 I was excited for this night. Its been awhile since I've been to the Church Brew Works and have missed the place. It is actually the first place my wife and I went to the night we moved into Pittsburgh over 10 years ago. We had heard so much about this place and it doesn't disappoint. The first thing is that this is a renovated church and is just beautiful inside and out. The first time you go you feel a little confused whether you should be there to confess your sins or to belly up to the bar. I really like this aspect of the brewery the most. It is an incredible location/environment. Beautiful wood work throughout and if I'm not mistaken it was all wood used from inside the church to make a lot of what is used. The vats of beer are nicely stored in the front of the church (is this the alter). Its gorgeous. The next thing you should really focus on is their food. It is tremendous. They make great pizzas, awesome chips, appetizers, ect. The food is incredible. Lastly the beer, unfortunately, this place hits my point on microbrewery restaurants on the head. Most I've been to can make great food OR great beer... but never both for some reason. I have been to a few where they have made the exception but the Church just doesn't do that for me personally. They have a huge selection of beers. My wife got the sampler and had at least 8 4 oz pours of different styles from IPA, Stouts, Light Lager, ect. Out of those 8 I really didn't care for many of them. They all have some good qualities but they just aren't TOTALLY for me. Luckily the Irish Red that I ordered separately I thought they nailed it. The Irish Red was a seasonal brew for St Patrick's Day. It was nicely balanced beer with nice malty sweetness and a mild hoppy flower sweetness. It was actually really good. All told this was a great beer to drink and sit and catch up with my buddy's from high school. Yep, my friends met us here a little later that night. So, we spent the night catching up on old stories past of St Patrick's Day parades. We have had 11 years of parades under our belt. My buddy Dave being the ONLY one of us that has had his card punched for coming EVERY YEAR. I've probably missed 3-4 at least believe it or not. So, the stories of course consisted of the typical who passed out first when, who got lost that one year, when I left Dave in Fat Heads to go to get a sandwich, some pizza box fights with a homeless guy, random girls, Scone Lady, you name it. The list goes on. And we begin preparing ourselves mentally and physically for the next day. We plan to meet around 9 or 10 at Oyster House the next morning and part ways. Always nice catching up with the boys!On a separate note, I would be re-missed if I didn't mention that one of the guys contributed to the 365 challenge by bringing me about 8 beers from the Richmond Virginia area that he lives in. I am always very very grateful for these types of gifts! THANK YOU VERY MUCH Aaron.
 Thursday night I drank Flying Dog. I did not find any thing really "special" about this beer to speak of. It was a solid drink. The pour as you can see left a nice head n the glass. I couldn't find any great notes in the smell. It smelled like any other normal lager out here. It was a nice balanced and easy drinking beer. I could probably sit and drink a few of these easily. I do not find myself drinking Flying Dogs often but have decided that I like there beers. If you see this one out there and enjoy lagers this is a good one. One fun thing about this brewery is their labels. Have a read while enjoying the beer. There really wasn't anything special going on for this beer. I was preparing myself for the big day out at the second largest St Pattrick's Day parade in the country. My friends were coming in from out of town and we would be hanging out drinking green beer and meeting fun new friends from all over. Thursday was a bit mellow so there really isn't much to be said about this.
Boy did I almost 'screw the pooch'! Ok, weird expression but first one that came to my mind for some reason. I drank Dale's Pale Ale last night as my beer to blog about. Sat down tonight started reading and thought... boy this blog sounds familiar. Please check Feb 10 blog. I haven't reread it yet but I assume the review is very very similar. ALL IS LOST I SAID... and I stopped and thought... WAIT... I did drink a beer last night. I stopped over at the Final Approach Lounge (otherwise known as my father in laws garage) and "enjoyed" an semi-cold can of Busch Light. Yea, you know my father in law; he is a CHEAP BEER BUYER. He loves his beers on sale god bless him. And he saved me on this challenge. Unfortunately this is the FIRST PICTURE FREE blog I have as I was not going to blog about Busch Light at least not for yesterday... nor was I even going to mention it happened. I know a joke about something like that... they are OK to date just don't let your friends see you with them! That doesn't even work for Busch Light. It is a bad beer. No real redeeming qualities except I guess I could say it really did taste like a glass of City Water... it was very very watery with a hint of some sort of off 'rusty' flavor. Absolutely not for me. Anyway, this was a close call! I have to start being more careful! I'm trying to get through my case I have fridge and have been meaning to do inventory. Guess it is time to do that. Thanks for stopping by. And if you care to read what I had ALREADY blogged about last nights Dale's Pale Ale please see below. It was awesome! I was actually a bit nervous that the Busch was going to bring points away from it but it was still awesome. Unbelievable! I knew this night would have to come - LUCKILY I had a safety beer last night. Must be more careful!  Can's are attempting a come back! Microbreweries around the country are attempting to do the otherwise impossible. It wasn't but 10 years ago you couldn't find a beer in a can that wasn't really part of the big 3 OR a really really CHEAP BEER! Not so any longer. I think Oskar Blues Brewery Dale's Pale Ale is one of the first beer's I found in a can that was a microbrew/quality brew. I can remember about 5 years ago or so at Bocktown Beer and Grill in Robinson PA. I was talking to the guy behind the bar and he was saying! Yep, totally worth the extra few dollar's/change that you had to pay for it over others. He also mentioned that you would be hard pressed to tell it was poured from a can if you put it in the glass and blind taste tested it. I said, what the hell and tried it. And couldn't agree more. This is a great brew. It pours a nice clean crisp copper color. The head is soft and gentle laying thin on the top. It has a nice flowery sweet smell to it that notable flows from the hops. Its a handsome brew in the glass. The beer is definitely a Pale Ale with big hop quality. Actually, in this beer the hops steal the show. If you are a hop head that enjoys a good quality beer this is the beer for you. If you haven't tried it you should. If you have, let me know if you agree. This malt sweetness is in the background and supports the hops nicely. It isn't hard to notice the balance in the glass. But the hops are DEFINITELY the king of this can! Thank you Oskar for a nice brew like this. Thank you for showing people that beer can be served in ALL forms. And can be quality in all!One other note, I was recently reading an article in Beer Advocate magazine or somewhere (honestly I forget where I saw this - I apologize. I googled it and did not find the exact article I read. But multiple other articles talking about the same thing) about canning beer. There is a company that I read about in Colorado that are starting a mobile beer canning business. That is how much they believe canning is here to stay. I think it is a great concept. The shipping is cheaper. They are easily recyclable. All told it is a win win for all!
 Today I saw an article on Facebook that posted on the a blog about not liking "fancy beer". The article makes some compelling arguments. I can parallel the article to many things in my life that I greatly dislike because of to much choice. I greatly dislike Starbucks. Just typing that gets my blood pressure up as I think about it. Do I buy their coffee? Sometimes. But I hate them because it takes 3-5 words to order a coffee. Some of the words are made up; some are foreign; some are just noises I think. Then you put on it a price tag that is just crazy for a cup of coffee. Some argue that you get the experience of the barista, the craftsmanship of a fine grind, and expertly picked and roasted beans. Though all these things are true, its still just coffee. Then there are all the 'varieties' in the cookie aisle. I think there could possible be 5-7 different Oreo Cookies. Cereal, Yikes! Fast's Menu's are all over the place. Choices are every where now. So, I agree with him - I do remember back where there were less choices in life. And yes, it was a simpler time and a simpler world. And man was it nice. Maybe, just maybe, we don't need this much variety in life. But after having this much variety and choice just try to take it away. So, here I am drinking a Louisiana Pecan brew; how is that for choice. Now, you can have a pecan pie and beer side by side and they may just be the perfect mates for each other. I was excited about this one tonight. I'm not a huge pecan fan but I do love a nutty roast/taste/smell. I think this beer brings that to the table. Instantly on pouring the beer I got the roasted nutty pecan smell bursting from the glass. The pour is a orange caramel color in the glass. There isn't much to speak of head/carbonation in the glass. It is a little foamy and soft in texture. Honestly, I think this is where this beer falls just a bit. My personal preference would be that they attempt to thicken the brew or bring more body to this beer. Maybe they are going for a light texture to the beer and maybe easier drinking beer. I would love their take on that. Personally, the flavor profile for me deserves just a bit more malty caramel thickness to it. I guess I'm looking to chew on this one a bit more. I think the roasty pecan is strong and needs a little more body to carry it better. All that said, that is a minor complaint! It is a decent beer and with the right food compliment it would be perfect choice. With that I leave you with the following. Choices are over whelming, but luckily Patrick Smith - you have the choices and in almost ever bar I've been in even the "craftiest" of beer stores still over one of the original's. So, crack open a can of Schlitz and enjoy this little clip for entertainment. Heck grab me one and I'll drink with you! Cheers. Please play this with caution - there is a large amount of profanity in this. Apologize in advance but I laugh out loud EVERY TIME I watch this one.
 I think Sam Adams makes a fairly quality product for sure. Nothing to fancy (with some exceptions of course). Boston Lager is their original brew made by Jim Koch back in 1984 in his kitchen. He made this beer and new that it was going to travel the distance. Bottom line, Jim knows good ingredients and I think it is his devotion to good ingredients that produces such a fine product. This Boston Lager is no exception. It is crisp. It is clean. It is a dirty yellow pour in the glass. It is a nice balance of hops and barely sweetness. The head history rings are left on the glass to tell you that you once had a full beer in your glass. Maybe hanging around hoping that you refill it with more of the same to make it happy again. Over all this is a pretty good beer. I don't think there is anything that sets it apart from other well made lagers. But I have nothing really negative to say about it.I've actually had the pleasure of touring this brewery while staying up in Boston a few years back. It is a tremendous tour in my opinion. They do a great job of telling you the story of the beer. They are generous with the free samples at the end of the tour and the "beer tasting" room they have you hang in for the samples made me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It was like a bar down the street type bar. You instantly felt at home and comfortable. As if ever time you are drinking in there you are sitting with Jim himself. Over all, this was one of my favorite brewery tours. I would recommend it to anyone and will do it again someday for sure. That said, I highly recommend the city of Boston as well. Another one of my 'favorites' in this country! I've been to a few cities here and there but Boston was great. I have a few friends in Boston that we love to visit when in town! Thanks for reading. Here's to your next beer!
 Well, one thing I haven't been doing this year is losing weight. In all fairness, I haven't even really been trying. Our house is back on the market and that adds a stress that just makes stress eating great for me. Sure, you can blame it on the beer that I'm drinking and I know that doesn't help but I'm here to say, that the beer is not the only factor in causing this none weight lose problem. Over the last two weeks I have started running again. I'm hopeful that with running, I'll start feeling a bit better and with feeling better I'll start eating better. Lets face it; that is such a vicious cycle, of we are tired/stressed/ect from the winter/work/life/ect so we try to grab a vice to make us feel better. Some people its food, some its alcohol, and the list goes on. Well, you start indulging in this and it brings your mood and body down more. You start feeling worse and its harder to get motivated. Well, I'm finally trying to end that cycle. I'm trying to start working out. I'm also working with my wife to eat healthier. So, why the picture of pizza? Cause I'm going to start this tomorrow... ;)Anyway, so the pizza in the picture was leftover (unfortunately not as good left over as it was fresh). But the beer on the other hand was a nice change up. I have to get through the last few "winter beers" that I have down there before it Spring... well springs! So, I thought I would drink this. It was nice and crisp. It is brewed with spices like orange peel and coriander and cinnamon. Though I tasted a nice spiciness to the beer I didn't readily notice any one of these ingredients shining through. They were all nice background noise to a well rounded solid brew. I think that is the thing with Sam Adams on a GENERAL NOTE. They make good solid beer. In my opinion, nothing earth shattering and mind blowing. And nothing that is complete crap. Yes, yes, I know they have some "specialty" big brews - Utopia being the biggest. Anyone want to invite me over for a sampling of this I'll be happy to give you company! I can say I had a SPECIALTY beer from Sam a few years back that was HORRIBLE. In Sam's defense, I think the bottle had just gone bad (or at least I HOPE that was what the problem was). But when wrote to the company to ask about the beer I never really did get a good answer. That did leave me with a bad taste in my mouth with Sam Adam''s literally and figuratively for a little while. But because they have a relatively honest and fair product it they brought me back. As for this Winter Lager, I can say that it reminded me of a slightly stronger more alcohol warmth spicy version of the regular Boston Lager. That they basically used their signature beer and built off a strong product. In my mind that is a solid equation for a good winter beer. All told, this was a good beer. The pizza regretful calories. So, here I begin my pledge: I promise to my body to eat better and take better care of myself again. I really need to lose some weight and not drinking beer is not part of this equation. I have to learn how to LOSE WEIGHT and be able to enjoy my favorite beverage - beer! Anyone out there with suggestions/tips/thoughts - feel free to comment. I'm going to start trying to run at least 4-6 miles a week. Working on getting that back up to the 7-10 I was doing early last year. Stress in life will always be here... provided my health keeps me around long enough to get through it all! Good night and until my next beer.
 Last night was a perfectly wonderful family movie night. My daughter is 6.5 years old and in general we've kept her fairly sheltered from movies. She has watched many of the Disney movies out there. All the princess movies and a bunch of others. She watches the Disney channel almost exclusively. Her grandparents and aunt are just back from Florida and went to Universal for the Harry Potter and Butter Beer. They had a great time and brought back a Chocolate Frog from Honeydukes Sweets Shop. So, I decided what better way to enjoy the chocolate then to have Family Movie night. Pop corn popped, bottle of Abita Dark Brown Ale popped, and all settled in for the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Jordan loved it and I loved seeing it through her eye's. She was mystified by the magic; scared by the creatures; an in awe of the flying brooms. As a child, I was always so into these types of mystical magical places as well. And Witches and Wizards have always been a curious interest of mine. Its great to see your child so excited by similar things. The beer was definitely a nice dark brown in the glass. At first glance you may mistake it for a black stout like beer but on closer examination it is definitely nice and dark brown. It was a nice pour with a 1/4" layer of dirty brown foam on top. Taking the first sip of this beer I noticed that it was definitely lighter/thinner then I would have imaged. It definitely didn't carry the "body in the glass" that the color shows. This was a welcome surprise though as the heavier stout type beers are not one of my favorites. There was definitely a roaty chocolate taste to the beer with a bit of toffee background. It was a nice little complex beer with all the little flavors coming through. The popcorn for the movie and this beer parred nicely together. I would probably not drink many of these personally but it definitely is a solid beer. Thank you Abita for the wonderful variety pack I've gone through. I think most of them are complete now. I suppose that I'll be watching Harry Potter 1 for a little while now since my daughter is only 6.5. I want her to learn the characters and understand the story a bit better before moving on to the next one. I've followed the movies and they only go darker and more serious as the series goes on. So, I'm not sure when my little one will be ready for part 2. But I'm anxious and excited when we move on as I think she'll love it.Thanks for reading and have a great day.
 The Duchesse! The night finally arrived. About 3 weeks ago, my buddy PNC brought home a few brews that we were going through. Well, we didn't get to drink this one then. We have been talking about it for weeks now. Actually, I had some of the previous sours and was REALLY looking forward to this beer. I think I was dreaming about it from time to time. This beer even came HIGHLY recommended by the Beer Expert guy at Market District in Robinson. I really have to learn his name. He pointed out 3 others that he thought were good sour beers and they were spot on great successes in my mind. Very new and unique to me but a welcomed change. Well, last night we were hanging with our friends and as we normally do, we were sampling some beers. I even had a taste test of my knock off version of "Old Speckled Hen" to the original. The original was the obvious winner but I didn't do a bad job with the home brew. I think the 'biggest thing' it was probably was missing was more aroma hops to get that huge hop nose that the 'Hen' produced. So, it finally came time for the Duchesse. I started doing some searches on this beer and getting some info. I ran across this link that I think I found the most quality information on the beer. I'm still sitting questioning the beer I had last night. I'm not sure if it is a fair and valid review or the beer possibly went south and never recovered. As I read the reviews out there I think to myself, I must have gotten a bad beer. It had to have been bad with all the reviews that had such quality things to say about this beer. After all, the beer guy at the Market District TOTALLY recommended it (though he did mention the "funkiness"). Then I come across the past link I left. He is the first one that mentions the strong kick of vinegar & the cider notes. Now, every one that tasted this last night really greatly disliked the beer. I tried to stay positive. I tried to stay focused for the love of this review. But I just couldn't do it. The beer pours a nice brown'sh red hue in the glass. It actually looks nice in the glass. The head coats the top evenly. The first problem started with the smell. It was STRONG! It was potent. It was very very Apple Cider Vinegar. I'd even venture to say that it was Apple Cider Vinegar that set around to long. To me it was not complex, it was not robust, it was just CIDER'sh. Next, I tasted it. The taste was worse then the smell. I don't know if the smell influenced the taste (actually I know it did/does). Either way, I was not impressed by this one. I probably will try another one again some day. But at $25 for a 4 pack it may not be anytime soon. I was barely able to drink the 6-8 oz for this review. I have mixed emotions here. I have been told that this beer comes with good reviews. I see good reviews on line. I wanted to like it but couldn't. This is one of those deals where it was far more then just "I didn't like it". I could hardly stomach it. I'm hopeful that maybe we just got a bad brew and the next one will make up for this one. OR maybe in a few years or after this project is over my tastes will have been revived and broadened to be able to enjoy this beer. But I'm not sure. We'll have to see how it goes. For now, I'm giving this a "bad review" from me. But again, this is all subjective. We all have our opinions. Thanks for reading.I found this site here for the brewery but it wasn't in English. I may be a bit lazy sometimes but I didn't dig much deeper. With a beer that I didn't like this much I usually do not go too much deeper.
 Obolon's mission statement is a pretty cool: We work every day to be first and not to leave thirsty ones on the planet. They definitely didn't leave me thirst Thursday night. This was one of the beers my beautiful wife brought home from her night out with the Pittsburgh Beer Ladies. She had a great time and met some great people. I really benefited from her trip cause she brought me home four new beers to try. Thanks babe!This is a Ukrainian Lager. This beer poured a nice bright yellow and very clear. There is not a great head on the glass ( the picture shows a nice head on pour but it dissipated quickly). But the carbonation is nice and bubbly through out the entire glass. It definitely has that bitter lager like taste to it. I think in this Journey I've found that I am not as much of a lager guy as I once thought I was. They just have a bite/taste/characteristic that I do not care for. But this one was pleasant to drink. It was was probably served at a "warmer" temp then I normally drink my beers. That said, it was probably served at a better temperature. I did get a nice creamy finish to this beer. Over all not my favorite beer on the list but definitely a much better lager then I'm used to drinking.I drank this while sitting admiring all the different brews that my father in law brought up from Florida. I saw a few of them before; even 2-3 that I think we can find in PA. But mostly, there were beers I hadn't really heard of before; many were imports, with one being from Nicaragua I believe. These beers were funded by Uncle Wayne of Miami and Billy Bags! Thanks guys for keeping my journey possible. I will be happily reviewing these beers over the next few weeks.
 *** UPDATE AS OF 6/5/2012 *** - So I had another one of these Saturday night June 2 and boy it did not taste anything like the one I remember from 3/7. Was this one bad? Was it a new batch? Eitherway, I'll think twice about reaching for one of these in the future. It was really not good this past Saturday! Wonder what the discrepancy came from? *** END OF UPDATE 6/5/2012 ***So, here I sit; 8:30pm. The girls are in their room relaxing (could they actually be asleep already)? The wife is out with some friends at a Pittsburgh Beer Ladies tasting. Please check out their blog. It sounds like they have a ton of events going on and almost has me jealous that I'm not a girl! Maybe some night I'll throw on a skirt and try to sneak in! HA... Anyway, so she is out enjoying some nice brews I figure I should be home enjoying the same. Enter Abita Jockamo IPA. I did do a little bit of research on this Jockamo story. I really wasn't feeling like working hard but one of the few sites I found was a Wikipedia site. The short of it is that it has to do with the native Indians of Mardi Gras. Though I'm positive there is some great history and wonderful stories to be found, I myself have only been to New Orlean's once for less then 24 hours for work. I was there long enough to see the town driving in, stop at a hospital for a quick work session, have lunch at some little side shop, back to the hospital and fly out. So, sadly, I've not been able to enjoy the wonderful parades but strive to get their some day! I poured this beer into a glass and the color was almost a bit electric red in color. It actually has a really nice hue to it. It has a slight haziness to it but I think that is just because of how deeply colored the red tint is to the beer. There is huge hoppy kick of a smell coming from the glass. It is so strong that my nose has become a bit numb to the smell and I'm having a hard time describing it. I think I'm really picking up on the citrusy bite of the Willamette hop. Even searching on google - took me to Wikipedia I got the description I was thinking of - fruity flowery goodness; spot on. The hops are strong but what I find in a GOOD IPA is that the malty caramel should be there to support and hold up those hops. This beer does this well. The malt and hop balance is superb! I am really enjoying this beer from finish to end. Its crisp, fruity, and spicy goodness. Kudos to Abita! On a somewhat completely different note, I find myself sitting here watching Drinking Made Easy. If you haven't seen it, try to catch an episode when you can. If you have - what are your thoughts. I definitely see and learn a few things from time to time on this show but I'm not sure if I'm a fan or not. I think the thing stopping me from loving this show is the fact that I wish I some how pursued their career path. I am not here to say that job is easy; the same as say Art Mann. Its completely mindless television. It takes little to know brain cells to watch and you don't often find your self "learning" much from it. But they seem to have an enjoyable career. I'm sure they have their moments. I'm sure the job isn't easy. But Man, what was I thinking when I wanted to become a "computer programmer". Should have "wanted to become" one of these guys :) haha... Anyway, on that note - I bid you farewell. Untill tomorrow night!
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