No me llames frijolero, pinche gringo puñetero

Date: 04/30/2007
Location: Sitting in front of my computer, duh
Song of the day: Frijolero by Molotov

That's right boys and girls, we're mere days away from Cinco de Mayo. Despite common misconceptions among Americans who latched onto this day simply for an excuse to drink, it's NOT Mexican Independence Day (September 16th). In actuality, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the victory of Mexican forces over French occupational forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. So don't just have a beer for Mexico on Saturday, have one to fuck the French too.

The more you know...

Anyway, it's been awhile since my last update, so here are beers 61 through 74:

Hale's Mongoose IPA
SLO Brewing Company Extra Pale Ale
Miller Genuine Draft
Elk Rock Amber Ale
Elk Rock India Pale Ale
Deschutes Brewery Hop Trip Fresh Hop Pale Ale
Krusovice Imperial Czech Premium Lager
Dick's Brewing Company Danger Ale
Brown Brothers RyePA
Staropolskie Mocne
SLO Brewing Company Amber Ale
Moylan's Paddy's Irish Style Red Ale
Pinkus Organic Munster Alt
Pinkus Organic Ur Pils Unfiltered Pilsner

2 reasons

2 reasons why I havent been posting a lot lately 1) I moved to a new desk in what I like to refer as Grand Fucking Central Station and cannot go 30 seconds w/o someone standing behind me with a clear view of my computer screen. It really sucks, not to mention the printer is right there so assholes have their water cooler talks almost right up my ass. 2) I'm a lazy fucker, perhaps because I am drinking so much beer.

So here is what I have been up to since the last post:


4/13/2007 Pocono Amber
4/14/2007 Pocono Blonde
4/15/2007 Pocono Pale
4/16/2007 Pyramid Hefe
4/17/2007 Mirror Pond Pale
4/18/2007 Mac and Jack Amber
4/19/2007 Mac and Jack IPA (served at Jackson's in Yakima)
4/20/2007 Old English 800
4/21/2007 HG 800 ( a product of Old English)
4/22/2007 Hurricane Ice
4/23/2007 Rogue Dead Guy
4/24/2007 Pike Brewing Pale
4/25/2007 Pike Brewing Amber
4/26/2007 SLO Pale Ale
4/27/2007 Belhaven St. Andrews
4/28/2007 Belhaven Scottish Ale
4/29/2007 Belhaven Wee Heavy Ale
4/30/2007 Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA

Nate's Beer #73

Before our wiffleball game yesterday I had a Fiddler's Green Amber Ale to get myself in the correct state of mind. I'm still not sure about this brewery, their beers are good but nothing has really stood out as being a great beer in their lineup. At least it went down nice and smooth.
The good news is that I am still on pace for the one a day, how's everybody else doing (You still there Trout)?

Nate's Beer #72

On Saturday night we had a rambunctious night of bachelor party festivities planned for our good friend Phil that included a trip to a comedy club, some boozing and some other festivities. The plan was for the group to come down to Portland at about 5ish and start drinking at my place before making our way to Harvey's comedy club.
Well earlier in the afternoon Dr. Bert and I got thirsty. So we headed into the heart of the Hollywood District and enjoyed some delicious brews at the Laurelwood Brewery and Public House. It was my first visit to this place and I decided to try a little bit of everything. I started it all off with their Mother Lode golden ale and I was not disappointed. A very smooth beer that went perfect with the beautiful day. After that I tried a Piston pale ale and a Free Range red and enjoyed them both. I see myself making many trips to this little brewery. Great beers, good food and they had some beautiful waitresses. Good times, good fucking times.
As for the bachelor party, wouldn't you like to know.....

romantic shmamantic

So Abby and I went to the Columbia Gorge hotel. We saw the sights, took some cool pictures, saw waterfalls and beautiful views, stayed at a magnificent hotel, had free champagne, really good burgers, shrimp, yada yada yada. But more importantly we went to the Full Sail Brewery, plus they had some full sail beers and others on tap at the hotel. I had a full sail amber while Abby was getting a massage, and then realized I had already checked this one off, so immediately had the Full Sail Ice Axe IPA and an Alaskan Smoked Porter to make up for my mistake.

After that we hit the brewery since the Bite of Portland in Hood River was cash or check only and I don't carry $70 cash around with me usually (seriously, no credit cards? Fuck that shit) But the brewery was better and cheaper, so I enjoyed the Wassail Winter Ale and the Top Sail Imperial Porter, as well as played rock/paper/scissors on the bottom of some sessions bottle caps, and then bought a few 22s to take home and did a little mix and match at Safeway before going back to the hotel. I also enjoyed a few more free tastes at the bar (all bars should do this) and had my first $10 beer, a Saison Dupont (which if that's how much it costs to get a belgium beer I actually like, fuck em) so all in all a great couple days.

Then for today, Nate treated me to a 24oz Kirin Ichiban during wiffleball, which was smooth as always. Then when I finally got home after the long weekend, a Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout really hit the spot. Now its time for bed. Nothing quite like your head hitting your own pillow after being gone a night or two.

Uh...where was I? - Glam

Hmm...it was a rather drinky week. But, for the life of me, I can only recall two new beers.

I'll have to think about this, dig through my purse for the little scraps of paper I write beer information on, rifle through the empty bottle archive (recycle bin), and get back to you.

This week included bloody marys, lemon drops, gin & tonics...and that was just Tuesday. There were also quite a few beers I'd had before. Dick's Danger Ale (yum yum), Skull Creek Lager, the ever perfect Manny's. Thanks go, respectively, to Trout, the Pirate, and Dicko.

The two new beers memorable enough to remember were New Belgium Brewing Co's Mothership Wit (which is organic or wind powered or some shit) and the kissably soft Modelo Especial.

The witbier was perfectly delightful, emphasis on the light. Light and dry, a nice combination. The problem is, Trout was kind enough to follow it up with a couple of Dicks [insert off-color comment here] and that Danger All is just soooo goooood, all other beverages that day quickly receded into dim memory.

It's no secret I love the Negra Modelo and I hold the Especial equally dear. But you know what else I love about the Modelo's? The bottle. If you know me, you know I "talk with my hands" like some kind of crazy, cartoon Italian. The squat, low center of gravity Modelo bottles are a god send to someone like me who has knocked over more than her fair share of long necked beers.

Nate's Beer #71

I woke up this morning missing my socks.... That's because Dateless totally rocked them the fuck off last night.
I went up to the metropolis of Chehalis, Washington last night with my friends Reggie & Margaux. Our friends, Chris & Le-Vy of Dateless, were playing a little all ages rock-n-roll gig with a couple of other bands.
We arrived in the big city and found the venue for the evening and even spotted our buddies' van. Only when we went inside to find them (the venue, not the van), they weren't there. So we walked back outside and noticed a little tavern next door. And wouldn't you know it, our friends were inside (crazy huh?). So we made our way into the tavern and had a couple of brews (I chose Dick's Danger Ale) while visiting with our friends.
The show started shortly there after, and Kevin summed it up best by calling it "a fucking high school talent show", I had a good laugh at this since it was true. All the other bands were horrible. Lucky for me there was beer next door and Dateless rawked like they always do! Thanks for the good times guys and thanks for driving Go-go.

taking it easy

I decided to have only one beer last night. And it was Moose Drool. And if you are only gonna have one beer in a night, this is a good choice. I forgot how much I miss this beer, and will probably try and drink a few more this year even though its already checked off.

Right now I am enjoying a Rogue Monk Madness Ale. I can't figure out what it tastes like. Kind of like an amber IPA. I like it.

Later tonight I got frustrated with the stupid stereo system. So I grabbed a Rogue Shakespeare Stout, cause the people at the brewery said this was one of their best beers. And they could be right, cause this is one of the best stouts I have besides BJ's Tatonka. And to finish of the night, I am gonna go grab a Big Sky Powder Hound Winter Ale. Then I'm gonna go pass out watching Pirates of the Caribbean with the sound turned way up. Disney makes some pretty good movies, if you don't mind that kind of thing.

Nate's Beer #70

Last night I discovered a new brewery that I really enjoy. It is the Lucky Labrador Brewery located on 9th & Hawthorne in byootiful PDX. My buddy from high school, Bronson, was in town from Yakima (the Palm Springs of Washington) and we met up with our other good friend Brandon.
We met up right outside the back entrance and I immediately thought that this place is something special. The brewery itself is housed in an older warehouse and they have a nice little covered area out back with picnic tables. Well since the brewery is named after a dog, and Portland is a very dog-friendly city, dogs were allowed in the back area.
We made our way through the dogs and inside to the bar to order some drinks. I decided to go with a sampler and checked out the Quality Rye, Super Dog amber, Got Hops? IPA, Black Lab Stout and Oatmeal Porter. They were all fucking delicious. After those I sampled a little bit of Bronson's hummus (okay a lot of the hummus) and sampled off of the pitcher they were splitting (Ludwig's Alt ale).
Shortly there after we were met by more friends (Peter, Azure, Dr. Bert, Erik W., Matt, Carlos & Joy) and we proceeded to drink numerous pitchers. Most of the group has ties to Longview somehow so it was nice to sit around and drink good beer and catch up.
Over the course of the evening people started leaving to go home. Around 11.30 it was Bronson, Brandon, Carlos, Joy and I left and we started talking about some steak and some boobies. That's right, the Acropolis. For some reason I decided not to go, but to instead head home and get at least a little sleep before work today.
It was probably a good idea since I was still drunk when I woke up. At about 11 this morning the hangover started to hit. It's been a rough afternoon, wish me luck.

Have a great weekend everybody!

frustration and beer do not mix

I bowled last night. I did good, but there were no new beers, so 32oz of domestic later I went home to try and upgrade my computer. And spent an hour just trying to get the cover off since I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING IN MY HOUSE WHEN I AM LOOKING FOR IT, INCLUDING A FUCKING SCREWDRIVER. Finally found one, realized I needed the little computer screwdriver, never found one of those, looked at the computer again to find it had tiny little rivet like screws, searched for something small enough to loosen those, then gave up in frustration and went and played halo 2 online and killed some fuckers. I had a heineken light, and can't even remember tasting it I was so pissed off.

To cap it all off, I found online today that the cover slides off with the simple lift on a new latch that computers have on the back, and I got the cover off, cleaned the inside, installed memory and a new video card, all during lunch, in less time than it took to search for a screwdriver yesterday. Fuck.

Nate's Beer #69

So I'm thinking that Deschutes Brewing is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I've always enjoyed the Mirror Pond, Cinder Cone and Black Butte and recently have tried some of their other beers and enjoyed them also. So I was looking forward to trying the seasonal Buzzsaw Brown. And I was not disappointed. I thought it was pretty damn good even though I'm not really a fan of brown beers. They may just be cause I haven't tried very many yet but the last one I had, Beer Town Brown, was nothing to write home about.

I'm thinking a trip to the Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon may be in store this Summer. Who's coming with me?

Saving Tecate

Well, with another night out at a mexican restaurant, I have 2 less beers available for Cinco de Mayo. I had a Carta Blanca and a Bohemia with nachos and fajihtas last night, and they were both pretty good. The carta was kind of like mexican bud light, and the bohemia was a little better. This leaves Tecate as the only mexican beer I know of, so one of those and a bucket of coronas are probably in store for me next Saturday.

As for the rest of the night, I down the three Metolius beers I had in the fridge, brewed by Portland Brewing. The Brookie Pale Ale, the Cutthroat IPA, and the Hare's Ear Hefeweisen. All pretty good, although the Pale was the best.

Nate's Beer #68

No Pity Pale Ale @ the Goodfoote. Delish.

Nate's Beer #67

So last night after work I decided to call Gus up and see how his first day of work was. I was just heading over to the wiffleball field when he invited me over to drink a brew with him. So I wandered out to the fridge and when I opened it, I caught a little glimpse of what heaven looks like. It was fanfuckingtastic.

Gus tried giving me the Deschutes Mirror Pond that he owes me, but no I had other ideas. I tossed the Mirror Pond back into his fridge and grabbed a 22 of Rogue. I asked him if he had already enjoyed the Hazelnut Brown Nectar and he said yes and that it was delicious. I told him I was gonna drink it and I owed him ten ounces of beer. So the next time Gus is down to my place I plan on opening a brewski for him, drinking two ounces off the top and then handing it to him.

I mean after all, what are friends for?

new posting schedule

yeah, so flipping your life upside down with a new job and all that means a somewhat altered posting schedule for me. As in, instead of at work every day, we are looking at more like at home when I remember. So here goes for the last few days.

Wednesday was a Pyramid Curve Ball and a few already checked off beers at the last Blazer game of the season, including an after party celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Blazer Championship in 77. Beer is not cheap at Blazer games, and although I was happy to see my regular beer stand take my advice and bring in something new for me to try, this was the last new beer at the stadium, and probably okay that the season is over at $8 a fucking beer (like Glam said).

Thursday was my last day at the Bank and a few co-workers and my CEO treated me to a couple pitchers of domestic already checked off, which was nice. I wish we could have done that kind of stuff more often, but everyone is busy these days, so what can you do. I made a pitstop at the wiffleball field for the first time this season, and after a free Miller High Life (thanks Jones) and some batting practice, I am ready for my first game sometime this week. I also had a Pete's Wanderlust Cream Ale before heading to the bar, as well as a Pike Kilt Lifter (love this beer) after I got home, so all in all a pretty good day.

Then I had to get up at 7:00 for a golf tournament on my one day off I was taking before switching jobs. I know, I know, rough day huh? But it was beautiful, and the tournament had carts with kegs of Fat Tire, so I didn't cross off any beers until a Henry's Blonde Ale that night, and didn't cross off any at all Saturday cause all I had was henry's and wine. But Alex and I tied for 1st in the scramble and won $50 each along with Josh and Steve who works with Alex and sprung for the tournament (thanks Steve), then our volleyball team moved up and took 4th in Silver at Regionals over the weekend (12th out of 94 teams) so all in all it was a good weekend. I even managed to have a Lagunita's Brown Shugga when I got home Sunday, so wasn't a complete slacker. And that beer is good. If you have the means I highly recommend picking one up.

And last of all, today was a nice 22 of Rogue Sea Horse Pale Ale. It was alright and I would drink it again, but not for $5 when other good pales range from $2-4 in comparison. I also passed out on the couch to Star Wars and a Pike Pale Ale, which was good, and the comfy couch after my first day at the Credit Union are the reason for me typing this at 12:15 instead of 9:45 like I intended...

Derby + Beer. Is anything better?

So, I was at the roller derby on Saturday. The Rat City Roller Girls were trying out a new venue which RAWKED! Plush seats, great sound system, plenty of potties. The only complaint I have about the new venue is, rather than the $3 PBRs they normally have, the new place only had Bud and Bud Light. For EIGHT EFFING DOLLARS! In a plastic cup, no less. Ugh.

My beer for Saturday was Bud Light and, needless to say, at eight bucks a pop I didn't get my usual derby buzz on. Didn't matter. The elbow throwing and bum waggling were equally intoxicating.

Nate's Beers #64, 65 & 66

Happy Monday everybody, hope you all had wonderful weekends! Gus, good luck on the new job today.
Friday I spent the evening in Longview at a little party with some very good friends enjoying some Heinekens and chatting it up with the coach. After the party I decided to just stay at my parents house, since I had been drinking and didn't feel like an hour drive to get home. My parents were at the beach on a clamming expedition so I figured I'd have the place to myself. Once I got there I realized my step-brother Jon was home from College and entertaining a couple of lady friends. They invited me to hang out and we played smoke or fire until I ended up passing out. Great night!
I woke early Saturday and made my way home to Portland. After arriving home I crawled back in bed for a little more shut-eye. After waking up (again) Dr. Bert and I made our way out to Pier Park for a round of disc-golf. I played like shit but the beers at McMenamin's St. John's theatre-pub made it all worthwhile. While we were leaving St. John's we grabbed a couple of 22's for later enjoyment. Later that evening we mixed up a couple of Rubyheads and they went down smooth! Very enjoyable.
Yesterday we played our two games of wiffleball winning both. Dr. Bert hit two more homeruns in the first game and we cruised to a 6-0 victory. In game two I hit a bomb but tried to give the win away by coming in to pitch the sixth inning. We held on to win, just barely beating the Blazers 3-2. After the game I decided to enjoy my Deschutes Bachelor ESB that's been hanging out in my fridge since the start of this whole 365 thing. It was very tasty just like the rest of the Deschutes lineup.

Yesterday was a Good Week for Beer - Glam

This week was full of pleasant surprises, of the beverage variety and otherwise...

There was the frosty cold bottle of Warsteiner Premium Verum "naturally brewed according to the German Purity Law". (Do we need to mention Hitler again?) This beer was not unpleasant. That's about all I can think to say about it.

The last of the ales from the Pocono Six Pack Fairy was quaffed this week. The Blonde Ale. Thanks Alpine Trout.

Ooh! The next day I had the great pleasure of savoring an Abita Amber. Also a gift from Trout and I told him before, so good I wanted to cry. Oh, and Trout, thanks for not not needing me to come up and post bail for you that night.

Yesterday, I properly got caught up on my brews. At lunch I had a Boundary Bay Scotch Ale. Malty, rich brown, full flavor and body, a little molasses-y. SO GOOD. And then, in honor of my lunch date, I had an Arrogant Bastard. Also a winner! And, unlike Hoegaarten and micro-brew porter, the Boundary Bay ale and the Arrogant Bastard accompanied each other beautifully. Here's a funny little animation perfectly illustrating the spirit of Arrogant Bastard.

There was some slap and tickle on the way back from lunch but I'll spare the details. The "work" day ended with a round of Mike's Hards with my co-worx lady friends. Flavor? Crisp Apple. Although it looked like cider, it tasted exactly like green apple Jolly Rancher. Not suited to my pallet. Here's the link to Mike's Hard. It's a very busy website sure to appeal to the 12-18 demographic.

And, as yesterday was the holiest of the high holidays, I capped off the evening with a fully packed pipe, pizza left over from lunch, and a viewing of Grandma's Boy followed by Smokin' Aces. (Both HIGHLY recommended!) If that's not a goddamn perfect day, I don't know what is.
.

Nate's Beer #63

So after getting home last night, Dr. Bert and I went and met some of his co-workers at the Bridgeport Brewery. It was my first time visiting this brewery and I really like the place. One thing in particular that I really liked was the "beer board" that hung behind the bar. It had all their beers listed with OG, IBUs and ABV listed right there. It helped me tremendously.

I started the evening off with my beer for the day, Old Knucklehead Barleywine Ale. It was pretty smooth compared to other barley wine style brews I've had. I definitely recommend it. After that I decided to try the Ropewalk ale and it was also delish. For my third beer I went with the Beer Town Brown. I was not impressed by this beer at all. It wasn't bad by any means, but just kinda blah... Oh well, two good brews and one decent paired with a fun group of people is always a good time.

Nate's Beer #62

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a comedy show at Harvey's in Portland with my good friends Reggie & Margaux. They had won tickets (16 of them) and invited a group of family and friends.
While we were there I noticed that they had a Harvey's IPA. Seeing how that was the only real unusual beer on tap I immediately decided I would be drinking that for the evening. And it was delicious, all five of them.
The first comedian was a younger guy from Portland. He was fricking hilarious. He busted out some beat-box near the end of his routine that had Margaux and I rolling. I really can't describe it with any justice.
The headliner was none other than Vic Dunlop. You may be asking yourself "who?" but I know that if you saw the guy, you'd recognize him. He's been in a bunch of movies and was also fricking hilarious.
As he was leaving the stage after his set, the emcee called him back on. He said he needed a volunteer from the crowd and guess who got picked. That's right, this guy. I'm hoping to get video of the last part from some friends, which I'll post here so you can see the hilarity go down. It was one of the funnest nights I've ever had where boobies weren't involved.

Speaks For Itself

More Mexican Beers

Nate is right, I am jealous of his taste of the Mothership Wit, but he is wrong to think its news, since I tried to get him to go to the Spring brew fest where the Wit would be served. Oh well, at least he still found some locally.

As for me, I enjoyed a Negra Modelo, then a Modelo Especial with some Mexican food Monday night. Then to keep the fun rolling, enjoyed a Dos Equis and a Dos Equis Amber from my fridge with some Mario's pepperoni Tuesday night while I downloaded new Halo 2 Maps. Dicko? We on for some 365 drinking over the 360 this week sometime?

I like evey single one of these beers, except for that I am down to Tecate and Carta Blanca and that Tequiza shit when it comes to Cinco de Mayo. Of course I am way ahead of goal right now, so having a Corona or sixteen on the 5th should be okay...

Nate's Beer #61

If I had to name my favorite brewery I'd only be able to narrow the list to three. I just recently was re-introduced to the wonderful Rogue brewery and have made Dead Guy a staple of my disc golf weekends. A couple of years ago I discovered McMenamins, and it's been a wonderful relationship since as they brew great beer and I drink it. But before that the first brewery that I really liked and followed was New Belgium.

My buddy Chris introduced me to Fat Tire probably seven years ago. It was love at first sip. After that I tried every New Belgium beer I could find. The 1554 quickly became a favorite along with the Blue Paddle and Abbey. Sunshine is one of the tastiest wheat beers out there (in my opinion) and Trippel has always been good. My favorite though has to be last year's Summer seasonal Skinny Dip. I hope that they release this beer again this Summer. I've also tried the other seasonals 2 Below, Saison and Springboard.

So you can imagine my joy yesterday after I had arrived home and found the new Mothership Wit in my fridge. It's New Belgium's first attempt at an Organic beer and it was way better than any organic I've tried so far. It's a Belgium "Wit" style beer with some coriander and citrus spices that remind me of Blue Moon a little bit. I definitely recommend checking this bad boy out.

Mongi

We had some Mongoose IPA and it was good. Yep, that 2 seconds it took me to throw it down really hit the spot.

The next three beers were generously donated by Trout.

#57 Pocono Amber - tasted like I thought it would, ok.

#58 Pocono Blonde - tasted like I thought it would, ok.

#59 Pocono Pale - tasted like I thought it would, ok.

#60 Pyramid Hefe - tasted like I thought it would, shit.

So congrats to you Pocono Brewing company, you don't taste like shit.

Nate's Beers #59 & #60

Sunday after dominating at wiffleball and enjoying a little BBQ with my last couple of 1620's, I made my way to McMenamins to pick up a couple of Rubys and a couple of Hammerheads. Unfortunately for me, they were all out of Ruby in 22s so I was only able to get a couple of Hammerheads. I gave one to Dr. Bert and enjoyed the other myself. I was a little tired that evening and actually fell asleep (passed out?) while trying to finish it. But since I drank over 12 oz. I'm counting the mofo. If you don't like it, get bent.
Monday evening I had a Bridgeport IPA before turning my attention to some PBR tall-boys. It was the first time I had tried Bridgeport's IPA and I thought it was good. And the Pabst was good as always. I mean, if it's good enough to win a blue ribbon, it's good enough for Nate.

Sixty beers later

Another week, another 7 beers.

On Tuesday I met up with some friends at Goldie's for a few pitchers of PBR, which I decided to break down and count as my beer for the day. I had hoped to save this one for later since it's a 509 fishing weekend staple, but I guess I'll just have to plan ahead this season.

Samuel Smith's India Ale was my choice for Wednesday (so-so IPA), followed up on Thursday with a beer that always seems to live up to its name - Skullsplitter Ale from the Orkney Brewery.

Some coworkers and I hit up Pyramid for lunch on Friday, so I decided to go with one of their beers that I had been intentionally avoiding as long as I had been going there. As it turns out, I'd been making the right decision because their Oregon Honey Beer is fucking gross. Actually, it's not even really "gross", it just tastes as close to nothing as you can get and still call it beer. Watered-down Coors Light with a slightly sweet aftertaste would be a pretty accurate description. I'm definitely counting it because I never want to taste that crap again. Fortunately, I was able to follow it up with a few pints of Manny's after our local after work dive (the one that Glam is 86'd from) and a $2 Fat Tire at the Treasure Casino.

Saturday found me on the Olympic Peninsula with some buddies on our way to fish Neah Bay on Sunday. I picked up a bottle of Port Townsend Brewing Winter Ale at the Safeway in Port Angeles and enjoyed that while we watched Fast Times At Ridgemont High in our crappy hotel room in Sekiu.

My plan for Sunday was to cap off the weekend with a good beer at home before going to bed, but I was too tired to go shopping and didn't have any new beers in the fridge at home. Alas, I had to count the Coors Light I had after fishing, so that's two macros gone in one week that I had been hoping to save. Fishing was kind of so-so, but we got to chase a grey whale around, although with cameras, not harpoons"...



In order to prevent any more of these macro beer mishaps, I went beer shopping after work and loaded my refrigerator with a new selection. Tonight's choice was Zhiguliovskoye Golden Beer from Russia. It was a fairly light lager (4%), nothing special, but not bad either.

3 days (cont.)

You can only post so many labels (i.e. drink so many beers) before blogger tells you to go fuck yourself you stupid alcoholic. So here is part 2.

Sunday after another tournament and long day of my knee fucking killing me, I treated myself to a huge ibuprofin and a left over pain killer, a dip in the hottub, and a Mike's Light Lemondade, a Mike's Cranberry Lemonade, a Shinerbock, a Full Sail LTD 02, and a BBQ. It was nice, and followed by passing out with my friend dead guy ale. A shame to let that last sip go to waste, but the couch was comfortable.

This week is my last at the bank before I start a new job, so although my schedule is packed, I plan to knock more than my scheduled alottment of beers off the list this week, which is making me drool on the keyboard as I type this.

3 days of beers

In the interest of time, I'll cut to the chase. Weekend included volunteer stuff that Dicko doesn't want to hear about, but it also included beers, which Dicko does want to hear about.

Friday was a couple Pete's beers from the fridge, the Wicked Ale (good), and the Strawberry Blonde (great beer, going to get more this summer for sure), and a Pyramid Thunderhead IPA, which I thought I already had, and then found that I hadn't crossed it off yet, and it was free from the hospitality room (read beer suite) at the Lions conference. And free equals good. As did the free budweiser, and the free black butte for breakfast/lunch and the free full sail pale both days. Saturday when I got home, I treated myself to an afternoon of Dick's. The Danger Ale, the IPA, the Irish Single Ale, and the Double Diamond Winter Ale. All wondeful, although I think I liked the Irish the best.

I Like My Beer Like I Like My Men - Glam

Rich. Brown. With a full body, great balance, and a slow, sweet finish.

I Must Have Been Hitler in a Past Life - Glam

Okay, okay. It's been awhile.

Without going into the boring details, there is a very real possibility that it will be goddamn medically necessary for me to stop drinking beer. And wine. And booze. I'm totally panicking at the thought of it. I'm 10 behind. Not bad considering I haven't been able to drink anything with any regularity for nearly a month.

I know, I know...cry me a river, right?

So here's what I HAVE had:

Franziskaner Hefeweizen
Ropewalk Amber Ale
Urquell Pilsner
Rat City IPA - effing delicious. FINALLY, an IPA I like!
Mongoose IPA
Pocono Pale Ale
Pocono Amber Ale

There was also more Elysian Perseus Porter and an indiscrete number of Gins and Tonics. But of course, those don't count for anything but the pure joy they gave me.
.

Catching up again....

Beer #55 (Wednesday, April 11th) I had a Weinhard's Blonde Ale while watching some wiffleball at Jones' house. The game was good, the beer was alright and the weather was shitty.

Beer #56 (Thursday, April 12th) I had a Weinhard's Blue Boar Pale Ale after work. I have always enjoyed Blue Boar. I was introduced to it when I was about 21 or 22 by a now ex-girlfriend and immediately liked it.

Beer #57 (Friday, April 13th) I stopped by a couple of stores on my way home to buy wiffleball for the league and one of those stores just so happened to be Fred Meyers. So I grabbed myself a six pack of Hollande 1620 lager and twelve 3-packs of wiffleballs. And then I went home and drank the 1620 and it tasted exactly like Heineken. Good but not very original.

Beer #58 (Satruday, April 14th) My roomie Dr. Bert and I headed on down to McMenamins on Broadway where we enjoyed a pitcher of Ruby and a pitcher of Rubinator (half Ruby, half Terminator). They were fabulous. I'm counting the Rubinator on the day.

Dicko and Trout (and Friend) at Work

So, on Friday the 13th, we traditionally celebrate at work with a couple of mongooses (mongeese?) and a cute brunette.

What did you do?

Dad's Birthday

The 11th was pretty mellow, except I found that I have had every single kind of beer that they have at the bowling alley, so I had a 32oz bud and a 32oz michelob ultra cause I was thirsty. Then I went home and had a regular Michelob and crossed that off the list. I bought my first bowling ball this week, and improved on my average by about 20 pins each of the first two games, then bombed the 3rd game. But my ball is crimson and grey, so I got that going for me.

The 12th was Dad's birthday. So I let him take me golfing and buy me lunch and a couple beers. They had a cerveza called Bahia Lager, which was kind of close to sol and the other lighter mexican beers. It was good, and a good way to start off some golf in kind of rainy weather. Then I tried my hardest to let my Dad win for his birthday, but he was just putting horribly so I beat him by a few shots instead. The I had a McEwan's Scotch Ale. It was strong enough that I could feel just one beer going to my head. Plus I don't think I am a big scotch ale fan, but it was okay I guess.

But I did share a 22oz of Rogue Dad's Little Helper with him that I had been saving for his birthday. Then I was out of choices since all the beers my parents had are ones I have already crossed off, so I had a pacifico, a couple really good glasses of wine, a really good white russian with starbucks coffee liquor, carmel, cream, and butterscotch liquor, and vodka...and proceeded to go to sleep about 9:00 last night. It was nice. Plus I got my dad a 15 year old bottle of scotch, so I have a glass of that to look foward to next time I am over there.

Easter beers and more...

Rockstar 21 - Not unlike Sparks, but it tastes a little better, much like the NA Rockstar enegery drink. It actually tastes good with vodka too. I got wasted and played beer pong with it, it was great idea until my wife had to drive me home.

Michelob Ultra - One of my favorite beers because I can keep my amazing physique. Its like drinking water, water that gets you drunk.

Michelob - My uncle's drink of choice and since I was at his place for Easter, I drank all of his beer.

Sparks - So I like energy drinks that have alcohol in them. You just have to be careful how many you drink or you may be looking at a bitter beer face, but because of sweetness....oh and you could go into cardiac arrest.

Sparks Light - Much easier on the heart.

Busch Light - Without this beer, I wouldnt have been able to afford college and beer at the same time. For that, I thank you.

Sierra Nevada Pale - Its Sierra Nevada Pale, nuf said.

Roger's Pilsner - Another Georgetown Brewing beer. As good as the rest of em.

Pete's Wicked Ale - Never been a fan of Pete's, but its ok. Should be called Pete's "sorta bad" Ale, not quite wicked.

17% of goal

I think last night's selection of Lagunita's Censorsed Copper Ale and their Pale Ale puts me at 122, which is 17% of my goal, about 2% ahead of schedule. And they were good too. I'm glad I have a few extra Copper ales in the fridge in case anyone wants to try one. And Dicko, I'm finally back on the 360 if you want to share a 365 beer while shooting some bad guys.

Nate's Beer #54

So last night I enjoyed a Mactarnahan's Amber Ale. And I seriously enjoyed it. What a tasty fluckin beer. I will most definitely be drinking this beer again in the near future.
This weekend I look forward to trying to finish up the beers that I picked up at Belmont Station about two months ago. With all the different beers I've been drinking I have neglected a couple of ones that have just kinda been hangin out in the fridge. So I'm gonna have to drink a couple of those and I'll probably have a couple of Ruby's from McMenamins too.

Brewfest is comin

For those of you that are like me and plan to try and make a weekend out of brewfest, I have signed up to volunteer on Thursday or Friday, for which you get a free mug, a free tshirt, and free tokens to use after you are done volunteering. The link is oregonbrewfest volunteer if you are interested, and I added to my sign up about inquiring if multiple people could ensure they had the same shift, in case any of you were coming with me. Thought it would be cool if a few of us were there all weekend trying are hardest to drink all the beers.

Speaking of which, they posted breweries list so you can see what you are up against at the end of July. Man I can't wait. This page also has a countdown, and we are T-minus 106 days or so.

No worries....

I am still drinking....

I had a coaster with about 5 beers written on it that got thrown away, I am trying to figure out what those beers were, then I will post them.

Some exciting news is that Rockstar 21 is one of the drinks...mmm mmm good.

Nate's Beers #49 thru 53

Sorry I've been super lazy as of late. It just seems like I don't have the time to sit down and post about each and every beer. And quite frankly I'm running out of things to say about every different beer. So here's a quick recap of where I'm at...

Thursday, April 5th (Beer #49)
Last Thursday I went and had sushi with some friends. The normal place we go to just hired a new sushi chef and I was a little disappointed. It all tasted great, it just wasn't what I was expecting. But the sake bombs on the other hand, always good. I also drank some Kirin Ichiban but since I've already counted that I need something else for the day. So I fell back to the old reliable standby, Budweiser a.k.a. the King of Beers.

Friday, April 6th (Beer #50)
Friday I arrived home to notice that Dr. Bert was kind enough to go pick up some new brews. So I decided to try the Fiddler's Green Blonde. I had never heard of this brewery before and now I know why. It's not that the beer was bad, it just wasn't amazing. I think I may be turning into a beer snob.

Saturday, April 7th (Beer #51)
After a very nice day of disc golf I headed up to Longview to watch the UFC at Hewey's house. There were some great fights but I'm a little upset that St. Pierre got the shit kicked out of him. After the fights I enjoyed some Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale during a game of presidents and assholes (which I dominated like usual).

Sunday, April 8th (Beer #52)
Very Early Easter Sunday (1 AM) I enjoyed another of the Deschutes brews. This time I went with the Inversion IPA. It was pretty tasty but I was also pretty drunk at the time. Another tasting is definitely in order.

Monday, April 9th (Beer #53)
Last night I enjoyed some George Killian's Irish Red during a wiffleball game at Jones Field. It was some very good beer and the game wasn't half bad either.
Speaking of wiffleball (amazing huh?) I will be up in the Seattle area sometime in the second week of July for a wiffleball tourney. I'm thinking I may have to hook up with Dicko, the Goat and Trout for some Manny's. What do you guys say?

The Sonics Dancers are Hot

I was always wondering if they looked better from a distance, but I scored a front row ticket tonight (right behind the VIP section), and I've got to hand it to them... At least when you're up close, the dancers distract you from the Sonics getting their ass kicked by Yao Ming and Co.

Key Arena is the only place I know of where you can get Pyramid Full Court Amber, so I had a few of those, then finished it off with some unknown macro that I stole from a coworker in the seat next to me when he got up to do whatever the hell he did for the entire 3rd and half of the 4th (after finally showing up for the game at half time, drunk off his ass). He almost got kicked out as it was. If he had drank that beer, he probably would have been arrested, so I did him a favor.

Since my last report, I've had Harbin Lager from China, Abbey du Val-Dieu Blond and Triple Ales from Belgium, as well as Bottleworks 8th Anniversary 140 Shilling Scotch Ale that they had specially brewed for them in beautiful Port Townsend, WA (a 22oz bottle at a mere 10.4%). That's all for now. 312 days to go...

another day, more beers

Rogue Half-e-weizen - Good, nice to find another good hefe.
Guinness Stout - Good of course, and funny considering Alex's post a few spots below.
Caguama - not bad, fun to try other mexican beers, especially when the end up tasting good and not like piss. actually good with or without lime.
Caguam Light - had this one without the lime, they are both good beers. I will buy again next time they are cheaper than Corona.
Rock Green Light - The only beer at the bowling alley I hadn't had yet when I went into buy a ball finally so I'm not the only fucker using a house ball in league. And although I hated this beer the first time I tried it, and vowed not to have it ever again, it was the only choice, and actually wasn't that bad. Definitely a good beer if you are thirsty, and not a good beer if you are not, but only because it is pretty watery.

And I am up to 120 beers now. Baby.

This reminded me of Alex....

Catching up, again

Like AT said, its not an easy task to try and keep track of and post beers drank. Now that I have taken the time to create a spreadsheet, I think I can do better. So I had a chance to down a few this past couple weekends, including a trip to McMenamin's:

McMenamin's:
Hammerhead
Terminator
Ruby
Rubinator (1/2 Termy, 1/2 Ruby)

Others:
Henry's Organic Amber- not so good.
Mirror Pond- Yummy, as always.
Corona
Bud Light
Coors Light
Harp Irish Lager- always good.

So call me a slacker, but I am at 19. Since I have 12 mixed from taking 2nd place in the basketball pool and I have a week vacation at the end of the month, I'd like to get to 30 or 40 by May. That way I'm at least resepctable in this little contest.

And this little pic for your enjoyment:

Help with your taxes

I needed a little help with my taxes, so I tried Steinlager, imported by High Falls Brewery.

I also started the day off with a Pilsner Urquell, which was also good. Most of the imports in green bottles seem to be pretty good, so I am glad I have a few more in the fridge.

one more

I just found out labels can be only 200 characters, so that means a seperate post since I drank too much today (and am on a white russian now)

Add the Big Sky Summer Honey (not impressed) and the Rogue Santa's Private Reserve (new favorite winter beer) to that list for today, and for good measure a Spanish Peaks Black Dog Amber Ale, which as I have my first taste is good, and makes me realize between this and the Sleemans, that the dark ambers I like, the light ambers I do not.Holy shit, its one of those days. Add a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine and a North Coast PranQster Ale to the list. (the barelywine good, the pranqster is a belgian, I am decided 100%, I do not like belgian ales right now.)

The end

The quest, final chapter

Wednesday it was time for a drive home, some wine tasting, some outlet mall shopping, and preparing to work the next few days. After hitting the century mark already, it was time to take it easy, and a New Belgium Abbey (belgian beers not floatin my boat right now) to finish off the trip. Thursday it was a big oil can of Foster's Special Bitter after being back to work and breaking the news to the rest of the people at work that don't know I am taking a new job at the end of this month. We will have to go out and celebrate 365 style when Abby and I can get up to Seattle or you fools can make it down here. I need a new job just to be able to afford all this beer...

Anyways, last night I found myself at Shaun and Angela's to try out their new BBQ since it was warm and nice for 2 whole days, and Shaun and I decided the weather called for a Mexican mix and match. We got every type they had in bottle form, and I enjoyed a Corona Light, a Sol, and a Pacifico.

Ending with today. I'm sure this will require an update since it's only noon, but so far the Sleeman's Original Dark Amber is restoring my faith in Ambers one sip at a time while accompaning steak and potatoes as I type. This is from the sixer Alex gave me for March Madness. And it puts me at 113 different beers in 51 days, with half of today still left for drinking. My coach would be proud.

Sweet wonderful Saturday with no work. I love you. And an aquarium pic to leave you with.

Still drinkin

The Quest, part Quatro

No one else is posting, and it is raining when I planned to go golfing, so onto the next day, Tuesday. It was off to the Oregon Aquarium for some pictures to show Abby's class (3rd graders) and then back to Rogue and a trip to the local Albertsons for a few beer purchases...

There is some Siletz and some Rogue 22z to keep the other beers in my fridge company. Lunch at Rogue was good as well, as they make a great burger. I had the 10,000 Brew, a special release Imperial, then the Russian Imperial Stout. All the imperials (the XS series) are described as too much of one thing. Way too much hops, way too bitter, way too strong, etc. and they were wonderful. Then it was back to the beach and the decision to stay in Lincoln City for a night, which allowed me to find some dinner and their only beer on the menu I hadn't had yet was the Rogue Hazelnut Brown I tasted the day before, so that was my choice. And I love this beer. A lot. If you look closely you can see that in the 24 22s above, all of them are new beers, except I slipped in a Hazelnut Brown. It's that good. Then I finished the night with another Springboard, and a New Belgium Trippel. I realized I don't like belgian beers very much. They are right up there with Ambers for me right now. I'll drink em, but only cause I am drinking as many different beers as I can in a year.

Beer, sweet nectar of the gods

better known as "The quest, part C."


So what would you do if you were in Newport with no commitments? Me too, I drank all day. A Fish Tale IPA organic (the least bad of the organics) with a light early lunch, a Steelhead Extra Pale with the seafood platter at lunch, then onto the Rogue brewery.

The Rogue Brewery was a wonderful trip. Abby got the taster, 4 generous sized taster glasses of the Oregon Golden, the Honey Orange Wheat, the Juniper Ale, and the Hazelnut Brown for me. All 4 of these were good, but didn't count because they were only 2 or 3 ounces and Abby drank 2 of them. Two would count, but no go on the one taster. I of course had to get a pint too, and the Dry Irish Stout was no slouch, priming me for the wonderful tour we were about to go on. We also got free tastes of the Saint Rogue Red, followed by a free pint on the tour of the same, so this was my second Rogue beer of the day. At the end of the tour, we were asked to join Rogue Nation, and in order to join you needed a beer to toast, to which I responded by downing my beer and proclaiming I was out, and was treated to a cup of Kells Irish Lager, which was equally as wonderful, especially since it was free. I also got all of you a surprise, which I will give to you guys when I see you and get your sixers I won...I will have to mail Emily's.

Then it was back to the hotel while I could still drive and a Bass Pale ale at dinner accompanied by another siletz oatmeal stout watching Florida win, a Wolavers IPA and Wolavers Pale, both organics and both very mediocre, a new belgium springboard, and finished up with a Stone Mille Pale organic at the end of the day listening to the waves crash on the shore. Wonderful.

On a quest part deux

So there I am, checked into my new fancy hotel at the beach in Newport looking out at the ocean, and thinking, man I could use a beer. So without even changing or anything, off to the hotel restaurant it was for some outstanding NW Paella for me (the special, oooohh, with shrimp, clams, oysters, sausage, chicken, veggies, all over spicy rice) and some crab stuffed prawns for Abby, and a couple beers from Siletz brewing outside Newport, the Amber and the Oatmeal stout. I know I have said I haven't been diggin the ambers lately, but this one was good.

These good examples also prompted me to pick up a sixer of 22s at the local market before I headed home, and here is the Siletz brewery link for those of you interested. There is a barleywine for Nate, which I plan to get along with the imperial porter if I can get back down to Newport to visit again. (There is a Brewers fest Mid-May at Rogue for those of you interested. Celebrating the life of the brewer's dog named Brewer, and a new beer released in the dogs honor who passed away.) The Siletz stout was worth trying if you like the dark beers. I actually had anther one the next day while watching Florida win me beers from you guys. (Emily, you can just send money. Email me and I will send you the address. eguttormsen@comcast.net) I also had a Fish tale organic Amber before bed, and absolutely hate this beer as well as organics and could barely get myself to finish it. Organics suck, and seeing as I brought 4 or 5 with me, you will here this again in the next few posts...

On a quest, part one

So, last Friday, Bo says lets have a few beers, maybe go bowling. Fast foward to a day after my little vacation, and I think I knocked 24 different beers off the list in 6 days since my last post. Yaaaay me. Part one includes a tale of woe beginning with a New Belgium Sunshine, a Fire Drill ESB, a Fire Hydrant Hefeweizen, then continuing with bowling some pretty decent games up over 180 during rockin-bowl and a few large mgds, then a Heineken or two, then continuing for some reason with a few or more Coronas, and ending with a very late night prayer to the porcelin god, or so I am told. Guess it sounded like I was dying, and considering it's been so long since this happened, it will probably be a good reminder of why I am enjoying the beer or two a day routine instead of the beer or 12 a couple times a week routine.

Saturday was low key, and only a New Belgium Blue Paddle and Henry's Private Reserve to keep the gods happy. Then it was onto a bender and some vacation drinking, which included brewery and wine tours to be detailed in all their glory tomorrow.

Nate's Beer #48

Last night I enjoyed myself a couple of Miller High Lifes a.k.a. the Champagne of Beers. They were so enjoyable. Here's to you Lady on the Moon.

Catchin' Up

Ok, blogging is not my thing. I don't have enough discipline to keep up on it. Here's my latest tally of beers since my last update.

Abita Amber
Bison Brewing Company Chocolate Stout
Lang Creek Brewery Skydiver Blonde
Lang Creek Brewery Tri-Motor Amber Ale
Lion Brewery Pocono Blonde Ale
Lion Brewery Pocono Amber Ale
Abbey du Val-Dieu Brown Ale
Lion Brewery Pocono Pale Ale

Nate's Beer #47

So last night, before heading back to Portland after work, I stopped by to visit my friends the Williamsons. We sat around visiting and enjoyed some Blue Moon. The first time I tried Blue Moon I didn't really care for it. It may have been the setting (I was at Applebes, I don't like Applebes) but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it that night.
Well I tried it again a couple of weeks ago and thought that it was pretty damn tasty. And after having it again last night I have come to the conclusion that 'me likey'. I think I'll have to try some more, soon.

As for this weekend, is anybody planning on coming down to Porltand for the Spring Brewer's Festival? Just curious....

Beers make me forget...

Don't you hate it when you drink beers at a bar and forget what they were. I wrote them down on a coaster and Im sure that is somewhere between my car and kitchen counter. The beers I know for sure that I had were:

#45 Hamms

#46 Sessions - Never seen this beer before, I think even the Trout had never seen this beer before, which is rare. It kinds looks like a Red Stripe, same bottle, red and white label. Pretty good light lager, my faves.

Nate's Beer #46

Tonight I enjoyed my first Summer beer. It was an Alaskan Summer Ale. I really enjoyed it. I really like the bottle too with the Killer whale. It reminds me of my camping trip to the San Juan islands a couple of years ago with my buddies Booth and Frosty.

Nate's Beer #45

Sunday I had my first game of the wiffleball season (you guys are gonna get so sick of hearing about wiff). And like the wiffle pro that I am I threw a no-hitter in the first game. Dr. Bert and I led our team to a 9-0 victory. In game two Dr. Bert pitched us to a 14-9 victory. It was a blast.

After the game I decided to celebrate with a deuce-deuce a Lost Coast's Indica IPA. It was alright. I think I may be getting a little burnt out on the IPAs. I really enjoyed Thunderhead and drank a lot of that and Jetstream IPA and there's been a couple of others that I can't remember right now. It may be time for a little break.

Nate's Beer #44

Damn it I've been slacking! Okay so Saturday I spent my day in the greater Lower Columbia metro area taking in Opening Day of the Columbia Cowlitz Wiffleball Association. There was two great games with Matt Jones of Jackmove striking out 15 in the first game against the Lexington Brewers. In the second game the Brewers captain Jim Hewey led them to a 18-2 crushing of Jackmove. It was a blast and many Busch Lights were consumed.
But I am not going to count the Busch Light, oh no I'm saving that for later. That night I went by the Kramer's household and played some baseball on the Wii with Hunter. I won a hard fought battle by hitting a 3 run homerun to win it. Hunter was up on me at the point because he hit two homeruns against me (he's five).
After defeating Hunter I quenched my thirst with a Miller Lite. And it sucked. I'm just not a Miller guy, give me a Bud Light any day.

Gus wants his Beers so bad that he called me from vacation

Erik "Captain E.O." Guttormsen just called me from his vacation in Rogue country to tell me to post that since Florida won the NCAA basketball championships he wants some mixed six-packs and damn that was one helluva run-on sentence. Erik is entitled to mixed six-packs from Dicko, Emily, Goat, Trout and Dr. Bert a.k.a. WWE (worst wingman evah).
And Alex finished second since he had Ohio St. so he gets two sixers, his own and one from me. But since Alex was an ass earlier this week saying his wasn't going to pay me if I won he's out a sixer. Maybe you should learn to keep your mouth shut. Blow that punk.

Can We Count Sake?

I'd like to get a consensus. Raise of hands, does sake meet 365 criteria?

I'm going to weigh in with a "yes" vote. Em? Boys? What say you?

Barleywine - Glam

I wish I'd read this before cracking the cap of Rudyard's Rare Barleywine I chose for yesterday's beer. Drinking it was like visiting another culture, or time. My pallet couldn't quite adjust to its bitter, dense flavor. It wasn't unpleasant. Just very strange to my taste buds.

Have you ever travelled somewhere and eaten something that you couldn't recognize AT ALL? Something you neither liked nor disliked that acted as a window into the aesthetic preferences of your host? That's what drinking the barleywine was like for me.

Oh, and at 9.2%, I probably should have saved it for later in the day. But I didn't. What are weekends for if not getting good and loaded before performing one's domestic obligations? (Note to self: Operate vacuum only when sober. Sorry kitty.)