Westvleteren 8 is uniquely dubbel

David is headed to Carlsbad tomorrow for the night so we're doing our first midnight beer in a long time. Beer 363. Wow. Never would've thunk that our last 12:01am/next day beer would be the sought after Westvleteren. The real irony can be found in Davids 'beer a day' calender, announcing today's beer as the Ballast Point Calico Amber. I not only dislike ambers, but this particular one is...blerg. The Westvleteren 8 is basically the highest rated Dubbel in the world, so it should be a billion times better than any amber. Phew

As this is our return to the Westvleteren series, here is the original post discussing the brewery's history: http://www.beereveryday.com/2011/05/lost-abbey-inferno-weclomes-karl-and.html

There is a frothy, thick head that introduces a crisp body that's cleaner than most dubbels. It's richer too, with a bready center that numbs the sweet caramels down. What's really interesting and unusual, is the 8 has a grainy characteristic, probably from the use of a flaked malt. Imagine walking up a museum's modern, polished marble steps and then seeing the Rosetta Stone. Later, you probably don't remember the marble walking into the museum, but you remember the Rosetta Stone, its face marked and scratched up. It has history and character. For me, the grainy quality of this dubbel and the subtle construction of malts make this a truly unique brew. It's something to behold, not quite meeting my lofty expectations, rather, surprising them instead. BAD BOYS rating.

La Trappe Dubbel is the delicious bookend to a Deer Valley weekend

I recently purchased a mountain bike but have never actually gone mountain biking, so I sign up for a group Sunday morning, lead by Mike from South Africa. No one else shows up so it turns into a private lesson and Mike takes me out to the parking lot to learn the basics but I pick it up pretty quickly and soon we're up in the mountains, bombing down trails. 

Beautiful right? Mountain biking was a blast and I only took a spill once. It was minor, but I now understand how dangerous this sport is. These trails and the mountain are completely unforgiving. You can't take your mind off what is coming up for a second. There is no scenery gazing in mountain biking. Except of course when you're completely stopped and on your own after the tour like below:

I definitely want to find some trials in LA, but I also feel the need to get some additional padding. Afterward, I meet up with the rents to devour a BBQ Bison Bacon Burger with parmesian fries. I'm including this detail and picture not only because it's a beautiful day and I couldn't resist, but look at that presentation! Kudos Deer Valley cooks.

After demolishing 2/3 lb of a bison, we rested up and watched Travis Pastrano drive his rally car into the finals despite having broken his ankle and foot Friday doing motorcycle stunts. After doing something really stupid, he pulled it together and almost did something really awesome, but unfortunately crashed on the last lap of the finals.

We went to dinner in Park City at this amazing Mexican fusion restaurant called Chimayo, which I didn't take pictures of (Duck Enchiladas, hmmmm) and won't bore you with, but I was surprised to find something else in the alley next to the restaurant:

A Banksy in Park City? This is way out of his normal territory. Park City is certainly not metropolitan, but it does host the Sundance Film Festival every winter. Banksy is subversive as hell and I love the idea here. His art can be both subtle like the above and overt like this:

 Or:

The above is actually the Prime Minister's house. Banksy essentially created a giant penis on a house that is guarded around the clock by CCTV, police and has a 24 hours armed response team. Wow. At the bottom of the page I'll post a Simpsons Intro Banksy did and one of his Star Wars street art - because why shouldn't I?


Back home in LA, I'm exhausted and looking forward to something smooth and easy. Good thing today is the first day of the trappist brewery La Trappe. La Trappe is the only one of seven trappist breweries not in Belgium and is found in the Netherlands. This will be the second trappist dubbel drunk on a recent Sunday evening and I hope it's as delicious as the first.

The trappist dubbels are so easy to drink. The hops are subdued and there's a smooth caramel and chocolate flavor with a hint of tartness and yeasty spice. The 7% alcohol is negligible and overall, very well balanced. TRANSFORMERS rating.



Here is the Banksy Simpsons intro. It's especially subversive.

Love this:

Lost Abbey Lost & Found is beer 350 but isn't the only big event of the night

Today is a milestone for our blog, but three particular noteworthy events happened tonight:

1. David and I enjoyed our 350th beer of the year
2. We hung out with our friend Cassie, who we haven't seen in at least 6 months
3. Someone was shot in our apartment complex

Whoa, whoa, what? Yeah...Let's start with the beer of the day.

The marked up calendar to the left will be our road map for the remaining 15 days. We've plotted out a few random brews, but for the most part we will be drinking 11 different trappist beers from 5 different breweries and some of the highest regarded beers in the world.

The Lost Abby Lost & Found was one of our favorite beers from our May San Diego trip. It is a Belgian Dubbel brewed with raisins and the label on the back serendipitously sums up why I, personally, started the blog - to give myself a renewed purpose and creative outlet - and in the process discovered a new community and passion for beer. On top of that, our friend Cassie is over sampling home brew and catching up on the last half year. It's getting all sorts of sentimental up in here, so let's drink to the Lost & Found.

Here is the label, which I'll type out below:

"A Life worth living is full of discovery and we are reminded everywhere there is opportunity. All it takes is desire to seek out and find those things, these moments and everything in between. We brewed Lost and Found Abbey Ale to pay homage to the great monastic breweries of Belgium. Like us, we hope you'll take the time to discover a beer that breathes aromas of figs, raisins and candied fruits. Please join us by raising your glass as we offer a toast to patience, perseverance, and all the things we have lost along the way and we somehow lucky enough to find once again."

The perfect beer to pour while reminiscing upon an incredible year with friends, right? This is an 8% dubbel. The raisins add a complexity to the dark fruit flavor not possible through using just grains and the result is a sublimely balanced beer between the dark fruit, sweetness and raisins. The carbonation creates a really crisp beer, nice Lost Abbey! This is a very unique beer and is something you should try. THE ROCK rating.

I could tell you I saved this beer for the 350th milestone months ago when it was purchased, or maybe that I planned this out on my chicken-scratch calendar pictured above a couple weeks ago, but then I'd be a big fat liar instead of a nerd and a gentleman

Truth is, this was all chance. I picked our beer tonight by looking into the refrigerator for a good 30 seconds and randomly selecting Lost Abbey. And fortuitously so, it was the perfect beer for the occasion. Like so many events this year, in particular the night before our halfway point, an experience that reminded me of our beereveryday mission in a unique way: Lips of Faith Erics Ale reunites me with old friends (the point I'm referring to is just under the beer picture).

My point is, you really don't know what's around the corner. We live in Marin del Rey, right on the water (as you can tell from many of our pictures). It's an extremely quiet community dominated by large complexes that are fairly disconnected from the energy of Venice. We also don't have any crime. Up until tonight I thought the Marina was Pleasantville. Right after we'd popped the bottle on the Lost Abbey, the three of us heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots (4-5 of them). The problem was, we couldn't tell you where they were coming from because everything echoes off the water. We go back to drinking, a little disturbed but unable to really do anything. Then we heard sirens.

I'm not gonna go into too much detail, but basically our complex sits above an open carport style garage and there's about 20 yards of asphalt in between the building and the sailboats for parking, specifically for boat owners. The woman was shot right by the car port on the other side of the complex, maybe 80 yards away. After the police and paramedics arrived, I went out on my balcony and if I peered through palm branches, could see her from the edge of my deck.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Woman-Shot-in-Robbery-Attempt-in-Marina-Del-Rey-126007118.html

Thankfully and luckily, she survived. What's really shocking about the experience, is how it happened. She gave the robber her purse and then was shot in the back while walking away. She did everything right and still got f**ked. Yikes. They still haven't caught the guy. Looking back I wish that I would've run out to the balcony and tried to glimpse the attempted murderer, but we had no idea where it was. There were people above us on the third floor who were asking us what was happening, and they had a better view of the street.

It's scary stuff and she was very fortunate the robber had horrendous aim and was only shot once. As you can see in the news photo, there were multiple bullet casings near the body. We the ambulance leave for the hospital and peering through its window, she didn't look good. Pretty soon we bid Cassie adieu, locked our doors sliding glass doors to the balcony and turned in.

Milestone 350: You never know what's around the corner, and if you lose something, maybe what you'll find will be something even greater.


That reminds me of...

“But that’s life. One minute you’re on top of the world, the next minute some secretary’s running you over with a lawn mower.”

                                                Season 3, Episode 3: “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency” 

St. Frueillien Brune Abbey Ale is a watered down dubbel

Our second offering from the St. Frueillien in a row and it's a Belgian abbey ale that clocks in at 7.3%.

Different beer, same picture

The dubbel tastes fruity and has a mild sweetness. It's very easy to drink, which I don't usually consider a compliment with dubbels. It's really another way to say they're pretty watered down. This one isn't complex but it goes down easier than milk. This is nothing to write home about. ARMAGEDDON rating.

New Clairvoux Ovila Dubbel collaboration with Sierra Nevada is monastery friendly

David picked this up from Whole Foods and as soon as I heard the abbey's name, I knew I'd heard it somewhere. It soon clicked that I'd read an article months ago in the LA Times that was heart and liver warming.

"In partnership with monks at an abbey north of Chico, a brewery will release an ale that pays tribute to the Trappist beers of Europe. Proceeds will help reconstruct a monastery from stones left by William Randolph Hearst."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/29/local/la-me-monks-beer-20101130

I can drink and support local architecture? Sold. Where do I sign?

Kleenex's have been my best friend for the past four days. That, beer and ice cream, which together complete what's nown as "Gods Medicine"

If you like history, read the article as the monastery stones have a long and twisted road to their California resting place.


The dubbel isn't as sweet or as full bodied as a Trappist Dubbel. The flavor profile includes soft caramels and it's closer to a brown ale. It's crisp and pours a beautiful color. It's very drinkable but for $11, the price isn't worth it. I sure wish it was cheaper, I'd drink more. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Abita Abbey Ale doesn't ring my bell

I'm arriving home from a dinner at the Alibi Room (the Kogi Food Truck restaurant) where I had dinner with bowling team partner Betsy and then ran into Heather G, who is always a pleasure. The first test of the 10 beers a week rule came tonight, and I passed with flying colors. Thank goodness this was a dinner and not 'drinks,' because 3 glasses of water can only get me so far. HA

For each Abbey Ale bought, 25 cents actually goes to St. Josephs Abbey. Classy move Abita!

Even in the beer, I'm surrounded by church bells ringing

Abita is well known in the south, especially for their Turbo Dog and Purple Haze wheat beer. They have a variety of beers and even make a root beer, but this their only Belgian Style entry. It's a dubbel that clocks in at8% alcohol. It has a fruity smell, caramel body that's lighter than most belgians and is slightly sweet. The light body I feel, lacks a full flavor profile, but its still a decent scrumpet. It's no Belgian Dubbel and won't make you want to ring the abbey bells, but you won't be entirely disappointed. ARMAGEDDON rating.

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.