of Otter Creek 15th Anniversary IPA

Yet another reason why I love going back to San Diego. The people of SD can just shop at Target, and if they need groceries, I'm sure there's a Ralph's in the area with its own Dan.

I dig the name, much better than another Woodstock's Express. This things "late" opening at least has solidified my plans to skip Solace next year in exchange for finally coming out in October and doing Haunt.

Tonight I started out with a Sam Adams when I went out for dinner (they had no microbrews there, but the cold water lobster and the filet mignon was excellently worth it!) Followed it up back home with another favorite. Tomorrow I'll switch it up a bit. And you still taste hoptastic! Never a let down with you Hello faithful HopDevil. You're looking quite fine on this Wally Wednesday!

^^Shucks that was totally my hope! Someday we'll try deep fried gummi bears and gummi cola. I was totally envisioning the Deep Fried Beer bottle from the Simpsons years ago.

Tonight I gave a final farewell to the last of a favorite for now to make some room for new stuff just recently purchased. Followed that up with actually enjoying one of the newer brews I just got, and it was well worth the purchase! What an excellent winter ale. Chocolate, malt, nuts, spices, and hops all are present. yum! But its time to make room for the new, like the Hibernation Ale by Great Divide I shall miss you old friend, until I next encounter a case of you in date! Ah, the old Thunderhead, still my #2 IPA. And the last one too

Wow, looks like after 27 years of never going to this mall (I hate malls), I'm going to probably be making 2 trips there in 2 years straight! I love it when parks announce stuff early, it gives me a chance to plan way ahead!

^Looking forward to trying my batch, even though I'm not a big fan of stouts or coffee! I'll wait a bit longer though, still working thru some old stuff before it really gets bad. Its kinda like that orbitz soda from back in the 1990s, only this time its hoppy and citrusy One of my last few Indica's. I had more of these than I thought! Check out that unfiltered goodness Its still got its beerness to it I've had it before, I'll have it again. #9 is still really tasty for a lighter fruit-filled pale alish sort

Sorry to hear that the cruise is over already, but I'm relieved that no one died in the jungles or ate so much they exploded. Looking forward to your "quality" parks in Florida update. I hope they weren't mad I fell asleep on Thursday afternoon and missed the Beer Pong Tourney.

After obtaining our brews at the Beer Yard, we decided we were close enough for me to get us to a small chain in the area, Iron Hill. We didn't really care for the place, it was crowded yet there were plenty of tables opened, with a 35 minute wait. The place was a little bit too posh too and had next to no lighting. Oh yeah, and the beers we tried were pretty meh. The place reminded me of Triumph Brewing, all hype. Luckily we found a little gem down the road. mmmm, soup The place is called "Quotations" because they have quotes written all over the place Heath scored a K9 Cruiser, Flying Dog's winter ale. Quite tasty stuff, sure beat Iron Hill! They kicked the Hoptical, but they still had it in bottles for me Right across the street is Quotations. A nice beer bar the guy from Beer Yard told us to seek out Time to walk where its cold, good thing I bought a HopDevil winter cap! Heath went Russian Imperial Stout on us. It wasn't too bad, but didn't really have a wow factor to it I finally decided on the Ironbound, their pale ale. It tasted a bit like dirt. What am I doing?? Trying to read the beer list in the dark corners of the bar Cool bar area In nearby Media we found Iron Hill, at least one of them

Onward to Victory! I've never seen this before! A Stone Variety pack with all those awesome things! Its just a little place, but the owner is quite knowledgeable and has a really nice rare selection Next up, the Beer Yard. Don't you wish every Starbucks had a beer distributor in the back?! I like Victory's Christmas tree, reminds me of my house! I wonder if Nicole would like this for Christmas For Halloween next year Heath is thinking about going as Tom mmmmm, good! And HopDevil suggests himself. He's a little bit arrogant Next up for Heath, a Storm King on tap Just chilling at Victory, one of our homes away from home Its description As for me, I tried the new Scarlet Fire Rauchbier. Holy smoked summer sausage, definitely an Adam beer! Heath went with the Hop Wallop since we didn't get it last time. Much better stuff than the Unearthly! It actually has flavor Somewhere back there is a Yeti drinking some HopDevil Sitting right in front of my tap The HopDevil proudly presents....awesome beer! They just finished building this drunk shelter, I guess for when you're waiting on your taxi. Or it could be for smokers, since Victory is now smoke free! Another great time to head to Victory is a Saturday around 4pm

Another nice holiday weekend of seeing family and having plans suddenly ended sooner than expected. Apparently Heath and Kim's plans changed too and so we decided to head back to the Drafting Room before Double IPA month came to a close. From there we just happened to end up back at Victory and then after a stop for some rare cases at the Beer Yard down near Philly, we decided to check out some nearby Philly beer places. And now, last night's beer adventures in photo format. And a Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale for me. Yum! One more for the road, a New Holland Poet for Heath; a watery stout Now this is a nice mirror! A description of the beer I tried the Southern Tier Unearthly. Once again, Southern Tier fails. Low on the hops, heavy on the alcohol, with very little masking of it Next up for drinking, Heath got the Rogue I2PA, one of the first double IPAs out there And Kim got an awesome salmon sandwich with Old Bay fries Heath went all drunken ruben Of course we couldn't just drink and not get some good food. Me, a ranch chicken wrap in a jalapeno tortilla Heath couldn't resist one more Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale, and I can't blame him Going a little Adam for a sec, here's the description My first beer was the Rogue Hop Heaven from John's Private Locker Stock Plenty of awesome stuff on tap today! The timing was perfect and we managed to sit in the actual Drafting room Our first stop, back to the Drafting Room in Exton. This one doesn't look like a banquet hall

I made it home safely tonight, but I've got another major update "on a whim". Picture the Beerphone ringing and Beerman answering a call from Commissioner Heathface, and we've got an area to secure....an area called the suburbs of Philly. And since I made it home, you know the mission was a success! PLENTY of good drinks were had. Stay tuned!

Even though I had to work 1/2 a day today, it still ended up beerific! I always get Black Friday and Good Friday confused, and with the amount of good beers I had today, its no wonder why! A whole bunch of good beers is definitely worth saying thanks to! And the night shall end with another HopDevil Though Grandma would prefer sticking to the Lions Head Pilsner as it was a bit too sweet for her, as sweet as she is For a beer brewed out of Adamstown, PA its a pretty darn good Belgian! WOW Next in line for my liver of goodness, the Stoudts Triple It didn't make things feel more summery, but it sure tasted pretty nice and apricotty While we're drinking outside, lets break out a #9 by Magic Hat With a wee cherry taste and some nice spices, this is definitely a good Christmas ale Finaly, since tis holiday season, lets break out a bottle of Mad Elf by Troegs Ah, truly my favorite stout, and with its hoppy aftertones, there's good reason Next in line, let there be King! Storm King that is Suddenly family becomes more tolerable Followed that up almost immediately with a HopDevil, an old favorite With great flavor and alcohol, there's no wonder why its #2 behind Selins Grove Getting home from work, I found all the family here. Time to start off drinking early with the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin

The documentary was pretty nicely done, but yeah, the whole thing with Brutal Planet, the Autobahn bumper car building, Chiller being closed, etc is totally like he had nowhere else to go but needed an extra 8 minutes of filming in order to make it a documentary. I still find it amusing how he points all the blame at Six Flags, yet if not for the clientelle the park attracted, they wouldn't need higher fences to keep people from attacking the actors, nor would the "chain" be needed if people actually used the emergency exit like an actual emergency instead of for smoking pot. While the whole event was pretty tragic, things were different 22 years ago, technology isn't what it is today, nor were safety standards. And Six Flags isn't the one who made that escape from the burning castle game, so how can they be blamed for that?! And the whole 8 skeletons on the fence, gimme a break! Now if the skeletons all had nametags on of the people who died and were running around in early 1980s clothing and awesome 80s hair, THAT would be distasteful! As for not allowing family into the park without paying, who is to say they attempted to contact the appropriate resources at the park. Just going up to the gate and saying "my daughter was killed here yesterday, I want to see where it happened" isn't going to work. I'm sure lots of people would try that "yeah, um, my brother died here, I want to look at where it happened"...and then they find the kid standing in line for Lightning Loops. As for putting a memorial up, I think it really shouldn't happen. They had a garden there for like 13 years, I think thats enough time. You don't see memorial markers over where Lightning Loops used to be, nor any at other amusement places where people died. I remember seeing one the year the maintenance guy got killed at Moreys at Great Nor'Easter, a bunch of flowers etc at the gate he wasn't supposed to be inside of, and that lasted for like a year or 2. I think that's plenty of time, if we had memorials for everyone who died exactly where they died, this world would be covered a few times over! My favorite part though was the one girl who survived, and how Six Flags is the "principality of evil" If amusement parks are such a haven for Satan and friends, then why was she so determined to collect enough Campbell's soup cans so she could go to the park for free?!

AHHH! Bad beer AND Pharmacy junk in the same update, I don't know which one I hate more! Looks like you guys are having a lot of fun. One of these days we'll let you have an anniversary alone...oh who are we kidding, you've got KidTums on the way, you'll never be alone again! And yes, I guess I could live off of Bass and Harp for a week on that cruise.

So its Thanksgiving, a good day as any to enjoy a nice beer with your meal, especially if its a good fall beer...like Pumpkinhead! Definitely good stuff, way different from Oaked Bastard. Malty and sweet like caramel with a bitter hop finish. Yum! To celebrate nowhere to go, I decided to break open the 2006 Double Bastard today Nice and light, good because I'll be filling up on everything else! The whole meal, with pumpkin pie to drink

I also had the blessing of riding one of the Vekoma Flying Dutchmans when it tilted back on the lift instead of the station, although I can't remember if it was Xflight or Batwing. But yes, as previously stated the ride was intended to recline once it hit the lift, not in the station. Way back in Stealth's computer animation it did that, but I believe it never worked right with that one, and only occasionally worked on the other 2. Of course, I only rode each of them once because I really couldn't stomach the long waits just because of the restraint checking (and I didn't think too highly of the ride to begin with). Never have I actually seen the ride return to upright while in the brake run. Heck, its shocking enough if they actually ran both sides of the station!

I for one am glad John posted one picture in this thread, as I missed the other thread. As far as I know, Theme Park Review isn't about how many different threads we can start and how many people will look at your photos. Your topic discusses Python's removal, and thats exactly what that picture is about. And I highly doubt its spamming, as he's not going to get any money or anything like that if he has more views to his thread than you do.