Daddy loves you Bean! June 13 is Brecken’s birthday! My baby girl turned 4 years old. This year we decided to keep the celebration to a small rumble of just family. We made some of Brecken’s favorites; pas-sa (Spaghetti) and boo cake (or blue cake). Really anything blue works for Brecken as it is her favorite color. I took some time to sit back Wednesday night and really think about the 4 years as a father to Brecken and the 6.5 years as a father to my oldest daughter. Where has the time gone? And more importantly where is it going? Life really is a futile fight. You can try to jam every last thing that you’ve ever wanted to see and do; or you can sit back and watch time fly by. I’m my case I’ve tried jamming packing it with fun and exciting stuff and I seem to be watching it fly by. It’s been a good and fun life so far. My girls are making me proud on a daily basis. And my hope and fear is that I can work on making them proud having me as their father. It’s an hourly struggle I have with choosing right and wrong and how to teach them the difference. Now on to the beer.
6/15/2012 – Lancaster Brewery – Amish Four Grains – Grade 3
I was able to enjoy this beer out back on my deck on a great night outside. It was dark so I couldn’t catch the color of this beer. It had a nice thick creamy head on the beer. The body was medium in body and had a nice malty sweet taste in the beer. The hops tasted a bit spicy and unique in this beer. It was not overly hoppy to the taste but it definitely did have a few notes of hop bite in the finish. I could definitely have a few of these in a sitting though it did have a small taste of lager bite in the back. Sorry for the picture on this one, it was taken with my iphone on the back deck at about 11:15 at night. So, this was the best we could get.
I was able to enjoy this beer out back on my deck on a great night outside. It was dark so I couldn’t catch the color of this beer. It had a nice thick creamy head on the beer. The body was medium in body and had a nice malty sweet taste in the beer. The hops tasted a bit spicy and unique in this beer. It was not overly hoppy to the taste but it definitely did have a few notes of hop bite in the finish. I could definitely have a few of these in a sitting though it did have a small taste of lager bite in the back. Sorry for the picture on this one, it was taken with my iphone on the back deck at about 11:15 at night. So, this was the best we could get.
6/14/2012 – Samuel Adams – Bonfire Rauchbier – Grade 1.75
A manager of mine from Germany actually worked on me pronouncing this and I still am practicing. I’ll get it eventually. These beers are best known for originating in Bamburg, Germany. And if said manager is still reading my blogs and get me a education trip to the Mother Ship for a lessons with my day job, I would be eternally grateful :) haha. In general, I’ve sipped these styles from place to place and really have not been able to become a fan. In general, I’ve tried Sam Adam’s Rauchbier about 3-4 times now. There is an over whelming damp morning camp fire pit smell/taste in general. If that doesn’t sound appealing that is because in general it is not a very appealing flavor for me. Though, drinking this beer I do have notes that it was slightly more enjoyable then a few in the past. I do believe this is a beer that needs to be served at the right temperature. I think the time or two that I’ve had this at some friend’s house it was served a bit too cold which really brought out many of the bad flavors. This was a bit warmer to serve here. It was a medium bodied beer that was extremely dark brown color in the glass. There was minimal head to speak about, what was present was a bit brown ash in color.
A manager of mine from Germany actually worked on me pronouncing this and I still am practicing. I’ll get it eventually. These beers are best known for originating in Bamburg, Germany. And if said manager is still reading my blogs and get me a education trip to the Mother Ship for a lessons with my day job, I would be eternally grateful :) haha. In general, I’ve sipped these styles from place to place and really have not been able to become a fan. In general, I’ve tried Sam Adam’s Rauchbier about 3-4 times now. There is an over whelming damp morning camp fire pit smell/taste in general. If that doesn’t sound appealing that is because in general it is not a very appealing flavor for me. Though, drinking this beer I do have notes that it was slightly more enjoyable then a few in the past. I do believe this is a beer that needs to be served at the right temperature. I think the time or two that I’ve had this at some friend’s house it was served a bit too cold which really brought out many of the bad flavors. This was a bit warmer to serve here. It was a medium bodied beer that was extremely dark brown color in the glass. There was minimal head to speak about, what was present was a bit brown ash in color.
6/13/2012 – Bar Harbor Brewing Company – Blueberry Ale – Grade 2.75
And blue cake! As I said, BLUE IS Brecken’s favorite color. So in honor of her birthday I found Blueberry Ale. It seems the past few days I’ve found myself drinking many a fruity beer. That is OK though, I’m not a huge fan of Fruit Beers but they are a nice change up from time to time. Now, this brewery and I have a TINY bit of history together. My wife and I actually took a trip while she was pregnant with our first daughter (so this was 7 years ago) north through New England and “started” our vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine. I will never forget this trip for as beautiful as the scenery was it was as dark, grey, cool, and rainy as well. And the look of my beautiful brides face said a lot as we walked a 3 mile trail in the rain. I had a great trip – my better half has a whole different memory of that vacation. We actually were going to try to stop in this brewery but it happened to be closed at the time we were there (as many other places seemed to be at that time as well). We got to visit a few of the local bars and eat the local cuisine; the fresh lobster, need I say more! This beer pours a nice light amber color in the glass. The head actually has a bit of blue tint to the white head that is common (this could be completely in my mind). Eaten with the blue cake it seemed to have a bit more blueberry kick then the first time I remember it (probably also a mental thing). But there is a definite blue berry bitter sweet taste in every sip. It is a lighter beer that was nice to enjoy one or two for a nostalgia perspective.
And blue cake! As I said, BLUE IS Brecken’s favorite color. So in honor of her birthday I found Blueberry Ale. It seems the past few days I’ve found myself drinking many a fruity beer. That is OK though, I’m not a huge fan of Fruit Beers but they are a nice change up from time to time. Now, this brewery and I have a TINY bit of history together. My wife and I actually took a trip while she was pregnant with our first daughter (so this was 7 years ago) north through New England and “started” our vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine. I will never forget this trip for as beautiful as the scenery was it was as dark, grey, cool, and rainy as well. And the look of my beautiful brides face said a lot as we walked a 3 mile trail in the rain. I had a great trip – my better half has a whole different memory of that vacation. We actually were going to try to stop in this brewery but it happened to be closed at the time we were there (as many other places seemed to be at that time as well). We got to visit a few of the local bars and eat the local cuisine; the fresh lobster, need I say more! This beer pours a nice light amber color in the glass. The head actually has a bit of blue tint to the white head that is common (this could be completely in my mind). Eaten with the blue cake it seemed to have a bit more blueberry kick then the first time I remember it (probably also a mental thing). But there is a definite blue berry bitter sweet taste in every sip. It is a lighter beer that was nice to enjoy one or two for a nostalgia perspective.
