Wasatch Superior Ale is round number two at the brewpub

Oregon just won the Rose Bowl but round number two arrives as the beginning the one game I want to see the most this bowl season, Stanford vs. OSU.

The Wasatch Superior Ale is similar in mouthfeel but not in spice/spirit as the Christmas Ale.  The aroma is fairly hoppy and the body is balanced with a big body. Like this game, this beer is right on the edge for me. It's very drinkable, but there's nothing noteworthy.  I love watching Andrew Luck play and now live in San Francisco, but OSU should be in the Championship game and they have a great team...however, they are UT's enemies.... Maybe I'll just focus on what beer I should order third and hope for a great game to entertain me while drinking. ARMAGEDDON rating

Wasatch The Devastator isn't the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man of Destroyers

The beer label has a charging ram with with flames racing behind it, burning up what looks like a European chapel and a domed government building. I thought the Ram would devastate some sheep, not downtown Munich. But hey, when in Utah...(insert Mormon joke here)

After helping Eunich the Forlorn Elk with a sip, I pour the rest out for myself. We're vacationing in Deer Valley, Utah and I spent the day skiing and the afternoon has been spent watching the highly anticipated Broncos vs. Chiefs, with Kyle Orton Vs. Tebow, a game with with soap opera-isq drama. Orton was on the Broncos earlier this year until he was fired and replaced by the love him/hate him Tim Tebow. Now it's a showdown. 

Sitting beside a roaring fireplace with a bag of chips and cold beer is doing my aching body good. This game has been everything but Devestating, so I'm hoping this double bock will double the excitement. Come on Fireball Ram! 

Upon closer inspection, it actually appears that the ram has terrible gas and there were no survivors. 

This 8% doppelbock is a Shiner Bock with a ferocious bite. It has a big malt body with a bit of nut and toffee. Although it's relatively smooth until the end, it finishes with a tongue slap. There's an unusual sweetness to it that dissipates with the bite. For a bock, this is pretty intense, the wasatch brew pub brewers don't talk a cheap game. Unlike Tebow, the brewers decided to bring it. This intense brew would pair well with red meat or game, especially with elk beside a roaring fire. Ron Burgondy would do it. ARMAGEDDON rating. 

Saint Arnold Stout and Sailing Santa are not inspiring a miracle on 34th street

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for a chubby mouse, because I was out delivering gifts to family friends, who then graciously invited me in to drink their beer and eat their cheese. Warm houses and friends and round bellies, that is the Christmas spirit. The Hamels, who I'll be skiing with next week and whose wedding I went to last year (the reference below on the napkin), offered me a brew I had seen on local shelves but had not acquired.

The Saint Arnold brewery is for the moment, the only local Houston brewery, and we visited it around this time last year (St. Arnold Brewery Tour). From what I can gather the Stout is one of their newer additions and a departure from their typically German style of brewing. It's billed as a seasonal 'Winter Stout' and clocks in at 5.6% alcohol. There is subtle roast aroma and the body is light, giving credence to debunking the myth that all dark beers are heavy. Only Guinness tastes heavy people, and it still has fewer calories than Bud Light (give or take). This Stout has flavors of coffee and a hint of chocolate, but otherwise this is more of a beer to consume rather than enjoy because it lacks a robust character. If I'm out at a bar this week and it's on tap, I'll enjoy ordering it, but don't go out of your way. ARMAGEDDON rating.

This is the first entry I will have posted since drinking a beer every day for 400 days. Since I'm no longer drinking on the straight and narrow, I can drink on the far and wide, which makes for a poor saying but a truthful fortune; i.e., drinking multiples of large beers in one day will make me F-A-T like Jolly Saint Nick.

Speaking of, leave it to me to only just now decorate the Christmas tree with my personal ornaments the night before Christmas. Fortunately, I have found just the man to help me get far and wide tonight.

Sailing, surfing, Santa does it all. Saint Arnold is also attempting some dexterity with their Sailing Santa, which is a blend of their fantastic Elissa IPA and their delightful Christmas Ale. What rating will the Sailing Santa receive for Christmas?

Well, Santa likes to party with a heartwarming 7%. The IPA really shows through with grapefruit and citrus flavors following a subdued hoppy bitterness. This combines with an unfortunately light spice from the Christmas ale. I'm not feeling the greatness of an inspired blend here. What made the Elissa IPA so fantastic was the clean, razor like bitterness of the hops. And the spice in the Christmas Ale, like Rudolph's Red nose, was the star of the show. Here, St. Arnold has combined the two only to mute the best characteristics of each.

Like the stout, Sailing Santa is a fine drinking beer, but why drink a dull combination when you can drink a smaller bottle of each, right? Maybe use a straw and can mix them together in your mouth? That doesn't make sense but neither does a surfing Santa. Board shorts in the Arctic? Come on! Where's his dry suit? ARMAGEDDON rating and Merry Christmas to all. 

Black Diamond Rampage Imperial IPA competes for Top Dog

With the final day of class behind us today and Thanksgiving this week, the school is throwing a potluck thanksgiving feast. I brought chips, 5 layer dip and a little RAMPAGE!!!

It'll actually be the Elephant from Black Diamond Rampaging, fueled by a maddening amount of hops, rather than me, unless you count my addiction to the bourbon pecan pie a rampage. If I have seconds, you might.

At 9%, it's a big beer that comes with a crazy label. The mouthfeel has flavors of vanilla and caramel with a tinge of citrus, all of which mix together as well as well as boys and girls at an 8th grade dance. Everyone looks good by itself but nobody is dancing. And coincidently, like any potluck this brew is a mixed bag and uneven. The demented rhino is a fun label, but it comes off as a novelty. Especially since it has red devil eyes. You know who else has devil eyes? Zombies. If there are Elephant Zombies around, then you know it's the ARMAGEDDON...rating.

Great Divide Belgian Style Yeti is this family's black sheep

Last night at Beechwood, I actually had the original Great Divide Yeti after the Golden Monkey, which as always, was soul touching. I picked up this golden labeled gem at Whole Foods.

From a homebrewer's perspective, what's interesting about the Yeti is that the clone recipe uses White Labs 001, a very neutrel and hop friendly strain ubiquitously utilized by Stone. Most Stout and Imperial Stouts use a more malt friendly yeast such as an Irish or London. So the introduction of a sweet and possibly fruity (or spicy) Belgian Yeast will noticeably alter the Yeti's standard flavor.

I hold the Yeti and Oak Aged Yeti in the highest regard, how will this Belgian style yeast turn out?

Will the serendipitous showing of ARMAGEDDON define this beer's rating?

The Belgian yeast forcibly changes the very rich and distinctive Yeti roast. It brings a sweetness and light apple flavor that for me, doesn't mix well. This isn't doing it for me, the yeast not only adds a peculiar flavor to a dark stout, but it also detracts from the Yeti's inherent malty goodness. ARMAGEDDON rating. For the record, David finishes his pour and the rest of mine, so he doesn't mind the odd mix so much. To each his own. However, I'm sticking with the original gangster Yeti. Ho fo sho

Fortunately, David is making his famous and incredibly delicious Clam Chowder this afternoon, so I'm washing out the bad marriage with some good cream, bacon, and several glasses of The Bruery's Black Orchard, poured from a growler that was filled last weekend. Party on Wayne.

Victory Golden Monkey isn't worth its weight in gold

David, Lindsey and I are ending a whirlwind of house warming and birthday parties with some pints of malty goodness at Beachwood on Washington, which boasts a new menu by Roy Choi, the chef behind the Kogi trucks. Unfortunately I'm too full with cake and mac & cheese (did somebody just call me a fat kid?) to try the new stuff, but I still have room in my beer compartment for a tripel from Pennsylvania brewery Victory.

The yeasty aroma drowns out any other smells pretty well. The body is sweet but still pretty yeasty. I'm not picking up the complexity - spice, fruit, etc - that I was hoping for. The flavors are pretty restrained. I like the idea of magical golden monkeys and I'm enjoying drinking this at 11:45pm, but it's not particularly grabbing my attention. ARMAGEDDON rating.

For an outro, I'm adding an unnecessarily long (30 secs) of Beechwood's calming blue fire to ease your afternoon. Shalom. Hakuna Matata

Wild Blue Blueberry Lager turns me into Violet Beauregarde

Three things strike me as unusual here; an 8% lager, a fruit lager (rather than being an ale) and a crown royal pillow case. I'm more surprised that I haven't featured a prized possession in my entire beer blogging year. Shame on you Walker. Shame. I'm also surprised with the choice of lagering a fruit beer and I'm tired of wondering what the result will be...

It's a lager, so I poured this into a pint glass but I can't smell anything. Online the website recommends a tulip glass, which would probably be the first lager poured into a tulip glass. This beer is crazy. The alcohol is surprisingly well masked. The berry flavor is sweet and tasty cold and as it warms, the flavor actually sticks with the body of the beer. In many fruit ales, as the beer warms the fruit flavor noticeably separates from the body of the beer - the result of using fruit syrup rather than real fruit - and it turns a decent beer into something considerably less so. I'm really enjoying this bizarre but tasty blueberry style. I'm a little bummed I chose to savor this tonight rather than on a summer afternoon, but you can't win'm all. Besides;

Despite this being made by Anheuser-Busch, I enjoyed it. Sue me. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Firestone Honey Blonde sweetens the deal

I'm crossing out another item off my Los Angeles bucket list by eating at Hara Sushi, but since there's a line (always a line now), I'm over at Bar Food to kill some time with a pint. I used to go to Hara when it had a plastic banner for a sign that said "SUSHI" and it still had a B rating. They lured us in there with a nearly all afternoon and night happy hour and we stayed for the cheap but also delicious sushi. My favorite is the gratuitous baked lobster roll:

Drake's Drakonic Imperial Stout punishes me with alcohol

I picked up supplies for my 3rd partial mash homebrew today, an Oatmeal Stout, including a good look'n 7 gallon brew kettle. Hubba hubba. The 7 gallon kettle hopefully ensures that I will not have another fiasco like my Sea Salt Caramel brew day (link).

I'm getting into the Stout spirit with an 8.75% Imperial Stout from Drake's Brewing, one of my favorite breweries. They make great reds and IPA's, but what about the dark stuff that gives you strength?

There is a rich roast aroma but damn can I can taste that alcohol from my tongue's first papillae. Wow, I should be having a steak and a bogarting a cigar with this brew, not eating a salad while watching today's Ellen (I'm kidding, it's a Rachel Ray rerun).

Either I'm getting used to the alcohol or it settles down a bit, most likely the former. I'm really enjoying the malt profile, but I'm desiring an ever bolder roast and chocolate flavor to match the draconian alcohol. This a decent stout, but not Drake's finest entry. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Anderson Valley Poleeko Pale Ale doesn't bring the Cheers out

This will be beer number 368 for those of you notching your bedposts at home, three past the beer every day finale. David and I have split ways at the end of the year. He wants to take a month off and I want to keep going till I hit a nice round number. Saturday and Sunday, I had partners in crime to share my beers with, but today I'm drinking alone. This doesn't present a moral problem, but after coordinating every beer drunk each day for the past year, it's really weird drinking completely solo. Part of this year's glorious experience was bonding with someone over beer, but now I've gone rogue.  I'm without a side kick from here on out and the unfamiliar reality is sinking in.

Doubling the weirdness is a mug from the CHEERS bar which David brought home, and it's sitting on the counter all alone. It's an fitting symbol of the change that happened after beer 365. Wah waaa. So it goes, the drinking most go on!

I've stockpiled single beers from six packs over the last month, readying for this drinking-alone-time. This and the other upcoming Anderson Valley ales were pilfered during a recent bachelor party trip to Tahoe. The Poleeko Pale Ale tastes like a pale ale from the NW might taste like, very malty with citrus elements from the hops. This is a quintessential West Coast Pale Ale, but as it warms, a weird off taste develops which I'm not digging. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Stone Collaboration Japanese Green Tea IPA warms the heart

I have about 45 minutes before I run to the airport and fly to Utah to meet the 'rents for a weekend getaway in Park City. David is at the X-Games and so I'm on my own for the beer, giving me the opportunity to pull something I've EAGERLY anticipated having, a very unique collaboration between Stone and two Japanese breweries, Ishii and Baird. Check out the video here

I love the craft brewing community for many reasons, but I especially love collaborations. This collaboration is particularly special, as Stone wanted to reach out to Japanese breweries to make a beer that relays the Japanese people are not alone and that people are thinking about them. This beer's proceeds will go to the Tsunami and Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund. It's dry hopped with Green Tea and the alcohol is the same magnitude as the earthquake, 9.2%, to correlate with the tremor. The whole situation is heartwarming is creating an uncomfortable amount of empathy within me. I already heard some really amazing news about my future today, which I will reveal a week from today on our one year beer-versary, and all this 'helping people' crap is really getting to me. Come on Walker! I need to find a telephone booth stat!

Besides the humanity, I'm just excited to try interesting beers and this is right for my wheelhouse.

There is a complex earthiness from tea, much more than I would think from dry hopping. As mentioned in the video above, the IPA-ness is a departure from your typical American IPA and it's more herbal than citrusy. While the herbal hop flavor is different than what I expect from a Stone beer, the body has the trademark of a Stone IPA. Overall, the bitterness is complex but also a quite astringent. This is a hop lovers brew for sure. I'm eating leftover spicy chicken mole and the bitterness is pairing well with the spice. I really appreciate this beer, even if I don't rank it as an All-Star. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Lagunitas Lucky 13 Altbier really hops to it

At Steingarten LA for a work drinks and my coworker Tiffany is here as well. She's starting her new foodie blog, http://eatyourheartoutla.com/. Check it out!

I saw on Steingarten's website that they hosted the Lagunitas brewery last night and so I'm pretty stoked to take advantage of their leftovers, which should be plentiful.

I really want the malty W.T.F., but that was a beer of the day earlier this summer. Nerds! So I pick out a style I've only tasted a few times, an Altbier, Lucky 13 ALT. I'm expecting nothing but hoppiness with a Lagunitas.

This 8.9% alcohol doesn't fit the altbier style conditions in the slightest, but I'm not complaining, especially since the alcohol is well hidden. Damn Lagunitas, I expected it to be hoppy but why you gots to make it SO HOPPY? I feel like a T-Shirt Cannon launched a wad of hops at my face while I was looking the other way - SMACK. Hidden past the overwhelming bitterness is a malt, sweet with caramel and light brown sugar. As the carbonation flattens, the piney bitterness becomes less pronounced and the brew becomes rather crisp and refreshing. Like those PSA's, "It Gets Better." This has more in common with a hoppy American Strong Ale than an Altbier, but it turned out pretty nice. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Great Divide Yeti Chocolate Oak Aged Imperial Stout with Cayenne kicks me in the pants

Our third Yeti of the week is considerably different than the first two. Despite having cocoa nibs added to this oak aged imperial stout, the other two we tried were considerably more chocolaty. The major difference, is what isn't on the front of the label, but rather the fine print in the back. Cayenne Pepper was added. Chocolate and spice? I dunno Scooby Doo, looks like a bad idea...

The Cayenne pepper really kicks me in the pants at the end of every sip. The cocoa nibs add a more finished chocolate flavor, but the chocolate flavor overall is more muted, which makes me frown. The cayenne is too much really, I think if they would've used chipotle instead, the flavor wouldn't stick and I wouldn't have an issue. Overall, I don't find this beer in the same league as the original Yeti and the oak aged, they strayed too far from the original here. It's an interesting beer, but not my favorite. ARMAGEDDON rating. 

Bruery Run B.M.C. at the Eat Real craft beer festival

With LA supposedly in Carmageddon deadlock, I'm biking down to Culver City for the Eat Real festival. They have two beer gardens pouring all you can drink beers from Stone, Ballast Point, Hanger 24, Firestone, Eagle Rock and Bruery. They will also have a ton of food trucks, live music, and cooking demos. Ain't having no car gonna stop me from having a good time.

Sarah and I bike down and no one is there when we arrive at noon, but by 2pm the place is packed and getting rowdy. David is fortuitously going down to The Bruery with Karl today and I grab my beer of the day early, The Bruery's brand new Imperial Pilsner, Run B.M.C.

Beer in a mason jar! I'm good to go

The tenth one-time release from their Provisions line of beers, the Run B.M.C. is a 7% Imperial Pilsner and one of the few lagers the Bruery has made. It has also been quadruple hopped and cold fermented, which is really unusual for the style. This is the 3rd Imperial Pilsner tasted this year and my 9th Provisions beer ( 9 out of 10). The first two Imperial Pils resulted in very mixed feelings about this unconventional style, and I believe that if someone can make a deliciously unconventional beer, it would be the Bruery.

Run B.M.C. is an incredibly summery beer, with lots of citrus and pineapple flavors thanks to the hops and it's very sweet - probably too sweet. There is a hop bite towards the end but overall the hops are there to add to the flavor profile. I think it's great drinking it under the sun at a festival, but I'm not sure I'll purchase a bottle during my next Bruery run. Imperial Pilsners are odd creatures; lagering creates clean and crisp beers, and it's hard to create a beer with body enough to handle high alcohol and flavor. This was a noble effort though. 

Sarah gets her art walk on

Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale prepares for Carmageddon!!!

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife because CARMAGEDDON IS UPON US!

Stupid names like the above are apparently what happens after the city closes down the busiest section of freeway in America for an entire weekend to replace a bridge. Other cities be warned. However much I hate that name, it's surprisingly catchy and it's far easier to say than the 405 is being closed down and everyone is losing their minds.

I'm anticipating either an insane amount of traffic or nothing at all to happen. Regardless, I'm using the opportunity to replace my broken beach cruiser with a mountain bike that will tear up the streets and trails. My first test drive will be a 14 mile round trip ride tomorrow. I'm stoked!

Today's beer is brought to you by the good people of Rogue and it's the final beer in our 7 day septathlon of Rogue Brewery beers. That's a ton of their signature Pac-Man yeast! This entry is part of Rogue's signature line and Chef Morimoto - award winning chef, Iron Chef and all around badass - helped design it. It's made with Soba, which I thought was a type of noodle. Carmageddon may end Los Angeles, but on the bright side I'm still an idiot. Phew. This is Soba -

Soba (also known as buckwheat) is not a type of wheat but a member of the rhubarb family and has been a longtime staple of Japanese cuisine because of its nutritional value.

They say it isn't a wheat, but it certainly pours hazy like one. How will rhubarb's confused cousin taste?

Morimoto Soba has a very clean profile with a unique and subtle sweetness from the Soba but is otherwise a very simple beer. It's a beer that one might expect from Japan - interesting and professional. Quite polite as well. ARMAGEDDON rating

Rogue Mom's Hefeweizen suggests mothers enjoy spice

One Christmas I received a holiday card from my parents, seen below. I got a good laugh out of it but thought it was weird because our family has never sent out cards. I failed to bring it up with them and the weeks went by.

I finally remembered it and asked them about it. Turns out, they didn't send out the card. My parents and their friends play pranks on each other, and their friends took a picture from a party years ago, got their friend's addresses and sent them out. This makes the card even more hilarious. Gotta love my mom's outfit in this.


This Rogue Hefeweizen is 30 IBU, pretty high for the style and made with ginger and coriander.

Because Rogue made this with their Pac Man yeast, this beer is more similar to an American Wheat than a Hefeweizen, a yeast style that produces banana, cloves and biscuit flavors.

Mom's Hefe is medium bodied and very drinkable, despite being heavily spiced. They tried to mimic the hefeweizen yeast by adding their own spices and they're fairly successful. It's very drinkable but I don't see myself purchasing another bottle sometime soon. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Mikkeller Simcoe single hop IPA isn't what I hop'd it to be

David is away in Austria and Florida all week (filming the Space Shuttle's last launch! He will have seen the last two shuttle launches EVER. Lucky bastard), but I'm not that jealous because it's Mikkeller time.

I would classify Mikkeller - from what I know - as a brewer's brewer. Mikkeller is Danish and is a 'gypsy' brewer, brewing and collaborating all over the world. The beer world loves him. I picked up five of his beers, which are only available in 11 ounce bottles for around $5 and they would be hard to split with David so I'm taking advantage of his absence to squeeze them in before the year ends.

I'm especially excited because two of the five are single hop IPA's, which will be a cool experiment. Beers almost always combine multiple hops to create complexity, but Mikkeller created a line of IPA's to highlight the contributions of several hops. Sam Adam did a single IPA box of beers and I heard they were not so tasty. I bet this is different.

I chose the Simcoe IPA to drink first because I have a nostalgic connection to the hop. The first IPA I made, a Double Belgian IPA called Double Dutch Rudder, was made with Simcoe and it has a very unique hop bite to it. I am of the understanding that Simcoe is a 'super hop,' and so the hop complexity owed itself primarily to Simcoe and not the two other hops I used as well.

Well after tasting this single hop, I am quite wrong. The IPA isn't as bitter as I hoped it to be and the body is surprisingly clean and malty. Simcoe, I'm learning, is a far more subtle and earthy hop than I supposed it to be. I like this IPA because it is refreshing and I learned a great deal from it. That being said, I'm not going to rate it highly because it is, after all, a single hop beer and it's not something I'd recommend everyone spending their money on unless they're a homebrewer. ARMAGEDDON rating

Stone Imperial Russian Stout Belgo Anise licorces me up

This brew is part of Stone's “Odd Beers for Odd Years" program, where during n odd numbered years they release new variations on Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine and Stone Imperial Russian Stout in place of the classic version. The Belgo Old Guardian Barleywine was interesting but very overwhelming.

The regular Russian Imperial Stout is one of my favorite stouts and I'm interested to taste what the anise will do. Anise, which is used in absinthe and black licorice, will probably add a unique fingerprint and make this either an incredible beer or a really bizarre beer. I wonder what it'll be...

We're dog sitting the incredible Kamari, who I had to include in the picture. The best dog ever.

The licorice is there from the start and adds a nice flavor and does make this a unique stout. That being said, as I continue drinking it becomes harder for me to finish the glass. The anise wore on me and overwhelmed my palate and drinking became a chore.

I really enjoy Stone making this series of beers and I love the idea of making proven recipes using odd ingredients. It's bold and creative. However, these Belgo beers are experiments that I won't be drinking again. They created a monster of a beer and it's just too much. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Goose Island Honkers kills time in Chicago O'Hare after a big Chicago parade

Final day in Chicago! It's been a hell of a weekend and we're wrapping up the weekend with a big event.  Gay Parade in Boystown is Andrea, Sarah and Whitney's favorite event of the year and they're promising, besides the appearance of Rham Emanuel and the first governor of Illinois to not be indictated, a 2 hours slew of wild and crazy people and floats. Sounds like a party and have the fater-aids and Goose Island 312 to prove it.

Yep

This one reminds me of David for some reason.

Afterward, the crush of people exiting the parade makes it impossible to find transportation home and we end up running drunk over most of Chicago hustling to find a taxi to a blue line. Only to discover upon reaching the airport, that my flight was delayed for 4 hours. Yup, very anti-climatic. So I made use of the airport Goose Island pub and treated myself to a 3 course meal with three different beers, including Goose Island's Honkers English Bitter.

It's crisp and dry with a citrus hop bite and the body has a toasted flavor that subdues any sweetness. The sip finishes with a bready, biscuit finish. It's an interesting pub beer but relatively unbalanced. ARMAGEDDON rating.


Even after a 2 hour meal and making friends with two couples around me, I'm still two hours away from my flight so I grab my bag and head to the boarding area. I ask a teenager to kick me when it's time to board and I pass out on my bag, full and content. A man to his word, he wakes me up two hours later and feeling like a champion. Thanks Chicago for a sweet time and see you soon!

Goose Island Green Line Pale Ale ends a lakeshore Chicago Saturday

It's perfect weather today and we head to a pool party at the top of a 44 story apartment building, which I can't believe they have here. LA has nothing that size and it has amazing panoramas. I kill a Green Flash Le Freak Belgian IPA and help Sarah get rid of some Honey Wild Turkey, which is dangerously delicious.

Drinking out of cups, being a bitch

After a couple hours we go down to the beachy lakeshore (the peninsula pictured below) and layout beside the famous Castaways bar to meet up with friends, including Andrea who is bringing Floridians who are arriving fresh off the train.

After a late lunch in Old Town relax for a little bit and then head to the Crocodile Bar, which was an entertaining experience. The five of us owned the back bar and danced away the night while soft core porn bizarrely played on a TV behind us. Andrea's Florida friends were so prim and proper at lunch today, looking like they just left a country club, but apparently any knowledge of charm school goes out the window after a couple vodka sodas because those ladies are dancing like maniacs. Very entertaining. It was just one of those nights. To accompany my bourbon and ginger ale, I found another Chicago based Goose Island to try, the Green Line Pale Ale.

Like Eddie Murphay sings, "party all the time, party all the tiiiime"

Apparently I'm learning all the train lines that run through Chicago from Goose Island, because the only train I know in Chicago is the Blue Line that runs from O'Hare. I wonder if they have a Blue Line style yet. The Pale Ale pours with heavy carbonation and has a malty golden body with a hint of hops that provide for a pleasant bite. The beer's body is a little on the light side, and reminds me of a really great Budweiser, if that's possible. It's a fun, easy going drinkable beer that I'm happy to down. ARMAGEDDON rating.