Skyscraper Winter Warmer does nothing of the sort; also, meet LINUS

David returned from Japan today and had a little belated birthday gift waiting at the door from our Chicago friend. You may think it's a gag gift, but it's actually perfectly normal, albeit inspired, present if you know either of us.

meet Linus

How hilarious is this? It's a porcelain cookie jar! His helmet is a top that opens right above his eyes. I feel like I'm eating brains each time I open it. ZOMBIES! We decided to bestow the fellow with the wussiest name ever, LINUS. Herbert was a close personal second. Norman would've been third on my list if we hadn't hit a home run on the first pitch. I love naming shit.

Onto the Winter Warmer. Smells wonderful with an intense cinnamon, nutmeg and apple aroma. The taste doesn't correlate to the aroma though. The malts and spices are underwhelming. If you're looking for Christmas Ales, pick another. THE ISLAND rating.  

Hopf Spezial Weisse Wins Me Over

By putting the shelf in the picture and broadcasting it for all to see, I'm hoping to motivate myself towards finishing this woodcraft project tonight that I've been slowly building up...but alas, I hit a road block late-night and will finish Tuesday, so pictures then! It promises to be cool and a departure from my fairly straight forward book cases and tables.

So I've had the Weisser Bock, but this special hefe is a fall seasonal beer I found at Whole Foods and the difference maker is the addition of caramel malts, which gives the bier it's reddish hue (rather than the standard golden hefe color) as well as a nice clove aroma. There is a big, sweet doughy flavor that creates a strong presence on teh pallet but finishes clean. I enjoyed this more than the Weisser Bock and that was pretty good. It's on sale for under $5 and was quite delicious. TRANSFORMERS rating

Andre Johnson beat down can't top the Flensburger Gold Lager

Came home from a dominating Texans and Titans game in which the Texans won by 20. And for the fans personal amusement, star wideout Andre Johnson ripped off an agitating cornerback's helmet and delivered a couple of haymakers to his head before being subdued. A helmets-off fist fight in the NFL? Never happens. It was awesome. Check it out via my self-titled link: Andre Johnson Owns Scrub

My dad my or may not like to party, care to guess?

This is the third and final  Flensburger I bought (they're imported by a Houston distribution company). The Gold is a lager with an average body and hints of citrus, but overall is uninteresting. See you soon Houston, it was fattening, back to the grind in LA. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Hey Shiner 101, NICE

Still in Houston and I'm out with old friends Allison, Andrew, Mark, Monica, Shaddix and Sheila. This wasn't going to be my beer of the day, but I spied the tap in the corner and knew Jebus had brought me to this dive to drink a Shiner I never even knew about, the SHINER 101.

To celebrate the number of years the brewery has been open, Shiner started making limited release beers somewhere around the mid 90's. The Black Bohemian Lager (now in wide distribution) was originally the '97 anniversary beer. So the 101 is the 2010 anniversary batch. It's a Pilsner, a departure from their usual family and made according to the German Purity Laws. It pours a darker hue than other Pilsners like the Urquell and the aroma is vanilla. It's a very malty, smooth beer and bordering on creamy, like a Boddington's. It's also sweet - not like a belgian but nonetheless sweet. I love how different this is from the Bock and I could easily drink a sixer of this. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Flensburger Hefeweizen is Quite Pleasant

Today I went bowling with 50 cousins and will shortly have dinner with them, so I'm sneaking my beer before they arrive for part 2. Here is the second entry from the Flensburger brewery, the Hefeweizen.

It pours a nice hazy color and I immediately respond to the banana and bready aroma. The beer follows the scent for a sweet banana bread taste. This isn't as smooth as many of the German hefe's I've tasted, but it's still a tasty scrumpet. I dig it and deem it worthy of your gullet. TRANSFORMERS rating

On Thanksgiving, Flensburger Pilsener isn't something I'm thankful for

Drank while watching the dog-ass Longhorns, as my father puts it - he's a die hard fan watching the worst season in at least 10 years. I wish my beer was better. But with a fridge full of Shiner Blonde as backup, at least somebody will win tonight (this guy, heyyyy).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm thankful for delicious beer and family. Mostly beer though 

Pilsener body is a little bitter and stale, I wonder if something happened in the import. It's an odd taste. Could also be the water they used. Let's see how the other two Flensburgers turn out. Nothing else to report here, except I wouldn't buy it. THE ISLAND rating.

Belgian restaurant Broken Spoke in Houston services me well

And yes, I know how that sounds but it's true. For someone tasting beer, there is no better place to drink than at a Belgian restaurant. As David has accurately noted, if there's anything this experience has illuminated for us, it's that Belgian (style) beers are king. They're simply heads above of the rest.

Wednesday night per my suggestion, the cousins and my family met at the Broken Spoke, a Belgian restaurant my parents had discovered. I drank three beers and paired them with food food, which was also delicious. In the end, I will can only pick one for today's beer; what will it be?

 

These Mussels were the real deal

Appetizer/Beer -Blanche de Bruxelles. Very light, smooth and buttery. The coriander and orange add subtle flavor to the profile. This is the perfect beer for my appetizer, Les Moules L'Escargot (mussels in garlic butter sauce).

Chomp, Chomp, Chomp

Main Course/Beer; Maredsous 10 with Bouchée de Bruxelles, which is a pastry stuffed with chicken, carrots, mushrooms, and celery in a cream sauce. Both were pretty damn tasty. 

Dessert/Beer -Cousin Forest and I decided upon Affligem Dubbel and Trippel respectively, but they were out of the Trippel. Wanting something sweet to pair with my Belgian Chocolate Mouse dessert, the waiter suggested Witches Brew. Never heard of it, but it was an excellent choice!

YUM

Witches Brew is highly carbonated (almost like champagne) and is sweet up front with a crisp aftertaste. It's probably the closest I'll come to eating a cloud. It was a delicious 9% 750ml bottle to pair with a divinely chocolate desert.

I'm going to pick the WITCHES BREW as my beer of the day (BAD BOYS rating), specifically because I don't know how wide its distribution is and thus when I would have access to it again, but all three beers were fantastic. I highly recommend them and plan to drink them again soon. I'm also kinda proud of my first real attempt to pair beer with food, which went fairly well. Probst!

Delicious Goose Island Demolition accompanies my Home Brew's 2nd Fermentation

Goose Island has been good to me, so I picked the Demolition to keep my company as I siphoned my first home brew (code named King Moonracer's Revenge) into my 2nd fermentation tub.

Now the waiting begins...

That big glass tub is now sitting in my room with a towel wrapped around it and for the next two weeks my patio door will not be opened (to keep the temperature in the room steady) and the curtains drawn (young beer doesn't interact with sunlight well). Crossing my fingers for the best and I plan to bottle in about 9 days.

I bought this beer at Bristol Farms grocery store and it was quite good. It's a Belgian style ale with a doughy scent and a sweet full body that tastes of banana with a hint of spice. This would be an especially great beer to enjoy during a nippy December night. THE ROCK rating

Bruery Loakal Red Growlers at Me

Being roommates with someone who likes to cook works out well for me sometimes and tonight was one of those nights - Blackened Salmon and Parmesan Asparagus. Real, Grade A trash. Could it get any better? Um yes, Doyyy. We have to Finnish the delicious Growler of Bruery Lokal Red!

Like Gingers, red ales are hereditary and are fairly rare. Among the red ambers, the Loakal Red stands head above the rest. It's is a belgian style red ale, so it's full bodied and sweet with a tasteful caramel malt. Out of my favorite regular Bruery beers, this is a close 2nd only behind Mischief, and that's saying something. BAD BOYS rating.

Bruery Tasting Room! 2 Turtle Doves fellatio'd my tongue

I surprised David on his birthday with a field trip - and by surprise, I mean, I didn't tell him where we were going, but he kinda knew deep down we were going to The Bruery, but then that place is so far out in the middle of nowhere (who knew there was a 605 freeway?) he became confused and probably thought I was taking him to smoke peyote in the desert - so until we arrived it was still technically a surprise. To say the least, he was excited when we finally arrived at The Bruery's brewery in Placentia, CA I think the mescaline would've been a let down compared to what awaited us.

Tap Beauty

Karl K had joined us for the trip, and we settled around a converted barrel/table for 5 tastings and some great reminiscing. I won't spare you with all the details, but all five beers I tried were all new to me and The Workman's Friend (description pictured center above) stood above the rest.

But the best was yet to come. The beer gods were smiling upon David, because The Bruery had a party the day before and left a little in the kegs of TWO beers we could not longer purchase - 2 Turtle Doves and The Bruery 2010 Coton Anniversary beer.

Two Turtle Doves for Three please

This is how good the 2 Turtle Doves was - Karl offered his Mischief to clean our pallettes. He offered to waste Mischief - one of our favorite beers, the beer we would get a keg of it's so freaking amazing - to wash our mouths out for the Doves. How could Mischief become the spittoon? Only with the Doves.

It's that good. Birthday aside, this tasting alone made the trip spectacular.

2 Turtle Doves - The smell is amazing. Tasting wise, at 12% this is a dark and wonderful alcohol drenched syrup. My god, the chocolate and molasses combination is to die for. It's incredible, easily one of my top beers ever. Simply Promethean. When David posts, read his column, he puts it best. Simply awesome. BAD BOYS rating.

The 2010 Coton Anniversary Ale is equally, if not more so, impressive. Up front, the taste is similar to the 2 Turtle Doves, but it's complexity is quickly apparent as vanilla and the dark fruit arise. Its intricacy is impressive and inspiring. Also a phenomenal beer. 

Thank you Bruery for making David's Bday and my Sunday. We each bought a growler to take home, so we will be visiting you again soon to refill!

The bedroom isn't the only place where magic happens

Maredsous #8 and David's Berfday Night Celebration

For David's berfday we saw Aziz Ansari standup downtown at The Orpheum and HE WAS HILARIOUS. Duh. Afterwards we headed to The Other Room and took over their one and only 'room' in the back and filled it with friends. Happy Birthday David, tonight was a blast. 

Tonight's beer is the Maredsous #8. Maredsous is one of the original 6 Trappist (Abbey Breweries) and they also brew the golden god, Duvel. The #8 is a dubbel belgian and it's super, super smooth. I need to get back to partying, so the long and short is, TRY IT. Your tongue won't be disappointed. THE ROCK rating.

Stone Vertical Epic 09.09.09 at Whole Foods

Another Friday evening beer flight tasting at Whole Foods and tonight it's with one of my favorite breweries, Stone.

These might be hard to find now, but if you ever get your hands on a Vertical Epic, buy and save it (if you're like me, under your bed) for December 12, 2012 (12.12.12) because they are all amazing. This fellow has a spicy roasted malt with flavors of chocolate and coffee. Looking forward to drinking it again in two years. THE ROCK rating

Red Hook Limited Release Eisbock 28 is as tasteful as Mr. Freeze

The Eisbock style of beer is made by freezing off some of the water and removing it from the beer (hence the Arnold reference above), which consequentially replaces the hop and flavor with a big alcohol presence. The Eisbock 28 has 11% alcohol.

The resulting concoction tastes like a flavorless rye home brew poured down an ice chute cut from a Greenland glacier. This style is popular in Germany, but not with me. THE ISLAND rating.

Stone Smoked Porter Finishes Stone Brewery Week

The last night of bowling was tonight and we're not going to make the playoff this year, single tear (think we're behind the cut by only 90 points). The Smoked Porter is also the 11th straight and final beer of the Stone Brewery week. Here is a tribute for our now empty comrades:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WRoWPhLU2Q

This is my first 'smoked' beer and I found the smoke subdued and a nice touch. This is a solid porter with the standard hints of chocolate and caramel and malt bitterness. I won't be circumlocutious; this is good. TRANSFORMERS rating.

It's really impressive to consider that a single brewery makes over FOURTEEN different kinds of beer (not counting limited productions like the Vertical Epics) and I haven't had one 'bad' beer yet. If it wasn't before, Stone is certainly one of my top 5 breweries is now. Color me very impressed.

Stone Imperial Russian Stout aids my first Home Brew!

 

This handsome devil was good. Roasted malt followed by coffee flavors. The hops are present but allow the stout to shine. I'm impressed by Stone's ability to mix a stout's character and their signature hops together for a well rounded and bitter-less brew. THE ROCK rating.

King Moonracer's Revenge begins

Tonight also marked my first foray into the world of Home Brew, with David as my guide. David has all the equipment and the background, so he helped me design the recipe and oversaw the cooking. It's purposes to be a Christmas Ale and will be bottled by the time we takeoff for the holiday break. It was a lot of fun to make and I'm already looking forward to my next batch, I'm eagerly awaiting to see how the spices I added turn out and I have a better idea of how to better cool the wort in our apartment, which is super important in the process.

I have picked a name and created a logo (to be revealed at bottling) which I'm really excited about: 

KING MOONRACER'S REVENGE

I think it's a sweet title for a Xmas beer and David agrees. It may sound weird but it won't after I tell you its origins...which I'll do when it's bottled. If you can't wait, wikipedia the story of Rudolph and you'll recognize the name. Here's the recipe:

8oz of Belgium Aromatic Malt
8oz of Crystal 10 
9 lbs Alexander pale malt extract
2oz of cascade hops 6 alpha acid
1oz of williamette hops 3.7 alpha acid (half added with 15 minutes left)

Yeast: Northwest Ale strain

Cloves- half a spoonful

During 2nd Fermentation, I plan to add two Tahitian Vanilla Beans for aroma.

Stone Self-Righteous isn't as Sublime as the band

Remnants from bottling David's brew on Sunday greeted me as I entered the apartment tonight. And by greeted I mean, the beer we missed during cleaning on the floor and counter-top cultivated into a funky kitchen smell. Oops.

We are down to the last three Stoners in Stone Brewery week and each of them are dark ales. Introducing the Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale.

Self-Righteous befriends David's latest brew bottled in 12oz's

Light malts with splashes of coffee and chocolate confront bold hops, which hit like a street pimp's slap to the face. This is basically the Stone IPA's hops poured on top of a dark malt ale. It's solid but they don't play well together.

Still, don't be shy with this fellow; he's worthy of some attention. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Vertical Flight of Stone Old Guardian 2008-2010

I decided to combine the posts from Friday, Saturday and Sunday into one MONSTER post because we tasted a vertical flight of Stone Old Guardian Barleywine from 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Despite its name, Barleywine is very much a beer. It's actually one the strongest and most intense of the beer styles because of their complexity and high alcohol content (Old Guardian +11%). So why include wine in title? Because it is brewed to be aged like wine and stored for future consumption. Hence my interest in tasting them vertically, one year after the other!



2008

Tasted Friday November 12, 2010

Had AJ, Nic, Tiffany and Nic G over for some wine and pasta Friday night. We popped the Old Guardian 2008 and drank during the cheese appetizer. The '08 is bold and complex, with swirling with malt, fruit, buttery hints of caramel and the well rounded hops note Stone is known for. I REALLY enjoyed this beer. This is a complex but balanced beer that put you on your ass. I'm going to buy this again and age it many moons, bringing it out for some special occasion, like finishing a book. See you in 2014 you dank bastard. 

2009

Tasted Saturday November 13th, 2010

Another beautiful Saturday ends with a poorly lit picture. The 2009 Old Guardian didn't meet the standards of the '08. It was raw and unbalanced. Maybe a year does make a difference. I still enjoyed it, but the '09 is still in the Beta phase.

2010

Tasted Sunday November 14th, 2010

Like THE WALKING DEAD, the '10 startled me. It was super good, but it hasn't aged! How could this be? And it raises the question; is the '09 batch the problem or will it get better with time? Am I going crazy? If I use one more question mark I might....The '10 is fantastic, really. I can't wait to age this one.

RATING SCORECARD
Old Guardian 2008 - THE ROCK
Old Guardian 2009 - TRANSFORMERS
Old Guardian 2010 - BAD BOYS

SUMMARY: I don't know about other breweries' barleywine but Stone does it well. I would recommend any of these for consumption, but do realize that barleywine isn't for the weak-willed. Like the Arrogant Bastard, this is a sit down, shut up and sip it brew. Personally, I plan on going to Whole Foods this week and buy the '08 and '10 for a future date.

Stone Cali-Belgie IPA, IP'D my attention

Once upon a time, a sweet Belgian from the wrong side of the pond meet a charming hoppy California IPA  and when sparks flew, they put on Josh Groban and made some babies. Delicious Belgian-style IPA kids. And boy do I love to drink their babies. It's like a delicious fairy tale, similar to the fable of when oatmeal met the chocolate chip cookie.

About to kill Nazi Zombies, just like the old days

So how does this fairy tale turn out? A ton of hops upfront. Grassy, bitter and tasty. They hit me like a wave and then it's over. There's a little belgian flavor left but but overall there is more Cali hops than Belgie. However, I wouldn't expect any less from Stoner.

I wanted more Belgian but you're still delicious and I can't stay mad for long. This is still a tasty, well rounded beer. THE ROCK rating. I'll have you any day.

Stone Ruination couldn't destroy this evening

Back from the Brandon Flowers concert, who was AWESOME. I actually went solo because I wanted to rock out and knew a +1 would distract me. And was there ever rocking and a rolling. Not only did he bring the energy, but the guitarist for The Police, Andy Summers, came out for the first encore song and Brandon sang ROXANNE...YOU DON'T HAVE TO SELL YOUR BODY TO THE NIGHT....It was, sublime.

Awesomeness prevails

I get the idea behind calling an IPA a ruination (of the palate), what with all the hops; but I'm not sure why Stoner bestowed the name. It's quite tongue-friendly and really freaking delicious.

My new favorite pastime - hop portraits!

For a big bold IPA, it's smooooth. It has a big hop flavor but is thoughtfully well rounded with a tasteful malt balance. The drinkability is high. Like Brandon Flowers, this fellow was pretty sublime. You have to try this, it's one of the BAD BOYS.

Stone IPA Conan'd my mind

Conan is back and I hope he's still there in 20 years. Or just 10...I'll just cross my fingers for the best. He's the shit and I miss his shtick. Without further ado, Tuesday's beer at 12:01am is the Stone IPA!

Golden

It's well rounded and grassy hops! Can't go wrong with this beer. The show was just OK, but it was very good to see Coco back on the air. You could drink this every night during Conan. Why? Because you can and should. It's solid, so just do it and support basic cable; Jon Stewart is on there too. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Double the Bastard INDEED

Can you double the excellence and still make a well rounded beer? The answer is is YES if you're Stone Brewery.

The Double Bastard is the Arrogant Bastard's beast of an older brother who clocks in at 11.2% alcohol, which is basically 2 beers in 1. It really simply tastes bigger and bolder and drunker. Essentially the Double Bastard is an Arrogant on steroids, like Roger Clemens 1986 Red Sox compared to Roger Clemens 2000 New York Yankees...mmmROIDS

No Benicio del Toro, you will... I forgot how incredible TRAFFIC is, shame on me.

In addition to the Double Bastard, we're also having Tuesday's beer at 12:01am tonight/Tuesday morning because David is on a flight to San Fran tomorrow. Conan's premiere might be twice as funny. Stay tuned.

THE ROCK rating, but only have this if you drink un-responsibly and are ready to rage. This is a great choice for Poker Night.

Arrogant Bastard sucker punched me to kick off Stone Brewery Week

We're going for it. An 11 day Stone Brewery tasting regimen including a 3 year vertical tasting of Old Guardian. This combined with the Oaked Arrogant Bastard from Thursday will make it a dozen from the Stoners in roughly two weeks. Pretty wild.

Aren't they freaking beautiful? (not pictured - Arrogant Bastard and Oaked Arrogant Bastard)

Regarding today's brew, ARROGANT BASTARD, I always wondered how they chose that name. Then I tasted and discovered it's a big beer with light nicely round hops and dark roasted malts with a high alcohol level. It's impressive and I am compelled to respect it. They threw everything in this brew but the kitchen sink and actually got away with it, those dirty bastards.

David's ingredients for his famous Salty's Clam Chowder

Comparing this to the Oaked Arrogant Bastard, it is clearly apparent the oak chips affect on the malts. The oak chills the hops out and amplifies the malts but the brew remains refined. It's no wonder Stone decided to expand the distribution of the Oaked Arrogant Bastard with six pack bottles.

Going by David's rating system, the Arrogant Bastard is Lee Marvin, who was the leader in THE DIRTY DOZEN. According to my ratings, welcome to THE ROCK.

Bokrijks Kruikenbier - the name says it all

Coming home from a 7 hour bbq at a coworker's house where two people, count'm, two people were professional chefs. My God, the food. I'm waddling like a penguin. Someone also brought a sixer of Stone IPA and let me have 3 of them, which was icing on the cake.

Anywho, here is the above mentioned unpronounceable Belgian beer that comes in a sweet ceramic bottle that David will use for bottling his own beer in short time. Sadly, this Bokrijks Belgian beer didn't quite measure up to a lot of the Belgian Style brews I've had from America. It's a sweet and malty but I'm not crazy about it. The plus side is that the drinkability is high, but on the negative side, why drink more of something so innocuous?

Kristen Wiig is hilarious, as is this label

Can we just talk about the bottle label? As if the name didn't give the beer's origins away. Talk about perpetuating stereotypes. Silly Belgians, they left out the windmill and boxum blonde wearing klogs. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Lips of Faith Sahti is Finnishly Sharp

Sahti is a traditional beer from Finland made from a variety of grains, malted and unmalted, including barley, rye, wheat, and oats. Ahh the Finnish. How little I know about you. And this won't change either because I basically fell asleep reading their Wikipedia page.

The New Belgium Lips of Faith Sahti is a traditional rye beer brewed with Juniper. Should prove to be interesting.

Dog sitting the insanely smart Kalmari

It's crisp, sharp and smooth but doesn't bring much to the table. The Juniper is a nice touch and used sparingly. Even though I'm not a fan of rye beer, the drinkability is still good. This is close to a Transformers rating, but rye just can't seem to win me over. Sorry Sahti, sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. ARMAGEDDON rating.

90 DAYS!

Today marks the 90th day of our beer journey. For those English majors, that means we're essentially1/4 of the way through. We've had so much different beer, it's hard to imagine that we still have 275 left. Wow.

That being said, it's been everything I hoped for and more. I'm loving all the new beers and experiences that I could only have drinking a different beer every day. Such as, our weekly trip to the Beverage Warehouse for our week's beer selection is like opening presents Christmas morning - EVERY TIME. It's such a cool feeling, and I don't feel it will ever get old. On a related note, I'm really sexy now:

Heeyyyyyyyy

Looking forward to the next 90!

Oaked Arrogant Bastard is a Cadillac (with the 10's and 12's bumping in the back)...Master P anyone?

Joined Christi M who was in town from NYC for the night at The Other Room with a bunch of great friends I haven't seen in a while. David ordered us a conceited shit-head aged with oak chips.

My beer grew arms.

This is the Cadillac of beers. It's big and bold and a little funky. The Oaked-ness of the beer is a double-edged sword however. It brings a HEAVY earthy/charcoal tone that smooths out the beer nicely, but it also lingers. A couple sips and the aftertaste will be stuck with you. It wasn't bad, just different and for me was an acquired taste.

As a kid I didn't add lettuce to my burger because it 'tainted' the meat and cheese's core deliciousness. Weird but true. it's more or less how I feel about this but I'd like to have a regular Arrogant Bastard soon to compare. TRANSFORMERS rating

The Bruery 3 French Hens tastes great but now an annoying song is stuck in my head

3rd brew in the 12 beers of Christmas (just like Stone's Vertical epic, one different beer released every year) this can be aged for up to 9 years to drink with the final brew, 12 Drummers Drumming. Very cool.

2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tee, duh

3 French Hens does what The Bruery does best - make awesome Belgian Style Beers. They decided to go with the Southpaw for this inning and made a 75% Belgian style Dark Ale. Interestingly enough, there was malty smell that wasn't prevalent in the taste. But as advertised, this tastes like a sweet dark ale that is wonderfully well-rounded. There is definitely a smooth butteryness, similar to what you'll taste in a good Chardonnay, derived from the French Oak barrels it was aged in. Another excellent beer (especially for Winter) from one of my favorite breuries. I will have this again soon, hopefully right before Christmas break! Find it and buy it soon as it's a limited seasonal release. THE ROCK rating.

Oh and I bowled a 204 tonight in my league, with two double turkey's. HOLLA! I'm really proud of myself. In fact, I high fived myself the entire way home. Big Ernie McCracken would also be proud, I basically did this when I finished (skip to 1:20):Big Ern Celebrates in Kingpin

Rubicon Rosebud Special Ale Is Especially Rye

As much as I want to be one of "them good old boys drinking whiskey and rye" described in Don McLean's seminal "American Pie," I'm really just a middling mid-to late 20's man-child drinking bourbon but never rye (Bulleit Bourbon an exception). It's personal preference. To my palate, rye whiskey and beer are off-putting, like hipsters.

A lazy Tuesday night catching up with Castle

Rye can be sour and bitter, but the Rubicon Special ale mixes a wheat rye with malted barely and brewers yeast which cuts down on the sour and bitterness and brings out the rye's sweetness - though this is by no means a sweet beer, such as a Belgian. Rubicon has been good to us in the past and this ale was cheap. If you like something different try this, but I won't be having this rye anytime soon. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Shipyard (Signature) Smashed Pumpkin - Gimmie Some Spice!

Hearing good things about this from beverage salesman is one thing; tasting is another. This is the one everyone recommended. However, the reviews online are as split as my and David's opinions:

Pumpkin week officially closes, with Smashed Pumpkin on the right (Dogfish Head not seen here)

The pumpkin taste is light and well rounded. I applaud the brewers for not overwhelming the pumpkin flavor, like so many others have done.

This is where people disagree. SPICE. For me, the Three Wise Men visited the brewery and dumped their Magi spices into the batch - cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. Apart, they were nothing, but together they delivered a Chuck Norris round house kick to my taste buds. It felt like the 4th of July in my mouth. I love spices and these three together epitome the season of Fall for me (or lack thereof in SoCal).  Maybe I'm nostalgic, but damn, I want more. I want this during Thanksgiving with my turkey and yams, I want it at Christmas as I roast endangered nuts over an open fire. For being excellent and unique, you're one of the BAD BOYS.