a toast to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thanks to a long weekend including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday (Observed) party and another Monday out with friends, I have quite a few new interesting beers to report.

Wells & Young, Ltd.'s Banana Bread Beer: This sounds questionable, doesn't it? It's surprisingly amazing though, assuming you like beer and banana bread. Despite the presence of some artificial flavors (in addition to REAL fair trade bananas!), it smells like actual banana bread, not some sort of fake banana candy. And it tastes awesome-- not necessarily like liquid banana bread so much as, you're drinking a nice beer while sitting in the company of fresh, delicious banana bread. Kudos to Tom to picking that one off the liquor store shelf for me.

Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier: While I'm not usually into fruit beers, this was pretty pleasant. The blackberry isn't too strong or fake tasting, and it's over a nice witbier.

Sam Adams Black Lager: This one was more up my alley. It's a lager that tastes more like a porter. It has a really strong flavor, largely chocolate, but goes down more lightly, like the lager that it actually is. Good stuff. That Samuel Adams, so reputable (with only a very few exceptions)!

Lancaster Rare Rooster Rye Ale: My friend Jeremy held this one aside for me to add to my list, though warned me he couldn't speak to its quality. The first sip tasted something like old rye bread with paint on it. Worried that it had turned, I handed it back to Jeremy, who tasted it and told me it was exactly the same as when he bought it. I kind of wonder how long the beer had been sitting, but he recommended that I generally avoid Lancaster beers, regardless of freshness. . I would recommend the same, after trying another...

Lancaster Strawberry Wheat: Not usually a fruit beer person, but after two recent positive experiences and my love of wheat beers, I went for it. Awful, awful, awful. This is rank medicine flavored strawberry, not even semi-tolerable lollipop strawberry. Ugh.

Kennebec River Summer Ale: Initially concerned that being a summer ale, it would be out of date, but it was all right. It was kind of a pale ale, which just isn't my jam, but it was drinkable. Especially compared to those Lancasters.

Troeg's Dreamweaver Wheat: Thank you Danni. This was a nice unfiltered wheat beer. No weird or bad fruit, nothing offensive, just a nice wheat beer. I could handle this one again.

Löwenbräu: This is another one Tom picked up to share, after we heard it referred to on Soap, a really hilarious TV show from the late 70s that we've been watching on DVD lately (I'd recommend that too). This is supposed to be legit German stuff. It was a bit too carbonated for me, considering that it didn't have any sort of really amazing flavor on top of the bubbles. I probably wouldn't go out of my way for it again, but it's definitely not a bad beer-- I've never been crazy about soda for the same reason.

Weihenstephaner Korbinian: a little sweeter than I'd prefer, but definitely a good beer. It's darker than the other brews I've tried by this German brewer, and very, very smooth. It's new on tap at Stuff Yer Face right now!

Sea Dog Apricot Wheat: For fruity beers not being my thing, I sure did try a few this weekend. This beer has a very light flavor to it, although it smells pretty strongly of apricot. It was also very smooth. Paul and I both have down on our beer lists another brew by Sea Dog, the Blueberry Ale. Both of us recommend it as a breakfast beer. I'd recommend this one likewise.

Well, that puts the tally at 173 for Paul and 189 for me. My semester starts today, so I'm sure I won't be ahead for long. While I think three day weekends and excuses to get together with friends are wonderful things, let us remember the great work that Dr. King did for civil rights in our country!