365 Days of Beer

I know... I know...

2008-12-16T20:01:00.001-05:00

I never did post my top 10 beers of 2006.

My bad.

I'll get it up here soon but in the meantime, check out my new blog: http://awfulmets.blogspot.com

Top 10 Worst of 2006

2007-02-21T08:53:00.000-05:00

As requested, here is my WORST of 2006...

But first to update you on my 2007 beer activities... I have tried a whopping 11 new beers.

There is someone following in my footsteps in 2007, and you can follow his progress here: http://beer-retard.livejournal.com/

So head over and wish him luck!

Without further ado...

I present...

THE WORST OF 2006!!!

Now as a little disclaimer, I'm not necessarily going by the rankings. Some low rated beer might have been what I was in the mood for at the time, while something that was highly regarded could have tasted boring to me.

10) #307 - Left Hand Deep Cover Brown Ale - I wanted to find one beer to put on this list that was kind of an afterthought. This one passed me like a stranger on the street - you see the person coming towards you but once they're gone you can't remember a thing about them. This was the beer, of all the middle of the road ones I tried in 2006, that I couldn't pick out of a lineup if my life depended on it.

9) #254 - Odell Levity Amber Ale - Another bland one that I could hardly remember drinking. This one I noted as being the type of microbrew that is boring enough to send a macro drinker running back to his case of Bud.

8) #281 - Nikšićko Pivo - Nearly undrinkable pils from Montenegro. I remember this one being way out of balance and all over the place.

7) #29 - Molson Canadian Light - This one is wayyyyy down there on the quality scale and makes no secret of the fact... like a fat, drunk, impotent, unemployed dude at an eligible bachelor's convention.

6) #151 - Heineken Premium Light Lager - This is a beer inspired by marketing. There is no denying this fact. There is nothing "premium" about it. That is simply the label the marketing gurus came up with as a way to promote their new product. HORRENDOUS!!

5) #222 - Asahi Gubinama - The worst 5 begins with this... what tastes to me like a beer flavored soda. This is, believe it or not, brewed using soybeans and sugar, so you can imagine how nasty it is.

4) #150 - B.B. King's Blues Brew - Looks like I had back to back awful beers with this monstrosity coming just before the Heineken Marketing Light. Ugh... this tastes like BB King's sweat was added into the brewing process. Funky tasting and it was served nearly warm. I had gone back to this venue and tried another beer and it was also served at the same temperature. Someone needs to talk to management about that.

With the last 3 worst, I will just paste the original reviews, since they best capture the horror in immediate, graphic detail.

3) #228 - Sapporo Namashibori - The last beer I had in Japan I drank really quickly, and forgot to get a photo. I think this is another happoshu, and it takes like they soaked popcorn in water for 6 hours in the sun, cooled it, carbonated it, and canned it for all the world to drink.

2) #58 - Zhiguly Beer Grand 9.5 - Being half-Lithuanian (and half-Japanese - who could ever guess that combination?) I felt a responsibility to try this beer. I've only had 1 other Lithuanian beer in my life. The first sign of trouble is right there on the upper right-hand corner where it says "99¢." I picked it up with no intention of buying it until I saw it was from Lithuania. What a disgusting concoction. Sadly I picked up a bottle for my mom but I will have to warn her about the caustic metallic finish that accompanies this brew. Yuck!

And finally....

The hands-down...

Absolute...

WORST BEER...

OF 2006...

UNDOUBTEDLY...

DEFINITIVELY...

INDISPUTABLY....

1) #105 - Miyagi Memorial Date Rape Oktoberfest - What trash.

Thanks for the swill, Kuvs!

JUST KIDDING KAVAL!

Here is the real WORST of 2006:

1) #46 - Becks Light - Easily the most horrendous brew I have ever had the displeasure of tasting. Bottle touts that it is only 64 calories. Alcohol is only 3.8%. This should practically be a "non-alcoholic" beer. Pours a see-through, clear-as-day, 7th inning stretch, off-white piss color. Fizzy Sprite-like head that dissipates almost instantly. Faint day-old bread aroma. Carbonation and fizz swarms the palate with no discernable flavors to follow. Nasty, face-contorting finish packed with hints of regret, stupidity, and a desire to vomit after tasting this abomination. Bloated, gassy feeling followed by loud belching seals the deal.

See you soon with the Top 10 BEST of 2006...

Welcome to 2007!

2007-02-01T17:05:00.000-05:00

Well... Here I am back with another post.

First question on a lot of people's minds is... "are you going to do it again?"

No way.

In fact, this year to date I have only tried 7 new beers and it is February 1.

I just wanted to make a quick post, and let everyone know I will soon be posting the much anticipated Best and Worst of 2006.

Check back soon!

Mission Accomplished!

2006-12-29T20:29:00.000-05:00

The quest is over... Mission Accomplished...

I have had 365 beers this year... none of which I have previously tasted before.

As I sit here sipping beer #365, I realize that what I've done is nothing great... its just something that took a lot of patience and discipline to accomplish.

Anyway, that was it... my 365 Days of Beer. Have a Happy One...

365) Westvleteren Abt 12 - So this is the legendary Westy 12... The top rated beer in the world, and one of the rarest. I'm sipping this one slowly, to fully enjoy it. Right off the bat I will say I don't think its the best beer I've ever had. That honor still belongs to the Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. But, its damn complex. Pours a dark brown/ruby color with a tan head that lasts a long time. Aroma is complex... apples... raisins... plums.... chocolate... carmelized sugar... etc. Flavor is very complex too... spices... all of the above flavors... and the finish just lasts forever. Mouthfeel is incredibly smooth, almost like drinking melted butter or cream. A fine way to end the night, and the 365 Days of Beer.

Just one away...

2006-12-28T20:17:00.000-05:00

I don't know what else to start with other than saying right now I am having beer #364 and I realize I am just 1 frickin' beer away from having had 365 beers I have never previously tried this year.

By the way I am still having trouble shaking this cough. It's really annoying, because I'm going to San Francisco in less than 4 days.

Here are the latest two:

363) Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter - FRICKIN AWESOME! I love this style... Maybe its my half-Baltic (Lithuanian) roots. But I love big beers that have a huge, smoky, chocolately, rich, not sweet profile. This has that and is going to be my go-to Baltic Porter now that Heavyweight is closed and I can't get the Hammer. There is apparently a Swedish Baltic Porter that has surpassed my intended 365th beer as the top rated in the world. I will have to investigate.

364) Rochefort Trappistes 10 - This is dark and full of flavor. Distinct plum aroma. Lots of dark fruits in the flavor with the complexity of a fine wine. Oh man I just had the last sip and that last bottle is tempting me...

364 down.... 1 TO GO!!!!

Back in Business

2006-12-26T12:15:00.000-05:00

So my illness has past and I am back on the beer bandwagon. Or off the wagon, depending on how you want to look at it.

Also, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

360) Goose Island Bourbon County Stout - I may have mentioned that imperial stouts are my favorite style, and this was one of the best I have had. This was aged in bourbon barrels and as such, absorbs all kinds of woodsy and smoky characteristics. Really enjoyable nightcap with none of the annoying sweetness of other recent dark beers I have had recently, such as those eisbocks.

361) Whole Foods Lamar St. Pale Ale - Actually contract brewed by the above Goose Island, this is a decent American Pale Ale that was nice and hoppy.

362) Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale - I've added a permanent link to Stone Brewing on the left. They can do no wrong. The oaked version of Arrogant Bastard was just as awesome as the regular one. If you love an in your face strong ale, this is the one for you.

So only 3 more left to reach 365. I am looking at having #365 on New Year's Eve, so between now and then, I have 5 days to have the other 2. Its only a matter of time now!

Under the Weather...

2006-12-21T08:24:00.000-05:00

Woke up under the weather today... but I had one yesterday at Nevada Smith's while watching football...

359) Veltins Pilsener - Previously I thought I had finished off every beer in this bar, but I think this is a recent addition. This is a German pilsner. Bit of a thin body with a metallic taste. Bitter finish. Nothing great...

6 more to go! Hopefully I will feel better enough tonight to add another to the list!

7 to Go!

2006-12-18T19:33:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my latest post!

We start with...

353) St Peters Golden Ale - This is of a similar style to the English ale I had recently but its not as good as that one. Hops were not as prominent.

354) St Peters Old Style Porter - Pretty average porter overall. Well made but nothing stands out.

355) Rochefort Trappistes 8 - Dark brown color with a huge head. Sugary aroma. Mouthfeel seemed dominated by carbonation. Complex, fruity flavors dominate. Long finish.

356) Capitol City Pale Rider Ale - A nice American style pale ale... but I didn't get a pic of the beer only. Very agressive with the hops but that was right up my alley.

357) St Peters Cream Stout - Very chocolately and sweet. I rather enjoyed this and it was the best of the St Peters beers I've had recently.

358) Sea Dog Riverdriver Hazelnut Porter - Decent but not as good as the Rogue hazelnut porter. But any porter with hazelnut in it is a winner in my book, as its usually a pretty boring style.

358 down and only 7 to go!!!

Early AM Hangover

2006-12-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

You'll see later why this post is titled "Early AM Hangover" but let me begin by recapping some other beers.

I've now purchased enough new brew to reach my goal. All the bottles are numbered and lined up in the fridge ready to be opened.

348) Faxe Premium - A crisp Danish lager served in a 1000 ml can... however, only the first few sips were good and after that this beer kind of fell on its face. Lots of pale lagers are more enjoyable than this premium and it was kind of tough to finish this huge can.

349) Faxe Amber - Not good either... Another weak offering from this brewery. Very thin and dry... the flavors do not last at all.

350) Hollandia - Pretty good lager. Having it out of the can saves it from getting skunky. Nice alternative to a Heineken.

351) St Peters English Ale - The bottle looks nice, but it lets in way too much sunlight. Initially this has a skunky aroma. The flavors are pretty decent though... Good hop bite and nice malts.

352) Dogfish Head Raison D Extra - An "extreme" beer at around 18.5% alcohol. Maybe i'm becoming a wimp but this was too much. Too sweet and too much alcohol. It gave me a headache in the morning.

352 down and just 13 to go. It won't be long now!

The Final Stretch

2006-12-07T12:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last update, and if you've think I've somehow given up or fallen off the pace you are sadly mistaken.

I am in this for the long haul and I can see the finish line on the horizon.

Let's recap the latest beers I've had...

341) Michelob Bavarian Style Wheat - I gotta hand it to AB here... they did a good job on this and should put this product out there more. Its a well made German hefeweizen, with all the flavors and aromas you are looking for. I think the low ratings it has been getting on RateBeer.com are more because of where it comes from than anything else. But AB did a good job on this.

342) Mahrs Bräu Festtags Weisse - I had this right after the Michelob... as you can see, the pour is much darker on this one. Has a little more body to it. This one came from the Beer of the Month club and was pretty decent.

343) Sand Creek Wild Ride IPA - Another one from the club, which I think I am going to leave for financial reasons more than anything else. Anyways, this was a pretty good IPA. I liked the hop bitterness in this one. Excellent complexity brought out on the finish.

344) Jopen 4 Granen Bokbier - Also from the club... This is a dunkler bock and the first one I've had. Excuse the cruddy photo... I decided to test my camera phone. The pour is a dark brown/red. Huge foamy head as you can see. Flavor is mainly nutty/smoky.

345) Schneider Aventinus - One of the more highly touted weizen bock's out there. Huge head that seemingly lasts forever. I liked the Victory Moonglow a lot better though for some reason. Still this is very powerful and intense to drink.

346) Grand Teton Bitch Creek ESB - This is a top-rated ESB but I don't think I got a good bottle. Everything just seemed kind of flat. I have 2 others saved so I will give it another go.

347) Delirium Noël - Had this one last night at the Ginger Man. Has a light brown/red color to it. Lots of caramel flavors with some spice notes. 10% alc. by volume. A good winter brew.

347 down leaving just 18 to go. I'm 6 days ahead of pace if I want to finish by the end of the year. With the last beer I also have completed 95% of the goal. Stay tuned as I come down the final stretch for the year.

Thanksgiving aftermath

2006-11-27T17:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't have any beer with my Thanksgiving dinner, but there was some beer to be had anyways over the long weekend. Check out my Flickr gallery on the left if you want to see pics of the food we ate. One of the best Thanksgiving dinners my mom has ever cooked.

Onto the beer...

336) Kulmbacher Eisbock - If you recall in the last update I had my first eisbock and wasn't really crazy about it. This was a much better one. More complex flavor and the balance was better. Much more structure to it than the other one.

337) Michelob Pale Ale - Now things get a little hairy. Whilst shopping with my mom in BJs, we came across a Michelob sampler pack. We bought it mainly for my dad, who will drink anything, but I took the ones I haven't had before to add them to the list. Of all the AB macros, I think Michelob is the best one. This is an English style pale ale, and while its drinkable, its the least interesting one I've ever had. I know the brewers at AB are knowledgable and talented but they should take more risks.

338) Michelob Porter - Not bad at all... This one has a pretty smoky taste to it. This and the Amber Bock by Michelob are the best ones, so maybe they do the darker beers pretty well.

339) Michelob Marzen - Didn't really taste like a marzen. I think it had more in common with a Killians than anything else. Again, the AB execs seem to have a problem with variation. Apparently anything that seems too different is deemed unacceptable for the market.

340) Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale - Way too syrupy sweet for my taste. 2005 bottling, 14.9% alc. I don't really seem to have a liking for this kind of thing lately.

With only 25 beers to go, future updates will be done countdown style. As of today, there are 34 days left in the year, so I've got a nice lead. Though I am looking to maybe finish this quest a little before Christmas.

See you next time.

Happy Turkey Day!

2006-11-22T19:09:00.000-05:00

Alright so its not quite Thanksgiving yet, but let me start by saying Happy Turkey Day! Its one of my favorite holidays even though I won't be drinking beer tomorrow. Turkey day is always reserved for wine and I can't wait to eat my mom's delicious cooking and my neighbor's decadent desserts.

As for the wine... hmm.. I have a great bottle I've been wanting to open for a while. Stay tuned for a post Thanksgiving food update!

Anyways, onto the beer quest.

331) Stoudts Double IPA - Haven't had a double IPA for a while. Even though this was only an average version, I still enjoyed it greatly. However, I don't think this one had as many IBUs as other double IPAs I have had.

332) Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar - Rogue does it again! First thing I did was email my friends about this one. This was totally awesome! The best brown ale in the world, hands down. Has a subtle nuttiness to it that no other beer has. I will have this one anytime anywhere.

333) De Dolle Dulle Teve 10º (Mad Bitch) - A highly rated abbey ale from Belgium. I thought it was too sweet and the carbonation was overpowering.

334) Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock - This is the first eisbock I've had. Basically its a doppelbock that has been frozen, then the ice (water) has been removed thus concentrating the flavors and increasing the alcohol. I thought it was a bit much. Again, this was my first venture into the world of eisbocks... therefore, I can't really say much. I have another eisbock waiting in the wings, and it is rated higher than this one, so I will speak more about the style after having that.

335) Hair of the Dog Fred - I am actually having this as I write this. I left all the sediment in the bottle. This is listed as a barley wine on rate beer, but it is very hoppy, more like a double IPA. Batch #63 by the way.

Well I only have 30 to go, with 335 in the bag. I need to buy about 15 bottles of stuff I have never had to have enough of a supply to reach my goal. Not sure how many I'll have Thanksgiving weekend, but I'll be back again soon with another update! Enjoy the holiday!

35 to go!

2006-11-17T14:42:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest beers I have had...

327) Heavyweight Biere d´Art - A Biere de Garde from the now defunct Heavyweight Brewing Company. Only the 2nd of this style I have had, the other one being Gavroche. I think I like the Gavroche better. This is brewed with French malt and German hops, so in the aroma, you definitely can smell the hops coming through. Interesting contrast... and the bottle displays a nice piece of artwork as well.

328) Rogue Brutal Bitter - Another beer that combines unique malt and hop profiles. The malt here used is English malt, while the hops come from Oregon. A little more aromatic than the usual bitter. Perfectly done.

329) Allagash Musette - Labeled as a scotch ale, aged 3 months in oak bourbon barrels, this actually was fermented with a Belgian yeast strain. Thus, it takes on more of a Belgian quality, which is Allagash's specialty.

330) Westmalle Dubbel - If you recall, I had the Tripel earlier this year. I enjoyed this much more. This was malty and sweet and I really found myself nearly chewing the beer as I drank it, to bring out more of the flavors. Excellent stuff...

I had another one last night, but didn't upload the pic yet... so expect that in the next update.

330 down and only 35 to go!

A few awesome additions

2006-11-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

It's been a very up and down week for me in my life. I've been all over the place emotionally and acting crazy, like a total moron in some cases, and saying things I don't mean to all kinds of people, and walking around in a daze. The lows have been very low but the highs have been very high. I know you're all wondering what the hell I am talking about but I promise I will reveal this by the end of the year and all will be understood.

Times like this call for good beer!

322) Stoudts Triple - Lots of flavors of pears in this one. Pretty sweet and full bodied. A good version of an abbey style ale.

323) Michigan Brewing High Seas India Pale Ale - A very good IPA. I haven't had one in a while... I noticed lately I've had lots of Belgian style ales and ambers. I needed to get punched in the face with some hops and this did the trick. From the Beer of the Month Club. I hope I don't miss out on the next shipment, because I nearly maxed out that credit card they use. If they are reading, please call me! And... maybe I should apply to be the member of the month. If I tell them about the 365 beer quest and how they have been helping me, I should be able to win, especially considering there hasn't seemed to be a winner lately, no?

324) Dogfish Head Golden Shower - First off, one of the most disgusting names for a beer... ever. This is an imperial pilsner. Now, I love everything DH does... but this was maybe a little much for me. I associated a lighter body and crisp refreshment with pilsners, but the additional alcohol in this one made it feel heavy to me. Don't get me wrong... it was good, and the flavors complex, but I don't need a 9% alc. pilsner.

325) Westvleteren Blond - From one of the most sought after breweries in the world comes this gem of a Belgian ale. As my good friend and home brewer Kaval puts it, the best beers are those brewed in small batches. I forget how much I paid to have this shipped to me, and I apologize for violating the monk's wishes regarding the sale of their beer, but I needed to try it. Most Belgian ales are known for having a fuller body but this was light as a feather yet maintained all the depth of flavor you want to see. Just spectacular...

326) Unibroue 15 - A Belgian style strong ale made by our friends up north in Chambly, Canada. Of all the beers in this post, this is my favorite. The aroma was like a great chardonnay and the flavor was likewise. Tastes like apples. I found myself almost chewing the beer in my teeth instead of just drinking it down, because it was very delicious. Tres bien!!

That's where I stand now... I have tried 326 new beers this year and need only 39 more to reach my goal. Part of me honestly thought I might quit at some point during the year, but at this point there is no turning back and no doubting that I will reach my goal. After a year of great ups and downs in my life I at least have this goal to look forward to accomplishing. See you next time...

4 more to add

2006-11-06T15:46:00.000-05:00

Here are the beers I had over the weekend. I've got a nice 11 day buffer once again.

318) Rogue Saint Rogue Red - We start out with a couple of amber ales. This one I didn't enjoy as much as the next one.

319) Rogue Sea Otter Amber Ale - This I think was probably the best amber ale I have had to date. Just delicious stuff, malty and good hoppy aromas.

320) J.W. Lees Harvest Ale - This was a 1998 bottle. Thick, syrupy barley wine. It has aged so there is not much hop aroma or flavor left. Tastes just like maple syrup.

321) Heavyweight Saison de la Soeur Spicy - From the now defunct Heavyweight Brewing Co. This is a saison from their series of different style saisons, this one having a bit of a spiciness to it.

I stand now at 321 beers down and only 44 to go for my goal.

Less than 50 to go!

2006-11-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

Here are the latest beers I've had this week. I had some days where I had more than 1, so my buffer is back up there a little.

311) Julius Echter Hefe-Weiss (Premium) - This is a very good German hefeweizen. Lots of banana aromas are prevalent.

312) Slaapmutske Tripel (Triple Nightcap) - From the Beer of the Month club. Awesome looking foamy head, as you can see below. Pretty average for the style.

313) Schneider Weisse Edel-Weisse - This was frickin spectacular. Banana and citrus aromas and lots of peppery spice on the nose. Get a bottle if you can.

314) t IJ Columbus - Another bottle I got in Whole Foods recently. This is a Belgian style strong ale, but from the Netherlands. Unfortunately, its not very exciting and was probably the worst I have had of this style so far.

315) Chimay White - I had this bottle for a while, maybe I held it too long? It seemed like it had generated some acidity.. but my palate could have also been messed up. It got better as I drank it, but its my least favorite of the Chimay beers.

Last night I went with Big Daddy Cal to see Alice in Chains, which was awesome.

But before that I stopped at Collins Bar to have a quick one.

316) Rogue Hop Heaven - Didn't get a pic, but this was pretty good. Collins Bar is smelling kinda rank lately, by the way. Anyways, this was a nice IPA that is hard to come by.

After that, I got hungry so I went around the corner to the House of Brews for a quick bite and another beer.

317) "Green Valley Brewing" Stone Mill Pale Ale - Don't be fooled. Green Valley Brewing is actually Anheuser-Busch. This is their entry into the microbrew market, which I think is just a big scam of theirs to try and give craft brewing a bad name. This beer sucks and they know this beer sucks. As I said months ago, I believe what they are doing is trying to get the curious beer drinker to drink this flavorless shit in the hopes they will be turned off by craft brewing and go back to the ol' reliable macro crap. Another thing about this... Look at the name. "Stone Mill". What if you tell someone... "hey, you gotta try something by Stone brewing, everything they make is awesome." Then they see this and think its by Stone and are forever put off by it, never to enjoy the Arrogant Bastard or IPA. FUCK YOU AB and your city of St. Louis. You deserve each other.

Rot in hell.

So that's where I'm at... 317 down and 48 to go. Tonight I have a bomber in the fridge but as usual.. no details before the next post!

Latest Beers

2006-10-30T17:40:00.001-05:00

Again, not being in much of mood to blog anymore than the bare minimum, here is a rundown of the latest beers I've tried.

307) Left Hand Deep Cover Brown Ale - From the Beer of the Month club. Not a good brown ale. Kind of thin and wimpy body.

308) Rogue Shark Tooth Ale - This is otherwise known as the Rogue Oregon Golden Ale. I found this to be hoppy and fabulous. Crisp and refreshing, I will go back to this one in the summer.

309) De Koninck - Weaker than most Belgian ales, I didn't really like this. Lacks the depth of flavor and complexity of its peers.

310) Hair of the Dog Adam - A traditional ale brewed in a style originating in Dortmunder, Germany. This was rich and malty, with many coffee like flavors.

310 down and only 55 to go. Coming up next is another Belgian, a couple abbey tripels, and a couple of hefeweizens. Stay tuned.

Brewtopia!

2006-10-25T11:29:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend this year's Brewtopia, held at the Javits Center.

Though the prices were higher this year, the event space was much bigger and more spread out. The tasting session was very relaxed and never once did I even bump into another person accidentally.

Some of the downsides were some of the advertised breweries did not show up, and the food was terrible, though that is the fault of the Javits center.

This year the guidebook was really well done, and the tasting glasses were plastic, so you didn't have to walk on any broken glass.

Here's a rundown of the beers I was able to sample... Of course, none of these will count toward my goal of the 365 for the year, but I will put them on my overall list.

These are in no particular order.

* Rodenbach Grand Cru - A Flemish sour, which is not a style I really like yet.
* Southampton Saison - A very good version of the style. Southampton rarely disappoints.
* Southampton Pumpkin Ale - Pretty much the best pumpkin ale. Ever. Think liquid pumpkin pie.
* Victory Moonglow Weizenbock - An old favorite, I had to have a sip of this.
* North Coast Brother Thelonious - Good version of a Belgian ale. I need to try more from this brewery... I'm looking in your direction Sammy.
* Lagunitas India Pale Ale - The main reason I'm not counting these is because at a certain point in the tasting, my taste buds just got overwhelmed and died.
* Olde Burnside Ten Penny Ale - A scottish ale. Good but not my favorite style.
* Lagunitas Sirius Ale - A hoppy cream ale, definitely something I want to try again.
* Smuttynose Old Brown Dog - Another older one I wanted to try again.
* Great Lakes Holy Moses White Ale - Tried this one on the way out.. will have to look for it again.
* Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel - A dark wheat beer. I prefer the classic style.
* Brooklyn Oktoberfest - Haven't had this all autumn, so I needed to get down.
* Paper City Blonde Hop Monster- This was all out of whack. Wayyy too hoppy and no malt backbone to balance it out.
* Avery Karma Ale - A Belgian ale. I think this was the very last beer I tried, and by then... I couldn't tell anything apart.
* Jacobsen Saaz Blonde - A Belgian ale brewed by Carlsberg, but not yet available in the states.
* Ithaca Finger Lakes Apricot Wheat - I think I had this at last year's festival too. Decent fruit beer. I think apricot is one of the better fruits to use in beer.

Man... I can't remember any of the others I had and the list is not with me at the moment. I'll update again if I forgot any.

If you missed Brewtopia, definitely get down with it next year.

Now, here are the latest 5 beers that count toward my goal:

301) Victory Whirlwind Witbier - Victory can do no wrong. This is a good witbier with orange flavors and some spice. Speaking of Victory, they are bringing some good stuff in tonight at Collins Bar.

302) Hair of the Dog Ruth - An excellent golden and hoppy ale.

303) Lagunitas Censored - Malty strong ale with a nice copper color to it. But it was not anything special. I was a little disappointed.

304) Hop Back Entire Stout - A rich stout with some bitterness. Not something I'd rush to have again but not entirely bad.

305) Dogfish Head World Wide Stout - A 2003 bottle. Simply amazing. Alcohol is hidden pretty well and this is like drinking port wine. Is it the best beer I have ever had? I have to say no, but for a moment it did challenge my existing favorite.

The other Brewtopia beers I forgot to list above are as follows:

* Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA - Still a top 10 beer.
* Allagash White - Always a treat to have this witbier.
* Saranac Pumpkin Ale - Not bad but nowhere in the same league as the Southampton.
* Singha - Don't know why I had it. I was just standing at their booth. I took a sticker from them, so I felt I should have a sip of their beer. Usually I only have this with Thai food.
* Cerveza Aguila - Standard lager from Columbia. Tastes like corn.
* Stone India Pale Ale - Ate some nachos at the food court, which was horrendous. I got a couple glasses of this to go with my meal.
* Ayinger Brau Weisse - A Hef I always have love for.
* Lemongrass Wheat - From the homebrewer's guild. I don't know who made it but give yourself a pat on the back.

Just got back from the Victory event at Collins so let me throw this one up.

306) Victory Dr. Decibels Brown Ale - No pic... sorry. This was available on cask. I have to say for the first time I was a little disappointed in Victory. This felt thin and there was a lack of complexity. Come on Victory, you can do better than this!

306 for the year leaves just 59 to go! Having 33 new bottles waiting in the fridge, I think I just need to buy 18 more bottles, assuming the Beer of the Month club doesn't send me anything I've already had in the final 2 months of the year.

300 Hitter!

2006-10-17T09:56:00.000-04:00

My plan for the rest of the year is to write up an entry about every 5 beers. Because of events in my life, I really don't have the time to post every day, so expect 1 post a week, 2 at most.

296) Wolavers Brown Ale - Got this from Whole Foods the other day. Not a bad brown ale, but nothing special. Kind of light bodied, perhaps because it is organic?

297) Wolavers Wit Bier - Another one picked up from Whole Foods. This is also organic, and has aromas of orange peel, but I didn't get much spice.

298) Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Ale - This was just strange. I couldn't take it. Maybe for someone who doesn't eat a lot of Asian food, it will be ok, but because I eat tons of Asian food the first thing I thought was that I was drinking some soy sauce with ginger.

299) Weyerbacher Merry Monks Ale - A Belgian tripel. Lots of candy like aromas and flavors. 9.3% alc. but you can hardly tell.

300) North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout - Had this earmarked as #300 a while ago, so this bottle has had some time to rest. Probably a top 10 beer for me. This is probably my favorite style of beer. An excellent beer to have as a nightcap.

With that, I have hit the 300 plateau for the year. Only 65 to go. In my next update, look for another witbier, some stouts, and a review of BREWTOPIA!!!

Tripel Threat

2006-10-11T22:10:00.000-04:00

First off... condolences to the family of Cory Lidle. What a shock...

Now... yet again I'm not really in the mood to blog too much. Half of my life is completely messed up, the other half is unbelievably great.

291) Samuel Smiths Nut Brown Ale - Good brown ale... has some notes of hazelnuts in it. I think that's the key to a good brown ale... some kind of nuttiness.

292) Baltika 6 Porter - Baltic porter... not bad at all. Still such a rare style that I wish was more readily available around here.

293) Herold Cerny Lezák (Bohemian Black Lager) 13° - This is a schwarzbier... and it was fantastic. Great roasted malt flavors abound.

294) Maredsous 10 - A very good abbey tripel. Foamy head... spicy with many subtle flavors.

295) Westmalle Tripel - Even better than the Maredsous. Spicy, powerful flavors. Just a spectacular beer.

295 down and only 70 to go. I'm thinking for the time being I will stick with updating every 5 beers.

I replenished my supply of bottles via Whole Foods tonight. Stay tuned.

And I should mention, don't forget your tickets for Brewtopia. I will attend the Sat. afternoon session.

And although the beers I try at Brewtopia will count towards my overall list... they will not count to this year's total.

75 to go!

2006-10-06T01:10:00.000-04:00

The Mets just beat the Dodgers behind strong pitching by Tom Glavine. Up 2-0, they just need to win 1 more of the next 3 games to get to the NLCS. I think Trachsel will get them there.

Here are the latest two beers!

289) Wychwood Hobgoblin - An ESB from England. I don't know if I was just not in the mood for something malty or if this just wasn't good. Hmm... I think this wasn't so great.

290) Goose Island Imperial IPA - For #290, I decided to have something I had been saving for a while. AWESOME! This thing has hops exploding out of it. Great aroma and bitterness. A serious contender for the best in the style!

290 down and only 75 to go!!!!

Latest Progress

2006-10-03T21:04:00.000-04:00

Due to some personal issues, I've not been in the mood to blog lately nor write much about each beer.

But anyways, here is the latest update, with brief comments on each...

283) Penn Pilsner - From the Beer of the Month club. This is actually a Vienna. Not bad but not anywhere close to the depth or complexity of a Brooklyn Lager.

284) Otter Creek Oktoberfest - Also from the club. Not one of the better Oktoberfests I have had.. but this is one of my favorite styles, so its hard to say anything bad about this.

285) Stoudts Fat Dog Stout - An Imperial Stout that is stronger than the original version of this beer. Good stuff... very enjoyable. I had the bottle for several months and it seemed to benefit.

286) Blue Tongue Traditional Pilsener - From Australia. Decent and crisp... Sorry no pic.

287) Boags Premium Lager - Another Australian beer that I had at the Outback. A very good lager... If you can track it down or you go eat at Outback, give it a try. Again, sorry no pic.

288) Herold Granat - We begin and end this post with a Vienna. This was better than the Penn but still not as good as the Brooklyn.

That's 288 down and 77 left to go. Expect some English ales to appear on the list next.

Recent Rundown

2006-09-26T21:06:00.000-04:00

WHAT Y'ALL THOUGHT Y'ALL WASN'T GON' SEE ME?!!

I'M THE OSIRIS OF THIS ****!

Yeah...

Here is recent rundown of the latest beers I have had. Before that... check out my Flickr photos of the Flaming Lips show from last night. AWESOME!

278) Samuel Smiths Organic Ale - This is an English bitter and it was pretty good. Pale orange color and a nice foamy head. The aroma is fruity with hints of toffee. Bitter finish.

Went to David Copperfield's with Anthony last week... and they had tons of Oktoberfest beer on tap!

279) Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen - This is a spectacular Oktoberfest. Very malty and toasty. Perfect beer for the fall.

280) Legacy Heavy Handed Hops (Triple H) - Amazing IPA. After sampling another IPA at the bar, I definitely had to go with a pint of this one. I didn't get a photo... I was way to into this one from the get-go. Floral hop aroma... very vibrant. Bitter flavors and incredibly drinkable.

Picked up a few more European bottles from the supermarket this weekend.

281) Nikšićko Pivo - A pilsner from Montenegro. Absolutely horrendous. There is no balance to this one.. Its all over the place. Highly undrinkable with a nasty aroma.

282) Birra Tirana - Not a bad lager from Albania. Nothing special but its drinkable and has a little flavor to it, better than a lot of popular lagers.

282 down and 83 to go. I just got another shipment from the beer of the month club, so expect me to pick a beer from there for my next one.

Southampton Publick House

2006-09-19T08:14:00.000-04:00

Let me begin first by saying how thrilled I am that the NY Mets have clinched the NL East for the first time since 1988.

I was at the game with Jeff and Chris, and I posted a video of the final out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI8XYqnXa28

Anyway... this past weekend I went with Jeff to the Southampton Publick House to enjoy some beer. I knocked a ton off my list.

It was the first time I had actually been to the brewpub. While the food wasn't all that great, they did give the tasty dinner rolls.

And the beer is awesome. It's reason enough to visit out here.

However, before visiting here we stopped at a couple local wineries. First was Channing Daughters, where Jeff is a wine club member. It was my first time there and the wines were not bad at all. They were closing early due to a wedding, so we were lucky to arrive for the last 15 minutes.

Then we stopped at the ultra-pretentious Wolffer Estate. They charge $25 for a "tasting" of their best wine, supposedly rated a 96 by some nutcase. On top of that, they charge a ton just for the regular tasting alone. A tiny artisanal cheese plate also costs a pretty penny.

The wines were so bad the whole time I was trying to convince Jeff that we should just up and leave without paying.

They had us taste a 100% oak barrel fermented butter bomb Chardonnay which had vomity aromas and a sulfurous rotten egg finish. I couldn't quite tell if it was scrambled or sunny side up. I know I had another word to describe the aroma while we were tasting it, but its probably better that I don't remember it. Jeff said he couldn't get the aftertaste out of his mouth for almost an hour, until we got to the Southampton Publick House.

When we arrived, it was too early to eat and the dining room wasn't open, so we sat in the bar area listening to the dreary music and ordered up some brew.

272) Southampton Montauk Light - I came with the mindset that I was going to try a lot of beer today, so I started light. Not much of an aroma but this is probably brewed for the "summer weekends in the Hamptons" crowd that must stroll in looking for a Bud Light. Better than any of the macros.

I then ordered up the sampler. You can get either the 4 house brews or the 4 plus any seasonals they have. So I went with the full 8.

The Beer Menu

Top Row (L-R): Golden Lager, Montauk Light, IPA, Secret Ale
Bottom Row (L-R): 80 Shilling Scottish Ale, Espresso Stout, Belgian Amber, Burton Ale

273) Southampton Golden Lager - Lager brewed in the Munich style. Pretty crisp with a bit of a hop bite on the finish.

274) Southampton Burton Ale - A bitter. Pretty drinkable but the taste is different. In doing some research I found they add minerals into the beer, like they do in Britain, and I'm guessing that's where it came from.

275) Southampton 80 Shilling Scottish Ale - First time I've had a Scottish ale. Mostly you taste the malt in this but there is some floral aspects as well.

276) Southampton Belgian Amber - Couldn't find much info on this, so maybe it must be a new release. Excellent take on the classic Belgian style ale.

277) Southampton Grand Cru - For dinner I ordered up a bottle. Jeff got the tripel while I went with the Grand Cru. This is a Belgian strong ale with aromas of spice and orange. Flavor is rich and fruity. 9.5% alc. so be careful. Lucky I was not the driver.

277 down leaves only 88 to go. We still have 103 days left in the year so no rush. This week I've got tons of Mets games to go to so I don't anticipate doing more than a new bottle or two before Friday.

Tonight's the night!

2006-09-15T11:38:00.000-04:00

Not for #365 of course but for the NEW YORK METS to clinch the NL East!

I'll be in the city watching that go down for sure!

Here is a recap of some of the recent goings-down on the beer front!

Wednesday night was the NYC premiere of Sly Fox at the Collins Bar! I met up after work with Chris and Kaval and we got ourselves a little bread and cheese, popcorn, and a table in the back.

266) Sly Fox Pikeland Pilsner - Right out of the gate with this awesome pils. No wonder its won so many awards. Perfectly crisp with bitter finish. It stands up to the best of the German pils.

267) Sly Fox Simcoe IPA - This is part of Sly Fox's IPA Project, the 7th in a series where each beer focuses on a different hop variety, in this case, Simcoe hops. Simcoe is a bittering hop with a piney aroma, and those characteristics come out in this very good IPA.

268) Sly Fox OReillys Stout - Pretty good dry stout. Good coffee/chocolate flavors from this. Nice creamy head up top as well.

At this point, I should mention a little story from this night, courtesy of Kaval himself:

"The funniest fucking thing happened tonight at Collins Bar. Chris, Nick and I met up for a few EXCELLENT pints.

Well, there was complimentary popcorn, bread and cheese. We had a round of popcorn and it was pure salty goodness. Then, Nick and I decided to make Chris go to the popcorn machine and get more. He stood his ground and wouldn't do it. He went so far as to place our popcorn basket on the next table and take a firm swig of his beer to solidify his defiance.

Well, the conversation switched to baseball and Jeter and captains, yada yada yada. Suddenly Nick went DEAD SILENT for a good 2 minutes.

Out of nowhere his thoughts become audible in mid-thought: "FUCKING POPCORN!" and looks Chris dead in the eye.

Chris sprung up like a wrestler fighting off a pin, fetched the popcorn and came back to the table faster than a Reggie Bush sprint.

Good shit..."

Last night I also met up with Kaval but this time at David Copperfield's. We bought our tickets to Brewtopia, and will be attending the Saturday afternoon session on 10/20, to be followed by game 1 of the World Series. If you haven't, be sure to get your tickets.

Had the mindset of just going in for a couple and having a southwest chicken sandwich with onion rings instead of fries, but wound up sticking around for a while and had 4 beers in total. While waiting for Kaval, I patiently sipped on a Unibroue Blanche de Chambly, which I hadn't had in a long while.

I left my camera home so there are no pics of the beers, but I wound up having 3 new ones.

269) Kelso Nut Brown Lager - This is a dunkel brewed by Greenpoint Beer Works, same folks who brew everything for Heartland Brewery. The quality is overall about the same. Some nutty flavors but overall nothing special.

270) Legacy Hoptimus Prime - Legacy just had an event at DC's. This is one of the best names for a beer I have seen in a while. A decent double IPA with citrus aromas and piney hops. Bitter but with decent malt backbone to balance it.

271) Rogue Imperial Porter - Bitter chocolate flavors dominate this Baltic style porter. A big and robust brew with a smooth finish to it.

Currently that's where I stand. I considered having another new one just now for lunch but I'll pass. I've got a good lead once again. 271 down leaves 94 to go!

100 To Go!!

2006-09-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

Today's title is a giveaway, as I've gotten through 265 beers for this year and now have only 100 to go. It's been a while since the last update, and I haven't had as many new beers as I wanted over the last week, thus diminishing my lead a bit.

I went to numerous Mets games but didn't even have 1 beer, because I refuse to pay that price for crap.

On the brighter side of things, my local Stop & Shop is now carrying a small selection of decent beer. I was surprised to find yesterday that they had bottles of Duvel, Hennepin, Ommegang Abbey, Chimay, Schneider Weiss, Samuel Smith... and maybe a few others I dont remember. It's a good sign indeed, and my guess is they're taking a page out of the Whole Foods/Trader Joe book.

So do you want some beer notes? I thought so...

261) Youngs Old Nick - This is a barley wine from England. Of all the barley wines I've had I would say this ranks somewhere in the middle. The pour is a dark red brown with a thin head atop. On the aroma we get malt along with hints of raisins and toffee. The flavor is sweet with a tinge of alcohol in there. Finishes with a slightly bitter bite.

262) Struise Witte - A Belgian witbier, and apparently one of the top rated in the world. But I wasn't really feeling it. Maybe I need to re-rate this one? But it just didn't have the backbone of a Hoegaarden, Allagash White, or the Millstream. Aroma had faint hints of peaches and grapefruits. The body was thin as a wisp and it went down like water. I have 2 other bottles of this and I'm hoping this review will prove to be way off after having the next one.

263) Magic Hat Hocus Pocus - Picked up a 6 pack of Magic Hat on the way to watch the first Giants game at my friend's apartment. It was missing one so I swiped this from another sixer to make a full. This is an American wheat beer. No bitterness at all really. Slight citrusy taste. Good for summer but I would have preferred an Oktoberfest to go with my football.

264) Magic Hat Circus Boy - Labelled as a hefeweizen but it doesn't taste like one. Now reading the notes on Rate Beer, it is brewed with a lot of lemongrass, thus deviating from the classic hefeweizen recipe. Like the above I just drank it from the bottle. Mostly a lemon and grainy flavor.

265) Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA - Had this one last night. One of the so-called "Extreme Beers." Weighs in at a whopping 21% alc. by vol. As per the brewer's notes: "Brewed to a colossal 45°P, boiled for a full 2 hours while being continually hopped with high alpha American hops, dry-hopped every day in the fermenter for a month, and aged for a month on whole leaf hops". 120 IBUs. The pour is that gold/caramel color you see below. The aroma is sweet with the sugar and alcohol pretty much attacking your nose. Not much evidence of hops. Flavor profile is again also sugar and alcohol. The 21% is well hidden... but the malt seems to be completely smothering the hops. Its unbalanced and I'm guessing it gets such a high score because of the alcohol content. Like when U2 puts out an album they get an automatic 4 stars just because its U2. The mouthfeel on this one is definitely full bodied. As heavy as they come. I'd rather have a better imperial IPA at 10ish % than this anytime. Overrated.

That's where we stand now... 100 left to go, 109 days left in the year.

Tonight Sly Fox makes their NYC debut at the Collins Bar. They plan on bringing in a ton of their beers, though I think I'll just stay for 1 or 2 and head home. Thursday Big Daddy Cal and I are hitting up Copperfields and I'll add another couple there. Stay tuned.

Beerfest!

2006-09-07T15:22:00.000-04:00

The other night I went to see "Beerfest" with Chris and it is hilarious.

I definitely recommend you go see it. It is the kind of comedy that will offend many, but if you like that kind of humor you will love this. Some of the writing is just genius.

I'm surprised it did so poorly at the box office... further proof that the American movie-going public is clueless.

Anyway, here's a beer review for you...

260) Waimea Bay Pale Ale - This American pale ale comes from Hawaii, as one might guess from the name. Didn't think it was that great, honestly. Has a grapefruit/citrus flavor to go with some caramel malt aroma, but the taste just wasn't up my alley.

Tonight I've got the Mets game.. unfortunately it looks like they'll clinch on the road.

After the game I've got a barleywine waiting for me.

260 down, 105 to go.

BXL again

2006-09-05T11:20:00.000-04:00

Friday night took a trip over to BXL Cafe and had a few new beers. They do a good job on their frites by the way.

257) Tripel Karmeliet - This was just awesome. This is an Abbey tripel, the best I have had so far from this style. This is made with 3 grains. Scent of alcohol and fruity yeast on the nose. Flavor is the same with some sweetness in it. Nice finish with a touch of bitterness.

258) Leffe Brune - Excuse the poor photo below. They turned the lights down after 7pm and it became hard to take a good photo. The one below makes it look like a stout or a porter. This is an abbey dubbel with a deep brown color. Flavor is that of caramel malt with some dark fruit in there as well. Not bad.

Over the weekend I also had another new one, this time from a bottle that was brought back from Belgium as a gift.

259) Bourgogne des Flandres - This is the very first Flemish sour ale I have had. I was afraid it would be too sour and I wouldn't be able to drink it but I rather enjoyed it. The color is a dark red brown with a tan head that fades quickly. The aroma carries with it a hint of cherries. The flavor is actually sweet... definitely a hint of dark cherries, with only a bit of sourness mostly on the finish.

That's where I stand now... 259 for the year and 106 to go. That's still 11 days ahead so I admit I've been slowing it down a little.

This week there will be no going out as I have tickets to all the Mets games but next week I will surely hit up a bar or two.

In my next post, look for a review of "Beerfest" along with any new beers I have between now and then!

Bender!

2006-09-01T16:36:00.000-04:00

Yup... I drank 'em all last night...

the whole 6 pack...

...of course...

...when they are this big...

...its not such a big deal!

Finally opened the 6 pack of Kirin I bought in Japan. Now... Kirin of course doesn't count towards my goal but after seeing this for sale, I had to have one.

The equivalent is a little more than 2 regular cans of beer. It was strange, just downing them one after the other, in these little cans. I wish I could say I could use this size of can as a method of controlling the amount of beer I drink but there is just no way. They're too easy and too fun to drink.

So I also had a new one the other night from my Beer of the Month club shipment.

256) EKU Pilsner - The head is very foamy on the pour and leaves a lot of lacing down the glass as you drink. Aroma is faint like most pilsners but you can pick up notes of grain and hops. A light and refreshing beer.

That's beer #256 with 109 to go. Stay tuned for the next update where I should make some progress over the long weekend.

The Big Catchup

2006-08-30T17:32:00.000-04:00

Before I go any further, get yourself over to Quality Meats and order one of these:

That's the rib steak and its awesome. Come hungry!

Back to the beer now. I have 5 bottles to throw into this update and that will put me up to date on this blog.

251) Tama no Megumi (Ishikawa) Bottle Conditioned Ale - The first is yet another bottle to come to us from Japan. I brought this back with me from my trip. I believe I purchased this at the tourism office in Shinjuku at the Gov't Office Building. The pour is a murky orange-brown tea color. The head does not last long and there seems to be a lot of carbonation in this one. Floral hops on the nose with malt dominated taste and a slightly bitter finish.

252) Hopf Helle Weiss - Our second beer of this review comes to us from Germany, courtesy of the Beer of the Month Club. This is a German hefeweizen with the classic aromas of banana and clove. These are very evident on the nose. Great flavors of peppery spice and wheat. Light bodied and easy to drink. Smooth, refreshing finish.

253) Presidente - I think this may be the last major beer I hadn't had before this year. It's always been around but I have never opted to try it. I had this one while having lunch at work, at a restaurant called It's a Dominican Thing, which was excellent. I wish I could say the same thing about this beer. It was a dead ringer for Budweiser, whose awful taste, like an intimate encounter in a prison shower with an inmate named Bubba, somehow never leaves the memory. I didn't bother to take a pic.

254) Odell Levity Amber Ale - Another one from the Club. Foamy head on the pour, which is clear copper color. Aromas are subtle, but maybe too much so. You get hints of bread, mainly, but just sit there smelling it, hoping to get more. Not much to this one. Drinkable and inoffensive, but bland. I will try it again after the other bottles have had time to sit, but I reckon this is one of those so-so microbrews that a macro fan tries and decides to stick to the usual stuff because its not very special.

255) Abbaye des Rocs Brune - With #255 also comes #450 for my career, so I wanted it to be something special. This beer is currently ranked #34 in the world on RateBeer and it is no surprise why. First of all, peep the new glassware, which my mom swiped for me from a local restaurant. What a mom! Now I can take photos of all my heavier beers in the proper glassware. The last 100 or so on my list is going to be a great run for sure. Anyways, back to this wonderful creation from Belgium. This beer had one of the thickest layers of yeast inside - you could probably age this one for some time before drinking it. Pours a deep reddish brown with an everlasting head. The aromas are so complex and heavenly it is hard to come up with the words for it. You could literally just sniff this all day and be satisfied. Look for hints of sweet caramel followed by all kinds of scents of dark stewed fruits. I'm talking raisins and plums. This is the beer to give to a wine drinker or a skeptic if they don't respect beer. Full bodied, with a subtly sweet taste followed by notes of wood. The finish lasts forever. The first sip makes you want to savor this beer slowly. The best I have tried this year and one of my top 5 all time, easily. If I had to wrap it up in one word it would be: indulgence.

So 255 down leaving 110 to go. Unbelieveable that I have come this far already. There is no stopping now. I will have a new one tonight, as I still have many bottles to work my way through. Because I sprung for Mets season tix and postseason tix, I am not going to any bars this week, I don't think.

Check back soon for the latest updates!

Divine Bar

2006-08-28T13:11:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday I went with Tina to Divine Bar, big tapas lounge/wine bar in Midtown. They have 2 locations and we went to the one on the west side.

The decor is really nice and one can picture it packed with people on a Friday or Saturday night. In addition to tapas dishes (which can vary in quality here), they offer numerous wine flights and a good beer selection.

Here are the dishes we had:

Sesame Crusted Chicken w/ Cumin-Ginger-Curry Vinaigrette and Tsatziki Cucumber Dip

- These were ok except the chicken got kind of cold very quickly. Wasn't crazy about either of the dips.

On top: Spicy Beef Satay. In the middle: Quesadilla w/ Sliced Chicken, Ripe Tomato, Sweet Corn, and Cilantro with Vermont Cheddar. On the bottom: Baked Brie w/ Honey Roasted Walnuts and Dates and Apple Slices.

- The beef wasn't that great, and came w/ the same sauce as the chicken.
- Quesadillas were pretty standard stuff.
- The Brie was awesome. I had a bottle of Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale (which doesn't count) and it was an incredible match. The nutty flavors of the brie and the walnut/date mixture paired beautifully with the cedar notes of the beer.

Speaking of beer...

I HAD TWO NEW ONES!!

249) Wachusett Blueberry - I continue to be unimpressed/disgusted with fruit beers. I don't know what it is. I like to find subtle fruit flavors and aromas in my beer but I don't like when they are overpoweringly sweet and up front, and I don't like when they taste like flavored seltzer. This is sadly in the flavored seltzer category for me. The Dogfish Head ones (Aprihop, Raison) and Magic Hat #9 are the exceptions for me. I downed the rest of this quickly to get it overwith. Then I ordered the Hitachino.

Second new beer of the night was:

250) Unibroue Maudite - Since it was #250, I wanted to make it something a little special, and I'm glad I chose the Maudite. This is a Belgian style ale with a nice deep caramel color. It looks like syrup. Excellent fruit flavors reminiscent of a fine champagne. Nice caramel flavors blend in with that to bring you to a warm finish.

That's 250 beers with 115 to go. Expect my next update to be a catchup with 5 or 6 new ones on there.

Oh! And who can forget dessert!

We had the Nutella wontons. They was gooooood!

Later!

K-Town

2006-08-23T10:44:00.000-04:00

Last Friday night I met up with a bunch of friends after work and we went on a romp through Korea Town (K-Town).

For most of them, it was the first time they had Korean BBQ, so I took them to Kang Suh, which I think is the best place on 32nd St. There is a Kum Gang San across the street, but it is not as good as the Flushing location. The Flushing KGS is even better than Kang Suh, in my opinion.

Had an opportunity for a new beer here...

245) Hite - Pretty standard lager, though I thought it was better than the other Korean lager we see around here a lot, OB. Someone else ordered the OB, and I did a side by side tasting, and the Hite is definitely a tastier product. Still, it really isn't that good. Basically the Korean version of Miller.

After the tasty Korean BBQ, we all headed up to the rooftop bar. We got a table pretty quickly and it wasn't all that crowded even for a Friday night. The secret doesn't seem to really be out yet, so I'm going to keep it that way and not tell you where it is, because I'm a selfish bastard. When the word gets out or if it starts to see a steady crowd, then I'll blab, but I hate when a good thing is spoiled by crowds or the wrong type of people.

Right now this place is really laid back, and I don't want any bottle service scenesters ruining it. Stick to the Ava Lounge, if you velvet rope douchebags really need to drink on a roof.

There were two beers available here that I had never tried. One is quite common and may surprise you that I haven't had it before. But first...

246) Sol - From Mexico. Like a Corona but probably not as good because the flavor isn't as upfront. Any beer where you have to put a lime in it to improve the flavor can't be all that drinkable. But I downed it, and moved on. Next time I will only have this with Mexican cuisine.

247) Red Stripe - This one might surprise you. I had always had the impression that Red Stripe would be Schlitz-awful. But don't judge a book by its cover or a beer by its label. This was actually a pretty good lager. Has a very distinct and interesting taste. Its hard to describe. Its almost like they put just a slight drop of amaretto into it, giving it a kind of waxy/papery aftertaste. But its actually appealing.

After those I had an Anchor Steam and we all went home happy.

On Saturday night, I added a bottle to my list. This one I bought at Mitsuwa supermarket in New Jersey.

248) Orion Premium Draft Beer - This comes to us from Okinawa. Light grainy aroma. Light bodied beer with a crisp finish. Taste is also very grainy. Not as good as the main line beers of the big 3 Japanese brewers.

Tonight there is an Ommegang event at the Belgian Room, followed up tomorrow with an Oskar Blues event at the Hop Devil. I will be unable to attend either event, but I suggest you check it out. There will be a bourbon barrel aged Old Chub on tap tomorrow.

248 beers down with 117 to go. I'm still slightly behind on my blogging, so the actual up to the minute number is slightly higher. I'll catch up on everything in my next post.

Post #100

2006-08-21T09:51:00.000-04:00

So on Thursday night... I decided to go home instead of the Hop Devil Grill for the Southern Tier event. But I did send an email about it to my friends in case they were interested.

One was.

I got home, checked my voicemail and he was on his way downtown to the Hop Devil. Oh man... what to do....

I went back into Manhattan.

Southern Tier is a NY microbrewery based out of Lakewood, NY. There were 5 beers featured on tap, and of them, I only previously tried the IPA. A good crowd was on-hand for the event.

Upon arrival at the Hop Devil, I quickly ordered the flight and a cheeseburger for dinner.

From left to right (IPA, Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale, Tripel, Hop Sun, Un*Earthly Imperial IPA)

241) Southern Tier Hop Sun - The Hop Sun is an American style wheat beer and it is the best I have ever had. The aroma was very floral and vibrant. Lots of lemony citrus on the nose as well. Perfectly balanced with a crisp finish. I got another pint of this later on in the night.

242) Southern Tier Phin & Matts Extraordinary Ale - An American pale ale. Pretty good APA. Aroma was sweet with a hint of bread. I wish when you order the flight they would give you some crackers to cleanse your palate, like they would at a winery. After the awesomeness of the Hop Sun, the Extraordinary Ale kinda tasted ordinary, but I could tell it was not a bad brew at all.

243) Southern Tier Un*Earthly Imperial IPA - Piney aromas from the abundant hops come first. The taste is very balanced, however, and not overpoweringly bitter.

244) Southern Tier Tripel - I'll be honest and say I didn't really like this one. I thought it was a poor version of an abbey tripel. Most of the complexities mentioned in the description didn't come through.

I could have had more new beers but I think that was good progress, plus I wanted raffle tickets! A flight of Southern Tier beers got you 3 tickets while a pint of any Southern Tier beer got you 1. We had a ton of tickets on the table.

They were raffling off 2 Yankees tickets, and though I'm not a Yankee fan and hate the Yankees, I like to win.

My streak of raffles won ended at 2.

Some lucky dude walked in, got a pint, and wound up winning. Lucky bastard.

Oh well, he didn't get to enjoy the amount of beers that we did.

244 down and 121 to go. I still have several beers to blog from this past weekend... check back again tomorrow.

Japanese Recap

2006-08-17T16:41:00.000-04:00

I've started to go through the slew of bottles I brought back from Japan. In light of the recent terrorist threats, it seems I have gone to Japan at just the right time, because there is no way I would be allowed to travel with all this beer now.

I would be able to ship it, but that would be a pain in the ass and the wallet.

239) Kamikaze Amber Ale - Pretty straightforward amber ale. The pour looks like a blend of the color of the bottle and the label. I found the caramel malt was pleasant but there was not a lot of hops to balance it out.

240) Baird Shimaguni Stout- Kind of a thinner body than most stouts. This was closer to a porter. Aroma was that of coffee beans with perhaps a hint of earthiness to it. Moderately bitter finish.

So that's where its at now, folks. 240 for the year with 125 to go.

Tonight I will be having another bottle from Japan. It's a bomber, so I think it will be the only one I add tonight. Now there is also an event at the Hop Devil Grill for Southern Tier brewing. I would like to go but I am a little short on cash at the moment.

If you go tonight they are raffling off 2 Yankee tickets for a game against Detroit. Supposedly really good seats too. I have won the last 2 raffles there so maybe a little luck will rub off on you if you read my blog and decide to go!

Tomorrow night the plan is to meet up with some friends and go to a bar I found yesterday. It is a really awesome place and the secret is not out yet, and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible, so I'm not telling you where it is. It's not a great beer place (they have Anchor and Brooklyn only in bottles), but the setting and relaxed atmosphere more than makes up for it. If it starts to get crowded I will write about the place, but until then my lips are sealed.

"Wanna go to the Ginger Man?" ...uh...SURE!

2006-08-15T19:59:00.000-04:00

So the other day at work I get a phone call on my outside line.

Hmm.. strange...

I debate picking it up in case it might be some silly sales rep trying to bypass the support line... which I am a hardass about.

Luckily I picked this one up. It was Kaval and he asked the above question...

Now that he is working in midtown, I have another drinking partner to go have a quick brew with.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET UP WITH NICK AND JUST "HAVE A QUICK BEER!"

Remember that!

Got to the Ginger Man real quicklike after work and met up with Kaval. PEOPLE JUST KEPT POURING IN!!

Two people he knew were there, and another friend of his showed up. Also Chris made the trek from uptown to have "a beer."

I DONT THINK SO!!!

Started this session with...

235) Stone Ruination IPA - AKA the Cracka Killa! This is a massively hoppy and bitter double IPA. It's balanced, because it has enough malt... but still, this one packs a wallop from the get-go and doesn't let up. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HOPS!

The photo of this and other beers in this entry SUCK due to the darkness of the bar.

It wasn't too crowded even though it was Friday night, which was surprising. After this first beer, I snagged a table for our group.

236) Keegan Ales Mothers Milk Stout - This is from NY. Pretty good stout. Smooth with hints of chocolate and espresso.

Yet again the shitty Blogger photo uploader fails me. Dammit!

237) Jever Pilsener - Awesome pils. More bitter than the others I have had but just as smooth and refreshing.

After this one we moved to the couch area in the back. For the first time on a work night, the Ginger Man was... comfortable.

238) Harviestoun Old Engine Oil - Some of you who have been following this blog for a while may remember that I had the Reserve version of this beer. I thought when I ordered this it was the same so I wasn't going to count it but since it is different it counts. Much the same as the reserve but without the blend of whiskey flavors. Am I in the minority when I say I enjoy the reserve much better than the original?

Didn't snap a pic of this one because I didn't realize it was new to me until I got home.

Kaval and his friend left to the strip club after this and I rode the train home.

That's 238 down and 127 to go. I have 2 more to blog but that will be done later. I want to rebuild my buffer a little bit so I think I will be hitting up the bar on Thursday.

Have a quick beer?

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET UP WITH NICK AND JUST "HAVE A QUICK BEER!"

A Little Catch Up

2006-08-10T21:55:00.000-04:00

Here comes a big update, I'll try to get through all the beers I have had since returning from Japan, so without any further ado...

229) Stone Coast Black Bear Porter - Not bad, but an average porter. Not much of a head on the pour, just a thin layer. Hops and roasted malt in the aroma, with flavors of chocolate malt dominating.

230) Schönramer Pils - Like the porter, I received this with the latest Beer of the Month club shipment. Decent German pils. As you can see below in the pic, the head was huge. Lots of the beer was still left in the bottle. Grainy aroma and bitter hops flavor to this one.

231) Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale - Smuttynose can do no wrong. Amazing pale ale with a copper color and long lasting head. Sweet malt aroma with citrusy hops. You can tell this is going to be well-balanced just from the aroma alone. Flavor doesn't disappoint. Perfectly balanced liquid bread.

232) Goose Island India Pale Ale - No photo, because I screwed up thinking I already had it on the list, but I was thinking of the Honkers. On draft at Stout for lunch. Bitter and fruity hops dominate. Very enjoyable IPA.

233) Kamikaze Cream Ale - Purchased in Japan. Gold color with a pretty thick head. Stale bread aroma. Slight bitter flavor, nothing to write home about.

234) Hideji Inoshishi Weizen (Darken Boar Wheat Special) - Another one from Japan. Cloudy dark orange color but not much of a head on this. Strong banana and clove aromas. Sweet flavors with a hint of spice. Bready aftertaste follows.

234 beers down and 131 to go is your updated tally for the year. This weekend, the plan is to focus on additional bottles, of which I should have about 2, possibly 3.

Japan 2006, Pt. 3

2006-08-04T15:06:00.000-04:00

"Tokyu Food Show"

So I was strolling around Shibuya, amped up after having 2 iced coffees. I wandered down into the Metro to look for the train to Shimo-Kitazawa, not realizing I was in the completely wrong place.

I strolled past shop after shop in the underground and finally pulled out my map, trying to be self-reliant and not have to ask for directions.

So there I was, looking at down at my map, walking slow so as not to bump into anyone or trip. Subconsciously, my nose was following various enticing aromas... where were they coming from?!

I walked into a dead end and looked up. What did I see?

"Oh..." I thought to myself, then casually walked inside, forgetting about the map and getting lost and everything else.

There was all this food laid out in front of me. Look below to get a sense of what this all looked like.

Now, I found that this is actually a permanent setup, which is why it is so awesome, but I still wonder why we don't have such a thing here in the US. Instead we get crappy mall food courts with disgusting fast food.

The entrance I came in through happened to be the sweets and breads section. I don't remember the names of all these vendors but some of them are in the photos. As you can see, there was a huge amount of choices available!

Just about anything you could want for dessert was available here. I feel like such an idiot for not trying something but I was full from the two iced coffees which I now regret having.

The great thing about this, is you have all these vendors competing for business, so they give you high quality stuff and plenty of choices. It's not like here in the US, where department store eateries like to have the monopoly on food. And if there are other competitors they are banished to another floor entirely. STUPID!

Beyond the sweets, there was ACTUAL FOOD... if you are into that sort of thing. Just about every Japanese delicacy was available here. Take a look!

I don't know what else to really say but the pictures do all the talking anyways. If you don't know what everything is above... shame on you! I wish I had tried something so I could maybe describe the food to you. Oops...

"Shimo-Kitazawa"

I had read that Shimo-Kitazawa was a pretty cool part of town. Like Shibuya, but on a smaller scale and a little more quiet. Plus there was a beer bar there that I wanted to visit (they have 2 in this section of town).

Finally I found the right train line and arrived at Shimo-Kitazawa. Right away I loved the atmosphere of the place. Small, quiet streets, yet lots of activity and cool shops. I really felt like if I was to move to Tokyo I would setup shop here, and I even looked at the window of a local real estate office to check the rent prices, which I thought were pretty decent for Tokyo.

Initially I planned on staying here only about an hour, but I made a whole afternoon of it, and walked through a significant amount of the commercial area of the town.

I walked past a French restaurant called Trocadero. Apparently the entire building was moved from France to Japan, to keep that authentic feel. Take a look:

Next time I will eat there.

"Kura Kura"

After roaming the streets and taking it all in, I felt it was time to find one of these beer bars and have a drink or two.

Not far from the station is Kura Kura, a cozy beer bar serving a variety of Japanese microbrews as well as imported selections. The decor is modern, the atmosphere is very chilled out, and the owner is a nice guy who definitely loves his beer.

I went inside, chose a table and flipped through the menu, selecting one of the microbrews I have never seen before. Take a look at the welcoming committee:

And the interior:

225) Fujizakura Kougen Hefeweizen - Served in the proper glassware, it pours a cloudy yellow with a thick head. Aromas were a little more dominated by the spice side rather than the fruit side. The flavors were quite complex with a hint of apples in there. Pretty impressive and unique take on the style.

All that walking around made me hungry so I ordered a plate of mixed sausages to go with the beer. It was an excellent accompaniment.

226) Baird Teikoku IPA - This is not really a typical IPA. As you can see it doesn't have that golden color usually associated with the style. It is described as a cross between an English pale ale and an American pale ale, and those characteristics are clearly evident here. Aroma was a malty caramel with a touch of hops to it. Body was pretty full with a bitter finish.

The owner was nice enough to let me purchase a selection of bottles to take home. He even gave me a specially lined bag to keep the bottles cool, which I will definitely reuse. I gave him my email address and the URL for my website, so hopefully he will come take a look.

If you love beer, if you are ever in Japan, in Tokyo, take the trip to Shimo-Kitazawa, enjoy a quirky neighborhood that not too many foreigners get to see, and stop by Kura Kura for a few quality microbrews from Japan. You will not be disappointed.

My friends, beyond the Sapporo's, Kirin's, Asahi's and watery happoshu's there is a whole world of beer waiting to be discovered in Japan. Over the next several weeks, I will make those discoveries as I gradually open all the bottles I brought back with me. Hopefully over the next several years the word will get out that some quality stuff is being produced here.

"The Last Night"

After my visit to Shimo-Kitazawa I met up with my cousin for dinner. I felt bad because I had finally hit the wall and could not keep up with him in drinking, and I nearly passed out. He was surprised to see me and had good news that one of my other cousins had gotten married.

The last day of my trip I kept things rather low-key and didn't venture too far. I picked up two more beers from the am/pm and polished them off as I packed for my departure.

227) Kirin Classic Lager - Typical Japanese pale lager maybe slightly better than the usual version and maybe most of the American macros as well.

228) Sapporo Namashibori- The last beer I had in Japan I drank really quickly, and forgot to get a photo. I think this is another happoshu, and it takes like they soaked popcorn in water for 6 hours in the sun, cooled it, carbonated it, and canned it for all the world to drink.

So I'm going to leave it at that. No teary goodbyes or dramatic conclusions to my trip. 228 beers down and 137 to go. I made more progress than I intended to while in Japan on the beer front, and up next, I will run down the 4 new beers I had since my return.

To all those I met in Japan... ja, mata ne...

Japan 2006, Pt. 2

2006-08-02T14:51:00.000-04:00

"More Beer Reviews"

223) Kirin Green Label - Green Label brings you a comfortable time. The refreshing taste cheers your mind. Such is the slogan of this standard Japanese beer. This is a light beer and it actually might be a little better than most of the big name light beers. Apparently has 70% less calories than the regular version.

Green Label

224) Asahi Honnama - Another fake beer! Read their description carefully. It's actually rather interesting: "The secret behind the unique qualities of our happo-shu lies in two industry firsts: barley extract and Deep Sea Water. In the past, the biggest problem with brewing happo-shu was the difficulty of bringing a low-malt to healthy fermentation without the high levels of nutrients and minerals needed for yeast. By using two new ingredients, extract of barley and Deep Sea Water, we succeeded in creating a happo-shu without the peculiar smell and uneven taste caused by unhealthy yeast fermentation. In fact, we think Asahi Honnama has the crispest, clearest taste of any happo-shu ever created. At the same time, by fermenting with the rich taste of wheat from barley extract, we have eliminated the watery taste of other happo-shu to create a rich flavor experience."

My comments: No. This was just as watery as any happoshu I have ever had.

Asahi Honnama

"Breakfast Time"

I wasn't really in the mood to ever eat a proper breakfast. So instead I found a nearby bakery and made that my usual breakfast stop. They have so many pastries around the place it was hard to decide what to eat. You grab a tray and some tongs and pick whatever you want. I'm amazed again at how thin people are here, because the average person was taking 3 pastries a piece. Here is an example of some of the items I had:

Left: Donut, Right: Chocolate filled thing

"Tokyo Tower"

Every trip I have been to Japan I have visited Tokyo Tower. This was the first time I had been there by myself, however. You only need to pay for admission to the main observatory, which is about 150 meters up. When you get there you can decide on if you want to visit the top observatory, but that usually isn't worth it unless it is clear enough to see Mt. Fuji. Plus there are other free observatories around the city that might offer a better view of that.

Tokyo Tower

On this particular day it was rather cloudy so I definitely wasn't going to spend the extra money to go all the way up. But I went up to the main deck and had a quick look around. Visibility was kind of poor.

Left: Zojoji Temple, Right: Shiodome

After you are done looking around you take the elevator down to the main building at the base, but they leave you at the 4th floor, where you can have the option of visiting any number of small tourist trap type museums. I paid 500 yen to check out the wax museum, which was interesting.

One of the first things I noticed was that none of the non-Japanese figures beared any resemblance to the actual people. The accuracy was similar to that of your average Halloween mask. But the Japanese figures were pretty well done. However this was still no Madame Tussaud's.

I found it ironic that there was a George W. Bush figure next to a display of great historical peacemakers. But I don't want to get too political here.

The biggest space of the peacemakers section was devoted to a man named Chiune Sugihara, "Japan's Schindler." He saved thousands upon thousands of Jews during the Holocaust years.

Chiune Sugihara

My suggestion would be to check out the Wikipedia article on him, as it explains the details of his life a lot better than I could. He was the Japanese consul to Lithuania during World War II, and as a half-Japanese, half-Lithuanian, Chiune Sugihara is special to me. Somewhat of a hero and a person to look up to.

Like any wax museum, this one got bizarre. There was the obligatory gore in the form of a medieval torture chamber. The most hilarious part was when I was standing there, looking at this poor wax figure being stretched on a rack, when I think to myself... "holy shit... they're playing Frank Zappa's "The Torture Never Stops!!!"

A pretty eclectic selection, so I should have realized something was up. The people who put this together seemed to have strange musical tastes, because once you turn the corner after the minimalist Beatles display, you come to:

Yes, the biggest space in the music section is devoted to German electronic music and kraut rock, featuring pioneers such as Klaus Schulze and Faust. After that, comes the Prog Rock section, with guitarists Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp grabbing most of the space. Awesome!

Finally, when I was leaving Tokyo Tower, who should I run into but these two dildos:

These are the Noppon Bros. and they are the official mascots of Tokyo Tower.

THEY'RE A PAIR OF PINK VIBRATORS!!!

With that, I felt the need to meditate.

"Zojoji Temple"

Only a quick 5 minute walk from Tokyo Tower is Zojoji Temple. Click the link for a great explanation of the temple's activities.

There was nary a soul walking around the place. Everything was very quiet and tranquil. I went inside and sat there for a while, and then back outside on the steps, losing track of time. I wound up spending over an hour here, just thinking about things. It was one of the most peaceful moments of my life. As time wore on, I felt many of my worries just begin to fall away.

I stood up and walked down the steps, completely refreshed mentally and physically.

Back onto the busy streets of Tokyo, I decided to take the long walk to the new Shiodome area.

"Shiodome"

The first thing you will notice about this area is that everything is new and construction continues on even now. It is ultra-modern and futuristic in a way. Everything we seem to struggle for in designing a state of the art public space they have achieved here.

As I finally got near my destination, the Shinkansen passed overhead. Yet another reminder of how far behind we are in the USA, technologically speaking. For all their stoicism and social reservedness, the Japanese have a much bolder and more forward looking spirit than America in this regard. At least that is how it appears to an outsider.

But my impression is that in the time it will take our politicians and developers to approve and finally complete the rebuilding around the World Trade Center site, Japan will complete at least a few such developments, and they will be far more impressive than anything we come up with here.

In Japan, the future is now. In the US, the future is red tape.

"Shinjuku"

The next morning, I went to Bic Camera in Shinjuku to try and buy a watch. But none of the watches there seemed to be anything I couldn't get in the US, so I passed. I spent most of my time in the store checking out the cellphones. Their phones are at least 2-5 years ahead of any phone available in the US market. Unfortunately, none of them work here, and I don't think anyone has found a way to crack the security otherwise I'm sure everyone would have a Japanese phone.

After that I went through the Shinjuku skyscraper district. If you go to the Tokyo Government Office Building, you can access 2 free observation decks. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji.

So that concludes Part 2!

At this point I was at 224 new beers leaving 141 to go. I still have 4 Japanese beers to review and 4 beers since my return.

Up next in Part 3, I stumble upon the TOKYU FOOD SHOW!!!

Japan 2006, Pt. 1

2006-07-31T10:19:00.000-04:00

"14 Hrs. on a Plane"

It's torturous, but to go to Japan makes it worth the lengthy journey. Luckily for me on this same flight I would have a friend from work along w/ her boyfriend. That kind of gave me an excuse to get up and walk around to the other side of the plane and say hello from time to time, and i think that made the flight go a little quicker.

The key to surviving such a flight is to immediately adjust your watch to destination time, and follow that schedule. If you miss meals, etc., because you have to sleep, so be it.

Thankfully there is a Brooklyn Beer Garden next to the gate, so you can have a good beer or two before boarding. The flight departed at 2:30am Tokyo time, so I promptly set my watch upon boarding the plane and fell asleep as the alcohol took its effect. The airplane shuts off the lights at certain points during the flight but they usually do this on New York time, which will only screw you up if you follow their lead. When they did this it was actually time to wake up in Tokyo, so I stayed awake, turned on the light above me and brushed up on my Japanese.

"Arrival in Narita"

Narita Airport is located in Chiba Prefecture, and is not actually in Tokyo. It would be the equivalent of landing someplace in the middle of Connecticut to travel to New York City. In other words, it is out there in the middle of nowhere. Arriving here as a foreigner is apparently the same as arriving in the US as a citizen. When I return to JFK from abroad, you see a long line of foreigners while the US citizens get moved through the queue with hardly any wait. Here in Japan the foreigners went through quickly while Japanese citizens seemed to be held up in a huge line.

After retrieving my baggage I exchanged my money (do it here to get the best rate) and took some more out from the ATM (Citibank). Then I went down the escalators to the JR Line NEX (Narita Express).

The train ride to Tokyo is comfortable and takes a little more than an hour. By the time the train pulled into Ikebukuro, I was the only one left in my car. I got out and checked into the hotel, then cleaned myself up and took a stroll around this part of town, where I hadn't been in almost 16 years.

"The Kill Bill Place"

One of the first nights, I went to dinner at Gonpachi in Roppongi. It is said that the interior design of this restaurant served as the inspiration for the location of the final scenes of Kill Bill Vol. 1 (where the massive swordfight takes place). Check my Flickr gallery for the photo.

The atmosphere is really cool here, though every other patron is a foreigner. The food is really good as well. I stuck mostly with the yakitori menu and everything was very tasty.

"Sapporo Beer Museum"

Hmm... that looks interesting...

Those were my thoughts as I looked at my pocked map of Tokyo and saw a little dot on the map of Ebisu marked "Sapporo Beer Museum."

After researching it a little on the Internet, I decided that would be my first stop of the day. I headed down into the subway and took the Yamanote Line down to Ebisu.

To get to the Yebisu Garden Place (where the museum is) one has to take the skywalk. Its a huge enclosed people mover that has at least 4 parts to it. This dumps you out at the entrance of the Garden Place, a new complex of public space, shops, restaurants, and new office towers.

When I saw the huge beer cans guarding the entrance to the museum I was in the right place. You walk through the doors and are greeted by the enthusiastic shop staff. "Irashaimase!"

Admission to the museum is free but everything is in Japanese. I was really only here for the tasting, so I kind of breezed through the displays, mostly of old equipment and memoribilia. There were also basic displays of the beer making process, but I don't see how anyone could really learn anything here.

By far, and I mean BY FAR the most fascinating part of the tour was right at the very end. There is this long glass display case with a house on one end, and a creepy looking mansion and forest on the right. There was also a single shiny red button on the panel in front of it. So what else is a foreigner to do but PRESS THE RED BUTTON!

The display lit up and these holographic actors came into the picture. I couldn't understand what they were saying but all of a sudden a fairy appeared at the top and poured these two guys a beer! But suddenly, an evil wizard appeared in the dark forest and he drained the beer and KIDNAPPED THE BEER FAIRY!! This had to be seen to be believed. And if they didn't have a "no photography" sign in English you bet I would have taped this.

At that point I backed away from the display and went around the corner to the Tasting Lounge.

Instead of going up to the counter, you need to first purchase your ticket from the vending machine. There is a display case so you can see what is available, then you put your money in the machine and you get a plastic ticket which you then bring to the counter.

I ordered the sampler, and a glass of the Edel Pils. Everything else I had tried already.

You give your tickets to the bartenders and with robot-like efficiency they pour two beers each at the exact same rate of speed and place them on the little tray. You get a bag of Sapporo Beer Crackers for the purpose of refreshing your palate.

Clockwise from top left: Sapporo Weiss, Sapporo Edel Pils, Yebisu Beer, Yebisu Black Beer, and Sapporo Ale.

The first beer I had off the tray was the Yebisu beer on the top right. It is made with 100% barley malt and aroma hops. As such you only get the hoppy character when smelling the beer and the taste is very malty. I actually really like it so I took a can home with me.

219) Sapporo Edel Pils - I went with the big one next. The flavor profile of this was bitter all around. The finish was dry and lingering.

220) Sapporo Weiss - Like the pils, I have never seen this before anywhere else, so I assume it is only available at the museum and maybe at their restaurants. This is on the top left of the picture above. This is top-fermented using 100% wheat malt. The tasting notes indicated a little bitterness but I didn't really get much of that. Maybe that was because I just tasted the very bitter Edel Pils and those characteristics got drowned out. Very easy drinking but I thought it was rather bland.

221) Sapporo Ale - Bottom left of the picture. Again, this is a rarity. Tasting notes indicate this is in the British style. Color was a reddish orange. Medium body with a crisp finish.

Ended this session with the Yebisu Black Beer, which I had on my last trip to Japan. Coffee bean aroma. It's quite flavorful with coffee and chocolate hints. They should sell this here in the states.

"Late Night Run"

Later that night I stopped at the Am/Pm and picked up a few cans I hadn't had.

222) Asahi Gubinama - This is basically a beer flavored soda. That's what its like. There is no malt in this, instead I believe it is made with soybeans and sugar. It's nasty.

Fake beer.

That's the end of Part 1. In the next part, I will review more beers, talk about some places around Tokyo, and some of the things I ate. If you're keeping count we are at 222 beers down and 143 to go. I have 6 more to review from Japan plus 2 more since my return, if you want the latest stats.

Playing Catch Up

2006-07-29T12:10:00.000-04:00

Y'all thought I had disappeared and given up the game, didn't ya?

NO WAY!

I am in this for the long haul my brothers!

I apologize for the lack of updates the past 2 weeks. I was away in Japan, and didn't really have the time to update the site. I have a lot of new updates to put up, including several new beers I had in Japan. In addition, I will use this blog space to put up a review of my trip, so expect a little non-beer content to slip in over the next several posts.

But let me begin by entering 2 beers I had before I departed.

There are no photos here because stupid Blogger's photo uploader isn't working. So I put these 2 on my Flickr page.

217) Géants Goliath - Also known as the Gouyasse Tripel. This is a Belgian ale at 9% alc. by vol. Pours a thick gold color with a foamy head. Yeasty and bready aromas with a hint of spice. Unlike other tripels, this has no sugar. It is all malt and is apparently the only one in Belgium to do it this way. So it gives it a unique character that might be a little drier than others. Luckily for me, the beer club screwed up and sent me 6 bottles of this instead of just 3, so i still have several to save.

The weekend before leaving for Japan I had a BBQ on Long Island. My brother was in town from California as well. As usual, I pulled out the trusty garbage can, filled it with ice and beer and we went to town.

Jeff brought a six pack of a beer I haven't had before. As he put it, he picked up the most obscure looking beer he could find.

218) Gearys Hampshire Special Ale - This stuff was a bit strong for such a hot day but I liked the hop bitterness on the finish. It's an English strong ale. I drank it right from the bottle, BBQ style, so I don't know what i looks like and I couldn't give you an accurate description of the aroma except that it had a citrusy character most likely indebted to the use of Cascade hops.

So that's 218 down and 147 to go. I still have 12 beers to review if you want the up to the minute count.

Up next... JAPAN!

A Few Additions...

2006-07-13T16:49:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest!

The other night I opened a bottle from the Beer of the Month club.

214) Géants Ducassis - A fruit beer fermented with black currant. Pours a purplish-red. I'll be honest and say this wasn't my thing. I thought the mouthfeel was too carbonated. The taste was very similar to a flavored seltzer.

Ducassis

215) Millstream Johns Generations White Ale - Also from the club shipment, this is a Belgian style witbier but its brewed out of Iowa. I don't know if its an easy style to make or what, but this was just another fabulous interpretation of the style. Nice hazy gold color to it, and a sweet aroma dominated by orange peel notes. You get that in the flavor as well, along with some spice. Smooth finish with a pleasant malty aftertaste.

John's Generation White Ale

216) Dock Street Amber - Just as the name implies, its an amber ale. It is actually contract brewed by the Matt Brewing Company, same people who make Saranac. Nice amber hue with a quickly diminishing head. Subtle, sweet aromas with a hint of caramel. Nothing memorable in the taste, but it is easy drinking with a clean finish.

Dock St. Amber

216 down and 149 to go. I know its not the right weather, but I may have a barleywine tonight depending on how I feel. I went to the gym this morning, so I will have nothing to do tonight, so maybe I'll have it as a nice nightcap.

Saranac Update

2006-07-11T15:35:00.000-04:00

The latest beers I added to my list are both from Saranac, actually the Matt Brewing Company.

212) Saranac Traditional Lager - There wasn't much of a head on this premium lager. The color, as you can see, is a see-through gold. Light aroma of malt and grains. It's bitter right from the get-go, then the finish is kind of smooth. Strange and not well balanced in my opinion.

Traditional Lager

213) Saranac Black Forest - The Black Forest is a Schwarzbier. This is only the 3rd that I've had so I really don't know much about the style. Poured a dark brown with a thin tan head that dissipated quickly. Aromas were of roasted malt and chocolate. Flavor was the same, and there was not much bitterness.

Black Forest

213 down and 152 to go. Tonight I've queued up a bottle I got from Belgium!

Southampton Publick House event at the Hop Devil Grill

2006-07-07T09:07:00.000-04:00

Although Big Daddy Cal couldn't make it out to the Hop Devil Grill for last night's Southampton Publick House event, I decided to go it alone anyways.

And I'm glad I went too, because the beers were awesome, there was a good crowd on hand, and for the 2nd event in a row I won the raffle.

I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and get a little exercise too, so I walked from my office all the way down to the East Village. I know it sounds like it would take forever, but its really not that bad. One time I calculated that it takes me roughly a minute to a 70 seconds to walk one block north or south. Going crosstown can vary because not all of the blocks are the same length. So for me this was about a 25-30 minute walk, which wasn't bad at all.

It also got me thirsty for beer.

I passed many a bar along the way but I guarantee you that none of them had anything of the same quality as that which awaited on the far end of St. Mark's Place.

Arriving at the Hop Devil Grill, I found a seat at the counter and ordered a flight of the Southampton beers. The brewers also brought along some bottles and another beer on draft, which were available next door at the Belgian room.

206) Southampton Bavarian Wheat - I took a few sips and immediately called Big Daddy Cal to let him know he was missing out. Of all the German hefeweizens not produced in Germany, this is the best one I've had. It's not in the same class as the heavy hitters from Germany, but that would be asking a bit much. But its the closest so far. I really liked the banana and citrus flavors that were coming from this, and there was just enough of a hint of spice in there as well.

Bavarian Wheat

Yes, I screwed up and instead of being efficient and taking one group shot of the flight, I did them individually.

207) Southampton Steam Beer - This is only the 3rd steam beer I have had. Basically it is a Californian style where they take lager yeasts and ferment them at higher temperatures to give some ale characteristics. The color is a clear gold. It's not as dark as it looks in the pic below, which is the result of the beer picking up the colors from the counter. This one is hoppy and slightly bitter. Very crisp and easy drinking.

Steam Beer

208) Southampton Secret Ale - This is probably their most commonly found beer. Like the steam beer above, this is only the third altbier I have tasted. This is brewed with 5 varieties of German malts along with imported German hops. Caramel flavors are very well balanced with the hops. Pretty excellent stuff.

Secret Ale

209) Southampton IPA - Rather typical IPA. Citrusy aroma. Not overpoweringly bitter. It's balanced but rather disappointing after the 3 beers I just had.

IPA

210) Southampton Espresso Stout - This was apparently a mystery selection. There was a nice beige head on top but by the time I got around to taking this photo it had disappeared. The color is an opaque black. Aromas are, not surprisingly, full of espresso beans. Kind of a light body, dominated again by the espresso flavors. Finish is bitter. I'm not a big coffee drinker, so this wasn't exactly my favorite. But if I owned a coffee house I would get a liquor license and pour pints of this stuff.

Espresso Stout

It was then RAFFLE TIME! For the 2nd event in a row, I won!

And the prize was great. T-shirt and a Southampton wheat beer glass!

I won these!

I predict victory in the next raffle as well.

I wasn't done yet, so I headed next door to continue the event at the Belgian Room.

211) Southampton Double White Ale - This, to me, was the highlight of the night. I was blown away by how good this was. Flavors and aromas of orange peel, lemon zest, and coriander were just bursting forth. The alcohol content (at 6.8%) is a little higher than most witbiers. But I dare anyone to blind taste this side-by-side with the best Belgian witbiers. Do it. I would not be surprised to find this at or near the top.

Double White Ale

When the summer Hampton season dies down, I will definitely make a trip out east to visit the Publick House and try more of their stuff.

I'm at 211 for the year. Only 154 to go. Again I'm almost a month ahead so things will slow down for the next few weeks, as I have a trip to Japan coming up, and I don't anticipate going to any major beer events for a while. I may have a bottle or three in the next week or so, but I'm going to take it easy.

MEGA UPDATE!

2006-07-05T19:58:00.000-04:00

It's been a while. I have a lot of updates to go through, and I'm going to tackle them all in one fell swoop. There has been much progress on the beer front over the July 4th weekend, and even before then.

Lets go back to June 25th.

That day I made a trek out east with Tina to visit some wineries and bakeries. Mostly bakeries though. And we got some ice cream. See my earlier post for a list of the places we went to, they were all the same.

But here's a new pic!

YUMMMM!

That's a peanut butter sundae from Snowflake. Notice the goopy peanut butter sauce drooping over the side of the cup. Mmm... I must do this again soon. Also notice that the picture is a lot clearer than my past pics. I got a new camera but I think I mentioned that... maybe.

Lets skip ahead to June 29th and the Captain Lawrence event at David Copperfield's.

Went in on a rainy Thursday evening with Big Daddy Cal and Tina. Yes, we got soaked but there's no more hospitable place to pop in than David Copperfield's. We felt like weary travellers happening upon a nice unknown neighborhood spot but we felt right at home.

I said hello to Joe the bartender, and then we sat down at our table to taste the beers of Captain Lawrence, from right upstate in Pleasantville. Big Daddy Cal and I each ordered the sampler. Scott from Captain Lawrence brought their entire line in for the event.

Check it out:

Sampler!

Now, they were going to have another version of the Captain's Reserve on cask but they had some trouble finding the pin, so that didn't go up until after we left. The St. Vincent's Dubbel was available in the bottle.

In the picture above, from left to right, are the Pale Ale, the Liquid Gold, the Porter, and the Captain's Reserve.

196) Captain Lawrence Pale Ale - This is a pale ale containing American hops (Cascade, Crystal, and Columbus to be exact). The aroma is piney and distinctly American. The bitterness of this beer is nicely balanced out with a malty sweetness on the finish.

197) Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold - The gold color of this beer may make you think there is not much behind it but wow is this a complex brew. The aroma is spicy and earthy with orange and banana flavors to follow. Big Daddy Cal really loved this one.

198) Captain Lawrence Porter - This porter is actually smoked, and the aroma lets you know it right up front. The smoked wood aroma is something else. The flavor is smoky as well, and you also get the classic roasted malt and coffee flavors you expect from a good porter. This is excellent stuff and I hope they bring it back to David Copperfield's in the colder months.

199) Captain Lawrence Captains Reserve - This is their double IPA. Very hoppy and bitter. This is all intense hops on the nose. Like any good beer of this style, the malt is strong enough to balance out those hops.

Since we got the sampler but the cask version of the Reserve wasn't available yet, I got another beer to replace that one.

200) Sierra Nevada Torpedo Ale - I read that this is the same recipe as the Celebration Ale, but that the dry hopping method is different. This is a new release as well. Hoppy and aromatic like the Captain Lawrence I had earlier but this was a little more intense. Didn't get a picture because I pretty much downed it before I realized.

Jump ahead to the July 4th weekend. I began by watching Germany's World Cup match and figured what better way to celebrate than with a German Hef.

201) Schneider Weisse Original - Darker color than what I'm usually used to. Nice fluffy head that lasts long. Flavors of banana, clove, and even a little apple. One of the top 5 German hefeweizens I have ever had.

Schneider Weisse

On Saturday the 1st, we had a little BBQ at Jeff's place. Check out my Flickr page for those pics, but here is the beer I brought along to add to my list.

202) Rogue Seahorse Pale Ale - This was a 22 oz. bomber. Hazy orange color with hop aromas with a hint of malt. Caramel flavors mostly, with a bitter finish.

Seahorse Pale Ale

On Monday, I went to do a little shopping in the Soho area. I made plans to meet up with Big Daddy Cal for a quick drink, but before that I went to Vol de Nuit in the Village. The frites were the best part. The guy working the bar was a moron. The first thing I asked for was the Strubbe Pilsner ($4), which he gave me. Then later I asked for a Delirium Tremens ($8), and a La Chouffe ($8). He charged me for 2 Deliriums.

Number one, how does one confuse "Delirium" with "Strubbe Pils". It's not even close verbally.

Second, WHO THE FUCK DOES THIS GUY THINK HE'S TALKING TO?!?!?!

I HAVE A GODDAMN BEER WEBSITE!

I have tasted a shitload of beer.

I could taste the fucking differences in those drinks like its nothing. I know what I ordered and I know what I drank.

I'm through with Vol de Nuit. It's all vibe. Sure the frites are good, the atmosphere is very "European" and the courtyard is rustic and relaxing but this place is off my list because of the bartender. I had heard the owners were pricks but never experienced that until now.

Maybe I'll do a chargeback on my credit card.

Afterwards, I walked with Big Daddy Cal to the East Village and we went to the Hop Devil Grill.

203) Berliner Kindl Weiss Mit Schuß Him-Beere - Don't ask me to translate that. This was the first time I tried something like this and I didn't like it. It was way too sweet and syrupy. It was kind of like drinking a Shirley Temple that has been going flat.

Syrupy beer

Had a couple others to finish out the weekend.

204) Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen - Ayinger just makes great stuff and this was hands down the best Oktoberfest I have ever had. I can't wait for the fall months when I will get another bottle of this.

The greatest Oktoberfest in the world.

The latest beer I had was #205 for the year and my #400 beer overall.

205) Fullers ESB - Malty with a sweet grape flavor. Slightly bitter finish. Very drinkable - I could have this all day.

#400 all time.

If you're still reading, I currently stand at 205 for the year and 160 to go. That's a 2 1/2 week lead.

Tonight there is supposed to be a Southhampton event at the Hop Devil Grill, which I will certainly attend. Maybe I'll do the event beers then pop next door to the Belgian room for another beer and perhaps some frites.

BEHOLD!

2006-06-28T22:31:00.000-04:00

Behold. This is going to be #365 for the year.

No label you say?

Look at the cap.

Yes the rumors are true. I have scored a bottle of Westvleteren 12.

WESTVLETEREN 12!!!!!!!!

This is the one that is ranked #1 beer of all time by both Ratebeer.com and BeerAdvocate.com users.

I will open it as the #365 beer of the year. I can't think of any other beer I would be more excited to try.

Falling behind

2006-06-28T10:59:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not falling behind on my goal. That is going along just as planned. I am falling behind on my blogging lately!

I promised that I would write a food article next but since I don't have that set of pics with me at the moment, I will hold off on that until next time and go back to the beer.

Late Monday night I strolled into David Copperfield's and decided to have another beer to add to my list. The kitchen was closed so it was just Joe the bartender and a few locals/beer lovers. And me.

I sat myself down at the bar and ordered...

194) Oskar Blues Gordon - These guys brew out of Colorado. I've loved all the Oskar Blues output that I've tried thus far. This was no exception. I think they put out a lot of other beers but their main ones are this, the Old Chub, and Dale's Pale. This pours with a dark reddish-copper color with abundant floral hops aroma. There was actually a bit of a sweet malty taste to this to balance the hops. An amazingly easy drinking brew, you've gotta be careful because it is 9.2% alc and you won't be able to tell.

Gordon

Got another one after this...

195) Sixpoint Gemini - Sixpoint brews out of Brooklyn, and I think they have potential to give the Brooklyn Brewery a run for their money if they could get more recognition and distributorship. I couldn't find any information about this beer on the web so I assume its another new release from Sixpoint. As with the previous beer I had, its also a double IPA. As you can see, this was served in a goblet, indicating that its probably more potent than the Gordon. The head of this beer was nice and tall, long lasting with fine bubbles. I think this was a more typical style double IPA than the Gordon.

Sixpoint Gemini

195 down and 170 to go.

During my time at Copperfield's I had the opportunity to chat with a couple of the locals, Bill and Angelo, along with Joe the bartender. We talked about all kinds of things... beer, the World Cup, beer, life, travel, beer, what its like to work the bar and manage the taplist. I told them about my blog and hopefully I'll run into these guys again.

That's the great thing about good beer - it opens up the conversation and you get to meet all kinds of people, which I love to do.

Tonight and tomorrow I'm going to Copperfield's again. Tonight mainly for dinner, though I'll try at least one new beer, but tomorrow night they have the Captain Lawrence event, which I'm pretty excited about.

Back again soon.

What in the Sam Hef?!

2006-06-25T18:07:00.000-04:00

Back again with the latest beer update.

Raided my dad's fridge over the last weekend and took home 2 bottles from a Sam Adams summer variety case that I hadn't had before.

191) Samuel Adams Hefeweizen - Typical American style hef. Pour is cloudy, as you can see in the pic below. The pics on this site are about to get a lot better, but I'll explain later. I haven't really had an American hef that I have wanted to drink over and over again. The German styles are where its at.

Cloudy picture of a cloudy beer

Yesterday I bought a new digital camera. I got a Canon PowerShot SD450. I was going to get the SD600 but I didn't the extra mega-pixel was worth the extra money.

I feel kind of weird because I am now using the same camera as my friend Robyn (aka The Girl Who Ate Everything), and I feel like a copycat. I spent most of the time in the store staring at the camera thinking "uhhh... it's a good camera but... should I copy Robyn or tread another path?"

Why mess with success.

Had another new beer, mainly so I could test the new camera.

192) Schwelmer Pils - Awesome German pils. First, check out the nice pic below. The first pic I took with the new camera so maybe I didn't setup all the options yet but you can already see how much clearer it is than the others on this site. The aroma of this pils is subtle but there are definitely hints of crusty French bread. Very nice bitter finish.

HALLEJUJAH! A CLEAR PIC!

Also added another just a while ago:

193) Samuel Adams Pale Ale - This pale ale from Sam Adams is done in the English style and is made with Fuggles and Golding hops. Malty and hoppy, this is a well-balanced beer, but I wasn't overly impressed.

Sam Adams Pale Ale

193 down and 172 to go. This week I don't anticipate too much progress on the beer front, but like the New York Mets, I've got a comfortable lead.

Check back soon for a FOOD update!

Huge World Tour Update

2006-06-22T09:50:00.000-04:00

Haven't updated for a few days because I was being retarded and forgot to email myself the pictures I had taken.

I'm going to go through the Russian, Ukranian, and Czech beers I had recently. Some of them were decent, others... not so much.

Here goes:

185) Zolotaya Bochka Klassicheskoe - This was pretty basic and inoffensive for the most part. It's a Russian lager and the characteristics were pretty much the same as the others I had.

Glasnost!

186) Zolotaya Bochka Vyderzhannoe - This is a Vienna style lager. But it was kind of boring and not at all vibrant like the Brooklyn Lager. What I'm really trying to say is that its not a standout, but not a bad effort.

Bow to Mother Russia!

187) Slavutych Ekstra - We move from Russia to the Ukraine with this one. At first I thought this was a different beer because I couldn't understand the label but I finally figured it out. This is another pale lager, but of all the ones I had recently, its easily the standout. It's a serious challenger to Yuengling as the best lager I've had. Fuck that, this is better and I will be returning to the same supermarket to clean out their supply. Great everyday beer. Look at how good the pour looks below. Notice the tall head. Aroma was excellent all around. More complex than your average lager. Mouthfeel was smooth and the flavor was like dough before you bake it.

This beer rules.

188) BB Burgerbrau - After our brief detour in the Ukraine, we move to the Czech Republic. The actual name of this is "B.B. Originál Svetly Lezák Budweiser Bier" but I guess they can't use that in the states. Don't confuse this with the Bud we all know and hate either. This is a bohemian style pilsner. I had heard good things about this pils but I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed. It's simple and certainly its nothing bad but I don't know... maybe I've been spoiled by the last couple of Pilsner Urquells I had which were on point. But you could do much worse than this in choosing a beer for the summer months.

The better Bud

189) Nova Paka Brou Czech 3.5 - From the land of great pilsners comes this dud. It was just awful and I wondered if they just filled the bottle with a Bud. In the brief seconds that the head lasted, I was able to snap this picture. The taste was just way, way off and the body was wimpy. Really disappointing.

This beer doesn't really deserve a clear picture, I guess.

190) Krusovice Imperial 12° - This concludes our trek through all things Czech. I wasn't planning on having another beer but after the debacle that was #189, I had to rectify it somewhat. This was much better than the previous entry, though it was just an average Czech pils. Typical of the style, nothing really stood out as particularly memorable here.

Krusovice Imperial 12°

So we are now at 190 beers leaving me 175 to go. I still have a slew of bottles to go through, and tonight there is an Avery Brewing event at the Hop Devil Grill, though I'm not sure if I will go to that or not. Only 10 more to hit 200 for the year!

Bring me my grog, wenches!

2006-06-16T08:59:00.000-04:00

Last evening Big Daddy Cal and I returned to the Hop Devil Grill for their latest beer event. Middle Ages Brewing was on hand to showcase 5 of their beers, including a new release.

With the nice weather, they had some tables setup outside, but we elected to move to the inside as we usually do. The last time we came here it was still too cold to sit outside. I think that may have been a few months back.

We arrived a little before the kegs were tapped, so we put in our food orders and got our first beers. Wednesday night is also Kill the Keg night, and there were 4 beers available for $3 a pint. Tonight's choices were the Stoudt's American Pale Ale, Olde Saratoga Premium Lager, Chelsea Standard Ale, and PBR!

I first asked for the Olde Saratoga, but they took that down to get one of the Middle Ages beers up.

Then we both asked for the Stoudt's. Same deal.

KEGS WERE GOING UP!

The waiter brought back two pints of Chelsea Standard Ale, which I wasn't crazy about trying at the moment, so while Big Daddy Cal drank his, I sent mine back in exchange for:

179) North Coast Scrimshaw - A fine pilsener from California. Nice foamy head with faint grassy aroma. Very drinkable especially as the weather warms up.

Scrimshaw

Soon after our food arrived, the Middle Ages kegs were all tapped and ready to go!

We ordered the $16 flight, which looked like this:

Beer... one after the other

As you can see above, I was almost halfway done with the first one when I realized I needed to snap a picture.

I'll review them in the order in which they were consumed.

180) ImPaled Ale - Very aromatic - piney I would say. Cascade hops dominate the finish, so its pretty bitter on the finish.

BREAKING NEWS!

I GOT BEER!

Here I am at work and a co-worker I helped out on a major problem showed his appreciation today by bringing over a bottle of Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Though it won't count towards my yearly total, its one of the best tokens of appreciation I've received on the job.

NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG!

181) The Duke Of Winship - The Duke is a porter. Big Daddy Cal didn't really like it, while I thought it was a decent porter with all the facets you are looking for in one. It has all the roasty aromas and flavors with some mild hop bitterness on the finish.

182) (XI) 11th Anniversary Ale - This is a new release, a double-wheat beer. I'm not a huge fan of the American Wheat style but this was ok, maybe becaue it was stronger than the norm.

183) Wailing Wench - With this beer I pass the halfway mark for my goal. This is a strong ale, similar to the Arrogant Bastard. Malty but with lots of hop bitterness in there as well.

184) (X) 10th Anniversary Ale - Struggled to finish because I was so full and drunk by this point. 10% alcohol, double IPA. Very intense and bitter. The finish lingerssssssss.

As we were finishing up, the bartender announced they were having a raffle. At some point the waiter dropped a bunch of tickets on the table and I split them up with Big Daddy Cal. There were 2 drawings, and guess who won the 2nd.

MEEEE!!!

Looky at what I won.

PRIZE!

I will probably push it up to 185 tonight (another Russian) and take it slow over the weekend. As I stand now, I have had 184 new beers this year and that leaves 181 to go.

BREAKING NEWS!

I GOT FREE LUNCH!

I saved the Vice President's PC and he's buying me lunch. Awesome.

Have a great weekend! LETS GO METS!

Time to get Medieval

2006-06-15T11:17:00.000-04:00

No, I am not going to Medieval Times.

There is a beer event going on tonight, but more on that later. First I must get into the latest beer to add to my list:

178) Yachmenniy Kolos Zolotoe - This is brewed in Russia by Ochakovo, same brewer of another recent beer I had. I thought this was a little better. As with the others, the pour generated a thick foamy head. The aroma was of grains but it was faint. Very similar in taste to the other Russians I had recently, not much complexity.

You will drink for Mother Russia

Okay, so that's 178 with 187 to go. I expect to pass the halfway mark for the year tonight at the Hop Devil Grill, where Middle Ages Brewing will stop by with 5 of their beers. Check back for a full report tomorrow.

Glasnost

2006-06-14T11:06:00.000-04:00

The Russian term glasnost means "openness" and that is really the theme of this year's beer adventure. To be open to all kinds of new beer and open to debate about each one.

Here's the latest I had, in keeping with the Russian theme:

177) Zhigulevskoye (Samara) - The actual brewery is named "OAO Zhigulovskiy Pivo-Byezalkogolniy Kombinat". Samara is the city in Russia where this is from. The head is nice and fluffy, and the aroma is just like that of a Heineken. In fact, if you switched this out with a Heineken in a blind taste test you might not be able to tell the difference. I thought this had a more pleasant finish though. Not bad and for the price I got it, maybe I'll get a few more to keep on hand for the summer months.

Is official drink of KGB... not really.

That's 177 down and 188 to go. I would do the math all in Russian but I would probably just screw it up. Tonight's plan is to have yet another Russian lager, in keeping with the theme, with a possible visit out to one of the bars tomorrow night.

Farewell to the Cracka

2006-06-12T11:31:00.000-04:00

Before we begin, check out this website, the International Beer Liberation Front. Support the cause and do your part to liberate as much beer as possible, whether it be bottles or cans, casks or kegs!

Well Cracka is heading to the west coast, so this weekend we held a little farewell dinner and drinking thing to send him off on his merry way.

This weekend was also a good one to be a Mets fan, watching them drub the Diamondbacks. The Braves are way back now, and I don't know if they have what it takes to catch the Mets this year.

My new policy, which I will try to uphold, is to get a picture of every new beer I try. Since I didn't have the camera at Cracka's farewell bash, I just drank stuff I already had before.

Here's one from the past that I didn't get a picture of last time. It is the River Horse Hop Hazard Pale Ale, and it was beer #149 on the year.

#149

Now this weekend due to a lack of funds mainly, I decided to work over some of the bottles I have in the fridge.

First one up was:

174) Hair of the Dog Rose - This Belgian inspired brew comes to us all the way from Portland, Oregon. Hair of the Dog is a highly regarded microbrewer and this is the first beer I've been able to try from them. This is in the tripel style. You can see that this beer has a thick, apple cider-like appearance. It's cloudy and opaque. Rather sweet with a cotton candy finish. Overall I liked it but I have had better in the style.

Hair of the Dog Rose

175) Heavyweight Stickenjab Alt Bier - Beer #175 comes to us from New Jersey. This is an altbier and only the 2nd one that I've had. I'd like to have a few from Germany but I will say I rather enjoyed this. It had a sweet caramel aroma and better depth of flavor than the Tuckerman I had a while back.

Heavyweight Stickenjab

Yesterday I stopped at another supermarket close to my house, but in the Russian section. I bought 9 new bottles of assorted Russian, Ukranian, and Czech beers. Expect to see a little glasnost spirit on toomuchbeer.com for the next week.

I opened one of them with dinner last night.

176) Ochakovo Zhigulevskoe - Apparently a "zhigulevskoe" is a style of Russian lager. Pours a pale gold with a fluffy head that dissipates quickly. Taste and aroma is that of sweet corn. Finish was... buttery?

Vodka this ain't.

No beer for me today, as its a gym day, but I will have more Russian beer for you this week.

Here are the stats:
176 new beers down and 189 to go.

Utenos Porter

2006-06-08T10:06:00.000-04:00

As promised I had another new one last night.

173) Utenos Porter - This is a Baltic porter from Lithuania. Only the 2nd Baltic I've had and I have to say up front that this is nowhere near as good as the Perkuno's Hammer from NJ. The pour is dark but against the light its not as opaque as I would have expected. Head dissipates quickly. The nose is all sweet caramel. The taste of the beer is also quite sweet, leaning towards the syrupy side, with raisins and other dark fruits being the primary flavors here. You can also taste the alcohol on the finish.

Why does this photo look like it was taken in 1975?

Tonight I'll have another, as it stands now I am at 173 with 192 to go. At some point I need to get more proper glassware for all these different styles of beer.

Gavroche

2006-06-07T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here's the latest on the beer front:

172) Gavroche - This bottle was received via the Beer of the Month club. I have to remind myself to check on how many months I have left, because my subscription is probably expiring soon and I don't want to miss any months. Anyways... this is from France and is a Biere de Garde which translates to "beer for keeping." This is also the first of the style that I've had, so I've really got nothing to compare it to. As you can see from the picture the first thing I noticed (and I had been warned about this style) is the huge foamy head. It takes forever to go down. The color of the beer is a nice copper. Aromas are yeasty, which reminds one of a Belgian ale, but there is some earthy qualities to it as well. At 8.5% alc. it looks to contain a little more than others in the style, and you can definitely taste it. Overall I enjoyed this and hopefully over the next two bottles I will be able to learn a little more about the nuances of this style.

Gavroche

172 down and 193 to go. Tonight my plan is to open a porter but you will have to wait until tomorrow to find out which one it is.

Westside Brewing Company

2006-06-05T10:26:00.000-04:00

Please excuse me, as two of the beers on today's update are photoless, as I didn't have the bulky ol' digital with me at the time.

This Saturday I popped in mid-day to the Westside Brewing Company for lunch. The visit was unplanned and I kind of stumbled upon it whilst looking for a place. At first, I wasn't going to have any new beers, specifically because I didn't have the camera, but I figured why waste a good opportunity to further my goal.

I sat at the bar, there was plenty of space. For food, I ordered a cheesesteak, which was ok. The onion rings were decent though.

The name "Westside Brewing Company" is a misnomer, as they are not a brewpub, nor do they even make their own "house beer." The house beers are all made by the Chelsea Brewing Company.

Nonetheless, the tap selection is decent, and the bottled list looked like it had some good stuff on it.

The first beer I had was:

169) Brooklyn Light Ale - When trying numerous beers in one sitting, always try the lighter stuff first. Don't start with an imperial stout then work backwards to something like this, as it will kill the flavors. Anyways, this is a good alternate for other light beers. There is actually some body to this unlike the piss water most people drink.

Ended my stay here with:

170) Sixpoint Black Soul - This is a nice porter also brewed in Brooklyn, NY. Lots of roasty, chocolately aromas. A little hop bitterness on the finish. Nice beer overall.

At home on Saturday night I opened a new bottle:

171) Atwater Dunkel - Since I was at home, I got a photo of this one. This is from a brewpub in Detroit, and I received the bottle as part of a Beer of the Month club shipment. Dunkel means dark in German, and this is a lager style. I'm not crazy about dunkels. I don't think I've had one that has endeared itself to me. I don't really like the sweetness here.

Atwater Dunkel

Yesterday on the way home I picked up 6 new bottles from Whole Foods, so I have a total of 16 bottles at home ready to be added to the list. That should at least get me through the halfway mark.

As it stands, I'm at 171 new beers for the year and 194 to go. Today is a no-alcohol day so check back later this week.

Chelsea Brewing Company

2006-06-02T10:07:00.000-04:00

Last night I met up with Big Daddy Cal and we headed to the Chelsea Brewing Company at where else but Chelsea Piers.

Chelsea Brewing Company is the only real brewpub in New York City. Meaning that they do all the production on-site. Heartland used to do this, but they have since moved their production facilities off-site and everything you see in their restaurants are decorations.

I will say that while it is the best brewpub in the city, Manhattan deserves a lot better. Someplace with the quality and reputation of the Southhampton Publick House out on the east end of Long Island. Hopefully some rich beer lover will wake up and open such an establishment.

Anyways, back to the Chelsea Brewing Co.

It is located at Pier 59 by the driving range. I had been there once before in 98 or 99 after hitting some balls with my dad. Back then I hadn't had more than a handful of beers, and I just had one pint of the Checker Cab Blonde.

Last night Chelsea was offering 7 beers, but they were out of the spring wheat so the sampler only consisted of 6 brews, pictured below:

Labeled. For your convenience.

I started at the bottom left and worked my way around, so the first one up didn't count towards my goal, but I will write about it anyways.

The Checker Cab Blonde Ale is one of Chelsea's year round brews, made in the German kolsch style. I've only had a few of this style, so I can't definitively say how it stacks up against the competition but it is a nice, crisp, easy drinking ale and perfect for the summer. It's rather light-bodied with somewhat of a citrusy finish. If I came here on a nice day, and was sitting out on the deck by the marina outside I would order one of these. Better than a Corona anyday.

The rest of the beers on the sampler were all new to me, so here goes:

164) Chelsea Blackberry Wheat - Chelsea always has a fruit/wheat beer available. Today it was the blackberry and you could indeed taste it right up front. However it was too cloying for my taste.

165) Chelsea Piers 10th Anniversary Abbey Ale - Chelsea's version of a belgian style ale. Tastes malty with some spice notes in there. Not a bad try but there is too much going on and nothing really brings it into balance.

166) Chelsea Sunset Red Ale - Now this I really liked. Any drinkers of Killians should take note and get this into your rotation instead. Nice balance between the caramel malt taste and hops. I could really drink this all day. Chelsea really did a great job on this. As a bonus, this is available year round. If you see it on draft around town, give it a try.

167) Chelsea Hop Angel IPA - If you like your IPAs to be intensely bitter, then this is right up your alley. I like bitter IPAs but the finish was a bit coarse on this. That I could deal with, but my main peeve here is that I couldn't discern any kind of malt whatsoever so the beer was not balanced at all. Very unrefined. I will say this though. I have had worse IPAs. At least it has the intense hoppiness going for it. Better to have that than an IPA without any character whatsoever. I just don't like when brewers play it safe, so kudos to Chelsea for actually trying.

168) Chelsea Gotham Stout - This was the final beer out of the sampler. This stout was hoppy. I bet the IBUs on this are sky-high, though because stouts are so malty you never notice. But this one definitely had an interesting kick to it. Bit of a different aroma on this one as well, due to the prevalance of the hops. It had the typical chocolate notes but with a piney element.

We both liked the stout so we each ordered a pint, pictured here in all its glory.

The logo shows through!

Well, some nice progress was made yesterday, bringing my total for the year to 168. That leaves me with less than 200 new beers to try for the year, 197 to be exact.

The next milestone will be #183, as that will mean I'm more than 50% done. Tonight is a gym night but I imagine I'll have one or two new ones this weekend.

Another new one

2006-05-31T10:05:00.000-04:00

And so the quest continues...

163) Cameron's Long Leg - This is a blonde ale from England. British style blonde ales are a lot hoppier than other versions and this is no exception as you definitely get the strong hop flavor coming through. The hop used in this is the fuggles hop. This also gives it a little bit of an earthy finish. The beer is named "Long Leg" because of the old tradition of wearing stilts to harvest hops.

Cameron's Long Leg

163 new beers down and 202 to go. My buffer is down to 12 as today is the 151st day of the year, but I expected to slow down a bit around this time.

Memorial Day Mayhem

2006-05-30T11:37:00.000-04:00

I know, the title sounds like a wrestling pay-per-view show.

But it was Memorial Day weekend and mayhem ensued!

You may have already read about Saturday's trip to the north fork of Long Island, but if not, scroll down a bit and be sure to read that. Today I'm here to talk about Sunday's BBQ festivities.
Picked up Chris and Max in my neighborhood, then headed out east again (only into Nassau County), to Jeff's house for a BBQ. Traffic was heavy but manageable. We made a pit stop at the Beverage Barn to pick up 2 12 packs. Tina was working and unfortunately couldn't join us.

I brought along a new beer! So here it is:

162) Tuckerman Headwall Alt - This is a German style brown ale, or altbier, but from a microbrewery in New Hampshire. This was the first time I had tried an altbier, so I have no real frame of reference. I enjoyed the balance of maltiness and hops. The pour, as you can see below, is a rusty copper. This was sent via the Beer of the Month Club, so I have 2 more opportunities to try this and better familiarize myself with the style.

Tuckerman Headwall Alt

After the new beer was out of the way, I proceeded to help Kaval "kill the keg" that he brought over for the BBQ.

It looks huuuuuggeee, I know...

The photo is deceptive and makes the keg look bigger than it is, but it was a 5L, and that's a lot of beer for 2 people to finish off.

So after drinking a lot, and eating lots of hot dogs and hamburgers, what better to do than play a DRINKING GAME?!

The game we played was Drug Dealer, and as you probably all know, you usually designate an Ace card as the cop, while another suit card (we used a Jack) is the drug dealer. Every other card is a number card.

You deal 1 card to each player around the table, and once all the cards are dealt, it is the job of the drug dealer to "make a deal" with another player, by winking discreetly at them.

The person who receives the deal then has to say "the deal has been made." What makes it fun is if the person receiving the deal waits a little bit before announcing this, just to build the tension.

The next step is for the cop to reveal himself and then attempt to point out the drug dealer. If he chooses wrong, the player he chose shows their card and the cop has to take that many drinks. You keep going until the drug dealer is found.

Now, if the drug dealer makes a deal with the cop, he is "busted" and has to chug the remainder of his beer.

We also have some additional rules we play with.

- We took out a number card and replaced it with a King. If the cop chooses the King (who rules over all) the King can raise his finger and hold it there while the cop is forced to drink. You have to show some mercy though, because if the other person gets you in another round, they will make you pay.

- If there is a definite "loser" in the round, such as when the cop goes around the whole table without finding the drug dealer, or if the drug dealer makes a deal with the cop, you have to put on the special crown and sit in a designated spot by yourself for the next round while everyone mocks you and perhaps throws shit at you.

I was the first "loser" because I winked at the cop and was given my proper "coronation". See below:

Joy...

As you can see the crown is actually a modified 12 pack case. Just cut off one of the smaller sides, and make it look like a knight's helmet and you've got it.

So... that's 162 beers down, which I noted is the number of games in a baseball season.

"Only" 203 to go...

A Trip to the East End

2006-05-28T10:01:00.000-04:00

Saturday I took a drive out east to visit Jeff and Melanie at their place on Long Island, then from there we took the short drive to the North Fork of Long Island for an afternoon of wine tasting and whatever else catches our attention. As you will see, the stuff that caught our attention quickly became the highlight of the trip.

I was supposed to drive someone else from the city out east but as predicted, Lazy Chris was a last minute dropout.

So I packed up a bottle of awesome wine for dinner, the digital camera, and jumped in my car, blasting the new Mute Math record all the way.

Traffic wasn't too bad and the weather held out the whole day, not a drop of rain fell as the forecast had stated. Heading out east on the LIE, we discussed the agenda for today's trip, deciding to give priority to the wineries we haven't been to before.

There are 2 main roads on the North Fork, route 48 and route 25. We went to 48 first, then decided to circle back down 25 on the way home.

The first stop on our list was Roanoke Vineyards.

Roanoke Vineyards is a relatively new winery and I believe they are owned by the same people who own Wolffer Estate on the South Fork. The tasting room is a decent size and it wasn't too crowded.

Tasting here is $5 for either the reds or whites. We all went with the whites because last time we were here we tried the reds. I did like the 2004 Wolffer Late Harvest Chardonnay but didn't get a bottle. The best thing about tasting here is the free cheese & bread they give you.

Free cheese!!!

The next stop was Lieb Cellars, where we were hoping to actually buy some cheese. However, due to a new law that says the wineries can only sell products made within the state, they no longer sell the cheese they used to.

But they were giving away free ice cream! Jeff and Mel each got the $3 flight of whites, while I decided to go with the $3 red flight. I didn't like any of the wines. There were no discernable fruit flavors to be found. Most of them had a strange bell pepper taste to them and the aromas were all oak. Sometimes the finish was rather coarse.

They said they also put some of the wine in the ice cream and I don't know if it ruined it or not but the chocolate raspberry ice cream we tried had a strange aftertaste to it as well.

Since the cheese is no longer being sold here there is really no reason for us to visit Lieb again, since none of us were crazy about their wines.

Shinn Estate is another new winery out east. The owners are Barbara Shinn and David Page, who own Home Restaurant in the city. They have plans to open a bed & breakfast next year on the property. The tasting room was cozy and cool, offering a relaxing place to sit down and try some wine.

Shinn Estate

Tasting here was $8.50 for 5 wines but David let us have all 6 that were available. The highlight was the first one we tried, the 2005 Home Chardonnay. 80% of it was fermented in stainless steel while 20% was fermented in oak. The wine was very balanced all the way through. The notes usually added to these wines by oak were very subtle. At $15 I thought it was a good value and decided to buy a bottle.

Heading further down Rt. 48, we found the new location of Catapano Dairy Farm. It is a small, family owned goat dairy and the main attraction here are their homemade cheeses.

Cheese! That-a-way!

Just follow the sign in the lot to the small shack where all the cheese goodies are located. If goat cheese is not your thing, then perhaps you might be interested in the various goat milk beauty products they have available.

Jeff and Mel picked up some cheese as they usually do here and I decided to get a block of goat milk fudge. I haven't tried it yet but I will be sure to write about it once I do.

Our next intended stop was the Tasting Room on Peconic Lane, but as we drove up we saw the sign out front saying they were closed. Wha?!

We almost pulled the car away but something there across the train tracks caught my attention.

THE PECONIC BAKING COMPANY! YES!

I love their slogan: "Fueled by Frosting"

This is the point in the trip where it became less about wine and more about food! Indeed we were unprepared for the various sweet delights that awaited us inside.

Go ahead... take a gander:

Cake city!!!

There are many more photos available on my new Flickr page. Be sure to check that out and leave me your comments.

Ooh, but you're all probably wondering about the Peconic Baking Company. Okay, so the place definitely has a friendly atmosphere and everything looks delicious. It's in the middle of nowhere and if you are looking to get that nice homemade type of baked goods then this is the place to go.

Everything looked so good so I took a while deciding what I wanted. In the meantime I took photos and tried a bunch of free samples. They had a big plate with 5 or 6 various selections you could try and I went with a raspberry lemon square which was very tasty. They also had cookies, cupcakes, and regular cakes, and everything else you could possibly imagine.

All in all, this will definitely be a place I will go on every future visit to the north fork.

Down the block from the bakery we found the 4th and final winery we would visit on the day, Ackerly Pond Vineyards.

Ackerly Pond is previously known for just producing grapes, but now they produce their own wines as well. The tasting room is really tiny. Two women worked the counter and there appeared to just be enough space for the 3 of us. Conveniently we were the only ones there at the time. Tasting here was $3 to try all the wines they have available.

Their rose was probably the best we had tried that day and their reds were definitely better than the ones we had at Lieb. It's been a while since I've had a red from Long Island that I've enjoyed. In 2000 they had a decent vintage (as did the rest of the world) and I had some reds from Paumanok, Raphael, and Macari that I enjoyed. However, since then nothing has struck me as even being drinkable. Looks like at the moment, white varietals seem to show better fruit characteristics than the reds.

The wine tasting portion of this trip is now over so it was time to get pie!!! Everyone loves pie, don't you?!

So many pies, so little stomach...

Briermere Farms makes the best friggin' pies in the world. People have supposedly travelled thousands of miles just for one of their pies and after tasting one you will understand the obsession. Just look!

Pies!!!

I took forever to decide (and take photos) but I went with the raspberry cream. It's about halfway done by now. SO GOOD!!!!

It's like crack in pie form!

The raspberries are layered generously on top of the absolutely sinful and to-die-for cream. The crust is just perfect. Really if you visit only one place out east, make it Briermere farms. And the Peconic Baking Company. Go there too.

If you are into organic foods there are farmstands everywhere that grow their stuff locally. Other places we passed by but didn't go to are this cute tea cottage just east of Briermere and a place that makes award winning cheesecakes which is also in the same area. We'll save those for the next trip.

You know what?

IT DOESN'T END THERE!!! Bring on more homemade sweets!

On the way back we drove through Riverhead and on Rt. 25 just before the LIE, you can visit Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe, which has been serving up the good stuff since 1953. Some of you may have recognized them from an episode of Best Of: Ice Cream on the Food Network. The owners, Stuart and Carolyn Feldschuh, have been known to create over 100 new flavors every year!

Jealous? Ye should be...

I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices available at this place. All of it homemade, right in this little shop. Eventually I went with the Peanut Butter Cup, which I woofed down in record time. The cone even had a little amaretto taste to it I believe. It was the perfect way to end the day.

Oh man... so that was our Saturday. I'm going to have to do this trip again, and REAL SOON! I think next time it will be something along the lines of bakery, goat cheese place, maybe a winery, tea place, cheesecake place, pie place, ice cream place, belly explosion. Joy.

BXL Cafe

2006-05-25T22:06:00.000-04:00

Today during work I felt like I was definitely in the mood for a decent beer and some food to go with it.

Gave a call to Tina and also to Big Daddy Cal and we setup a little shindig at the BXL Cafe. BXL Cafe is a small Belgian bar and restaurant on 43rd St. near Times Square.

Welcome to BXL Cafe!

After work was done I took the 15 minute stroll uptown (with a stop at the ATM) and met up with Big Daddy Cal.

BXL Cafe is on the same block as the Heartland Brewery Chophouse and is between Spanky's BBQ and Town Hall. The place was crowded but people seemed to stroll in and out at a steady rate. The Belgian beer must take its toll on people.

Come back tomorrow.

The interior is small and cozy and the staff is friendly. Two towers with 5 beers each sit on the bar along with a separate tap for Lindeman's Framboise at the end of the bar. Past the bar is a small area with tables, where we would sit later for dinner but before Tina arrived, Big Daddy Cal and I stood at the bar to get the drinking started.

Classic Belgian beer paraphenalia

He had a Delirium Tremens while I started with a Leffe Blond. After Tina arrived, we sat down at one of the tables and ordered dinner.

Leffe Blond

I had an onion soup which was average, and then a hangar steak with frites on the side. Hangar steak is always a good choice to get if its on the menu. Because it is not the most popular cut, you can usually get a good quality piece of meat. This was no exception. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was very juicy. The frites were pretty decent as well.

Hangar Steak in sauce & shallots AVEC FRITES!!

Finally I had to have another beer so I went with one that many people I know seem to have had but for some reason I haven't gotten around to:

161) Delirium Tremens - 8.5% alc. Its not the best Belgian strong ale I've had, and its not the revelation that some people have told me it would be, but it is a pretty good beer. Perhaps when you take into consideration that its made in a commercial brewery, that makes it even better. Slightly bitter on the finish, but not at all biting. Very easy drinking with the citrusy hop flavors dominating. This was served, like the other beers we had here, in its proper drinking glass.

Double-fist the D.T.

With 161 in the books, that leaves me with 204 to go. This weekend's plans are still in the works but I expect to have another new beer or two, probably bottles.

Dogfish Head has the touch!

2006-05-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

I need to get a new digital camera.

1) The one we have now is a bulky relic. Some people even think its a digital SLR. HA HA! It's just too heavy and inconvenient to carry around at all times.

2) The quality ain't up to par anymore.

I will correct this soon but in the meantime I have to live with it. I've missed many photo ops recently (Burgers & Cupcakes, Manganaro's, Lenny's just today).

Billy Wagner just closed out the Phillies in game 2 of this series, putting the Mets back up by 5 in the NL East. Alay Soler pitched pretty well after a shaky start. Good news overall. How clutch is David Wright?

Many of my fellow Met-fan friends have admitted to having a man-crush on him.

I came home tonight and felt like having a new beer!

So here goes...

160) Dogfish Head Midas Touch Golden Elixir - The team at Dogfish Head have done it again. It seems they can really do no wrong. Supposedly this recipe is inspired by the oldest known recipe for any fermented beverage. It contains barley, white muscat grapes, honey, and saffron. DH describes it as being "somewhere between a beer, wine and mead" and you can definitely get that sense right from the aroma. The grape notes dominate the nose while the main flavor you are getting from this is honey. Alc. is 9%. An excellent experience of a beer. Note: this beer is produced year round but in limited batches. If you see it at your local beer store, don't hesitate to pick up a four pack!

Dogfish Head Midas Touch - as sweet as honey...

So that makes it 160 beers for the year. 205 to go. Tomorrow is a possible bar night, but I'm not sure yet. If not there are 9 new bottles waiting for me in the fridge.

NY Culinary Festival

2006-05-22T14:18:00.000-04:00

The weekend got off to a great start. I went to my friends apartment with two Stone bombers in hand (1 IPA and 1 Arrogant Bastard) to watch the Mets play the Yankees in the first of a three game series.

My team, the Mets, were victorious in the first game, thanks to David Wright's game winning hit. Jump on the bandwagon now, bandwagon-jumping fans!

Then Saturday it was the NY Culinary Festival at Pier 94 along the Hudson River. I first heard about it through the newspaper and thought it would be an interesting thing to check out so I bought tickets for myself, Big Daddy Cal, and Tina on Saturday morning.

I got there quite late in the afternoon and met up with Big Daddy Cal outside the venue. What was strange was the fact that I printed up "tickets" then had to exhange it for another "ticket" (one of those old fashioned "admit one" things). Then and only then did they let you in. I could have just brought my own admit one ticket from an old carnival roll and walk right in. Maybe next year I'll go early, figure out what color they're using, then run over to Staples.

The inside of Pier 94 is basically a big gloomy and gray warehouse. I don't care about that so much as long as everything is easy to find and things are organized. It was a bit weird though, and maybe even a little ghetto.

The information booth at the front didn't really have much information other than a schedule of events and live music. There was no map available either but I guess it wasn't necessary being that the place is just one big room.

Your $20 ticket gets you entry to the place, plus it covers the music and demos. If you wanted to eat any food you had to pay.

HOWEVER...

...in keeping with the "exchanging your ticket for another ticket" theme you had to purchase "scrips" which you could then give to the restaurant booth people in exchange for food.

I understand the need for the scrip system is basically so the restaurants don't have to waste time handling cash and making change but all night there were people pulling out cash at the tables and then being redirected to one of the scrip booths. It was not really clear to everyone how things worked.

The place was pretty big so the crowd had plenty of space to disperse and I never felt cramped or like I was in anyone's way. That was a plus.

I wish there had also been more restaurants on hand. Some that were advertised didn't show up.

And better sound at the demo areas. If you stood in the back you couldn't hear a thing. And other times there were audio difficulties which made some of the chefs sound fuzzy.

Finally, the fact that you have to pay for each dish is a bit annoying. The $20 admission should also have given each guest maybe 5 free scrips to use on food. I could really do without the music acts. And some restaurants should lower their prices and/or offer at least 1 thing for free. Are they there to make money or to promote their restaurants so that sometime in the future we festival-goers may one day want to dine at their establishments?

As an added bonus I found 3 unused scrips in my bag this morning. That's $3 in funny money that I cannot use for anything.

Other than that I had a great time, and ate a lot. For about 6 hours. Tina showed up later after getting out of work and by that time Big Daddy Cal and I were stuffed. Also I ran into Robyn, who has one of the best food blogs in the entire universe. Her pictures are also a lot better than mine. I will have to listen to her and get a separate food blog but I haven't come up with a catchy name yet.

For the beer readers, they had Bass Ale and Stella Artois. I had one of each but neither one counts toward the goal.

Check out some pics!

Cheeses from Artisanal

Crappy pic of a bison slider from Aspen

The bison slider from Aspen was one of the highlights. The meat was tender and juicy and all the toppings were in perfect balance.

Big plate of chocolate "salami"

I don't remember where the chocolate salami was from. Its basically pieces of bread with chocolate bread baked around it and it looks like salami, hence the name.

Chakra roll from Gobo

Sunday I went into Manhattan to do some shopping then I grabbed lunch at Wollensky's Grill since I was in the mood for a burger and they have a pretty good one.

Behold the monstrosity!

As I was leaving the restaurant, John Cleese (of Monty Python) was coming in to ask where the nearest bookshop was. He's a tall dude and even politely held the door open for me as I was leaving. Then I saw him politely blow off an autograph seeker on the street. Ehh... I don't care much about meeting celebrities unless they've really touched my life in some way, which is rare.

So tonight I'm going to a concert then tomorrow night I will go beering, I promise! Remember I'm ahead by 17 days!

We now return to our regularly scheduled...

2006-05-18T20:37:00.000-04:00

...BEER!

Okay beer fans I am back with a new beer.

But first!

Here is a photo of beer #134, the Lev Lion Pale Double Bock.

Lev Lion Pale Double Bock

And now...

159) Hitachino Nest Weizen - Decent version of a German hef from Japan. A little sour to my taste, which kind of interfered with the banana flavors I was looking for.

From Japan!

159 down and 206 to go. I'll hopefully make some more progress this weekend. Check back again soon.

Impromptu visit to Angelo & Maxie's

2006-05-18T10:31:00.000-04:00

So last night I was supposed to go to the Collins Bar for the Dogfish Head randall event but due to a scheduling conflict I couldn't make it. Most of the beer events in the city seem to take place on Wednesday nights and that is now not always an option for me. I'll still go to certain events but it most likely means I will have to catch the aftermath of the events on the following day and just buy individual pints instead of whole flights.

Was out with Tina and I decided that I desired red meat.

Went to the nearest Duane Reade to check the Zagat guide and the nearest steakhouse was Angelo & Maxie's. Overall my impression is it was okay. The meat was good but not the best in the city. While wd-50 is a must-try place, Angelo & Maxie's is the type of place I would go when you just happen to be around.

Like last night.

We were seated promptly without any reservations. It was pretty crowded and it was a typical manly steakhouse though without the gruff service. We actually had a waitress and she was pretty nice and attentive.

Started out with the bread. I liked the bread basket they gave out and you didn't even need butter for any of these. Take a look:

Basket o' Bread

You have those cracker things with the seeds. Onion bread with more oniony goodness stuffed inside. And do you see that long dark piece of bread? Do ya? It's pretzel bread and it was pretzel good.

At any meal you have to drink. This is the only beer related item of this blog. Tina didn't want to get a whole bottle of wine so instead I got beer. Otherwise I was gonna Cab Sav it.

Drinkssss

I got a draft Brooklyn Lager. Other choices available were macros. Tina got an apple martini, which looked pretty good.

My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach, so I ordered up a French Onion Soup as an appetizer.

Soupe a l'oignon au gratinee

It was a typical steakhouse onion soup. For some good ones in the city try it at La Bonne Soupe or Les Halles. For the best in the world, go to Paris to the Les Halles neighborhood and eat at Au Pied du Chocon which I believe is open 24/7 so you have no fucking excuse not to go.

BRING ON THE MEAT!

Grilled Double Cut Rack of Lamb with Mint Jelly

Tina got the lamb as she often does. I didn't try it but she said it was okay, good quality meat, but a boring version.

Slab of meat

I got the 26 oz. ribeye, ordered medium rare as I always do. The meat was good quality and cooked to order but they should have seasoned it. I maintain that the best ribeye and the best steak period that I have had is at Strip House. They do an expert job with accentuating the natural flavor of the meat. The menu says this is available blackened which maybe I should have done. I do not like combining ribeyes with sauces. This cut is so well marbled the meat doesn't need any help. I would only trust Dylan Prime with putting toppings and sauces on my ribeye.

So, the question on everyone's mind is... did ya finish it?

No.

The aftermath.

I couldn't do it. Maybe it was because I had the soup but I cannot eat as much as I used to. Took the leftovers home in this cheesy looking doggy bag.

Cows.

Tina wanted dessert despite the fact that there are still cupcakes in the fridge. So I said fine. We split the warm chocolate souffle.

Chocolately richness

It wasn't like a real souffle, it was more like a warm brownie smothered in rich fudge. But steakhouses have never really been about the desserts.

Now I know I have let all the beer fans down over the past few days with these foodie posts but tonight I promise I WILL have a new beer. I have plenty of bottles to choose from but as always it will be a "game-time decision."

Check back tomorrow for a beer post, I promise!

wd-50 & Sugar Sweet Sunshine

2006-05-17T11:08:00.000-04:00

Today's post is a beerless post. I know this is primarily a beer blog but this just has to be posted.
Last night went to wd-50 on the Lower East Side and did the 5-course dessert tasting.

OH MY GOD!

It was one of the best things ever. To go with the tasting, we got a bottle of JJ Prum reisling which went excellent with every plate.

Check out the pics!

Forgive me if the names of the dishes aren't accurate. I didn't take a copy of the menu and it was the first day they are running the summer menu, I believe, so the website isn't updated. Most of this is from memory so I might be wrong or forget ingredients.

You actually get 6 courses with the tasting, because this first one is a freebie:

Frozen tangerine with olive oil and basil

This went awesome with the wine. The olive oil added an interesting texture to the icy tangerine bits and the basil was awesome. The pairing of flavors that this restaurant comes up with are amazing.

Okay, 2nd course, first official course of the tasting!

Cornbread ice cream with corn dust and red onion

WOW! Holy shit this was so good. Never would I have imagined this combination would work. But the nuttiness of the corn was perfect with the savory red onion. I really contemplated ordering another one of these.

Onto course #3 (aka 2)...

Tonka bean creme brulee with cherry stuff

This is a new addition to the menu. I love creme brulee and this was awesome. The cherry dust on top was pretty tasty.

Moving right along...

Pumpkin cake with pumpkin & cream cheese sorbet

I think thats what he said it was. At this point I was blacking out and all that was running through my head was "yummmmmmmmm...."

In fact I forgot to take a photo of the next dish, which was manchego cheesecake with foamed pineapple and thyme sauce. I just ate it, then looked at the camera. Oops.

The final "official" course...

Carmelized banana with chocolate ice cream

Yes I know the photo sucks. The dessert, however, was amazing. I love chocolate & banana and anyone who doesn't like this combo I feel sad for.

Finally... since we were there for a birthday, and I had told them of this when I made the reservation, we got this little surprise...

IN YOUR FACE!!!!

This is chocolate cake with a candle on top, inside a carmelized sugar tube. FREAKIN' AWESOME! And the cake was perfect, not too rich or sweet. Just the perfect end to the meal...or in our case "extended dessert. "

AND YES IT DOESN'T END THERE!

On the way home I stopped into Sugar Sweet Sunshine and took home a six-pack of cupcakes, a piece of NY cheesecake, and a slice of the peanut butter icebox pie.

Behold!

Can't wait to see how long those last. As for the uber-delicious peanut butter ice box pie?

I started eating it on the subway. It was very tasty.

It didn't make it to West 4th St.

I have a picture of the aftermath but for some reason this stupid Blogger photo adding thing isn't working right and its not adding my photo. Jackasses. It's just a photo of the empty cup, and its not all that exciting really.

Anyways, in beer news, there is a great event tonight at Collins Bar. Read one of my old entries for information about that. I have to go somewhere tonight but I will try to stop in for a quick one. Hopefully I will get a picture or two out of it as well.

Kickin' it Asahi style

2006-05-15T21:10:00.000-04:00

Got a haircut today after work. I love the fresh cut feeling but I hate when the little hairs are digging into your neck and getting into your shirt. Awful.

Anyways, back to the task at hand which is to try 365 different beers that I have not had before.
Tonight I had noodles for dinner. Look at the pic. I think this contained at least 130% of my recommended daily allowance for sodium.

Noodz!

And... what would dinner be without...

BEER!

158) Asahi Brewmasters Select - Instead of my usual prose style reviews, this time I will kick it haiku style.

nice amber color
hard to find beer from Japan
it tastes like soy sauce

Okay so it doesn't taste like that, but it is nice and malty for a lager. I wish this were more widely available.

Issho ni nomanai?

158 beers in the books and 207 to go. Perhaps soon I will post a list, both those I have had this year plus my all-time list.

Tomorrow I will be dining at wd-50 and I am looking forward to trying their dessert tasting menu.

Yes, that will be my dinner. Screw my health.

Is this how the Germans do it?

2006-05-14T17:51:00.000-04:00

The Mets are killing me lately. Another bad loss and they have the off-day to think about it going into the series against Albert Pujols and the Cards, then back to NY for the subway series against the Yankees. Their lead in the NL East is down to just 1 game and I am really concerned about the team. They seem to have lost that swagger that they had earlier in the season.

Tonight for dinner I am again having sausages (this time with mushrooms) and pairing that with a new beer while watching the close of the Nets/Heat game.

Beer w/ Dinner (Sausages with sauteed mushrooms)

157) Erdinger Weissbier (Hefe-Weizen) - I also bought this bottle from Beer Garden here in Queens. An excellent German Hef. with the requisite refreshing fruity citrusy qualities I've come to expect from the Germans. Pours with a huge foamy head. The finish leans towards the sweet side. It's on some bottle lists around the city I believe so I will have to recommend this to Big Daddy Cal, as this is his favorite style.

Mmm... foamy!

So that's now 157 beers down and 208 to go. I am way too addicted to this photo thing now. It makes my blog look a lot better doesn't it? I may have another new one tonight but check back tomorrow for any new updates.

I feel like going for some gelato tonight for some reason.

Another Photo!

2006-05-14T12:25:00.000-04:00

This photo thing is almost as addicting as the beer.

This is the Ridgeway Bitter which was beer #135. I had 1 more bottle left and so I figured, why not take a photo.

Enjoying this now with a couple of portobello mushroom sausages. Excellent!

Labas!

2006-05-14T11:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, so going forward I am going to try to put a photo of each beer that I drink. I'm about 40% done with the overall goal so if I start now and I can at least say I posted a majority of my beers with photos.

I started drinking this one already when it occured to me I should take the photo. I still need a better digital camera and a newer, smaller one that I can carry around with me.

Right now Police Academy is on Comedy Central. What a classic 80s comedy. The scene of Commandant Lassard getting a BJ from the hooker during his slideshow then seeing Mahoney come out from under the podium is priceless.

156) Utenos - Labas! Labas = hello in Lithuanian. That is one of 2 words that I know but when I used to attend Lithuanian summer camp I was able to sing the national anthem, which I have since forgotten. This beer is from Lithuania and I picked it up yesterday at Beer Garden on Hillside Ave. Being half-Lithuanian I picked up a bottle of this for my mother as well as a Mother's Day present. This is also the free glass I got. It has a Michelob Ultra logo on it but big deal, it was free. This is your run of the mill lager style beer but as you can see the pour is quite hazy and it is not overly carbonated. Its nice to have a lager of some depth for a change. Yeasty aromas dominate... nice change over the standard corn smell of most macro lagers. The taste is almost like a hefeweizen.

Utenos - from Lithuania

156 down and 209 to go! There will be more drinking today as I watch the Mets game but I don't know if I'll post right away or not.

Testing photos

2006-05-14T11:49:00.000-04:00

So I'm experimenting with this automatic photo upload thing but its a bit of a pain as I can't figure out how to get all the photos into one entry.

Below is a picture of a Mickey Mouse shaped pancake I made for breakfast this morning. Tasty!

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour...

2006-05-13T18:07:00.000-04:00

I AM IN NO WAY MISERABLE AT THE MOMENT!

So on Thursday, I went uptown and was roaming the streets. Bought a whole bunch of truffles at Myzel's Chocolates on 55th, then as I was heading down 5th Ave, I popped into the Trump Tower.

Thank God for public spaces.

As I was strolling through I stumbled upon none other than Trump Bar, as recently promoted on the Apprentice.

Mr. Trump only has 3 taps available, Guinness, Stella, and a Sam Adams seasonal. Figures as he is only interested in big business and in his world big business = quality. .

How long before we have a Trump brand beer?

Let it be said that if that should happen I want money for the idea as I've written about it here as of 5/13/06.

I ordered a Guinness, served in a friggin' pilsener glass. 8 bucks. Yeah.

After that had a Brooklyn Pilsener served in a pint glass at Brooklyn Diner. The Mac & Cheese is quite awesome.

Friday I stayed away from beer and I did so as well this morning. Went food shopping and then stopped off at Beer Garden on Hillside Ave. in Queens to pick up a new stash. Also got a free pint glass with my purchase.

But come dinner time... It's On!

So I started with a Yuengling... That doesn't count and I pretty much chugged it as I was cooking a flank steak.

But then... I had a new beer.

155) Kasteelbier Donker - This is a strong Belgian brown ale. 11% alcohol and you can smell it right at the start. Pours a dark brown with a thick head. This is a very, very sweet beer, balanced out with the alcohol. Definitely a dessert suitable beer. Be careful...

155 down leaving "only" 210 to go.

Most importantly, this was my 350th beer ever! Thanks to Tomoyo for bringing this bottle direct from Belgium.

Well its Saturday night, which means there is much drinking to be done. I wonder how many ounces of beer get drank every Saturday night in NYC.

See you again soon...

Oh! Before I go, don't forget about the awesome event scheduled for Wed. night at Collins Bar. Big Daddy Cal and I were planning on going elsewhere after hitting up Collins Bar 2 weeks in a row, but this event looks too good to pass up on.

See below, taken from the Collins Bar page:

For those of you that don't know, Randall the Enamel Animal is an organoleptic hops transducer (a converted water filter) that is stuffed full of fresh hops. The filter is then hooked up to a keg, forcing the beer (usually Dogfish Head 90 Min. IPA, since Sam Calgione of Dogfish Head designed the crazy thing) through the "hop filter" just before it hits your glass. The alcohol strips the oils off the hop leafs transcending the beer to another level.

THE LOWDOWN: On Wednesday, May 17th at 6pm we will be running THREE Dogfish Head beers through THREE DIFFERENT RANDALLS:

90 MINUTE IPA
120 MINUTE IPA
APRIHOP ALE

We will also have INDIAN BROWN on draught and WORLD WIDE STOUT 2003 (22.1% ABV) in bottles.

Going... to... be... awesome...

Tuesday night in the city, don't forget about the Triple Threat event at the Hop Devil Grill. Sixpoint, Smuttynose, and Southern Tier square off against each other. I won't be able to attend, but don't miss this battle! Cheaper than a PPV boxing match, and guaranteed to go 12 rounds!!

Rock Art event at Collins Bar

2006-05-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

Last night I met up with Big Daddy Cal as I usually do on Wednesdays for drinking. We headed over to the Collins Bar for the Rock Art Brewery premiere in NYC. The place was a little more crowded than the last time we went so we headed to the small back area and got a table. Complimentary cheese and bread were also available in the back along with the usual free popcorn.

This was our first event at Collins Bar and unlike beer events at other locations in the city, they didn't have a flight available, so we just bought by the pint.

The first one was on me:

152) Rock Art Whitetail Ale - This one is pale gold in color and is pretty light bodied. Hints of citrus and a little wheat but overall it was pretty one dimensional. I thought the finish was a bit dry and not refreshing.

After downing some cheese and bread, the next one was on Big Daddy Cal:

153) Rock Art American Red Ale - Supposedly the finish of this beer is called the "super glide" by the brewers. Sure it was a clean finish but again this was nothing special. Aromas were decent - roasty and woodsy even but there was none of this in the flavors. Actually I got some of that sweet molasses taste from the back end of it that I'm not very fond of.

That was all we had at Collins Bar. I didn't try the other one that would have been new to me (Stock Ale). Overall I wasn't impressed by the Rock Art stuff. I had their barleywine last year and it wasn't very good at all.

We got a bit hungry so this week was a repeat of last week and we headed down the block like a couple of lazy bums to the House of Brews.

I ordered a southern fried chicken salad which was rather good. Had it with a bottle of:

154) San Miguel Premium Lager - This lager is imported from the Phillipines. It was pretty average for the style and I got it only because I wanted to knock something off my list, get something from afar, and have something that wasn't too filling.

After that we called it a night. 154 beers down and now 211 to go. I've rebuilt that 20-day buffer over the past couple of weeks as today is only the 131st day of the year.

I may tackle #155 tonight, which would also be my 350th different beer ever. Since that's something of a milestone, I want it to be a decent choice, and I have a selection of 5 bottles to choose from, any of which will probably be a suitable candidate. Stay tuned...

A quick entry

2006-05-10T15:33:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to see a show at BB King's Blues Club and they had a house beer on tap, so I had that as my #150 beer.

150) BB Kings Blues Brew - Pretty bad. Like a flat Heineken with carbonation re-added. Why couldn't they make a BB Kings porter? It would go so well with the rich food they serve at this place.

Speaking of Heineken, I had this at lunch today:

151) Heineken Premium Light Lager - Better than the Beck's Light, slightly below the Amstel Light, still near the bottom of your list of beer choices.

151 down and 214 to go. Up next is a Collins Bar event celebrating the arrival of the Rock Art Brewery to NYC.

I have had their Ridge Runner Barleywine but it wasn't so great. Looking at the rest of their lineup they don't really have anything that's highly rated but I'm going to check it out anyway. Check back tomorrow for the review. Expect me to try my 350th career beer tonight unless they are serving full pints of the Rock Art stuff.

Derby Weekend!

2006-05-08T10:18:00.000-04:00

What a weekend it was on the beer front. I have 7 new beers to write up among other things. On Friday I went home and cooked dinner (a healthy salad topped with tofu) and opened up a new bottle.

143) Ybor Gold Gaspars Porter - This was a porter with chocolate and coffee overtones. Not as medium bodied as most porters, this one ran a little lighter. Though it is from Florida so I imagine the weather doesn't really inspire one to make heavy beers.

Saturday I met up with Big Daddy Cal at none other than the OTB. It was the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby. As I usually do with this race, I just bet the horses that have the worst odds in hope of getting lucky. There is just too big a field to really predict what is going to happen. Lawyer Ron and Brother Derek really got screwed with their post positions. I don't even think any horses have ever won from that far out. Had they been closer I think they could have challenged Barbaro. I didn't win any money this year but I didn't spend much either.

After placing our bets we headed over to the nearby Ginger Man to watch the race and have a few beers.

144) Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier - This was really quite spectacular. Has a much deeper gold color than most hefeweizens. All the desired characteristics one could want in this style are here and they each stand out in their own way yet blend together to make one hell of a beer experience. Very refreshing!

145) Youngs Special London Ale - Strong and hoppy. Good malt character in there too but I think the hops were the dominant player here. But this was quite a spectacular beer. Went down very smooth and the alcohol sneaks up on you.

We debated at this point whether or not we should keep drinking. Later that evening we were scheduled to meet up with a group to do some karaoke.

We decided to drink on!

146) Reissdorf Kölsch - Ok, so we just went for one more before heading out. Only the 3rd kölsch style beer I have had. This was a pretty refreshing beer but I probably should have had it first out of this drinking session of 3.

On the way to the karaoke place, where you can rent a private room just like in Lost in Translation, we started singing Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" and "She Drives Me Crazy" by the Fine Young Cannibals. It was decided at this point that the karaoke theme for the night would be "the 80s."

The karaoke was a good time and we made everyone sick by singing songs like "Glory of Love", "Bad", and "Love Shack".

We were hungry afterwards so we went down to the West Village and tried to get into the Spotted Pig but the wait was 75 minutes at 10:30 pm. Walked over instead to the Corner Bistro and had a bistro burger. Good stuff. Very tasty and very messy.

At the Corner Bistro, I had another opportunity to have a new beer!

147) McSorleys Black and Tan - This is now contract brewed by Miller. It was probably the worst stout I have ever had, but it was only $2.50 and it washed down the burger.

Sunday I took the LIRR out to Long Island to pick up my car. A massive crack had mysteriously appeared on the windshield last week so while I was in Orlando I had it replaced.

Having to take the train out there is a real pain in the ass. I can't believe I used to do that as a commute. Then waiting for a cab is also an awful experience. Luckily it was slow so I got one quickly.

My mom had went to Whole Foods the other night and picked up a few beers for me to aid me in my quest. Help always comes from those who love you most.

Went over to Jeff's house to watch the Mets and Jose Lima get their asses kicked and we shared a bottle of:

148) Ruddles County - Yup, we both went to Ruddles County and drank up all their beer. Suckas! Actually no this is an ESB from England. Bitter and hoppy but not the best ESB. I'm still in love with the Fullers which tastes like candy.

Sunday night over dinner I opened another bottle that I had in the fridge:

149) River Horse Hop Hazard Pale Ale - This beer comes out of New Jersey and its an American Pale Ale (APA). I got a hint of coffee notes on the back end. That was a surprise. I wasn't a huge fan of this beer.

So that in a nutshell was my weekend. The next beer is somewhat of a milestone for the year so I'm going to try to make it something a little more special. However, I won't have any beer tonight. After all that eating and drinking this weekend my body needs a rest.

149 down and 216 to go so I am 40% done for the year and yet again I have a huge lead.

Coming up this week at the Collins Bar is an event to celebrate the arrival of Rock Art Brewery in NYC. I'm debating but I should be up for that.

Tom Glavine = New Big Unit

2006-05-05T11:05:00.000-04:00

Tom Glavine is pitching like the new Big Unit. I still suspect that the former Atlanta Brave and current Braves spy is going to screw us over come August, but so far, so good from Tommy G.

Last night I went to the Mets game w/ Jeff, Chris, and our favorite... Cracka.

All in all it was a beautiful night for baseball and the Mets beat up on the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates to improve their record to 19-9. Good win for the team heading into the Atlanta series.

It was also a great night to get in some new beers.

Since I had to take the LIRR out to Shea I picked up a bottle of:

140) Blue Point Summer Ale - Nice refreshing beer with a citrus character to it. Drank it right out of the bottle so I don't know how the pour looks.

141) Kona Longboard Lager - At Shea, we stopped by the field level Brewhouse and got a pint of this, which is brewed in Hawaii. Again the draft pints are 25 cents cheaper than the pint bottle of Sudweiser. That's a deal you can't beat, especially when this is a pretty good lager. Actually one of the better ones I have had. If you go to Shea and want to try something other than a Bud, go with the Kona.

142) Redhook ESB - I thought I had this in the past but alas it was not on my list so it is a new beer. Its an average beer and nowhere as good as a Fullers. Redhook seems to be all over the place around here but I don't really think they're a standout brewery.

142 down and 223 to go. Hope everyone gets drunk this weekend. Check back again for my next update!

Collins Bar, House of Brews, and upcoming events

2006-05-04T10:01:00.000-04:00

Last night I met up with Big Daddy Cal for our usual Wednesday night drinking tour. Our first stop was to be the Collins Bar and since I know they don't serve food we each grabbed a hot dog from that venerable old NY institution, Gray's Papaya, on the way up.

With that part out of the way, we proceeded to Collins Bar, finding two seats at the bar right up front. The place is pretty narrow and cozy, and there are chalkboard menus above the bar.

The taplist is not the most extensive selection in the city but where the Collins Bar shines is in its bottled selections. The list is updated frequently and instead of being your typical encyclopedic, "our list is bigger than yours" bottle list, they keep it down to a reasonable amount of selections and include a few rarities on the list.

That shows me the bar cares about each bottle on their list, and it is reassuring to me as a drinker that the rare bottle I pick from the list is more likely to be available because the list is kept up to date. Nothing is more frustrating than asking for 3 or 4 bottles only to be told "sorry, we're out of that one..."

Big Daddy Cal opened with the Brooklyner Weisse, while I started with:

136) Sierra Nevada Pilsner - This was available on draft and was the first time I had seen this. It was crisp and refreshing, and did a good job of washing away the hot dog. The finish was nice and sweet. An excellent pils.

Next up Big Daddy Cal had a Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale, also on draft, but I decided to delve into the bottled selection and had one of the best new beers I've had this year:

137) Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Special Reserve - This is a Scottish old ale, and what makes this one so special is that it was aged for six months in single malt whiskey casks, giving a nice blend of flavors. The pour was as black and opaque as engine oil. Flavors were an awesome mix of whiskey, sweet caramel, and malt. One of the most robust beers I have had in a long while. You know it is good stuff when you start thinking about it the day after.

I raved so much about it that Big Daddy Cal had to get himself a bottle before we headed out.

In the midst of all that drinking we worked up a decent appetite, but in the interest of continuing with the drinking theme we headed down the block to the House of Brews. The bar wasn't that crowded so we took our place right in the middle.

Big Daddy Cal had a bottle of Schneider Weisse while I went with a bottle of:

138) Lion Stout - This excellent 8% abv stout comes from the other side of the world, in Sri Lanka, home of Arthur C. Clarke. Malty and sweet.

After eating I decided to finish up with:

139) Sagres - This lager comes from Portugal. Slightly better than the usual lager suspects but still a middle of the road selection. I was told by the bartender that they will be phasing this out of their rotation.

So another successful night adds to the tally. 139 down and 226 to go. Much work remains to be done but I am ahead by two weeks.

On the way out of the House of Brews I picked up a copy of the Ale Street News. It's really a great resource for those seeking great beer. Some items and articles of note:

Be sure to read Ms. Mug's article about what to do when the beer you order is not so fresh. This is something that happens at even the best beer bars in the city and we've all gotten a bad bottle or spoiled beer at some point in our lives.

The Breweries and Brewpubs directory is one of the best things ever. And its right in the centerfold of the paper. Sure there are resources online but there's nothing like sitting down and looking at it all on one page, the old fashioned way. With the weather getting nice, it gets me thinking about the beer related trips I will have to take this summer.

First on my list of desired road trips is Eastern Pennsylvania, which is really the mecca of east coast beer. There are so many top breweries and brewpubs in close proximity to each other. Places like Victory, Weyerbacher, Yuengling, and Stoudts. I'd also love a return trip to the Lancaster Brewing Company.

Also one of these days I'm going to have to go out east to Long Island and visit the Southampton Publick House, consistently rated as one of the top brewers on the coast.

Some interesting events are coming up as well.

First, the Brewtopia World Beer Festival returns to NYC on 10/20-10/21 this time at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Hopefully this time around there will be plenty of space for everyone to enjoy the beer without being packed in like sardines.

Standings will host Mets Victory night on May 24 with selections from Victory in PA.

Chelsea Brewing Co. and Heartland Brewery have some interesting new releases. I will have to pay both of these places a visit in the coming weeks.

At Jimmy's No. 43, this May there will be a selection of spring beers mostly of the hefeweizen and witbier variety.

So there is a lot on tap, so to speak. Check back again soon for my next update!

Decisions, decisions...

2006-05-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

Note to self: Never again buy a case of just 1 beer. 24 bottles of 1 beer is too many to have laying around. If you're going to have company over then that's ok, but for everyday drinking a case will only distract you from your goal.

The problem here is that I have some new bottles to drink but then I have this slew of other bottles taking up space in my fridge. They need to go at some point but I feel overly pressured to drink them just to make space.

Anyways, I got another shipment from the Beer of the Month Club and had two of those beers over the weekend.

134) Lev Lion Pale Double Bock - Despite the name this is actually a Bohemian pilsener. Very crisp with a frothy head but not as complex as Pilsener Urquell.

135) Ridgeway Bitter - This was also a refreshing brew but again nothing that deep. Had that hoppy bitterness that I like but I would have like to see a stronger malt character to balance that out.

135 down leaving me 230 to go.

Tonights drinking will take place at the Collins Bar in Hell's Kitchen. It will be my first visit there and I am pretty excited. They seem to update their list daily and they have some items I have never seen before, including a limited production brew from Rogue. Check back tomorrow with my full review.

Back from Sunny Florida

2006-04-29T13:38:00.000-04:00

I returned yesterday morning from Orlando after a week down there on business. It wasn't as busy as I thought it would be so we did get to go out quite a bit. I could never live in Orlando because the bars all have to close at 2 a.m.

The highlight was probably when the company rented Universal Studios for the night. We had the whole park to ourselves and got to ride things like the Revenge of the Mummy, Men in Black, and Terminator in 3D. Orlando is great if you go there just to visit the theme parks and be a kid but if you are in the mindset to do some serious partying and drinking it is not that great a place.

So as you can imagine I have lots of updates to put in here. Let's start with a visit to the Ginger Man with my friend Kaval.

I fixed up his laptop and met up with him to return it and go for some brews.

127) Radeberger Pilsner - This is a German lager that was quite drinkable. The kind of beer to start a long drinking session with.

128) Coniston Bluebird XB - On cask. This was more of a pale ale to me than a bitter. A lot of sour hops and not much maltiness.

129) Kira Wit - For some reason I can't find any information about this beer or the brewery. If anyone knows where I can find their webpage, please send it my way. I can tell you it was a decent Belgian witbier. Not anywhere as good as a Hoegaarden and probably a lot better if you get it in a bottle.

The night before I flew out to Orlando I stopped off at my parent's house to drop off my car, because I needed to avoid the alternate parking rules here in the city. My mom bought a six pack of beer and I had one of the bottles.

130) Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale - A great amber ale, probably the best I have had to this point. It was a very complex brew highlighted by a beautiful caramel maltiness.

Down in Orlando I took advantage of any opportunity to have new beers. As it turns out, I only got the chance to have three. At all the company events they had Miller Lite, Bud, Coors Light, Miller High Life, Michelob Ultra, etc. So I drank my share of crap beer and even switched over to having margaritas at one point.

131) Hurricane Reef Pale Ale - An American style pale ale. This was pretty good. I drank it right out of the bottle at the bar so I couldn't tell you much about the color but it was dominated by a citrusy/grapefruit hop character with a creamy malt finish.

132) Key West Sunset Ale - This was also brewed by the Florida Beer Company. Had this one on draft at the hotel bar. Nothing to write home about. Amber color, not very hoppy.

133) Alligator Lager - This was brewed for the hotel, probably by the Florida Beer Company. I don't know if this was the exact name for the beer but it kinda sucked. The bartender threw the bottle into the recycler before I could ask to see it. Can't find any information about it anywhere. If you really must try it go to the poolside bar at the Rosen Centre.

133 beers down and 232 to go. So having the buffer paid off because during this 8 day stretch I only tried 3 new ones. While I was away, the latest shipment of beers in the beer of the month club came. I will start on those soon.

Because there was an abundance of free food and drink at the hotel this week I am going to take it easy this week. I need to get back on track, eating healthy and all that. I return to work on Monday and at most I will go out once this week.

A-B... F-U!

2006-04-17T10:07:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I didn't get the chance to go to New Beer Distributors. I was carrying two laptop bags and there was no way I would be able to lug any beer along for the ride home. I'll try again another time.

Saturday I paid a visit to Nevada Smith's to watch a Newcastle vs. Wigan match. Nevada's doesn't serve any food (unless you like Dublin pies) so I stopped off at Blue 9 Burger before the game and got a double cheeseburger. Very tasty.

Cracka is a big Newcastle fan and he shows up there with the Toon Army to watch all the big matches. Wasn't a big crowd this time but it was a really nice day so maybe that had something to do with it. I've always hated soccer but each match I watch my tolerance for it grows as does my understanding of the game. I still know next to nothing and would much rather watch 5 or 6 other sports first but I can now sit through a whole game.

During the game I had 2 new beers, thus finishing up Nevada's tap lineup.

124) Spaten Premium Lager - Nothing mind-blowing but easy drinking. Nice way to start the day.

125) Bare Knuckle Stout - Not bad, but it is brewed by the evil Anheuser-Busch organization. That wouldn't bother me all that much if not for the fact that their actual commercial description according to Ratebeer.com states: "Bare Knuckle Stout is Anheuser–Busch’s warrior that is intended to combat the increasing sales of Guinness." Fuck you guys.

After the game, which was won by Newcastle, we headed down to the St. Mark's Ale House to watch the Mets lose to the Brewers. They have a good tap list but there was only 1 I hadn't had.

126) Spring Heat Spiced Wheat - Ugh. So awful it put me to sleep quite literally. A Belgian style witbier but just nasty tasting and sour as hell.

126 down and 239 to go. This Wednesday there is an event at the Hop Devil Grill so I will be going to that to add about 5 more to the list. Then I'm going to Orlando on business until the end of the month, so here is where that all important 20-25 beer buffer is going to come in handy.

Ye Olde Extended Lunch

2006-04-14T10:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was incredibly dead at the office. Almost nobody was around. I was about to go to lunch (anyplace with the Mets game on would have been fine), I walk around the corner, and one of my colleagues says "hey, go to lunch with us, we're going to Stout."

Lunch? Stout? I'm there, dude.

So off we went to Stout for our European style lunch "hour."

Shared some appetizers and I had a burger with bacon and swiss. I asked for it medium rare but it was well done. I ate it anyways.

Most of the TVs had the Yankee game on, but if the Mets keep on rolling, by mid-season I would imagine the balance will shift.

THE WORM IS TURNING! This will be a Mets town again real soon. Nobody wants to see boring overpaid A-Rod, Damon, Unit, Posada, etc. Jose Reyes, David Wright, Beltran... these guys bring youth and enthusiasm. And they are a TEAM. Not just a collection of names like the Yankees are. Ultimately that is why the Yankees will disappoint yet again in 2006 while the Mets continue their rise.

Suck it, Yankee fans.

Anyway, I had the following:

123) Fullers London Pride - Pretty enjoyable stuff. I like the malty characteristics of this bitter. It had a very rich and caramel-like quality to it.

So that's today's quick post. 123 beers down and 242 to go. Tonight I will be cooking up a batch of tonkatsu, but first I believe a stop at New Beer Distributors around lunchtime is in order.

The Perfect Stout

2006-04-13T09:53:00.000-04:00

Last night a friend came over to have me try to fix a problem with his laptop. He's the same guy who made the homebrew which was beer #105 this year. So at the same time I also wanted to reward him for his brewing efforts by sharing some good stuff that I had.

The other night was a revelation. I have met the perfect stout. It was the most perfect, well balanced, intensely aromatic, deeply flavorful stout I have ever had.

122) St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout - Luckily I had 2 bottles left, one of which I poured for my friend. This beer looks great. Murky and dark as night. Pours to a nice long lasting head - dark brown with small bubbles. Lasted the whole way down the glass. Aroma is intense. Like walking into the coffee aisle at your local supermarket, one where they have the fresh beans the do-it-yourself grinder, with a hint of chocolate in there as well. A winner from the first sip. Everything is just perfect, and in complete harmony. Like a supermodel with a brain. No wonder this is an award winner.

I got this beer from the Beer of the Month Club, and now is as good a time as any to talk about it, as I've mentioned it, but never really reviewed it here. First, I will say it is kind of pricey, but remember that much of the cost is going into the shipping. A box of 12 bottles, well packed, weighs 17 pounds. One month is $24.95 + shipping. The total each month is $36.95. So you are paying just over $3 a bottle. Sure, some of the beers are mediocre but there is no way in hell I was going to find this Oatmeal Stout anywhere unless I went to Montreal. So its clear to me that these guys care about sending you good stuff. If you are like me, and are willing to pay a premium to get beer you haven't been able to find anywhere else, then its totally worth the cost. I am halfway through my 6 month membership, and as of now it looks like I will definitely be renewing.

Oh, and the shipping materials are great. They have a special styrofoam insert which has slots for each bottle, so they are well protected. I have 2 boxes with the inserts, and I intend to send them to my brother in California so he can send me even more beer that has no NY distribution.

In addition to the Oatmeal Stout, I shared a bottle of my favorite beer, the Victory Storm King Imperial Stout, and a bottle of St. Bernardus Abt 12. We also talked about making a trip to PA to hit up all the top breweries in that state, and also taking a day to just bar hop the city in search of good beer.

My next shipment of beers from the club isn't due until the end of the month, and I only have 2 new bottles left at home, so tomorrow I will be making a trip to the store to replenish my supply of choices.

122 down and 243 to go... things are definitely coming along nicely.

Weekend Roundup

2006-04-10T12:24:00.000-04:00

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.

Post #50

2006-04-07T09:58:00.000-04:00

I really can't think of a better title at this time. The last week has been a roller coaster ride. I'm probably also getting senile.

On Tuesday, as promised, I went to the Waterfront Ale House with some friends. I had the Texas dip to eat (which is a southern take on the French dip) and a few brews.

Started with:

114) Sierra Nevada Scotch Ale - Can anyone confirm if this is a relatively new release from Sierra Nevada? I wasn't sure but I haven't seen it before. I only recall this beer being very sweet. Nothing to get thrilled about.

Then had:

115) Avery The Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale - A great beer to liven up the conversation. Part of Avery's "Dictator" series. Really big beer and very in-your-face with the hops. 112 IBUs, I believe. Very powerful stuff. Cracka would gag on the finish, that wuss.

Went to last nights Mets game. There was really a "full moon" kind of vibe in the stadium the whole night. Fans were rowdy, it was Pedro's first game of the year, there was a near brawl, one of the umps may have died, big hits galore. Very strange night indeed.

I blew a chance to have a new beer last night but I'll get it next time. Instead I had a Widmer Bros. Hef. from the "brewhouse" on the field level. It was .25 cents cheaper than the macros. Hopefully when the new stadium opens up there will be more choices and they will be spread throughout the whole park, rather than just having a few good beers in this one place.

Tonight is Big Daddy Cal's birthday party and the celebration is to take place at David Copperfield's. I'll look to probably just have 2 new beers tonight along with dinner, as I've been eating too much lately to do any more than that.

Weekend summary

2006-04-04T13:07:00.000-04:00

Don't have a lot of time but here's a quick summary. Had a pint of Heavyweight Lunacy via tap at Waterfront Ale House. This isn't a new beer to me so it doesn't count but the bottle was so much better. Also I think that the line was maybe dirty, because the taste was pretty far off from what I remembered about that beer.

I'm still dealing with a lot of personal things so I'll cut right to the chase with a quick recap:

111) Paulaner Hefeweissbier - This, the Ayinger Brau Weisse and the Weihenstephaner Hef are the best of this style that I've had. Amazingly refreshing and enjoyable banana flavors. The Germans are the best in the world when it comes to wheat beers.

Stopped into Copperfield's for a quick couple of pints.

112) Southern Tier IPA - One of the better IPAs that I have had. Aromatic with a nice bite to it. Definitely try this and support New York brewers!

113) Rogue Chocolate Stout - This was love at first taste... or was it smell. This smelled so good I was seriously debating whether or not I should even drink it. You know that smell when you open a good bar of dark chocolate? Those aromas were just wafting out of the glass. My new favorite stout, not including imperials. Rogue is going up on the link list.

252 left to go. I will probably go back to the Waterfront Ale House after work today and add another couple.

Waterfront Ale House

2006-03-31T07:50:00.000-05:00

I've had some personal issues come up so I don't know how frequent I'll be posting over the next several days. Yesterday afternoon I had to find something to eat because I hadn't eaten anything all day, and I stumbled into the Manhattan location of the Waterfront Ale House quite unexpectedly.

I ordered the French Dip (roast beef on a French garlic baguette with onion broth for dipping; also had the onions and cheese on it) and to go with that, I ordered...

109) Sleeman Cream Ale - This was a $4 pint which is probably a $1 too much but their other beers are $.50 to $1 cheaper than most bars. Not very good but better than a Budweiser.

Also with dinner I had:

110) Dominion Pale Ale - Another one from my beer of the month club shipment. Quite an amazing American style pale ale. Really great hops aroma. Tastes just like the bottle looks, woodsy and piney. Awesome. Also heard the owner of this brewery is selling it, but that nothing is going to change and neither will the staff. That is certainly good news.

255 left to go... talk to you again hopefully soon.

Back on the juice

2006-03-29T11:03:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying the great weather we are having in NY today. Just a quick update - had another new beer w/ dinner last night.

108) Bink Blond - This is a Belgian ale that I received as part of my latest beer of the month shipment. A decent session ale but not as good as others within the style that I have had. The aroma was sweet but the taste was not as complex as say, an Orval. Still I'm looking forward to the other two bottles I have on hand.

108 beers for the year leaving 257 to go. Not sure if I'll have another one tonight but check back again soon!

I'm the beer juggernaut...

2006-03-28T09:34:00.000-05:00

So... finally I will recap the other two beers I had on Sunday, but before I get to that there was a nice article in today's Metro titled "Microbrews ready for another round."

The article discusses the growth of America's microbreweries and the reasons behind that growth. Craft beer production grew 9% last year and their market share keeps growing. The explanation given is the "aging of America." While I think this is partially true, there are still lots of older people who only buy the big brand name beers, and at many of the recent beer events I have attended the crowd is getting younger and younger, with much of the attendees including myself, being under 30. So not only is the older crowd getting more sophisticated, the younger crowd is as well, as I have stated in an earlier blog entry.

Some facts from the article:
- Last year 6.3 billion gallons of beer were purchased in the US.
- The current top 5 brands in terms of sales are Bud Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors Light, and Natty Light.
- There are 1,368 craft breweries and brew pubs in the country
- Current craft beer sales make up 3.5% of the market while imports make up 12.5%. However these numbers are on the rise while the macrobrewers continue to lose market share.

Again I think these trends will continue, and outside of just making better beer the macros will not be able to stop their decline.

So yesterday I didn't have any beer and even went to the gym for a nice workout. I was going to write today about how to lose weight yet continue to enjoy good food and drink, but since this article appeared I decided to go with that instead.

Sunday I had 2 other new beers which I haven't reported on yet.

106) Harpoon Hibernian Ale - Harpoon is a micro brewer out of Boston. They were the first micro-brewery that I ever personally visited (the first brewery I visited was the Anheuser plant in Williamsburg). Even back then in my early 20s I knew I had an interest in good beer, and while I have since discovered many breweries better than Harpoon I'm always interested in seeing what they are up to. This is an Irish ale with a sweet, malty aroma. However, nothing special going on in the taste. It is kind of one-dimensional. However, outside of Smithwicks, this style seems a bit tough to come by in my area.

107) Tremont IPA - Got this as part of the latest beer of the month shipment. Kind of a boring IPA. Nothing outstanding. Of all styles of beer, other than pale lagers, I have had more IPAs than anything else so I am kind of getting bored of them, and one really has to blow me away to impress me at this point.

107 beers down the hatch and 258 to go. Tonight I expect to have another new one so stay tuned and stay drinking!

A Milestone is reached.

2006-03-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

This weekend I had 3 new beers but today I going to devote to just one. On Saturday I had beer number 105 for the year and it was also the 300th overall beer I have had.

Saturday was Fantasy Baseball Draft Day. In our league we are allowed to keep 3 players from our previous year's roster and then we hold a live in-person draft to fill out the rest of the teams. Our league is hosted by Yahoo. If you are in a year-to-year league on the internet with your friends I highly suggest you go the live draft route rather than an online draft or auto draft. It is much more fun and will give your league a yearly "event" to look forward to.

My keepers this year were Albert Pujols of the Cardinals (a no-brainer really - he'll be on my team for many years to come), Carl Crawford of the Devil Rays (has potential to contribute in all categories), and Barry Bonds of the Giants (a controversial and very risky pick). Bonds could make or break my whole season. If he is healthy I can expect a high OBP (we use this category instead of Avg), 40 HRs, and 100 RBIs. If he misses significant time I am pretty much screwed.

My other keeper option would have been Jake Peavy of the Padres, who I wound up grabbing in the first draft round with the 2nd pick anyways.

I didn't really pay attention to many of the player notes this year and didn't really prepare before the draft so I made some questionable picks. Also I was drinking and that influenced me as well. I drafted Grazy Sizemore of the Indians to cockblock my friend who had been talking about drafting him. Then I drafted my arch-nemesis the D-Train simply to get a reaction out of his previous owner. I predict this one will burn me when he only wins 11 games behind a shitty offense but if he wins 15 or more or gets traded to a winning team I will rip into those who mocked me.

Ironically the best draft was had by a manager who did not even attend the draft in person (he is in CA) and used the official Yahoo rankings. He wound up with a decent staff and a powerhouse offense. However as all fantasy baseball managers know, the league is never won at the draft but in the day to day management of your club and the use of the waiver wire.

After the draft we went for our traditional group dinner, and this year was probably the best choice yet. We are now in our 5th year of doing the league, and this year we went to Taka, a small Japanese restaurant on Long Island. They have only been open a short time but have already been getting rave reviews. Their sushi is some of the best in the area and their dishes are great as well. Take it from me, as a half-Japanese, I highly recommended it.

Onto the beer. One of the other managers has gotten into the hobby of homebrewing, and his latest creation was served up at the draft, and I expressly blame him for clouding my judgment that day.

105) Miyagi Memorial Date Rape Oktoberfest - I had 3 22 oz. bombers of the stuff. Pours a deep cloudy orange color with a huge long-lasting head. Bonus points for the layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Very foamy stuff that took a while to settle. Taste wise I was very impressed with this homebrew. Honestly, it was better than most of the Oktoberfest beers I have had. Similar in depth and flavor to the Brooklyn Oktoberfest. I can't wait for the next D.R. production.

105 down for the year and 260 remaining. I had two other new beers on Sunday but I will wait until tomorrow to blog about those. Tonight I think I will restart my gym routine as the weather is getting a bit nicer now. So, expect to see my drinking slow down a bit in the coming months.

Stupid city.

2006-03-23T17:51:00.000-05:00

I just heard the cops closed Hop Devil Grill because they had served beer to underage cadets. Wonderful.

Fuckin' cops.

Thankfully it looks like they should open back up in a few days but you just hate to see things like this happen to a good place like the Hop Devil Grill.

And to the bartender... CHECK EVERYONE'S ID WITHOUT EXCEPTION!!! It's not worth the fines to just play it cool and let things slide every now and then.

Liberation, Fortitude, & Shakespeare

2006-03-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

What a night it was to return to David Copperfield's! I met up with Big Daddy Cal & Jim, the Marillion fan from England, and we had a great time just drinking, having dinner, and talking about various topics.

I did have 3 new beers last night, and the first one I went with was:

102) Rogue Shakespeare Stout - This one was black and thick. Very dense indeed. Aromas and flavors of chocolate dominated. Very roasty and easy drinking.

For dinner I went with the blackened burger. I don't think I've had a bad meal at Copperfield's yet. They do as good a job with their food as they do with their beer. I recommended the southwest chicken sandwich to Jim and he loved it. Big Daddy got the turkey burger, as he is trying to lose a little weight.

I can't recall what everyone else drank, so I'll just continue with my rundown.

103) Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock - Allow me to plagarize a bit and steal TH's description of the doppelbock style: "The doppelbock style of lager came into being in Middle Ages era Bavaria in what is today southern Germany. It was originally brewed by monks to provide themselves with a liquid form of nutrition during the fasting period of Lent when no solid food was allowed. This has earned the doppelbock the nickname "liquid bread" because of its rich and filling capacity. The Thomas Hooker Doppelbock Lager blends huge amounts of imported Munich, Vienna and Moravian malts with select dark roasted malts to achieve a malt lover's dream of a rich and creamy brew. Subtly hopped with noble German and Czech hops and cool fermented with a Bavarian lager yeast, this beer will leave you happy to give up solid food for a while. No dessert necessary."

Really this was almost as good as the Ayinger Celebrator I had recently. Very chocolately. I hope to try more of Thomas Hooker's stuff in the future.

And finally...

104) Brooklyn Fortitude - This is a Belgian strong ale and very respectable version at that. Basically their version of a Duvel and while its not as good as that it is a beer that I will gladly have anytime.

So that's it for now. 104 down and 261 to go. I'm saving #105 for Saturday so there will be no new beer tonight or tomorrow.

DON'T LET ME DOWN SAMANTHA! I'LL SHIV YA!

Drinkin' it up in Korea Town

2006-03-22T08:11:00.000-05:00

Okay so I only had 1 drink, but it was a new beer so that makes it okay!

Plus I stuffed myself on tasty Korean BBQ at Seoul Garden and didn't have room for anything else.

101) OB Lager - Basically the same thing as a Budweiser. I downed it like it was water. It was refreshing, I will give it that much, and it well with the bulgogi. I think I may have had this years ago at Kum Gang San but since it is not on my list and I can't remember for sure then I am counting it as a new beer.

I am pretty much addicted to Seoul Garden. I go there with friends from work quite frequently and enjoy the natural tofu soup, free dishes they give you, and this was the first time I went in for dinner.

If they didn't make such tasty food I would never cut the Korean baseball team any slack.

Now that I've had 101 beers I only need 264 to go. Tonight I'm going to David Copperfield's with Big Daddy Cal and Jim the Marillion fan from England and I will have 2-3 more new beers but no more than that.

A Proud, Proud Day...

2006-03-21T08:34:00.000-05:00

I am currently basking in the glory that is the victory of Japan over the rest of the world in the World Baseball Classic.

I had no doubt in my mind that Daisuke Matsuzaka would lead team Japan to victory over Cuba.

It is indeed a day to be proud of my Japanese heritage.

BANZAI!!!

It is also a proud day because I have reached a milestone.

BEER #100 for 2006!

Here it is folks, the beer that had this prestigious honor:

100) Victory Old Horizontal - This wonderful barley wine comes to us from Victory brewing. My reasoning for choosing this beer for the honor of #100 is twofold. First, Victory is currently my favorite brewery. They never fail to disappoint. Everything I have had from them has been top quality and I can easily say this is a good candidate for my top 10. Second, so confident was I in Japanese victory in the WBC that I decided what better way to pre-emptively celebrate than by drinking in the Victory!

I do have to admit, at first I was skeptical about the WBC and was very against it simply because I do not like change but now that it has played out and was such a huge success with the fans I cannot wait for the next one. It was a real treat to see meaningful and hard fought games so early in the year. There was truly a special energy and vibe coming from those crowds, something which has been lacking in the World Series lately.

So obviously 100 beers down means 265 to go. I may have a new one tonight at dinner, depending on where I go. A return to David Copperfield's is in the cards for tomorrow night, where I'm sure I'll add another 2-3 to the list, setting me up for my friend's homebrew on Saturday which will be #105 for the year and #300 for my "career."

BANZAI!

Thou shalt not...

2006-03-20T10:21:00.000-05:00

...run out of beer in thy refrigerator. That is rule numero uno and our good friend Cracka is guilty of this hanis and unforgivable act against drinkers everywhere.

You disappoint me.

I feel like I shouldn't talk about Cracka that much, lest this become the Cracka sucks blog, but this was information that needed to be made public.

In conclusion you are a bad person.

Now this weekend I went out to dinner at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse in Grand Central. It is owned by the same group that owns my favorite steakhouse (Strip House) and the executive chef is the same. However Strip House is definitely a cut above ol' #23, my most hated basketball player of all time.

You cannot... CANNOT be a real Knick fan and show any admiration for "his airness." Respect his achievements? Fine... but there must be HATRED in your heart.

That being said his steakhouse is still pretty good.

We ordered a bottle of Saintsbury Pinot Noir which was an awesome wine, then had the Warm Garlic Bread with Gorgonzola Fondue. Unbelieveably decadent and tasty. After the garlic bread was gone we used the free bread to soak up the rest of the cheese.

At steakhouses I have one rule and one rule only. Order steak. Don't get any of the other bullshit. Veal chops, lamb, fish, you name it. Get the steak. That is why you are there.

I am ribeye man. The ribeye is the most marbled cut and thus it is usually the tastiest and juiciest. On occasion i will go with a strip steak but that is when I am in a certain mood.

The ribeye at Michael Jordan's is 22 oz. Truly a massive and hulking amount of beef. I couldn't finish it. It was seasoned well but not as good as they do at Strip House, and the broiling is done better at Strip House as well. I do enjoy a good charred outside with a medium rare interior. It could have used maybe a minute more but I never send food back.

Pet peeve: I hate reading steakhouse reviews where people complain about the charred outside and claim that their steak was overdone. THEY ARE NOT COOKING ON YOUR WIMPY BACKYARD GRILL!!! Cut into your steak and you will see beyond the charred outside it is cooked exactly as you want on the inside. They know nothing, those people. Go eat at the Sizzler. And I don't care about service in steakhouses either. As long as they get the order right and are timely and don't forget anything I don't care if they are gruff, distant, unfriendly, rude, etc.

Their creamed spinach was awesome as well.

For dessert we had the huge chocolate cake. It wasn't great but this is a steakhouse dessert where you are just adding food on top of food and you order for the purposes of indulging.

I also had a nice glass of Fonseca.

I took pictures of the food but I gotta get a decent digital camera and figure out this picture uploading business because I don't like reading all text blogs and it pains me that I might be boring the crap out of anyone who actually reads this thing.

On Sunday I returned to the realm of beer and had:

99) Allagash White - One of my good friends is dating a Belgian guy and she mentioned he had tried the Blue Moon Belgian White but wasn't impressed. With complete confidence and my reputation as a beer expert on the line I will make sure he gets a bottle of this next time he is in NYC. This is right up there with any witbier in the world.

99 beers down means 266 to go but more importantly it also means that my next beer will be a milestone beer so I've gotta make it a good one. I am undecided as of yet but there is no rush. I have some good bottles in my fridge and on Wednesday I am slated to make my return to David Copperfield's so there will be plenty of choice.

Because I am so far ahead I may get back into the wine a little bit. I had neglected my love of wine since the year began and I went on this little beer quest but this weekend's dinner reminded me just how good it can be. I doubt I will blog about it but there are some bottles of wine in my "cellar" aka my dining room cabinet hutch that are staring at me, begging to be opened.

One for the Cracka!

2006-03-17T08:50:00.000-05:00

Really quick post today... last night I opened a bottle of:

98) Smuttynose IPA - I'll cut to the chase. This is one of the best IPAs you can have. Hands down. Really terrific, nicely bitter, complex and lingering. Cracka would die.

98 down and 267 to go. Enjoy the weekend but don't forget to have a pint of Guinness today! Slainte!

Meeting of the Big Apple Anoraks!

2006-03-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

So last night I stopped into Stout NYC for a get together with some local Marillion fans and also one from across the pond in England. We had a great time talking about the band and just about things in general.

Back in their native England, Marillion fans have to take a lot of crap because of one or more of the following misconceptions that they can seemingly never shake: 1) that they are a Scottish heavy metal band [their former lead singer was Scottish but they have never resembled anything even close to a heavy metal band], 2) that they are a prog-rock Genesis clone band [one of their first b-sides was a proggy track bearing some resemblances to Supper's Ready and they never did anything like that since... AND THIS STIGMA HAS STUCK?!?!?!], 3) that they broke up in the late 80s and were that "Kayleigh" band ["Kayleigh" was a huge hit in 86 in Europe and probably would have been in the USA as well if not for the payola scandal that hit EMI around that time. If you ever wondered why there are so many English girls named Kayleigh who were born in the 80's, this is why.]

Here in the USA they don't have to deal with any of that bullshit, they are just another unknown band.

So most of England has missed out on 16-17 years of great music that they have put out since they allegedly "broke up." Their loss, my gain, I guess. Of all the bands I am into none have a more close-knit, community feel among the fanbase. I cannot wait to attend the convention in 2007 where I am sure to make friends from all over the world.

Now, onto my review of Stout NYC. I haven't been there in a while, as I honestly don't enjoy the massive pre-event, after work crowd that congests the place, but when I did go in the past I did enjoy the selection.

However this time around they had only 2 of the 4 stouts they advertise on tap. Guinness & Murphy's Irish. Same stuff you could get anywhere.

Also there were two times where we asked for bottled stouts and they were out. If you are going to take yourself as a serious beer bar then please update your list at least once a week so we know what is and isn't in stock. On the positive side, the staff is friendly, the bar is big and clean, and the food is decent.

However it seems like they are just trying to make the quickest profit possible at this point. Even the small chalkboard above the bar had several beers erased and the selections are now dominated by the US macros. When we went downstairs to get a bigger table they did not serve any bottles down there.

I promised my fellow anorak Jimbo from the UK that we would stop into a REAL beer bar next time. I would like to treat him to a good US microbrew.

I started out with a pint of Guinness, on Jimbo. I will pick up the first one next time. After that I got a bottle of Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout when they were out of the Young's. So that was 2 beers I had already had.

Moving on I then ordered a bottle of Sam Adams Cream Stout, which they were also out of. I gave the waitress 2 choices from the list hoping that at least one of them would be available. She returned with:

97) Coopers Best Extra Stout - This was a stout with a bitter touch to it. Pretty good stuff.

We finished up by having a pint of cask conditioned Brooklyn Brown Ale.

It was a great time and solidified my opinion that Marillion has the best fans in the world. We will definitely be getting together again in the near future (perhaps a return to Copperfield's?) and I promised to send Jimbo a list of great pizza places in the city. When you come to NYC, always make sure you eat right!

97 down and 268 to go.

Wheelings & Dealings - It's all shady to me!

2006-03-15T08:12:00.000-05:00

In today's paper there is yet another article about the ongoing Brooklyn Brewery/Bruce Ratner/Nets arena/development debacle.

Brooklyn Brewery president Steve Hindy supports the project and is reportedly planning to build a beer garden & tourist center south of Ratner's site. They would produce 40% of the beer in Brooklyn while making most of it upstate.

I don't claim to know all the details so I will not have an opinion either way but some residents have been actively boycotting the Brooklyn Brewery while others have even been saying they will drink even more Brooklyn products in response to the boycott.

Whatever happens I hope things will work out for the best. I dislike N.I.M.B.Y.-ism but I also don't like things like eminent domain and big corporations. Somehow there has to be a happy balance. Those waterfront areas along Brooklyn and Queens aren't all that great and some kind of development should be done but the concerns of the residents there should also be taken into consideration. This is a great city and the waterfront land should be put to good use.

In other news I lost another pound and have hit yet another low. ALL WHILE DRINKING MASS QUANTITIES OF BEER!!!

One of these days I will tell you how I did it.

But that day is not today.

Last night I added 2 more to the list.

95) North Coast PranQster Belgian - North Coast brews out of California and this was a respectable version of a Belgian strong ale. Not anywhere close to those from Belgium but a good try and a beer worth having every now and then.

96) Dogfish Head Burton Baton - This I really liked. It is an oak-aged imperial IPA. Very creamy and easy to drink. If it didn't say 10% on the bottle one could easily get in trouble with this. Dogfish Head has consistently been one of my favorite brewers and they are getting a permanent link on the left side of my blog.

96 down and 269 to go. Tonight's plan is to meet up with some Marillion fans at Stout NYC after work for a few drinks. I should get to at least 98 for the year tonight and will focus on the bottled selection of stouts.

I am fast approaching the 100 mark for the year and I am way ahead of pace. I shouldn't be having #100 until April 10 but so what. Now its just a matter of what beer I want to give the honor of being #100. I could wait until the 25th to try my friend's homebrew but I doubt I can hold out until then. #105 is another milestone as it will be my 300th career beer, so maybe his homebrew will get that honor instead.

Cracka seems to think I should try to have as many new beers as possible, thus blowing through the 365. I maintain I will slow down in the summer and as I get into the 300's it could get tough to find stuff I haven't had, and there's always the possibility, however remote, that I will get bored and slack off. But I will not try more than 365 new beers this year.

Cracka couldn't handle it...

2006-03-14T21:42:00.000-05:00

das it.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

2006-03-14T08:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a long day so I definitely was in the mood for a new beer.

94) Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter - Average but I looked at my list and I haven't really had many. My favorites so far are the Stone Smoked Porter and Heavyweight Perkuno's Hammer. Overall I would try it again.

I am so dead tired and today will be another long day.

94 in the books, 271 to go.

Later...

Anata wa biiru o nomitai desu ka?

2006-03-13T07:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, I promise that will be the last Japanese title I use this year.

Level 3 Japanese class is over. I would take the regular level 4 but unfortunately it starts at 6:10 pm on weekdays and I get out of work at 6. Therefore I will have to rely on Japanese friends to practice with. They are all female and joke with me that if I only talk to them I will wind up sounding like a girl.

Last night I made 2 kinds of burgers. One was the usual BBQ bacon cheddar burger (the recipe for which is somewhere on this blog) and the other was a new concoction that I will call the French Onion Soup burger. Mash red wine and worcestershire sauce into the meat. Then saute some onions and put them on top of the burger, top with gruyere cheese and prepare a little onion soup on the side for dipping. I took some photos and I am still going to have to hone the recipe a bit but it was pretty good. I will have to get a better digital camera and some kind of photo site going.

Had the following new beers this weekend:

92) Samuel Smiths Oatmeal Stout - Exciting stuff and to this point the best oatmeal stout I have ever had. I got a lot of molasses flavors out of it along with a slight smokiness on the finish.

93) Gearys Pale Ale - An English style pale ale but mediocre and not complex enough. I admit I have to try some of the better versions of this style because the ones I have had so far haven't impressed me.

93 beers down and 272 to go. I imagine I will have another new bottle tonight (since I bought a batch yesterday) and then this Wednesday I am planning a visit to Stout NYC to drink with some Marillion fans, including one from across the pond. Should be a good time...

Smuttynose!

2006-03-09T10:13:00.000-05:00

Last night Smuttynose Brewing was kind enough to bring some of the fruits of their labor to the Hop Devil Grill. Smuttynose brews out of New Hampshire, and they make some pretty good stuff. Prior to yesterday I have only had their Wheat Wine and Old Brown Dog. I enjoyed both so I was looking forward to this event.

Sadly it seemed the turnout was a little low. I don't know if it was because of the Keegan Ales launch the day before or what but I was disappointed that there weren't too many people there for this. Things did seem to pick up later in the night, but while some people ordered the flight I didn't get the impression that too many people came expressly for this event. Maybe there have been too many of them in a short amount of time?

Either way the guys from Smuttynose were great, and we even got a t-shirt for buying a flight.

The Wheat Wine was one of the beers they brought in, but since I already had that on my list I won't review it here. The other 4 beers, however, were new to me:

88) Smuttynose Big A IPA - This beer is officially going to be nicknamed the "Cracka Killa" because of its intense bitterness. It's right up my alley, I couldn't get enough and I love imperial/double IPAs. Very aromatic and intense.

89) Smuttynose Oak-Aged Barleywine - This is their barley wine but aged in a Jack Daniels oak barrel. Nice copper color and sweet flavors.

90) Smuttynose Smuttonator - You can tell from the name that this is a doppelbock. It was rich and malty and I would never have guessed it was at 9.6%.

91) Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale - A saison. Fruity, earthy and very refreshing stuff.

So I've got 91 in the books, and have to try 274 more before the year is out. Today is only the 67th day of the year so expect me to take my time in the coming weeks. If I don't post before the weekend then I'll be back early next week...