Squatters Hop Rising rains hops

Still in Utah skiing, I opened up this local Double IPA for a hoptastic night - Happy New Years Eve! After I drink this I'm going to tap the Wasatch Golden Chubby party keg to party on into 2011.

Love the label. This pours well and has a very distinct and crisp hop bite. The taste is simply full of good ol' fashioned grassy bitters and for Hop Heads you should pick it up. TRANSFORMERS rating.

It was 3 degrees today during skiing but it didn't matter because I skiid Daily Bowl with a long time college friend and delight, Jamie R! Jamie is infamous for more things than I care to speak about - just kidding Jamie - but her biggest claim to fame are two videos she made during her family's Lake Powell vacation, check out her sensational follow up Lake Powell 2010 to the heart throbbing classic 2009 Lake Powell video.

Monkshine Belgian Style Pale Ale is nicely drinkable

First day of skiing today, met up with old college friend Jamie R and her family for some great powder runs. The high today was 15 and the high tomorrow is 3 degrees. Good thing there'll be a hot tub and beer awaiting me, jebus. Anywho, here is the Monkshine Belgian Style Pale Ale from "Four +" Brewing Company in Salt Lake City. Also, this shirt is my favorite.

I couldn't resist showing off my favorite Christmas gift...pec implants

This Belgian style has a golden malt that brings a sweet, citrus flavor with a hint of bubblegum. It's a good looking and taste'n belgian pale. It is good and not great, but I'm most inclined to drink every last one of these before others discover them. However....

Because I write some 'beer blog', I'm the designated beer chooser with the families I go skiing with when they liquor shop. So I have a carte blanche to pick as many six packs as I want to fuel 10 people with alcohol for several days. So I went to town. And by town, I mean Park City. And then I bought an elephant's worth of beer. The four beers on the left, I have tasted before. Everything else on the right, including the Wasatch 'Big Chubby,' I've never tasted. Count'm, 8 beers. Died and gone to Utah beer heaven, I have. Damn the temperature, I'll have these waiting for me. How great will this weekend be? Party on Wayne

Monkshine Belgian Style Pale Ale receives a TRANSFORMERS rating.

Big Sky Moose Drool makes me want to french kiss some Moosen

Hello Utah, I'm in Park City! Me, the parentals and friends the Veselka's arrived hopping to chow down on grub and delicious local brew at The Wasatch Brew Pub but were confronted with a 45 minute wait so we headed next door to an Italian restaurant for a Carne pizza (italian meat lovers) and a beer from Missiula, Montana: Moose Drool.

Love a good beer name

Such a sexy name, Moose Drooool is a brown ale that pours a dark hue and has high carbonation. He drools nutty with a tinge of coffee as you finish tasting the saliva. Overall, it's very similar to english brown ales, and I don't know if it's the carbonation or the smooth malts, but I actually prefer this over Newcastle. Bold words I know, but it's uniqueness made an impression. If you encounter this moose, drink his milkshake. TRANSFORMERS rating.

So what's the plural of Moose - Mooses, Moosen or Meesen? It's a fun and legendary debate, but how often do you encounter multiple Moose in the wild? I actually did encounter a pair, Mom and Calf, one college summer at a Sigma Chi leadership course out in the god forsaken woods and the above question never entered my mind. My only reaction was, "Shards, that's a big f*cking Moose." And then I ran away like a girl scout because getting between a 1,000 pound mother and calf was not how my fortune teller told me I would die.

Brewdog Bashah is loco and I like it

This beer combines what has apparently become my two Texas traditions, brewery collaborations and smaller than normal beers (between 7 and 11 ounces). This collaboration is between Stone Brewery in San Diego and Brewdog in Scotland (where the Bashah is bottled) and clocks in at 8.6% alcohol.

Get this though, this is a BLACK BELGIAN STYLE DOUBLE INDIA PALE ALE. Grande Pelotas de Fuego! This is an outrageous beer.

Darth Stewie rules, bitches

Wow, they couldn't have made a crazier beer (as the title may suggest). This smells like the Tootsie Roll from Heaven, sweet and not crappy. It has a rich roasted coffee malt profile that is sweet and rounds out with a touch of hops. This is a big, bold and complex beer that is a subtle blending of its various elements. Only once in a blue moon will you find a beer this extravagant, daring and equally tasty, so keep your eyes peeled for it. THE ROCK rating.

Also, I like how they don't attempt attempt to explain or define the name they gave this, and I'm glad they didn't because confining this ridiculous blend with a derivative name wouldn't be justifying it.

And how cool is this label? If I was a hell-spawned Demon, I'd like that as my family crest.

Shiner Dortmunder and the Shiner Brewery Excursion

It's December 27, 2010 and Happy Birthday Dad! Momma Davis, Grandma DuBose, myself and the birthday boy piled into the car for my much anticipated excursion to Shiner, Texas and the delicious brewery bears the town name.

After taking a route through several teeny tiny Texas towns, we ended up in Shiner in time for a quick lunch before the tour at Friday's Fried Chicken & Pastry (would you expect anything else from a small Texas town?)

Look at that! A bakery down below and Fried Chicken underneath the blue sign. This is what a famous small town restaurant is all about, I love it. I got the Catfish Po-Boy and their Crazy Taters, because that's what they're known for:

CRAZY TATERS!!!

 We sat in the John Wayne corner, literally, surrounded by portraits of John Wayne. Here are two, you may count them as your American Hero tribute for today and remember, only terrorists don't salute The Duke.

With fried deliciousness filling our bellies, Momma Davis dropped Platt 3rd and Platt 4th off at the Shiner brewery and set off to return Grandma Dubose to her abode in Gonzales (birthplace of the Texas Revolution, as I'm sure you know).

I was so excited! I have been thinking about coming to this town for at least two months and here I was at the Spoetzl Brewery.

There were a fair amount of people there, maybe 60 or 70 and we actually had to wait in line for the tour, which proved informative. As nice as the folks at Shiner were, they wouldn't let me photo or video any of the brewery, so you'll have to do with my facts.

They have fermentation tanks that are 2 stories tall, which is a ginormous amount of beer. They can regulate the temperatures at each stage of the process from coils inside the tanks so they never have to transfer the beer. What I found interesting about the location of the brewery is that they specifically built it next to train tracks so they could directly offload grain into the factory, which they also built on an Artisan Well (so they didn't have to pump out the water, it came up to the surface naturally). Seeing as how water plays a major part in the brewing process, this is a prime location. Watching the bottling process was pretty damn fascinating. They fill 600 bottles a minute (10 bottles a second). Cool stuff.

After the tour, the brewery offered us 4 free drink tokens to choose between 6 different beers. Today we were in for a real treat though:

The above cup holds Shiner Dortmunder and it is brand spanking new. They haven't even bottled any of this beer and only had a few kegs. Hot damn, nice timing! It's their spring ale and will be out in stores in a couple months, and I'm crossing my fingers it'll be in California because it's great.

The Dortmunder is malty with light floral notes and German hops provide a pleasant bitter note as it finishes. The bitter note at the end is enough to define the character but isn't enough enough to undermine smoothness. It's pretty damn pleasant. Dad remarks that he could drink a lot of this and I agree. TRANSFORMERS rating.

It was a really fun day to spend with my dad. We saw a bunch of Texas country (and funny billboards), ate a bunch of small town greasy food, saw beer being made and then drank it. A fun little excursion to say the least. Thanks Dad and Momma D for driving, really made my week. Happy Birthday Dad!

Guess whose idea it was to make him wear the hat? Love'n it

Abita Christmas Ale for Houston Sunday Funday

Went to midtown to meet Kelle and some old friends for NFL Sunday Funday. We tried buckets of seasonal beers, including many solids Southern brews but I settled on a Louisiana Abita Christmas Ale for my beer o'day.  It's an amber ale, nutty and malty but it didn't really strike me as anything above THE ISLAND rating.

Here are two other beers I liked:

Stash IPA -  it's a dark ipa, fairly well rounded and solid brew from an Austin brewery I'm unfamiliar with but I certainly enjoyed it. Damn Dirty Hippies done good!

Real Ale Full Moon pale Rye Ale (touch of rye malt) - not a fan of rye malt but the 'splash' at the end adds a nice touch to finish, and it smooths out the beer. Dig it.

Also, I discovered that Chuck Norris' ranch in Andersonville Texas is named the Lone Wolf Ranch. My day is complete.

P.S. For the first time I witnessed a bottle being thrown at someone. 1 guy had spilled beer into a girl's purse and didn't apologize, so she chucked a Miller Lite bottle at his back from across the room, which connected and exploded. It was one of those, 'holy shit, did that just happen?' moments. Then we laughed about it later. Oh you crazy ass Texans

Hotly Anticipated Weihenstephan-Sam Adams Infinium is the real Champagne of Beers. Have I mentioned champagne is not my favorite?

Merry Christmas to all! Unless you hate and/or have no affiliation with this Christian holiday, then Seasons Greetings asshole.

Sam Adams teamed up with the oldest brewery in the world which is located in Germany, Weihenstephaner, to create a fairly new style of beer that's gaining popularity, Champagne Beer.

Lakers are losing big, hence, celebration is in order and I have just the right beverage 

It cost $20. I also don't like it. It's unique and is certainly a well crafted beer. However, this collaboration isn't as complex as the Brooklyn-Schneider brew which knocked the pants off me yesterday. The Infinium poured with super heavy carbonation and smells as malty as it tastes. I suppose what surprised me so much was the abscence of hops in this beer. It's overwhelmingly malty and tastes of apricot. Color me unimpressed.

Btw, the pilsner glasses you see in all the pictures this week with my/dad's initials frosted into them, wanna guess how long my parents have had them? They were a wedding present. They've been married 42 years. Isn't that sumpthin?! I had no idea until my dad casually mentioned that and it blew my mind.

Conclusion: Me and my brother Warren (chocolate santa car pictured above) both like the Brooklyn-Schnieder Weissbock we drank yesterday much more. The Infinium lacks complexity and is way too malty for my taste. Was worth the 20 dollar price tag? Nopers. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfe-Weisse dump trucks excellence on me the night before Christmas

Santy Claus bought me 2 one of a kind collaborations that I most likely would not be having under normal circumstances, due to price, and the first of which I'm having the night before Christmas.

I don't know what spurred this collaboration but this is what they made: a pale weissbock fermented with schneider yeast, dry hopped with a blend of amarillo and palisade hops. To be honest, I chose this beer to drink first because I was less excited about it. I will also admit, I am a fool.

Pours with a ton of carbonation and a golden pale hue. It smells of a sweet bock (which I'm familiar with after drinking Shiner this week) and the Amarillo hops upon subsequent sniffs.

With each sip, the beer became greater as its complexity slowly revealed itself. There is a strong citrus and lemon zest in the flavor profile. It's medium bodied but drinks breezily and finishes with a distinct bite from the hops. I can taste the alcohol and guessed closely, clocking in at 8.5%. Superb complexity from a weissbock. My brother loved this beer, as did my parents. Here's a wide-shot of the beer with one of my random childhood items:

Momma Davis finally convinced me (sad to say) to trade out my Tonka Truck wallpaper I've had in my room since before 10 (I'm 27 now) for some 'real' walls, tan...paint. I've been holding out since college began because I enjoy the nostalgia factor; coming home to the same room and decor I had in high school and seeing how different a life I lead now. Well, it's time to change that too I suppose. New paint looks good, but I had to memorialize the trucks in the picture above, they're pretty damn awesome.

Anyway, this collaboration has yielded a distinct and sweetly delicious beer. It cost $15 at the Houston HEB, so I'd say it's more of a special occasion beer but TOTALLY worth it. A great gift idea for a beer lover. These two breweries have made a beer worthy of my highest Michael Bay rating, BAD BOYS. The plaque is in the mail.

Shiner Blonde is one of my favorite beeeeers

Shhh. It's here...

Love the beer and love the picture

Walt Disney based both Goldilocks and Cinderella on her after bumping into her coming out of a restroom at a Taco Bell (and it was Nacho Grande night). She is a lover and not a fighter, but she fights as well as she loves. She can walk the razor's edge but wouldn't dare thread the needle. She finally got Mother Theresa to admit Madonna's song "Like a Virgin" was a tribute to her during the early 80's in Bangladesh. Interpretive dance students follow her lead. She tells 'your momma is so fat jokes' so well that your mother thanks her for the compliment.  Julia Childs looked up to her even though she was a shorter cook. She is a smooth curser but a rough talker. When she tours with Blondie, somewhere in the world Pat Benetar orgasms. Even though she isn't Grace Kelly, princes still propose to her. If looks could kill, then gingers would be extinct.

SHE IS....Shiner Blonde....my most favorite Texas Beer of all.

She has a smooth and creamy malt flavor that finishes dry and balanced. Shiner Blonde isn't nearly in the same league as other blonde's such Duvel or Delirium Tremens or Bruery Mischief. Yet, Shiner Blonde is so, so drinkable and is great with BBQ. It's my favorite beer to drink when I'm back in Houston or any day that requires a hammock. I could literally drink this all day and get drunk. True story. Point of all this, they started selling this in California around my last birthday in May and I was so excited my pants flew off magically. It must be Shiner Blonde's veritable magnetism. Boom! TRANSFORMERS rating.

512 Pecan Porter helps keep Austin weird but ain't up my alley

Met Andrew and Allison M at The Ginger Man, which I've always wanted to go to because it has a huge selection of beer, illustrated below.

Emily H joined us while I was already into a Shiner Celebration, which is Shiner's Winter Seasonal. My brother recommended it to me and I'm questioning his call on this. It is a dark, intensely fruity beer with strong peppermint aftertaste. I'll have it a at least one more time before leaving Texas, so let's see if I warm up to it. Emily suggested I try the Austin-based 512 Brewery and I happily ordered a 512 Pecan Porter for a 12:01am Special.

512 is the Austin area code, btw. The beer itself is a decent porter, though I feel the pecan isn't so much pecan as it is sweet praline, i.e., it tastes syrupy. Also, wasn't very rounded but was still drinkable. ARMAGEDDON rating

Great times with Andrew and Allison and Emily drinking and telling stories while rats crawled down the bar's wall, which elicited a scream from a random someone each time. It got old, REAL fast.

However, the great rat migration of 2010 did afford Andrew the opportunity to impart some knowledge. See, Andrew worked in lab and tonight he taught me how to break a rat's neck. You grab his 'natural leash' as he calls it (tail), pinch the rat's head down on the floor with your thumb and then pull the rat leash up and SNAP, he dead fool....Personally, this ain't gonna be the way I deal with rats. I'm more of a beat'm with a shoe guy :)

St. Arnold Brewery Tour and Tasting in Houston!

Saint Arnold's is a Houston based brewery and their beers have been spreading like wildfire throughout Houston restaurants and bars over the last two years.  They primarily make German style beer and strictly follow their Purity Laws. My Dad and I traveled down there to join friends Sam V, Emily H, Allison and Andrew for a tasting and tour. This is my first one of two breweries I'll be touring during my holiday break in Houston.

Here's the tasting menu, their Texas Wheat is a crystal weizen and is super light. The Elissa IPA was pretty good and their Winter Stout was impressive.

Fancy Lawnmower is their award winning kolsch beer and mine for the day. Crisp, clean and refreshing, would be perfect for a hot summer day. I wouldn't buy this on a regular basis but I throughly enjoyed tasting it and suggest the same for you. ARMAGEDDON rating.

The owner himself, Brock Wagner gave us a tour their new brew factory which is very professional and includes a large Oktoberfest style beer hall. They've been around for 16 years and are apparently Houston's only microbrew. Unfortunately for everyone outside of Texas and Louisiana, you won't be able to find buy their product. They have 29 employees and their yearly output rose 5,000 barrels last year to 31,000 barrels.

Their fermentation tanks are all named after Saints, except for one named after the late beer taster and legend, Michael Jackson (not the king of pop).

For $7, we received a tour, an 8oz glass and 30oz of beer spread between 4 different types. If you're in the Houston area it's worth a trip! They're open during the week from 3-4:15pm and on Saturday from 11am-2pm. There were over 50 people there today, a Tuesday, and I'd put money down that Saturdays would be a good time.

Shiner Bohemian Black Lager kicks off Texas Beer Week

Went to a restaurant with the parentals, Haven, which is not only one of my parent's new favorite restaurants but also one of the top new restaurants of the year named by Esquire (Esquire article). Here's their website Haven. I had the shrimp boudin and andouille for an appetizer and when it was there was no more, there was a hole in my heart but not my big ol' belly. If you're around Houston check it out.

Back at the homestead, I kicked off my boots and started Texas beer week with the help of more random  childhood stuff, this time an Elephant puzzle which I built in 7th grade shop class. I think it's still pretty damn cool.

I have a long gestating love affair with Shiner and I've planned for months to take a brewery tour in Shiner, Texas (2 hours away) over the holiday break. Now, regarding Shiner Black, it's a dark bock lager with a nutty smell and a light body similar to a Sam Adams Black Lager. It's a clean, crisp malt taste but for me lacks the excellence other Shiner's imbibe. Once I went black, I...still came back. That being said, if you see it at a party put it down the hatch. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Tomorrow I'm going to the St. Arnold Brewery, a Houston based brew, and will be trying their beers for the first time.

Rogue McRogue Scotch Ale welcomes me home

Picked up straight from the airport and over to dinner with old family friends who I will soon be skiing with in Utah. Below is a picture of us when we were about 'yay high.' That's me on the far left. So good to see everyone! My how you have grown.

I bought the McRogue over Thanksgiving and been saving it for a rainy day. It comes in a 7 ounce bottle and I haven't drunk many Scottish Ales, so I've been looking forward to this.

A strong chocolate/mocha smell.  At 7% alcohol it's refreshing amd light, but for 9 ingredients it's not a exceedingly complex beer but quite drinkable. This is how I can best equate its taste...If an ESB (Especially Strong Bitter) had a Kafka-isq nightmare, it would wake up one morning to discover all of its hops were gone and he had transformed into a frighteningly unknown creature made of especially bold roasted malts. AHHH. TRANSFORMERS rating, but with the bottle size and price ($4 and a 7.3 oz), this is a beer lover's beer.

P.S. Each entry while I'm at home will include a random object from my childhood, just for fun. Coming soon, Elephant Puzzle. You'll see.

Bootlegger's Mint Chocolate Porter and the tale of two breweries

Today was an epic trip to two brewery's just north of Anaheim, our favorite The Bruery to refill our growlers and Bootleggers, who we sampled at the LA Beer Fest and decided their needed to be, ahem, further investigation / heavy drinking. Being the professionals that we are, we accomplished both (*pats on back).

Our usual foursome of David, Karl and Laura piled in the car with two others, the expatriate Pete G and my coworker Tiffany. Arriving in the rain, we set about conquering our 5 glass sampler - which was only $3.50! A bargain price for sure.

Bootleggers has grown tremendously over the last year and after tasting it's easy to see why. They have a superb hefeweizen, a decent golden ale, a strong contender in their unique Rustic Rye IPA,  and the Chipotle Coffee Ale was heavy but delish. Their blue ribbon beer is a Double IPA (DIPA), the Knuckle Sandwich (which I inexplicably continued to reference as a Monkey's Punch), and it is simply fantastic. 

The Winter Ale, a Chocolate Mint Porter, was our beer of the day. 4th on my sampling list, I couldn't wait to reach it and was not disappointed. I love sweets, so tasting a beer that was exactly like Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream ='s deliciousness. It's well rounded and not too heavy. This is a novelty beer and not an 'let's crack another one open' brew, but the great craftsmanship makes the Chocolate Mint Porter an excellent limited release seasonal beer. I wouldn't drink this all the time, but for a night or two over the holidays, this would really hit the spot. TRANSFORMERS rating.

The Bruery was excellent as always and packed. The tasting room is open from 4pm - 10pm on Friday's and Saturdays, giving it a totally different vibe than our 3pm Sunday afternoon tasting. Sunday afternoon, 10 people total. Saturday night, there 40 people all partying because they have Saturday night fever and the only prescription is more Bruery Beer. Karl ingeniously filled up a growler (5+beers) for $15 dollars and we poured our own cheap Mischief beer and sang a cappella karaoke. It was awesome, can't wait for the next trip in January!

Drake's 1500 Pale Ale closes out the work year at Library Alehouse

Tore out of work early Friday hoping to catch my first happy hour at Library, alas, it ended half an hour earlier than David and I had believed. Next time Library, next time. Your Chipotle Shrimp Quesadilla was still bomb.

Surprisingly they were out of my first two choices, various Christmas ales, but Drake's 1500 proved a worthy substitute. Medium bodied pale ale with a mouthfull bursting with hoppy bitterness. Pale ale with with a bite, an excellent beer to fuel a hopefully trouble-filled night celebrating the holiday break. TRANSFORMERS rating.

YuleSmith Holiday Ale helps my bottle King Moonracer's Revenge

Returning home after a double dose of Mexican food and cupcakes - a rough life I lead - David helped me transfer and bottle my first home brew, the winter seasonal King Moonracer's Revenge! Two weeks more in the bottles and it's ready to drink, but we did sample and both believe it'll turn out well. The flavor profile is in the ballpark of what I wanted and as a first time brewer, I'm a happy man. Can't wait to taste final product!

YuleSmith Holiday Ale from AleSmith with my KMR home brew in the background.

A very intense hoppy nose which is not reflected in the taste.YuleSmith has a grapefruit, piney taste. My pants are still on but it's not a poor choice for a holiday brew if you chance upon it in the beer aisle. ARMAGEDDON rating

Sam Adams Coastal Wheat and the Company Christmas Party

Home from the company Christmas party, which was a grand time. I also took advantage of the free Hoegaarden and Stella, which came in handy when the CEO called on all the new employees to tell a joke.

There's a lot of build up in this story but with good reason; telling jokes was never my forte. I can never remember them and when I do, I usually get really excited and botch the punchline (this is well known within my circle of friends and I am teased mercilessly). Now, screwing up a line doesn't matter when you're around friends, but coworkers were different and this evening wasn't going to make it easier on me, as 50+ coworkers and their significant others were crammed shoulder to shoulder into my boss's kitchen for the company toast / new employee hazing.

I wasn't worried about being funny. I knew the line was funny. I was worried about offending someone. The other jokes I know are all pedophile jokes and speaking to a room with people who have kids, this was the least offensive joke I knew because it didn't involve children. I have very classy friends. Anywho, so one new guy was before me and he piped up with something like 'Why is Christmas Santa's favorite time of the year? // He gets to know who's naughty!" Har har har. Jebus, Mary and Jehovah, that was comparitively tame. I was second in line and I lead in with, "It might be a little inappropriate." To my disbelief, the CEO immediately switched tracks on me. He responded with "Okay then, we'll come back to you."

Mother trucker! You know when a football game goes down to the wire and the kicker is called on to boot a game winning field goal, so he lines lines up and suddenly the opposing coach calls a timeout? It's called "Icing the Kicker." That's what happened. I was all teed up and now I had to wait; plus everyone now had strange expectations when the spotlight returned. Apparently the CEO doesn't need Smirnoff to "Ice" me.

I do realize that this joke scenario wouldn't be a big deal to some people. They might even revel in it. But I would rather give a speech on the importance of stimulating the labia during foreplay to my mother than tell sex jokes in front of these particular coworkers, for whatever reason. And now I have to wait. 

My turn came a few minutes later. I looked into the eyes of the COO I barely know and his wife, the bearer of his children, and all the others I never really talk to during the day and who's first major impression of me would be conceived from the next two sentences and delivered the joke with the polished poise of a five beer man;

"Why does Barbie never get pregnant?"

... ... ... ...

"Because Ken always comes in another box"

Nice. There was a lot of laughter as well as a few 'ewwws' so I couldn't initially tell if it landed well or not, but apparently the joke struck gold.  Later it was relayed to me that the CEO had remarked, "That was a fucking funny joke," which coming from a man who is tough-as-nails and raised on the streets of Chicago and certainly intimidates tougher men than I, is big. Victory is mine. The end.

*Thanks to Patti (PTwist) for that gem of joke, thus saving me from upending my career with a terrible pedo joke*

"Bye Buddy, I hope you find your dad!" / "Thanks Mr. Narwhal!"

Bdubs, Elf and Home Alone are the two greatest Christmas movies and if anyone challenges me, I hope they don't like having a face because I will go Gorilla on you.. Anywho, I'm probably already a sixer into the night but who's really counting?

Sam Adams Coastal Wheat was left in our fridge by David L and as far as I'm concerned, this wheat is perfectly tasty. Light and refreshing and not bitter. Party on Wayne, I sure plan to. TRANSFORMERS rating.

La Chouffe makes it a three way with Karl

Karl came over after his finals to celebrate completing 1/3 of his Masters Program in studying who gives a fuck.
I mean, Education. He also brought along this good looking beer and a we killed some Zombies while we kicked the tire. 

Who dat ninja?!

La Chouffe is a Golden Belgian and thus a cousin of the heartthrob Duvel. It smells exactly how a golden should and tastes sweet, bready and finishes crisp. It's not a very complex beer but it performs strongly and would go really well with food. Solid performance out of the Bev Mo beer of the month brew. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Drake's Jolly Roger Imperial Red Ale is my kind of pirate poison

Needing something strong to power me through my room cleaning (been at least 6 months), we poured Drake's Jolly Roger. Rumor has it, that Drake's brews a different style of beer every year named "Jolly Roger" and this is their 21st year. If the lore is true, color me impressed. Making a different quality beer every year takes a real mad scientist. I don't know how the other 20 turned out, but this Imperial Red Ale is a tasty.

I wonder who's that handsome bastard?

Imperial = strong (8%), but here it doesn't affect the red ale taste, just makes you warm and fuzzy. This brew is well rounded with earthy, chocolate tones rounding out the flavor profile. This is unique and nicely crafted; welcome to THE ROCK rating.

Clear Asahi ain't no Clear Pepsi, that's for damn sure

Watched BLACK SWAN thanks to Melissa. It was disturbing, intensely thrilling and beautiful. Incredibly powerful, the film turned an idyllic Sunday evening into a haunting affair.

So I heated up the Quelque Chose for David, which I've already counted as a beer but really wanted to have it during the holidays. It's a Sour Brown Ale with cherries that's really unique and quite sweet. Here's my entry about it: http://www.beereveryday.com/2010/08/christmas-time-in-august.html

I caught up with one of the beer David brought from Japan, the Asahi Clear. 

Something is lost in the translation because this isn't "clear" in the same manner as Clear Pepsi or Clear Tab, which I was hoping for. However, I was pleased to find that it's different than the Asahi Super Dry that I frequent in sushi restaurants. 

I enjoyed this a perfectly drinkable beer. Dry, crisp, and hokay. David bought this at a store called 'Family Mart'. 'Nuff said. Drink to party, ARMAGEDDON rating.

Corsendonk Christmas Ale ushers in the holidays deliciously

David prepared a holiday feast and we had about a baker's dozen over for the meal on the balcony and to watch the Marina Christmas Boat Parade.

Per his excellence, Karl brought over a Christmas Belgian to ring in the holidays, and it was nothing short of fantastic. Please meet the one holiday beer you should definitely have this winter season, the Coresndonk Christmas Ale.

Now that's the spirit!

The fellow is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale (high alcohol). I always find a beer remarkable when a dark malty ale can also be so light, sweet and delicious. After David's feast, the wonderful company and this beer, I must have a wonderfully stunned expression on my face. A really well-crafted beer. BAD BOYS rating

Lagunitas Brown Shugga', more like Mashugana

Tomorrow is David's Christmas office party and as his esteemed +1, I will be attending as well. My plan is to walk the delicate line between dance floor drinking and not making David regret his generosity. Unfortunately, these parties don't typically have carry quality craft beer, so we're having our Friday beer at 12:01am (Thursday night/morning) while watching the 30 Rock Christmas Special, which isn't meeting expectations.

Tina Fey is Awesome

I took a couple sips of the Brown Shugga' and turned to David, "Weird stuff huh?" he nodded tersely. Agreed. It's a brown ale that is both sweet and bitter with hints of vanilla, but neither element mix well together.On a positive note, I'm also eating the biggest damn pistachios I ever laid fingertips on. Enormously delicious, the beer, not so much. TRANSFORMERS 2 rating.

At the Surly Goat, Craftsman Monkey See Money Do isn't an evil monkey living in your closet

This has been a long time a coming. Headed out to the Surly Goat for a coworker's birthday. The Surly Goat is a great beer bar, who has a host of unusual beers (Surly Goat Brew Ha Ha's) but it's in WeHo, which is a drive from the Marina so we haven't made it out yet. Between my wonderful coworker Kate's berfday and the promise of beer and cupcakes, I convinced David it was a worthwhile drive.

Nice Crayola work

Monkey is a Double IPA and pours a great hefeweizen color, making it a bit darker than a pale ale. The flavor profile delivers what it promises with robust bitterness, the hops add a grassy and slightly citrus taste. The beer finishes dry and the bitterness doesn't overwhelm the palate. This ain't no Transformers dark side of the moon, welcome to THE ROCK rating

Note: how unless you're in a LA bars east of Fairfax, one may not be able to find Craftsman, the small but highly regarded Pasadena brewery, bottled in stores. So look for it in your local brew pub!

Now it's time to thump my chest - David beat me terribly at Foosball last May, but last night we held a grudge match and I beat the Scandinavian out of him. Old score settled, we then teamed up against two chumps for back to back games. They suggested jokingly that if we won, they would call me "Walker Wrecks-a-Stranger" which is the best nickname I've heard in a long time (a play on Walker Texas Ranger). Guess what? We thumped them. How bad did we shit on their dignity? Like a boss.

All these months later, Foosball redemption still tastes so sweet.

Sam Adams White Ale isn't worthy of consideration by the Academy

David and I split a bottle left over from the night before while I popped in a TRUE GRIT screener, hallelujah! 

The white ale is light with hints of citrus and orange but it's surprisingly bitter. Ehhhh not a huge fan. Same with the flick, though must be noted I had large expectations for the film. I loved the script but thought the Coen Bros must cut much of their signature dark humor out. However, Jeff Bridges gives a nomination worthy performance and Josh Brolin's small role was executed perfectly. White Ale = THE ISLAND rating.

I also saw THE FIGHTER the night before. Christian Bale and Amy Adams give amazing performances and Bale is a shoo-in for an award. I wanted a little more from the fights but all-in, a great film. Worthy of your $10.

Chocolate Bock Sam Adams reminds me of Hershey's

I was going to utilize one of the two Japanese beers David returned with from Japan, but I had four coworkers over last night for Beatles Rock Band and Derek, who continues to piss excellence, brought a Sam Adams Winter Seasonal pack, which is something every beer drinking human should pick up. It's great for a party and we were able to split them up and sample a wide variety of beers. The Chocolate Bock was advertised as a brand new brew and I couldn't resist postponing Japan. Sorry but not sorry. 

Like Batman, Derek's true identity remains a mystery

So, we all did and ate silly things as a child. One of my deep dark fat kid secrets is as a young buck, I routinely drank Log Cabin Lite Maple Syrup and Hershey's Chocolate Syrup straight out of the bottle when my mom wasn't looking. It was from that point on, I knew I would always have a drinking problem.

The Chocolate Bock is Hershey Syrup's brother from another mother - but his skinny brother because it's surprisingly light bodied like a Shiner Bock Black. I suppose you could say the moral of this experience is to not judge a Bock by its color you narrow-minded BEER RACIST, because the few I've had are dark like a stout but not very filling.

I'm not a huge fan of CB, but it's not a terrible beer. Recognizing it's hard to make a chocolate beer and they're few and far between, this is worth a sample but not a six pack. ARMAGEDDON rating