365 Beers

Apfelwein

2012-02-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

We brewed a batch of Apfelwein last night. No that's not a typo, its a German fermented apple cider. Basically Apple Juice, Sugar, Yeast, and time. Just starting to bubble a little this morning but nothing through the airlock (which is full of green apple vodka, just in case of suck back) and this takes quite a bit longer to ferment properly, so should be a good summer/fall brew for those who are beer adverse.

Nate brought over a bottle of the New Belgium Cocoa Mole, basically super potent chocolate pepper beer. Take a big drink and its actually spicy, which is a crazy change from normal stout. James also came over again, and brought some of his hard cider, which was a nice complement while we brewed our own applejuice.

P.S. Happy 35th Nate. time to start plucking grey hairs down below...

And we are also in the midst of planning a tasting party. Between trying a few 5oz glasses off Amazon.com (which are a little too big for a paddle my uncle's wood shop class made), possibly ordering some glasses from peelepaddle.com and maybe even a paddle, and of course just adding to my brewery tasting collection from Rogue in Astoria next week, somehow I will figure this out before March. Considering my collection consists of the 12 pack of 5 oz glasses, one 4 oz Rouge glass, and one 4 oz glass from disneyland back when we went to Rose Bowl, I have some work to do...

Slackers

2012-02-15T15:04:00.001-08:00

We both failed to post yesterday. I believe Principal Strickland from Hill Valley High would refer to us as SLACKERS! But we have been busy brewing, and drinking and planning to brew, which meant somehow we both thought the other was posting yesterday.

Sorry to disappoint both our readers. Anyways, with two beers bottled, and two bubbling away in the primary and secondary, the next plan is brew an Apfelwein tonight or this weekend, and hopefully brew a stout this weekend. I also look forward to trying the New Belgium Cocoa Mole that Nate grabbed in Seattle for me.

In the meantime I tried a Sam Adams Wee Heavy on Monday night (it was 10% ABV, very nice and I would recommend trying one if you can find one). And a couple Bridgeport IPAs last night at Valentines Day dinner, followed by a can of 21st Amendment Hop Crisis when I got home. The Hop Crisis was crazy hoppy. Like I was looking in the can to see if it was dry hopped in the can. And it was 9.5% ABV or something crazy, which could be deceptive coming in a can and make for an interesting tailgate if you were down for being that guy at the football game...

Also it is Nate's birthday tomorrow. He may not even post again this week...

My closet smells hoppy

2012-02-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

My closet is now a brewery. Or at least it smells like one with two hoppy beers in there fermenting. We brewed our fourth batch on Friday after bottling our second batch.

Here's Nate with the goodness from his Thursday night shopping Trip. And here's Nate hard at work Friday night adding said goodness to the brew.

And for fun, all four caps we had made up for our first four batches. Coming up with the names and designs is half the fun. And brewing is half the fun. And drinking is half the fun. Hmmm, I guess brewing is 150% fun compared to just drinking at 100%. We should form a study...

We were also graced by the presence of a fellow brewer, James. He even brought beer and a wort chiller. As we lengthened out our brew by boiling before and after adding the extract, having the wort chiller was nice because we were able to finish in 3-4 hours still instead of the 4+ it would have taken using ice water to chill the outside of the kettle. Thanks James!

And lastly, here is yours truly bottling our first beer. We would frame it for a keepsake or something, but we will most likely just drink it.

The Brown is Bottled

2012-02-10T14:02:00.001-08:00

Bottled the first batch of LTB brew last night. Even tried what was left in the secondary. Not bad. Now it remains to see whether it turns out as good as expected. I love some brown ale and I am looking forward to 3 weeks from now. We have more great pictures and will try and upload them today or tonight. Meanwhile we are bottling another tonight, and brewing batch #4 tonight hopefully too. Wish us luck.

22oz Roundup=Success

2012-02-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Off to Booth's last night who reportedly had a stash of 22s he has been saving. And scored a case of empty 22s, which saves us at least $20 and means we are ready for the upcoming bottling session tonight or tomorrow of the Brown and the Pale.

On top of that Booth and I tried a couple beers from 10 Barrel Brewing, the ISA and the Apocalypse IPA. They were both good, but if you were only buying one I would go for the ISA. It was a little extra better great success.

Here we have the beers put to bed for the night.

And a nice pic of the layers in the CCWA that we are dry hopping. Should be interesting when I breath deep on this and burn my nose hairs off again...

Also just found a pretty funny blog from an Australian brewer called BeerFingers while searching for a picture now located stage left. I would like to have a beer with this guy. F'in Hilarious in a Dennis Miller type way, except with Australian references I don't get instead of references to stuff too boring for me to pay attention to.

Weekly Hop N Grape Trip

2012-02-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

The first step is admitting you have a problem. I admit it.

The second step is getting help. But I could carry the box of 22s out to my car on my own, so I didn't need help. So maybe I don't have a problem. I think the Arrogant Bastard, McMenamins Ruby and McMenamins Kris Kringle we had while working on our beer make my point a little foggy.

Before we could transfer the CCWA NWPA, I decided to see if Hop N Grape had any of the Elysian Apocalypse beers or any presidential themed beers. Yes on the Elysian, and yes they have some 21st Amendment beers which I will go back and get, but they didn't have the Yards Brewing ales of the revolution that I found online yesterday, so bummer. Also didn't have any Presidente, although I didn't expect them to have that one. My fridge was already full and I bought eight 22s instead of the one or two that I planned to buy. So maybe a small addiction. Anyone know where I can get some Yards?

Add More Hops!

2012-02-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

We've been talking about brewing batch number four and have been throwing around a couple of ideas and this is what we've settled on. Stormtrooper Imperial IPA will be straight up hops kicking you in your mouth. With eight ounces of hops added throughout the boil and dry-hop this beer will be sure to please any hophead. It should weigh in at roughly 7.6% ABV with 106 IBUs.

Gus and I plan on brewing this batch sometime this week and kegging it after a few weeks in the fermenter. We're also bottling our Beach Dog Brown and Sacajawea Pale this week so it should be a busy week. I'm really looking forward to brewing the Stormtrooper just because I love the smell of hops.

In other beer news, I should have in my possession the parts for my kegerator build by the weekend. I'm hoping to get everything put together sometime next week and having an operational kegerator filled with CCWA NWPA and Stormtrooper IIPA by the end of the month. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the kegerator build after it's complete.

Photo Found

2012-02-07T10:14:00.002-08:00

Found another photo on my wife's phone I missed when uploading last week. The brewers hard at work on the CCWA NWPA.

I am so thirsty.

On a side note, I just want to say "YOU SUCK" to the NBA refs in Portland. You consistently day in and day out do a horrible job, sometimes for our team, sometimes against, but always blowing calls, being inconsistent, just overall poor showings. But to blow the final couple calls in regulation and force overtime against the Thunder was unforgivable. I hope the next time you order a beer it has gone bad. Or someone spits in it. Or the next time you buy beer the bag breaks in the parking lot. I hate you.

Also just found the motherlode online... Kegerators. Nate is building one, and I have an old bar my dad and I purchased last year and plan to finally get around to fixing it up to hold multiple beers. My garage will soon be the coolest bar on the block...

New Belgium's Cocoa Mole

2012-02-06T13:03:00.000-08:00

Spicy sweet goodness

I was in Seattle over the weekend visiting my girlfriend and we decided to go on a beer run. The Top Foods near her house has an amazing selection of beers, so off to the beer aisle we went.

A few weeks ago at Tops I stumbled across New Belgium's Grand Cru, which is another beer from the Lips of Faith series. As I'm not really a fan of Belgian beers I was a little worried I would like it but this one was alright. I could definitely taste the Saison yeast that was used in it but it wasn't as overpowering as some of the other Belgians I have tried. When I heard about the Cocoa Mole it reminded me of Roots chocolate habanero stout that they had during winter and I knew that I had to try it. Luckily the Grand Cru was all gone and had been replaced with the Cocoa Mole.

The first taste is very smooth with the chocolate flavor coming through. As you swallow you notice the pepper flavor and a little, tiny bit of heat. It's amazing how well the chocolate and peppers compliment each other. I was a little concerned that at 10% ABV the alcohol taste would be overpowering but the chocolate and peppers cover it up completely. If you have a chance to try this beer I highly suggest it. I think I may have to grab a few more 22s of it before it's all gone.

Super Beer

2012-02-06T08:36:00.001-08:00

The Super Beer was this Sunday between the Patriots and the Giants. To celebrate Randy brought over a growler of Fort George bourbon barrel cavatica stout and it was outstanding. I might have missed some of the game talking beer and chasing kids around, but it didn't matter. We had food and friends and I got to drink this beer. Which made the day great. I also got to finally try a few Lindemans Lambics which I always assumed were fruity Belgian beers from the labels, and that is exactly what they were. It would almost be hard to call them beer, kind of like cider beer is beer. And they were good, I just couldn't drink a whole bottle. A couple tasters of each were plenty. All in all a good day.

good night

2012-02-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, last night was a good night. Guinness Foreign Extra is even better than their regular stout. The Draught is a middle thickness, and the black lager is just like it sounds, closer to a lager. But all four varities are good and it was fun to try three of them back to back to back.

Then we rocked some Lego Rock Band. Because "cue the Toys R Us music" I don't wanta grow up...

Nate can belt out some Wanted Dead or Alive. Can't wait for birthday karaoke...

Also got caps ordered, which was the whole reason for getting together. That took about 5 minutes, or 2 hours if you count the rest of activities...

the Big Three Five

2012-02-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

Cold beers on tap

I've wanted to build my own kegerator for roughly the last five years. With my 35th birthday quickly approaching I've decided that now is the time to make it happen. Happy Birthday to me indeed!

I originally wanted to set up my kegerator to hold a half-barrel keg (15-1/2 gallons) because that is how most of the breweries keg their beer. Now that I've been bitten by the homebrew bug I plan on setting this keg up for two Cornelius kegs (5 gallons). The benefit of the Cornelius kegs is that a single batch of homebrew will fill it completely and I could probably fit four or five of them in my fridge if needed. Another added benefit is that bottled beer takes three weeks to condition while kegged beer only takes three days.

Gus and I decided a while ago that we would be bottling our Beach Dog Brown and Lake Sacajawea Pale Ale. Since I've decided to build my kegerator we agreed that we should keg our CCWA NWPA and the soon to be brewed Stormtrooper IIPA. So instead of just having the brown and pale ale ready to go we will also have the kegged beers to enjoy. As of right now March 3rd is going to be the glorious day that we finally get to enjoy our beers.

Mmmm, beers

Another thing I would really like for my birthday would be more carboys. LTB currently has two carboys and one bottling bucket that we also use for our primary fermenter. More carboys = more beers that we can brew! I already plan on buying another bottling bucket and would like to see us have five or six carboys total. That way we would be able to always have a batch of our favorite beers brewing plus have the space to do some experimenting.

These last few days I have tried my hand at constructing some recipes. Our first two batches were recipes that we got from Erik's cousin Gunnar and Jim at Your Homebrew. Batch three was found on the internet with some minor modifications made to it and batch four will be more of the same. But in the next month I plan on brewing two of my original recipes, the Apocalypso and Gnate's Gnarleywine. The Apocalypso should be ready to taste in a month to a month and a half. Gnate's Gnarleywine won't be ready to drink til early 2013 although I'm sure Erik and I will crack one before that to taste so we could compare it to the final product.

McGuyver would be proud

With all of these carboys that we plan on obtaining we will definitely need a way to clean them. After some searching online I've found a pretty easy cleaner that I will be able to build with parts from work.I also found another carboy cleaner DIY project that involved a five gallon bucket, a carboy dryer, a 1/5 hp pump and some PVC piping that I may attempt down the road. For now this easy setup should do just fine cleaning our carboys.

With about four feet of 1/2"PVC piping, four 1/2" 90* elbows, four 1/2" tees, one 1/2" cap, one 1/2" MNPT adapter and another adapter to go from the MNPT to 3/4" garden hose thread I will be able to build the cleaner. I'll glue it together like the picture to the right and drill 1/8" holes all the way up the stand pipe. We should be able to hook it up at my place or in Gus's utility sink and hold our carboys upside down over it and clean away. I've heard some horror stories about using carboy brushes and I hope that this will make the job easier.

the Ultimate Fermenter

I'd say the final item on my ultimate wish list would be this Oak barrel that was used to age bourbon. Woodinville Whiskey, here in Washington state, sells these 5 gallon buckets after they use them to age bourbon. I've seen some of the breweries sell their oak barrel aged beers in the $10-$15 range for a 22 ounce. If we could somehow replicate that with one of these barrels that would justify it's $120 price tag, right? If any homebrewers out there have experience with using a barrel please leave us a comment to let us know how it worked out for you.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Rubinator

2012-02-02T08:54:00.001-08:00

Leaving the Blazer game midway through the 4th (thanks to the absolute drubbing they were putting on Charlotte) I had time to stop by McMenamin's White Eagle. There was a band playing as always and made me pine for my younger days when it used to be common to stop there or Widmer for a beer after games.

I also found a few fun facts on the McMenamin's Beer Blog like the fact that their Terminator Stout was 25 years old in 2010 and Hammerhead was 25 in 2011. We of course missed those cool anniversary parties, but I am going to have my own party. I bought a couple 22s of Ruby and Terminator and plan to make Rubinators before the Superbowl. I didn't get any hammerhead but will have to grab a few on my next trip. The reason I didn't get any is because I was able to snatch up the last two 22s of Kris Kringle they had down in the basement (okay, I was told they were the last two but I am not naive enough to believe 100% they were the last two, but I assume they are almost out) and I plan to drink one tonight while ordering our first couple batches of bottle caps.

I also had a Laurelwood Espresso Stout at the Blazer game last night. In case I haven't said it before, thank you Laurelwood for having a pub in the Rose Garden. I love Widmer, but all they serve is Hefe and Droptop, or Hefe and Drifter, and those get old, especially at $9/beer.

And lastly, thank you to the Blazers for scoring over 100 last night for more free Chalupa coupons from Taco Bell. I wonder if Charlotte does that promotion. If they do it's probably score 100 and everyone gets a free car. Because they are horrible.

Movin On Up

2012-02-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

We are Back.
With regular changes (to format, links and lists at left, photos, posts, etc.) now coming fast and furious please let us know what you think. Or send us recipes or links. Or photos. You get the idea.

Any feedback is appreciated if you happen to find your way here. (or find your way back if you used to follow back before 2008)

So Many Good Beers

2012-02-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

One thing that I really loved about living in Portland was the abundance of great beers. There was the local watering hole, the Goodfoot, that had a great selection of micros on tap. I had my two favorite breweries, the Lucky Lab and the now defunct Roots, on my drive home so I could stop and enjoy a pint while getting my growler filled. The Rogue and Deschutes public houses on the west side had some of the best beers I have tasted so I would try to make the trip on a somewhat regular basis. Plus I had the Belmont Station only ten minutes away and their selection of over one thousand different bottled beers made it a great destination on the search for new and exciting beers.

It looks like Longview is finally catching on to what good brew really is. One of my favorite bars, Porky's, recently expanded their beer selection and they keep some very good beers on rotation. Now that Hop N Grape is open I have a place that reminds me a little of Belmont Station, only Hop N Grape also has beer making supplies making it the ultimate one-stop brew-shop. With Parker's offering their own beer and two other groups getting ready to open microbreweries in the area the future looks very bright. Last week I sampled quite a few good beers.

On my first trip to Hop N Grape my good friend Cory had told me that I had to try the Creme Brulee Stout. He told me it was a nice, dark beer that had a sweet, vanilla aftertaste to it. And he couldn't have been more correct. This stuff is good! While I was at Hop N Grape I also tried a Rogue Chipotle Ale and it was nice and light with just a hint of the chipotle kick. It went well with the pulled pork sandwich and pepper jack mac n' cheese I had.

On my second trip to Hop N Grape I decided to try the Collaborator Steel Bridge Porter that was a joint effort between Widmer Brothers and a Portland homebrew club. It was a great porter but the one that followed it was the Fort George brewing Working Girl Porter that is brewed with coffee. This stuff is delicious! I also tried Ninkasi's Sterling Pilsner, New Belgium's sour pumpkin ale Kick and Georgetown's IPA Lucille. They were all very good although I don't think I could drink a whole bunch of the sour brew.

I visited Hop N Grape again last weekend and sampled some Kona Brewing Koko Brown and Rogue XS Imperial Russian Stout. The Koko Brown was so good that I had him fill my growler and then filled another growler with some Creme Brulee. Those two growlers served well during our last brew session when we finished them both off. Hopefully we pleased the Beer Gods.

In between all of those trips to Hop N Grape I also had a chance to stop by Porky's for a delicious burger and a tasty pint of Elysian's Nibiru Yerba Mate Tripel. I am not a fan of Belgians at all but I did enjoy this beer. It is also the first of twelve limited edition beers that Elysian will be releasing this year for their 12 Beers of the Apocalypse. Here's a little bit more info on the Apocalypse series.

AN APOCALYPTIC BEER ADVENTURE
In a year-long run-up to the end of all time (according to the Mayan calendar), Elysian Brewing Company and Fantagraphics Books, both of Seattle, are planning a series of twelve beers, issued on the 21st of each month in 2012 and featuring the label artwork of Charles Burns. Taken from Burns’s weirdly apocalyptic work “Black Hole,” the labels will adorn Elysian’s “Twelve Beers of the Apocalypse,” featuring the creativity and unusual ingredients for which its brewing team is known. What twelve beers would you brew (and drink) if you knew they would be your last?

First up in January is NIBIRU, named for the mysterious planet X supposedly on a collision course toward Earth. The Elysian / Fantagraphics Nibiru will be a Belgian-style Tripel flavored with an infusion of yerba maté. Combining the tasty esters of Belgian yeast and the compelling tea-like flavors of the South American herb mixture, the beer will weigh in at around 7.6% alcohol by volume. A mixture of German Northern Brewer, Czech Saaz and American Amarillo hops round out the uniqueness of this first beer of the Apocalypse. Oddly enough there’s another apocalyptic-themed Nibiru out there: a super volcano currently burbling most dangerously beneath Yellowstone National Park. It too is scheduled to end life as we know it very very soon.

It is truly a great time to be a beer lover!

Corona Familiar

2012-01-31T12:18:00.000-08:00

Found a new beer at the store last night. (Well, technically I found lots of new beers but I only bought one because my fridge is pretty full of 22s still)

Corona Familiar

I believe the name is Familiar because it is almost exactly like Corona Extra. (as discussed on this blog) Basically it is normally sold only in Mexico but has made its way stateside I guess. My hope is that it will be more like the Corona you get when visiting Mexico, which always seems stronger than the imported stuff to me. I will find out tonight, last night I was already enjoying a 22oz Red Hook Pilsner and didn't feel up to 32 oz more beer while drinking by myself.

Also, hoping to have my computer back today or tomorrow and combine the couple versions of my beer list and finish it so I can get an accurate count. But I believe it's somewhere between 550-600 different beers, not counting those that I had the last couple years and don't remember so can't add them.

In the interest of not having more than one post each a day, a quick amendment here. While doing a little more beer list research I found a new blog thebrewclub and it has some pretty cool beer reviews, links and such. I will be adding it to the updated list to your left.

I am afraid that I keep searching for beers on my list, I will keep finding stuff to blog about. But I just read on Newcastle's site that they are making some limited release beers that might make mainstream stores. I love Newcastle Brown, and if their other beers are that good I will be a repeat customer. Even if my own brown is ready in a month...

And lastly I found another blog with plans for Nate's remodel of his storage area. The Pub Shed I even have a bar ready to be rehabbed. And if this won't fit in Nate's Storage shed I think it is time to remove our hot tub we never use and install a Pub Shed in its place. Thanks to the united nations of beer for the great idea. My planned spot would be close enough to the house that I could probably even splice cable out to this bad boy. And it would be right next to the deck for additional seating and right near the dining room doors which houses the liquor cabinet and the entrance to the kitchen, as well as a relatively short trip to the bathroom.

The Joy of Homebrewing

2012-01-31T07:31:00.000-08:00

The Homebrewer's Bible

I think I first read about Charlie Papazian's book two months before Gus and I brewed our first batch. I was poking around on the Internet looking for home brewing tips and one of the first websites I saw recommended not only reading it but buying it so you will always have it. I finally decided to take that advice and picked up my very own copy last night from Jim at Your Homebrew.

I had a pretty busy evening ahead of me so I wasn't able to crack the book open until late last night. I read through the introduction and the history of beer and stopped just before the beginner's section. Charlie has quite a way with words and I really enjoyed reading the first pages. I'm thinking I'll really be able to tear into it tonight and finish my first read-through within the next week.

In other beer-related news, I have finally convinced my step-dad Bruce to start brewing. He has talked about it for a couple of years now so he received a beer making kit for Christmas. For his first beer he was interested in brewing a Deschutes Twilight clone. While I was talking to Jim last night at the store he went into his binder and pulled out a copy of the Twilight recipe. Bruce and I should be brewing it within the next week or two so the Twilight should be ready just in time for Summer.

no weekends

2012-01-30T09:07:00.001-08:00

Again, no weekend posts. Too busy brewing as you can see, as well as finishing my beer list. Finally excited to have re-created my old list and start drinking new beers gains. What made that part of the weekend special super extra fun was finishing the list in excel at 1:30 Friday night/Saturday morning but not printing it. Then hoping online to make a few tweaks and look up some more breweries Saturday, only to download a virus and crash my computer.

Should be salvageable but if you get the Security Check Virus, it makes it look your hard drive is erased and actually just hides your info and likely will take about $50-100 to have someone remove this for me so I don't screw it up worse. Good Times.

Hoping I don't come up to a closet full of beer on the floor tonight, might have to go home at lunch just to double check. Crazy bubbling.

Also had the Creme Brulee from Southern Tier in New York (on tap at Hop N Grape, he just tapped another keg so get in there and get some!) and another glass of the Koko Brown from Kona. Both of these are as good as the New Belgium's I was raving about. I think I could be happy with just my xbox and a keg of each of these...

Batch #3

2012-01-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

Trying to get all of the extract

So yesterday we had our third brewing day. Gus and I both really enjoy Deschutes' Red Chair NWPA so we thought we'd do something similiar to that. We made a couple changes to the grain build and substituted a different bittering hop then the one Deschutes uses so it'll be interesting to taste how it turns out. I noticed that the NWPA had about twice the grains of our Amber Ale and a couple more pounds of extract. I was thinking that once we added the yeast we would have no problem with fermentation with all of that sugary wort. Sure enough Gus sent me a photo this morning of the primary and it's bubbling like mad. I cannot wait til mid March-early April to try this bad boy!

We did have a little bit of a scare yesterday when we checked our secondary fermenters. The Beach Dog Brown looks great but when we checked the Sacajawea Pale it appeared like there was some little mold spores growing on the top. I was pretty distraught about this turn of events. Gus hopped online and searched for a solution and what we thought was the start of some mold is actually some more CO2 being released. Luckily the beer is safe!

We also did a little talking about what we plan on brewing in the future and we have some good beers planned. Next up will be our St. Helens Stout that will be nice and black with a hint of vanilla. Abby also requested a Hefeweizen so this Summer will be brewing up a batch or two. We're also going to brew a Raspberry Ale and a Hazelnut Brown that should be ready for Summertime. I'm also constructing a recipe for light bodied golden ale that will have apricots and scotch bonnet peppers added to the secondary fermenter. My inspiration for the peppered beer is Calypso, an old summer brew from the now defunct Roots Brewery in Portland, OR. I plan on honoring the inspiration and naming mine Apocalypso.

Hop N Grape

2012-01-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

I am perplexed. I don't know whether I like the Hop N Grape Beer Store more, or the Hop N Grape Tasting Room and Smokehouse BBQ. I had two New Belgium beers last night that I don't think you can normally get around here, and they were both lighter beers that were 8.5% ABV. The first is a collaboration with Elysian according to their website, and both are part of the Lips of Faith Series, whatever that means. I think its the name of the limited releases. I will have to seek out more of them.

I thought most strong beers were darker, but I was happy to find out I was wrong. New Belgium Kick was a cranberry and Pumpkin Sour that was sooooo good I almost ordered a second one instead of trying something new. But luckily I ordered the New Belgium Prickly Passion which was Prickly Pear and Passion Fruit, and it was just as good. They weren't too fruity, went down smooth, and had me a little tipsy just from two beers. I mean, I still had a Kona Koko Brown since you also can't get that around here and it is one of my favorites from Hawaii, but a guy could do alright with just the New Belgium beers.

There is also a rumor we may brew a third batch of beer this weekend. A NWPA named after the wiffle ball league, the CCWA NWPA.

1st Two Brews

2012-01-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

2nd LTB Brew is transferred. The Lake Sacajawea Pale Ale along side the Beach Dog Brown. Probably going to let the Brown sit longer for more potency as we did in the primary fermenter. So we plan to bottle both in February and enjoy both in March. Should be good times.

Also we had a couple cans of beer from 21st Amendment to celebrate Beer Can Appreciation Day (which was the 24th). The Back in Black IPA and the Brew Free or Die IPA are very tasty. Whoever thinks can's are not as good as bottles is wrong.

Parkers Honey Wheat

2012-01-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

The trip to Parkers was a great success. Their Honey Wheat was outstanding. I was expecting something like a Hefe, but it was more Honey than Wheat and I had multiple it was so good. Even might go back just to have another before they brew something else and switch it out. Maybe take a growler with me to see if they sell em to go.

Also, thoughts of brewing in my head, I came up with some more prospective beers to brew. Besides the Ruby Clone we are brewing for sure, and a few other clones we are looking for recipes for, I have the most important part down. Names.

Kelso Scottie-ish Ale
Monarch Golden Crown
Lumberjack Dark
Devil Red Ale (could also be Red Devil Ruby Red???)

Oh the Humanity

2012-01-24T16:08:00.001-08:00

All I had yesterday was a fat tire at my meeting. Don't get me wrong, fat tire is great. They just didn't have anything new and I didn't want to drink a 22 at home powering it down just for the sake of trying something new.

But tonight I have a lions meeting at Parkers who brews their own beer, so I will have two new things tonight and get back on track. They don't list their beers online but I am sure they will have a good brown or stout I can enjoy with a steak.

And Thursday I will be at Hop N Grape, and I will be happy and trying at least a couple new beers.

Also, just saw on Rogue that today is Beer Can Appreciation Day in celebration of the first beer can produced back in 1935. I think I will stop and buy a fancy beer in a can since I probably can't find the 5 Liter container of Rogue they advertise on their site.

And a little off the subject of beer, if you haven't had any of Rogue's spirits, the hazelnut spiced rum is very good and I look forward to trying the dead guy whiskey soon.

Weekends

2012-01-23T12:16:00.001-08:00

No post over the weekend. Probably a common theme going forward. Even though I thought about beer all weekend, and had a handful of new beers and started to resurrect my beer list that was lost with a computer failure back in 07-08, I completely forgot to post about it.

Full Sail Sanctuary is good stuff. As was the Pelican Bay Doryman's Dark Ale, and two new kinds of Guinness I hadn't had before, the Foreign Extra and the Black Lager.

I had more new beers last week also, and once I get the list finished maybe I can do some kind of cool update and then post regularly to see where my count stands of beers that I have tried. My guess is I am at about 500-750 somewhere and will set a goal of 1000 to reach someday.

Also, the pale ale is bubbling nicely. Might be ready to transfer later this week in between work, 2 lions meetings, and a birthday party scheduled at Hop N Grape on Thursday. I am pretty excited about the party, and look forward to spending the gift card I got as a Devil Pong (like beer pong) prize at the LCC auction Saturday. I see more 22s in my future, maybe even a growler of Manny's because it is awesome beer that you can't usually get unless you drive to Seattle.

Also stoked about the Superbowl match up, I had NE in the playoff pool and my dad had NYG so we are guaranteed to take home the money, which means more money for beer. After dropping four out of five in the college bowl pool I had a shot at, and watching first and then second slip away, I was itching for some good news on the wagering scene.

Man Institute.com

Addicted to thinking about Beer again

2012-01-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

But, William, you could get drunk. - You could get addicted. - Can't Hardly Wait

I am hopelessly addicted to thinking about beer again. Blog, stopping by the store, emailing Nate non-stop. Not sure if that is a bad thing, but I think I would scare these guys...

Also found a sweet blog its-pub-night when wondering about Growler prices. The link talks about growler prices in Portland, but is good for a general idea. It's not cheaper to buy a growler, or for that matter 22s, but you can get beer sometimes not available in bottles.

WSU: A Great Place to Drink Beer

2012-01-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

Hit up Hop N Grape last night. They have the tap room restaurant open as of Tuesday and I saw a number of people I know coming and going while I was buying a case of 22s. Pretty exciting.

The brown is aging nicely and the pale is bubbling. We designed bottle caps for the first two beers as well as the next couple planned beers. Hopefully they are still saved on the computer since my 2 year old found the button to the power strip. Right before he punched Nate in the nuts. Needless to say back to back timeouts were fun for him.

And if you are looking for a super fancy place to drink your beer next fall, check out the new luxury seating going in at Martin Stadium. thecougarfootballproject.org

Ninkasi Brewing

2012-01-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

Gus's current favorite Sleighr is by Ninkasi. (going to the specialty store and Safeway tonight to see if anyone still has some). Ninkasi makes excellent beers, but I'm sure you already knew that if you are reading this.

The ancient Sumerians worshiped the beer they made, and praised the Goddess Ninkasi for the miracle of fermentation. Beer is a staple of civilization. Worship the Goddess. ~ Ninkasi

(I find it kind of funny that I cut and pasted that saying from their website and spellcheck corrected worshiped. I wonder if they have it spelled wrong on their beers too? I will have to check it out.)

This double dark alt is a thing of beauty. I would brew it next if anyone could find a recipe. It might be as good as Gunnar's Bad Santa. In fact, I wonder if he still has any on tap? He has been brewing for a year or so and lives a few houses down. Which is very handy since he has three soda kegs of beer in his garage and I know the garage code...

And Nate found another site.
Beer Labelizer

And has our first two beer labels.
(work in process)

Now we just need to figure out the bottle cap designer for our LTB bottle caps.

HOLY CRAP

2012-01-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

Wow, I actually remembered my login and password. That's crazy talk.

I am back. We are now brewing beer. So what better reason to try and catch up our lists and see where we stand, and start blogging about beer again? Well one reason would be all the new beers out since 2008.

The only downside will be trying to figure out what I missed listing since 2008. But maybe between batches Nate and I can figure it out. And once we start adding the beers we have tasted from other home brewers we should start growing our totals exponentially....

My Own Labels.com
Custom Bottle Caps at bottlemark.com

We are coming up with all kinds of fun names for our brewery, fun names for our beers, etc. and really hope to have something to try by Nates birthday in February.

Fear No Bear Blog: Hop N Grape

Above is an article about a local beer store (the guy who previously had the beer section at Olympic Drug). And of course the fearnobeer blog is pretty cool so hit home and check it out after you read that article.

Hop N Grape on Facebook

and of course Your Home Brew on Facebook where we get our supplies as does my cousin Gunnar and a lot of brewers in Longview/Kelso.

Done!

2008-02-16T15:22:00.001-08:00

Anyone else finish on schedule?

I capped off the 365 with a Scottish beer called Traquair Jacobite Ale, brewed in tribute to the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.

What follows is my final update.

12/18/2007 Anheuser-Busch Bud Light
12/19/2007 Anchor Brewing Company Our Special Ale
12/20/2007 New Belgium Mothership Wit
12/21/2007 Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale
12/22/2007 Sam Adams Black Lager
12/23/2007 Rogue Yellow Snow
12/24/2007 Gordon Biersch Marzen
12/25/2007 Birdsview Pale Ale
12/26/2007 Diamond Knot Brewery Industrial XIPA
12/27/2007 Bridgeport Ebenezer Ale
12/28/2007 Nimbus Brewing Company Red Ale
12/29/2007 Trader Joe's (Unibroue) 2007 Vintage Ale
12/30/2007 Nimbus Brewing Company Dirty Guera Blonde Ale
12/31/2007 de Boomgaard Framboise
1/1/2008 Butte Creek Organic Pale Ale
1/2/2008 Stix Golden Boy Ale
1/3/2008 Nimbus Brewing Company Pale Ale
1/4/2008 Yukon Brewing Company Midnight Sun Espresso Stout
1/5/2008 Nimbus Brewing Company Old Monkeyshine English Style Ale
1/6/2008 Brown Brothers American Wheat
1/7/2008 Lagunitas IPA
1/8/2008 Pacific Rim Brewery Rat City IPA
1/9/2008 Elliott Bay Brewery Alembic Pale Ale
1/10/2008 Diamond Knot Brewery Ho! Ho!
1/11/2008 Rinkuskiai Zaibo Extra Stout
1/12/2008 Coors
1/13/2008 Ursus
1/14/2008 Wymehcko Shumensko
1/15/2008 Harar Hakim Stout
1/16/2008 Amstel Light
1/17/2008 Baron Schwarzbier
1/18/2008 Baltika Cooler Lager
1/19/2008 Azuga Regala
1/20/2008 Leavenworth Brewing Blind Pig Dunkelweizen
1/21/2008 Anheuser-Busch Budweiser
1/22/2008 Sapporo
1/23/2008 Harp Lager
1/24/2008 Fischer Amber Tradition
1/25/2008 Bridgeport Beer Town Brown
1/26/2008 Zatec Bright Lager Beer
1/27/2008 Speakeasy Double Daddy Imperial IPA
1/28/2008 Deschutes Brewery Green Lakes Organic Ale
1/29/2008 Sam Adams White Ale
1/30/2008 Eisenbahn South American Pale Ale
1/31/2008 Tooheys New
2/1/2008 Ochakovo Ruby
2/2/2008 Stix De Santis Strong Ale
2/3/2008 He'Brew Jewbelation
2/4/2008 Deschutes Brewery The Abyss Stout
2/5/2008 New Belgium Blue Paddle Pilsener
2/6/2008 Heineken
2/7/2008 Rebel
2/8/2008 Maritime Pacific Imperial IPA
2/9/2008 Slavutich Mitsne
2/10/2008 Bayerischer Bahnhof Berliner Style Weisse
2/11/2008 Yuksom Himalayan Blue
2/12/2008 Coopers Original Pale Ale
2/13/2008 Oriental Brewery OB
2/14/2008 Lazy Boy Brewing Porter
2/15/2008 Traquair Jacobite Ale

Out.

New Season, New Post

2007-12-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-16T11:14:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

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?

2007-11-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

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

2007-09-24T21:27:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-09-10T19:18:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-08T14:41:00.001-07:00

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

2007-08-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

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

A Half Million Dollar Beer

2007-08-14T07:53:00.001-07:00

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

2007-08-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

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..."

2007-08-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-05T12:51:00.001-07:00

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)

2007-08-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-31T23:36:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-31T23:18:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-31T23:03:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-31T22:59:00.001-07:00

...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

2007-07-31T22:56:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-07-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

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!"

2007-07-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

"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

2007-07-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-07-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-11T22:37:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-07-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-06-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-06-15T07:41:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-11T21:27:00.001-07:00

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.

2007-06-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

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.....

2007-05-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-25T16:02:00.001-07:00

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...

2007-05-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

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!