Wednesday, November 29, 2006
We saw an unfamiliar beer for sale on Monday at Trader Joe's, so we bought a six-pack to try it out.
Last night, we opened two. Rick took a sip and declared, "I make a better Scotch Ale than this." And he does.
It's kind of annoying to spend $6 on a six-pack when you can make better beer at home. On the other hand, it's awesome to be reminded that the beer we make at home is better than some commercial brews.
It's also possible that this was an off batch and that's why it's at Trader Joe's, though I've come to expect that sort of thing much more from Big Lots.
Last night, we opened two. Rick took a sip and declared, "I make a better Scotch Ale than this." And he does.
It's kind of annoying to spend $6 on a six-pack when you can make better beer at home. On the other hand, it's awesome to be reminded that the beer we make at home is better than some commercial brews.
It's also possible that this was an off batch and that's why it's at Trader Joe's, though I've come to expect that sort of thing much more from Big Lots.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Not that Mexican beer is my favorite, but this is interesting.
Friday, April 21, 2006
This got posted to my homebrew club mailing list. Like much of beer culture, it's geared towards men, specifically middle-aged, middle-class men with families, houses, and presumably, wives who don't like beer. Feh. Not being a hardcore homebrewer -- in fact, I haven't brewed in months, because I never have 4 free hours anymore -- I'm only guilty of a few of them:
If the local brew supply store knows who you are by voice alone.
(Probably, but I'm one of few chicks who regularly show up to meetings, so...)
If the majority of your shirts are brewing or beer related.
(Haven't counted, but probably)
If everytime you are in the grocery store you look at the beer selection
even thought you have 10 gallons of beer ready to drink at home.
If you live in a small one bedroom apartment, and you have two
refrigerators.
If you see the acronym R.D.W.H.A.H.B. and know what it means.
(Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew...)
If you have used a bottle opener on a twist-off cap.
If you plan your family vacations by which breweries you can visit.
(Driving from Boston to LA, we took the northern route to ensure we could drink Oregon)
If you don't think that 10 gallons of beer is a lot.
If the local brew supply store knows who you are by voice alone.
(Probably, but I'm one of few chicks who regularly show up to meetings, so...)
If the majority of your shirts are brewing or beer related.
(Haven't counted, but probably)
If everytime you are in the grocery store you look at the beer selection
even thought you have 10 gallons of beer ready to drink at home.
If you live in a small one bedroom apartment, and you have two
refrigerators.
If you see the acronym R.D.W.H.A.H.B. and know what it means.
(Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew...)
If you have used a bottle opener on a twist-off cap.
If you plan your family vacations by which breweries you can visit.
(Driving from Boston to LA, we took the northern route to ensure we could drink Oregon)
If you don't think that 10 gallons of beer is a lot.
Monday, February 20, 2006
I think it's telling that this is as far as I ever got blogging my beer-fueled trip to SF in February. Maybe starting at the end and working forward wasn't the best idea...
* At the Pleasanton brewpub, due to circumstances beyond my control, I not only drank an entire pint of delicious but wicked Drake's Jolly Roger, I drank the last 5 ounces or so very quickly. I'd heard it was 13%... jolly, indeed. The brewery isn't not too far from SF, in a crappy-sounding neighborhood, behind a Wal-mart. Still, a worthy stop on our next road trip up there -- tours on Fridays, 4-7pm!
* At the Pleasanton brewpub, due to circumstances beyond my control, I not only drank an entire pint of delicious but wicked Drake's Jolly Roger, I drank the last 5 ounces or so very quickly. I'd heard it was 13%... jolly, indeed. The brewery isn't not too far from SF, in a crappy-sounding neighborhood, behind a Wal-mart. Still, a worthy stop on our next road trip up there -- tours on Fridays, 4-7pm!
Monday, January 16, 2006
Yahoo explains why "three sheets to the wind" means "drunk."
In other news, Karl Strauss in Costa Mesa, despite being surrounded by malls, is awesome. They have a great happy hour that even runs on weekends, and their dry-hopped brown is one of the best browns I've ever had (up there with Brooklyn, better than our homebrew, dammit. We have to start dry-hopping).
In other news, Karl Strauss in Costa Mesa, despite being surrounded by malls, is awesome. They have a great happy hour that even runs on weekends, and their dry-hopped brown is one of the best browns I've ever had (up there with Brooklyn, better than our homebrew, dammit. We have to start dry-hopping).
Monday, January 09, 2006
So Robert gave us two deluxe beers for Christmas:
* Santa's Private Reserve from Rogue (click for the great label art). Consumed on a near-empty stomach, this ensured that we had a very merry Christmas indeed. We kept referring it to as "Santa's Secret Stash" or "Santa's Private Hooch" and similar. It seems Old Nick likes 'em strong and hoppy
* Celebration Libation from Cisco. Robert has a knack for finding the rare spiced winter ales that don't suck. It's a gift.
Now, things were not so merry when we went to a certain restaurant chain with festive items on the walls. No, not TGI Fridays. The other one. It starts with a "B" and sounds fake-Irish. Don't ask what we were doing at such a place. Anyway, we asked the waiter what beers they had. He asked what we were interested in. We said we were visiting, so we wanted something local.
"Uh. Local. Sam Adams...but I guess you can find that anywhere...Pete's?"
Pete's isn't even local. We got up to look at the tap lines instead, and settled on Harpoon Winter Warmer. It seemed surprisingly mild for Harpoon, but at least they didn't overdo the winter spices.
Imagine our surprise when we settled into the Harpoon Bar at the airport a few days later, ordered the winter warmer, and found a completely different, more robust beer. Maybe it was our imaginations, because surely a big, bland corporate chain wouldn't water the beer...
* Santa's Private Reserve from Rogue (click for the great label art). Consumed on a near-empty stomach, this ensured that we had a very merry Christmas indeed. We kept referring it to as "Santa's Secret Stash" or "Santa's Private Hooch" and similar. It seems Old Nick likes 'em strong and hoppy
* Celebration Libation from Cisco. Robert has a knack for finding the rare spiced winter ales that don't suck. It's a gift.
Now, things were not so merry when we went to a certain restaurant chain with festive items on the walls. No, not TGI Fridays. The other one. It starts with a "B" and sounds fake-Irish. Don't ask what we were doing at such a place. Anyway, we asked the waiter what beers they had. He asked what we were interested in. We said we were visiting, so we wanted something local.
"Uh. Local. Sam Adams...but I guess you can find that anywhere...Pete's?"
Pete's isn't even local. We got up to look at the tap lines instead, and settled on Harpoon Winter Warmer. It seemed surprisingly mild for Harpoon, but at least they didn't overdo the winter spices.
Imagine our surprise when we settled into the Harpoon Bar at the airport a few days later, ordered the winter warmer, and found a completely different, more robust beer. Maybe it was our imaginations, because surely a big, bland corporate chain wouldn't water the beer...
Friday, December 30, 2005
It was a beer-tastic Christmas in Boston. I don't miss the place, but I do miss the brews.
Friday, we met some people for lunch at Cambridge Brewing Company. The food was more mediocre than I remembered, but the beers (the one I remember as Big Man Ale, and the Pale) were as good as I remembered. I seem to recall that Cambridge Brewco didn't used to be this good, but magically, when we returned from Germany in 2002, it was. Turns out one of the friends we were with knows the guy who did the beer stained glass.
Later, we had the time wrong for dinner at friends', so we killed time in Inman Square for a while. The new location of Bukowski's is qutie elegant, probably not what Bukowski himself would have wanted. We found it a bit frou-frou, and recoiled at their $5+ pint prices, but the Brooklyn Brown was good. Apparently they have some killer specials so it's all about timing.
We still had some time to kill so we went to an old favorite Irish pub we never got to visit often, The Druid. There, the pints were a more reasonable $4.25, and came with cheerful regulars and a chatty bartender. I wish I still had a local pub this good in my LA neighborhood.
We finished the night in Allston, first at the Sunset, where the beers can get truly wildly expensive but at that point, it's something rare/strong enough to be worth it. I had three beers: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (I think), Hoeegarden (hey, I was trying to slow down), and something at 9.0% ABV that, unsurprisingly, I don't remember. The after-drinking at 2am -- Allagash? something Belgian-esque and delicious, and the amusingly named Hooker brews -- at Robert's house didn't help! Good, good times. A little too good, as evinced by me waking up the next morning honestly wondering if I'd eaten my own brain. (It would have accounted for feeling both retarded and nauseous...)
Next entry, I'll strongly hint at which major food chain waters down its beer.
Friday, we met some people for lunch at Cambridge Brewing Company. The food was more mediocre than I remembered, but the beers (the one I remember as Big Man Ale, and the Pale) were as good as I remembered. I seem to recall that Cambridge Brewco didn't used to be this good, but magically, when we returned from Germany in 2002, it was. Turns out one of the friends we were with knows the guy who did the beer stained glass.
Later, we had the time wrong for dinner at friends', so we killed time in Inman Square for a while. The new location of Bukowski's is qutie elegant, probably not what Bukowski himself would have wanted. We found it a bit frou-frou, and recoiled at their $5+ pint prices, but the Brooklyn Brown was good. Apparently they have some killer specials so it's all about timing.
We still had some time to kill so we went to an old favorite Irish pub we never got to visit often, The Druid. There, the pints were a more reasonable $4.25, and came with cheerful regulars and a chatty bartender. I wish I still had a local pub this good in my LA neighborhood.
We finished the night in Allston, first at the Sunset, where the beers can get truly wildly expensive but at that point, it's something rare/strong enough to be worth it. I had three beers: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (I think), Hoeegarden (hey, I was trying to slow down), and something at 9.0% ABV that, unsurprisingly, I don't remember. The after-drinking at 2am -- Allagash? something Belgian-esque and delicious, and the amusingly named Hooker brews -- at Robert's house didn't help! Good, good times. A little too good, as evinced by me waking up the next morning honestly wondering if I'd eaten my own brain. (It would have accounted for feeling both retarded and nauseous...)
Next entry, I'll strongly hint at which major food chain waters down its beer.
