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.