(channeling my creativity toward my AAG presentation instead of a clever blog title right now...)

It's been a little busy for me as I prepare to go to the AAG Annual Meeting next week in Washington, where I'll be presenting some of my research to other geography nerds, attending other talks, and visiting with several friends in the D.C. Metro area. I've offered dinner and/or beer to my friends loaning me their couches and floors, as that's way cheaper than a hotel every night and it will just be nice to catch up with them anyway. Paul is included in that group of friends (thanks again!). I wonder if I'll be buying him beers he hasn't had before... stay tuned for a possible joint post next week!

In the meantime, I've tried a few things:

Saranac Adirondack Lager: very safe and drinkable, not much else to write home about. I think every time I've had a Saranac beer, they've been part of a mixed case. This would be the safety beer/crowd pleaser in the case.

Long Trail Double Bag: I bought this because I was amused by the name (the package features little cartoon cows) but didn't know until hours later that it was a "strong ale", which was written in a not particularly obvious place or size on the side of the 6-pack, not even on the bottles. This wasn't particularly thrilling, but it was a good beer.

Saranac Black Lager: This reminded me a lot of either Sam Adam's Black Lager or Magic Hat's Winter Howl. All three are very good! It's a schwarzbier (German for "black beer"), which is lager-y in weight but porter-y in flavor. Of those three, I'd say Saranac was the least strongly flavored (I recall the other two being very strong) but still outstanding. There are hints of coffee and chocolate in this beer. It was a good experience.

This helps me transition to a short blurb about that beer marinade recipe I like to use when grilling chicken for my family. The first time I ever did that, I used Magic Hat's Winter Howl. It went over well. So I made it a second time, which made it into this blog, with Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale. I made it last week with Yuengling, because it was in the fridge at home, and while it still went over well, my parents and little brother all agreed that they liked other versions better. Just thought I'd share that.

And the score is: 218-218... for now...

See you next week, Paul!