Rugged One

All this talk of hops has got me in the mood now. Busted out the Hercules Double IPA from Great Divide Brewing tonight. Wow, this is some good stuff. My taste buds are still taking a beating. And with a pretty strong ABV of 10%, let's just say I'm having a pretty good time right now. Hercules Double IPA from Great Divide Brewing in Denver, Colorado. Truelly, a God amongst IPAs.

Nice. He's got at Racer 5 in there. One of the best IPAs. EVER! I wish I could find Lagunitas around here.

Back to the Hop Wallop tonight. Love it. Victory Hop Wallop. So hoppy, it hurts.

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA. I love the 60 Min IPA and it's big brother is just as good. I like how it's hoppy but not bitter and fairly mellow. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Bring on the 120 Min next month!

Fat Angel Pale Ale from Magic Hat Brewing. Fat Angel. Good stuff!

We went over to the in-laws today to watch a little NFL conference championship action. I invited my buddy Sam along as well. and Sam Oktoberfest. By the way, either I have a severe case of pink eye in this pic or I'm a terminator sent from the future to kill you all. Both Sam Winter...

Count me as being surprised by this coaster as well. Tons of airtime in the front. Here's some pics I took back in May.

I'd vote for SFOT. Probably the only SF park that I've spent an entire 12-hour day at and still hadn't done all that I wanted to do. Honorable mention goes to SFFT. I also really like Great Adventure, Great America, Over Georgia but not the crowds that go with them.

Heh Soren, I'll swap you some of that Beck's Oktoberfest for some of that Green Lemon. That looks good. Tried a new one from Heavyweight Brewing last night. The Perkuno's Hammer Imperial Porter. This is a Baltic porter with a lot going on for it. Had hints of chocolate, coffee, fruits, and lord knows what else. I really dug it! Perkuno's Hammer Imperial Porter from Heavyweight Brewing. An awesome name for a beer and a damn fine porter.

Finshed off my final Pyramid Snow Cap. See you next winter Snow Cap.

Blasphemy! *Just kidding* I really dig the Hop Wallop. It's like a lot of double/imperial IPAs. It does one thing (pucker your face with hops) but it does it real well. Finally finished off the last straggler (hiding in the back of course) of a Troegs 12 pack. Now I need to chill up the second half. Troegs Pale Ale. It couldn't hide forever.

That Liberty Ale is on my short list. Just as soon as I clear some other stuff out of the fridge. Went with a Franziskaner Hefe tonight. I had this at a beer bar the other night and really dug it, so I picked some up for the house. The Franziskaner Hefe. Yummy!

Heh, lifting all those beers helps build big biceps!

Did you find that behind the fridge or something Wally. The Magic Hat Saint Gootz. I believe that this was formally the enigmatic Batch 371 that was available in a variety pack last fall and then could be voted on to keep or drop it. I guess enough people liked it, as it is now back and been released as a seasonal. I liked it under both names. Saint Gootz. No, it's not the official beer of Steve Guttenberg. It's the latest offering from the Magic Hat Brewing Company.

Yeah, I really dig DuClaw. Not only is there beer good but they probably do the best job I've ever seen of a brewery marketing it's own beers. They just really come up with some original stuff. Their release parties are a lot of fun. I just need to get out of the current job so that I can partake in more of them. Like Derek said, it was pretty darn mild around here for January, so I felt like a little something lighter tonight. Weyerbacher ESB does just the trick on an abnormallly warm January day. Not to worry, I'm sure I'll be breaking out the stouts and winter warmers again in no time.

Congrats on your new best friend Wally! He really is a handsome looking dog.

Yeah, she's good like that.

So tonight the DuClaw Brewing Co. had it's first beer release of the new year. The "Old Flame" Old English Ale. I had to miss the release party myself because of 2nd shift work but the wife was nice enough to stop by and pick me up a growler. Old Flame. Feel the burn! Nothing feels better than coming home from a crappy night of work to a growler full of beer and a new episode of LOST.

That's too bad that you didn't enjoy the Fort. I still have yet to try it, as I passed up the chance a few weeks ago, when I was at the Dogfish Head Alehouse down in MD and my local place has sold out of it. Well tonight I finally tried a "What Was the Last Beer or Wine You Drank?" thread legend. The Paulaner Hefe. And it didn't disappoint. I'm definitely going to have to go back for more. The legendary Paulaner Hefe. Look at the head on that thing! It's like a beer afro.

I'm not sure if the Oktoberfest is an exclusive to just the US (I didn't look at the other Beck's sites) but I did see that it isn't listed on the German site. You guys do have Green Lemon Beck's though. Anyway, I had a Sam Adams Winter Lager with lunch today. I really wanted to like it, as the taste started out with a nice malty sweetness, but then ultimately fizzled out with no finish. Of well. It still went good with my burger at least. Then tonight I tried my first beer from a brewery that I've been wanting to try from for a while now. Heavyweight Brewing in Ocean Township, NJ. They are still a pretty small operation but they brew some pretty unique stuff. My local place is starting to carry them now, so I picked up a couple of 4-packs. The Lunacy Belgian-Style Golden Ale from Heavyweight Brewing. Very nice and sweet. The spices and fruity accents really jumped out at me.

Went with the Becks Oktoberfest tonight. It went down pretty easy but wasn't quite in the same league as some of the other Oktoberfests out there. Becks Oktoberfest

-Your 2005 year in review: While it wasn't as crazy a year as 2004 was, I think that we still got a lot of coastering done, considering that we moved back here to PA and I was out of work for a chunk of the year. --Your first coaster of the year: Rock N' Roller Coaster @ Disney/MGM --Your last coaster of the year: Grizzly @ PKD --Best new steel to me: Superman: Krypton Coaster @ SFFT --Best new wood to me: Hades @ Mt. Olympus --Best new flat ride to me: Fandango @ Knoebels --Best new water ride to me: Sheikra? It has a splash down. --Best new dark ride/walk through to me: Haunted Mansion @ Funland in Rehoboth Beach, DE I hadn't ridden it since 1992, so it was pretty much brand new to me again. --Best new water park attraction to me: Master Blaster @ Schlitterbahn --Best new park to me: SFOT or SFFT --Best park "moment" of the year: Getting to both Astroworld and Libertyland before they were shut down. Any of the awesome woodie ERTs I participated in. --Best overall park "trip" of the year: Our week plus trip through TX, OK, Branson, AR, Memphis, and ending up at Visionland in AL. --Worst new attraction (any kind) to me of the year: Jersey Junkyard at Morey's Piers. What the hell was that? --Best event at a park: My third Rip Roarin Rampage, just edges out the Coasterbuzz event at Holiday World and Oc-Boulder-Fest. --Best non-event day at a park: Probably our day trip to Ocean City MD and Rehoboth Beach, DE. Just a fun day. --Best non-park related moment of the year: Eagles in the Super Bowl and moving back to PA. --Favorite TPR post/thread of the year: The Beer thread! --Best Amusement related news of the year: All of the new wood for 2006! --Worst Amusement related news of the year: All of the park closings and deaths on rides. --Ride that I had to rethink my opinion of in 2005: Millenium Force in a good way. Shivering Timbers in a bad way. --Hopes for 2006: That I can get my current work situation sorted out and get enough time off to do all the traveling that I have planned.

Heh man, bring em on! I'm always interested in seeing what everyone else is drinking out there, especially fellow local guys. Let's get some more Jersey beers on here.

You should still be able to find some of the fall beers around. They still have a few Pumpkin Ales and Oktoberfests left at my place. Let us know if you end up trying any of the West Coast Pumpkin Ales. I only had one kind (Buffalo Bills) this fall from out there,as the majority of the ones I get are usually East Coast. Speaking of Oktoberfests, I was in the mood for some lager, so I picked up a six pack of Stoudt's Oktoberfest, as I had missed it back during the fall. Pretty good. Anybody tried the Becks Oktoberfest? Thoughts? Stoudt's Oktoberfest. Just what the Dr. ordered.

I was rooting around in the back of the fridge and found a pleasant surprise. A couple of Dogfish Head Punkin Ales, leftover from the fall. Who says fall is over?