Blue Ridge Beer Run

I really do dread outlet malls, as much as Christmas Tree Shops, antiquing, and public speaking.  So when Jenn said she wanted to go to the Outlets with her sister, I took the opportunity to head north and check out some fine beer stops.  So with Jacob working the music, we got on the road early enough to hit Beer Run (http://beerrun.com/) for breakfast.

Beer Run was recently placed on Draft magazine’s top 100 list, a predominately breakfast spot with a fantastic draft and bottle selection.  Jacob got a biscuit, while I went for the Campbell’s Scramble; two local eggs, scrambled with Pepper Jack cheese, Yukon Gold potatoes, all-natural bacon & topped with house Pico de Gallo (and Sriracha sauce for me).  I went with a Starr Hill / Terrapin GAVA Joe Belgian-style Espresso stout (great for breakfast), followed by a Blue Mountain Big Blue Barrel Aged Double IPA on draft.  I got a few bottles to go; Epic’s Smoked and Oaked, DC Brau’s The Citizen (cans are cool), and Three Brothers Resolute (going to cellar this one). 

It was raining, and we tried to do something educational.  Monticello is Thomas Jefferson’s home, a wonderful architectural masterpiece that our President spent years modifying and updating to try out his ideas and theories.  We didn’t get tickets in advance (big mistake), and couldn’t get on the tour of the house for 3 hours.  So we watched the instructional movie, and went through the walk-thru museum.  What struck me the most was the consistent apology that despite his enlightened viewpoints, he still owned (and fathered children with) slaves, only freeing 6 in his will.  Oh well, we’ll definitely come back some day with advanced purchased tickets.

We fought the rain and headed west to the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Blue Mountain Brewery.  Blue Mountain is located in a beautiful setting, features many barrel aged beers, and has tasty food.  I went with Spicy Thai wings (tasty, but not spicy) to go with their sampler.  My favorite was the Maggie Maibock, although the others were tasty too.  They offered a Buy 2 get 1 free special for their big bottles, so I picked up their Uber Pils and 2 Mandolin Tripels.

Our next stop was Devil’s Backbone, the 2013 Small Brewing Company of the Year.  While the folks at Blue Mountain were really nice, the manager at Devil’s Backbone was a bit of a butthead.  Oh well, the German pretzels and beer sampler were both good.  I loved their Schwartzbier and their Azrael, a Belgian Strong Pale Ale that was awesome.  I thought we could cut across the state to get home, but Garmin assured me that the best way to go back I-64.  But we had one more stop to make, Rate Beers top restaurant in VA for 2013, Mekong (http://mekongisforbeerlovers.com/).

Mekong is a Vietnamese restaurant, which is one of my new favorite styles of food, and they had a great beer selection.  I got a bowl of Pho tai; rare slice beef, flat rice noodles, onion, scallion, cilantro, and bean sprouts with Sriracha sauce.  Mekong will be opening their own brewery this summer called The Answer (any Allen Iverson fans out there?), and they already did a collaboration with Cigar City called Good Morning Mekong, an Imperial Porter brewed with Kopi Luwak (Beer Geek Weasel anyone?) and rated a 95 on Beer Advocate.  It was delicious.  The bartender loved my beer book, and proceeded to provide different samples to go along with my two free glasses.  I tried the 3 Brothers Rum Barrel Belgian Dubbel on draft from Harrisonburg, as well as Richmond’s Hardywood Park Bourbon Barrel Aged Sidamo Coffee Stout on nitro.  If you like Vietnamese cuisine (or are willing to try) and you are passing through Richmond, this place is a must stop.

I finished my bowl (quite filling) and made it back to the time share.  I figured out it was a 310 mile round trip beer run.  It was a little far, even for me, to go for several beers.  But I got to spend a day with Jacob, see some beautiful scenery (amongst the torrential downpours), discover some new brews and make some new friends. – 15598

 
“Filled with mingled cream and amber, such hilarious visions clamber, through the chambers of my brain, quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies come to life and fade away; What care I how time advances; I’m drinking ale today.” – Edgar Allen Poe

Tantalizing Tidewater Taverns

It has been a long winter, and we had intended to take my father-in-law away for some R&R to Virginia before he had a bit of a spill and decided he couldn’t travel.  The kids were out on Spring Break so we decided to go anyways, popping into my folks and the Capital Ale House (http://capitalalehouse.com/fredericksburg/) on the way down.  The Capital Ale House has become a must stop for us since we stopped by last year, and I was lucky enough this time to find DC Brau’s On the Wings of Armageddon, an Imperial IPA that was #140 on Draft magazine’s top 250 beer list.  So we settled into our condo and got ready to enjoy the warmer weather.

I’ve always wanted to show Jenn the Portsmouth/Norfolk waterside area, and Saturday was the perfect day to do it with warm temperatures and without a cloud in the sky.  We decided to go to the Bier Garden (http://biergarden.com/) for lunch, and were rewarded with a great meal.  I got their Strammer Max, Leberkase with an egg on top, while Jenn had the freshly prepared (we could hear them “flattening” the meat) chicken cordon bleu sandwich (what a mouthful!).  And even though they have one of the most extensive German beer lists I’ve ever found, I didn’t find one that I hadn’t had before (a problem for me at German restaurants).  No worries, I enjoyed a local brew, Young Veterans’ Night Vision stout on draft to go with my meal.  We all agreed that we should return, perhaps on our travels to OBX.

We toyed with the idea of taking the water taxi across to Waterside, but for convenience sake we drove instead.  I told the kids how much I use to enjoy walking around the shops, so imagine my surprise when we found the place deserted.  I was so disappointed that one of my memories of the area was gone, but made the best of it by taking in the shopping at a local mall and enjoying the weather at Towne Point Park.  That really was the purpose of the day, enjoying the return of the sun (and sunburn) while hanging out together.  The Battleship Wisconsin was impressive, a fixture of the Nauticus museum that now dominated the scene.  We next headed off to check out Draft magazine’s top rated beer bars for 2014, The Birch Bar (http://www.thebirchbar.com/).

The Birch is located in the middle of nowhere, but easy to get to on the Norfolk side of the midtown tunnel.  They were celebrating 43 Hours of Bitters (the number of hours they were open during the week), where the beer list was dominated with local and international IPAs.  The menu is limited if you want anything beyond gourmet grilled cheese, but the kids enjoyed a German pretzel and I got a cheese plate of a chipotle and cranberry cheddar, sausage, and olives to go with the beer.  The Bahnhof Pineus was awesome, a Gose that was filtered thru pine nuts to give it a distinct (and surprising pleasant) flavor, as was Italy’s Del Borgo Re Ale Extra, a great example of how European breweries are catching the American IPA wave.  The waitress was knowledgeable of the local beer scene, and offered tastes of the different brews for comparison.  I particularly liked the Amager/Mikkeller blended Hr. Frederiksen Vaesal Brunch, a combination of two notoriously delicious Imperial Stouts.  What I liked most was that The Birch had a cellaring case (it had ~10 bottles of KBS) where members could save beers to share at a private party.  Now that I know how easy it is to get to, I’ll need to see how I can make it back.

The next day my sister-in-law Cathy stopped in to go to Virginia Beach together.  She got on the road early from Manassas, skipping breakfast so she could make the trip with us.  So we headed to the shore, stopping for lunch at the Yard House along the way.  I normally am less excited about chain spots, but the Yard House has an extensive food menu to accompany its ~100 drafts.  The draft selection is impressive, but you need to check the chalkboard to see any rarities.  I got a Lasso on draft, a Session IPA from Great Divide that was good way to start the day.  Cathy and I both got fish tacos, blackened swordfish for one and Baja halibut for the other, which hit the spot.  Cathy got a sampler (they choose, not you), but the selections were all good.  I even found a Gulden Draak 9000 to placate the heat from the srirachi sauce before we left.

The beach was beautiful, and everyone was there.  Jenn and Cathy sat on the beach while the kids and I walked the boardwalk (3 miles, not bad for vacation) to see the sights.  We walked up past the King Neptune statue before the kids did a taste comparison between Ben & Jerry’s and Kohr Brothers (sorry, DQ, there was no room for you).  I stopped in at one of my favorite beach hangouts, the Raven, to quench my thirst with an O’Connor’s Norfolk Canyon Pale Ale.  We thoroughly enjoyed the weather and the company, a great start to our vacation week. – 15558

 
“It takes beer to make thirst worthwhile.” – German Saying

Dog Tired in Pittsburgh

Another meeting in Pittsburgh, another chance to sit WAY too long in a meeting room, and another chance to go out and share an evening with some friends.  So I caught the 6AM flight, sat in meetings until 6PM, and then checked into our hotel at Homestead (my new favorite sleep over spot).  We then walked to our dinner spot, Rock Bottom Brewery (http://www.rockbottom.com/).  Rock Bottom is a chain brewpub that provides decent food, has plenty of space, large beers and is in walking decent of our hotel.  It’s an easy place to hang out into the evening, so that’s what we did.  I got the Cajun fish tacos to go along with my IPA on cask, dry-hopped with Chinook hops.  There were other beers (Gulden Slumbers and Shelf Life IPL come to mind), but the place was more about hanging out.  It was a long day so I turned in early (although I stayed up to watch a GOT episode), and tried to get rest for our next day’s meeting.

That meeting was longer than the first day’s, taking use well past 6PM before we were able to get out of there.  My friend Jeff and I were meeting some friends that evening at D’s Six Packs (http://www.ds6pax.com/).  D’s is one of my favorite dive bars, specializing in hot dogs and beer, and having a decent bottle selection for weary travelers to bring beer back to the hotel.  Jeff at first wasn’t keen on having dinner there, until he found a veggie dog to his liking (sacrilege), but I had no qualms.  I started with a Vienna all beef Chicago dog; relish, onions, pickles, tomatoes, sport peppers, and yellow mustard and a dash of celery salt on a poppy seed bun.  Next was their daily special; their Colcannon had a Scorpion-cheddar jalapeno kielbasa covered with mashed potatoes, fried onions, sour cream and cabbage.  And D’s had a great selection of local beer on draft; Helltown Perverse Stout, Full Pint King Kolsch, and Rivertowne All Aboard Stout.  They even had some bottles for my trip home; Great Divide Wolfgang Dopplebock, Stone Enjoy By 4.20.14 IPA, and Mikkeller Milk Stout.  It was a great evening after a long day.

I attended a working meeting the next day, and had lunch with a friend at the Breakaway Grill. The blackened mahi-mahi tacos (fish 2 out of 3 days, I am a health food advocate) went well with a Rivertowne’s Patrick’s Poison, an Imperial IPA that weighed in at 8% ABV.  I headed to the airport and ran into problems due to an accident, but made it to Bocktown for Rivertowne Bourbon Barrel Aged All Aboard Stout (my coworkers didn’t clear the traffic jam in time, and a Rock Bottom Brakeman’s Breakfast Stout at Bar Symon at the airport.

I got 10 hours of sleep over the 3 days of travel.  It is tough making that kind of journey, but meeting up with friends and getting to sample a whole bunch of local beer makes the exhaustion worthwhile.  Good thing since I’ll be able to return 3 times in the next 3 months. – 15493

 
“Some people want champagne and caviar when they should have beer and hotdogs.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

An Extremely Good Day

I got a great Christmas present this year (straight from Santa Claus, I swear), a ticket to the Extreme Beer Festival in Boston.  The event offers a great selection of hard to find beers in 2oz increments.  I planned to limit myself to 24 tastings, or 3 pints over 3 hours, so that I could maintain the ability to come home that night.  With the selection being so excellent, the trick would be to make sure I got the best beers.  So I got on the road early, because I knew that I needed food before the event, and when I head to Boston I love to stop at Deep Ellum (http://www.deepellum-boston.com/).

Deep Ellum is a 4 year selection on Draft magazine’s top 100 beer bars, and on the weekends they open at 10AM for brunch.  The menu is great, with me usually choosing the breakfast burrito, but today I got the kielbasa and egg sandwich (actually house-smoked kielbasa, fried egg, horseradish aioli, VT cheddar on an English muffin).  Oh so much better than the one offered at Dunkin Donuts (sorry Jenn, I know that’s sacrilege), especially with the hot sauce and the beer to go with it.  I got Switzerland’s BFM brewing square root of 225 historical saison, a 5% ABV brew that had a nice sour touch to it that went great with the meal.  The bartender allowed a couple of tastes; including local brewery Trillium’s Mettle, an Imperial IPA to celebrate their anniversary, as well an Hill Farmstead / De Blaugies collaboration called La Vermontoise, a spelt rye saison that was not my favorite.  Next I had some time to kill so I headed over to Draft magazine’s newest favorite beer bar, Lord Hobo (http://lordhobo.com/) in Cambridge.

Lord Hobo has been a “want to get to destination” for me for years, and since it opens at 11 on the weekends, I had time to stop in and check it out before heading over to the festival.  The place is rough, real rough, with hard music and signs that said, “F$%# It, Lets Drink!” (of course without the symbols), but it had a great beer selection.  They had plenty of offerings from Jack’s Abby, Trillium, and Pretty Things, plus a great selection of Stone.  I asked for a recommendation (no half pours, no tasters), and chose a delicious Pale Ale from Trillium, Fort Point on draft, which had a 98 rating on Beer Advocate.  I also got an order of cheesy grits to go, deep fried balls that were great snacks before and after the festival.  So with Garmin as a guide, I avoided the I90 construction and made it to the Seaport to queue up

It was pleasant outside, and I got to meet the other folks around me.  The Extreme Beer Festival shared a map of the booths and the available beers, so I had mapped out my strategy about which beers to seek out early, and which breweries I was to be sure to visit.  My first brewery was Cascade from Portland Oregon, who specialized in barrel aged wild ales.  I started with Sang Noir (BA 99 an #73 beer on the list), a wild ale aged in pinot and bourbon barrels and then blended with a barrel of Bing cherries.  The next must beer for me was from Toppling Goliath from IA, and their Mornin’ Delight (BA 100 and #47 on the list), an Imperial Stout brewed with maple syrup and their own secret ingredient.  The other real score for me was from Funky Buddha, a Miami area brewery that offered their Maple Bacon Coffee Porter (BA 99 and #154 on the list), which was delicious and whose name is self-explanatory.

·         Toppling Goliath’s King Sue (BA 100) and Sosus (BA 99) – A pair of delicious Imperial IPAs that had the line running up and down the venue.
·         The Bruery’s Chocolate Rain (BA 100) and French Oak Aged Bois, a special version of their 5^th anniversary beer.
·         Cascade’s Bourbonic Plague (BA 94) – A blend of porters aged in wine, bourbon, and oak barrels.
·         Funky Buddha’ Last Snow (BA 98) – A Coffee Porter brewed with coconut, white chocolate and caramel.

There were 2 other breweries worth highlighting for me.  The first is Cigar City, one of my favorite breweries in the country.  I got to try their rum barrel aged Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout, a Margarita Gose (LOVED this beer), a Passionfruit Guava Grove, and Don Gavino’s Big Guava.  Their beers are always so innovative (especially if you like fruit in your beer), and I can’t wait to take Jenn to the brewery in May.  The next was a new MA brewery that has taken the beer scene by storm.  Tree House brewing is only locally distributed and their farmhouse brewery does limited growler fills, so the line at their booth was extensive all day long.  Today they offered their Juice Machine (9.8% ABV Imperial IPA, BA 95) and their Double Shot (7.6% ABV Coffee Stout, BA 98) and both were excellent.  I’ll need to make a side trip to visit the brewery someday.

I had my 24 beers so it was time to go.  I got stuck in construction on 90W, and made a course correction (with the permission of Boston’s finest) to take 93N to get out of the city.  The trip was a bit longer, but allowed me to stop for dinner at Armsby Abbey (http://armsbyabbey.com/) in Worcester.  This food centric beer bar always has a great beer selection, but also great food using local ingredients.  Tonight I got their gourmet mac & cheese (yeah, the diet didn’t do so well today) which uses their farmstead cheeses with an IPA, and with the owner’s recommendation a taste of Trillium’s Pot & Kettle (7.4% ABV Porter, BA 93) which went perfect with my meal.  And with my belly full, I headed home safe and sound.

It was a great event to try rare beers that you would never be able to find anywhere else with a bunch of “enthusiasts” who may be MORE beer geeky than myself.  The only downside was that after a while all the great beers blended together so it was hard to say that something knocked my socks off by taste when compared to the other brews.  They all were fantastic! I can’t wait to go back next year, so let me know if you want to go and I’ll get more tickets. - 15471

 
“24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?” - Stephen Wright

Swimming in It

My daughter Jessica has been practicing and competing all season for a chance to qualify for the YMCA NY State Swimming Championships held in Ithaca NY.  Last year she qualified for a single event, and through hard work (she’s known as a Try Hard) this year she is in 4 events as well as two relays.  So we drove out Friday so that she could compete in the 200 IM, and was surprised when her Pop-Pop made the trip to watch.  She scored her best time ever of 2:29.56, and worked up a ferocious appetite.  So we headed downtown to a place that Jess and Jenn loved last year, the Ithaca Ale House (http://www.ithacaalehouse.com/).

The Ithaca Ale House is downtown, and offers a great menu and lots of beer on tap.  They had several drafts from Ithaca brewing, including their White Gold and Excelsior Anniversary 16.  I had a killer pastrami sandwich, and split it with my dad whose Thai peanut noodles were just a tad too spicy for him (but perfect for me).  The others got great pizza (margarita for the ladies and plain for Jacob) while we watched Syracuse choke to NC State (it was a sad night for ‘Cuse fans).  We had a fantastic evening, getting Jess’ first event out of the way and spending time together.  But Jess was swimming in the morning, so we headed back to the hotel to get some rest.

The next morning we headed over a bit later to the pool since Jess was one of the last events of the morning.  Jess swam her 2^nd best time ever in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:41.91.  Jess’ friend Lizzie came down to watch her swim and spend the afternoon, so Jacob, Pop-Pop checked out the local waterfalls before heading over to 5 Guys for lunch.  Then my dad got on the road and Jacob and I headed over to Ithaca Brewing (http://ithacabeer.com/) to see what they had to offer.  I enjoyed a sampler that was loaded with beers from their 5 Barrel series, including their Polar Vortex, Billiner Weisse, and Keymaster Saison.  We got back together with the ladies, had dinner (I highly recommend the chicken mole burrito from Viva Taquerita), and watched Jess’ record her best time ever in the 200 Medley relay, a 33.83 for her breaststroke.  It was great seeing her compete so hard with her relay teammates, and being accepted by the older girls.

The next morning Jess swam 3 events; the 100 Fly, 100 Breast, and as part of the 200 Free relay.  Again, she got her 2^nd best time in 2 of the 3 events, and qualified for the finals that evening in her specialty, the 100 Breast.  So we were hungry, and headed over to Northstar (http://www.northstarpub.com/) for some brunch.  I got their cheesy hash, made with sausage and eggs, with a side of grits.  I enjoyed my meal with an Ithaca Hopbloem, an 8% ABV Belgian IPA that is included in the Ithaca Box of Belgians variety pack. 

We had some time to kill before the evening, so we checked out the waterfalls and Wegman’s (Jacob’s new favorite), before settling in over at Ithaca Coffee Roasters (http://www.ithacacoffee.com/) to have a brew and watch some college basketball.  UVA was playing Duke for the ACC Championship, and I was having some difficulty figuring out who to root for since I dislike both teams.  I chose Duke which ensured that they would lose, but I enjoyed free popcorn and a Wagner Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Stove Porter on draft, a delicious sipping beer that weighed in at 7.2% ABV. 

We went back for the finals and had fun cheering on all of the Barracuda who qualified.  Jess got 10^th place in the 100 Breast with her best time ever of 1:14.65.  The Barracudas came in 2^nd for the meet, coming within 30 points of breaking Flushing’s 27 year win streak at the championships (better luck next year).  And after the final hugs we made the long trek back home.

We had a great weekend, and were so proud of all the effort she put into her swimming.  To top the year off, the following weekend at the Barracuda banquet Jess was recognized for being the most improved girl swimmer in her age group.  And she’s not done yet since she told Jenn and I that she has her sights on Nationals next year.  I know that I won’t be betting against her. – 15422

 
“A glass of water?  Salmon swim in it.” – W.C. Fields

A Beer for Alex

I have been searching for one of the top beers in the world, Russian River’s Pliny the Younger.  Brewed once per year and offered only on draft, this beer is hard to get at the brewery, never mind here on the East coast.  However, several places had it in Philly this weekend, including one of my favorite Belgian bars, Monk’s Café (http://www.monkscafe.com/).  And they were offering it at a cash only event that donated all the money made to a charity to fight children’s cancer, Alex’s Lemonade Stand (http://www.alexslemonade.org/).  So with a worthy cause and a fantastic beer as my reward, I got on the road before sunrise the day before the event and headed down to Philly and a stop at one of the nation’s first beer centric gastropubs, the Standard Tap (www.standardtap.com/).

I was hungry, so I stopped in for a special brunch at the Standard Tap.  They had two special events going together, their Bone in Brunch offered during their Big Wood Weekend.  I passed on the steak hash, choosing their bone in T-bone steak and eggs served with a hash brown with Tabasco sauce.  It was good, and served for a great backdrop to the beer.  I went with some PA specialties as part of my sampler, starting with a Bullfrog Jong Bruin Kriek, a beautifully sour Flanders Red that was great with breakfast.  Next it was Yards Bourbon Barrel Aged Grand Cru and George Washington Porter, fortified versions of their regulars that were both delicious.  Finally, Dock Street offered a beer that I couldn’t pass up, their Spanglish Fly, an herb beer aged with wormwood that could have me seeing things later that day. 

I drove down to visit with my cousin Brian, who had some rare treats to split and to give.  All the beers were new treats for me, and were on Beer Advocate’s Top 250 list.  We split two wood aged beers from Portland’s Hair of the Dog, Adam from the Wood (#46) and Cherry Adam from the Wood (#230).  Both were great.  I had The Bruery’s 5^th anniversary beer, Bois (#149), a potent Old Ale that is part blended with the previous year’s anniversary offering.  I thought I did pretty well offering Jack’s Abby BBA Framinghammer (#177) and Hoppin’ Frog’s BBA BORIS the Destroyer (#190) as gifts.  Brian out did me with two from the Bruery, their Chocolate Rain (#43), their Black Tuesday brewed with cocoa nibs, and #3 Melange (#71).  Both unique beers that are hard to find, and I’ll be cellaring for a special occasion. 

I got up early the next day (and boy did I sleep well), and headed into the Philly.  I wanted to make sure I got there early (hate to travel all the way and miss out), and was 13^th in line, my reward for being 3-1/2 hours before the doors opened.  Brian showed up later, but in the meantime I made some new friends while waiting.  One gentleman was from the Pittsburgh area, one from Northern NJ, and one from Eastern Ohio.  It is great getting people with a common passion together, and the love of beer is no exception.  The weatherman’s promise of 55 and sunny was dead wrong, but at least it was clear out.  We finally were invited in, and were greeted with our 6oz of Pliny the Younger (#2), and at $15 a pop it was quite costly, but remember it was all for charity.  We all decided to find a table together (another of perk at being early), getting a spot at the front of the cafe which was strategically located for not getting crushed.  The kept letting people in, more and more, creating a true fire hazard.  And the service was rough.  Our waitress was overwhelmed with the crowd, but tried hard.  We donated money for the bottle lottery (no winners among us), and placed our order for the first round which came 1-1/2 hours later.  But the company was good, and the wait was worth it, to sample the rest of their quaffs.

The first round was Pliny the Elder (#3), which we all hoped to have as a comparison with the Younger.  However, since they were served so far apart it was hard to do a direct comparison.  I’d have to say that having a full glass of the Elder at any time of the year is infinitely better than 6 oz once in your lifetime.  Next was Russian River’s Temptation, a 7.5% ABV Wild Ale fermented with a special strain of yeast, then aged in French oak chardonnay barrels.  It was awesome!  I had most of the other offering from Russian River, so the guys decided we would order single glasses of the limited beers that they have on tap and split them.  There were 3 barrel aged Belgian Ales from Hof Ten Dormaal (Moscatel, Port Charlotte, and Bruichladdich), a unique Gose from Freigeist, and two imperial stouts from De Molen (Hemel and Aarde, Cease and Desist).  It was great to share and compare notes, but the one thing that was missing was food.  Although the kitchen was open, there was an infinite wait for their output.  So we said goodbye to our new found friends and headed over to one of the newest beer bars recommended by Draft magazine. 

Strangeloves (http://www.strangelovesbeerbar.com/) is located in center city, and after the craziness of the Monk’s Event, it was nice to sit at a quiet, high quality beer bar.  And we were hungry, so I got their fried green tomatoes (boy did they hit the spot) followed by a Catfish Po’ Boy.  For beer, they were offering several beers from Chicago’s Half Acre brewing.  I got a sampler (what else) and I loved their Big Hugs Imperial Stout and Heyoka IPA.  It was a great pairing of food and beer, and gave Brian and I time to reflect on the day.  It was great taking a break and sharing the day with friends.  But every day has to come to an end, so we said our goodbyes, headed to my car and started home.  It really ended up to be a beautiful day, and I made it home safe and sound.

This year is about quality, not quantity.  And so far I’ve gotten to try Beer Advocate’s top 4 beers (Heady Topper, Pliny the Younger and Older, as well as Goose Island Coffee Bourbon County Stout).  Next is my search for Three Floyds Zombie Dust.  Life is good. – 15392

 
“I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet, tasty beer.” - Homer Simpson