FlyerACE1

Dinosaur is easily the single worst WDW attraction out there! It's pointless, too dark, too jerky and makes me physically ill. Spiderman blows it out of the water and come to think of it, DarKastle does too. The one room in DarKastle that has no stunts and just spins is better than any one moment on Dinosaur. My fiance and I are going to Disney on our honeymoon and Ellen's never been to DAK so I'll be forced to ride it again. And the only reason I'm doing that is to be a good husband.

This one was from last week... WOW! Thumbs up! Loved this one. Nice complex hop flavor with an orange/citrusy finish. Good stuff. Thanks Heath! Another one supplied by Heath. Davidson Brothers IPA. Had no idea what to expect with this one.

I'll give you the most recent update. Had this one back on Saturday. A very poor excuse for a Heath face. I absolutely LOVED this brew! Great Pale Ale bitterness early and as the brew warmed, a very prominent rye taste. Excellent! I really enjoy this style. Yet another beer courtesy of Heath, the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale.

Been some time since I posted here so here's a brief update so everyone knows I'm still alive. Check it out... I liked this one, even though the unfiltered stuff freaked me out a bit. Brought this one outside (before the heat wave). Check out all the unfiltered indian pale aley goodness! Kick ass! Lost Coast Brewing's Indica, courtesy of Heath.

Time to play a little catch up with this past weekend's beer selections. We'll start off with a beer from the Sam Adams Brewer Patriot collection. I *was* looking forward to checking these out until Wally posted his reviews. But, since I purchased them before his posts, we had to give it a shot. Check it out... And Ellen finishes with one of her all-time faves- Pyramid Apricot Weizen. Oooohhh...sweet nectar of the gods! This face is reserved only for the 90 Minute, quite possibly my favorite IPA. Staying with Dogfish Head, I went back to an old favorite. Sweet! This limited release is better served closer to room temperature. It had chilled too much in the fridge but after some time in the glass, it's just how we remembered it at the brewpub. One down, 3 to go and we'll save them for another time. To counterbalance the awful tastes in our mouthes, we crack open the Dogfish Head Zwaanend'ale! Good God! A cross bewteen cough medicine, root beer and a heavy mollasses taste. I love Sam but this is putrid! Is this what our founding fathers drank?? Wally was right. Based on Ellen's reaction...I must be in for a real treat. Hmmm...smells like root beer. Could it be as bad as reported? The 1790 Root Beer Brew was up first.

Time to play a little catch up with this past weekend's beer selections. We'll start off with a beer from the Sam Adams Brewer Patriot collection. I *was* looking forward to checking these out until Wally posted his reviews. But, since I purchased them before his posts, we had to give it a shot. Check it out... And Ellen finishes with one of her all-time faves- Pyramid Apricot Weizen. Oooohhh...sweet nectar of the gods! This face is reserved only for the 90 Minute, quite possibly my favorite IPA. Staying with Dogfish Head, I went back to an old favorite. Sweet! This limited release is better served closer to room temperature. It had chilled too much in the fridge but after some time in the glass, it's just how we remembered it at the brewpub. One down, 3 to go and we'll save them for another time. To counterbalance the awful tastes in our mouthes, we crack open the Dogfish Head Zwaanend'ale! Good God! A cross bewteen cough medicine, root beer and a heavy mollasses taste. I love Sam but this is putrid! Is this what our founding fathers drank?? Wally was right. Based on Ellen's reaction...I must be in for a real treat. Hmmm...smells like root beer. Could it be as bad as reported? The 1790 Root Beer Brew was up first.

Robb, sweet PTR! I LOVED it! I'm always intrigued by the ComicCon crowd and always wondered who's dorkier- coaster enthusiasts or Comic freaks. I guess there's some sub-categories in the Comic realm too. I can understand the serious Comic collectors but the costumes, role playing and fan boy types are just scary. Thanks for the beer tap shot too! Got me in the mood for a good beer and to post again on the beer thread. Been too long!

Actually, neither of us were fans of the cows. The caption with Ellen was definitely sarcastic. It lightened the ride up a bit but they were annoying. One thing I did discover however is that the Milk Chocolate song grows on you in a "It's a Small World" sort of way. I'm VERY happy they kept the original song at the end though even with its sort of modern updating.

On the Friday before KennyKon, Ellen and I met up with Heath and Kim at HersheyPark in the evening. We got it in for the discounted evening rate and stayed just about til closing. As always, a great time was had at this very well run park. I was very surprised at the lack of crowds for a Friday in the mid-summer. Waits were minimal (into the station) on most coasters with the exception of Storm Runner running only one side due to a breakdown on the other side and the new Xtreme Cup Challenge dark ride. Here are a few photos including Hershey Boardwalk construction and scenes from the updated Chocolate World ride. Enjoy! This was on the back of a car parked near our car in the parking lot. It was for David's sunflower seeds. Feed me! Signature Adam face! Enjoying a Chocolate Peanut Butter milkshake. Yummm!!! Back at Chocolate World, no trip is complete without a Hershey milkshake. Heath with his non-beer Heath face, Kim and Ellen. A fine specimen of HersheyPark's clientele. A broad shot of the Boardwalk construction. You can see some slide pieces in there too. There is going to be lots of "ass juice" on the Midway America coasters in 2007. You can definitely see Heath and Kim in the front seat here. The Wildcat in all its splendid glory. This is still my favorite GCI. You may be able to see Heath and Kim in the front seat. Construction fences everywhere, creating tight paths through Midway America. This is where Chaos once stood, just outside the Wild Mouse queue. Ellen would have loved that tie-dye t-shirt wedding gift that Sue got. Not! Heath and Kim get ready to right Lightning as Ellen and I prepare for the duel on Thunder. A shot of the Wild Mouse and the construction around it. This may be the location of the wave pool. This is basically where the old laser show was. You can see Lightning Racer in the background. Inside the park, in Midway America, construction is going on in every available square foot. This new project will transform Midway America. New product placement. More new props. The new scenes leading up to the finale are very buy and very Wonka-esque. I liked it! The new scenes are a lot more high tech than the last version. There are those damn singing cows again. The new Chocolate World ride is X-rated, making it very TPR friendly! Welcome to the Chocolate Factory! Ellen loves the cows! "It's the milk chocolate..." Three animatronic cows greet you in the first scene of the new version of Hershey's Chocolate World tour.

Whenever I travel I like to take in some of the local culture or area attractions like restaurants, stadiums, brewpubs and the like. When planning to come out for ACE's KennyKon event at Kennywood in Pittsburgh, part of the appeal was a Saturday night game at the new PNC Park, home of this year's All-Star game. And so, while the Eastern PA region of BACT enjoyed some local brewpubs, the NJ region of BACT got together with the Western PA region of BACT and off we went. Here are some photos... Gluten-Free and Janna, enjoying beer, peanuts and a baseball game. What's more American than that? The Borg and N'at Man get ready for the game. Clifton, New Jersey Represent! Ellen (future and reluctant Jersey resident), Mark and Amanda. Ellen loves the Red Sox...and Penn Weizen! PNC has great vendors and an excellent selection of beer. Here I enjoy a Penn Gold. Amanda tries to break up a fight between rival fans- Mark (Yankees) and Ellen (Red Sox). Check out the view from the concourse! It doesn't get much better than this with ballpark locations. Here we are at the home base side entrance! The Stadium is surrounded by bronze statues of famous Pirates players of the past. They could certainly use some of their help now! The Team crosses the bridge. Some of the local talent. The Pirates played the Nationals but Ellen and I still had to represent. Go Sawx! PNC Park is absolutely breath-taking with its majestic location over the Susquehanna. To get to PNC from downtown, the Roberto Clemente bridge is closed to vehicular traffic. Why does this look like a scene out of Dawn of the Dead? It was a beautiful evening for a ballgame in the Steel City. Here's one of the many bridges that cross the three rivers of the 'Burgh. A gorgeous view of the river, bridge and park at night! So long, PNC Park! Ellen gives the BACT Attack hand signal and a smile! Fun was had by all at the Pirates game. Yankee fans but rooting for the home team. Go Pirates! Janna didn't like people walking in front of her during the inning. Apparently she didn't want to walk in front of this photo either! The Borg crew is excited! Pirates WIN! And so pop the Pepsi bottles in the outfield. PNC Park- Home of the 2006 All-Star Game! The aluminum bottled Iron City in a park in the Iron City! Dave has an Iron City Lite which was mistakenly opened for me by the vendor. Time for an Iron City! The park at night. It's time for the Pierogi Race!! Woo-hoo! Only in Pitts"borg". A shot of the outfied and the cool steel structured viewing ramp thingy. Ellen poses for a photo on part of the concourse overlooking the city. The kids even have a little park to play in. One of the many great concessions is a Pittsburgh tradition- Primanti Brothers, all part of an area called Smorgasburgh (LOL!). Now here is a rare site- Amanda with a beer...and it's Iron City no less! Go Amanda! We had great seats, right on the first base side and under cover in case of rain. Time to play ball!

And Rich even sang "Disco Inferno" for all the guests. I know Adam especially enjoyed that. Sue And one of the funniest wedding moments EVER! I have to say, Rich really impressed me the very first time he stepped up to the mic and gave his stirring rendition at Tom's EastCoaster party. To do the same at his very own wedding, no less, just floored me. As for the gift thing, I won't comment much since I have a wedding coming up as well. I will say, however, that I personally would NEVER consider not giving a gift at a wedding no matter where it was held and who it was for. I always consider an invite to any wedding an honor. I remember a few years back, my cousin Al Dukes (ex-producer for the Ron & Fez radio show) was telling Ron & Fez on air that he was giving $30 as a gift to another cousin's wedding I was also going to. Needless to say, they slammed him good and even my mother called the show saying that it would be an embarrassment and she would help him out. Made for some great radio, but I digress. Not everyone is in the same financial situation so you should give what you can but to not give *anything* is what I would consider rude. One would also assume that as an enthusiast, you have a fair amount of money in order to travel. Skipping one trip in order to give a little token of appreciation wouldn't have been too much to ask for. By the way, I have some photos of Sue & Rich's wonderful day right here: Check them out!

Due to my receiving some beer thread demerits, I was banished to John Harvard's for the weekend. This one was in Manchester, CT. Luckily, the beer gods looked down on me and that same night we also went to the Willimantic Brew House, a favorite of mine (no photos of that one). Here are some photos from our lunch at John Harvard's. But I did find a good one- the Fire Engine Red! Not usually a fan of reds but this one was brewed with caramel and chocolate malts. It was a surprise treat so I ordered a pint. The HopChronic IPA was actually my least favorite. Tasted like burnt hops. Here I am with my sampler and high tech menu accompanying it. The samples were pre-determined and include the light, pale, hefe, IPA and red. No clove or banana? No happy face from Ellen. Ellen goes with the Hue Hefeweizen (LOL). This one was proud of the fact that it *didn't* have the typical German clove and banana flavors. Here's today's selections. Being a glutton for punishment, I opted for the 5-beer sampler. John Harvard's! Does it get any better?

The other day at my local beer heaven, I picked up a 6-pack of a beer from a brewery new to the liquor store. This one was from Boulder Beer Company out of Colorado. I liked the name and the style so it was worth the shot. ' alt='>'> Dang! Not bad. This was a pretty solid IPA. Nice hop flavor but not very complex. Still, not a bad choice. So I poured it in my new Victory Hop Wallop glass hoping some of its greatness would rub off. Mojo! It's an IPA so it's worth the risk.

Could skipping the Essen Haus have anything to do with the fact that your friend from Nashville is prejudice towards Germans and anything to do with Germany (including their beer, food and music)?

Doh! Did I ever screw up my beers. I had Pranqster but that was a while ago. Last week I tried the Heavyweight Brewing Perkano's (sp?) Hammer which is a dark porter. Pranqster is a North Coast brew. Both were pretty darn good by the way although I'm not usually a fan of porters. That's 2 demerits for me. I'm being banished to John Harvard's this weekend!

Alrighty, playing catch up here. A couple weeks back, Ellen and I decided to continue seeking out NJ brewpubs not far from the new house. I found the Gaslight in South Orange which turned out to be about 20 minutes away (probably the closest I know of). Here are some photos... As for me, I couldn't pass up a Stone IPA. They actually had a few Stone brews in bottles only. Wish they had some on tap! Lambic goodness! Since the beer was average, we couldn't pass up some guest beers. Ellen had this one- Lindenman's Cassis. This was the first place I also saw Lindenman's Lambics on tap! Actually, I believe they only had the kriek. Our appetizer was a very generous sized baked brie. Delicious!! The food at this brewpub was EXCELLENT. Much better than the beer. The tables have some funky beer art. Not bad but not nothing extraordinary either. First up for both of us is the My Garden Wit. Ellen seems to enjoy it! The brew tanks are located in the front of the restaurant. The decor inside is pretty standard for a brewpub with brick walls, etc. The Gaslight is located on a very nice main street just down the street from Seton Hall University. This sign is on the back entrance.

Man, I got a lot of catching up to do. Still have photos from 2 weeks ago when Ellen and I visited the Gaslight Brewery in South Orange, NJ as well as my own photos from the BACT Attacks the Philly Burbs. Also, I today I felt the need to replenish the beervintory as pretty much all I have left is Pyramid stuff and wheat beers that Ellen love. Believe me, I like wheats but I was all out of hops! So, at my local beer heaven I picked up a 4-pack of my #1 IPA, Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, a 6-pack of an IPA I never had (from a brewery I never had a beer from), Boulder Brewing Company's Mojo IPA (from their Through the Looking Glass series) and a collection I've been dying to get- The Sam Adams Brewer Patriot collection- 4 beers brewed in the true colonial style. Not going to crack that one open quite yet but I'll take a picture of the very awesome case the four bottles come in. No pics but some beers I've had lately: Sam Adams Summer Ale, Sam Adams Boston Lager, Dogfish Head ApriHop and one given to me by Heath, Heavyweight Brewing Company's Pranqster. Good stuff, sad they're closing up shop.

Sounds like you learned a valuable lesson the hard way, Larry. DON'T mess with line-cutters at SFGAd. Don't you know it's their "right" to line cut you "just because they can"? Seriously, I've given up being a line-cutting police. It's not worth the aggravation and possible fight that may ensure. The security at SFGAd surely doesn't care. I watched no less than 20 people cut me at El Toro and the security guard was more concerned about people sitting on the hand rails. I wanted to punch the security guard more than anyone else but my fiance calmed me down. Security at SFGAd is an absolute joke. Family friendly and safe my ass!!

Last Thursday Ellen and I made a one day pilgrimage to Ocean City, MD and Rehoboth Beach, DE. We had three missions, to get Ellen on as many credits as possible, to ride the Rehoboth Beach Haunted House and to get me to Dogfish Head, a brewery who's beers I REALLY enjoy. It was a brewpub I've been wanting to get to for a while now and it didn't disappoint. On top of great beers and excellent food, they also had a nice gift shop out front where I purchased 2 bottles of Zwaanend'ale, 2 glasses, a t-shirt and Ellen even purchased a hot t-shirt (in a ladies cut which she was happy to see). Here are several photos from the visit. It was a damn good night at Dogfish. I can't wait to go back! The final beer of the night for me was Raison D'Etre, a beer I love in a bottle but never had on tap. Sweet! Ellen's last drink is an alcoholic concoction made with Dogfish Head's own soda and in-house distilled vodka! And while the crab cakes were damn good, the asparagus was even better, seriously! Full of wood smoke flavor! I had the crab cakes which were also very good. Ellen scores big time with absolutely the best fish and chips she's ever had (in this country). The coating is made with 60 Minute IPA and we detected a hint of cinnamon. Ellen is happy to be at Dogfish Head! Our appetizer was a Crab and Cheese dip. Yumm!! The Rehoboth Beach location is quite small with a very difficult to navigate bar when it's crowded. Still, it sort of has a shore feel to it. Next up for me is heaven, oh, I mean their 90 Minute Imperial IPA. Yes, 60 is great but 90 is better although higher in alcohol content. Uh oh! You have to love the "Unfood Menu"! Ellen tried something different- Zwaanendale. It's a Rye Bock brewed in commemeration of Deleware's 325th Anniversary as a state (the first state in fact). One cool thing about Dogfish Head is they allow you to imbibe on their front porch while you wait for a table. Here I am enjoying an ApriHop. The sun is in my eyes so it looks like I'm pissed. Outside the brewpub there's a chalkboard letting patrons know what's on tap. Unfortunately, the Chateau Jiahu had not been released yet. Who wouldn't want to go inside? The sign says it all. Situated right on Rehoboth Avenue, the brewpub was just a few short blocks from our hotel

On the same trip, for Sue & Rich's Lake Compounce wedding, we had a BACT meeting back at the posh Motel 6 in Southington. We had a nice variety provided by yours truly and a few Sam Adams from Dave & Janna (or was it Tim?). Here's a few photos from this event... Tim and Dave enjoy a twin Victory 10 Years Alt. The impressive Motel 6 BACT meeting line-up. Robb and I are competing for the most extreme nostril shots with my "mostly signature" Adam face and a new favorite- Dogfish Head ApriHop. And Tom tries an especially sexy pose with his Pyramid Hefeweizen. Janna likes Sam between the boobs. Ellen is excited to try another Pyramid brew, the seasonal Curve Ball (compliments of Tom Smith).

Alright, have some catching up to do. These photos are from over a week ago at Lake Compounce for Sue & Rich's wedding. Tom Smith, Todd Long and I enjoy a beer during a lame ass show at the park. We all picked the most unusual choice they had, UFO (I totally forget the brewer) which is a wheat beer that's average at best. Todd Long with a rare appearance (possibly first?) on the Beer Thread. Tom, not happy with the selection but it's a beer and that's good at least. Me

BACT is a little acronym that Derek came up with. It stands for Beer And Coaster Team. "Coaster Team" was a little inside joke started by a few friends of ours prompted by that toolish shirt that Six Flags sells. The Beer part was just added on by Derek to include that other little hobby we love (notice Beer is mentioned first). No official membership, just a way to distinguish us from the rest.

Yup, I'm here. Just been away for the weekend. Thanks for keeping the thread alive, Wally! Any way, here are a couple beers I recently had when not drinking at the Motel 6 on Saturday (photos coming up on a separate thread). This was a total surprise. Turns out to be one of the better stouts I ever had! Great tastes of dark chocolate at the start, turning into an almost smoky mouth feel by mid-bottle and ending with a nice roasted character at the end. A very complex stout! Old No.38 Stout from the North Coast Brewing Company, compliments of Heath. Not bad but not what I was expecting. Here's a brew that we got from Tom who gave us a case of Pyramid for Ellen's shower.

A few weeks back, Tim Melago, Ellen Whitman and I took a trip to The Original, a Pittsburgh fixture that will sadly be closing sometime this year. Located in the heart of UPitt's campus, "The O" as it's lovingly referred to is famous for its super huge portion of fries, delicious hot dogs and beer. Here are some photos from our trip. The red neon of The Original. Places like this need to be saved! Damn, we did (well, almost)! The remnants of our french fry basket. The O also has beer!! Tim enjoys a local favorite, Iron City while I pound down a Yuengling. In addition to fries, they also have awesome dogs. Here, Ellen enjoys her Super Dog, topped with bacon and cheese. A better look at the massive basket of fries! Tim delivers the "large" fries. Damn! Will the three of us be able to finish this? There it is, The Original!

A couple weeks back, Tom bought me a couple bottles of the new Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA. Finally got around to trying it and hit hop gold! Double Simcoe has an amazing hop flavor, not overly bitter and somewhat sweet. One of the best IPA's I've ever had! Weyerbacher has a winner.