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This post is about 9 days late but better late than never, right? On the weekend of August 11-12, Ellen and I traveled down to Rehoboth Beach, DE to stay at my cousin's friend's house. Of course, no trip to Rehoboth is complete without a stop at the home of my favorite brewery, Dogfish Head. Now, on to the pictures... Here's a look at the downstairs bar on our way out. As you can imagine, a Saturday in August produces quite a crowd! I can't wait to be back to this very popular place. New Year's Eve!!?? Hell yeah! Aaaahhh....TRUE LOVE!! My cousin's version of the hop face and surprise of never having anything quite like this. For the finale, I ordered my favorite, 90-Minute IPA. The ladies took the hop challenge. Check out Ellen's hop/what the hell face! Next up for yours truly, a favorite of mine- Raisin D'Etre. Another group shot with me in it. Here is the gang enjoying their beers. John and Drew have the Lawnmower Light. Chris has a Raisin D'Etre. Ellen and Simone have Festina Peche. I decided to try the brewpub exclusive Johnny Rawton Pilsener. Not a fan of Pilseners although this one wasn't bad. Not great though. First up for Ellen, Festina Peche! Yummm!! Inside finally! For the first time, we sat upstairs. I definitely like the upstairs better. Way less hectic! Here is the gang, making their first beer thread appearance, waiting for a table- standing is Chris, Drew and John (the last two own the house). Sitting is my cousin Simone and wife Ellen. I love the little sayings they had throughout the brewpub. This one says- open 24 hours, just not in a row. Good one! Outside of Dogfish Head, located right on Rehoboth Avenue, a few blocks from the beach and boardwalk.

Paul, don't be intimidated by Jersey Week! Honestly, we're not all bad. In fact, what you'll find is a very diverse group of people, very cultured and rich in pride for their state. Jersey gets a bad rap. And despite the obvious bad taste for the Garden State by this site's mods, they're always welcome here too, if only to drive through so we can take their toll money. Adam Revesz Proud Lifelong Resident (32 years) and ACE Regional Rep for the great state of New Jersey

This weekend, Ellen and I were in Boston for a Red Sox game. Of course, being in Boston (a great beer town), there is only one place we both really felt the need to return to- Sunset Grille and Tap in Allston. This is an amazingly great beer bar with 112 brews on tap, a bible of bottled beers and a super huge food menu. So, we met up with Matt Bacoulis for lunch today and ended up spending over 3 hours there. Here are some photos... See ya Sunset! Til the Boston BA Beer Fest next February! When in Boston, there MUST be a Red Sox game on. Here's a photo of the actual bar (this is only one side, it wraps around and taps are EVERYWHERE). Matt's last beer was recommended by the waiter and it was excellent. BBC's (not sure what it stands for) Coffee Haus Porter. Here's the written description of the beer on the back of the bottle. I call this my British Face. Listed as an ESB, I totally see why. Wells Banana Bread has a great Banana Bread smell but only tastes in the undertones. Typical of an English brew, the beer was quite bitter. Still, not bad. I liked it better than Ellen. A nod to Juggler and our beer thread friends from across the pond, Ellen found this on the bottled list! We HAD to have a try. Not pictured is me with my second beer- Harpoon Peche brewed locally in Boston. At first, I was so-so on the beer but I ultimately really enjoyed. Much more drinkable than DFH's Festina Peche. Matt is tickled pink over the Wittekerke. Check out that pour! Next up for Ellen was this beer in a kick ass can! Straight from Belgium, Wittekerke Rose. This was actually a very good raspberry brew. The waiter was nice enough to take this. Ellen has mixed feelings on the Watermelon. I liked it better than she did. I go with the awesome Clipper City Hang Ten Weisen Bock. At 10% APV, this dark wheat bock had a nice bite. I have yet to have a Clipper City I don't like. First up, Ellen tries an Opa Opa Watermelon. Ok, this is the draft menu! I kid you not. There are at least 8-10 pages of bottles that are this long as well. Here we are- Sunset Grille and Tap!

Remember me? No? Some of you are so new on here you may not even know who I am. Along with Wally, Tom and Tim, at one time I used to post almost as often as Derek and Heath. Well, I'm coming out of semi-retirement to score some votes and also turn you all on to something cool my wife and I discovered. Seems Sam Adams may have been perusing this website and got the idea to have Sam Adams Summer Ale drinkers post photos of themselves enjoying their Sam in summer locations. What's cool is that each week, the photo with the most votes wins a prize! So, Ellen and I decided to submit a photo of ourselves with a Sam Adams Summer Ale taken on the Kaylee Belle paddlewheeler boat on Conneaut Lake in PA. So, if you all could be so kind and go to the website and vote for our photo entitled "Cruisin on Conneaut Lake", we'd greatly appreciate it! Maybe we can start a trend and if every regular on here takes a turn submitting a photo each week, we can sweep the contest! Just go to www.samueladams.com and follow the links to the "Shots of Summer" contest. Here is the photo we posted. Thanks for your votes!! Cruisin on Conneaut Lake

What a great thread, Soren! I'm really glad Ellen and I were able to meet you on our honeymoon back in September. Was very cool! I think our favorite place to hang in all of Walt Disney World was Epcot's World Showcase. Lots of beer, wine, food and good times. A definite highlight of our two week honeymoon! Best of luck back home. Hopefully we'll get to meet again! Soren, me and my Spaten Optimator (yumm!!). In your photo, you see my wife Ellen. She took this photo.

My wife and I were at Cedar Point all weekend. When we arrived at about 11:30am or so on Saturday, we parked in the Hotel Breakers lot since that's where we were staying. Immediately we saw that something wasn't right at Magnum. An ambulance was on scene and just as we were walking towards the coaster, they started throwing tarp on the damaged back seat of the train. It didn't look good and sent an eerie chill through our spines. We thought for sure there was a serious injury or death involved. Strangly, the park operations continued without much feeling of what happened aside from the area around Magnum. I'd say most of the park's guests had no clue what just happened. On Saturday night, heading out of the park, we watched them lift both trains off the track, about 10:30pm or so. I thought for sure it'd be a while before Magnum operated again. We also witnessed a lot of activity on the brake following the final tunnel and some welding on the track leading into the station (perhaps the impact damaged some track?). While watching this activity we met a couple who informed us that there was only a minor injury and that one of the kids sitting in the back car actually walked out under his own power. Not sure if that's true or not but it was nice to hear. Certainly, if someone taller like me was sitting back there, there would have been some broken bones at the very least. Much to our surprise, Magnum was back in operation sometime on Sunday. They were reporting 90 minute waits despite the fact that the line stretched out just a little into the queue from the bottom of the station stairs. I believe it though as we waited about 10 minutes and the line didn't budge once. As luck would have it for us, on our way out Sunday night, 10 minutes after the park closed they still had the queue open. We got in with just minutes to spare and by then it was about a 5 train wait from any seat. We lucked out and took the final ride of the night on the front of the back train. Trust me, it was eerie to ride it after what we saw just a day before. I took a few photos but have not downloaded them yet. Once I do, I'll post what I have.

Derek, are you sporting a "Heath" hair-cut!!??? Dudes, I demand you two start hanging out with other people! You're even starting to look like each other now!!

Remember me? I've kind of given up on the whole "photos of me drinking at home" thing but I have still been drinkin' and trying new stuff too. Last night I had my bomber of Bear Republic Hot Rod Rye. A bit of a let down as I still prefer the Willimantic draft-only Rail Mail Rye better but this one had a nice kick with a fairly high ABV (8%?). I liked my second pour better and as it warmed, the rye was more pronounced.

On Sunday, my wife and I had a mission. Go to SFNE, buy and process our season passes, maybe ride a thing or two and get out! Well, that ended up being a little longer than expected, not because we had to wait long, but because our visit was surprisingly better than ever. And this was with Superman being closed! What we found were friendly employees, very clean grounds, improved ride operations and light crowds to boot. Here are some photos from our day. And I leave you with this. Disney? At Six Flags??? Hmmmmmm... I wish they had this place here. I love this chic dancing with Daffy and I just had to take a photo. ;/ Upside down bats. Did anyone check this before it was installed? Gotta say, I think this is pretty neat. The relocated Wave Swinger now known as Crime Wave (from the back). It's located approximately where the giant ferris wheel was. Cold Stone Creamery! Kick butt! Inside, you would never think you were in a theme park. It's identical to all CSC shops and the prices are minimally higher. Nice work! I think the theming in this area is pretty cool. But Ellen rides it so I get to take photos. There she is waving. I like to look at Tomahawk but not ride it. As expected, Mr.Six has been scrapped from this ride. Barely lasted two seasons...poor old man! A shot of Time Warp and Pandemonium for the hell of it. Cyclone continues to be neutered. The first drop is still great, the sick 2nd drop is just ok now but the 3rd drop is better than ever. Odd coaster! I included this photo because I love the 2006 addition of this sign and new queue to the ride. It works much better now. One of the new eateries- Ted's Coney Island serving Gyros, Coney dogs and a bunch of boardwalk style food. For some reason, Six Flags doesn't like Poison Ivy so instead we have- Catwoman's Whip, an unnecessary but interesting name change. Ms. Adam...errr...ummm...I mean me, yeah, Adam. Ellen drives... This attraction was sort of out of place but I'm glad they kept it. Thanks to its location, we were able to get a ride without a long wait too. More Zamperla kiddie ride goodness. Another shot of the ship. Ahoy! The S.S. Feathersword! I wonder if we'll be fighting each other with feathers in the future? And another... Another ride... Yummy Yummy, fruit salad! C'mon...join in! Takin a ride on the Big Red Car. I now present to you each of the rides in Wiggles World. Ellen is excited for The Wiggles and wishes her nieces could be here. Just before the Wiggles World gates lies one last chance to be an adult! Hells yeah! Wiggles World! Anyone who has kids or kids in their family know what I'm talkin' 'bout. This blurry pic shows the inside of the season pass processing center. Long line? No problem. We were in and out in 15 minutes. Major props! A giant Wiggle welcomes us to SFNE. Gotta say, it's refreshing to have something other than Looney Tunes. Over the parking bridge to the SFNE ticket boothes. What awaits us inside?

So last weekend my wife and I were in Pigeon Forge for our first ever visit to Dollywood. We decided to extend our brief trip by a day so we can experience the touristy goodness that is Gatlinburg, just a few miles down the road. We both like the cheesy touristy stuff and Ellen loves haunted attractions so this worked for both of us. Gatlinburg is much nicer than Pigeon Forge as you can park and walk. Sadly, the rain/sleet and cold made it difficult to walk around but we made the best of it. Overall, Gatlinburg reminded me of a cross between Lake George Village and Wisconsin Dells. However, I will say that the three haunted attractions we hit were better than any at those locations (except maybe the House of Frankenstein in Lake George). Mysterious Mansion This one is located on the equally as creepy River Road which runs sandwiched between the Parkway and the mountain. There are a couple small parking lots nearby. Overall, this was easily the scariest attraction we went to. The rainy overcast sky and the fact that we were alone on this tour probably added to it. The house is very dark and filled with rooms that have heavy doors to exit out of. This added to the fear and the fact that there was a deranged hillbilly popping up and scaring us out of our wits throughout the tour. My two favorite rooms appear in the beginning, the fireplace room with the impossible to find way out and the multiple door room which had us guessing for a while. They also have a collapsing balcony gag like at Indiana Beach which I felt was even more effective here. I think Mysterious Mansion is worth the admission (which is steep throughout Gatlinburg) and the length of the walk thru is pretty decent even though we ran scared through most of it. What a way to start the season! Hauntings Ghostly Adventure I found this one to be pretty unique. They tout themselves as Gatlinburg's only sit-down haunted attraction and it sure is. You sit in a room with about 6 rows of carpetted benches facing a living room scene with mirrors and picture frames surrounding you. Once the door is closed, you can't escape which makes you pretty uneasy. Again, Ellen and I were the only ones in here. The show lasts about 15 minutes and is filled with lighting effect gags, loud sounds and cheap technology animatronics and gags. Still, I think the attraction was pretty effective for what it was. I liked sitting and having stuff happen around you. The sound system is pretty good in making you think something might jump out at you from all directions. Ripley's Haunted Adventure This attraction is the most expensive ($12 to enter, I believe) but also the most professionally done. You start your adventure on a beat-up inclined freight elevator and then link together (literally, you're instructed to hold the shoulder of the person in front of you) for the entire adventure. There are mostly scenes to look at it with fewer shock or frightening moments. There is a dark room with a single light which appears to have no way out and I liked some of the full sensory experiences as well. For the most part, there's only one guys who follows you around (and will yell if you break the link) and a couple other people in some rooms as I recall. I like the human butcher shop. The experience ends in a standard elevator with a surprise gag (won't give it away). While Mysterious Mansion was better overall, Ripley's was way more professional in nature and also a lot more family oriented (we had a family on our walk-thru). Below are some photos of the exteriors... [/u] Here is a photo of the inclined freight elevator that starts your adventure. A close up of the Ripley's sign. On the same side of the street, several blocks closer to the Smokey's is Ripley's Haunted Adventure. Is Ellen scared of the rain or this attraction? A close up of Hauntings. Up on the Parkway is Hauntings Ghostly Adventure. The creepy hearse and mountainside location give patrons of the Mysterious Mansion an uneasy feeling even before you enter.

After a great weekend in Virginia, Ellen, Leann, Walt and I decided to make a pit stop in Baltimore on our way home to visit Mark and Amanda's new digs. Of course, there was no way they'd let us leave without a visit to DuClaw Brewing Company in Fells Point, a place I've been dying to get to for a while. So, here we go... If we had time, I would have tried more but I had to go with the Heath old faithful- Venom. What a great pale ale. They may not have an IPA but this was a nice hoppy alternative. Can't wait to come back! Mark likes his Venom Pale Ale and even Amanda tries a Bare Ass Blonde. I like the sound of that! Ellen goes with the Funk, an American wheat beer. Not bad but Ellen has come to realize that most American style wheats do not have what she looks for in a good wheat. Ah! This is why we're here...I start with a Celtic Fury in a souvenir pint glass. This was an excellent irish stout!! A random close up shot of Mark and Amanda. And Ellen shows off the nachos. The food here was fair. Nothing to write home about. Leann shows off the fancy bruschetta appetizer. A look at the menu and beer selection. That's right! Here's a bad shot inside the brewpub. I really liked the atmosphere and decor here. Fells Point is an area that's a cross between Portland, ME and South Street Seaport. It has a great vibe. Yes, finally at DuClaw, in a great area of town.

Since Heath started his PTR on the Capital Ale House, it's time for me to grab the baton and complete it. Firstly, I had a really awesome time this past weekend and I think we have a new stop whenever we're down near Richmond. And even though our car and Tim's car were lost for like 20 minutes trying to get there, it was worth the trip. I'll post photos of our Sunday evening at the Fell's Point DuClaw with Mark and Amanda tomorrow. To end the night, Heath tries a Kentucky Bourban Stout (not sure of the brewery, I'm terrible with remembering these things). I had a sip and it was very good! It was a long day at BGE but BACT is having a great time at the Cap Ale House. I really loved my Rogue Mad Monk. A great choice! While her husband Tom was tending to Derek's drunkeness, Leann enjoys a Kahlua and Cream. Greg wishes he could get more Red Bridge as Tim enjoys his stout. Not sure what it was, Tim, care to tell us? From the looks of it, Janna is not enjoying her beer, or is she just tired? Dave is down with the very enjoyable Green Flash Imperial IPA. Heath goes with the Stinky IPA (what was the official name?) on cask. And man, did it really stink (in terms of smell). Ellen decides on an old faithful and not something you can always get on tap- an Allagash White. WOW! Look at all these pages! The dated beer bible! Here's my dark shot of the outside of Capital Ale House.

So last week I was battling a lousy cold which totally knocked out my taste buds. On Friday I attempted a DFH Aprihop but it really tasted like nothing. Fast forward to Monday and I have my beer buds in check. Need to start back up in a big way so I reach for a bomber I bought during Boston beerfest weekend and one I've heard so much about- Port Brewing's Wipeout IPA! Would it live up to the hype? Hot damn! Didn't disappoint at all. Loaded with fresh hop flavor but not one dimensional. Definitely an all time fave for sure! Look at the color, sweet! This one gets my special HopDevil glass.

This past weekend, we made some impromptu plans with Heath and Kim. What started out as a potential Baltimore/DC weekend turned into a trip up to Lake Compounce for the ACE New England region Nor'Easter event and a trip up to central MA for a full blown BACT Attack. The plan was to hit the #1 place to have a beer in America according to Beer Advocate, the Moan & Dove in Amherst, MA, a potentially great beer store and a couple other beer bars and brewpub. So, on to the first round of photos... Here's a good shot of the bar and draft board. I think we all agreed that this place was smaller and not as great as expected. Anticipointment in a big way! The guy on the left would typically be Derek but was replaced with this dude named Adam, drinking a DeKoninck Winter Ale. This one had a strange plum and spice flavor. The "emporer" tries out an Offshore IPA. For me, a High and Mighty Beer of the Gods. I saw this one at Spirit Haus and decided to try it without knowing much about it. It was just ok. Barely lived up to its name. Heath enjoys a Rogue Dry-Hopped Red while Kim imbibes in some Allagash White. Just a few short miles away was the easily missable, Moan & Dove. This place was what we came for! Heath is pleased with the selection although Julio's kicks this place's ass. He did leave with a couple mixed 6's and bombers. Ellen re-lives her college days and considers buying a bottle of Boone's Farm wine. We decide it's just not worth the 2 bucks. First stop was the Spirit Haus, a college town liquor store with a good beer selection, in Amherst, MA.

So I've been pretty absent from the thread lately but have done some beer drinkin' the last couple weeks. This past Saturday we went out with Mark and Amanda to the Gaslight Brewpub in South Orange. Dreadful house beers but the food is excellent and the guest beers are great. I had a Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout on tap that was fantastic but the cask ESB they had tasted like water with alcohol flavoring. Odd! Aside from the brewpub visit, I've drank a Founders Black Rye (not as good as I had hoped), Southern Tier Belgian Triple (better than I expected), Lump of Coal Stout (a fairly solid stout) and Mark and I recently split a bomber of Green Flash Imperial IPA which I thought was fair and not as good as I had hoped. Here's something I had last night though... Oooohhh!! I LOVED this one. One of the best IPA's I've had in a while. Very hoppy, nice citrus taste and great aroma. Haven't had a Bell's I didn't like yet! Dedicated to Mcjaco- a Bell's HopSlam! Look at all that unfiltered hop goodness!

So, tonight we got an unexpected visit (ok, well, not unexpected) from Derek to kick off our weekend trip to Boston for the Extreme Beer Festival. Of course, we had to bring the BACT-X Captain to a Jersey brewpub (the best in central Jersey...big deal) along with Mark and Amanda. Here are some photos from our visit. We LOVE Naked Fish...thanks Derek! The sexy couple prepare to get naked...with some chocolate and raspberry beery goodness. Back at the house, I start the great pour of a wonderful birthday gift by Derek- a growler of DuClaw's Naked Fish. Kick ass!! The Joisey brothers get ready to chow down on their giant Buffalo meat 24 oz. burritos. Next up for Derek, the Avenel Amber. I enjoy this one, Derek seemed to be fairly fond of it. Behind that pint glass is Derek's amazing beer counter, adding some beer credits. Here's the menu. Mark took this creative shot of me with a menu and my Great Scot Scottish Ale. Not to be outdone, Ellen gets her usual- Raspberry Wheat. Always hamming it up for the camera, Mark enjoys the Coaltrain Porter and Amanda goes dessert first with the Raspberry Wheat. Derek starts off with the Bitting's Best Bitter, their ESB. Seems like he likes it. Mark and Derek are bringing sexy back outside J.J. Bitting in Woodbridge while Amanda wonders, "did I marry that?" Derek loves Naked Fish too but realizes this is the least amount of beer he's drank in 3 days.

Yesterday I popped by my favorite liquor store for the first time in months to pick up some stuff for this coming weekend's EastCoaster party. Of course, I couldn't leave without something for myself and Ellen. Nice head on this one but the beer was pretty average. Still trying to figure out exactly what I drank. Scary! I couldn't pass this one up based on the name and brewery alone. This beer smelled amazing but it was really just "meh". Sort of a flat wheat taste with a tinge of fruit. I don't look much like the brewer but damn, how awesome would it be to have your photo on a nationally distributed bottle of beer? First up, from Sam Adams' LongShot mixed 6-pack- the Boysenberry Wheat.

Seriously, I can't keep up anymore. I might have to respectfully give up my membership to BACT at this point. I did do some drinking of my own though this past weekend. On Friday night we went to a place called Amazing Grapes. There I had a Chimay Tripel (White) and Abita Turbo Dog on tap (they have a pretty decent selection of beer there). On Saturday we were at the Willimantic Brewing Company with Ellen's family where I had Poor Richard's Old Ale and an Instigator Dopplebock which was an excellent strong lager. I also brought home a growler of RoadenZok, a Flemish style ale brewed with cherries. Last night we were at On the Border where I had a Dos Equis draft while we watched the Patriots beat the Chargers. Might have a photo or two from Amazing Grapes to post in a day or so.

With a statement like that, you might just be on Ellen's punching list! And come on, how can you root on the Chargers?? Just because San Diego has good beer? Bitter that the Eagles choked again? Go Pats!!

In all fairness, the photo you're referring to was taken last week. But, to completely destroy my defense, the last post of photos was taken last week. So, yes, we still have our tree up. Just been too darn busy drinking beer to be able to take it down. Our house is slated to be de-Christmasfied this Thursday.

Last night Mark and Amanda stopped by the house to hang out for a bit and of course drink some beer. Mark also brought a gift of Dogfish Head. Sweet! But, I had a bomber to share and since Ellen isn't the biggest fan of hoppy, bitter beers, Mark was the perfect companion. Mark has a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale while Amanda gets all "Pittsburgh sexy" on us with a water bottle. Damn! This beer is *so* hoppy that it nearly knocked me over. Great stuff! Check out Mark stylin' on our new area rug with a bottle and pint glass of Odyssey. Yes, compliments of Derek, a bottle of Sly Fox Odyssey IPA to share!

Looks like BACT had a truly excellent time in Pittsburgh! Nice to see the 'Borg contingent meeting up as well. I'll have to hit some of these places during the summer when we come out for Kennywood or whatever. Any way, been a while since I posted so here you go... A very solid stout with notes of dark chocolate, dark roasted coffee and caramel. Nice choice! This beer had a great pour! Hope it tastes as good. Time to crack open the Thirsty Dog Siberian Night Imperial Stout.

Derek, that exact Boston Market meal is what I had last Friday. Gotta love the meatloaf! As for Christmas, it was all home cookin' at my parents' on Christmas Eve and my sister-in-law's on Christmas. Any way, I know I've been pretty absent from this thread lately but it's mainly because I'm too busy to post. Been to J.J. Bitting recently and drinking a beer every other evening or so. Also bought a bottle of Green Flash Imperial IPA I need to try soon! But, in wishing you all a Merry Christmas, here's something I tried while exchanging presents with Ellen on Christmas Eve... WOW! A nice surprise. This one had some deep flavor and a nice alcohol bite. Good stuff. Merry Christmas! Very Bad Elf. I was very disappointed in Bad Elf on tap a couple weeks back so I wasn't sure about this one.

Thanks for sharing, Wally. Sounds like a great idea for a family gathering. Sierra Nevada looks sweet. I'll definitely have to visit when I finally make it to CA...whenever that might be.

Anyone who knows me knows I have a soft spot for the ol' Golden Nugget. I can see Robb's point about not missing it if it was torn down much in the same way I could care less if SFMM ever closed down or some classic ride in CA met its ultimate demise. I'd be disappointed but not personally effected. Golden Nugget is not the greatest coaster or even dark ride ever built but it was my first coaster and something I would ride over and over again with my dad when I was a little kid. I have great memories of it as do countless of Wildwood visitors who would be crushed if it was ever removed. It's an icon of sorts on the boardwalk even if it is SBNO. I guess there's always that hope it'll be moved or restored. Aside from the memories, the ride is truly unique and a classic. It's the only steel coaster ever built by John Allen and the trains are restraint-free. There isn't much coaster action but there are a couple small drops. In its hey-day, there were some excellent classic Bill Tracey stunts including a rotating barrel, falling barrels and a freaky section of complete darkness where the train continues to roll and then a stunt appears out of nowhere. When Dinosaur Beach bought Hunt's/Conko's, they rethemed it and removed some of the classic stunts. Still, it's worth saving and restoring. I hope one day the Morey's have enough support and funds to move and/or re-open it before it meets a similar fate as Dracula's Castle.