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A huge thank you to my brother in law for this beer.  He picked up a few of these at The Pine in Kennedy Township.  J.D. and my sister-in-law frequent this bar from time to time.  Its a nice place and I wish I could get up there more often but just haven't found the time.  He dropped these beers off with me and had some crazy story about getting hit on by a gay crippled guy at the bar that night.  Now, I'm not sure how I am EVER going to work that in to a story on here so I just thought I'd come right out and mention it.  I don't have a problem with sexual preference per say but it is always a little awkward when you get hit on by the same sex and you are not gay.  Its happened to me once or twice that I remember.  I feel slightly flattered cause that is probably one or two more times then I got hit on by the opposite sex in life.  But you just never know exactly what to say or do.  Hope J.D. let the guy down easy that night.

Anyway, this Spaten Premium is a great Munich beer.  I have always enjoyed a nice cold Spaten.  It is a simple style with so much body and flavor bursting through.  Nothing crazy with any spices or sweetness.  Every sip contains a balanced flavor of malt and hops and nice bubbly carbonation level.  It pours a very yellow in the glass and the head does not stick around for long.  If I have any complaints about the beer it would be the aroma.  There is a smell to this beer that is a little reminiscent of the old college bars that had beer spilled all over it during the night and the easiest way to clean it up the next morning was to hose it down and mop it out.  No, it doesn't have the ash/cigarette stench that comes with that - just the beer.  That bad pungent beer smell that if hung over and you get a whiff of it you will definitely be talking to the porcelain gods.  The smell is not that offensive that it turns me away by any means - but I was just trying to set the stage for what is the we bit of off aroma to this otherwise nicely made beer.  It is actually quite typical smell with most lager styled beers if you ask me.  All told, this is a quality beer for sure. 

Today has been one long day at home brewing up a new beer, racking a second beer to secondary, playing around with the new camera, helping my wife with her new website she is working on, helping where I could in the kitchen with her making bread, chicken and pasta, and cup cakes, all the long trying to keep two little angels out of everything and NOT BORED.  To me, this is my life.  This is the way life should be.  Good memories come from days like this.  We hung out with some great friends last night celebrating my youngest daughter's feats of greatness on potty training and thin liquid drinking.  We had a crazy somewhat interesting dinner at Chucky Cheese (5:30pm on a Saturday - I will never do that again) and then hung out back at the house.  I've been fighting a cold/sickness for the past few days and the last two days I've been mostly voiceless.  But this is life.  This is what we do!  We have fun, we enjoy our children and their triumphs!  We hang out with good friends and we cook, clean, and work on our hobbies.  Who could ask for more.  I am feeling very fortunate in 2012!  So far this has been a great year.

I am coming up to the end of my first month.  I'm wondering if Jan 31 should be a recap of the month?  Should I talk about my top beer of January?  I'm still working on the idea.  As usual, it will come to me when I sit down to write I'm sure.  But for now, I'm going to join my wife on the couch, work on finishing the last few sips of this Spaten and relax for an hour or so before my bed calls my name.  Thanks for coming and I'll be talking to you all tomorrow I'm sure!