So, I started working out again – decided to go with the Heart Rate Monitor wise. The good news is that I feel like my work outs are more “in my zone” then I ever have before. The bad news is I feel like it may take me a bit longer to lose the weight. Didn’t put the weight on overnight guess I can’t take it off over night. I’m using a workout routine from a magazine that seems to assume I’m a runner. I’m looking for new workout routines using heart rates. If anyone has any for me to use I’d be happy to review them and see if they’ll work for me.
On a separate note, I'm blogging 4 beers today and the fourth one is from Memorial Day. I would be remiss if I mention this. I honestly probably do not thank enough of our soldiers as often as I should. There are many times I wonder what it would have been like to be a soldier. I was literally a pen stroke signature away from joining the Air Force back when I was 18 while contemplating college and my future. How would my life be different? What would I have seen/done? Where would I have journeyed to? Would I still be here? Would I be a stronger/prouder man/American? Anyway, all these thoughts run through my head from time to time and ultimately I just want to thank all the man, women and families that are in or have served for our country and the freedoms we have. I want to thank you for the opportunities that I have and will have in the future.
On a separate note, I'm blogging 4 beers today and the fourth one is from Memorial Day. I would be remiss if I mention this. I honestly probably do not thank enough of our soldiers as often as I should. There are many times I wonder what it would have been like to be a soldier. I was literally a pen stroke signature away from joining the Air Force back when I was 18 while contemplating college and my future. How would my life be different? What would I have seen/done? Where would I have journeyed to? Would I still be here? Would I be a stronger/prouder man/American? Anyway, all these thoughts run through my head from time to time and ultimately I just want to thank all the man, women and families that are in or have served for our country and the freedoms we have. I want to thank you for the opportunities that I have and will have in the future.
5/25 – Benediktiner – Weiss Beer – I enjoyed this while having dinner at the Market District in Robinson Township at the Settler’s Ridge Plaza. Though their beer selection remains nice (only thing they need is a slightly larger/better single beer picks) their prepared foods in my opinion has gone downhill. My wife and I really enjoyed coming here and enjoying the foods they had to offer. They always tasted fresh and made to order but now a days the food has been much less then “fresh and made to order.” Fortunately, this isn’t a food blog it is a beer blog and as such I ordered a nice German Weiss Beer. This beer was a lovely beer. It had a huge banana and strawberry ester coming from the glass. It was nice and refreshing mouth feel. The malty sweetness goodness in the glass was layered with banana and strawberry silky taste. It was really a medium light bodied beer. It was a little bitty to me to drink more than one or two but this could have been a serving temperature thing over anything. I did pour this beer gently in the beginning and added the yeast in at the end and this made the esters even stronger in the glass. As I drank this, I pictured myself drinking this on a nice German hill side with a great blue sky and pillowy clouds floating through the sky. I could almost hear the accordingly playing umpa songs as I took each sip. I’m not sure this website is the original site as this is a collaboration beer brewed by Bitburger & the Ettal Monastery Brewery. I would love to take a tour of the monasteries of Germany and really LEARN their art of brewing beer.
5/26 - CORRECTION - I'm going to leave this here as a MISTAKE - but I was going to REVIEW Sierra Nevada's Summer Fest - though on starting to write this review I remembered I already did this. So, I racked my brain... I called some friends! Luckily on 5/26 I was at a picnic (where a picture of a burger was taken and I'm fairly confident that this bottle in the background is a Victory Brewery Headwaters IPA (even if it isn't - in talking to said friend I know I drank one that day). I honestly can not remember enough about the color/clarity/hell whether I even loved it/liked it. I know it didn't SUCK though. HAHA... I feel bad but only for myself as this is a challenge to myself for myself. Either way, I think I'm still successful in that I drank a new beer that day. The blogging and review is extra to sort of follow my journey. So, if I get around to drinking this beer again - I will come back and add a REVISION but for now suffice to say, the burger that day was FANTASTIC... and the beers (all of them, even the Miller Lite) were going down nice on a hot summer day.
5/26 – Sierra Nevada Brewery – Summer Fest – This beer was enjoyed while catching some World League Football. As I do not know much about soccer as we in the states call it I wasn’t sure exactly the teams and/or league that was on. My two buddies were impressed though and every so often there was some nice action and great shots that even I could appreciate. One of my newer friends had brought some Sierra Nevada Summer Fest. Ah, the summer beers are in full affect. I had been out and running all day so I was exhausted and not truly feeling the whole powering down the beers. This beer doesn’t disappoint. With that nice saaz bitey nice it is surprising low on the IBU scale at 28. But the tangy bite of the hops does persist in this beer. It does pour a nice glowing light red in the glass. It has that crisp fresh bite of a nice lager and smooth body all the way through. This is an easy drinking beer at 5.0% volume and perfect for a nice summer day. Well done Sierra Nevada!
5/26 – Sierra Nevada Brewery – Summer Fest – This beer was enjoyed while catching some World League Football. As I do not know much about soccer as we in the states call it I wasn’t sure exactly the teams and/or league that was on. My two buddies were impressed though and every so often there was some nice action and great shots that even I could appreciate. One of my newer friends had brought some Sierra Nevada Summer Fest. Ah, the summer beers are in full affect. I had been out and running all day so I was exhausted and not truly feeling the whole powering down the beers. This beer doesn’t disappoint. With that nice saaz bitey nice it is surprising low on the IBU scale at 28. But the tangy bite of the hops does persist in this beer. It does pour a nice glowing light red in the glass. It has that crisp fresh bite of a nice lager and smooth body all the way through. This is an easy drinking beer at 5.0% volume and perfect for a nice summer day. Well done Sierra Nevada!
5/27 – Victory Brewery – Hop Devil Ale – I didn’t actually partake in any Hop Devil’s while in Philly a few weeks back as I’ve had them in the past. I couldn’t resist bringing one back and having it for my blog. This beer pours leaving a nice head on top. The color is a nice light yellow red or pinkish tint to the beer. Sort of similar in color to the Summer Fest I believe if I actually were able to have them side by side. It is a bit hoppy for my own personal level. It is nicely balanced with the malty sweetness in the glass. The beer is called Hop Devil so I’m expecting it to be as hoppy as it is which is nice. The carbonation gives it a great bubbly mouth feel and the head hangs on the side gently. It almost has slightly red pepper spiciness to the mouth feel. All told this is a nicely brewed beer that I could sit and drink with a few friends.
5/28 – Lancaster Brewing Company – Hop Hog – So, I’ve found myself in hop alley lately apparently. It is bound to happen that I drink a few hop beers as they are one of the largest most popular craft beers in the industry. I’m not totally sure I get it? I mean a few years back I did go through a huge hop phase – I just think if you limit yourself to hoppy beers you are missing out on a whole wide world of wonderful malted goodness that has so much more to offer. But that is just my opinion, enough about that though - this beer is a good one. Just because they aren’t my favorite that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them. The smell on this beer was low in my opinion. The head retention was a bit low on this beer as well though my glass may not have been 100% clean and this can affect the head of a beer. It has a nice flowery hop kick to it but also is balanced extremely nicely with the malts to give a great medium bodied experience in the glass. At 7.9% abv this beer supports its Wart Hog image from the front of the label nicely. The website says that it uses “Fuggles, Cascades, Fuggles and more Cascades.” It sort of surprises me I didn’t get much nose out of my glass but I believe my allergies were kicking in a bit that night and I was a bit stuffy. Either way, this was a great beer. I have always enjoyed the Lancaster Beers I’ve tried.
As usual, thanks for stopping by and reading. Sorry about the 4 beer catch up tonight - I'm trying to get caught up to real time here... at this point only 7 more to go... wish me luck!
As usual, thanks for stopping by and reading. Sorry about the 4 beer catch up tonight - I'm trying to get caught up to real time here... at this point only 7 more to go... wish me luck!
