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First day of Spring has sprung.  I'm not sure what to think of this March here in Pittsburgh.  They say if March comes in like a lion it leaves like a lamb or vice verso, what happens if it comes in easy and gets hot as a mid-summer day?  I'm not complaining that it is to hot.  The sun has been a nice addition to my days of late for sure.  I think it is giving me the much needed vitamin D that was just what the doctor has ordered.  Its been nice to get the kids out of the house the last few nights and let them play and run and tire themselves out.  They don't seem to fight as much outside as they do while inside.  So, tonight I decided to drink a somewhat fruity beer if you will to sort of support my "summer mood" I feel like I'm in right now.  It really is going to stink when Mother Nature decides to pull the carpet out from us.  What is going to be worse is all the people that cry "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WARMTH".  Remember people, it is March 20 in Pittsburgh, we've seen snow in April even.  So it can still get cold; and if/when it does we could be in for one last doozy.

Anyway, on that note summery fruity beer.  I'm not a big fan of "fruity" beers.  I've had a few strawberry wheat beers that I like; along with a few honey/orange wheat beers.  But in general, fruity beers are a bit to bitter for me.  Abita Brewing produces a fairly nice (yet fruity) Purple Haze that has the kick of raspberry.  It is tart yet it is a fruit that I don't eat a lot and therefor I'm OK with it being that way in this beer.  The great thing about this beer as I poured it into my glass I almost said I saw a purple hint to the pour.  I don't know if it is the lighting now or not but I don't notice it in the glass as much as I did while pouring.  It has a some what "unfiltered" haze to it.  No doubt this comes from the fruit tannins that can cause some filtered haze in beers.  One reason why brewing fruity home brews can be a little tricky in my experience.  Reading the bottle it has some pilsner and wheat malts used in the brewing.  It also stated that the raspberry puree is added after filtration so that could add some pulp to the drink.  I don't mind this beer.  I couldn't drink many of them maybe 2 but the one is nice by itself.  You can definitely get a huge raspberry fruity smell from the glass.

Cheers to Abita for a great name for a solid "fruity" beer.  Have a great night.

 
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Happy Fat Tuesday's (Mardi Gras to you all)!  Hopefully you are all out celebrating and having a great time!  This is the day before Lent; the last hurrah if you will.  Ash Wednesday begins the season of lent tomorrow.  I'm not extremely educated on the Catholic way.  Though I'm learning more and more as time goes by.  I'm even considering the fact that some day soon I will convert.  I am not actually baptized at this point.  OH, I've always felt a "religious" connection.  I was raised in a family where my grandparents were extremely religious (maybe a bit to much for my own parent's).  They were not Catholic though - and honestly, I get the religions confused when it comes down to it.  Not sure if they are Methodist or Lutheran.  I sometimes feel stupid about that.  My wife is catholic; we are raising our children catholic; and of course, with all that the questions are already starting to roll in by my 6 year old.  The hard part is taking my ADULT brain and wrapping it around the "ENTIRE" religion of Catholicism.   I know, that is probably bad of me to "choose" something like this major for my children with out choosing for me... But sue me!  haha... I'm still working on this internally.

Anyway, so since it is Fat Tuesday - I decided to pick a Louisiana beer Abita Beer.  This was a very nice amber beer.  It poured aggressive with a lot of nice foamy white head on top.  The taste was a nice mellow malty goodness.  This is the absolute session beer!  I wish I was sitting down south now with a hand full of beads drinking more and more of this.  Who am I kidding, I just wish I had one or two more of these in my fridge to drink.  The flavor is nice smooth caramel goodness.  Fresh and yummy.  I would definitely drink more of these (if I had more downstairs ;) ).

PS.  On a side, I got some INCREDIBLY good news today about my oldest daughter.  I am not ready to go into specifics now.  But let me just say that with the information I received today, it explains so much - BUT opens so many more doors of questions and information gathering.  Since I'm early on in the process I really don't want to speak to much on the subject until my wife and I both have a better understanding of everything.  Suffice to say - I've had an EXTREMELY happy day and I raise my beer to you in a toast!  Here is to you and yours.

Thanks for following.

 
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Tonight's writing is coming to from "Get'r'done'R'Us".  So much happening at 365 through today and this weekend I didn't want this day to get away from me.  My 9-5 job is getting in the way of my 5-9 job.  Who am I kidding?  My 9-5 job is more like - 24/7 on and off depending on the day/week/month/ect.  And this week and next is one of the heavy weeks.  So, lots of preparation going on there I can't do much preparing here.  Until I find a way to make a living drinking/making beer I'll have to settle for the paycheck I get from my grown-up job.  Even with out that, I got some daddy day care work going on, dinner cooking, and I'm getting a bit tired.  Dinner tonight is one of our favorites - quinoe cakes with poached eggs.  Recipe compliments of annie-eats.com.

Anyway, not much time left.  So this is going to be quick.  Bottom line - the beer nice.  It pours a nice golden almost redish tint.  It has a hazy unfiltered look to it that I always love in a bottled beer.  I'm probably drinking it a few degrees colder then it should be but refreshing none the less.  When you take a whiff of this one you get a hint of the hops used in the beer but I don't get a lot more for it.  The taste is a little light for a pale ale.  It is refreshing and crisp for sure.  It has sort of a orange / grapefruit citrusness to it.  I like this beer because it doesn't SCREAM hops but you can tell their presence is accounted for.  The malty sweetness does support this beer nicely.   It is a medium body drinker which makes it nice to have 2 or 3 of these with no problem.

One nice note about this beer was the reason it was brewed - the bottle states:  "This ale was created after back-to-back hurricanes devastated Louisiana.  With your help the Abita Brewing Company raised over $550,000 for hurricane relief."  I love it when beer does good for the community.  I hear by state if/when I ever get involved in the brew industry it will be in an attempt to help the community that it is served in.  That is a great reason to brew beer.  Thanks for listening.  Have a good night.