Redhook Blonde and Jay's triumphant return

Jay "Jabroni" Subbers is back in town for a one night special and we met up at the Townhouse and ran into old friends Adri and Brad and what I thought would be a quick drink turned into an erstwhile festivus talking about old times, bourbon, Coachella and one of my favorite subjects, savory food. Brad keeps segueing into stories by yelling out "RAAAANDY" from Aziz Ansari stand-up and it surprisingly never gets old. Awesomeness prevails tonight.

Blonde's have more fun - but not as much as gingers

Back home I'm cracking open a Redhook Blonde. I'm a big fan of blonde ales but I recall not liking this in college. However, there's truth to the "every seven years your taste buds change" because I'm enjoying this even though it has failing marks on the beer advocate website. Maybe that's the Maker's talking, but the medium body feels right and the taste is clean with a touch of hops. If Redhook was pitched against Sam Adams in a Beer Bowl, I'd be rooting for Redhook to win - ima fan. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Kona Wipeout and the Craft Beer Festival at Whole Foods is the Best. Deal. Ever

The post is heavy on pictures and light on words because pictures do say a 1,000 words. What do these pictures convey? BEER. Beer, beer, beer, and beer for only $10. There are 10 breweries. 10 dollars for multiple beers from each of them. Today is easily the best way I have ever spent ten bucks except for that one time in Tijuana. For 10 bucks I'm constantly drinking quality craft beer for two hours 10 from noteworthy breweries. 10! 10! 10! Is this the real deal? Fueled by a David Bowie/Hall&Oates super mix, Karl, David and I rolled down to the El Segundo Whole Foods to investigate.

 

I'm beginning with Firestone and sampling the Union Jack (a personal favorite) as well as the never-drunk Special Edition DIPA and the Merlin Oatmeal Stout, both were excellent and the double I'm excited to officially taste it one day soon. Mister Firestone himself was there pouring and he let me know that the DIPA was a year-round beer but it will be available in limited quantities because it is a time intensive brew.

Firestone Brewery

Peak Organic Ale is the most interesting beer there. They make a slew of organic beers that are pretty out of the box, including a Pomegranate Wheat Ale that is really solid. IPA was tasty as well. I learned that the hardest part of their job is convincing the farmers to cordon off part of their land to grow organically (at greater time and expense) in order to make beer that will taste better (due to it being organic). I can see how that would be a tough sell. A farmer would really have to believe in the quality of beer.

Peak Organic

Sam Adams has their winter seasonal to sample as well as LEGIT beer opener key chains. I tried the Fuzziweg, an interesting concoction of 12 spices.

Sam Adams loves key chain beer openers

Aloha beer! Our beer of the day is from Kona. The rep pouring the brew is wearing a lei and is super chill. Maybe he's drunk, I can't tell. Maybe I'm a little sauced. Whatever, I'm surfing right now on a Hawaiian Porter wave of 100% Kona Coffee. As a seasonal, it's simple but pleasurable beer and definitely defined by the coffee. ARMAGEDDON rating

Kona Coffee Porter

Our two favorite local breweries are on hand. The Bruery is tasting the Rugbord and Orchard de Lente. Bootleggers brought a pony keg of their brand new West Coast IPA, which is a DANK beer and hope to buy a growler of next time I'm down there.

The Bruery represents

After devouring spicy cheese balls, we are moving onto the second area. This is where the party is. Everyone's a little drunk too by the time they arrive here, so the beer flows like wine. Speaking of beer and wine, first in the mix is Sierra Nevada's three pack of 30th Anniversary Beer and one of them tastes like a barley wine. I wanted to originally have one of these beers as our halfway through the year beer, but I'm glad we didn't. They aren't bad but they're not as amazing as I dreamed them to be.

Also, the Sierra sales rep was HAMMERED and pouring people as if he had an infinite supply. He is love'n it - being drunk on and pouring Sierra Nevada at the same time. My hero for the day.

Sierra Nevada also have the brand new Hoptometer, their attempt at a 110+IBU uber IPA. It's ego-strokingly hoptaculer. David is buying one to taste, we'll have it soon.

Tried the New Belgim Trippel for the first time, was excellent and would love to drink more.

 

The other beers available are a few from Le Fin de Monde, Weihenstephaner, Affligem and two from Stone. These strong beers really put me over the edge and I feel happy. I suddenly want to buy the entire beer selection in the Whole Foods fridge. I'm definitely over-served. Mission Accomplished!

Overall, this is a sublime experience which probably won't happen again. I think Whole Foods was grossly unprepared for the amount of people turning out. We got away with murder for the amount of beer we drank at the price. We tried a few beers for the first time and enjoyed many for the umpteenth time. Thanks to Karl for driving and for being awesome and to Whole Foods for being naive enough to think 10 dollars for a 2 hour drunkfest wouldn't attract a crowd.

Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale is more of a Gremlin than Man's Best Friend

Took the kayak out (haven't since 4th July) and had an awesome early afternoon meeting up with peeps from Red Bull, which culminated in a late El Torito brunch. Later we headed to SUSHI STOP on Sawtelle for, wait for it, sushi. Every plate here is $3 and I had an incredible plate of Salmon Bellies. I could feast on those all day, as well as the Eel and Pampano. Check it out here: Sushi Stop and click on 'specials' on the top left. I'm pretty excited to take a date there and not tell her how much I'm not spending on her.

We almost convinced the hip waitress to let us bring the sixer of Golden Ale in, but I'm glad we didn't...

Baxter, bark twice if you're in Milwaukee

Afterwards, I brought this to a rooftop party in Westwood for Jooey and I might be switching to Maker's Mark. It's a fairly lackluster showing for a golden ale. Tire Bite has a weak, watery body and a bitter taste. I've had better. Flying Dog's Raging Bitch Belgian IPA is one of my favorite beers but unfortunately, Tire Bite is just the Bitch's piss. THE ISLAND rating.

The Strand Atticus IPA leads my foosball players to victory

Met coworker Tiff and her high school friends Andrew and Matt at our weekly Surly Goat rendezvous and immediately proceeded with games and beer, which is the best way to finish a workweek.

The man, myth and legend, my Foosball partner, Andrew

I'm not-so-secretly hoping to aspire to be as nerdy as this guy one day: Jedi taught Foosball Skills

Doesn't that Speakeasy sign make the background above the beer look like the ghosts in Pac-Man?

Atticus is statistically one of the least favorite names for a boy (ranked 600th) but that didn't stop the Torrance located The Strand brewery from naming their pale ale's hoppier cousin Atticus.  The IBU is 65 for this IPA and is achieved by Summit, Cascade and Amarillo hops (I'm beginning to list the hops so that I can learn their different tastes and improve my home brewing recipes!).

There is no major aroma and the pale ale body isn't complex but it smooths the hop bite for a balanced mouthful. I like hop complexity and it sticks out from the rest of the IPA pack. It's a solid beer for this competitive gaming Friday night. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Port Brewing Wipeout IPA is just as good as the T.V. show Wipeout

Just came from the Alibi Room where coworker Tiff and I dived into Kogi Sliders and the flaming hot Chicken Quesadilla. That stuff is sooo good, I'd place it up there with In-And-Out as essential California food that visitors must try. From Alibi Room to we moved onto The Other Room and we're holed up here with Allison and Sophie and starting to cause a raucous, which is fine by me. Tiffany knew she had to go big or go home so she went big with the Russian River Damnation. I'm going with the SoCal Port Brewing Wipeout IPA, which would've paired well with the spicy kogi we just inhaled.

Port Brewing hails from Saint Diego and the Wipeout is a finely tuned IPA. It is a persuasive ale with biting hops and you won't leave disappointed if you enjoy hopst. I drank two in a row and my palate isn't overwhelmed from the bitterness and I'm still loving the hops. Solid TRANSFORMERS rating bordering on The Rock.

Shiner Hefeweizen rounds out a Texan Kinda Night

Arrived back from the Surly Goat where I spent the last three hours kicking it with fellow Texan, Glen, which was appropriate since the below awaited me at home:

The official beer of the Buck Hunter arcade

Let me tell you about Buck Range or 'Buck Hunter' as David and I reference it...12 cans for $6 at some podunk gas station. We haven't had it as the beer of the day yet, but how could this price be possible? Has anyone ever heard of this beer and more importantly, who was the professor who named it?

A hold out from the holidays, the Shiner Hefeweizen is sweet with a light to medium body. The beer refrains from the standard doughy notes and it's not as complex or bold as many of the German hefe's I've tasted but, it's nonetheless deliciously drinkable. This is the working man's hefeweizen and while it won't win awards, during the summer I could easily vanquish a sixer. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Green Lakes Organic Ale would be endorsed by James Cameron

Back late from a celebratory night at Copo d'Oro. Let's just say they have $5 Bourbon Old Fashions till 8pm (but that doesn't mean I didn't stop then). It was nice. I arrive back at the mancave where an organic ale was awaiting me. The concept driving organic beer isn't to make a 'green' beer or to help the ozone, etc. Rather, brewers who make organic resolutely believe that organically grown grain and hops (sans pesticides, etc) create a better tasting brew - at least that's my perception of this growing niche market.

I believe this is based on a futuristic Pandoran beer. Time travel sure is nice

The Green Lakes is a malty amber/red ale. The malt permeates the nose and my first taste. Subsequent swishes and gulps bring awareness to the beer's mild hops side. Not my style of beer but overall it's a very drinkable beer and smooth. I'll let you be the judge whether organic ingredients create a tastier brew. ARMAGEDDON rating

Saint Arnold Texas Wheat welcomes Kevin Bacon

I arrived home to David's always delicious clam chowder and a gift from his office, Google TV. What is that contraption you ask? I'll let Kevin Bacon enlighten you:

 The last beer I brought back from Houston based brewery Saint Arnold is their "Wheat" beer. Now, I originally confused this with a hefeweizen, which it is certainly not and the wheat was so offenced by this generalization that it forced me to drop it tonight. But I have Allstate and I'm in good hands, which caught the bottle. Anywho, I know that all wheat's aren't hefe's, and I realize this fellow is a crystal-weizen, which means it is super light and crisp and what I imagine a cumulonimbus cloud tastes like.

Darth Vader "You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take her away!"

What's also fun about tonight is that we're tasting the Wheat in Hite glasses we stole from Korean BBQ last Friday night and they're the perfect size. Remember kids, sometimes petty larceny does pay. This brew would be refreshing on a summer afternoon, ARMAGEDDON rating.

Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout is smoothly intoxicating

I spent the day day recovering from our double brewery excursion yesterday and used the time watch football and transfer our Belgian IPA from the primary to the carboy. We poured a healthy glass to sample and while there will be a few tweaks on our next recipe, we both believe the current batch will turn out pretty great. David believes that the temperature control we achieved during this batch through the new wort cooler we bought and my heated bedroom (grrrr) made a huge difference in the brews consistency. It's going to be super hoppy but smooth, and I can't wait to taste it again in two weeks. Still working on a name...

Before fighting the Imperial Forces lead by Darth Stout, R2-D2 posed for a picture with his adversary

I can smell the alcohol (7%) heavily in Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout, as well as a healthy dose of chocolate. The body is really smooth and creamy with an enticing cocoa presence. I'm really enjoying this. Big thanks to my coworker Kate Schriver for giving this to me as a Christmas gift. This warms the belly and my tired soul. THE ROCK rating.

The Bruery Provisions Series is Old Richland is the last of its kind

Karl, David and I are joined by Infamous Jamie as we head down for our third trip to The Bruery and Bootleggers. The new twist to the adventure is that we first hit up The Bruery Provisions store in Orange, which has a host of beers and cheese to sample.

We arrived to discover that two of the three Provisions brews, Gunga Galunga and Premiere, have gone the way of the pager and are now only available in people's cellars and local pawn shops. However, their third Provisions beer, the Old Richalnd, is available to taste. Whinnnna!

My taster included the Humulus Session, 7 Grain Saison, Saison De Lente, the exquisite Three French Hens and the Old Richland, beer o'day.

The Old Richland is a barelywine by style but DIPA by association. The Bruery's created a 9% barleywine then dry hopped it with Centennial, Simcoe and Sterling hops (these big boys - very acidic hops).

Old Richland

It smells super sweet. Upon tasting, the hops and malt play well together. It's a smooth but passive beer - nothing jumps out at me. Barleywine tends to put you on your ass, so if I waned a high quality 'drinking to get drunk' style of beer, this would be it. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to find it. Check out Stone's Old Guardian instead. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Karl and Infamous Jamie sample the nectar

The fun comes after the beer of the day is drunk. I tried Karl's sample of the Belgian Mint style beer called Aurora Borealis and it smells like a hospital. It tastes just as weird. Infamous Jamie says it tastes like Colgate. There you go. David was the only person who finished their sample of it.

I'm bitching about the 7 Grain Saison so Jamie grabs my taster and throws it back. "It's not bad" she responds and thereby rejects my perspective, "it tastes like pee." HA. Exactly, nice try Infamous Jamie. 
David and Karl finish off their cheese plates and we jet off to The Bruery. Low and behold they have their 10 year Anniversary beer on tap, the Coton! What a coup. It's sweet and delicious with hints of cocoa. THe Coton is like a beer equivalent of port. It's delicious but so dank that you can actually drink too much. 

When I drink Coton I forget about the everything else

The rest is history, or lack there of. We bought two growlers of Michief and made serious moves with them. I tried pacing myself but patience isn't my strong suit, so how do you think that turned out? By the time Laura and Michelle showed up fresh from Temecula Wine Country, I'd forgotten all about Bootleggers. 'Wait, we're going to another brewery?! Well I'll be a monkey's uncle...' Belgian style beer has a funny way of fogging up one's memory. We refilled our growlers and had a beer at Bootleggers before they closed, followed by In-and-Out, which our group definitely caused a raucous in. Your welcome Placentia for the Saturday night antics and entertainment. From there, we returned home to more beer and hammock napping. Another successful brewery run but next time it's my time to drive, D'Oh!

Eagle Rock Solidarity starts the party at Surly Goat happy hour

My coworker Tiffany and I started doing the Surly Goat Happy Hour every Friday after work and it's been a boon. They have four or so beers for $4 dollars till 8pm and a host of other unique beers for under $8. Their bartenders are both cool and knowledgeable. For a beer geek, the place is an oasis. More to the point, they also have Foosball. Today's beer was from the local Eagle Rock brewery:

The Solidarity is a black mild ale and pours a great head. She has nice toated malts with a hint of cocoa that goes down light and makes for a good happy hour starter. I could drink a couple of these but I instead branched out for a Firestone Pale Ale (nice hops) followed by the ever gracious, Pliny the Elder. Plus bartendress Amy encouraged me to sample a few beers. Can't beat that night.  Next stop is Korean BBQ and some Hite! TRANSFORMERS rating.

Ommegang Cup O' Kyndness Belgian Style Scotch Ale is all sorts of mixed up

Karl is here for his weekly Thursday brew and for the next couple weeks we'll be drinking beers from a brewery in his native state of New York - Ommegang.

Hail New York State!

Karl let us know that this style of beer started during WW2 when Scottish troops were stationed in Belgium and local bars began catering to the soldiers' tastes. I find it amusing to learn that several styles of beers, including IPA's, evolved out of military personnel's experience abroad. I wonder if that's still the case now.

Kyndness is a Belgian Style Scotch Ale full of toasty malts and it's an odd mix of styles. It's interesting but I won't drink it again; it's just not my cup o' tee.

Karl says it best: "Thank you for exposing me to Belgian/Scotch Ale, but kindly sir, give me a Belgian Golden (post-haste!)." Word Big Bird. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Dick's Silk Lady rescues me from drinking Coors in between beer pong games

It's beer pong night with Linds, Karl and David (who was a rock star in his former life). For the record, Karl is a Master Jedi at beer pong and I hate playing against someone so skillful. Remember how the German invasion of Poland in WW2 turned out? It was a rout. Karl may be Polish, but he's a Nazi at beer pong.

Karl came straight from an L.L. Bean catalog shoot.

Dick's Silk Lady refers to the Geisha that Dick keeps chained in his basement. Okay, that's not true. It actually refers to his favorite kitty, who's a mean ol' cooter.

So the beer is from Centralia, Washington, a town that I didn't know existed before tonight. Silk Lady is a Belgian Style ale with a depressing 4.4% alcohol. It tastes like a incredibly like home brew; really, we could make this. The flavor is somewhere between a light Belgian and a heavy hefeweizen and the clarity and the sweetness reflect this style as well. THE ISLAND rating.

Also, Esquire released the beers they're excited for in 2011, and it's a surprisingly interesting list. The first one is news to me, but it makes me salvitate: Esquire's Best Beers of 2011.

Victory Prima Pilsner is weird but in a good way, like going to the gym drunk

I actually picked my Ibanez up today after 8 months of collecting dust because one of my New Year's resolutions is to play the acoustic and electric guitar more. Now, I rarely make resolutions but for 2011 I have several, including using the apartment complex hot tub at least once (we've lived here 18 months and never used it), cooking dinner more (I takeout mucho), and learn to pair some of the beer I'm trying with food (and journal the experience to gain insight). It's the little things that make a new year better, not big ideas like gaining 30 pounds to make myself eligible for the Lap-Band.

The best and also the simplest explanation I can provide for the Prima Pilsner is to label it as a "hoppy pilsner," which is going against the type for pilsners. So If you like bitter beers, it's a peculiar but tasty treat. Otherwise, your tongue will ask why you let a Czech cross-dresser into your mouth. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu Jiu Jitsu's my tongue

Coming back from dinner with Karl, Laura, David, Lindsey and Michelle at Manchego, which is not only a great tapas place but also BYOB, with no corkage fee. I'm home now and pouring a a Chateau Jiahu while I watch and time the CO2 bubble through the filter on our primary fermentation for our unnamed Belgian Style IPA so I can guesstimate how long until we rack to the secondary (Thursday perhaps?)

This brew was was inspired by a beverage found in clay posts in China around 9000 years ago and in keeping with historic evidence, Dogfish brewers used pre-gelatinized rice flakes, Wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, hawthorn fruit, and Chrysanthemum flowers. It was then fermented for over a month with Sake yeast. Awesome stuff.

Saucy ancient women with bangs get me every time

Well it pours beautifully but smells sour. However, Jiahu tastes excellent. David is comparing it to a homebrew and I agree. The honey bestows a sweet flavor and the hawthorn brings a brief fruity punch at the end. This would be fantastic on a great hot summer day, especially if you were laying in a hammock, which happens frequently....Hmmm, I bought the last bottle of this at Whole Foods and now I need to find this again. D'oh!  THE ROCK rating.

Rogue Yellow Snow IPA is better than a real Yellow Snow Cone

You know the last time I saw yellow snow cone? JACKASS. Someone peed in the snow and paid someone else to eat it. The snow cone was still warm. I almost yacked onto the front row. This experience should be better than my last but if it's not, I hope David enjoys projective vomiting.

On his face

And then there were two, Jay and Lindzpoop

David lucked out, this doesn't taste like horse piss. Yellow Snow is a nice IPA that isn't overly bitter. The hops hit you, then the you taste the American pale ale body, and then the bitterness hits again at the end. Nice complexity for an IPA. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Widmer Brothers Brrr Seasonal Ale should be used as a penalty drink in our Kings game

We're playing an epic transcontinental game of KINGS up in Big Bear with Abrye (in Australia) after a great day at Big Bear and Snow Summit. Whoever pulls a king has to take a shot and fire the trick pistol, which electrocutes you. It's so strong that each person who has tries it immediately flings the pistol across the table. It really sucks. Thanks Jay!

The Widmer Brrr Seasonal ale has a TON of spices. It's as close as I will get to chewing a bag of all spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. I'm not enjoying this at all, in fact, it's going down as a TRANSFORMERS 2 rating.

Aaron B however, prefers this over the Infinium that David opened up as his beer of the day, so to each his own.

Copper Hook and a Big Bear Arrival

Just drove up highway 18 to Big Bear on winding roads and stopped in the leasing office parking lot a couple minutes before midnight. Success! Also, it's damn cold but excited to ski for the second time this winter!

Trapper hat Lindsey  

Copper Hook is an amber ale that's malty, smooth and super drinkable. There is nothing sublime about this fellow but it is still another decent brew from continually solid Red Hook brewery. If you're looking for a cheap microbrew to bring to a party, keep this in mind. THE ISLAND rating.

P.S. I don't understand why Red Hook isn't as well known as say, Sam Adams, and I hope they will be in time. They create a broad spectrum of very drinkable beers. David mentioned they have breweries on both the East and West coasts. That's interesting, maybe this cuts down on distribution costs? Smart. Anywho, I wish them well and would love to see their variety packs in supermarkets next to Sam Adams seasonals.

Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA at The Daily Pint

Having drinks with fellow assistant Christina at The Daily Pint and and picked out the San Francisco based Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA.

The hoppy smell hits me like a punch in the jaw - it's intense! Jebus they must have dry hopped a ton of acidic hops. However, the taste is considerably more mild and the hops are dialed down and it finishes dry. It's a good, grassy taste and the bitterness is mild (especially when compared to the smell). The drinkability is high. Party! TRANSFORMERS rating, see it and drink it.

Speaking of party, the Philly Cheese Steak food truck is outside the Pint every Thursday and it is a LIFESAVER.

Winter Hook Winter Ale watches David's legos and helps me vanquish my online enemies (who are probably teenage kids)

David had his beer at Library Alehouse so I'm absorbing one of his gifts from his Washington trip, the Winter Hook ale from Red Hook. It's a solid Christmas ale with a lil' spice, lil' hop, and lil' caramel malt. Put them together and you get a TRANSFORMERS rating. Or a Lego Star Wars set. YEP

Merry Christmas to David, from David

As I destroy people in Call of Duty Black Ops, alternating between the Gun Game/Sticks and Stones Wager Match, I realize it's been a while since I imbibed a Red Hook and I'm quite happy about being reintroduced to them. Red Hook ESB changed my life and now Mr. Hook has caught my attention again. I'm looking forward to the next brew from them.

Btw, this Wager Match is incredibly addicting. Do you realize these people are geniuses? They designed an entertainment platform that combines gaming and gambling, the two greatest addictions ever (outside of drugs and cookies). If David and I weren't so cool and social, a serious problem could definitely develop that requires intervention (says Walker as he stares pas his Shark Slippers at David who is building Star Wars Legos with the focus of a Zen master).

Saint Arnold Elissa IPA after a legend's memorial service

I believe this beer is the best Saint Aronld's has to offer. The Elissa is a smooth, slightly sweet and medium bodied hoppy IPA. If you enjoy the bitterness of a Stone IPA, then this beer is for you. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Fear the StormTater! He will mash the stuffing out of you

I usually don't stray far from writing about the point of this blog, but I will say that tonight I went to a memorial service for my former boss of two years, Ed Limato, who passed away July 3rd and the experience was everything it should have been. Ed would be proud. If you Google his name, you'll see a lot of press about him. I worked for him during a tumultuous time, while after being President of one talent agency for over 15 years, he sued and took them to court because they wanted him to retire. He won in a landmark decision and we went to another agency. He was as big a star as his clients and was revered accordingly throughout the industry (there were 300-400 people there tonight including a bevy of celebrities). I didn't even address him as Ed until after a year working for him, it was always "Mr. Limato." Among other things, he was famous for his annual Oscar Party and I had the honor to plan his final 'soiree for the stars' in 2007. Anyway, tonight at the service Elton John gave an emotionally charged performance of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down" and several of his major clients gave eulogies, reminiscing about Ed and how much they missed him. Each actor spoke of Ed as being a paternal influence in their life. He guided, fought for, taught and above all protected those close to him.  If you know the stereotype about Hollywood Talent Agents than you know how incredibly different Ed was from the gold standard. There will never be another one like him, he was undeniably a legend. He treated his clients and assistants as family and called us his 'kids' (there were at least 20 of his former assistants there tonight). Working for Ed as a naive 23 year old was my first job out of college and a large part of me grew up under his watchful eye and profane mouth (he was a legendary courser). One of his clients said that "he lived a dream and he allowed us to live in it as well" and I feel that speaks of my experience with him as well.

Out of the many stories I have of him, one of my favorite occurs after I told him I was leaving to work for a director because I wanted to be a writer (leaving Ed was rare because almost all of his assistants worked for many years to become an career agent under his tutelage). He was certainly sad to see me go (do know that he got over it quickly), but on the way out the door he sauntered past me chuckling and in his deep but cordial growl said, "Goodnight Hemingway" and strolled away with a smile.

It is one of many legendary lines that will stick with me for the rest of my years. To say the least he had a huge influence on me and tonight I was reminded of his indelible influence in my life, and I suppose as part of my catharsis I want to write about him here. He was one hell of a man to work for sometimes but he had a good heart and he genuinely cared for us and I know he's in a better place.

Rest in peace Mr. Limato,
Hemingway

(other names you may have called me include "#3, Walk Walk, Wayne, Wendall, Speak up no one will ever hear you, What's your number? You! Get in here!! and occasionally, Walker).

Saint Arnold week continues with the Amber Ale

Home to watch the national championship game and ketchup on two long entries over Christmas, including my trip to the Shiner Brewery (Shiner Dortmunder, check it out). Poor Oregon, I hoped they would pull it out (that's what she said). Although Oregon didn't win, David did book a cabin in Big Bear for the upcoming three day weekend, so....winnnnnahh.

We have a bunch of the Houston-based St. Arnold brewery and the Amber is the 2nd so far. It pours a light color. The taste is smooth and has a light caramel touch to it. When I toured the St. Arnold brewery over Christmas, their beers came across as simple but clean and refreshing, however, there wasn't a complex one that knocks my pants off.

In comparison to the Christmas Ale, I enjoyed this a little more. ARMAGEDDON rating.

St. Arnold Christmas Ale is on par with TIME COP

Home after having dinner with AJ and Nic, where we watched EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP WINDOW, a really fascinating documentary about street artists that was directed by Banksy. You should check it out on Netflix streaming.

We poured the St. Arnold Christmas Ale just as TIME COP started, NICE.

I found a plethora of animal pornography under David's bed and this was the least graphic

It smells like cereal, like toasted Cheerios. It's a brown ale with a caramel and slight spice profile, but it's a little sour like Jeanne Claude Van Damme's accent. It's decent, but not my favorite. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Also, Van Damme's character in TIME COP is Agent Walker, so thanks to Van Damme and his choppy English I now have a great new voice-mail message. Great success

Le Chouffe Houblon Dobblen IPA Tripel helps us brew our own Belgian Style IPA

So Karl came over and after a nourishing Chipotle run, we stopped by the beer store on our way to the home brew store in order to stock up on the intoxicating alcohol that we would need in order to make our own intoxicating beer, duh. I bought two beers of the style we were making (Belgian Style IPA), Le Freak and Le Chouffe. Karl bought a few Ommegang's. David went a little crazy and bought the Infinium and Tripel Hop Duvel among several others. Party.

Here is the recipe for David and Walker's yet to be named Belgian Style IPA (and a big thank you to Karl who had a large hand in cooking this).

Malt Extract:     Pale 6 lbs

Sugar:              Wildflower Honey .5 lbs

Grain Bill:         Caravienne Malt 4 oz

                        Carafoam Malt 4 oz

                        Aromatic Malt 4 oz

                        Biscuit Malt 4 oz               

Hop Schedule: Simcoe (12.7%) 1oz at 60 mins
                       Cascade (4.5%) 1oz at 45 mins
                       Centennial (10.5) 1oz at 30 mins
                       Cascade (4.5) 1oz at 15 mins
                       Simcoe (12.7%) 1oz DRY HOP
                       Cascade (4.5%) 1oz DRY HOP

Yeast:            Wyeast 1214 Belgian Trappist Ale
                      *(may add a second Belgian Strong Ale or Northwest Ale
                        during 2nd fermentation)


Potential Alcohol 5.5%  (although we're hoping that will change

Gravity 1.041

Balling Scale is at 10%

*This was our first time using the newly purchased wort cooler and if you're ever thinking about getting one, DO IT. It takes at least 45 - 60 mins to cool the wort down to 70 degrees using ice, but with the chiller it took about 15 minutes. Totally worth what I dropped on it. 

Karl is standing in my kitchen swiping honey like he was Yogi Bear (Karl K) and since I wholeheartedly agree with him about the beer but seeing how he is more articulate, I'm going to quote him here as my review:

 

Karl, "It doesn't have the definite characteristics of either a Belgian or IPA. It's lost in the woods between the two, but being lost in these woods is still a nice place to be." David describes it as being a 'Light IPA or Hoppy Pilsner - Two sides of the same coin.' I'll add that it's smooth and easy to drink. THE ROCK rating.

 

Bootleggers Palomino Pale Ale

After work, I headed to Surly Goat with my coworker Tiffany for some beer drinking and Foosball whooping. I had one of their kolsch happy hour beers, then made it a Russian River night by following up with a Pliny the Elder and then a Blind Pig IPA. Afterwords, I splurged on fast food and came home to find David excited to see me. Or maybe he was just scaring me with his smile. You be the judge.

The Palomino is an interesting pale ale, sweet and hoppy that has a piney flavor without any citrus and fruity notes. But it's crisp and different and I like it. I bought this at our Bootleggers Brewery trip before Christmas but you can now purchase four different Bootleggers beer at Whole Foods, or tag along on our next brewery trip! TRANSFORMERS rating.

King Moonracer's Revenge: A Guest Blog by Karl Kalinkewicz

Since Walker and David are emotionally invested in the beer known Marina-wide as "King Moonracer's Revenge", I was asked to write a guest blog/review of the brew. As someone who has served as a companion and hand model many times for this blog, my credentials do not need to be provided. If you have a problem, too bad.

In my experience, most home-brews fall somewhere between "terrible" and "drinkable". Once in a rare while you get a beer that you think to yourself "I wouldn't be upset if I paid normal price for a six pack of this at the grocery store". King Moonracer's Revenge, I am pleased to report, defies the laws of home-brews and presents itself a complex and delicious winter beverage. Fittingly named after the ruler of the Island of Misfit Toys, KMR is a hodge-podge of flavors. You get a good, darker American lager taste, a hint of fruit similar to what you would get from a good hefe, and a malty, syrupy taste similar to what you would find in a Belgian dubbel. The beer could easy find a home as a member of the Sam Adams Brewmaster's collection, packaged in with the winter ale and some holiday porter . In all honesty, though no one at the tasting could confirm this with me, I thought the beer tasted a little similar to Sam's Blackberry Witbeer, with the
 fruit/hefe taste probably coming from the Tahitian Vanilla, but adding more of a darker taste pallet to the witbeer. The one knock I would have on the beer was that it could use a little more carbonation, something that may fix itself with a few more weeks in the bottle.

Walker's vision, along with David's know-how, has crafted a winner. If you want a taste, good luck. Much like the real King Moonracer, this beer is only making a short appearance (less than 10 bottles remain) and will soon be relegated to obscurity, maybe to make a quick appearance next holiday season.

Rating: B
  

King Moonracer's Revenge - Walker's First Home Brew

So Thursday night, January 6th is my first official tasting of the home brew. Let me tell you about the name first...

King Moonracer's Revenge is a different name for a Christmas Ale, right? Here is the story behind the birth of the name. About week before I made the beer, I woke up one morning already thinking of the beer's name. I wanted the title set it apart from other Christmas beers, so what's the least Christmasy theme there could be? REVENGE. 30 seconds later I was on Wikipedia looking up the story of Rudolph. Unfortunately, that red-nosed outcast didn't piss anyone off when he was put on the sleigh team, but I did find the most excellent of names, King Moonracer. When Rudolph runs away from the North Pole he escapes and finds the Island of the Misfit toys and King Moonracer rules them. What a rad name! So I started thinking...this guy is a Griffin, half Eagle & Half Lion and he's king of the abused children? He should be king of the world! But he has a good heart and cares about the tykes, but Santa gets all the credit for being jolly and spreading joy around the world. Do you know the King? Nobody knows about King Moonracer! But guess what? He secretly makes some great fucking beer. And Santa doesn't get any of it. Booyah! Revenge is his.

I found the elements and gave them to my Houston friend Emily H and she put together a hilariously awesome label, thanks Em!

I poured a few bottles for everyone and then opened up a few more. The feedback was really great! 

Karl came over and you can see his guest here: Karl's Guest Post. AJ and Nic and Jamie R joined us and my coworker Tiffany surprised the group and brought a cake! She went above and beyond, and the night suddenly turned into a festivus for the rest of us (cake was really freaking good ). I was momentarily overwhelmed all that was going on but then I started drinking! The best part of making a home brew is enjoying it.

How happy does this guy look?

She even used the same colors in the icing as in the label! Tiffany = Awesomeness

This beer is my first beer and the recipe can be found here: K.M. Revenge Home Brew Recipe. Obviously, an enormous thank you and credit to David who helped me pick out the ingredients and together we cooked up the batch. I knew nothing about making beer and his guidance at every step was crucial to this beer's success.

Speaking of this beer, it turned out better than I expected. It's really drinkable. It's a golden pale ale with a hint of cloves at the end that provides the much needed Christmas spice. When we bottled the beer, the clove was overwhelming but it turned out quite nice. 'Infamous Jamie R' says that "she would buy this in a bar" and AJ and Nic agree. I'm simply happy having my beer not suck, let alone people actually saying nice things about it.

There's only a few bottles left and I'm going to have a hard time not drinking as soon as possible. I'm so happy it turned out well and to those who came over to celebrate with me (all except 1 are some of my oldest friends who I have known for 8+ years) thank you, it was a really great night with wings, cake and beer. As for a rating, I too would buy this in a store. King Moonracer is a hit! Next year I will develop the recipe and brew another batch. Get in line now ;) TRANSFORMERS rating

The Bruery, Provisions Series: Gunga Galunga is the Black Swan?

Got four lobster tails from the store today at lunch. Had a really productive, purge of a day. Got rid of a bunch of old shit from my desk, organized some things that I'd been putting off, had a couple productive meetings.
Came home and started making a lobster bisque. Took longer than I expected, but Sarah, Mark and Kevin were coming over to watch Black Swan so I felt a little rushed. Took some work, but it was delicious.
Black Swan was also amazing. Again.
Smell of this is really interesting. Almost like a cough syrup, but maybe that's some misplaced nostalgia for my cold remedies? In fairness, I think it's the lime and dark malt combo.
Tight carbonation and solid black, almost stout, flavor. The lime is very present. Since I don't know what galanga is, I have no idea what it would smell or taste like. I really like this.
Mila Kunis. Probably obvious coming off the Black Swan, and still being a little lovestruck. Dark, but with a twist of lime, like a dark and stormy. Only beer. Whoa, actually, you could replace the Ginger beer in a D&S with coffee and probably get something like this.
UPDATE: I looked up galanga and it's blue ginger! I got the dark and stormy totally right.

Gunga Galunga....Gunga, Galunga-Lagunga (The Bruery Provisions series)

Chalk up another reason why The Bruery is awesome; they named one of their Provisions series after a Bill Murray / Caddyshack quote. Unfortunately the internet Nazi's have disabled the audio for all the video clips of the scene so I can't post it but below is the quote. It is tummy-tickling hilarious that they actually named a beer after an improvised Tibetan phrase from a golf comedy.

Carl Spackler: "A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."

The Gunga Galunga beer is a black ale brewed with galanga (ginger), kaffir lime and fermented with brettanomyces, whatever that nanobot sounding material is.

I lost my Caddyshack box and this was in arm's reach, what can you do?

Strangely enough, it smells like icy hot. There are super dark malts with crazy fruit flavors and a little citrus thrown in for good measure. The Gunga and the Premiere have intense profiles. This beer is kiwi coffee on steroids. It's wild. I don't know who could drink this often but it's worth a shot if you're into fruity coffee beer. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Lips of Faith Vrienden a Allagash & New Belgium collaboration is what bees drink

So I'm loving the Family Guy Star Wars episodes. Also, beer. This brew is a collaboration between the almighty Allagash and New Belgium, which they released in their limited run Lips of Faith series. Vrienden is "Friends" in Flemish and apparently you welcome your friends with hibiscus and endive because that's what they made the beer with. 

It has 8.5% alcohol and tastes like I just licked a spring meadow. Obviously, there are strong floral notes that dominate the beer but the sweet malty Belgian base serves the flavor profile well. The first couple sips surprised me in a good way, but the more I drank the sugary floral notes became too much. Like bad accents, it's good in limited doses; so when you distract your friend by yelling in your worst East German accent, "There's Hans Gruber and he has the detonators!", I would only take a sip of your gullible friend's beer and not chug the whole thing. ARMAGEDDON rating.