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So, the crew reached the end of the world last night.  No, it had nothing to do with the 2" of snow that fell to the ground.  Or the wild ride from downtown Pittsburgh to the 'burbs on the desolate snow covered streets at near mid-night.  Looks like the Mayan's may have been wrong about Dec 21 2012; yep the end of the world was last night.  Don't believe me - I have proof it ended last night; Downtown Pittsburgh; at Cioppino Restaurant.  Just look at the picture to the left (no this isn't me); a friend of mine, affectionately known as Lite in our following ventured far from the norm.  This is a one beer guy.  Oh, he'll try a beer here and there but usually turns a weird shade of green and crinkles his face.  His weapon of choice - ice cold Miller Lite.  But not last night; no last night as the world came to an end we sat at a very nice restaurant and watched Lite order a La Fin du Monde.  I was so proud it even brought a tear to my eye.  Even though I had drank a Spaten and had planned to order up a Duvel - I changed paths and ordered up a Unibroue.  Lite and I toasted to good beers and the rest is history!

We were all out celebrating the birthday of our deer friend.  Looking good and partying strong at the young age of 40!  You go on with your bad self girl... if you use Tracy as a barometer 40 definitely is the new 20!

On doing some research on this beer today - we obviously miss understood the definition of  "end of the world".  This brew is not using the "END" as a time but more a distance.  It is a dedication to the European travels that upon reaching North America thought they had reached "the end of the world".  I did some reading on the Unibroue site and it is a very interesting brew.  The brewery itself is crowned as the first North American brewery to brew a beer in the same style as the Trappist Monks had for centuries on end.  They work on unique styles with unique ingredients.  This is a triple style Golden Ale with a whopping 9% alcohol.  This brew holds a champagne like carbonation quality.  The taste packs a mouth full of spice and fruity flavors.  I definitely could taste some sweet orange flavors from the glass.  It really was a great beverage to accompany the quality of food that was served at this restaurant.  I have had this beer before and will definitely be looking for it again. 

To me, the most unique and exciting thing about this beer was the fact that Lite fell head over heels for this beer.  This beer holds no similarity to Miller Lite except maybe the fact that there is alcohol in it and they are both branded as beer.  Other than that I believe C.D. said it right that it was a very topsy turvy word that is completely out of whack when Lite finds a beer like La Fin du Monde to enjoy.

I'd also like to speak briefly about Cioppino's.  This restaurant was fantastic.  There were many of us at the table so to talk about every dish would be difficult.  But we did pass around most of our plates of food and I don't think there was a bad meal to be had.  I got the Shrimp and Clam broth soup - Magnificent!  Small chunks of clams and shrimp in a seafood stock with some small crushed tomatoes.  In the center was a nice large piece of bread/crouton that soaked up the goodness and was perfect center piece to the bowl.  We ordered the tuna tartar as our appetizer, but sampled the calamari, the meat and olive plate and the oysters.  For our main courses, Andrea ordered the Filet and Bread Pudding and I got the Hawaiian Mong Chong (if I remember that correctly).  All of these things were fantabulous to say the least.  The Filet was perfectly cooked, the bread pudding was cheesy and warm; my Mong Chong was so flavorful; it was a new fish for me so I was slightly nervous but incredibly happy once it was done.  The dish of ALL dishes though, the one that made the top of the list was the Scallops ordered by Lite and Andi.  That was incredible.  What was also very nice about this was that half way through our meal we were greeted by the chef who talked to us a bit and made sure everything was perfectly served.  There is also a cigar bar attached to the restaurant if the mood hits you.

Great night!  Great company!  Great Food!  Great Beer!  I am very blessed and thankful of it all!

I used Wikipedia for info on La Fin Du Monde and 2012 Phenomenon