Rugged One

You can officially thank Kim and I for leaving at at 2:10 and allowing the Olde Mill to open at 2:30. Just like we said. Great pics of the wedding. I'm not normally a wedding guy but this one was a blast. I'm really glad we all got to hang at Playland with Adam and Ellen afterwards. That was cool.8)

Bret, the Fairegrounds are located on the property of the Mt. Hope Estate and Winery and are the dedicated site for the Faire each year. They are also used for Scottish and Irish themed events during the summer. While I'm sure that some of the performers travel around from site to site each year, the event itself is exclusive to the Fairegrounds and is really set up well, including a new faire scenario each season and different themes each weekend. Info on the Fairegrounds and the Faire in general can be found here: http://www.parenaissancefaire.com/

Kim and I are coming to the event Ted but we probably won't be rolling in until between 1-2. I think we're going to stop in Selinsgrove on the way there.

Happy B-Day from H&K. I had a cold one for ya!

Ah, Ballast Point. My big regret from the San Diego weekend was not having a pint of their Double Durado at the Liar's Club. Maybe if we would had had more than a half hour there. Some of their stuff is definitely at the top of my list for the next visit. Anyway, finally got into some of this year's Stone Vertical Epic release. Lots of stuff going on with this one. Chocolate, caramel, some fruits maybe? Very malty and smokey. By the way, when are we going to see those Stone pics Wally? The Stone Vertical Epic 06 06 06. I'm looking forward to tasting some aged bottles of this down the road.

Another great BACT Attack! This one of epic proportions! By the way, I forgot to thank you Derek for my new desktop image.

I thought that was allready abundantly clear. The Faire was actually better than I thought it was going to be. A lot of the main costumed people that take part in the various shows and then roam around the grounds have degrees in theater and it shows, as they really go all out with their interaction with the crowds. We found interacting with the various characters to be a highlight of the day, especially after a few beers.8) My only real gripe about going to these Renaisance Faires, is that they charge you a decent price to get in and then pretty much everything else that isn't a show (and even then some of the performers are working for tips) is going to cost you even more once your in. I guess at least you can spend as much or as little as you want to maintain your level of fun and budget.

Nice pics Ted! I'm glad to see that you and Catrina still had a good time despite the weather at SFOT. At least that gives you a reason to go back sometime, although with a park like SFOT, do you really need a reason to go back? It and Fiesta Texas are two of our favorite Six Flag parks.

Nice pics of the park. We were there back in June and the park looked pretty much like that (no people and cold), with the exception that it rained the entire time we there. I've been on all the Batman clones in North America and Vampire was by far the most intense, I'm assuming because it only has seven trains. Riding that thing in the back, in the near pouring rain definitley made for one of the most intense experiences I've ever had on a steel coaster.

That really stinks that Myrtle Beach is losing another park. Luckily with the new Hard Rock Park set to open, it helps take a little of the sting away. Funny thing, we used to live only an hour from there and had been to the Grand Prix several times but never bothered getting the Wacky Worm credit. When we were down visiting this past July, we finally decided to stop and get it. Glad we did! So long Grand Prix and Wacky Worm!

The Boulder Beer Hazed & Infused courtesy of Adam. The dry hopping with this one gave the hop bite an different kind of zing. I liked it!

Last couple of beers (that didn't involve San Diego). They both happened to be from Avery. The 13th Anniversary Weizenbock. Again, really good. Tasted very sweet and malty. Lots of caramel notes. A little heavy on the alcohol as it warmed up but not too bad. The Maharaja Imperial IPA. This was a good one but just wasn't quite up there with some of the Double IPAs that I really enjoy.

Thanks for posting the pics Derek. I'm glad that everyone had a great time and sent Adam out in style.

I've been fighting a stomach bug all week, so tonights was the first beer I had since Sunday. Don't worry, there will be plenty of pics of Derek and I drinking beer to go around after this weekend. By the way, I still want to see the pics from last Saturday's blowout! So in preparation of our San Diego invasion, I decided to bust out the latest from Stone. The 10 Anniversary IPA. Make that double IPA. And it's a good one. Great example of the West Coast style. The aroma on this sucker rocks. Citrus and pine and hops, all rolled into the one. The taste is where it's at though. Huge hop bite up front but then melds nicely into a sweet malt kick at the end. Unbelievable! At 10%, I tasted a little more alcohol than I normally care for but that slowly dissipated as it warmed up. I gotta say, this may be the best yet from Stone. And that's saying a lot! The Stone 10th Anniversary IPA. These guys know how to celebrate with style!

Just curious Joe if you actually rode the kiddie coaster at Steel Pier? I'm just wondering as when we were there last summer we weren't sure if adults were allowed to ride and the line was so long, that we said screw it. Also thanks for the update on the Pirate's Hideaway. We were thinking about hitting the Northern Jersey Piers in a couple of weeks but if that is about as far as they have come along, I'm thinking we might as well wait until next year. Isn't one of those piers supposed to go bye bye sometime in the future?

On the way to Hersheypark yesterday, Kim and I decided to check out the latest branch of the ABC in my old hometown of Camp Hill. Not quite sure what to make of it. It's definitley smaller and a little more upscale than the main brewpub in Harrisburg or even the branch in Gettysburg. It's kind of interesting that they would even put a new one so close to one in Harrisburg, considering that they are only like 10 minutes apart. I guess it's for the folks that don't like to cross the river. The cool news is that early next year, the newest branch is going in Lancaster County, right off of Rt. 30. Only like 20 minutes from the house. Sweet! I might actually have to invest in a mug at this one. Afterwards, we stopped off at Westy's to see if they had gotten in the latest Stone release. And they had! The 10th Anniversary IPA. Not really sure what to think of this new location. Maybe it will grow on me. In the meantime, I'm more than happy to keep going to the original in Harrisburg. Of course I had a beer while we were there. The Kipona Fest, which is their version of an Oktoberfest marzen Much like the one in Gettysburg, they are going to be brewing some smaller batch stuff at this location. The tanks are right up front in the bar area. They have a nice selection of Belgians available, imported over from the Abbey Bar at the Harrisburg location. It looks like they are trying to be a little more upscale at this location than the others and a great example of this is the new wine on draft system they have. The dining area is relatively small by comparison. This was converted from a former sports bar called Kokomos and it shows. The bar area takes up like half the place. Welcome to the latest branch of the Appalacian Brewing Company in my old stomping grounds of Camp Hill, PA.

Like Derek said, I made sure I didn't touch it. Although after seeing that pic, I think you'll probably pull it anyway.

It's amazing how I looked at this last week and didn't have a clue. This thread pops back up, I take one look at it and get it. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

That really sucks about your back problems Wally. I really wish you the best with the therapy and all that. At least your going out in style at Stone!

I bet you wish you still had some of those Winter Warmers left, don't you Derek? Went with a bottle of Delirium Tremens tonight. Fantastic stuff and just like all good Belgians, it only got better, the warmer it got. The Delirium Tremens. Check out the yeast in that baby!

Please put me down for the Spain and Japan updates. Thanks.

So Thursday night was the latest beer release at DuClaw. We were going to change things up a bit and go to the Bel Air location instead this time but there was a fire in their bar area the other week, so the whole place is shutdown until sometime in September. Finally, it was time to order some disorder and it was great. Very strong banana and cloves present. Anarchy in the DBC! Even though there was no Mayhem glass they did having a freaking huge selection of buttons. 5 of them! That's got to be a record! They didn't have a Mayhem glasses for some reason. They said it was because they wanted to give away a bunch of the older glasses they had sitting around. Personally, I think they got burned up in Bel Air. I think I know who to give the Derekslayer glass Allright, time to create some Mayhem! ...Mr. Mel Gibson of course! Complete with scenes of death and destruction courtesty of the Lethal Weapon films. See, who said these release videos weren't topical? The release video was about following the rules of the road to prevent creating chaos and mayhem on it, starring.... Preview time! It looks like they are going to be getting back to their normal release schedule as next month is the return of Twisted Kilt, their Scottish Ale. The video had Fat Bastard in it. Pretty funny. ...and everything Mayhem! We even get some Venom respect. Nice! Trivia time. Naturally the trivia had to do with everything bocks... I try to do a H-Face while getting into some Bad Moon Porter. Not too successful. I decide to add a little mayhem to my digestive tract and go for their spicy Arizona Burger. ...so I do. Why not? This one just gets better everytime I have it. Lots of citrus notes this go around. Kim tries it and thinks I should have another one... First things first though. I've gotta start out with a Venom! Ahhhh, there it is! Mayhem! Any night at Pint Club usually involves three things. There's always plenty of mischief and beer on hand but there's one key ingredient missing.... Which means back to Fells Point for this month's release.

Weird Science "It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds."

Cruel Intentions "I gotta hold on to my angst. I preserve it because I need it. It keeps me sharp, on the edge, where I gotta be."

Feeling rather hoppy tonight... Only a couple more weeks till I get back to Stone. I love me some Bastard! I think this is my last Lagunitas IPA. Very solid IPA. Hopefully I can find another case of it sometime.