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What Was the Last Beer You Drank?


robbalvey

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Alright, so this night was epic. Seriously. First of all, I took my mom out to dinner at Faultline in Sunnyvale, CA. It's sort of an upscale eatery with a nice bar and brewery geared towards the tech company employees. The bar was hopping, but we ate dinner in the restaurant.

 

I really wish I had felt comfortable enough to take pictures of the bar, but when we walked through there to check it out, I would have felt nerdy whipping out my digicam and taking photos.

 

Anyway, I took some closeups of the two pints I tried. But before I tried those pints, I had a sample of their Kolsch for $1, it was too small. Their Kolsch was VERY good. It reminded me almost exactly of the Kolsch I tried in Germany along the Rhine River. The best Kolsch I have had yet since Germany. Since I wanted to try more beers though, without spending a fortune, I next ordered a pint of Pale Ale along with our Appetizer, the stuffed mushrooms.

 

I ordered the Gumbo for my main dinner, and my mom ordered the vegetarian risoto. I didn't take pictures of my Gumbo, but it was very good, and included andouille sausage, shrimp, scallops, cod, tuna, and salmon. Since the spicyness was starting to get to me, I decided to order their Stout next, the last of the beers I tried there.

 

They had a whopping 10 beers on tap all brewed on site.

 

And now, onto the pictures...

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Their stout was also very good. To be honest thought, it was hard to tell it apart from Guinness, but then again, I'm no expert! It was maybe a bit creamier than Guinness.

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The stuffed mushroom appetizer! These were awesome. We were originally going to get the Calamari but the waiter told us we should get these instead, a great choice!

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The pale ale, it was somewhere in between the Sam Adams Pale Ale and a typical American Pale Ale. It wasn't very bitter, but very good nonetheless.

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And to end the night... I had my first "top10" beer ever. Stone's Imperial Russian Stout is #9 according to BeerAdvocate.com, This beer was completely foreign to me upon the first sip. It was something I have never experienced before.

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Yeah, it's DEFINITELY worthy of the top 10 spot. The middle/end of this beer reminded me a little of a barley-wine style ale, but it was less intense and had a much better balance. Loved it, but Deschutes Black Butte Porter is still my favorite beer.

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The profile shot. ABV 10.8% A very well hidden alcohol content if you ask me. This is a more robust stout with a ton of character. Loved the look, aroma, and first taste.

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Thanks for the nice comments on my model, Bubba83. I have yet to post any pictures of my models on this site. I think I will do that tomorrow, as it's way late and I'm dead tired now. And, yeah, pick up that beer the next time you head to Trader Joe's. Really good stuff. Also, if they have it, try the Lambic. Frambois (rasberry) is my favorite. It's a Belgian import that tastes like rasberry soda. Very refreshing on a hot day. This advice goes to all the beer lovers here. It's definitely somethig different. Alas, they do not carry it at my local Trader Joe's

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^^Glad you enjoyed your first "top 10" beer. I've had all but 1 of BAs American Top 10 and really enjoyed them all. Found them all to be extremely complex with awesome flavors. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding Alesmith's Speedway Stout in California, though as far up as you are, it may be more difficult. And it should be a fun little trip for you to get up to Russian River at some point and enjoy the Plinys on tap, though if I were you I would wait until your palate likes IPAs. Try going for some IPAs like HopDevil if you can find it, as it's more balanced(usually BevMo has it) or even go with Stone IPA, Bear Republic Racer 5, or Ballast Point Big Eye. Those are some pretty good IPAs. Until then, keep on enjoying what you like but still challenging yourself with some stouts and such.

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I really wish I had felt comfortable enough to take pictures of the bar, but when we walked through there to check it out, I would have felt nerdy whipping out my digicam and taking photos.

 

You'll get over that fear real quick.

 

Last night I had a 8 Ball Stout. Quite tasty, very blueberryish....wait, I mean chocolately.

 

I also tried out Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. It's a beer with lemonade after taste. Really quite strange, although I could see sipping one down on a hot Chicago afternoon.

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^ Touche! It's because I don't get enough blueberries to strengthen the mind. Which leads to me leaving my camera in the car, at the house, forgetting to change the batteries.

 

And the mere fact that I'm a total tool.

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^^Glad you enjoyed your first "top 10" beer. I've had all but 1 of BAs American Top 10 and really enjoyed them all.

 

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.

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Yee Gads, he's got THREE hands!!!

Yeah, this is a new feature from the german beer association (gba). Some people need to much time for drinking and ordering new beer. That's the answer. (Currently still in the beta phase. But it works!)

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Another hot and humid May day in Pa (hey that rhymed!) but it was well worth it. After cutting the grass once again this week, I felt like taking a vacation for the weekend. But since that's out of the question, I instead settled for a little San Diego at home.

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Nothing awe-inspiring, but still a great nutbrown loaded with nuts, toffee, caramel, cocoa, and hops.

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Switching up the style but not the location is the Nut Brown Ale from Green Flash Brewing

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yup, as the bottle says "It's Pretty Awesome"

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and if you have no friends over, a bomber means two for you!

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Oh yeah, this is what San Diego is all about. Citrus, pine, and grassy hops all rolled into one fine drink, and none of the hops are too overpowering

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Up first, Alesmith's IPA, one of the finest IPAs out there

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So I was down in Irvine to see a show at the Improv, which happens to be right next to the Yardhouse. How could I resist 200 beers on tap?

 

I had a Hollywood Blonde Ale and a Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale.

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Me enjoying the Arrogant Bastard Ale

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This is just one side of one of the two beer islands they have!

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A few from last night. Not pictured is a Grolsch, Springboard (seasonal brew from New Belgium Brewery) and another Fat Tire.

 

Today is the BBQ, can't wait to grub! Its soooo damn hot...

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mmmm

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tasty, but not quite as good as the Sierra Nevada brew..

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Finished of the 6 pack of this

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Finished work at 7pm tonight so I dived straight into a Blackadder just to wet the whistle before I wolfed down the curry and some poppadoms. Now the main tasting of the evening was going to be the Thomas Hardy Ale at 11.7% which Mr Pete (Muttley) had already tasted and pictured in this very thread.

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OH WOW! I LOVE this stuff. Reminds me an awful lot of Port with that warm feeling in the back of the throat after taking a sip.

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Bottoms up!

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Yes only a small amount but at this ABV you wouldn't want to start knocking back pints of the stuff.

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Glass bottle, bottle glass!

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Originally tonight I was going to head to Union Jacks with some coworkers, but they must have been scared of good beers, so they opted out. Not wanting to drive home after a potentially awesome night with some tasty beers, I decided to just stay home and drink some good stuff I happened to have laying around.

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So thick and loaded with coffee and chocolate flavors with super high alcohol content, there's no wonder this stuff is the second fallen angel. Pure sinful greatness

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and to blow the rest of the night out of the water, Mephistopheles' Stout, weighing in at 16.03%ABV

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Super sweet with a spiceyness to it

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Next up, some Leffe Blonde, a Belgian ale

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With nice citrusy hop taste and some light malt sweetness, it's definitely a great summer brew

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Next up the new Troegs Scratch Ale #1, a California Common/steam beer

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^ 16% ABV? Jesus! How much did that thing cost you? =P

 

I took Derek's advice and found Bear Republic's Racer 5 IPA at a local liquor store. I didn't see it when I went to BevMo before.

 

Also of note... They had Bear Republic's Red Rocket Ale at the same liquor store. Have any of you tried it? Does it come highly recommended? (Who am I kidding, Derek and Heath have both had it on multiple occasions, I assume.)

 

Up to this point, I generally haven't liked IPAs, because they are too bitter for me, but I do think with time I will eventually grow to like them. The Racer 5 was the first one that I can say I would gladly buy again.

 

Onto the pictures...

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I've always liked the citrus flavor of the first taste of the IPAs that I've tried. The middle-end has always been the problem with the others, but this one eased into the bitterness that grew and grew as I swallowed. Really enjoyed it!

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ABV 7.0% The head retention was pretty crazy. I shot a couple pictures of the head sticking to my upper lip/nose, but they looked a little too much like, well you know, so I decided not to post them!

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^^ 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.

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Hmmmm. Perhaps next week's beer happening? We shall have to see.

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Great, one of the tours just let out. Now I can't move.

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We're looking forward to attending our first Harrisburg Brewers Fest as the previous 2 years got skipped because of coaster stuff.

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I try me a sample of this stuff called Nugget Nectar that they brew here. I hear it's pretty good stuff!

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Surprisingly, they still have a bunch of cases of Scratch #1 left.

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Oh but we're not done yet. Not when we have Troegs just down the street.

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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!

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Shot of some of nicely decorated vehicles that would soon be used in the upcoming "Outhouse Races".

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We left just as the Keg Olympics were getting underway.

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They had a band playing for entertainment.

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So of course I had to get a Mountain Lager to go with my second pile of barbecue.

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The $2 beers they were pouring outside were naturally quite popular.

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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

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It was quite delicious too!

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Just look at that meat pile. Mmmmm.

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...everyone's favorite. Pulled pork. Right off the spit! Yes!

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...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...

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Wow, nice big tent for everyone to gather under....

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One more to take outside. The Anniversary Maibock. Wow, very nice for the style and seemed much better than last years.

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Check out the little mementos they were giving out. Engraved pieces of the original fermenter from back when the place first opened. Nice touch!

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Did I mention that all the beers were only $2?

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Kim goes for her favorite beer here. The Root Beer of course!

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Next up, I have to show my respect to my favorite of their staple beers, the Watergap Wheat. Just a really solid wheat beer.

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...and the addition of a couple of guest taps, including Legacy Hedonism and Hoegarden. See Tom, now you have a reason to visit! ;P

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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...

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Wow, I haven't had their Stout in awhile and it was quite decent. Nice roasty chocolate notes with a medium hoppy finish. Nice!

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Including their Susquehanna Stout and ESB on cask.

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Lot's of good stuff on tap.

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What's this? $2 beers all day? Uh oh!

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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.

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Today is Nicole and my 1 year anniversary of dating. Since we couldn't be together today, we figured we'd do something the other person would like. So, while she's off riding roller coasters at Darien Lake, I'm sitting at home drinking some fruity beers that she'd really enjoy.

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Happy Anniversary!

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Next up, one of Nicole's favorite beers that I told her to try back before I ever heard anything about it, the Ellicottville Brewing Blue Berry Wheat

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Sweet from the honey and nice raspberry flavor that Nicole would definitely enjoy

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First up, the Honey Raspberry Ale from Spanish Peaks Brewing

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Mmmmm............Water Gap Wheat.

 

 

 

 

So, anyway, today we took a nice little fishing trip for Mother's Day at a place called Rock Creek. You have to drive over the Mt Hood pass to get there from Portland so on the way home we stopped at Timberline Lodge. and it just so happens that the only beer they serve at Timberline of from a local micro brewery located on the pass called Mt. Hood Brewery. They actually brew some very good beers that are hard to get outside of Oregon. The Cloud Cap Amber Ale is my favorite so I just got two of those and called it good since I still had an hour drive home.

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This gives Widmer Drop Top Amber some serious competition for my favorite amber. Totally smokes Fat Tire (hey Matt).

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Thanks for the recommendation Heath. Looks like ABC Harrisburg was fun... Happy 1st Anniversary Derek and Nicole, though I think Nicole got the better end of the tradeoff deal with Superman: Ride of Steel.

 

For Mother's Day my Uncle brought over a beer he bought at Trader Joe's earlier today. Surprise surprise scooterdoug, it was a 2006 Vintage Ale, exactly like you had just a few days ago!

 

This was another very different experience for me. It tasted a little bit like the finish of the Stone Imperial Russian Stout, but it wasn't as sophisticated. It had that sort of sweetness the whole way through, but not nearly as sweet as Anchor's Barley-Wine Style Ale. It was very carbonated, almost as high carbonation as soda. The head is big at first but has little retention. The mouth feel is a little weird because of all the bubbles, and you can't drink it very fast because of this either. Overall my uncle and I agreed that we liked it quite a bit!

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ABV 9.0% Comes in a rather large 25.4oz bottle with a champagne style cork.

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^Actually, ROS really sucked yesterday! I had a better time on the Vekoma SLC!

 

^ 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.

 

Just make sure you have the video camera.

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