final-ly

I told Paul a few months ago that it was my goal to overtake his variety-of-beers record by New Years because I had, you know, a semester to finish... so I accept that he has pulled ahead slightly in this everlasting contest. (I also accept because he had a 70 beer lead on me when this all began in college.) Well, it's finally finals! I have just a week and change left in the semester, and then I can responsibly reclaim my lead.

In the meantime, I did have a new beer last night. I went out in my typical Monday night fashion, except, Stuff Yer Face was closed for their holiday party so my friends and I went to Marita's Cantina instead, where they currently have Leinenkugel's Fireside Nut Brown Ale on tap. Paul isn't really a Leinenkugel fan, I know, but I haven't disliked any of theirs that I've tried thus far:

Summer Shandy: citrusy summer wheat ale. I like wheat beer. I thought I tasted lime but it was lemon.
Sunset Wheat: easy to drink, not too strong, I will repeat: I like wheat.

So, the Fireside Nut Brown: definitely tasted the nuttiness but it was decent. Didn't have a second though, ended up switching to Guinness, but that was a mood thing, not that the Fireside wasn't at least tolerable. Though Leinenkugel probably wouldn't be my first choice, I definitely don't dislike their beers.

Also, about halfway through our first round, my friends and I were later joined by all of the bartenders from Stuffies! It's really fun drinking with your bartenders. Sign of a great bartender: drunk as she was, our usual Monday night bartender was still able to recommend me the Fireside Nut Brown Ale, because she didn't think I'd had it before and knows that somewhere, some dude is trying to try more different beers than me.

Well, dude, the score is 157-159.

(I mean, I was already halfway through mine at that point, but I'm impressed by her effort.)