Monday, April 10, 2006
Weekend Roundup
The weekend began Friday night with Big Daddy Cal's birthday bash at David Copperfield's. In attendance were a few friends from college. We got all nostalgic and started talking about those days and the people we hadn't seen in years. I pulled out a list of phone numbers from my wallet and we called a few people, and actually got in touch with someone we hadn't seen in at least 5 years.
For his birthday I gave Big Daddy Cal a bottle of Remy Martin cognac and a bottle of Stone Arrogant Bastard. When my birthday rolls around at the end of July, I hope I get lots of free booze as well.
So it was a good time but what would a visit to David Copperfield's be without lots of beer?
116) Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA - By now I've had tons of IPAs, and while this was enjoyable, it doesn't really stand out amongst the pack. All the basic elements of a good, drinkable IPA are there but at this point I am just looking for something more distinctive.
I don't remember what everyone else ordered but the table shared an appetizer sampler and I got a southwest chicken sandwich, which was awesome as usual. Next up on the beer front was:
117) Carlow OHaras Irish Red - Reminded me of a Killians or Smithwicks. My guess is this is the recommendation for Killians or Smithwicks drinkers when they come in.
118) Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber - A beer in the "steam style". Sometimes this is called the "California Common" style. The gold standard of this style is none other than Anchor Steam and this really didn't come close, not that there are many available steam beers anyways.
At this point I realized there were only a handful of taps that I haven't had yet, so I thought about getting into the bottle list but they were out of the Stone Ruination IPA. Still in the mood for a bigger beer and tired of playing around, I ordered:
119) Rogue Imperial India Pale Ale (I2PA) - This is the one that started it all. Though others have since taken the imperial/double IPA style to new heights, this is the original. In 1996, at the Oregon Brewer's Festival, Rogue showed up with this new creation. Only in the last 5 years or so has this style become very prevalent. This is probably my favorite style of beer with the Great Divide Hercules being the best one I've tried thus far. The color is darker than a regular IPA because there is a greater amount of malt need to balance out the hops. Beers of this style easily top 100 IBUs, but if there is enough malt you won't notice the bitterness as much. You also dont notice the alcohol, which is usually in the 8-10% range, so be careful when you drink one of these. The alcohol really sneaks up on you. Very intense stuff.
Over the weekend itself I had 2 bottles from my fridge.
120) Bink Bloesem - From the beer of the month club. Very nice Belgian ale. Distinct pear flavors and aromas.
121) Chimay Bleue (Blue) - Had this bottle waiting for the right time to be opened and I guess Sunday was the right time. One of the best things I have ever had. Right from the get-go I was in love with this. I sniffed it and there was just this amazing floral character to the aroma. It was like a really great perfume. Just incredible. Nice lingering aftertaste. Loaded with complexity.
121 beers down leaving 244 to go. I am about 1/3 of the way to my goal. I got out of the gate very fast, so I anticipate the next 1/3 to be slightly tougher. As I run out of tap choices I see myself getting into the bottled lists over the next few months, and also making runs to the good beer stores. Check back again soon.
For his birthday I gave Big Daddy Cal a bottle of Remy Martin cognac and a bottle of Stone Arrogant Bastard. When my birthday rolls around at the end of July, I hope I get lots of free booze as well.
So it was a good time but what would a visit to David Copperfield's be without lots of beer?
116) Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA - By now I've had tons of IPAs, and while this was enjoyable, it doesn't really stand out amongst the pack. All the basic elements of a good, drinkable IPA are there but at this point I am just looking for something more distinctive.
I don't remember what everyone else ordered but the table shared an appetizer sampler and I got a southwest chicken sandwich, which was awesome as usual. Next up on the beer front was:
117) Carlow OHaras Irish Red - Reminded me of a Killians or Smithwicks. My guess is this is the recommendation for Killians or Smithwicks drinkers when they come in.
118) Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber - A beer in the "steam style". Sometimes this is called the "California Common" style. The gold standard of this style is none other than Anchor Steam and this really didn't come close, not that there are many available steam beers anyways.
At this point I realized there were only a handful of taps that I haven't had yet, so I thought about getting into the bottle list but they were out of the Stone Ruination IPA. Still in the mood for a bigger beer and tired of playing around, I ordered:
119) Rogue Imperial India Pale Ale (I2PA) - This is the one that started it all. Though others have since taken the imperial/double IPA style to new heights, this is the original. In 1996, at the Oregon Brewer's Festival, Rogue showed up with this new creation. Only in the last 5 years or so has this style become very prevalent. This is probably my favorite style of beer with the Great Divide Hercules being the best one I've tried thus far. The color is darker than a regular IPA because there is a greater amount of malt need to balance out the hops. Beers of this style easily top 100 IBUs, but if there is enough malt you won't notice the bitterness as much. You also dont notice the alcohol, which is usually in the 8-10% range, so be careful when you drink one of these. The alcohol really sneaks up on you. Very intense stuff.
Over the weekend itself I had 2 bottles from my fridge.
120) Bink Bloesem - From the beer of the month club. Very nice Belgian ale. Distinct pear flavors and aromas.
121) Chimay Bleue (Blue) - Had this bottle waiting for the right time to be opened and I guess Sunday was the right time. One of the best things I have ever had. Right from the get-go I was in love with this. I sniffed it and there was just this amazing floral character to the aroma. It was like a really great perfume. Just incredible. Nice lingering aftertaste. Loaded with complexity.
121 beers down leaving 244 to go. I am about 1/3 of the way to my goal. I got out of the gate very fast, so I anticipate the next 1/3 to be slightly tougher. As I run out of tap choices I see myself getting into the bottled lists over the next few months, and also making runs to the good beer stores. Check back again soon.
# posted by Nick @ 12:24 PM 
