Beer fridge….I knew thee well

We have all have been in situation where making small talk is just a requirement.  Inevitably the question, “well what do you do?”, will be asked.  Now, I like to believe my career is both interesting and important, but as person who works to live, this typical polite response is incomplete.  Some of this is may fault as I am not much for talk, small or otherwise, in such social situation.  If fact a walk through of my basement dose a better job of answering the question better than I so.  In one corner there are my bikes and tool, another fishing poles and tackle, but for most the center of the room will grab their attention first.  A homemade mash tun, kettle, carboys and a full sized beer fridge takes of more than their fair share of room in the basement.

Snowpocalypse 2014

What do you do when you are snowed in? Drink of course…

Where to start?  If you live here, you get why this is so weird/frustrating.  Freezing rain and snow for 3 days in February?  Not very common around these parts.  The city basically shuts down and you find yourself homebound for days.  The city doesn’t salt the roads and only has 50 or so snowplows.  The side streets become quite the adventure during these events.  The bottom line: I have never wanted to take my kids to daycare so badly before!  The only way to stay sane is to drink.  Take it from me.

An Imperial IPA sounds about right.  Worthy Brewing has been garnering some good press lately, so this seemed worth a try.  It has a lovely color…sort of burnt orange/gold.  The smell is piney and a bit sticky with just a hint of the dank, which portends of good times ahead.  They claim that they “dry hop the bejeesuz” out of this beer, but I can’t verify that with my nose.  A bejeesuz seems like it would floor you.  This didn’t do that.  The taste starts sweet and immediately turns to mango, pineapple, and lemons.  It’s a nice tropical hop flavor.  Well done.  The beer isn’t as big as I would think for an imperial and a bit thinner than I would have expected.  8.5% is nothing to sneeze at, but there is something missing in the body for the style.  Although I must admit, the thinner nature of this beer plays well with the hop flavors.  This was fun to try.  Not sure I’m going to stock up or look for it at the pub, but worth a taste if you see it in the store.

Stay safe if you are in Portland and freaking out about the ice and snow.  If you aren’t from here, try not to judge the west-coasters too harshly.  Just relax and have a beer.

drinking like a Luchadore

I’m not the kind of person that needs a huge reason to celebrate with a beer.  I think that’s been established pretty clearly with this blog.  However I am drinking this Dark Meddle from Gigantic (their version of a Vienna Lager) in celebration of a few things.  First, our house went on the market today.  That in itself is big news as it was a ton of work to accomplish.  Second, the US Men’s National Team made the World Cup last night by beating their biggest rival: Mexico.  The final score was an appropriate 2-0, which if you know the history of these two teams playing in Columbus, you would get why that is spooky cool.  And finally?  My wife and I missed The Bridge last week and thought we were going to have to wait it out ’till the season ended to finish the series.  But guess what?  Last weeks episode is on at 9 and this week’s episode follows behind it!  Score!  Let the beer drinking commence.

getting started

Little. Green. Delicious.

Got the weekend started on a great note, yesterday.  Went to a friend’s house for a cookout and brought this little gem along.  I have spoken at length about how good Flat Tail beers are and this one is a real find.  It was really light-bodied, but in a great way.  4.2% ABV made it pleasantly sessionable, which made me wish I had bought 2 or 3 bottles of it when I had the chance.  The hops were delightfully up-front without being overwhelming and the saison yeast flavors were just noticeable beneath it all.  I could not have asked for a better start to my weekend.  If anyone out there has had something tasty this weekend, regale us in comments with tales of what we’re missing out on.

high fidelity

Best label artwork out there

No review or pithy commentary on the beer you see above.  Just wanted to wish our 3 followers a great Labor Day Weekend.  As you can see, I got mine started off on the right foot.  If you get a chance, pick up this High Fidelity Beer from Gigantic.  It’s a satisfying pale ale, in the best sense possible.  Another way to describe it would be nutty, foamy, and hoppy with a bit of a fruit finish that lingers on the tongue…if you get that reference, color me impressed at your taste in cinema.

Enjoy the weekend, folks!