The Rise of Taj

Today I tried to enjoy a bottle of Taj Mahal Premium Lager Beer from India. I think the Ganges River water (and the cremation ash contained therein) they used to brew it may be why I found this beer to be quite unremarkable.

A friend who was visiting from Oregon dragged me out to a buddy's place for beers yesterday afternoon. The guy we went to visit brews his own beer, writes about beer for brewing magazines, organizes beer festivals, and is basically all about beer. I'm going to count his Oktoberfest as my beer of the day, but we actually sampled several different beers (he had 11 kegs to choose from in his garage) including a Trippel that was pretty savage.

Despite rave reviews from Dicko and Goat, I found the Lang's Huckleberry & Honey lager that I drank on Friday to taste absolutely disgusting. It was like Coors Light mixed with watered-down fruit juice. Thursday's beer was Zywiec from Poland.

Wednesday night was an exciting one in Seattle. You see, the Fly Fishing Film Tour was in town and I was able to catch up with my cohorts from the Angling Exploration Group as well as dozens of other fly fishing friends and acquaintances of mine. Before the show, I stopped at Big Time and had a pint of their Cask-Conditioned Prime Time Pale Ale, which was simply delicious. The show and after-party at Murphy's Irish Pub were loads of fun. Working on Thursday after 4 hours of sleep was not.

Tuesday's beer was Baltika #9 Extra Lager from Russia. At 8% alcohol, this isn't your average lager, but was good and quite drinkable despite the high alcohol content.