On the Eve of St. Patrick's Day

I will not try any new beers tomorrow, as it will be St. Patrick's day. My beer of choice tomorrow will certainly be Guinness, as it is one of the few beers one should even consider drinking on St. Patrick's day. My only fervent objection is that it will probably cost $6 a pint?!! Nonetheless, have fun everyone!

I tried a few new beers these past few days. Colleen has been quite benevolent in letting me catch up to her. I'm waiting for her to pull out 10 beers from thin air to add to her list. I'm sure she will soon, being that she will be visiting DC in the next few weeks. This means we will be having a meeting at the Brickskeller, which should be a blast.

Xingu Beer: This beer was a gift from my family friends Deana and Frank. I think they will be happy that by the end of this post, as I've tied Colleen. Hopefully, I will soon lift the shame I have brought on my family. I thought this beer looked like a porter, but went down like Newcastle. I like black lagers for the most part, and I was glad to try a different one. Many thanks for their contribution, I will enjoy the remaining five of them!

Morland Tanners Jack: At times, I think we live in an overly complex world. Certainly, many of the craft beers I try are very complex. Like in writing, sometimes a masterpiece is much simpler than you'd imagine. I wouldn't go as far to say this beer was a masterpiece, but I hope it would give a mindset of what I mean when I say this beer was delightfully simple. I thought it tasted how a beer should taste, and it passed the test all beer must pass - it went well with a slice of pizza.

Weyerbacher Insanity: I got this as part of a custom six pack for my birthday. Many thanks to my brother for providing a few new beers to add to the list. I thought this beer was way, way to strong. I've had beer aged in oak barrel before, but the problem here is that this beer is a barleywine. I do not like the barleywine style, it just leaves a really weird after taste to me.

Lagunitas IPA: I had this beer with my cousin Bredan at a bar up the street. I thought it was a very good IPA, that had an interesting hop characteristic. It tastes like an IPA should, just with a pleasant twist, almost a variety of flavors. After reading the description online, I come to realize it is because the beer is brewed with 43 different hops! They certainly left quite an interesting hop characteristic.


The Scorecard:
Paul: 206
Colleen: 206

Cheers,
Paul

various and sundry

For those who have not yet heard: I'm not graduating this semester.

I was initially crushed by the news but thankfully had my regular Monday night out with my friends after meeting with my advisor to discuss the future of my work. While life isn't going exactly as I'd hoped, I know it's going to be ok. And, as always, Monday night was a good time with good people. I tried a few new ones, knowing that Paul was probably catching up by now, and also because I was relaxing and cheering up in the company of good friends. You know?

Full Moon Winter Ale: This made me think of Sam Adam's Winter Lager, only more ale-y and less spice-y. It wasn't bad, but didn't make a particularly remarkable impression on me either. I didn't not enjoy it, but it's not something I need to go out of my way for.

Victory's Old Horizontal: You've heard me rant about Victory before, despite my love of their Storm King. My disappointment continues. At a quick whiff, my friend Gurzo declared that it smelled like cotton candy. The brewer describes it as "A luxurious, warming barleywine rich with aromatic hops and dark, candied fruit character that hides its epic strength masterfully." I would describe it as liquid fruitcake. Gross. I tried this in part because I hadn't before, but also because my friend Jeremy liked it. I can't say I understand why, but apparently he's not alone, because the folks over at beeradvocate.com seem to be fans. Jeremy also recommended Victory's Prima Pils, but it would have to wait for another night when I wasn't all victoried out.

After that debacle, Gurzo advised me to try Ed Hardy Premium Beer. I had to laugh because it was basically a Mexican lager, which I haven't exactly gone out of my way for since returning from Mexico. This one was particularly tasteless, but Stuff Yer Face is trying to get rid of them, so for $2, I could add another beer to my list.

This was followed by a Stella Artois, which I've definitely had before (in fact, I remember having one with my big brother at the airport before I travelled to the UK). However, it wasn't on the list, and it had been so long, I didn't really remember what it was like... it's all right. Nothing to go crazy about, but something that's light and drinkable.

My total is currently at 179 versus Paul's 173. There have been a few other beers since last time, but I won't bore you with everything. I will mention one more of them though: Raven's Eye Imperial Stout. While generally a fan of the Imperial Stout, this one was a bit sweeter than I'd prefer. I definitely got a strong espresso flavor, which is usually ok, I don't mind strong flavored beers. However, the malts were a bit intense this time. It's a heavy beer, which I also don't generally mind, but I wouldn't rush out for another of these on purpose.