What Was the Last Beer You Drank?

[Bubba83]

Last night I finished some work on a bunch of projects and then tried another beer from North Coast Brewing Company in Fort Bragg.

 

I followed it up by a nice Racer 5 IPA which I didn't get pictures of.

I am ushering in a new generation of odd facial expressions here! It was delicious. I liked it better than Ol' Foghorn, but Ol' Foghorn is good too.

Old Stock Ale. 11.7% ABV. It's an Old Ale, whatever that means... Tastes like a Barley-Wine to me.

[DerekRx]

Here's the list, not updated since 2006 though.

Top 50 Places to Have a Beer in America

 

Tonight just chilling at home with some local good stuff.

Very tart and different tasting, but with a lower ABV it's definitely quite drinkable, great after mowing

A new summer favorite, Dogfish Head's Festina Peche

This will definitely be on tap when I establish the bar downstairs

First up, my local staple, HopDevil

[Bubba83]

^ Thanks for the link Derek. I see Toronado is #4 on the list. Have you ever been there? Next time I am in the city with friends hopefully we'll stop by.

 

Last night I had more projects to work on, and when I finally finished, I had a treat waiting for me in the fridge. An import from Germany this time...

They take green malts and dry them over an open fire of beech wood. It tastes like a campfire basically, with some nice Marzen flavors underneath as you swirl it around. Very impressive, going to try their other two soon.

From Brauerei Heller-Trum in Bamberg, Germany, I present to you the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen. ABV 5.4% It's a Rauchbier, literally translated, Smokebeer.

[ParkTrips]

Hooray for Brick Store Pub on the list! At least Georgia has one place to be proud of.. I've heard its amazing as far as their Belgian Bar goes, and I'm awaiting a reason to be in that area...

[Rugged One]

Another tasty summer brew tonight. This one courtesy of Anchor.

You go Anchor! They haven't let me down yet.

The Anchor Summer Beer. Nice light, crisp maltiness with hints of lemon and faint hoppiness + low abv make this a first rate summer sipper.

[DerekRx]

With Nicole busy with her friend, I decided to make today IPA Tuesday. Nothing but the finest IPAs from across the land all mixing and mingling in my stomach and liver. What could be better?!

and he still rocked the house, a perfect ending to IPA Tuesday

Stone's Ruination was a little late for the party, but we'll blame that on the fact he had to come from California

Another outstanding IPA, very sessionable at 6%

90's brother, 60 Minute IPA wasn't but 30 minutes behind

Not as sweet as other doubles, this one still retains a good portion of the pine and citrus hoppiness I like considering its 9% abv

First to the party, Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, a double IPA

[Ed]

Going ON from the beerfest

 

Here's what I had to drink tonight!

 

 

Slipped down the throat a treat. A lovely evening with FIRE!

 

[Rugged One]

Much like Derek & Nicole did, Kim and I wanted to get back up north to visit The Great Escape and La Ronde in Montreal. We had visited both parks last summer but due to crappy weather and some unfortunate breakdowns, we missed a few credits while we were up there.

 

While in the process of researching some beer themed extracuriculars I realized that the Vermont Brewer's Fest was going to be held soon in Burlington, VT. Since that seemed to be pretty central to the coastering areas that we wanted to hit and because we had never actually been to Vermont or tasted many Vermont brews and finally that the location just looked too cool to pass up (right on the banks of Lake Champlain) we decided to make a beer trip out of things too.

 

This BTR is going to be pretty epic, so I'm going to have to spread it out over a couple of nights.

 

Let the adventure begin!

Wow, what a fantastic time! Great beer. Great weather. A great location! We were very impressed by the Vermont Brewers Fest and look forward to coming back again next year. Whew! And to think that this was only the beginning of the trip!

There was just too much there to show everything. We finish up by heading back to the Alchemist for a double shot of Holy Cow IPA and some more Heady Topper. Have I died? Seriously?

And so did the weather! Have I mentioned the view yet?

The Vermont Brewer's Association manned the tent where you could buy merch, get drinks for DDs, and just learn about Vermont Beer in general. I was very impressed by the close knit passion that all the local breweries seemed to share. It reminded me a little of San Diego.

Their Granny Smith Cider did just the trick!

When in Vermont, you have to stop by and pay your respects to Woodchuck.

Nothing made Kim happier though than free Vermont cheese!

They had some decent food options. Pretty important during a 4 hour beer drinking session.

That didn't stop Kim from trying some of Shipyard's Summer Ale though.

We were kind of disappointed by the presence of both Shipyard & Sam Adams. Neither one really put together much of a presentation.

Have I mentioned the view yet? It sure beats dirty ass 3rd St. in Harrisburg during the last one of these we attended.

Dogfish was one of the few non-New England breweries that got invited. Of course I only found out after the fact that they had celebrated this feat by bringing along Randall the Enamel Animal.

One of the things we really liked about this fest was the amount of room. Things were really spread out and you never felt crowded. Sure it was mostly uncovered but at least on this day, it didn't matter.

Well we'll call it "The Bruce Lee Sour Pucker Crane Kick to the Balls" cuz OMG was this thing sour! Kim of course loved it.

It was curiously endorsed by Bruce Lee himself.

Three Needs, a brewpub local to here in Burlington was pouring just one beer. A sour lambic.

Kim tries their Summer Ale called, appropriatley enough, Sunny and 75.

Speaking of that, another local favorite that was slightly popular with festivalgoers. Rock Art Brewery of Morrisville, VT.

Check out that view of the Lake! I can't imagine a more beautiful site for a Beerfest. The weather was perfect too. 78 and sunny.

I try their cask offering. The Rainbow Red Ale.

Trout River Brewing brought along a whopping 15 beers!

Their Mud Puddle Maple Porter was really unique.

Just too many breweries here, so I'll just show a few. Like one of the smaller brewpubs there. The Bobcat Cafe in Bristol, VT.

With Derek not around, Kim was going to have to be my drinking buddy. She was more than up to the task!

They even had their own Merch Wagon out. A lot of the breweries here were selling their wares. Heath really had to control himself.

Hometown favorite Magic Hat was in full force. It turned out that the brewery was just down the street from our hotel. We'll definitley have to pay a visit next time. Just too much to do on this trip.

The Heady Topper. The #7 ranked Double IPA in the world. And probably the rarest to get too. Packing in at 8% ABV and a tastebud crushing 120 IBUs, it was flat out awesome.

I like these guys allready.

Uh, someone's a Hop Head!

First stop of the day and one of the reasons for coming the whole way up here. The Alchemist.

Pretty nice looking taster! It made the one we got at the Harrisburg Brewfest look like a little turd.

Oh wow. There's a little bit of a wait to get in. Actually it wasn't that bad. Because we pre-paid on the tickets, our line moved pretty quickly.

Wow, now I know we're in Vermont. You have to hike just to get down to the damn thing!

Our Brewfest is somewhere down there.

Mmmmm. We better get our tummy's full in preperation for what's next.

Icecream! And lots of it! Oh yeah!

The official factory tour and all the fun stuff is in nearby Waterbury but they stiill have some of the best stuff right here.

...Ben & Jerry's of course! Now as many of you may know, Ben & Jerry opened their first scoop shop here in Burlington back in 1978. Now this isn't it (it's since long gone) but this place is the official scoop shop of the brands original hometown.

First stop after parking was Church St, a pedestrian only street in the downtown area that's home to a bunch of shops and restaurants. Including...

Welcome to Vermont! Home of Birkenstocks, Ben & Jerry's, cheese, and Craft Beer!

That sea of tents is what we are after though.

Coming up on Burlington.

Awwww. Aren't we cute?

I can't believe how beautiful Lake Champlain is. No sign of Champ though.

Steaming away from shore.

They even had a snackbar and giftshop on board.

The loading process was pretty easy.

Pretty soon the ferry arrives and it's time to load up.

Perfect weather for a ferry crossing.

I guess the ferries are a pretty popular mode of getting over to the Brewfest.

After leaving around 12:30 am and a pretty brisk 8 hour drive, we arrive at Port Kent, NY. A little early for our 9:15 am ferry ride.

[mcjaco]

^ Awesome Heath! The wife and I, along with a few friends, are htting up a beerfest in Racine coming this September. I can't wait.

 

Which reminds me, that I have about a weeks worth of beer photos I need to get posted....

[Bubba83]

^ Nice start on the Photo TR Heath. I haven't tried anything from any of those companies before, except Sam Adams of course =P

 

Last night I had my first taste of a brewery I've been meaning to try for a long time...

This is probably the hoppiest Imperial Stout I've had yet. A quick shot of piney hops hits you, and then transitions into the raisin/chocolate flavors. At the end you get the alcohol rum flavors. Very nice.

Drake's Imperial Stout. 8.75% ABV. Drake's is located in San Leandro. I love the smell, it's like rum/raisin/chocolate. A pint a day keeps scurvy away!

[PhishyBrewer]

Got the last of the Spykes production this morning and mixed the Hot Chocolate Spykes with a Stone 10th IPA. Let's just say I was pretty messed up and slept like baby.

[Rugged One]

^ Awesome Heath! The wife and I, along with a few friends, are htting up a beerfest in Racine coming this September. I can't wait.

 

We expect to see those pics then Matt. Make sure you drink plenty from New Glarus and Tyranena.

 

Keep those pics of Nor Cal beers coming Bubba!

 

The adventure continues...

We really enjoyed our time spent in Vermont. Just a beautiful laid back area that happens to have a booming craft beer scene! I think Kim and I found a new favorite place to visit. And this one is in driving distance. Until next time, when we take this act north of the border....

What can I say? The Alchemist completely kicked ass! Definitely one of the top brewpubs we've been too. We were next going to head up the road into nearby Stowe and hit another brewpub but beer and lack of sleep starting catching up. That's allright, we have some save some stuff for next time!

Naturally, I couldn't leave without a full shot of the Heady Topper, which completely surprised me by still being on tap! Ah, do I have to leave?

Cooked in the brewpubs own Light Weight Ale, they were great!

We wanted to check out the food and it was all pretty good! Naturally, we had to go for the mussels.

Born on 7/7/07 and weighing in at 7.77% ABV/77.7 IBU, it definitely made me feel like heading for the heavens. Fantastic stuff!

I'm a firm believer that you can never have too much of good thing. So naturally I drank stuff that I had allready had at the Fest. Including their latest release, The Rapture IPA.

Ah, time for the beers! The owner and brewer, John Kimmich, is a complete Hop Head and it shows. He constantly has all kinds of crazy hopped up beers on at all times (as witnessed by the Brewfest selections).

This place was fairly small although not Selin's Grove small. It mainly consisted of a pretty decent sized bar and then a medium sized dining area behind it. Add a pool table and some bathrooms and that about it.

Seriously? You didn't think that we could have all of those tasty beers at the Brewfest and not seek this place out right?

Home to the #24 best place to have a beer in America. The Alchemist Pub & Brewery.

Next stop. A short 30 minute drive down the road to Waterbury, VT.

Look at this! Coffee on the honor system. I love this state!

But our day isn't over quite yet. Time to hit the road! I have to make mention of the absolutely fantastic Vermont rest stops.

I told you that the VPB was close. I took this picture right in front of the Burlington Hearth. Don't you just love it when brewpubs get along?

We'll finish our visit here with a shot of one of the hearths in the corner. I don't know if they were actually using this to cook anything but it sure looked nice!

I asked the bartender what he preferred and he recommended the Kolsh Style Ale. I must say, it did got down good. Even though I was allready plenty beer bloated at this point!

..a sample of their Extra Import Stout. Just for the record, the sample was given to me. I did not ask for it.

I gotta mention the three hand pumps as well. From whence I tried...

They also had a bunch of quality local guest beers on tap as well. The Zero Gravity beers are the ones with varoius tools for taps. Interesting...

... lots of tasty beer on tap!

It a basic law of science folks. Nice shiney brew equipment = ...

In complete contrast to the VPB, this place was completely deserted (although it did start filling up as we were leaving).

Gotta love the front door. It was funny, a guy was taking this same picture, just as we were walking out to leave the place and completely ruined his shot. Amateur!

American Flatbread Burlington Hearth. Specializing in yummy woodfired pizzas and their own line of hand crafted brew: Zero Gravity Brewing.

Literally down the street from the VPB is our next brewpub.

On the way to our next stop...remember the original Ben & Jerry's shop I told you about...well there it is! OK, well at least a plaque commemorating where it used to be.

Last but not least, you gotta have growlers for the ride home. ;P

Shot of the brew kettles on the way down to the bathroom.

Followed up by the Handsome Micks's Smoked Stout and the Forbidden Fruit, a rather tasty raspberry flavored fruit ale.

Up first, the Burly Irish Ale and Bombay Grab IPA.

They actually had a pretty wide assortment of ways to order your beer. I opted to keep it simple with a 4-beer sampler.

Gotta love the moose antlers. These are actually a pretty common decoration around these parts from what we could see.

The place was pretty hopping with people pre-partying for the 2nd session of the Brewfest but we found a seat in the bar area pretty quickly.

First stop, the Vermont Pub & Brewery. The oldest brewpub in Vermont and third oldest on the East Coast.

After the Brewfest, it was time to head into downtown and check out some of the local brewpubs.

[DerekRx]

I'd love to get to the Alchemist, and the beerfest looks nice, but I bet it wouldn't be so great if the weather wasn't cooperative.

 

 

Anyway, July is almost over, it's July 25, Christmas is but 5 months away, and yet no reports of Christmas in July yet, what's up with that?! So, tonight, my contribution to Christmas in July, a beer I picked up fresh from the source on Kidtums' birthday-eve, Pizza Port's Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout! Been saving it for a night just like this.

Another excellent Imperial Stout to end tonight, and sadly it looks like another Christmas in July goes to waste, darn this weather!

Not to sway from the style tonight, Storm King Imperial Stout would follow

Yup, a very tastey Imperial Stout, extremely flavorful. And it hides its alcoholic 9.5% very well.

Good thing this bomber is all mine! Time for round 2

very bitter with the dark chocolate and coffee flavors at the beginning, but it's also got some sweetness from cherries and molasses in there as well

Santa's Little Helper, Pizza Port/Port Brewing's answer to the Imperial Stout

[Rugged One]

Oh we couldn't forget Christmas in July now could we....

Of course I couldn't leave without some of the regular Mad Elf. It's tough to say which one I liked more. They're both great and we'll just leave it at that. Merry Christmas in July everyone!

They even were serving these in the appropriate glass! *I should have taken one home. *

Once the clock struck 6 pm it was time for a new to me beer. The Naked Elf! Released during the summer, Troegs strips out the cherries from their popular Mad Elf Holiday Ale leaving behind a pretty heavy taste of honey and spices.

The Elf Kegs didn't get tapped until a little later but they had a couple of other offerings from Troegs that I could have with dinner. I went with an always refreshing Sunshine Pils.

Although looking out the windown into the actual hotel, kind of takes you out of it.

Another shot of some of the themeing in the dining area we were in.

Random shot of the bar from where we were sitting. I guess it's supposed to be of old world style.

They actually did a pretty good job of decorating the place with lights and stockngs and such. They staff all even wore Troegs shirts and Santa hats.

Cuz it's Christmas in July of course! And this happens to be the official Troegs sponsored event in the area.

Awww. They even how the little red telephone box out front. How cute. So what would be doing here on a random Wednesday night at some psuedo pub that usually sells the same old macro and imported stuff?

The Elephant & Castle, one of a chain of pub themed restaurants. This one is located in the New Cumberland Holiday Inn, conveniently right on way home from work.

[PhishyBrewer]

Aww... I miss Burlington SO MUCH!!! Did they happen to have Baseball Beer of draft while you were there Heath? Three Needs is a hell of a place to hang out with the local folks. Most my time in Vermont was either there, at a Phish show or and Ri Ra drinking whiskey. Good times!!!

 

[PhishyBrewer]

Yes... I am ashamed.

[Rugged One]

^ I think your thinking of the Grandslam Beer Wally. Unfortunately, they didn't have it on tap. Was it pretty good? We skipped 3 Needs on this trip but we'll check it out on the next one. We really loved Burlington. Just a great town with lots to do and it's very easy to get around to everything.

 

It doesn't surprise me at all that you've spent some time there.

 

So what's up with the Spykes? Did you get a good closeout deal on them? Aren't these the one's that were discontinued so as not to corrupt the youth of America?::

[PhishyBrewer]

Spykes.... well, they had crap load of it left over after they discontinued it. So they gave everyone a case of them and we all split up the flavors. There not bad. 12% ABV. It's made from malt so it doesn't have that stinging alcohol burn to them.

 

Grand Slam Beer... MY FAVORITE BEER in all of Vermont. Why? You'll think I'm crazy, but... it's like they took an ESB and added Neastea mix to it. Sounds nasty? It was SO GOOD!!! And VERY refreshing!!!

[mcjaco]

Oh man, Pizza Port.....I was just thinking of Knight Rider the other night. So tasty......

[Bubba83]

Why does it always seem like I fill the last post on the page... Feels like some people might be missing my posts sometimes.

 

Anyone ever been to Toronado in San Francisco? Noticed it's #4 on the list.

 

Have you guys seen the website for Flying Dog's open source beer project? They're giving homebrewers the exact recipe for a beer they are going to be bottling soon, the "Collaborator" doppelbock.

 

http://www.opensourcebeerproject.com

 

Last night I tried one I wasn't really sure about...

Crisp and refreshing, with some real flavor too. Best Kolsch I've had from a bottle. Do they bottle Victory's Kolsch? I hear that's good.

Followed it up with a Tire Bite Kolsch from Flying Dog. 5.12% ABV.

I was really underwhelmed. It might just be because I love IPAs so much now, but it just wasn't that good, don't know how else to put it.

Lost Coast's Pale Ale. 5.2% ABV. They used Pacific Northwest hops in this one.

[Rugged One]

Day 2 took us from Burlington up into the mysterious land of Quebec, where OMG, they speak a language besides English! Actually, we had a great time here. A lot of the French-Canadians are bi-lingual and although some aren't, most at least know a little. And everybody we met was very friendly and courteous for the most part. We must highly praise the public transportation here. It's very fast and efficient and a cinch to use. If anybody out there has any reservations about visiting, don't. It's a great place to check out. Kim and I allready plan on coming back soon.

 

The last time we visited La Ronde last summer, it was rainy and cold the entire day. Although we got to ride some of the big guns like Vampire and Goliath, heavy rain eventually shut most of the rides down and we ran back to the border with our tails between our legs and short a few missed credits.

 

So now we're back! Ready to retackle not only La Ronde but Montreal itself. Let's find out what happened...

And so ends our day in Montreal and we couldn't be happier. Fantastic coaster riding at La Ronde, fantastic brewpubs, and a fantastic time in a really great city. Très magnificant! Au revoir Montreal. We'll be back soon.

Time for some more rides on Goliath. Once again with no lines. We liked this even more by the end of the day. Not the biggest or the best from B&M but a quality coaster that fits in pretty well with park.

We even got our ride on the kiddie coaster, Marche du Mille-pattes. Score!

I think that this is definitley our favorite ride in the park. The shorter train gives a balls out intense ride and the mist trench at the end is the sh*t.

Heh, now it has 2 trains and no wait. Ta-dah!

Earlier in the day, La Vampire was only running one train with a huge wait.

Back to La Ronde for what will hopefully be some more quality coaster rides.

Thankfully, it looks like the French Canadians are at least excited about the return of Jason Bourne.

We kept joking about this movie during our travels through Montreal, as they were hyping it everywhere as their big summer movie. Nitro! It looks like the Fast & Furiosu Part IV.

These brewpubs have been a great time and we can't wait to get back in the future for a good old fashioned pub crawl. In the meantime though, we have some more coaster riding to do. Back to the Metro!

I finish up with not so awesomely named Imperial Stout. It was pretty tasty and at only 7.5%, went down very smooth.

Yep, pizza and nachos are just about the same everywhere.

It's nice to see that pub grub doesn't change north of the border. It's just in another language.

I went for the awesomely named Montreal Hell! A nicely done Helles Bock.

We were told that they specialized more in German Style Lagers here and we found that to be true.

Allthough there was plenty of room at the bar, we opted to sit at a table.

Not too bad of a crowd on a Sunday night. They had plenty of seating on a couple of different levels, as well as out front.

And here's our next stop. L'Amère à Boire.

It's a skate boarding competition!

We arrive at St-Denis St. to find some kind of craziness going on.

Time for plan B! Luckily our buddy at Dieu Du Ciel had recommended some other brewpubs in Montreal and even drew us a map. Back to the Metro!

Our next visit was supposed to be just down the street. The Sergent Recruteur. A relatively new brewpub know for their homemade beer and pizzas. Sadly they were closed on Sundays.

A parting gift from our new friend. Even though they didn't have their top rated Imperial Stout, Peche Mortel, on tap, they still hooked me up with one of the bottle labels as a souvenir of our visit.

A shot of some of the brew equipment off to the right of the bar. Our bartender told us that just that week, they were set to start brewing at their new and bigger offsite brewery. Now they'll be able to brew their 3 biggest sellers there and free up room to brew more of the unique stuff here onsite.

This guy here was the real killer though. The Rigor Mortis Belgian Triple. It smelled and tasted of apples and weighed in at an undetectable 9% ABV. Very dangerous beer. You could get in trouble with this stuff real quick.

In the meantime, Kim checks out the Corpus Christi. A Rye Pale Ale that she really enjoyed.

New on tap was their Stout that they normally brew for Valentines Day. The Aphrodisiqaue. A Chocolate & Vanilla Stout that was big on both!

I start out with the Deesse Nocturne, their staple Stout. Loads of great chocolate notes in this one and very quaffable at only 5%.

I'm drooling just looking at this list again. All were fantastic. We tried everything except their Paienne (a Belgian Blonde that even our bartender said was only on for the light weights) and their Revenante (Smoked Beer) that they had sadly just run out of.

Naturally, that's where we headed. No problem at all with our bartenders, who spoke great English. On a side note, we were served most of the time by one of the assistant brewers, who was a hell of a nice guy and was really excited to chat us up about beer. He kept giving us samples of everything to the point that we insisted that he actually let us buy something!

The pics a little dark but it shows off the gist of the place. Small, low tables scattered everywhere and the bar towards the back.

After a walking a few blocks, we reach our goal. Dieu du Ciel: Brasserie artisanale. The top rated brewpub in Montreal and probably one of the tops in all of Canada.

This way to Laurier St. That's what we want.

Even though everything is in French, the Metro layout is very accessible and easy to use. We had no problems getting around at all.

We couldn't believe how convenient the whole operation was. We literally went from the park to being on the Metro in like 5 minutes!

...and a transfer ticket for the Metro.

$2.75 Canadian gets you a bus ride from right in front of the park...

Time for a break from the coasters. So being at La Ronde, you'd probably think that this was the closest that we got to where they make beer, right? Wrong!

Last year, we rode this in the cold and rain. This year. A little different story. We actually got some really good rides. Very nice air in the back. I think the final bunny hop before the breaks is the best part. Kind of like another Goliath down South. I think it's safe to say that our opinion of the ride was elevated on this trip.

After hearing Derek's horror story on the previous day's wait times, we were shocked to see that this was the line! We rode it 3 times in a half hour. 2 train operations rule!

After quick rides on Le Cobra, Super Menage, and Le Monstre, we headed over to the park's latest coaster, Goliath. By the way, that employee totally sums up the operations here.

Allright! Back at La Ronde. We haven't even steppped into the park yet and this visit is allready better. Check out that weather!

Bonjour! Welcome to Quebec!

[DerekRx]

Started off tonight with a new brew for me, the Flying Dog Woody Creek White before moving on to some typical brews.

I couldn't wear a hop head shirt and not drink something loaded with hops. DFH's 60 hits the spot

and finally, Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA

Yup, good stuff and easy to drink, great flavors for a lager

Because Wally actually graced us with his presence again, this Dortmunder is for you!

Pretty good stuff, very spicy and not very hotdog watery. Still think Dog Daze of Summer was a better name though

Newly released from Flying Dog, the Woody Creek White, a Belgian Wit style

[Rugged One]

^ You better believe it was Derek. I should totally be at the GABF this Fall! It's all good. That's what we'll call the Belgian Wit at our brewpub!

 

Nice! Something new in cans tonight.

Don't let the face fool you. I liked it! Brooklyn's a brewery I'm trying to try more of and this was another successful sampling. I hope sales are good for these new cans as I'd like to see them try with some other styles.

And a darn tasty one too. I think that this might be the first time I've ever had a Brooklyn Lager.

I will say one thing about going the canned route. It does produce one fresh tasting product.

Oooooh. Looky who's rock'n the canned six pack look now! Brooklyn Brewing itself.

[Bubba83]

Quebec looks cool. The people seem pretty awesome despite the bad reputation they might have here in the US of A.

 

I had another Spaten product last night.

How do they make this stuff! Yummy yummy in my tummy. I really want to try Racer X as soon as possible!

And to close the night, another bottle of Racer 5 IPA, ABV 7.0%. This stuff is just yummy.

Smells yeasty and a bit clovey, much like a typical Belgian beer would. The first impression comes off belgian like to me as well, but you get some really nice sweet flavors at the end. I liked it A LOT.

Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu's Hefe-Weisse Dunkel. From Munich, Germany. ABV 5.0% Very appealing looking in the glass, very smooth head!

[Bubba83]

It has been a while since I've tried a new product from Rogue. So that's exactly what I did last night!

 

Oh, I also finished one out of the money in a poker tournament on PokerStars, what a gross feeling! Oh well.

It smells, surprise surprise, nutty! I just love hazelnuts, so this was a real treat. You can definitely tell it's hazelnut, as opposed to other browns where you just get a general nuttyness. My favorite brown so far.

Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar. 6.2% ABV. Have I ever mentioned how much I like their labeling? My favorite labeling though is still the Sonoma Farmhouse labeling on the stuff from Lagunitas.