Straffe Hendrik Quadruple pre-parties Daman's 21st birthday

Because we're gearing up for a big night, David brings out one of the big dogs, albeit in a small bottle. Straffe Hendrick makes a fantastic Tripel, and the Quadruple below is his stronger and darker brother.

Balcony beeeer

I wasn't initially impressed with this fellow probably until I realized my expectations were exceptionally high, ruined by one of the worlds greatest and another quadruple, Rochefort 10 (Rochefort 10 is Transcendent). I came in expecting a certain complexity and richness, and it simply wasn't there. It is however, a sublimely subtle and sweet quadruple that despite its 10% alcohol, isn't full bodied or tastes alcoholic. It's smooth and surprisingly easy to drink. It's a very well crafted beer and deserves THE ROCK rating.

So tonight, David's intern Daman is turning 21, and their company decided to reward their hardest working unpaid intern with a party bus and a night on the town for 24 friends. Today we picked up enough handles of liquor to satiate 24 twenty-one year olds, which was enough to require us each three trips to unload from the car. I was expecting a pretty ridiculous night and the evening didn't let me down.

I'm 28 and I haven't partied with 21 year olds since I was in college. Anyone want to guess how much liquor them kids drank? We picked the birthday boy up at 10pm and he already had 11 notches on his forearm, one for every shot he'd taken. By 11:30 it was up to 17. Daman is apparently a cross between Frank the Tank and The Little Engine That Could because in a feat of superhuman strength, he didn't get sick and lasted the entire night.

So besides the overeager 21 year olds, a coworker's wife brought members of her rotary club to the bar (a business club). One guy was described to me over the phone as a Diamond Dealer with a Napolean complex and he was hell bent on buying the entire group group shots. There was a silver haired man who introduced himself to me with a 5 step handshake that I thought only a 16 year old stoner could design. They were stoked to be there and it was glorious. The whole experience was wild and surreal. There's this really weird mix of people my parents age doing shots with people my age who were mixing it up with kids who were born in the 90's and didn't grow up watching Saved By The Bell reruns. Such a trip. David and I ended up going to bed at dawn, which as I type this Monday, was probably several hours later than I should have. David's hilarious facebook status at 5:30am Sunday morning was, "Computer Blue." Shutdown

Well, go big or go home. Or go big and then go home, and keep going big. I think that's what the kids are saying these days... 

Victory 12 Liquid Luxury belongs in the Robb Report

Headed over to Glen and Ross's apartment for some Tuesday night movie action, and I picked out an impressive beer for an equally impressive film - BAD BOYS 2**. What else did you expect?

Represent

This golden god is a quadruple - 12% alcohol - and it's deliciously simple. The other Belgian Quadruples I've tasted have been dark and complex, but this brew is the step-child of this style - golden, sweet, tangy and spicy. This beast is simple and the alcohol well balanced.

BAD BOYS 2 is a bigger, badder and wilder version of the first Bad Boys (don't even try to play logic police with a Michael Bay film - your head will spontaneously combust), but in comparison to the typical quadruple, I'm loving the Liquid Luxury's departure from the dark belgian style. It's hard to manage this quantity of alcohol and Victory does it apropo of the title, Liquid Luxury. This isn't quite a Bad Boys but it's certainly welcome at THE ROCK.

**trivia fact, BAD BOYS 2 is the only Michael Bay film not used in my rating system. How could that possibly happen?! Bad Boys 1 is already the highest rating a beer can receive...SO is Bad Boys 2 just above or just below the first film? Academics far more qualified than I have debated this with as much zest as Obama's Birthing and there's never been a firm resolution. Unlike Donald Trump, I don't want to draw attention to myself or the website and away from the beer by making such a bold claim as to rate the sequel superior to the original. It's just not in my constitution.

Russian River Mortification dissolves my sobriety but not my foosball skills

Friday night at Surly Goat is in full swing with Matt and Ri but sanz Tiffany. I started out with a Red Velvet Ale from Eagle Rock on the happy hour menu and it's really, really good. I can't wait to have it as my beer of the day.

While waiting for others to arrive, I rope two guys in, Charlie and Cameron, to play foosball 1 vs. 2. Turns out Charlie played football at Rice for a year and we talked about Houston for a while. I also discovered that both these guys can destroy the $4 well drinks the Goat offers. If they had four hands, they'd have four drinks. Party on

Love the sign, but the Mortification sure as hell ain't Pabst

Matt and Ri arrive and we set up a seminar at the Foosball table. We set up a clinic and rage for, maybe close to two hours while 80's hair music jams continuously. It's a blur. Halfway through I go for my beer of the day and pick a Russian River because a couple days ago they had the breweries up for a pouring/tasting. I spy the Mortification on tap, a dank 10.5% cuadruple. This is my third or fourth cuadruple in as many weeks (I didn't even know they existed a month ago), and I jump to have it.

The Mortification is a great name for a cuadruple. There's a strong malt chocolate taste mixed with dark fruits. It's not very complex and the alcohol is very apparent, but it's good. I love rich foods - dark chocolate, sinfully chocolate cake - and so I love these dank ass cuadruples. They're bold and rich and help me forget my scruples, darn cuadruples. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Ri and Matt ordered Baby Blues BBQ for dinner and I got some cornbread, which was exactly what the doctor ordered after the 10.5%. I introduced Matt to Pliny the Elder and his mind exploded. Another convert! Notch up another great success at the Surly Goat.

The Bruery Cuadruple made with Dark Agave Syrup is fit for a king

After diving into some apocalyptic french toast at 26 Beach for breakfast, the parents and I spent the morning along the Santa Monica pier and promenade and visited the farmers market. We tasted a couple types of honey, which was really interesting, and ended up buying a 1lb of sage honey for our next Belgian IPA home brew.  Also, check out this bizzaro Romanesco Cauliflower that we came across:

When I ran down the list of activities to do in the afternoon, I included brewery tasting as one of the events and my parents loved the idea which I didn't expect. To quote my inspirational father, "I can't drink all day any more but I can drink half the day." Hahaha, those are the words of a champion! Now I know where I got my lust for beer from. So I DD'd my parents down to The Bruery in Placentia. We arrived half an hour after they opened and at 4:30pm, we were already late to the party as the place was packed.

Cuadruple rocked my socks off

Here we are and I am stoked to be here for numerous reasons, but particularily because I know The Bruery Provisions store released their latest limited run specialty beer the Cuadruple last night. The Cuadruple is a Belgian Quadruple, a type of high gravity and high alcoholic dark malty ale whose family includes Rochefort 10, St. Bernardus Abt. 12 and the Allagash Four - all of which I've never tasted. So the Cuadruple marks my first taste of this beer style. What makes this tasting even more unique for me, is that they substituted candi sugar for Dark Agave Syrup.

The Cuadruple clocks in at an intense 10% alcohol but the dark ale is exceptionally mellow and extremely delicious thanks to the agave, which also imparts a neat mild citrus flavor. I LOVE THIS. It's incredibly unique and smooth. If Borat was here, he'd say "Niiiiiiiiice!!!" If Wile Coyote was here, drinking this would inspire him to stop chasing the Road Runner and ponder what life would be like without ACME anvils crushing his face. The Cuadruple s is what the Most Interesting Man in the world drinks when he's not having Dos Equis.

It is profoundly distinctive and difficult to describe. The Dark Agave Syrup imports a very special and rich caramel flavor that must be tasted. It's cool like a wet cloth to a hot forehead. I'm buying a bottle for David and sufficed to say, I to purchased another to store under my bed for a rainy day or a more so a special occasion, like the second coming of Christ. This is really a phenomenal beer. Obviously, this deserves a BAD BOYS rating.

And the parents had a blast!

My Dad liked all the beers but his favorite was the Rugbrod. My mom's pick was the Orchard White, which is made with lavender. We leave The Bruery after some Ahi Tuna Chips and head to Bootleggers. My favorite quote along the way was my dad saying, "Somebody should drive us home and it shouldn't be me." HA.

Dad likes Rye ales, so I hook him up with a half pint of the Rustic Rye IPA and my mom with the Old World Hefeweizen. I was surprised to find that Bootleggers added around 7 new beers styles since we were here a couple weeks ago. I bought a Hopinator Hefe growler for the Super Bowl tomorrow and the Gingered Ale looks promising.

On the way home Dad regales me with stories of his younger days, which I thoroughly enjoy and hope to hear more of. Later, David joined us for dinner at Rustic Canyon where I had the best pork chop of my life. Now that's how I want to spend a day with my parents!