New Season, New Post

Seems fitting that I end this update with a Blue Moon seasonal brew, just like my last post back on September 24th. Lots of things have happened in the past couple months, most of which involve beer, but I'm too lazy to write about them, so here's a list.

9/25/2007 Sam Adams Octoberfest
9/26/2007 Deschutes Brewery Obsidian Stout
9/27/2007 Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA
9/28/2007 Pyramid Broken Rake Amber
9/29/2007 Buffalo Bill's Brewery Pumpkin Ale
9/30/2007 Okocim Palone
10/1/2007 Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company Harvest Moon Festbier
10/2/2007 Kona Brewing Company Pipeline Porter
10/3/2007 Browar Witnica Black Boss Porter
10/4/2007 Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre
10/5/2007 Oskar Blues Brewery Old Chub Scottish Style Ale
10/6/2007 Elysian Brewing Company Night Owl Pumpkin Ale
10/7/2007 Victory Storm King Imperial Stout
10/8/2007 Boulder Beer Company Cold Hop English Style Ale
10/9/2007 Mac & Jack's African Amber
10/10/2007 Boulder Beer Company Mojo IPA
10/11/2007 Diamond Knot Brewery Possession Porter
10/12/2007 Lucifer Golden Ale
10/13/2007 Alpine Oktoberfest
10/14/2007 North Coast Brewing Scrimshaw Pilsner
10/15/2007 Full Sail Vesuvius
10/16/2007 Full Sail Wassail Winter Ale
10/17/2007 Full Sail Son of Spot IPA
10/18/2007 Pyramid Snow Cap
10/19/2007 Lost Coast Double Trouble IPA
10/20/2007 Hale's O'Brien's Harvest Ale
10/21/2007 Shanhaiguan Bull Brewery Bull Brew
10/22/2007 Fish Tale Mudshark Porter
10/23/2007 Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter
10/24/2007 Anheuser-Busch Rolling Rock
10/25/2007 Eisenbahn Dourada Brazilian Golden Ale
10/26/2007 G. Menabrea e Figli Birra del 150 Anniversario Amber Beer
10/27/2007 Sierra Nevada Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
10/28/2007 Lagunitas Kill Ugly Radio
10/29/2007 Cosmos Brewery Chang
10/30/2007 Trumer Pils
10/31/2007 Miller High Life
11/1/2007 Victory Hop Wallop
11/2/2007 Morland Old Speckled Hen
11/3/2007 Big E Scotch Ale
11/4/2007 Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale
11/5/2007 Schlitz Old Milwaukee
11/6/2007 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
11/7/2007 Lagunitas Pils
11/8/2007 Sam Adams Winter Lager
11/9/2007 Deschutes Brewery Black Butte Porter
11/10/2007 Deschutes Brewery Twilight Seasonal Ale
11/11/2007 Menabrea Birra
11/12/2007 Marathon Lager
11/13/2007 Dick's Brewing Company Double Diamond Winter Ale
11/14/2007 Pacific Rim Brewery Pumpkin Patch Ale
11/15/2007 Rinkuskiai Uosto Extra
11/16/2007 Hamm's
11/17/2007 Dick's Brewing Company Cream Stout
11/18/2007 Deschutes Brewery Anniversary Golden Ale
11/19/2007 Rinkuskiai Baro Tradicinis
11/20/2007 Sierra Nevada Celebration
11/21/2007 Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company Steam Train Porter
11/22/2007 Deschutes Brewery Jubelale
11/23/2007 Dick's Brewing Company Lava Rock Porter
11/24/2007 Maritime Pacific Portage Bay Pilsener
11/25/2007 Rinkuskiai Birzieciu
11/26/2007 Deschutes Brewery Nitro Jubelale
11/27/2007 Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company Avalanche Winter Ale
11/28/2007 Olympia
11/29/2007 Bavik Wittekerke Rosé
11/30/2007 Scaldis Noel
12/1/2007 Dos Equis Amber Ale
12/2/2007 Carta Blanca
12/3/2007 Modelo Estrella
12/4/2007 Dos Equis Lager Especial
12/5/2007 Rogue Dead Guy
12/6/2007 Shiner Bock
12/7/2007 Red Hook Winter Hook
12/8/2007 Henry Weinhard's Blue Boar Ale
12/9/2007 Red Stripe
12/10/2007 New Belgium 2 Below Ale
12/11/2007 Maritime Pacific Jolly Roger Christmas Ale
12/12/2007 Henry Weinhard's Blonde Lager
12/13/2007 Elysian Brewing Company Bifrost Winter Ale
12/14/2007 Deschutes Brewery Mirror Pond Ale
12/15/2007 Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company Wild Cat IPA
12/16/2007 Pacific Rim Brewery Vashon Old Stock Ale
12/17/2007 Blue Moon Full Moon Winter Ale

Only 60 more to go!

updated to 477

So my list is updated, and I am officially not going for 2 a day. I am at 477, but by my count 2 a day would be 546, so unless I make a weekly trip to specialty beer stores in Portland and/or Seattle, there is no way I can catch up. But I think I can take down Bonds HR record if I keep going through next year's baseball season, so we will see. I also have 2 growlers of BJs Pumpkin Ale and Pizookie Blackout Chocolate Stout in the fridge, so should be able to hit 480 by tomorrow if I can find one more new beer tonight at the store.

Coolest bottle I have found so far was a Harbin Lager from China last week. The bottle was all green with green and red foil, covered with a very thin white bag and chinese lettering that you could barely see through like chinese paper. Pretty cool, and pretty f'in tasty to boot.

It's been so long

So as I predicted, Halo 3 came out and my available time went down a bunch. Combine that with Volleyball season starting early because I assisted with the college team in town, a loan promotion at work that brought in tons of work and kept me way to busy, and my computer hard drive taking a dive, and I haven't been on the blog in over a month. So I am now like everyone else keeping track on paper. I would love to get the list on here, and put each beer in to labels like before, but I am just not sure that is going to happen. The good news is that I am trying to catch back up to the 2 a day pace, and making some headway. I'm well over 430 and probably close to 450 by now. Cheers.

Who's this?

Can you believe it folks? I am posting....because I am on an extremley boring conference call right now and rather tha throw myself threw the conference room windows in a hopes to impale myself on a shard of glass, I decided to post.

I still have a list of all the beers i've been drinking, but i dont have it with me to post. I have been drinking though and find myself about 3 weeks behind. Sure that beers are harder to find now, but that is no excuse. I need to get off my ass and search. I've come to that point now where that one random beer that each restaurant has is not new anymore. I think you all know what Im saying.... remember 4 months ago you could always rely on one random beer at a new restaurant you tried...Whether is was Lagunitas IPA or Maritime Ale... it was there, alas, not anymore.

Here's to us, the remaining drinkers, tilt one up tonight, I will.

Pumpkin Beers Are Gross

Normally, I would not even consider drinking pumpkin beer. I've had a few here and there over the years and have yet to be impressed by one. However, 365 Beers forces us to try things we might not like, but can't pass up for ease of counting another unique beer. At Central Market in Seattle today, I counted 3 different pumpkin beers. One I had already tried last night (Thanks Marco!), so I picked up the other two and choked one of them down tonight. They all suck. There's no way around it; Pumpkin beer is simply gross. At least I only have one more to go...

On a more positive note, last Thursday was a special day for beer lovers. Georgetown Brewing (makers of Manny's, Roger's, and Chopper's, as well as the special May release of Bob's) released a new beer - Nine Pound Porter - at the namesake bar, the Nine Pound Hammer. The Nine Pound Hammer bar is located across the street from the brewery and is an after work favorite haunt of mine (text "9#?" to Dicko and he'll know where to go). They don't serve food other than peanuts, and bartender Megan always knows what I want when I walk in the door. Despite the short 2 day notice, the release party was an exceptional event, complete with several choppers parked out front on the sidewalk, a falafel truck, and most importantly, $2 pints of the new Georgetown brew. Manny and Roger were even on hand, which given their celebrity status is quite a feat.

9/11/2007 Diamond Knot Brewery Brown Ale
9/12/2007 Corona
9/13/2007 Victory Prima Pils
9/14/2007 Georgetown Brewing Chopper's Red Ale
9/15/2007 Anheuser-Busch Beach Bum Blonde Ale
9/16/2007 Ommegang Witte
9/17/2007 Piraat Ale
9/18/2007 Petrus Speciale Ale
9/19/2007 Baron Oktoberfest
9/20/2007 Georgetown Brewing Nine Pound Porter
9/21/2007 Theakston Old Peculiar
9/22/2007 Bear Republic Pale Ale
9/23/2007 Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
9/24/2007 Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale

post 366

Well, we've had 365 posts, and I've had 395 Beers in 220 days. So I have dropped off the 2 a day pace, but I am back on the train now and trying to gain some yardage back. And since I am going after Bond's record and his future is up in the air, I have some time to do some catching up.

A Lagunitas Imperial Red after a few dead guys and a LLC volleyball game Friday.
Singha Light and Tsing Tao Pure Draft last night with some thai food.
A becks while golfing which I've already had, but a Schneider Aventinus afterwords and a Heineken Dark today before the Hawks game. Next I will take a Stone Smoked Porter (#395)with me to my Dad's to watch the hawks game and some other free beer that is already checked off, do some grocery shopping, and watch Family Guy: Blue Harvest (the Star Wars episode) tonight.

Then tomorrow work and try not to think about Halo 3 too much, then Tuesday some Halo 3. All day.

Great Success

I was in Portland and finally filled my 3 growlers with beer at BJ's in Janzen Beach. And that prompted me to hit up Olympic Drug and clean them out, getting one of every beer they had that I haven't had (excluding the gross $8-12 beers they had) So my fridge is full and I am drinking again, or at least drinking new beers again since it had been a few weeks since I could find a new one in my fridge.

A few Australian brews, Coopers Sparkling Ale, Coopers Premium Lager, and Tooheys New, and a german favorite listed on Anhaueser Busch's site Grolsch.

Also this was post 365. And the crowd goes wild. Yippee.

drinking for charity

I know this is a beer blog, but for those of you that know me, you know I like giving time and money to various organizations. Combine that with drinking and you can pretty much just send me a ticket and bill me, and I will be there.

And now Absolut has joined the fun with a new flavor with the profits going to New Orleans. It says in the ad, mango with a spicy kick, so hopefully it is good. They are giving all the profits to chairty for the gulf region. It would be nice if they could do 100% of sales, or 50% of sales or something where you know how much is going to charity, but hey, something is better than nothing.

http://www2.absolut.com/neworleans

As for beer drinking, I think I might actually get to Olympic Drug, beer list in hand, to try and get a few new beers down my gullet.

It's still on...

Quit being such a fucking baby, Gus. You're not alone, I just hate blogging. So does Dicko, but we're still in this thing. In fact, I'm enjoying beer #207 as I type - Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale.

Here's the update since my last:

8/10/2007 - Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool
8/11/2007 - Fire Station 5 Brewing Co Golden Brigade Blonde
8/12/2007 - Fire Station 5 Brewing Co Fire Drill ESB
8/13/2007 - Fire Station 5 Brewing Co Fire Boat Amber
8/14/2007 - Fire Station 5 Brewing Co Steam Pumper IPA
8/15/2007 - Bruegel Amber Ale
8/16/2007 - Scuttlebutt Amber Ale
8/17/2007 - Fosters Lager
8/18/2007 - Stix Bodacious Belgian Blonde Ale
8/19/2007 - Green Valley Organic Wild Hop Lager
8/20/2007 - Baron Pils
8/21/2007 - Heineken Premium Light Lager
8/22/2007 - Beck's Premier Light
8/23/2007 - Big E Copper Ale
8/24/2007 - Bohemia
8/25/2007 - Kona Brewing Company Longboard Lager
8/26/2007 - Red Bach Rodenbach
8/27/2007 - Rainier
8/28/2007 - Boulder Beer Company Hazed & Infused Dry Hopped Ale
8/29/2007 - Augustijn Ale
8/30/2007 - Trader Joe's Bohemian Lager
8/31/2007 - Maritime Pacific Skull Creek Lager
9/1/2007 - Bornem Triple Abbey Ale
9/2/2007 - Corona Light
9/3/2007 - Widmer Drop Top Amber
9/4/2007 - Full Sail Pale Ale
9/5/2007 - Boundary Bay Scotch Ale
9/6/2007 - Pyramid Crystal Weizen
9/7/2007 - Stix IPA
9/8/2007 - Skookum Dark & Hairy Porter
9/9/2007 - Birra Moretti
9/10/2007 - Kona Brewing Company Fire Rock Pale Ale

damn

Well...no one posts, people aren't keeping track any more, and it looks like this is turning into another good idea that will fall apart. I haven't been to Portland still to get a bunch new beers, I have had almost everything in town unless I want to start buying 12 packs of shit beer for 4 bucks, so I am losing interest as well. I was near a brewery over the holiday weekend, but no one wanted to go in, so I have to wait until we go up to Booth's cabin later in the year I guess. I'm having another Labatt's Blue from my 12 pack, but that's my first new beer besides the Singha I had at a Thai restaurant near Booth's cabin. They have this at Hart-Cs too, so I guess I will have another one soon. But I am close to falling behind the 2 a day pace and look like I will just be keeping track for the sake of trying new beers forever rather than double 365. At least I hit 365 instead of wussing out...

Golfing and drinking, again

only 3 more posts after this one and we hit 365.

I had a nice fat 22oz Tiger on Saturday after golf. Or maybe it was Friday or Sunday after golf? I golfed so much this weekend I don't really remember. I also had a 22oz of Lagunitas Maximus, and in true form, Lagunitas again sets the bar against which other CA beers should be measured. They make some good shit. Other than that were a handful of other same beer different day beers like Bud, Coors Light, Miller Light, etc. plus some very good Skinny Dip on tap up at the Country Club. That course is hard (4 putts suck balls, seriously) but it makes the Skinny Dip all the more enjoyable afterwards.

It was a blur

This weekend was a blur of a golf tournament Friday (no new beers), a wedding reception Saturday (no new beers, wait I hadn't had Kokanee yet, so check that off), and no beers Sunday after a hangover. Or Monday for that matter.

But Saturday it was a lot of f'in beers in Cle Elem. Seriously, we had a ride to fellow bloger Gina's reception and back to the hotel, and free beers. So after some wine while getting ready, a few Kokanees on the way into the woods for the reception, a drink and some coronas before the wedding, then back in line for a few more coronas, then inside for some dinner and some more wine, then upstairs for some more coronas, another crazy good cucumber filled drink (I know, but it was good), then some coronas and some dancing (yes, it only takes a half rack and a bottle of wine to get me on the dance floor these days). Holy crap it was nice of the hotel to let us have a late check out since we hit up some local dennys type place (maybe it was Denny's, who knows, All I know is the food was good, I ate a lot of it, and I left a big tip cause she deserved it) at 2 something in the morning.

So a very good night, and a very looooonggg drive home.

Tuesday was softball and more same beers, but a nice Sierra Nevada Summerfest and some advil after having 2 comebacks in a row cut short in the last inning. And then tonight, finally nothing planned and I got the swing and planters out front painted to match the deck I did last week. And I treated myself to a couple each of some Redhook Sunrye and Michelob Bavarian Wheat.

Spaten

last few days, a few Spaten Beers. The Premium, the Optimator, and the Pils. All very good.

A Half Million Dollar Beer

Somehow I don't think my 365 budget is big enough to be able to fit this one in - http://cgi.ebay.com/Museum-Quality-ALLSOPPs-ARCTIC-ALE-1852-SEALED-FULL_W0QQitemZ260145824374QQihZ016QQcategoryZ1351QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

German Beers=Good

I had most of the German beers in the fridge this weekend. They were all good, and one of them was really good. Unfortunately, now that the empty bottles are sitting on the counter, I can't remember which was the really good one. I think it was the Franziskaner Hefe-weisse, but it could have been the Schneider Weisse Hefe-weizen. I may just have to get them both again and find out. Also I had the Erdinger Hefe-weisen, the Paulaner Hefe-weizen, and the Paulaner Salvator Double Bock. The double bock was the only non-hefe, and it was pretty f'in good as well. Well done Olympic Drug.

369-758

Last night I said 69, and then a friend brought up "How would Three 69?" Good question. I'm not sure, but if anyone finds out, please let me know. And bring pictures.

The last few days were a vicious cycle of drinking out, which in Longview, is German for Kine Knicht Biers. But last night I managed to bring a couple to Booth's before going out. James Boag's Premium Lager (the best beer in Tasmania), and Warsteiner Premium Vernum, the first of the German beers I have chilling in the fridge. Both were very good and made me look foward to the rest of the 8 or so larger German imports calling my name. I also had the kona wailua wheat again at Porkys. That beer is good.

I've also decided that rather then go for double 365, I am going to break Bond's HR record. The fun part is that the more he hits, the more I get to drink. I think I am about 389 short as of his HR last night.

vs.

"In Celebration of Our 20-Day Suspension..."

Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

That's quite a mouthful. Here's the story according to Wikipedia:

"In 2005 the Sonoma County Brewery's license was suspended for 20 days when the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control witnessed marijuana consumption at one of the Brewery's parties. This suspension followed an eight-week undercover operation by the department when ABC officers attended Brewery open house events where they enjoyed the free music, free food, and inexpensive beers, offered by the Brewery to attendees. Sometimes even to the point of over indulgence and then being cut-off by the bar staff due to intoxication. Having done the 'crime', and completed their 'time', the Brewery exercised their first amendment rights and chose to commemorate this event by producing a special release of a now-popular strong ale called "The Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale". Its label includes a libertarian polemic satirizing the authorities and over zelous and selective enforcement."

Awesome.

Here's my latest list of beers consumed:


7/25/2007 - Big Time IPA
7/26/2007 - Sam Adams Boston Lager
7/27/2007 - Miller Chill
7/28/2007 - Grimbergen Double Ale
7/29/2007 - Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat Beer
7/30/2007 - Svyturys Ekstra Draught (from Lithuania)
7/31/2007 - Baron Helles-Bock
8/1/2007 - Brown Brothers ESB
8/2/2007 - Avery Brewing White Rascal Belgian-Style Wheat Ale
8/3/2007 - Lezajsk 1525 (Actually drank this one on 8/4. The 3rd was my birthday and I got really drunk and forgot to have a new beer. Or maybe I did and just don't remember what it was.)
8/4/2007 - Birra Moretti La Rossa
8/5/2007 - Bornem Double Abbey Ale
8/6/2007 - Diamond Knot Brewery Summer Blond
8/7/2007 - Brouwerij Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Ale
8/8/2007 - Warka High Quality Beer
8/9/2007 - Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

Nate's Beers 157 & 158

So, I'm finding that in my attempts to catch up I'm drinking a bunch of new different beers when I go out to the bars. The only problem with this is I end up getting smashed, forget the names of the beers and have to do it all over. It's a vicious cycle I tell you, vicious.
In other exciting news, I just got word that a promotion is heading my way and my job title will soon include the word "supervisor". I'm not sure how it happened either, but I am excited. I've only got about one more week of commuting....
So here's a couple of beers that I had at our local bar, the Goodfoote, Saturday night after watching the Simpson's movie (pretty funny I thought, if you like the Simpson's you should mos def check it out).
157. Pelican Pub & Brewery, Tsunami Stout (so delicious that I took the empty pint glass into the bathroom and made sweet, sweet love to it)
158. Terminal Gravity, ESG... I'm not sure what ESG stands for so I think I'll just make sumthin up like..... oh fuck it, nevermind

olympic drug trip

I had my Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout last night. It was f'in good, just like I remember. Tonight after a successful trip to Olympic drug, I just enjoyed a Lagunitas Sirius Cream Ale. Another special release, so another special label to share with you.

We brewed this special hi-gravity cream ale in serious celebration of the return of the salubrious spring... With the long dark days of the season of damp nearly behind us and the possibilities of the long and lazy summer ahead.

and a great saying on the side (that is going on the site).

Life is Uncertain. Don't Sip.

So I guess this beer is a couple months behind, but it was still good, so what can you do? Plus this was beer 365. I wish I could be more excited, but with approximately 1.5 posters still around these parts, the excitement is kind of over already. I didn't realize it til I was on 366, but to celebrate, I think I may have 367 also.

Now it's time to add all these crazy imported hefeweizens I found to my list, and have the Green Flash Nut Brown Ale I just opened. And number 367, the Big Sky IPA

and another one

Yesterday it was time for some house work and fixing up a little BBQ for some family that was in town. And yes, a few new beers. The New Belgium Mothership Wit was kind of like a belgian, but I actually liked it and had 3 of em. I also picked up a Sam Smith Nut Brown Ale since I realized that this and the oatmeal stout were not checked off yet although I am sure I have had them. Today I will have that and hopefully something fun after wiffleball playoffs in Portland tonight if I can get the deck painted in time...

Brewfest and Beyond (118-156)

As Gus mentioned in earlier posts, last weekend was the Oregon Brewer's Festival and it was outfuckinstanding! So many good beers, so little time. I remember going for one day last year and just being amazed at all the beers, so this time around I took Friday off and decided to make a weekend out of it. There were many drunken times throughout the weekend and I'm pretty sure I came away from the event with a sprained liver. Listed in no particular order are the beers I enjoyed from Friday to Sunday.

118. 21st Amendment Brewery, Watermelon Wheat (I waited in line for this because of the girls)
119. Amnesia Brewing, Dry Hopped Dusty Trail Pale Ale
120. Anderson Valley Brewing Co, Summer Solstive Cerveza Crema
121. Ballast Point Brewing Co, Yellowtail Pale Ale
122. Calapooia Brewing Co, Yankee Clipper IPA
123. Elysian Brewing Co, Prometheus IPA (great IPA)
124. Great Divide Brewing Co, Titan IPA
125. Green Flash Brewing Co, West Coast IPA
126. Kona Brewing Co, Wailua Wheat (delicious with a hint of passionfruit)
127. Laurelwood Brewing Co, PNW Pils (nice light pils that was super smooth)
128. Lompoc Brewing, Triple Threat IPA
129. Mad River Brewing Co, Steelhead Double IPA (first beer of the event, 8.6 abv, delish)
130. McMenamins Fulton Pub & Brewery, Monkey House IPA (just like anything McMenamin's, it was outstanding!)
131. Boulder Creek Brewing, Mojo IPA
132. Pelican Pub & Brewery, Heiferweizen
133. Ram Restaurant & Brewery, Double Exposure IPA (another good strong double IPA)
134. Boulder Creek Brewing, Hazed & Infused (replacement beer on day 3)
135. Snipes Mountain Brewery, IPA
136. Steelhead Brewing Co, Full Count Pale Ale
137. Stone Brewing Co, Stone 07/07/07 Vertical Epic (wow, strong ale!)
138. Widmer Brothers Brewing Co, Noggin Grog (another potent brew)
139. Victory Brewing Co, Prima Pils
140. Alaskan Brewing Co, Alaskan IPA
141. Diamond Knot Brewing Co, Industrial IPA
142. Dick's Brewing Co, Dick's Lava Rock Porter
143. Klamath Basin Brewing Co, Crater Lake Golden Ale
144. Ninkasi Brewing Co, Believer
145. Standing Stone Brewing Co, Standing Stone Double IPA
146. Spanish Peaks, Black Dog Ale

Friday night after brewfest I had a McMenamin's Ruby and some Heines... Saturday night after brewfest I had dinner at the Greek Cuisinia and enjoyed some tasty gyros and hummus along with....

147. Mythos (basically the Greek version of Heineken... it was alright)

Now I'm going to try and list the beers I've had since then and a couple I missed before...

148. Mateveza Yerba Mate Ale
149. Widmer Brothers Brewing Co, Brewmaster Release '07 Pale Ale
150. Deschutes Brewing Co, 19th Anniversary Golden Ale
151. Lagunitas Brewing Co, Undercover Investigation Shut Down Ale (Sneak Release ale)
152. Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Amber Ale
153. Lagunitas Brewing Co, Sirius Hi-Gravity Cream Ale
154. Lagunitas Brewing Co, Lucky 13 Anniversary
155. Bohemia
156. Lagunitas Brewing Co, Maximus IPA

By my count we should be somewhere near 170 so I still need to catch up a little. I've also had a couple of beers the last couple of nights at nearby bars so I'll double check those and list them soon. I should only be about five off so I'll be caught up soon. Just in time for beer #182.5 which will be the halfway point...

Drinking for Cancer

Well, not really, but I did play in a golf tournament supporting the Lance Armstrong Foundation and had a few beers while doing it, so I was kind of drinking to support cancer research. Unfortunately Frisbee wednesday, softball Thursday, and golf today has left me feeling pretty old and sore, and left me with no new beers to drink. I did have the last two in the fridge, the Eel River Raven's Eye Imperial Stout and the Stone Russian Imperial Stout, which were both outstanding, so that's good. Plus we got 2nd place for the 2nd year in a row in the tournament, which is nice. Not 1st, but still nice. Tomorrow hopefully I can hit up the store for some new beers, but with soooo much left over softball beers in the fridge, it's going to be hard to go and spend more on beer.

And a few more days

Monday and Tuesday pretty low key, with a wonderful Eel Triple Exultation Ale and a Dick's Imperial Stout.

And after typing all this, I am at 359, a few days from 365, and way ahead of schedule. Nice. But I realized I missed at least 3 or 4 beers I really wanted to try at brewfest, which sucks. A few ran out, which pisses me off, and a few I just didn't get to because going from tent to tent and waiting in lines while drunk and trying to read beers off a list did not make for easy deciding. Especially when the notes on my list became impossible to read.

Brewfest, and...Saturday

Saturday was a little slower since I was driving, as well as definitely feeling the effects of Friday, and the list goes a little something like...

21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat, Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale, Elysian Prometheus IPA, Max's Farmer's Daughter, Pelican Heiferweizen, Siletz Anniversary Imperial Porter.

Brewfest part 3

Mad River Steelhead Double IPA, McMenamins Monkey House, Ninkasi Believer, Stone 7/7/7 Vertical Epic Ale, Victory Prima Pils...and those finish up Friday. Seriously, no wonder I didn't drink much Saturday. I also should mention that the Rouge beer crust pizza was very good and the t-shirts that we had that said "Wish You Were Beer"

Brewfest part 2

...Diamond Knot Industrial IPA, Eugene City Honey Orange Wheat (part of Rogue Ales), Fearless Scottish Ale, Fifty Fifty Donner Party Porter, Klamath Basin Crater Lake Golden Ale, Lucky Labrador Triple Threat IPA (a lot of IPAs this weekend)...

Brewfest part 1

Well, I know the labels at the bottom aren't letting these all into one post, so here goes part 1.

Brewfest was awesome, but kind of a blur towards the end of the night. Thank you very much to Abby driving Friday night, since I don't even remember the last few beers, don't remember Nate hitting me in the face with a plastic chair, and barely remember muchos gracias at 10 or so in Vancouver on the way home and repeatadly almost passing out while eating on the way home.

Ahhhh, brewfest.

Amnesia Dry Hopped Dustry Trail Pale Ale, Anderson Valley Summer Solstive Cerveza Crema (this was f'in good), Bayern Pilsner, BJ's C'est Bon Blonde (also good), Boulder Sweaty Betty Blonde (good, with a good name), Raccoon Lodge Razberry Wheat (lots of chicks in this line)...

brew fest time

This will be my last sober post, as brew fest is the next few days. Tuesday I had a nice Sam Smith's organic lager and it was pretty good. England makes better organic beers than us apparently. I saw a few more sam smith beers at the store the other day and must have had those ones before we started 365 cause they are not checked off my list yet. So back to the store for those hopefully soon cause one is a brown and one is a stout, and they are both really good.

As for brew fest, I hope you can all go. It is going to be fun times.

edit, before brew fest, I decided on some Dicks. Namely the Barley Wine Ale. Almost as good as the full sail old boardhead, and definitely one they should put in the sampler 12 pack. Good shit.

Still playing catch-up...

Okay, so I just re-calculated where we're supposed to be and by my count today should be beer #160. After checking out the list of brewers at Beer-fest this weekend, I am going to have no problem catching up....
I was going to make a list last night to try and catch up, but I'm a lazy mofo so I didn't. Here's a little buit for now.
103. Budweiser Select
104. Peroni
105. New Belgium's 1554
106. New Belgium's Skinny Dip (so good, as soon as it hits your lips)
107. Sheaf Stout
108. Deschutes Twilight Ale
109. Bridgeport Haymaker
110. Henry's Summer Wheat (stay away at all costs!, fucking terrible)
111. Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar
112. Pacifico Clara
113. Busch
114. Coors Light (thank you Rainier's beer gardens)
115. Bud Light (thank you Longview's beer gardens)
116. Tsingtao
117. Pike's Naughty Nellie

that's all I could think of this morning off of the top of my head. I know I've missed about 15 of them but I can make it up this weekend.

"Bring Some Home For The Wives!"

"Why Have Just One?"

That's the tagline from Wasatch Beers Polygamy Porter, my selection today. You've got to respect a brewery in Utah that makes fun of their heritage, even if their porter is only 4% abv.

I picked up a few gems when I was in San Diego from the 13th to 15th catching sharks (though none as big as last year). Most notable is the Ballast Point lineup, which I'm still working through since I was able to bring a few 22's home with me in my checked baggage. I'm a bit biased since all their brews are named after fish, but they do make some really good beers. Their Yellowtail Pale Ale is a perennial favorite of mine. In addition, I had to try the Red Trolley Ale from Karl Strauss; another San Diego local brew.

Other than that, just a few random micros and imports filling the other slots since my last post. Dicko was nice enough to treat me to a visit to his local specialty beer store last Thursday, where I picked out a beer called Harar from Ethiopia. It was actually pretty tasty, despite the thick layer of sludge in the bottom of the bottle. I spotted a few other beers I hadn't seen elsewhere while we were at the Red House, so I think I'll find myself making a shopping trip to the south end again soon.

7/7/2007 Budweiser Select
7/8/2007 Big Rock Jack Rabbit Light
7/9/2007 Big Rock Traditional Ale
7/10/2007 Peroni

7/11/2007 Georgetown Brewing Rogers
7/12/2007 Squatters Full Suspension Pale Ale
7/13/2007 Ballast Point Yellowtail Pail Ale
7/14/2007 Karl Strauss Brewing Red Trolley Ale
7/15/2007 Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale
7/16/2007 Alaskan Summer Blonde
7/17/2007 Hale's Drawbridge Blonde
7/18/2007 New Belgium 1554
7/19/2007 Harar Beer
7/20/2007 Oskar Blues Brewery Gordon's
7/21/2007 Scuttlebutt Blonde Ale
7/22/2007 Fullers ESB
7/23/2007 Ballast Point Big Eye IPA
7/24/2007 Wasatch Beers Polygamy Porter

working towards 365

Well if Nate thinks we should be at 157, then I am actually still ahead of my 2 a day pace, which is outstanding. I think the Fiddler's Green IPA I had after work and the 22 of Stone Ruination IPA (100 IBUs, which I think is a lot) puts me at about 332. Brewfest and 365, here I come. Also, this bottle is cool enough to share with you.

On the front it says "A Liquid poem to the golory of the hop!"

On the back it says: ru-in-a-tion \ roo' a-na' shen \ n. The act of ruining or the condition of being ruined; a severe state of damage; destruction achieved by wrecking.

Stone Ruination IPA. So called because of the immediate ruinous effect on your palate. The moment after the first swallow, all other food and drink items suddenly become substantially more bland then they were just seconds before. By the time you develop a taste for this beer, you may find that you are premanently ruined from being able to enjoy lesser brews. Good. We freely admit to goind this. On purpose even! People are sometimes crazy enough to thank us for this assault. To which we reply "You're Welcome."

There is a lot more, but I am tired of typing instead of drinking, so I will just add that this beer is fucking good. If you like IPA, buy this beer. Totally worth the hefty $5.50 price tag. Either as good or better than stone's arrogant bastard, and by the sound of things just as arrogant. I want more. Seriously, someone give me some please. Having this makes up for my laziness in not going to get the vertical epic ale the day after my birthday. Cause this is good.

Nate's Back!

Okay, so I know that I have a ton of catching up to do. I've came close to posting a couple of times and then lost the lists of beer that I've drank so I'm trying to re-write and post within the next couple of days.
In the last two months since I've posted, I've missed probably 15 beers (due to not having enough selection, forgetting that I've already had a beer or other various factors). Fear not though, I plan on making these up this upcoming weekend when Brewfest is in Portland. I hope to see you all there.
This past weekend though, I was up in Seattle visiting my friends Chris, Allison & Le-Vy. While I was here I had a couple of different beers. Let me try to get caught up here....
91. Ayinger, Braü Weisse; I had this one with my lunch at the Pike Pub & Brewery. it was alright.
92. Georgetown Brewery, Manny's Pale Ale; Okay, so Goat, Trout and Dicko are right. This beer is fucking delicious. I had multiple Manny's at some bar near the Space Needle. My friends Chris & Le-Vy play in a pop-punk band Dateless and they had a show Saturday night.
The next couple of beers I had with Chris on Sunday at Hale's Ales Brewery. They had some really good beers (the cream stouts & the IPAs) and one bad beer (the el Jefe, yuck!)
93. Hale's Ales, Pale American Ale
94. Hale's Ales, Drawbridge Blonde Summer Seasonal
95. Hale's Ales, Mongoose IPA
96. Hale's Ales, Cream Ale
97. Hale's Ales, Cream HSB
98. Hale's Ales, Troll Porter
99. Hale's Ales, Kolsch German Ale
100. Hale's Ales, El Jefe Weizen
101. Hale's Ales, Double IPA Seasonal
102. Hale's Ales, Cream Stout

Tonight I plan on going home and trying to finish my list off. By my calculations I should be at beer #157 so I've got a list of about 30-35 to post in the next day or two....

great weekend

Saturday Josh, his buddy Brian, my dad, and I won the Hit and Giggle tourney that my credit union and another put on to benefit Dorenbechers. We were 20 under, which for those of you keeping track is 2 eagles and the rest birdies. We were on fire. Plus my boss got a hole in one and I got a few free new belgium skinny dips out of the deal, plus my winnings, plus won a dvd player in the raffle. So I followed it up with an Olympic Drug special, an Ayinger Celebrator Dopplebock. It was f'in good.

Today was a lazy sunday where Abby read her new Harry Potter book, I got some shit done around the house and read a little, went to a BBQ, had a Pete's Rally Cap Ale, and then finished it off with a bunch of other beers and then a Eel River Porter. Not a bad weekend.

Can't wait til brewfest next weekend...

Olympic Drug

Well I didn't make it to Belmont Station on Wednesday when I was in Beaverton, but today I did make it to Olympic Drug after work, which sports a nice little selection, anywhere from 1.29 a bottle up to 11.39 or so. I mixed and matched a 12 pack, which they allow here, and got 5% off for my troubles. Which is good since a few beers weren't priced and a stone brewing stout and both of the eel river 22s rang up over $4-5 each. So a $30 1/2 rack of beer later I am trying to put it into perspective that it would be more expensive at the bar and I should be happy. Then I remembered I was carrying a 1/2 rack of beers I've never had before, and at least half of them were 22s or bigger, and I was happy again. I got them in the fridge and got myself a nice cold mug for the huge 1pt 11oz Sheaf Stout so I can go rock some fools on Bomberman Live on the 360. I used to play this game everyday on the turbografx16, and fully plan to finally dominate a game online.

A few more

Elysian Perseus Porter, Pike Street Stout, and Sparks Plus. The porter and stout were the last of my birthday beers from Willie, and the sparks was a pick me up between prefunk for the Rainier days beer garden and the actual Rainier days beer garden. You can see the fireworks from the beer gardens, but the down side is that the end of the night is kind of fuzzy in my memory. And Nate's. And about 250 other people from the look of it. After that kind of night I took the last couple days off, and am now just having a relaxing corona before hitting up some beer stores in Portland tomorrow to finally stock up.

That puts me at 326. Not sure how far ahead of one a day, or behind on two a day I am, but that's a lot of beers.

Still drinking

A bit behind, but still drinking and tracking the brews. Here is how I finished off June (do have more for July, but I have organized my pile of labels yet.)


6/18/2007 -Bass Ale
6/19/2007-Alaskan Amber
6/20/2007-Russell's Lager
6/21/2007-Whistler Export Lager
6/22/2007-Whistler Pale
6/23/2007-Ole Number 8
6/24/2007-Bridgeport IPA
6/25/2007-Negra Modelo
6/26/2007-Modelo Especial
6/27/2007-Steinlager
6/28/2007-BIG Red Jug Draft
6/29/2007-Mudshark Porter
6/30/2007-Dos Equis Amber

more birthday beers

Tuesday was softball and part of a sixer of Natural Ice among other beers in the 90+ degree weather again, then another of Willies presents with a Skagit River Highwater Porter and some papa murphys with him and his new girlfriend Trisha. Today was a Hitachino White Ale, then my new favorite beer, BC Yeti blonde golden Ale. This beer was sooooo good I had to call Willie to tell him we are going to get more this weekend. Seriously, 8%, kind of sweet, golden ale. Fuckin outstanding...I highly recommend picking some up if you have the means.

32 posts away

With 333 posts so far, this one is the 32nd post before we hit 365 posts. And at the posting rate, I'll probably hit 365 beers before we hit 365 posts. As discussed, Willie hooked me up with some Belmont Station specials for my birthday. I had Skagit River Scullers IPA on my birthday, not to much to drink the next day, as expected, and a Hinano (Tahiti beer) on Sunday after some intense wiffleball and the prefestivities for a golf tournament on Monday. Monday after some newcastle browns and new belgium skinny dips, I had a Mike's Hard Lime, which was pretty f'in good while golfing in 90+ degree weather.

I'm Back...

You're not alone Gus, I've just been out in the woods and unable to post for the past couple weeks. I just finished a 4000 mile road trip through BC, the Yukon Territory, and Alberta and picked up local beers all along the way. Here's the roster since my last update:


6/17/2007 Zhigulevskoe Pale Beer
6/18/2007 Red Hook ESB
6/19/2007 Pyramid Hefeweizen
6/20/2007 Maritime Pacific Islander Pale Ale
6/21/2007 Liemans Breweries de Boomgaard Kriek
6/22/2007 Maritime Pacific Flagship Red
6/23/2007 Uncle Jack's Brown Ale
6/24/2007 Alexander Keith's Light Ale
6/25/2007 Pilsner Urquell
6/26/2007 Full Sail Session Lager
6/27/2007 Yukon Brewing Company Chilkoot Lager
6/28/2007 Yukon Brewing Company Yukon Gold
6/29/2007 Yukon Brewing Company Arctic Red
6/30/2007 Yukon Brewing Company Cranberry Wheat Ale
7/1/2007 Yukon Brewing Company Aurora Borealis Herbal Cream Ale
7/2/2007 Sleeman Honey Brown Lager
7/3/2007 Sleeman Cream Ale
7/4/2007 Sleeman Silver Creek
7/5/2007 Alexander Keith's IPA
7/6/2007 Grozet Gooseberry & Wheat Ale

birthday

Well, it's my birthday. And I have no new beers to drink. In the past 4 days of drinking, the only new beer I've been able to have is Budweiser Select since everything we all bought was coronoa, hefe, bud light, buzzsaw brown, and I have had all those. But Williamson called to say he was Belmont Station today, so there is still a chance I think for something new.

running out quickly

I am out of new beers from that monster fridge full a few months back. After the Rogue Bullfrog Ale and the Rogue Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale the last couple nights, along with a few Michelob Ultra Ambers at the Elektra, later today after finishing up the yard will be the Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale. That will make 315, with hopes of getting to 365 by the end of brewfest.

I still have beer in the fridge, but they are all repeats, so off to the store I go and hopefully a trip to Portland before tomorrow night so I can fill up some growlers with some new BJ's ales and maybe finally hit belmont station.

311

311 is a great band. And also how many different beers I have had so far with the addition of two organic beers from Eel River Brewing, the IPA and the Amber. The IPA was good, suprisingly good since organics suck. But as Nate put it, it's hard to mess up an IPA. The amber was not so good, which is right in line with the other two organic amber beers I have had. All three have been in the bottom 5-10 beers of this whole thing. This could be because I haven't lost my taste for amber beers (except the couple really good ones), or maybe it could be because Ambers are easy to screw up. Who knows. But I do know it's getting lonely around here. Hopefully you will all be back after the weather gets shitty again and I am up around 500 or so. Just like Frank Thomas.

Also Bomberman is supposed to come out on Xbox Live, and that will be my new favorite drinking activity. I loved that fucking game. bomberman live site

Another day, another beer.

I am not as excited about posting by myself. I had a Fiddler Green Amber yesterday, and decided gin and tonics was more my pace tonight. I'm up over 300 now. This blog is now boring. On the plus side when I typed it in the labels below, 2 more fiddlers green beers popped up, so I have that to look foward to.

Also, Abby and I have birthdays next week, and plan to party on the 3rd at our house and beer gardens if any of you are reading this and interested in coming down Dicko.

work sucks

I like my new job, but work in general sucks. Here I sit Sunday night, and I know when I wake up in the morning I am going to want to roll over and go back to bed. Fuck.

after getting back from Seattle, I had a Tap Room No. 21 Pale Ale. It was good. Not sure why these 3 tap room brews showed up on the shelf at Fred Meyer, but they aren't bad and a pretty good price.

Go Ms

Ahh, the joys of riding the train to seattle and taking taxis everywhere. No driving, means more drinking. We hit up Rock Bottom for lunch. I had at least one of everything with the 2 samplers I had, plus extra samples. It was great. Then a Pyramid Amber Weizen at the beer gardens and a curve ball, then a couple other beers at the game and sunday's game while the M's beat the Reds twice.

Rock Bottom Peashooter Pale, Rain City Red, Brown Bear Brown, Flying Salmon Stout, Faller Wheat, Hop Bomb IPA, German Kolsch.

2 more days

Thursday it was time for some Softball. My hitting was off when I found there actually can be skill involved in pitching slow pitch. I just couldn't get ahold of it and hit around 300 instead of 800. I suck. I did make up for it though by bringing sixers of talls of Milwaukee's Best Light and Keystone Ice. They were good and are now checked off my list. Not as good as the mini keg of becks from last week's softball game, but that is already off my list so I needed something different, something shitty. Which brings me to a revalation. I haven't checked off Busch light yet. Holy fuck, I'm sure I've had it at wiffleball, but since I had some for sure at softball in between talls, I'm marking it off for yesterday too. I wonder what else I've missed...

As for Friday, some beers, some BBQ, watching the mariners lose by 15 on TV, and coming home to pack for Seattle and having a Tap Room No. 21 Amber Ale. I sure hope Seattle is due for some hits this weekend... On another note, I got mixed and matched tonight, as I grabbed a New Belgium Mothership Wit and a Skinny Dip for my mixed sixer, then decided to put the Skinny Dip back to get a fiddlers green amber. When I got home, I found that I actually still had a skinny dip cause the mothership I had grabbed had actually been a skinny dip in the wrong sixer, probably from someone earlier mixing and matching. Son of a bitch.

But that puts me at 297. I should hit 300 before the game tomorrow since we are taking the train and I don't have to drive. So that should be good.

keeping hope alive

I hope you are all still drinking, even if you don't have time to post. Me, I enjoyed some Deschutes Twilight Ale, Tap Room No. 21 Lager, Laht Nappur Scottish Ale, and Laht Nappur Hefeweizen over the last few days. This weekend I head to Seattle with the hopes of knocking some more Seattle brews off the list and watching the Mariners win some games.

Also a league for Ultimate Frisbee started in town, which means I might work off a few of these beers, which would be nice.

couple more on the list

Some softball Thursday (batting up around .800 still, nice), some golf on Friday (would have been perfect if I hadn't fallen in the creek trying to retreive a ball, but hey, the $100 I had to spend on new clothes matched up nice against the putter I won for long drive), some nice dinner on Saturday for our anniversary and dad's day rolled into one, and some ultimate frisbee on Sunday (cause I am rollin at least an extra 5 pounds on top of the 15 I was already overweight before 365) and all in all I had a good weekend. Of course I forgot to get online to my fantasy team and put in the new guys I traded for, including Bonds, but not putting in my new guys isn't going to hurt being 2nd to last very much.

Full Sail Old Boardhead Barleywine, Bridgeport Haymaker, Rogue Brutal Bitter, Harps Lager, and another black and tan, cause you can't have harps without a black and tan afterwords. Then I spent time screwing with the stereo, new TV, cable box, hookups, wiring,....yeah, basically I need another drink. So a 22 of Rogue Juniper Pale Ale, and I am feeling a lot less pissed off. Although I did find out that widescreen movies play real small on HD tvs, which means its probably back to the store for an exchange. Son of a bitch.

and that makes 288.

Florida Beers

All I can say is I hate the stupid no liquids on the plane rule. What a crock of shit. If it weren't for that, I would have carried a whole slew of beers I had never heard of before back from Florida with me after spending the past week there. As it stands, I got some good ones in while I was there, but the lost potential is a real thorn in my side.


6/4/2007 Pike Brewing Monk's Uncle Tripel Ale
6/5/2007 East African Breweries Tusker Finest Quality Lager
6/6/2007 Kronenbourg 1664
6/7/2007 Kirin
6/8/2007 Skagit River Brewing Beagle Beer
6/9/2007 Ybor Gold Light
6/10/2007 Ybor Gold Amber Lager
6/11/2007 Dunedin Brewery Celtic Gold Ale
6/12/2007 Macau Euro-Asian Beer (Not a Florida beer, but one I hadn't seen that was on special at Frenchy's. It's from China and guaranteed Formaldehyde-free)
6/13/2007 Margaritaville Brewing Co Tarpon Spoon Pilsner
6/14/2007 Ybor Gold Wheat Ale
6/15/2007 Ybor Gold Gaspar's Porter
6/16/2007 Yuengling Traditional Lager

Little Diamonds in the Rough

Don't you love it when you're out of town and you stumble into a local bar and there are 6 or seven beers you haven't had yet or even heard of? Oh, and you also have a few days there so you can keep coming back for more? Me too. This last weekend(thurs-sun) I was down in Manzanita, OR (think Cannon Beach) and was staying at this beautiful 5 bedroom home on the ocean for a friend's 30th bday. On the first night we cracked a few brews, played some 8-ball and I had the following two beers. (These dates won't match when I was drinking them becuase I was catching up)

6/5/2007 Henry Weinhardts

6/6/2007 Henry Weinhardt's Summer Wheat

They tasted like, well, Henry's I guess.

The next day we sent to play some golf in the pouring rain, good thing we brought trash bags to wear over our clothes. Classy, I know. This is when we discovered Bill's Tavern. The next several hours are a blur because after drinking massive amounts of Bud Light during golf then drinking this heavy stuff, my mind was in a blender. The hot tub afterwards almost pushed me over the puke edge.

6/7/2007 Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar - Wasn't my favorite of the bunch, but held its own.

6/8/2007 Marshall's Mighty Bitter - This is the first time my puke reflex acted that day.

6/9/2007 Smokey the Porter - Should not have chosen the Porter at this point, but the decision making skills were gone on hole 14.

6/10/2007 Bronze Ale - Aaah, refreshing. Time to drive back to the house.

The next morning I wasn't feeling so well, so me and the guys decided to head to Bill's again to see if we could clear our head's. The best part is while were doing this, the ladies are having a blast of their own at the spa and don't care what were doing. Perfect!

6/11/2007 2x4 Stout - Smart, got this one out of the way first. Thick as mud.

6/12/2007 Duck Dive Pale Ale - My favorite of the bunch including the day before.

6/13/2007 McMenamin's Ruby Ale - Felt a little gay and for some reason wanted to follow a road with the Roloff's. If you get this reference, wow!

6/14/2007 Blackberry Beauty - See the difference between showing up to the bar already wasted and not. Yesterday I saved the muddy stuff for last, today, finished off with a fruity one, its reminded me of Nate.

Now that I'm back in Seattle, I hit of the Wing Dome this week. Just love going in there an admiring my pic on the wall for eating the 7 alarm fire wing that they sell individually due to the chance of spontaneous ass explosion and colon corruption. I should market that wing to Hollywood types as a detox diet. "Eat one of these and call me when you can poop w/o it hurting." 3 days later, their 10 lbs lighter and light as a bird.


6/15/2007 Old Seattle Lager - My brother suggested this one. It was ok, but not as good for me as a lighter larger normally would be.

Last night I went out for another bday and since I had gotten up at 4:30am that day, I was dragging before it was time to go out. What do you do in that case, you run to the gas station and you find Sparks..... While at the gas station, what's this I see? A Spark's like drink for only 0.99 cents, it has to be good! Oooh, there's two flavors tooooooo, hooray!

6/16/2007 - 3 Sum - Get it, threesome, genius! I am sure that someone got paid a lot of money to think of that and it makes me sad. I coulda been that person.

6/17/2007 - 3 Sum Green Apple - Almost made my tongue rebel against me and hop right out of my fucking mouth. Seriously, it got and was heading to the exits. It was 0.99 cents though, I'll probably have it again.

Dear Alcohol,

First & foremost, let me tell you that I'm a huge fan of yours. As my friend, you always seem to be there when needed. The perfect post-work cocktail, a beer at the game, and you're even around at the holidays, hidden inside chocolates, as you warm us when we're stuck in the midst of endless family gatherings. However, lately I've been wondering about your intentions. While I want to believe that you have my best interests atheart, I feel that your influence has led to some unwise consequences:

1. Phone calls: While I agree with you that communication is important, I question the suggestion that any conversation of substance or necessity takes place after 2 a.m.

2. Eating: Now, you know I love a good meal, but why do you suggest that I eat a taco with fire sauce, along with a big Italian meatball and some stale bbq chips (washed down with WINE & topped off with a Kit Kat after a few cheese curls & chili cheese fries)? I'm an eclectic eater, but I think you went too far this time.

3. Clumsiness: Unless you're subtly trying to tell me that I need to do more yoga to improve my balance, I see NO need to hammer the issue home by causing me to fall down. It's completely unnecessary, and the black & blue marks that appear on my body mysteriously the next day are beyond me. Similarly, it should never take me more than 45 seconds to get the front door key into the lock. (And I know what my bathtub looks like I don't need a close up of it after falling off the pot, it's really hard to get outta there.)

4. Furthermore: The hangovers have GOT to stop. This is getting
ridiculous. I know a little penance for our previous evening's debauchery may be in order, but the 3pm hangover immobility is completely unacceptable. My entire day is shot. I ask that, if the proper precautions are taken (water, vitamin B, bread products, aspirin) prior to going to sleep/passing out face down on the kitchen floor with a bag of popcorn, the hangover should be minimal & in no way interfere with my daily activities.

Alcohol, I have enjoyed our friendship for some years now & would like to ensure that we remain on good terms. You've been the invoker of great stories, the provocation for much laughter, and the needed companion when I just don't know what to do with the extra money in my pockets.

In order to continue this friendship, I ask that you carefully review my grievances above & address them immediately. I will look for an answer no later than Thursday 3pm (pre-happy hour) on your possible solutions & hopefully, we can continue this fruitful partnership.

Thank you,
Your biggest fan,

Nate

makeup beers

How do you fix the sadness of missing two sam adams beers? You go and buy them and sit in the hot tub and drink them.
6/12 Sam Adams Boston Lager and Sam Adams Light

whoops

I totally forgot the beers in between that helped put me to 280 and one that makes it actually 281...
At the reunion we went to what can only be described as a hick party, where the Keystone Light flowed like water. I also got a case of Session Lager from Full Sail on the way over to Dayton and had some of those over the weekend. I had some pretty good Beach Bum Wheat at the golf course in Walla Walla, and then found out it was released by Anheauser Busch. WTF? Described on real beer blog, you can make a Dirty Blonde similar to a black and tan, and now I just need to find some in bottle form to try this. After golfing I was drunk, so hit up the chevron for a Tilt Green (can't find this anywhere online, but sure as shit it was green instead of orange.) and that kept me mostly awake on the way back to drink and BBQ. All in all, a good weekend.

Laht Nappur

Here is me winning the family reunion golf tournament.

...And for the end of my busy week, I had a bunch of beers from the new brewery I found called Laht Nappur (Drink to Life) in Waitsburg, WA. The brewery is only a year or so old, with some outstanding beer. The owner went to study to open a vineyard, and decided he just liked beer too much and opened a brewery instead in Wine Country. I bought a couple growlers full, one of the Scottish Ale anniversary brew, and one of the hefeweizen that Abby said was outstanding. And since she was driving, I tried a bunch of beers. They serve big 4 oz tasters, small pints, regular pints, and imperial pints, plus growlers and mason jars and party pigs and kegs to go. Pretty sweet place and they are already expanding they are doing so well. Anyone up for a wine tasting/brewery trip to the east side?

6/10 Laht Nappur Cream Stout, Mike's Golden Ale, Laht Nappur IPA, Laht Nappur Oatmeal Stout, Laht Nappur Nut Brown.

I'll have the scottish and hefe this week, plus there is a pale but Abby drank most of it so I can't count that. Gives me a reason to go back though since they have other beers seasonally besides the Scottish. But I liked every one of these babies, plus now have 2 more growlers to fill at BJs when I am in Portland, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

on a sadder note, sometime during the last couple weeks either I drank two sam adams beers from my fridge and don't remember, or someone drank them for me. on a happier note, I get to go buy them again and drink them. yippee.

Also, I am at #280. Not sure how many days since I was using Nate's posts as my measure to make sure I was over double, but I am pretty sure I am still way ahead and going strong. Tonight as I type this I am not having a beer. On top of that I'm not having wine or liquor either, as I figured my body has deserved it after 4+ months of fun in a bottle... I may even go to sleep early. That's crazy talk.

oh baby oh mama

Well, since I left you last, there has been one post. How about anyone who is still drinking, chime in. I think it's down to Nate, Trout, Dicko, Gus (me), and Ed, although Ed keeps track on paper the old fashioned way, and Nate is a no-show lately. Only 8 more months, common pussies.

For me that last week was a blur of work and family reunion this weekend. High points, I played some more good golf, found a new brewery near Walla Walla, got tore up from the floor up watching Hot Fuzz at the theatre pub, and kept my average around .850 in softball while pulling both quad muscles.

Beers (part 1):
Siletz Winter Warmer Ale, Rogue Sea Otter Amber Ale, Rogue Mocha Porter, Siletz Chocolate Porter, Kona Wailua Wheat (so good we drank it til they ran out), and Siletz Wolly Bully.

Funny story about the Snoqualmie brewing company, I almost got married at the winery(across the street) by their resident pastor and the reception was to be held on the steam train which the porter is named after. Well we didnt end up getting married there because the mentioned pastor kind of gave us the creeps. Turns out that they needed our business pretty badly because I just found out that the pastor was just accused of lighting fire to the winery to collect insurance.

5/26/2007-Snoqualmie PGA Amber

5/27/2007-Snoqualmie Steam Train Porter

5/28/2007-Snoqualmie Wildcat IPA

5/29/2007-Snoqualmie Copperhead Pale Ale

5/30/2007-Arrogant Bastard Ale - For some reason I felt a kinship to this beer.

5/31/2007-Stone IPA

6/1/2007-Stone Ruination IPA

6/2/2007-Stone Smoked Porter

6/3/2007-Stone Ginger - kind of threw up in my mouth

6/4/2007-Caguama - needed a lime very badly. Kinda like skunky Corona

golfing and drinking

While golfing and drinking mix well together, golfing and trying to find new beers do not. Hence I had a lot of coors the last 3 days golfing. But I did manage a BBQ and some time at home relaxing, so I knocked off some beers from the list.

Siletz Lovin Lager, Dick's Cream Stout, Hornsby's Amber, and Rogue Smoke Ale. All 4 were pretty good, with the Hornsby's being something everyone has probably tried, the Smoke Ale being okay, probably best with some kind of smoked food like salmon (Try this one Trout), and the other 2 being actually pretty good. Most cream ales and stouts I have liked during this thing, and this one was no exception.

I also took third in 2 tournaments, and although the prizes weren't all that great, the golf was good, the weather was awesome, and I am getting steadily better, which will probably lower my handicap making it even harder to win, but oh well. At least there's beer.

Ok, fine

I'm tired and don't feel like writing, but I will anyway to avoid being labeled a "no posting pansy".

For Memorial weekend, I went down to Cabo San Lucas with a couple friends to fish for roosterfish and relax a little bit. Obviously, I had to get my Mexican beers in during the 4 days I was there; Pacifico, Tecate, Sol, and Tecate Light being my choices.

Upon returning home, I finished up the work week with the Spring Heat Spiced Wheat Ale from Anheuser-Busch, Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale (the only citrus-flavored beer that I have actually enjoyed), and another Mexican brew; Negra Modelo.

I spent this weekend out in the 509 doing some fishing and boozing it up in Spokane (which I found is completely overrun with annoying emo kids). During Elkfest on Saturday night, I asked our waitress what the most random beers they had were and she came up with Karma Ale from Avery Brewing. Not a bad beer, but I was pretty buzzed already, so I can't comment in detail. I do remember drinking it though, which is a far cry ahead of most of the night (thanks to several Jameson shots). The similarity to Dude, Where's My Car this morning in the condo when my buddy and I were trying to piece the sequence of events together was a little disturbing.

As I write this, I'm finishing off today's beer; Czechvar Premium Czech Lager. It tastes like lager. From the Czech Republic. In a green bottle.

Softball season

You're all a bunch of no posting pansies.

Last night was some dos equis, but already checked off, so nothing for the list.

Tonight was my first softball game in 2 years. A couple bad calls ended my perfect batting average in Longview (I was 5/5), but we still managed to go 1-1 first night of league, and more importantly I was treated to a Busch, Hamm's, and a couple already checked off beers. I also started off with a Tsing Tao before I went, and am now enjoying a Dick's Silk Lady while I prepare to soak my re-injured knee in the hot tub before icing it, so I got that going for me.

Between softball and wiffleball over the next few months, I am going to wipe out the shit beers on my list. And I am at 260 in about 105 days, so I am doing pretty good towards breaking 730.

5/29

A couple of Full Sail 22s I have been saving greeted me after a hard day of work staring at the computer and answering phones with loan rates while my boss is away.

Full Sail Nugget Red Ale, Full Sail Top Sail Imperial Porter, both brewmaster's reserve beers that I bought while at the brewery last month in Hood River. And they were worth the wait. I want more. Like if I didn't have golf tournaments all weekend, I would drive to hood river and buy more. Nate, go buy some if you can. They are worth a trip to Belmont or Full Sail brewery if needed.

I forgot 2 beers.....

5/24/2007 Leffe - Had this with Trout at the Northlake Tavern. Didn't like it very much, but compared to Tona, the beer below, it was pure goodness.

5/25/2007 Tona

Falling behind, but not for long

So I made up some beers this weekend with a Mixed Mac Pack and the Anchor Brewing Company mixed six pack. Still a week behind, but have loaded up the fridge for a push to catch up. Here is what I have been up to:


5/12/2007 Anchor Steam - The flagship of the Anchor brewing company, not too bad. I enjoyed it watching the ponies run at Emerald Downs after my wife snuck in the sixer in her purse. I love pouring beers into a coke cup in front of a sign that says "No outside beverages."

5/13/2007 Liberty Ale

5/14/2007 Anchor Porter

5/15/2007 Anchor Bock

5/16/2007 Summer Beer

5/17/2007 Old Fog Horn

5/18/2007 AOH - A good man at work dropped this on off at my desk. Not too shabby.

5/19/2007 Paulaner Brauereu Munchen

5/20/2007 MacTarnahans Mac's Amber

5/21/2007 Oregon Honey Beer

5/22/2007 Blackwatch Cream Porter

5/23/2007 Icehouse

Memorial Day

It was time for some wiffle. So it was time for a beer during a quick lunch before heading to Kelso, then a handful of talls during wins # 17 & 18 for the Laurelhurst Pirates, then home for a beer and washing the cars, then to a BBQ at the parent's place for some wine and drinks and steak. And it was frickin beautiful outside to boot. Nice day.

5/28 Lowenbrau, Miller High Life Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pike Naughty Nellie Golden Ale

kickin ass and takin names

I know I'm only competing against myself, but I am totally winning at around 250 already.

5/26 Spanish Peaks Honey Raspberry Ale, Rogue Chocolate Stout, Otter Creek Stove Pipe Porter

5/27 North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, Dick's Pale Ale, New Belgium Skinny Dip.

I also shot a 77 today, my best round of golf ever. So that's cool.

whoops

Going down the list, I just realized I forgot to mark off the Schmidt's I had last month during wiffleball. My dad had been saving this bad boy from a party 2 to 5 years ago, and every party or BBQ it makes it into the bucket of ice, and then after the party it makes it back into the fridge. So I finally liberated it from it's icy hell and had it while getting ready for wiffleball on the 11th last month. And you wouldn't f'in believe it, but it wasn't half bad. I want to know what technology Schmidt's uses to make shitty beer into mediocre beer if you chill it for 5 years, and then take that technology and conquor the world.

As for today, I had a nice fat 22 of Rogue Chipotle Ale before going bowling, a big 32 of bud while bowling, then back home to finally try the Black and Tan I have been saving some guinness and harps for. And it worked. And it was good. Of course, it's only 8:50 and I'm not going anywhere this weekend except back to the bowling alley to try and win more money, then probably to Pirates movie, some wiffleball, and maybe see Hot Fuzz at the theatre pub, so I will probably have many more beers to add over the next few days.

P.S. I am going to pass 250 different beers tomorrow or Sunday. So I am about 150 ahead by Trout and Nate's count. So I got that going for me, which is nice. The down side is the only beers left at Freddy's that I haven't had cost either 6 bucks for a fuckin case, or 6 bucks a bottle. Time for a trip to Belmont station, as I only have about 30 beers left in my fridge...

yep, only 8:50, so I had another, a Genesee Cream Ale from High Falls Brewing. Smokin Aces is a good movie too. It went well with the pizza and genesse.

A Retraction

Ok, I'm going to bump the Shiner Hefeweizen from the list because I forgot that Dicko and I had made plans to split a bottle of Baltika Дон (Don) Southern Lager today at work. I guess that means I'll have to punish myself with another Shiner Hefe, but oh well.

99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall...

That's right boys and girls, today is Day 99. I'm not a big fan of the Hefe's, but decided to sample a Shiner Hefeweizen with my bbq chicken sandwich at the Pig Iron BBQ today. It tasted just like Hefeweizen should; chick beer.

Tomorrow morning I'll be off to Mexico for a few days, so I'm planning to check some of the Mexi-beers off the list; Pacifico, Negra Modelo, Dos Equis, and Corona will do, but I'm hoping to find something I haven't seen for sale up here. I know of one called Estrella that I saw in Nayarit last year, but I'm not sure if it's available in Baja California Sur or not.


5/15/2007 Hollande 1620 Superieur Lager
5/16/2007 St. Peter's Brewery Golden Ale
5/17/2007 Pyramid Curve Ball Kolsch
5/18/2007 Abbey of Leffe Blonde Ale
5/19/2007 Toña Premium Lager Beer
5/20/2007 St. Peter's Brewery Cream Stout
5/21/2007 Full Sail Limited Edition Lager
5/22/2007 Blue Moon Honey Moon Summer Ale
5/23/2007 St. Peter's Brewery English Ale
5/24/2007 Okocim Porter

good weather, good beer

It was nice outside yesterday. So what do you do when it's nice outside? You BBQ. I enjoyed a nice burger, couple of bratwurst's, some salad and appetizers, and a couple beers of course. The Sleeman's Porter, Sleeman's Cream Ale, and an Amstel Light. All hit the spot nicely, complementing the food nicely with a range of flavors from dark to light.

How about you guys? Anyone there? Already gone for the holiday?

5/22 and 5/23

finally caught up.
5/22 St Pauli Girl and a couple other big beers while bowling
5/23 Mendocino White Hawk IPA, Mendocino Red Tail Ale, and North Coast Red Seal Ale.

and one last Lagunitas box bottom that will strike a chord with the newly 21...
lagunita's Censored Rich Copper Ale
Anyway, we were going out to, uh, the, uh, you know, thing, and all, and when we got there, well, us the dude was, like- "whoa man!" I mean, and we were all, uh, you know, "hey man", and all, they, I mean he, was all "what?" and stuff- and I just told him what you said and all, and they were all man- "not cool dude", but whatever- so, uh, we split and went back to my lair and just hung out and whatever, but the whole thing was, like, just SUCH a bummer and all but, you know, it was cool and stuff, but you just gotta, you know, about the dude and all, like, it's cool and all you know, but what's up with that, "blah blah blah"? Whatzit got to do with ber and all? I mean, really, dude, whatever... 707.769.4495... but it's cool and all...

after I finished typing that, I vowed to say "like" less often... and I threw up in my mouth a little.

Still trying to catch up

5/20 Rogue Uberfest Pilsner, Henry's Summer Wheat, Lagunita's Undercover Investigator Shut-down Ale
5/21 JW Dundee's Pale Ale, Lagunita's Cappuccino Stout, Bridgeport Stout

lagunitas Undercover
There I was, sweaty and strung out, holed up for the third day in a cheap hotel with a genuine Juanita on my lap. On the lamp was more than a way of life. It had a smell, and it stunk like hops. Juanita shrieked something about an "Escoba frande con queso en mota para la pelicula...", but I wasn't listening. For now I was focused on the Undercover Ale clenched between Juanita's knees and also how good it would taste later while she cooled out in the soon to be locked shed out back of Palmdale where the turkey farmers still run. Ale is thicker than even blood. I already knew this and I also knew that the dicks were not far behind and that even at their distance they could smell everything and would never let up on me. Flip the dicks. Here come the bastards... Here they come... Call us! 707-769-4495 Cheers!

lagunitas Capuccino Stout (the bottle that made me go look at the other to see if they had stuff on the sides as good as this one. If you read nothing else in my last 10 posts, read this.)
Coffee is my shepherd; I shall not doze. It maketh me to wake in green pastures, it leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses. It restoreth my brain, it leadeth me in the paths of consciousness for it's name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of sleep, I will fear no artificial sweetener for thou art with me; Thy cream and thy sugar they comfort me. Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of my zzz's, Thou anointest my day with sunlight; My cup runneth over. Surely richness and flavor shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of Cappuccino forever... Let us sip... or whatever... 1.707.769.4495 Cheers!

Lagunitas and 5/18, 5/19

on with the fun.
5/18 Firestone Double Ale, Foster's, Asahi
5/19 Saporro, Rogue Young's Special Bitter Ale, Oregon Honey Beer, Rogue American Amber Ale

lagunitas Brown Shugga from the six pack from last month.
We hope this Special Sweet Release finds you and yours happy and healthy this hopeful holiday season. We were making our Gnarlywine back in '98, messed up the recipe, and this Elegant Accident is what we got.
As we brew this Special Ale in this the fourth part of the third year of a new, and so far difficult, millennium, we are thinking about how complicated our world has become and about how easily the space between us all sometimes grows. We hope this Ale and this Holiday Season find you and the ones closest to you in moments of quiescence from which new intimacies may arise. Maybe a new appreciation of a lifetimes's unceasing arc will appear to you as real and as gently as a familiar voice might whisper in your ear. Maybe it's not really just Wednesday or Thursday or today or yesterday or just now or then... maybe it's all just plain 'now' and maybe it's all we've got and maybe that really is enough. Bring on then this the time of the year when the skies sometimes cloud over and the wind and the rain drive us inside and together and may for you the shelter be as much about the foofs and walls as it is about the company and the shared time. Oh yes, and also the shared brews- but we've taken care of that... Thanks for inviting us in! If you're in Petaluma come and visit with us sometime. Or just call us at 1.707.769.4495. Cheers!

Lagunitas and 5/17

So while going through this huge as list for the last week, I noticed that Lagunitas has some pretty cool prose down the side of their 22s and 6-packs. So I give you the beers of 5/17 while I was in Cali, plus the first in a series of Lagunita's poem-like saying on my Lagunitas beer from 5/9, lagunitas lucky 13.

5/17 Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, Kona Longboard Lager, Firestone Pale Ale, Beck's Light, Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout, Hacker Pschorr Weisse, Craftsman Biere de Blanco, Craftsman Smoke Porter.

Lagunitas Lucky 13
From the first day of the first mash of the first recipe in the first brewhouse in the first space to this oasis 13 years on the road; We have worked hard to walk in the footsteps of our hero brewers- The Esteemed brewer of California's best Pale Ale, the Noble Brewer of the planet's only legal Steam Beer, and Oregon's Rebel Brewer from Newport (pretty sure this is John from Rogue). Thirteen years down the road, we have found our own voice as brewers but our admiration for the Great Ones has not dimmed one bit. If we walked well down the her's path ourselves,k perhaps we too have been an inspiration for others. Beer is a Bronze Age business and we feel honored to have left our footprints on it's path into history, at the same time leaving our flavors on your buds. Thanks for your trust over the years and we hope you enjoy this specially brewed Hi-Gravity Auburn offering. Beer Speaks. People Mumble! Call 707-769-4495. Cheers!

stupid 200 character maximum

yeah, every day down in cali is going to be practically a new post. stupid 200 character label maximum...

5/16 was more fun, with a Gordon Biersch Marzen, Gordon Biersch Blonde Bock, Anderson Valley Poleeko Gold Pale Ale, and a Kronenbourg 1664, as well as a few already checked off beers at the Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood. Yeah I bowled a 171 the first game with shoes that didn't slide, distracting waitresses, a house ball, and many beers. I am that awesome.

A great find

So there I am in California, finding that the few places I've been to so far really don't have many California beers on tap. So I head to the store, where they have a handful of beers I can't get at home, and I buy as many as I think I can drink over the next 3 days before going out to the bars with Apul in Hollywood. Most were good, and the list is too long to describe each one, but a few stand out.

The Moose Lodge in Hollywood had its own beers. The Moose Lodge Amber Ale and Moose Lodge Lager. I am almost positive that they were brewed by Anheueser and were very similar to Michelob and Michelob Amber Bock, but hell, new beers is new beers. On top of that for 5/15 I had Lost Coast Alley Cat Amber, Lost Coast Raspberry Brown, Sam Adams Summer Ale, and a Bitter Than You (Cali only) at BJs.

Open to Close

Oh yes folks, the Trout and I finished an open to close this Saturday. You know what the best part of it was, some dude we met from Texas paid for most of our beer the whole night and I didnt even need to blow him.

I have fallen behind a little bit and its just because I haven't been to the store lately, not because I havent been drinking.

The latest beers:

Leffe - Not a huge fan of it, but it wasnt that bad. What was bad though, see below.

Tona - BAD

Killlians Red - Oddly enough, this was one of the first beers I ever got drunk on. You ever notice that when you're young, sometimes you just end up with random beers like this and you drink them, well, because you aren't old enough to buy your own.

Still huge

to finish off a little more before the next few days of these long ass posts (seriously, a quick scan and I am easily over 200 after 40-50 beers in the last week...).

5/13 Mother's day. Wine and beer and flowers.

Elk Rock IPA, Full Sail IPA, Pyramid Apricot Weizen

5/14 Fly to Cali for 3 day training, and multiple days drinking with Apul in Hollywood. That's hot. One of the best burgers I have had in a long time at the Hilton, and it was only $26 for a burger and 2 beers, what a bargain...

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, shinerbock (already crossed off), and Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale

It's so big...part 2

Yep, still Huge. Probably gonna have to finish tomorrow.
5/12 Hales Brewpub after walking a few miles for Dicko's relay for life team, 8 mile.

Hale's Drawbridge Blonde, Hale's Troll Porter, Hale's Mongoose IPA, Hale's Cream Stout, Hale's Irish Style Nut Brown Ale, Hale's El Jefe Weizen Ale, Hale's Rudyard's Barleywine Rare Ale.

These were all good, best one is probably the cream stout and they have 2 other cream ales which I plan to go back for next time we are in Seattle I hope. But with 4-10 other Seattle breweries on the list, who knows if Hale's will be my next Seattle stop or not. I still need some Manny's...

It's so big...part 1

Yeah, I've been esentially cut-off from posting for over a week, so it's so big it's gonna take multiple posts. To spare Nate the vacation (training in Cali) details, and Dicko the volunteerism type (although I went to his f'in walk-a-thon) details, here is the short version, part 1.

5/11 Wiffleball in Portland, then drinking, then passing out at Nate's...Good fun.

Laurelwood Mother Lode Golden Ale, Laurelwood Boss IPA, Dogfish Head Golden Shower Imperial IPA, Pelican Kiwanda Cream Ale, Amnesia Porter, Henry's Blue Boar Ale.

Nate's Beer #89, #90

So the other night I was thinking that I wanted to mix it up a little bit. I've noticed that I've been drinking tons of IPAs, and while I do enjoy them I still needed a little break.

So I wandered on over to the local Quik Stop and all that I could see were IPAs. I looked a little longer and then noticed something different in the other case. So I grabbed a couple 22s of Fox Barrel Hard Cider and wandered home with them. Nothing too great, easy to drink, didn't taste as good as Hornsby's.

Last night I went back to the IPA's and was surprised by Bear Republic's Racer 5 IPA. It was delicious and quite possibly the best IPA that I've had. I'm looking forward to drinking a couple more this weekend.

I had a good beer last night...

its brewed by the same folks that bring you favorites like Bud Light and Busch Light. A seasonal brew full of flavor. Im talking of the Spring Heat Spiced Wheat beer from Anheueser Busch. I tell ya, these guys know how to make a good beer.

Bob's Beer

Last night was an eventful one for beer drinkers in Seattle. You see, May 14th is the release date of Georgetown's Bob's Brown Ale and my friend Chris and I were at the official kickoff at the Nickerson Street Saloon. In attendance were Manny and Roger from Georgetown who brought three kegs of delicious brown goodness. The first two pints poured went straight from the taps to my and Chris' hands. In case you don't know the story of Bob's, here it is, straight from the Georgetown Brewing website:

"Bob's is a special beer brewed in honor of our friend, Bob Hirsch, who fought cancer valiantly for many years. He lived his final days to the fullest and he is an inspiration to all of us.
Bob's Brown Ale will be released every May 14th (Bob's birthday). 100% of the proceeds from Bob's will be donated in honor of Charles "Bob" Hirsch to the Seattle Ronald McDonald House to provide a "home-away-from-home" for Children's Hospital patients and families.
Bob's Brown Ale is big and brown with lots of hops. We use a blend of 2-row Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Munich, and Roasted Barley Malts, then add sh*t loads of Centennial and Crystal hops to make this a meaty brown brew. Alcohol by volume is 6.3%."

The Nickerson was donating all proceeds from sales of Bob's to the Ronald McDonald House, so as if you didn't feel good enough about drinking already, you could feel just a little bit better.

Here's the rest of the roster since my last update:

5/1/2007 Pinkus Organic Unfiltered Wheat Hefe Weizen
5/2/2007 Tiger Lager Beer
5/3/2007 Shiner Dunkelweizen
5/4/2007 Henschwansteiner Bavarian Lager
5/5/2007 Maritime Pacific Old Seattle Lager
5/6/2007 Doppel-Hirsch Bavarian Doppelbock
5/7/2007 Baltika #6 Porter
5/8/2007 Full Sail Nugget Red Ale
5/9/2007 Krusovice Cerne
5/10/2007 Skagit River Brewing Skuller's IPA
5/11/2007 Fraoch Heather Ale
5/12/2007 Browar Witnica Boss Beer
5/13/2007 Issaquah Brewery Menage a Frog Belgian Tripel

Nate's Beer #88

Last night I dipped back into my fridge for one of the beers from my trip to Belmont Stations a couple of months ago. This time I went with the Avery Brewery White Rascal Belgian Style Wheat Ale. It was a very light bodied beer with a light citrus taste. It was very easy to drink and I finished it off with ease while watching a little Trailer Park Boys. And Trout was right, this show is hilarious. I've finished off the first season and I'm currently in the middle of the second (Not bad for watching my first episode Sunday night). I laughed my ass off all the way through, you all definitely need to check it out.

Nate's Beer #87

So early Sunday morning, after my cousin's wedding reception, I ended up hanging out with a couple of his buddies and their girlfriends. They told me they had good beer in their hotel and they were true to their word.
Also in their room was a Nintendo Wii. And it was on like Donkey Kong. Will and I straight up dominated at tennis. Seriously that Wii never saw it coming.
I celebrated with a Samuel Adams Black Lager. It was very nice!

Nate's Beer #86

Saturday was my cousin Matt's wedding down in Seaside, Oregon. Him and his wife, Tierna, were kind enough to provide Budweiser at the reception and who am I to be picky?
Congratulations you crazy kids!

Nate's Beer #85

Last Friday night we had another set of wiffleball games. Since I had to come into Longview on Saturday to go to a wedding, Erik rode down to Portland with me after work for some wiffle action. We were facing the mighty Woodstock Unicorns and ended up winning both games by a combined score of 28-0. We're that good.
After our games we decided we should celebrate with some beers. We decided to make our first stop the wonderful Laurelwood Brewery were Ed, Erik and I all enjoyed some Mother Lode golden ale and some Boss IPA. Both were very good. While we were at Laurelwood Ed got a call from our friends Jack & Bunny who were hanging out at a little bar called Moon & Sixpence. We decided to meet them there and were on our way.
When we arrived at Moon & Sixpence the first thing we all noticed was there wonderful beer list. There were numerous beers that none of us had ever heard of. It was around this time that I recalled Erik talking about the $10 beer that he had earlier. What made me think of this was the Dogfish Head Imperial Pilsner that they had listed at $14. I asked the waitress if it had scotch in it. I decided why not and ordered up the $14 brewski. When it arrived I noticed the name on the bottle was left off of the menu (and for good reason). What I had ordered was a 25.4 oz bottle of Golden Shower.
I thought it was named appropriately....

Beer Label Generator

This is so effing fun!

Generate your own label!

(I promise, I'll post something soon about the incredible - and less than incredible - beers I met in New York.)

.

#84

My brother in law's bday was last night so we went to a local bar for a quick brew. Upon looking at all of the taps and the cooler, only one beer was being sold that I have never had, or even seen before.

Lagunitas IPA - for some reason some IPAs seem to have almost a dirt like flavor to them. This one, well this one had a extra dirty flavor and wasnt good at all. I think that it must have just been really old or something but I barely finished it.

Nate's Beer #84

So last night I decided to stay in wondeful Longview instead of driving home after work. The gas prices are really started to put a crunch on my beer money and I can't be having that. Mr & Mrs G were kind enough to let me crash at their place.
I decided to head to the mini-mart near their place to buy my beer for the day. The selection there was pretty limited and I had forgotten my checklist to remember what I've had so far. I went with one of the beers I knew I hadn't drank and stayed away from the malt liquor section.
My choice for the evening? Modelo Especial. And I should have splurged and bought a lime (just kidding, they didn't have any limes). I seriously thought about taking this sixer back after my first two beers. I could've sworn that they had gone bad. Beer #3 started getting a little better and then beer #4 was good. I think it must've just been those first two that were bad. Weird.
Have a great weekend everybody! Gus and I are playing some wiff tonight and then I'm going to my cousin's wedding Saturday. Should be some drunken good times.

5/10

Holy shit, I'm getting near 200. Tonight was time for some IPAs, the Stone IPA, the Pike's Place IPA, and also an Alaskan Summer Ale. The more california beers I have, the more I can't wait for next week when I go down there and have every single beer I can find on the corporate credit card...for business purposes of course...

Nate's also here, passed out in the other room. So I get to talk shit about him. No ball pansy.

Dream Fridge

All I can say is "Wow, man!"

I like Lagunitas

Last night I finally did some weeding. Weeding sucks balls. But my back yard and alley look better now. Then I had a West Coast IPA from Green Flash Brewing. This beer will be at brewfest (I was going down the list a few days back), and I would recommend trying it, although be warned its hella bitter. It was okay, but not the perfect beer after working outside and with homemade chilli.

But the Lagunitas Lucky 13 22oz I had after that was perfect with the Chilli. It was in fact very very good, another Ruby Red, and the 5th Lagunitas beer I have tried, and they have all been outstanding. I'm going to Cali next week, and I plan to find and drink more of them while I am there.

Nate's Beer #83

After arriving home last night I immediately made my way to the fridge and cracked open a refreshing McMenamin's Ruby that I had in there. I was thirsty from my drive home and easily finished that beer in a couple of minutes.
After making my way back to the fridge I decided on the McMenamin's Sunflower IPA. As of late, I have been drinking quite a few IPAs. The Sunflower is up there near the top of them all. On their website they describe it like this "McMenamins Sunflower IPA was first introduced in the summer of 1995 at our West Linn brewery. Inspired by the bountiful sunflowers grown in the pub's beer garden, our IPA has a deep golden color and distinct yet subtle citrus flavors that satisfy both the diehard IPA drinker and those who prefer a lighter palate. Sunflower IPA is truly a beer for the masses."
Yes it is. And in other McMenamin-related news, it sounds like they may be eyeing a location in nearby Kalama for a new restaurant. It sounds like all the talk is still in the early stages but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Beer 83 - 5/9

SLO Brewing's Amber was my 83rd beer, generously provided by the Trout. He's a good man, I don't care what the rumors are here at work, except for the one about his, a gopher, some duct tape and a car battery, that's just gross.

Nate's Beer #82

Last night on my way home I decided to stop and see if I could find a beer that I haven't had yet. What I ended up grabbing was Redhook's spring seasonal Copper Hook. And I was pleasantly surprised. Great, easy going beer that had a little bit of a citrus flavor.
I checked out Redhook's website this morning and discovered that this beer's availibility runs from January to April so I'm glad I grabbed one when I did. On the site they describe it as follows "With it's brilliant copper color, light maltiness, pleasant hop aroma, and distinctive citrus flavor, Copperhook is a perfect companion to warmer temps and longer nights. "
And since it's packing a very solid 5.7% ABV it made me feel happy. I thought it was pretty damn tasty so you should check it out if you get a chance.

beers beers beers

Sunday it was time for a few more coronas, cause if you already have cut limes, it is a shame to let them go to waste. After they were gone it was time for a couple of Dick's: the Lava Rock Porter Sunday and the Working Man's Brown Ale Monday. Tonight was time for that busty red head Siletz Red Ale. I have been eyeing this beauty for the last couple days since I drank the 22 that was in front of it in the fridge. And it was worth the wait. This beer is the best beer I have had this month, and that's saying something after the couple brown ales that I thought were pure money. I think you can probably find these in Portland since I saw a few Siletz at Nate and Ed's, and I recommend picking one up. It's almost as good as McMenamins' Ruby. No shit. Last I am gonna go grab an Alaskan IPA, cause Nate says its good, and that little bright ass green cap keeps calling my name.

Nate's Beer #81

Last night I decided to have a new Alaskan IPA. After checking it out on the website, I discovered that this beer is a special edition that the brewed for the brewery's 21st birthday.

Their site describes it like this "Alaskan IPA offers a fruity, citrus aroma, with a medium body and a clean, refreshing hop finish. Operations Manager Dave Wilson had a hand in refining the final recipe. “What characterizes this beer is its drinkability. We made Alaskan IPA to appeal equally to craft beer drinkers as well as hopheads,” Wilson said.

It was quite refreshing for an IPA. Check it out if you get a chance.