Beerios

So the post title describes the foods in my diet - according to my girlfriend Laura. In actuality, I needed a clever title, so I had this fact in my pocket for a while now. For the record, I do think my diet isn't that bad.

I've the had the blessing of wonderful weather in the DC area, and some time to relax and grill some food. Oh yeah, grilling with a cold beer in hand counts too. The best part? Not seeing a cloud in the sky for hours on end...

This should be my last post before Colleen's visit. At some point, I see us going beer for beer. It will get ugly. And she will probably win. Without further ado, here are the beers I've recently tried.

Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager: The six pack box was interesting for this beer. It came with two line graphs: one for color, and one for hop vs malt. I thought it was quite interesting, and perhaps I will need to start a similar visual for my ratings? The beer lived up to its name, amber in color. I also thought it was well balanced between malts and hops, and would be the kind of craft brew one would enjoy at the grill. I am relatively inexperienced at Flying Dog's lineup, but this certainly won't turn me away from them.

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen: Sierra Nevada makes an excellent pale ale, so I was hoping this beer would live up it's cousin. Hefeweizen's are known to be incredibly light in flavor, and cloudy in appearance. They are one of the best summer beers possible. There's usually a slight fruit flavor, and everything goes down smooth. I word to the wise, there is usually yeast at the bottom. It's a good idea to pour out 80% of it into a glass. The bottom 10% will be mostly yeast. If you do drink it, swish the bottle around before hand.

A brief programming note, while I did start this entry before the one previously posted by Colleen, it was delayed until now so I could locate my notes on two other beers. Their stories are also included in the description. They were both brewed by Clipper City in Baltimore. I am definitely warming up to that brewery...

Clipper City Heavy Seas Peg Leg: I had this Imperial Stout while out for a drink with my friend Matt. We went to Hard Times Cafe. It's definitely a no-frills place that makes great chili, although I abstained from it on this visit. The beer reminded me more of a coffee stout than an Imperial. Overall, it had quite the kick and certainly was not a beer for the faint at heart.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon: After a particularly soul-sucking day at work (everyone has them), my friend Kyle and I met for some beers afterward. I ordered this beer on name alone, since I hadn't tried it before. My first reaction? The beer was definitely an IPA because the bitter hops were loud and clear in the taste, so to speak. This is the kind of IPA that I would refer hop-heads to, but not the run of the mill beer drinker. There are certainly a lot of flavors to the beer, but one needs to get past the hops to enjoy them.

The scorecard:
Colleen: 223
Paul: 222

Cheers,
Paul