You ever have one of those days?  It wasn’t exactly terrible, but there really isn’t a whole lot to show for it.  I started the morning by taking the Odyssey up to Wexford Honda for a recall.  I don’t know why (maybe it was my own attitude) but that place gives me the creeps.  I’m sure all the guys that work behind the counter are nice honest guys and all.  But this is the second trip up there and I just get those not so good feelings.  Like today, I paid nothing but I feel like I still somehow got ripped off.  I don’t know, either way, I had to find a place to work so I went up to the Wendy’s.  Not known for its “breakfast menu” though they have one – I sat there for about 1.5 hours.  The breakfast sandwich was not good.  And the store was depressing.  Not to mention I had to make an emergency stop to the Orthodontist today because of some issues with my braces this made my past day and a half of eating not all that happy.  And to top it off, it is 12:30 and I just hung up on a work call that I got last minute to fix something that I wasn’t able to do anything about.  On one note, I’m happy/glad my boss has the confidence in me to call me at 10:00 on a Wednesday night.  On the other, it sucks that I don’t have the knowledge/tools/ability (be it my fault or the fault of others) to be able to fix this and I hate not being able to fix things.  Enough about my day though, on to the beers.

5/19 – Troegs Brewery - Sunshine Pils – The beer pours golden and clear in the glass.  I had this beer a bit later on a Saturday night.  The smell came through very strong hoppy malty pilsner kick.  The head on the beer was nice silky and smooth.  All told an enjoyable beer to drink in the summer time.  Nice medium body in the mouth feel.  I really did enjoy this beer.  Add on note - After writing the review of the Tommy Knocker below – I immediately felt like I was writing a similar review.  Upon some investigation I did find that this beer is categorized in the Saison style of beers.

5/20 – Boulder Beer - Sweaty Betty – This beer almost had a glowing fluorescent yellow tint in the glass.  It was very cloudy in the glass added to the glow of the glass.  I really probably drank this a bit colder then it was originally intended to be drank but in general a nice beer.  Large amounts of banana and fruity ester smell flowing from the beer.  Definitely got the bready yeasty smell coming from the glass.  The malts and hops are there to support the main character of yeast in this glass.  It definitely had a nice amount of carbonation in each mouth full.  The funny story behind this beer is the kid behind the counter at Market District mentioned “wow, someone finally bought Sweaty Betty.”  I just asked him if it didn’t seem to be a big seller and why?  He said that he personally hadn’t sold any and that he wasn’t sure exactly why – if it had to do with the name or not.  Either way, it was sort of humorous to me.

5/21 – Tommy Knocker Brewery– Saison –Back to these mischievous “impish, gnome-like men are the Cornish equivalent of Irish leprechauns and English brownies” otherwise known as Tommy knockers.  The Saison beer is often called“farm style ales” brewed in the cool months coming out of winter and preparing for the warm summer months working the fields.  This beer originates from the French-speaking part of Belgium <some notes I found at BJCP>.  You can find it more of year round now but traditionally brewed for the summer.  My initial impressions were that I viewed it as a cloudy yellow liquid.  This particular version gave me heavy degrees of me heart burn with every sip (some beers have done this and I haven’t figured out rhyme or reason to why).  It is refreshing and a bit tart for sure.  It definitely has some earthy grassy tastes in it.  I could see this being nice and refreshing after a long day in the fields but would have to overcome the huge amount of heart burn that it gave me in this glass.  As you can see in the picture, I’m beginning to day dream these days about my vacation in July.  I’m taking 2.5 weeks off and traveling south.  The Keys are a nice place to relax and unwind and I can’t wait to get that tropical breeze and a nice brew in my hand.  I hate to wish away June… but all these summer beers has me dreaming about my vacation get away in July!

May 29, 2012 is an ugly rainy Tuesday night!  The kids are “sort of” downstairs playing, the wife is making MORE cupcakes; she just finished making 20 dozen cupcakes for a local winery called Winery at Wilcox and some Wine-ee Women event (hope they are enjoying them).  I’m sitting back and reaping the benefit of some left over ingredients (ie wine) that was not completely used in the recipe.  Seems like as good enough of a time as any to get caught up on my writing – lord knows I need to get caught up.  This is officially the 150th day of the year.  What an exciting year it has been and we are not even half way through yet.  Can’t wait to sit back and read through this year’s events in the future and recall all the beers I’ve drank.

5/16 – Victory Brewing Company – Lizard Bock – If you haven’t read much about me you may not know that I lived out in West Chester from ’96 – ’01.  In that time, I did get a chance to check out this brewery once or twice years ago.  On pulling into this place recently I immediately noticed the expansion – no doubt from how incredible this brewery is doing!  This brewery is a staple in my diet.  I attempt to drink their beers when I see them and enjoy most everything I got.  On entering the brewery I was immediately impressed by the décor.  It was a brewers dream – very open and approachable.  The bar in the back is very impressive with a few large copper kettle pot tops feast your eyes on.  The beer selection was huge.  Of course, I drank the sampler and was impressed by many of the beers.  Happily the rauchbier that I drank was the best of the week (of a few that I tried from various locations), well brewed Victory.  But I chose the Lizard Bock as my beer of choice.  Amazingly enough, I do not have a picture of the beer itself… instead I took a picture of the menu for Lizard Bock.  Since the menu talks about the beer in great detail – and I did not take great notes – I’ll simply state that I really remembered enjoying this beer nicely.  I remembering it being a bit sweet and malty, with just enough hop kick to balance this beer and make it REMARKABLY drinkable.  I only enjoyed one of these as I was rushed out of the bar for reasons not to mention here.  I also was happy to have one of my long time readers find me and introduce her to me.  Unfortunately we were not able to catch a beer together but there will always be another time.  I had a very enjoyable dinner with co-works out this night and can’t wait to make it back to the brewery to enjoy a bit more time here.

5/17 – Amstel – Light Lager – Amstel Light has been around for a very long time.  The website plays a nice little move about the fact that the beer has been started 104 years before my birthday.  So that makes it and me old!  On that note, I don’t have a lot to talk about this beer.  I would “assume” most of my readers on this blog have tried this beer.  It is light and crisp and somewhat refreshing.  It is a steady “safety” beer if you get to a place that doesn’t have good beer.  I got to enjoy this at a friend’s Italian club just on the outskirts of Philly.  The people were pretty cool and it was a decent night out.  Personally, a bit smokey for my tastes but a fact I quickly looked past.  Unfortunately, I did not win any money from the Cash Bash and I was dead tired from a LONG week at education.  FORTUNATELY, I finally got to meet a friend’s family and got to enjoy the hospitality.  I do not make it to these types of clubs to much anymore but it definitely had a nice feel to it.  Everyone knows everyone, they are all able to crack jokes and have a great time.  All in all a good night!  The beer… well, I honestly think it was probably a bit bad from sitting around but in general this is a nice enjoyable beer.

5/18 – Victory Brewing Company – Summer Love – I did not get to enjoy this one at the bar Wednesday night.  I was happy to save this one for a 6pack from Wegmens as I’m heading out of Corporate from a long week of education.  I had a long road in front of me and wanted to ensure I had some nice beer to drink when I got home and finally relaxed.  This was not the only beer I picked up that day of course.  The drive home on the PA Turn Pike was a little rough actually; long and boring and as tired as I was I stopped twice once to grab some lunch and the second to grab a cat nap in one of the rest areas.  I made it home safely and cracked open a Summer Love.  I was excited for this with Summer right around the corner.  I figured I would grab a case of this and be settled in for whatever summer has to offer.  It pours a nice bright yellow clear liquid in the glass.  The head is light and white on top.  First sip of this beer is robust;  it has a crisp pilsner taste with some hints of spicy hops that scream through the glass.  To me, this ‘spicy after taste’ makes this not such a home run in my eyes.  I get that it is refreshing on a hot summer day; but this beer gives me severe heart burn from the hops.  There are a few beers out there that accomplish this with me.  Mostly, it seems to be some Belgian Brews that do this most often to me but this one is strong as well.  I get some earthy grass notes in the back of my mouth.  Its very carbonated.  I think it is a “GOOD” quality beer that many people will love but it is not the beer for me.  This is not the beer for me to enjoy in mass quantities.  Can't like ALL their beers ;).

Thanks for stopping by for a read.  I hope you enjoy.

Sunday May 13th was my trip back to the Philly area.  I had high hopes of getting around to see some of the old stomping grounds and friends.  Sadly, some of the old places, ie Boathouse, Restaurant and Bar, Maddy’s were not there any longer & replaced with new.  I wasn’t out there for pleasure unfortunately so I had to really focus on my day job.  I took every opportunity I could to find time here and there to fit my beers of the day in.  I'm not going to go into this but  I’ve never had education like I did this past week.  I felt more like I was in Elementary school again where the teachers had all power and knowledge and experience and I was green.  Not because the content was so NEW and earth shattering; no - simply because of the delivery of the messages.  That said, I did learn a lot from last week and am actually cautiously optimistic about the future… there are good changes that could be beneficial to all coming.  I just hope its not what it has been in the past - promises and pipe dreams.

5/13 – Yuengling - Lager – I’ve been on many brewery tours around the country but some how this one has escaped me.  The oldest brewery in America; I have never visited.  I feel bad about this and really want to fix this terrible flaw.  When I lived out there it was "too close" and now I’ve not made time to make it out that way.  This is a beer I “grew up” on.  I would venture to say I drank more of this beer collectively than I’ve drank of any other.  The only exception may be Miller Lite as I have not drank much Yuengling in the 2000’s.  I loved this beer in the 90’s.  It was great, refreshing, smooth and had down right drinkability.  It is a light brown color with a clean smooth head.  Personally, it was one of my favorites.  It was so good in fact that in the 90’s you could go into any bar in Easter PA and ask for “A lager” and you would get this one!  They just knew you meant the best!

Then the masses caught on, word got out on the street… people would travel to OC Maryland and take cases!  Bars had to have this!  People pushed… the brewery knew they had to answer.  They ramped up production and increased lines.  They even had to travel far and wide to find new facilities which they did so in South Florida.  This beer made it big… it shipped far and wide, you couldn’t ask for it by name any more (this probably had more to do with how many varieties and popularity of craft beer exploded).  But, I think this beer lost something.  It started tasting a bit cheap to me.  It tasted metallic and started giving me head-aches.  I don’t know if they started adding corn adjuncts to the recipe (or it was always there – to me something had happened).  Anyway, I lost interest and even in the last 2-3 years when I try it I am not impressed.  I’m not sure if because of being in Philly again, no kids so a lack of responsibility or what – but this draft drank extremely nice.  I may start to give it another try and see if maybe they are working out the recipe and straightening things out.  This beer will score nicely for me tonight as the beer in Philly Tasted SO GOOD.

5/14 – Iron Hill – Maibock – I believe I’ve posted this before but the German Beer Institute website defines this beer as:

Maibock (literally: May Bock) is the Bavarians' strong, golden lager favored during the brief transation between the severe winters along the northern edge of the Alps, when people hunker down indoors, and the hot summers, when people flock to the beer gardens.

This is one of my favorite styles of beer.  I really wish this beer was able to be found more regularly through the year.  When I find this style I enjoy!  I went to Iron Hill with some work friends and ordered a sampler; this was the beer I chose to order a 12 oz of in the restaurant.  Iron Hill has tuned in nicely to this beer and style and I really liked their recipe.  It poured a malty light caramel in the glass with a light head on top.  The beer was medium to heavy body with just enough hops to balance the sweetness nicely.  This beer paired real nice with my Burger I ordered that night.  It got me so excited I actually picked up a bottle of 2009 Old Ale they had in the cellar – I look forward to drinking this later in the year.  Thanks for the great beer!

5/15 – Philadelphia Brewery - Kensinger Lager – Being in Philly area (Wayne, PA is where my hotel was) last week, I drank a good amount of beer in the lobby of the hotel.  The bartender Bill at the Embassy Suites was a great guy!  We hung out and talked beer. He told me they work on keeping a nice selection of local brews on tap at all times.  This beer was a nice little surprise I found one night when they switched out the kegs.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take many notes on this beer so I’ll “cheat” a bit and use some of the descriptions The brewery themselves use online; in their words: “This crisp, light bodied, golden beer is the very definition of refreshment.  The combination of premium German pilsner malts and American Noble hops aim to please your taste buds and satisfy your thirst.”  It did all that and more.  I came back for a few more of these as the week went on.  I may even try to find a case of this out this way as it was enjoyable and refreshing through and through.  Thanks Bill for putting this one on tap.

Thanks again for stopping by and

It has been a long time; as I’ve said in the past I’ve never wanted it to go this long between posts.   I had started with daily and felt good about that.  Recently I have been “holding 3-4 days” and playing catch up.  Though this is nice for me – I’ve heard a few people state that the blogs are a bit long.  I can understand that.  And now in the past week have really fell behind in blogging.  I’ll blame that on my day job and catching up with some great people that I haven’t seen in years.  Whether true or not, the biggest problem that came from this is that I have “lost”, not taken good notes and pictures of all beers over the last week or two.  Some beers are ones I’ve drank for ages so really shouldn’t cause a major problem in the blog realm and some are new and truly am not giving them the “RESPECT” they deserve.  For that I apologize; but alas – as I’ve stated in the past.  This really is currently a CHALLENGE to myself and free info to my followers.  So, if you don’t like the content I bring to you… take it up with the Corporate Offices of 365 and we’ll see what we can do to improve quality.  Till then, summer is fast approaching – with that brings GREAT BEER but not always the “free time” to sit and relax and write about them.  For that, I will try my hardest to keep all my faithful readers as current as possible with my beer journeys.  Now, on to the beers:

5/10 – Miller - High Life Lite – This is one of the casualty beers that I seem to not have taken a picture of – and that stinks.  I really thought that would be the “easiest” part of this blog with owning an iPhone and all.  But apparently, this does from time to time seem to get lost.  This beer was drank at my father-in-law’s across the street from me.  He just informed me tonight (5/20/2012) that there will not be any more “cheap” beer in his house.  This I’ve got to see!  Ha… anyway, there isn’t much to say about this beer – so I will not waste your time.  For a budget beer it does have a light creamy taste to it but falls short of even a good ol’Miller Lite in my opinion.  This is not an “avoid at all cost” style beer – but isn’t far from it.  I would rather the High Life or a straight Miller Lite for my money.  But when it is free from the Father in Law… I accept it and drink it happily.

5/11 – Samuel Smith - Organic Best Ale – I have a photo of this beer but for some reason can not locate any notes on this one.  As to not pretend – I found these notes on the site:

A delicately flavored golden ale in which subtle fruity esters from the Samuel Smith yeast strain interact with a background of maltiness and fresh hops. Brewed with water, organic malted barley, organic hops and yeast; fermented in ‘stone Yorkshire squares’.

I do remember enjoying this beer.  I had drank this beer Friday night before leaving for a week long work trip.  I have a picture for you on this one but not much else to speak of.  It is worth having one if you ever cross paths with it.  But I don’t remember it being truly remarkable; nothing seriously exciting.

5/12 – Sierra Nevada - Ruthless Rye IPA – This beer had a red amber color to it.  The head was nice and white on top.  The rye adds an incredible complexity to any beer you drink.  It is almost peppery spice in every sip.  The hops add a nice fruity citrus kick comes from the hops used in this beer.  At 6.6% alcohol this was a nice beer.  It was wonderfully smooth medium bodied beer that I could enjoy over and over again.  I would really like to get my hands on a 6 pack of this before the dog days of summer come in and really get a bit to warm for me for this beer.  It wasn’t quite as “refreshing” as some other beers out there but in general was a wonderfully smooth beer.

As always, thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.  I'll be catching up on the next three soon - Yuengling Lager, Iron Hill Maibock and Philadelphia Brewing Kensinger Lager.  Stay tuned.

I'll be honest, I'm a fan of Deadliest Catch.  I'll admit - Captain Phil was my favorite captain on the show.  I'm not playing favorites or jumping on the band wagon.  He always seemed to remind me of my father.  I don't know if the beard did it but I think my father resembled Captain Phil.  I also think they both had sort of a similar rugged tough guy attitude.  There is a side of me that wished I came from a rugged/family business world like this show follows.  Of course, not being from that I can't ever really imagine myself really doing this crabbing gig for a living.  Sure, I remember spending a lot of time on the river and Chesapeake Bay - but none of that held water to this career.  If I had a #2 captain - Captain Sig would probably be that guy.  He is a bit of a short fuse but really seems to have the best operating ship on the Bearing Sea.  I had planned on drinking this while catching up on the show and still may do that later tonight.  For now, on to review the beer.

This beer is an Indian Red Ale on Rogue's website.  This beer pours a nice amber color in the glass.  The head is pretty heavy on a vigorous pour but settles down nicely to a thin white head on top of the beer.  It seems to sit nicely on top of the beer to allow the nice hoppy aroma to flow from the glass.  The smell is filled with a huge amount of grapefruit.  When I take a drink, the initial reaction is a bit thinner bodied liquid with heavy bite.  The hops in this brew kick up a heavy 80 IBU.  This high hop kick gives it just the "saltiness" that a big storm on the Bearing Sea packs on to the crabbing boats of Deadliest Catch.  I definitely could enjoy this beer while out fishing/crabbing on a nice cool day on the water.  It has a bit of warming characteristics with the red maltiness in the glass and at approximately 7% alcohol this is the perfect drink for the sea.

I bought this not expecting much.  Honestly, I bought it because I like the show - and Sig and the Hansen's are pretty cool.  Also, I know a bit about Rogue and generally like what they produce.  I am fairly happy with this beer even at the hop level it is coming in at.  A nice change up from my Pilsner beers I've been drinking recently.

Thanks for the read - Hope you are enjoying!

Ever wonder why a Hamburger is called a Hamburger and it doesn't have any ham in it?  Could it be some crazy McDonald's sales pitch?  Or did Burger King have a pet pig?  Well I decided to check it out for you - it gets its name as so many other things out there get its name from the place of its origin.  That is right - Hamburgers were born in Hamburg, Germany.  The history is quiet interesting if you want to see a bit more of it check out what I found at TLC Cooking Site.  Or do some searching on your own because I'm here to talk about what goes great with hamburgers and that is beer!

More specifically yesterday's beer was B.B. Burgerbrau.  This beer is brewed in the Czech Republic.  I am not going to pretend I speak different languages but the closest site I could find for this beer may be HERE.  I can't seem to find anything resembling this bottle but I do see a lot of beer stuff, so we'll go with that for now.  This beer poured a nice solid yellow in the glass.  It had a thin light coat of head covering the top of the glass.  The smell of a pilsner style beer or German Lager is never pleasing to me.  I can not get the exact smell straight in my nose but it is not pleasing.  The taste on the other hand is a whole other story.  I have found Pilsner's I like and some I don't.  I'm putting this one in the LIKE category.  It was mostly pleasing medium bodied beer with a nice medium malty sweetness.  There was little trace of hops through the glass.  The nice thing about this beer was that it had a somewhat creamy taste to it.  This may have been a refreshing choice to drink with a jalapeno turkey burger had it not been for the nice heavy carbonation in the glass.  Instead of the creamy goodness calming down and helping with the bite - the carbonation picked up each kick of spice and slammed it around in my mouth.  It really did help accentuate the hotness of this turkey burger that I tried.  But in general this was a nice pairing.  One I would love to enjoy again and again.  In general, nice pilsner beer.

So here is this past weeks line ups...

5/7/2012 - So my 4 day weekend is over and its back to work tomorrow.  Not looking forward to that so I might as well get my last few minutes of rest now.  Sitting back and watching a little television and drinking my beer of the day.  Today was my wife's decision to do her version of "Cinco de Mayo" since we didn't since we didn't celebrate on Saturday for a few reasons.  So, she made some guacamole and chicken tacitos, and a mini-margarita that was not to shabby.  I didn't have any more Mexican beers but I did happen to find a Presidente down in the basement.  This beer pours a nice bold yellow with a medium level of carbonation.  The head is light on top and just enough to coat the top of the beer.  I have not grown any fonder of the pilsner smell of beers.  They just have a smell that I can't put my finger on yet.  If I could actually label the smell as something with a positive connotation it probably would appeal to me more.  I chilled this down extra cold tonight as I don't remember being a HUGE fan of this beer.  Drinking this ice cold I could have a few of these.  It is actually a nice crisp pilsner.  It has a nice malty sweetness in every sip with a low hop profile.  Its crisp and fresh from the bottle.  And actually quite refreshing.  I think I was plesantly surprised the last time I drank this beer as well.  I am going to sit back and enjoy the last of this beer before my real job starts up again tomorrow.

5/6/2012 - Bell's Brewery - Oberon - This is by far one of my favorite wheat beer's out there.  It is also by far one of my favorite summer beers out there.  When I say, this beer is SUMMER in a bottle I'm not kidding.  It is fruity and sweet and refreshing and citrusy and down right balanced and good.  It holds all the characteristics of a wheat beer with the smooth wheat sweetness.  It throws in some banana and citrus sweetness with the ale yeast that is being used to brew this sun shine in a bottle.  It is a crisp orange color in the bottle though I drank this one out of the bottle. 

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of this beer as I wasn't going to pick this one as my beer of the day.  I was going to save this one for its own blog with a glorious picture.  But my wife had just finished the Pittsburgh Marathon with her team.  She completed her longest run to date at her fastest time.  Her distance was 5.5 miles in 61 minutes and change.  I am extremely proud of her accomplishment.  I actually did make it down to the city and probably ended up walking over 4-5 miles in the day back and forth.  We did go out to celebrate for dinner but unfortunately the beer selection was a bit low for what I was interested in drinking.  And by the time I got home, I was really to tired to sit and drink a new beer.  So, luckily I had drank this beer earlier that day at our friends house who also ran that day - she ran the half marathon and in a PR time as well!  Congratulations to all Pittsburgh marathoners out there.  You guys ricked that city yesterday and inspired me to go out and get a new pair of shoes.  Yes, I have to get back on the training schedule.  Thank you for that.

As a tribute I added the picture of my wife crossing her leg of the marathon on Sunday.  This makes me warm and happy like a fine summer day or a Oberon in a glass!  Congrats baby!

5/5/2012 - Grupo Modelo - Pacifico - Clara - From this site I found on line -
Cinco de Mayo—or “Fifth of May”—is a Mexican holiday that commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over an invading French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is not, as many people mistakenly believe, Mexico’s Independence Day. Although the Mexican army was eventually defeated, the Batalla de Puebla became a symbol of Mexican unity and patriotism. With this victory, Mexico demonstrated to the world that it was willing to defend itself against foreign intervention.
I actually am one of those that thought it was Mexico's Independence day.  I also mistakenly wished a Spanish friend of mine once Happy Cinco De Mayo in all seriousness.  I have never said my global historic education on wars and geography have been the best.  And I guess this proves it.  So, on that note I decided to pick up a Mexican beer in celebration.  I asked the guy at Market District for his recommendation and this was the beer he suggested.  Very nice light pour in the glass.  This beer really was a nice crisp pilsner beer.  It had a little bit of an off taste for my tastes but if served nice and cold I could definitely enjoy a few of these on the Mexican Riviera or anywhere in Riviera Maya or anywhere else for that matter.  I think this would be a great beer to share with some friends for a nice warm sunny day.  May have to revisit this one again.

5/4/12 - Hardywood Reserve Series - Mocha Belgique - Belgian Chocolate Porter brewed with locally roasted coffee.  As you can see I actually shared this with a few of my friends; always a good time to do this.  This beer had a lot going on.  This beer was very robust with flavors.  Huge hits of chocolate and coffee go through this beer.  It talks about on the bottle a coffee tasting session with local coffee brewers to determine the one that they would collaborate with their beer.  This was a very nice touch.  To me, this beer was like drinking iced espresso.  It was very robust and smacking you in the face with flavor.  I'm sure this beer partners well with someone's palate out there.  Or there may even be a great dessert out there waiting to be paired with this reserve series.  But this beer was not for me now.  It is a 7.2% alcohol volume and a "reserve series" so maybe this beer was intended to be aged for a bit.  It seems like it could definitely benefit from some mellowing in the bottle over a few months possibly.

5/3/12 - Dogfish Head - Noble Rot - Before I get to this beer, I tried a Brooklyn Monster Barelywine from Brooklyn.  I was torn on whether I could use it or not as they used an infuser to infuse the beer with Cabernet soaked oak chips.  Since it was a barley wine, I found the chips hard to decipher through all the other richness going on in that beer.  I'll definitely be looking to try the Brooklyn again sometime.  Not to mention try Bocktown's Infused Beers again another time.
Now onto the Noble Rot; their site describes this as a saison-esque brew.  I've been intrigued by this beer for sometime.  I've seen it out and was hoping to get a glass of it.  The beer came to me in a snifter as a bright yellow beer.  I actually had it sit in front of me while I finished my meal.  I wanted to enjoy this beer solo.  The bubbles were flowing through the beer almost like champagne.  It had a nice silky white head on top of the glass that hung around for the whole beer.  The smell gave a definite sour kick right of the top.  Maybe a little green apple smell to it.  At first, I didn't think I noticed the carbonation - but what I came to learn through the drink was that the carbonation was so robust that it caused the liquid to explodes into air.  Almost a dry champagne like consistency.  I got notes of green apple and pairs in every sip.  It was a sweet flavor but dry texture if that was possible.  Over all, a very unique beer that I enjoyed immensely.

5/2/12 - Starr Hill Brewery - Northern Lights IPA - This beer poured a yellow orange in the glass.  As I held the glass in the air my wife asked if I was "Wishing on a star" and I probably was.  Its been to long since our family has been to Disney.  And we have to get back.  This beer had a large kick of citrus and hopy spice to it.  The malty sweetness was a little on the light side to really balance out the hoppy bigness in this glass.  I got a lot of citrus notes such as grapefruit and lemon kicks to it.  The body was a decent medium body for drinking but definitely was not my favorite as beers go.  This one to me is to hoppy and rich for my blood.  In general, I would recommend this beer to the hop heads of the world that haven't tried it.  But for my tastes, I'll back away from this next time I see it.  This was another beer brought to me by my friend Aaron.  Thanks again for the contributions.

As always, thanks for following me and look for the winner to the Photo Contest.  I've almost got it all compiled and ready to show.

Ah, the "one that got away!"  We all have the story right, even if it isn't in fishing or hunting;  sadly, I have one for both Fishing ( a HUGE walleye on the Suquehanna River that I never got all the way to the boat) and hunting that perfect 6 point that I hit in the ass - it ran the direction it came in from and BANG another hunter took it down.  Some of us, have the beautiful blonde, or the race we ALMOST one, that basketball game we should have won.  I'm not sure where I'm going with this - but this beer is all about Fish Tales.  And quite frankly, I'd rather be fishing!  I stated yesterday I'd rather be brewing.  And that statement still holds true as well.  If I can find a way to turn my brewing craft/love/desire into an income I think I'd be a happy man!  Then I could really make computers a hobby and honestly I think this would be the perfect fit for me.  It isn't out of the question and I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for that perfect opportunity.  When I am ready, and the opportunity is ready - we will come together and I will NOT let that one get away!

This beer is loud and proud about the fact that it is Certified Organic - says so right at the top of the bottle.  At the bottom it talks about Ingredients: Water, Organic Barley and Hops.  What about the Yeast?  That is the 4th ingredient dontcha know?  I'm going to call it right out the gate, this beer tastes like it would be AWESOME with a big hunk of Cedar Planked Salmon on the grill.  The crisp citrus cut that the hops have on this glass would complement a nice Salmon steak well in my opinion.  Honestly, I'm starting to salivate over this combination at 10:25 pm with no easy way to get that grilled salmon.  And sadly, most often then not I try salmon and am not hugely impressed.  But I've never at a huge steak of salmon with this beer; and that could make all the difference!  It is a nice medium bodied beer in the glass.  It has a very none filtered look to the glass which makes it a bit more intriguing.  The head retention is a bit low on this glass but the carbonation in the sip is actually very nice and bursty.  The aroma is a very citrusy lemon kick out of the glass.  In general a really nice beer.  I'm going to have to look for this one again out and about - or next time I'm in Florida where I believe this beer was brought from.  It is actually from Olympia, WA.  In general, a really nice drinkable IPA.  Well done Fish Brewing Company!  Go out and find this beer - don't let this one be the one that gets away.

So, here it is Tuesday night - I'm taking a long 4 day weekend and it can't get here soon enough.  Two more days of computer programming this week makes 365 Beers something something something something!

Thanks for reading and please come back!

So, I've been working hard this week.  In 3 days I have logged about 34 hours; Sunday alone I logged 17 hours.  I'm a little run down and beat up.  But if I don't catch up on my blog soon I may never.  So, I'm sitting here transferring pictures from my iPhone to my computer and somehow ended up deleting like 2 pictures.  .  I'll do what I can with the information that I have.  Sorry about this, but one should not operate heavy machinery or iPhones while operating on such little sleep as me.  This was also made clear to me as I made dinner tonight and full on grabbed a skillet that had been in a 500 degree oven for some time.  Just call me mister 2 fingers cause three of them are soaking in ice water right now.  OUCH.

4/30/12 - Starr Hill - Dark Starr Stout - Very black pour in the glass with a dirty brown head on top.  Can't use the term "DARK" enough in the description of this beer.  If you are a Dark beer fan this beer is for you.  It is Dark heavy roast with a huge roasty burnt caramel nose.  It really didn't have a large amount of sweetness to the drink.  I barely got any hops used in this beer.  I know of course there were some in there but not the "STARR" of the show.  In general, these guys wanted you to have a beer that was a perfect fall winter beer when it is cold out side and you wanted to be warm inside.  Honesty, this was not a favorite of mine but that is because I'm not a huge fan of most stouts.  Honestly though, if you are a stout fan I recommend seeking this one out letting me know what you think.  I will rank this a little higher then normal stouts for me but may be a little lower then expecting - again, this is my opinion.  I think you should try it though no matter the number.  I enjoyed this beverage while leafing through the new Northern Brewer I got mail.  May be placing an order soon for a wort chiller and aerator.  Time to step up my home brewing ability and these two tools are needed.  Keep an eye out for if/when that purchase is made.

4/29/12 - Legend - Brown Ale - Brought to me compliments of m friend Aaron living down in Virginia (almost through his collection sadly).  A quick visit to their website showed me two quick pieces of information brewery.  One, that it was starting in 1994 and is the oldest brewery in the area.  And B - they are brewing both lager's and ale's which involves quite different techniques and times of brewing for all their beers.  Bravo to you guys on this accomplishment.  In general, I poured this beer and the roasty chocolate came rolling from the glass.  I also got hints of dark fruit and cherries esters coming from the glass.  It had a nice medium body with a medium carbonation.  The heady was nice and thin and silky on top.  On the taste, I didn't get much hop kick to the beer; basically just seemed to have enough  to balance the malts.  Unfortunately for this beer, I probably am drinking it the wrong time of year and also was trying to drink it while finishing up the last hour of a 17 hour work day.  It was not a fun day for sure but we got the work done and I thought I should celebrate.  For the time of year, and the event I probably should have decided on something else but alas this was my choice.  For me, this was not a favorite but in general I think it was a great quality beer that deserves a taste especially if you are a Brown Ale fan.  It is a little a typical of some of the bigger name Brown Ales out there but still very small and tastefully done.
*note - after that 17 hour work day, and today was another heavy hitter I accidentally deleted this pic during the transfer from phone to computer.  This is the first and hopefully last of this mistake.  Back up Back up Back up!

4/28/12 - Blue Moon - Agave Blonde Ale - All though the name sounds tempting an interested I was not to excited about trying this one.  Sure, I've had a few Blue Moon varieties that I've liked; but this is not one of them.  The Agave plant is a plant that is used in making tequila if you were not aware.  It is a naturally sweet plant that is often used as a replacement sweetener for common table sugar.  I have actually seen a few brews out there in the last few years using this in their brews.  This one was a fail in my book.  The poured a very light yellow in the glass.  This was a very sweet and very undrinkable beer in my opinion.  It did have a crisp almost lager like characteristic to it though which was possibly its only redeeming quality.  Unfortunately, to me this seemed to favor a cheap tequila in my mind.  So, I made a mention on my site on Friday I believe whether any of the "Big 3" could really produce a quality "Craft Brew" and this is not one of them.  This was a fail in my book.  I'll keep searching. 

4/27/12 - Stone, Fat Head's, Bear Republic - TBA - Friday night was one of the last nights I was able to partake in the PCBW.  Called on a bunch of friend headed up to The Pine in Kennedy Township.  Happy to accommodate the 16 or so party that we had we were happy to dine at their establishment.  Honorable mention is the Veggie Grilled Cheese at this place!  It is FANTASTIC.  If you haven't had it get up there and try it - tell them I sent you.  I was lucky enough to try the last PCBW collaboration brew & a few other nice beers.  This was a collaboration by Stone, Fat Heads and The Bear Republic Brewing.  I do not see anything that specifically stated this was for PCBW as I really only see the 3 collaborations on the site.  Either way, I had to have this one.  It was great starting with the nice classy bottle design.  The pour was big and head with a deep brown color as brown as the bottle.  A little unfiltered in the glass made this look and feel more like a home brew.  This was a great malty sweet beer in a glass.  It was a nice medium to heavy body.  The head clung to the side of the glass the whole way through the drink.  There was a huge hop aroma and taste in every sip but not obnoxiously IPA hoppish; a nice hop balance to the sweetness.  It was extremely sweet and had some brown sugar flavors in the glass over all a great beer.  I just wish I could "count" more beers beers because the last Home Opener Kolch collaboration beer was awesome as well but only one beer a day!

Thanks for reading and sticking around.