Rugged One

Actually, it's a dragon Rich. I really liked Griffon but not enough to get a tatoo of it.

Thought that I would try and clear some old stock out of the fridge tonight. Bad idea. She says "At least one of us had a decent beer tonight!" Not to be outdone, Kim chimes in with a beer of her own. And I think she made the better choice in the form of an Abita Rootbeer. OK, maybe not. Actually this may have been decent a few months ago but now it's kinda blah with some off flavors. I guess I should have drank it sooner! Something new from the Ruth Brewing Company. Their fantastic porter!

^Nice selections man. We like to see some Southern brews getting represented in here. Well with a fun filled BACT Attack of VA imminent, it's only fitting that we pre-party with some beers with some local VA flavor. Both were pretty good and nice way to end our preparedness for a weekend of VA beers. Finally it's time for the two darkest beers. The Porter and one we had actually had before, the Winter Stout. Derek says "Nut ain't no country I ever heard of!" Actually these two were kind of meh. No, these next two aren't the same two beers (although they look it). It's their American Brown Ale and Nut Brown Ale. Not bad. They were suprisingly refreshing with a nice crisp finish. First up for us the two lightest beers. The Golden Ale & Lager. A mixed variety sixer from the St. George Brewing Co. in Hampton, Va. Not too far from where we'll be this weekend. Check out that cool packaging. I like it!

^ Nice! Tonights selection is for Matt. The Lakefront Big Easy Lager. Also known as the "Last Chance Lager" by me cuz this is the last chance I'm giving Lakefront unless this one's actually drinkable. This one was interesting. It's supposed to be a Maibock but it seems to be off the style. Very sweet and malty with a pretty pronounced profile of fruits and spices. It almost didn't even seem like a lager. So what's the final verdict? Even with it's weirdness, I still found this to be a fairly drinkable beer. Curse you Lakefront! You live to be drunk another day.

^^ Try the Big Red Liquors chain in Bloomington. There are several locations in town but the best one is supposed to be at 418 N. College Ave. Hope that helps. http://www.bigredliquors.com/

Some random selections from the last couple of nights. Tonight it's time for some more Jew Beer! This time it's the He-Brew Genesis Ale. American Craft Beer Week may be over but we wouldn't know it. Kim went for a recent gift from Derek that came from New York courtesy of Nicole. The Ellicotville Brewing Blueberry Wheat. First up on Monday, with Spring in full swing, it's time to break out a tasty bock. In this case an Anchor Bock to be exact.

More American Craft Beer goodness this fairly fine Saturday as Derek stopped over to share some of his goods before divulging into my stash. Where will tomorrow take us to end American Craft Beer Week? We think you know, Lord Chumley here does for sure. Using black raspberries and blueberries, it's Kim-approved, and Derek and Heath approved too for its great taste and high abv Back to the beer, we'll end the night with the newly bottled Black and Blue from Dogfish Head Dinner is served, lots of little pizzettes just like Giada makes, and we all love ourselves some Giada and so...break out the Transformers and Thundercats, it's time for a CapriSun break! As Kim prepares dinner, she reminds us to keep ourselves hydrated Not as good as the other west coast IPAs, but still really good stuff that we wouldn't mind drinking again Quickly following that will be the Boss IPA Nothing is better than a fine amber ale with a hoppy kick to it Next up, some stuff from Laurelwood that Justin gave to Derek on their meeting a few weeks ago. First, their Red Ale So very cherry with a fine chocolate/coffee finish Preparty was Mendicino's Winter Ale obtained on discount before moving on to the good stuff, like Bell's Cherry Stout

^^ I personally like this one better (cuz I'm at Pizza Port) but whatever! 8)

No beers tonight. I think we drank enough last night to cover two days. Especially on a school night. Read on. We leave Max's very happy and with a couple of free glasses too. Score! We'll definitely be back sooner than later. Which in our world means this Sunday. Mr. Gonzo himself looked pretty thirsty, so I offered him some. I finish up with some of one of the cask offerings. The Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter. The Hunter S. Thompson tribute beer. I say why not and try out their Peppercorn Triple. Very nice. Just the right amount pepper and spice in the taste. How do you know we're having a good time? Cuz Kim's having another beer! From the very local Brewer's Art, it's their Seven Beauties, a Rye Ale. At this point I'm seeing Oskar Blues everywhere! Kim even got some Old Chub chapstick. Kim wanted me to point out that on the stick it says "Twist The Knob And Rub The Chub". What will those wacky asses at OB think of next? Actually, I like Gordon a lot more when he's wearing his can. The whiskey aging really toned down what I like so much about him. By the way, they were giving away OB swag. Next up, I go for a new version of an old favorite. That's right, Gordon showed up to hang out. And he was all dressed up in whiskey with no where to go. Except down my throat! Oh yeah, all that whiskey goes straight to the bottom of the goblet. Got to get it all! We decide to move ourselves up to the bar. Why? Duh, so we can sit in front of the casks stupid! This beer is called the Money Shot Cream Ale. And Kim is daring me to make a joke about it. OK, I'll keep this thing moving along, while I still have my balls intact. Oh yeah. I've been wanting this one for awhile. Not only have I been dying to try their Ten Fidy Imperial Stout but this is a whiskey aged version to boot. Fantastic! But of all those beers, these were the one's we came for. Cuz it's Oskar Blues night! Yee-hah! Uh, oh my god! Ummm, I think they might have some good beers on tap tonight. No, you didn't forget. It's American Craft Beer Week! And wouldn't you know, Max's likes to celebrate too! We're back at Max's Taphouse! But what could bring us the whole way down here on a random Thursday night? Back to Fell's Point and the Bond Street Wharf, only tonights not a DuClaw release. As a matter of fact, we're not even going to DuClaw at all.

American Craft Beer Week continues... Drink with the one you love. Cheers! Kim has the Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossum Cream Ale, which does indeed taste like beer & Tang. Too bad the astronauts didn't have this back in the day! I go for the third and final of the Sam Adams LongShot Homebrewer Competition winners. The Dortmunder Style Export.

^ It's draft only and usually released around September each year. American Craft Beer Week continues. Time for some more Founder's fun. Wow, and it was dirty too! But in a good way. A dirty looking brown (with floaties too!) and the earthy aroma and taste were straight up malt and spices. Just a nice, aggressive example of the style. Next, I settled down with one of Founder's flagship beers, the Dirty Bastard Scottish Ale. And it uh, tasted like raspberries. Lots and lots of raspberries. Very tasty with a very effervescent, almost champagne like body. First up for Kim was the Rubaeus, an ale fermented with raspberries.

Yup, time to kick off American Craft Beer Week. Nothing really fancy planned to commemorate. Just hope to showcase some damn fine, tasty American craft beers. OK, so maybe we'll hit the road for something or two. Wow, I think I like this one even better out of the bottle. Fantastic malty chocolate and coffee sweetness up front with a thick, chewy, and mildy hoppy finish. Nice... First up this week, the Great Lakes Brewing Black Out Stout. A rather tasty Imperial Stout.

Like others have said, if you can, just take 95 during off hours. Preferably during the nighttime. Another option we use when having to grab 95 during a time when traffic would be bad, would be coming down 15 South through PA, MD, and VA. Coming from Ithaca, you may take 15 S anyway. We used this many times and rarely got stuck in any sort of bad traffic. It spits you out onto 95 at Fredericksburg, VA, avoiding the Baltimore/Washington/Nor Va traffic. It's actually a pretty nice drive too, especially through the VA countryside. Not sure how much time it would add onto your drive but just for a reference, from the Harrisburg, PA area, it takes about 3 hours to get to Fredericksburg. The drive can be a little tricky in some places but if your interested, shoot me a PM and I'll hook you up with directions.

Nice PTR Nicole. Too bad that ROS was running like crap. It was running fine when we rode it last May in the early season. It's weird seeing all of the Superman references stripped off of the themeing. Kinda lame, as I really like the look of that one.

^^ I'd would definitely recommned the Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale. If you don't have much experience with hoppy Amber Ales, it's probably a good one to get your feet wet with. More of a sweet hoppy instead of the normal bitter citrus hoppy that you get with a lot of IPAs. ^ Next time your over, I'd be willing to open up one of my bottles of Mephistopheles, just to see the look on your face when you try it. Allright, on to yesterday's beer happenings. Kim and I were just looking to spend a nice relaxing day up in Harrisburg. Of course we wanted to just shoot into the ABC Harrisburg, because of a little 10th Anniversary party they were having for the people of Harrisburg, and have a beer or two and pay our respects to a business that really made a difference when it came into the area back in 97. Of course "just shooting in" turned into 2 1/2 hours because it was so well done and was just such a nice time. Hmmmm. Perhaps next week's beer happening? We shall have to see. Great, one of the tours just let out. Now I can't move. We're looking forward to attending our first Harrisburg Brewers Fest as the previous 2 years got skipped because of coaster stuff. I try me a sample of this stuff called Nugget Nectar that they brew here. I hear it's pretty good stuff! Surprisingly, they still have a bunch of cases of Scratch #1 left. Oh but we're not done yet. Not when we have Troegs just down the street. Wow, what a fantastic Anniversary Party! $2 beers! Free food! Talk about giving back to the community. Happy 10th Birthday ABC! You help make me proud to live in such a craft beer rich area! Shot of some of nicely decorated vehicles that would soon be used in the upcoming "Outhouse Races". We left just as the Keg Olympics were getting underway. They had a band playing for entertainment. So of course I had to get a Mountain Lager to go with my second pile of barbecue. The $2 beers they were pouring outside were naturally quite popular. Everyone's favorite local "Drunk MonK" Woody Chandler even showed up. I was going to get his autograph for Derek but he was busy eating. ;P It was quite delicious too! Just look at that meat pile. Mmmmm. ...everyone's favorite. Pulled pork. Right off the spit! Yes! ...and eat free food. Yes, that's right. I said FREE FOOD! Salad, baked beans, potatoe salad, hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ chicken, sliced beef and... Wow, nice big tent for everyone to gather under.... One more to take outside. The Anniversary Maibock. Wow, very nice for the style and seemed much better than last years. Check out the little mementos they were giving out. Engraved pieces of the original fermenter from back when the place first opened. Nice touch! Did I mention that all the beers were only $2? Kim goes for her favorite beer here. The Root Beer of course! Next up, I have to show my respect to my favorite of their staple beers, the Watergap Wheat. Just a really solid wheat beer. ...and the addition of a couple of guest taps, including Legacy Hedonism and Hoegarden. See Tom, now you have a reason to visit! ;P Some nice additions since we were last here, including the same type of wine draft system that has proven to be quite popular over at the ABC Camp Hill... Wow, I haven't had their Stout in awhile and it was quite decent. Nice roasty chocolate notes with a medium hoppy finish. Nice! Including their Susquehanna Stout and ESB on cask. Lot's of good stuff on tap. What's this? $2 beers all day? Uh oh! Back to the Harrisburg ABC after what seems like a woefully long absense. Hopefully I'll get back here more now that I work just down the street from here. The party outside wasn't quite ready yet, so we ducked inside first.

When did you have Masala Mama? Or are you just counting forward until July? Surly Darkness has crept up in there too now. We need to get a friend in the Twin Cities to ship us one of those 30 growlers they release every year.

Tonight's fun. 1-2-3....Chug! ...that's right, Kim's probably drinking it. But what's this? A second beer in the form of a Smuttynose Hanami Ale? A beer that tastes of sour cherries can only mean one thing... First up, with the weather getting warmer, it's about time for the Dogfish Head Aprihop to make a return appearence.

^ There's nothing wrong with it. It's an unfiltered wheat beer. There's supposed to be sediment (ie. yeast) floating around in it. Drink up. It's good for you!

Some random stuff from this past weekend. We leave Selin's Grove as usual in a state of beer nirvana. But not before another Phoenix Kriek before we hit the road. Until next time... We soon overcome our amazement and get into something equally awesome. The S.N.A.F.U. IPA. Wow, a hoppy West Coast IPA that tastes like something from Pizza Port. We might be in beer heaven! Derek asks "Have I died and gone to beer heaven?" A local actually brought a bottle fresh from last weekends big release at Three Floyds and shared it with us. We have to be honest. It lived up to the hype for the most part. Dark Lord? At Selin's Grove? WTF?!!! OK. Now for the mother of all scores! What could we possibly have in these sample glasses that would put such smiles on our faces? I go for the very tasty Razzy Porter. Not quite the Naked Fish but still very good in it's own raspberry way. But what's this? Lots of other new stuff on tap as well? Derek asks "Why wasn't this on last week after Knoebels?" Kim's actually going to kick this one off! With some newly tapped Phoenix Kriek. Lots of cherries and tartness to this one. It was fantastic! Of course you have! Back to Selin's Grove Brewing of course. Follow Derek. He knows the way! Getting closer. Have you figured it out yet? On Saturday, having gone up to Harrisburg to see Spiderman 3 on the IMAX, we just decided to drive another hour north. But to where? Wow, very grapey and at 10% with a nice drinkability, it quickly went all Armageddon on our a$$es! We finished up with something new from the Lost Abbey, the Belgian inspired branch of Port Brewing. Judgment Day! A Belgian Strong Ale brewed with raisins. They didn't last long. *Burp!* Next up we just decided to take on the whole line of Terrapin beers. To celebrate their 10th anniversary throughout the year they are releasing a limited number of cases of different styles that they experimented with before the brewery became big. First up Friday night saw Derek & I get into something new from Troegs. Scatch Beer #1, which is a California Common Beer.

Yeah, it was a pretty lackluster season but at least it wasn't as bad as the Family Edition. The challenges just weren't nearly as hard as they should have been considering that the supposed "best of best" teams were involved. The second to last challenge involving the kayaks was physcially probably the hardest thing they had to do the whole race. I'm not too disappointed that Eric & Dani won. They deserved to win it just as much as any other team considering that they had to overcome constantly playing from behind because of bad flights and getting yielded twice.

Probably the finest Triple IPA have had yet! Very hoppy but still nicely balanced to help keep the extreme bitterness & alcohol in check. The Founder's Devil Dancer. Their palatte bomb of a Triple IPA.

Kind of a late start tonight for our regular 5 beer Friday, cuz of a little dinner meetup with some famous friends. We'll call tonight's update "Respect Thy Elder". Wow, that went way too quickly. Oh well, until next Friday.... Even after emptying the growler, I try to savor every last drop as Derek looks on in envy. Even with it going a little flat after sitting for 2 days, it was still the bomb-diggity! Tons of juicy hops, pine, and citrus make this a most excellent IPA explosion. Fresh from our Wednesday excursion to Capone's, it's a growler of Russian River Pliney the Elder. The #1 rated Double IPA in the world!!!

Well originally thanks to our impromtu trip to Capone's on Wednesday night, we were going to skip this month's DuClaw release. At the last second, we decided to hit the Thursday night release anyway, cuz with my new job next week comes later stop times and who knows how many I'll be able to make it to in the future. Kim says "The real mystery is why we're coming back here allready again on Saturday?" No big shocker as to what's on the free pint glass this time around. It's pretty darn good! We think we've unraveled this mystery but we'll wait to unveil it until after Derek has tried it this weekend. Hmm, yep definitley a lager...nice and sweet and malty...touch of cherries... Allright, time to unlock this mystery... ...Beer Fest! ...showing footage from everyone's favorite beer related movie... The release video was pretty cool... ...it's time for some Mayhem! Of course with next month being May can only mean one thing... ...and just some random cool beer trivia. ...six degrees of Enigma... ...the Riddler... ...riddles... Trivia time! Of course there was trivia on famous mystery writers... Kim says "Excellent!" Naked Fish of course! They still have it on draft. I went for my old standby, the very spicey jambalaya. Hmmm, what tasty beverage should I help put the fire out with? Kim, as always, enjoys their tasty food. Oh, by the way, guess what's in it? Venom on course! Heh, check it out. They finally made a clear Pint Club glass so that your server can actually see when your out of beer. What a concept! Or rather an Enigma. DuClaw won't say what sytle it is, other than a lager, so I guess we'll have to riddle come release time. No mystery why we're back at DuClaw again this month is there? Ah but there is a mystery to be found...

Time to break out a special beer tonight. Heck anything from the #1 brewery in the world has to be special right? ...cuz their right. It is some pretty awesome sh*t! I love the back of the bottle... The Alesmith IPA. Just freaking fantastic with a near perfect blend of malt & hops. Just like the Pizza Port Wipout IPA, it truelly is San Diego in a bottle.

Tonight, the latest from HE-BREW. The Origin Pomegranate Ale. Essentially a toned down version of their much better Genesis 10:10. Pretty sweet with some bittering hops at the end with just a touch of pomegranate. Just not enough to make it interesting though.