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.

Cismontane Double Rainbow IPA all the way across the sky...It's almost a triple rainbow. What does it mean?

At the Surly Goat for some beer drinking and Foosball playing, and I'm having a beer that Tiffany has proclaimed delicious. Clocking in at 8.7%, it's an Imperial IPA from Rancho Margarita California, the Double Rainbow.

There is a really unique hop aroma and flavor. It's a very rich floral and citrus profile, like grapefruit. Apparently the use Citra hops, which are very hard to get your hands on if you're a home brewer (to my knowledge). I'm jealous. The result is a smooth and creamy IPA. I highly recommend you try it if you find it, it's a fascinating IPA. Onto a Improv Comedy show with Glen in Hollywood and then The Woods for a birthday party.

Bootlegger Brewery's Knuckle Sandwich should win an Oscar

I've been waiting for this day to arrive for quite some time...No, not the Oscars you half-witted scruffy-looking nerf herder. To use my over-sized novelty champagne flute, duh.

 

That flute is 2.5 feet tall, it's freaking ridiculous, I love it. I'm hosting an Oscar party tonight and everyone is dressing up as if they are attending the event itself. I picked up the Knuckle Sandwich at Bootlegger's yesterday and I'm beside myself with excitement.

 

The brew is Bootleggers' most celebrated beer, but they only make it in limited quantities. Um, why would you do that to us? What are we, ants? It needs to be three times that! Well Derek Zoolander, what's interesting about this fellow is it's made from their leftover hops. So whatever hops are leftover after they brew all their other beers they save up until they have enough for the Knuckle Sandwich. Being a Double IPA means it requires LOTS of hops. Translation for all this - they make this in small batches and not very often. But guess what? They just released a batch this week. Being at the brewery yesterday for Nick and AJ's birthday was fortuitous.

David welcomes our guests at the door

It's a phenomenal beer. For being 10.5% alcohol and a Double IPA, this beer is as smooth and balanced as a Formula 1 Racer. It has a sweet malt mouthful followed by rounded citrus and piney hops. It's a Mike Tyson Knockout. BAD BOYS rating.

Seriously Bale, stop stealing my look or I will find you and lock you out of the Oscars...again

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So I drank out of my Scepter/Shrek's Champagne Flute all night. It was kinda awesome. Although I didn't win the Oscar pool (damn you Rucker!) the party was a fantastic success and I (at least) had an amazing time. In order to capture the party and its beautiful guests, everyone posed for a picture using it as a prop. The results are glorious. Check out the fanfare below:

The Hosts. We also doubled as Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin's stand-ins last year

Don't throw Nic a fastball

Jessica is the Belle of the Ball. Oscar Queen anyone?

Settle down Brad, your jeans are getting acid washed

The glass gets in the way every time Melissa. Mother Rucker!

Kym teaches a course on drinking daintily out of absurd glasses. Her secret? Channeling Dame Helen Mirren

Watch out for AJ, this kitty's got claws

That glass isn't your teddy bear Tierney.

Heyyy! Is Tiffany holding the glass or is the glass holding her?

Ellen knows where the good shit is

Tamara drinks like a boss

What is she doing? Hey Rachel Lohan, don't steal my crystal glassware.

Glen was an extra in MILK three years ago and he's hasn't broken character since. Suck it Colin Firth.

Jerren's a glass half-full kind of guy, but this is pushing it

Russian River Rejection makes it all better

I'm stoked - not only is it Friday, as in Surly Goat Friday, but also because exotic Russian River brews are still on tap! Matt, Ri, Tiff, Glen, Rachel and Ross (they were great on Friends) came out for some pints, Foosball and tomfoolery. My Russian River selection is the Rejection, a limited release which they distribute around Valentines Day and to their credit, they have successfully personified the dark side of that holiday.

On your leg

The style is a dark Belgian ale. The flavor profile is dark, roasted malts with a little chocolate and a very nutty taste that's bitter, like really dark chocolate (think 85% + Cacao). If anything, rejection is bitter...Very clever River Russians. This is only 6.1% though, and you'd think they'd make a 'rejection' beer one that would put you on your ass. Like a forget me now from Arrested Development. Where were you when I need you GOB! This isn't a fantastic beer, but it's certainly noteworthy for a seasonal. TRANSFORMERS rating.

I had an imperial red for my follow up beer, the Coronado Red Devil (10%), and it was fantastic, I'm really looking forward to featuring this beer on the website sometime soon.

Drake's Hop Salad distracts me from Foosball but not from awesome handshakes

It's Friday, and I know what time it is...Unhappy Rammed Sheep night! No but seriously, Tiffany actually found out tonight the origin for the bar's name. It came about  because the owners had a failed graphic t-shirt venture and had a large quantity of left over t-shirts available with 'Surly Goat.' So they named their bar after it. I feel like that would be like naming my first born child after my unpublished spec screenplay, the Untitled Dennis Dugan Comedy Project. I still believe they could use my help writing the Grown Ups sequel.

We have a huge group here with Tiffany, Matt, Maryelle and Glen, who brought several more excellent friends. We're having a fairly outrageously good time here and these wonderful peeps are inspiring me to break into Eddie Murphy's golden hit featuring Rick James:

After smelling and tasting this salad o' hops, it's safe to presume they named this beer because it's like a mixed fruit salad, but with hops. There's a complexity of hops here that results in a VERY intense pine aroma and taste. And apparently the Drake's brewers eat their mixed fruit salad with grain vodka, because this IPA clocks in a startling 9% alcohol.

The reviews online are overwhelmingly positive for this brew but I'm not a huge fan, it's not well balanced and is a little intense for me. ARMAGEDDON rating.


Of course I played Foosball tonight with Tiff, Maryelle and Glen. Maryelle and I created a handshake that's almost but not quite as cool as this one. Something to aspire too...

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.