The Weekend Before Halloween

I had a hankerin' for a beer and some Pizza on Thursday. I really wanted to go to Lazy Moon or try out Mellow Mushroom since I'd never been there, but when my sister got home from work she let me know she'd already told some friends of hers we'd meet them up at Sip, less a down to earth pizza joint than it is a quasi swanky wine-focused bar. Whatev's, I tried two new beers.

It was too dark (stupid swanky people) to get good pictures. My first beer was Orlando Brewing Company's Blonde Ale (American Pale Ale, ?% ABV). The first sip was the best, but it was decent to the bottom, kind of strawish, grassy hop flavors.

The other beer I had was the Orlando Brewing Company's Red Ale (American Amber, ?% ABV). I didn't like it as much, but it was okay. Too much hop, not enough carbonation.

After these, I was tipsy as I have lost my tolerance and had not eaten much, having saved calories for a big yummy slice of pizza. Cami and I determined that the only pizza place still open past midnight on Thursday within a reasonable distance was Broadway Pizza. It was okay, but not great, and that was disappointing. Also, I scorched the top of my mouth.

Friday night I was a loser at home with ice cream, convalescing once again from a damn gym injury.

Saturday night I had a Halloween party to attend, but my costume had not yet arrived in the mail. I still have no car, and Cami had to run out the door as soon as she got home from work. Actually, the rest of this story will appear in my travel blog. Click here if you're interested. At one point I was at Orlando Ale House and had a Shipyard Export (American Pale Ale, 5.0% ABV). This was lackluster, thin, boring, drinkable but not all that enjoyable.

Eventually I wound up in a costume, pre-drinking a Shock top Belgian White (Witbier, 5.2% ABV).




I thought it was all right, certainly drinkable anyway (probably due to being pretty carbonated and really mild).

When I got to the party I had some more of the Yuengling Black and Tans I still had around. They also had a keg, so I had some keg beer whilst losing badly at a game of beer pong. At the end of the night, I finally had the Grolsch Light (Light Lager, 5.0% ABV) I've randomly had in the fridge for a few weeks.

It wasn't offensive, just a milder lager, not so offensively bland and shitty as a Bud Light.

Sunday night another friend wanted to go to Mellow Mushroom, which was awesome except that I'd just secret shopped a fast food restaurant and wasn't really hungry. Needless to say, I still ate a third of a 10" pizza and did a sampler of four 5 oz. beers. Since Cami also did that, I tried 8 beers. Hooray! Too bad some of them aren't getting the proper glass...

1. Clipper City Loose Cannon (American IPA, 7.25% ABV): Sweet at first, then a little bitter

2. Hazed and Infused (American IPA, 4.85% ABV): Smells good, tastes pretty good, bitter/harsh finish

3. Rogue Dead Guy Ale (Helles Bock, 6.5% ABV): Not bad, not delicious, kind of different (pine?)

4. Terrapin India Brown Ale (American Brown Ale, 6.2% ABV): Pretty good, solid all the way through, with brown sugar and earthy flavors

5. Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Head (Pumpkin Ale, 9.0% ABV): Yummy, good spicyness, better at first

6. Sleepy Hollow (I believe this was another one from Shipyard, a pumpkin stout, ?% ABV): This was my favorite of all of them. Of course I love creamy stouts, and then it had the holiday spices and pumpkin flavors.

7. Sea Dog Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale (Fruit Beer, 4.6% ABV): Boring, just the sugary blueberry flavor.

8. Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider (Cider?,?% ABV): Well, it was cidery, kinda tastes like wine to me.

10/09/09, 10/10/09

On Friday night I joined Cami and her work friends at the Pub again (I should have this situation rectified by this weekend). Anyway, I gave Smithwick's (Irish Red Ale, 4.5% ABV) another chance since they have it on tap there. Well, it must have been better at the more authentic Irish pub where I originally had it because it was pretty meh. I think there's a special Smithwick's Pub Draught that this wasn't. It's too dark to take good pictures at that pub. Moving along...

The next night saw me through a variety of imbibing. I started the evening with an apéritif beer, one of the Yuengling Black and Tans (Black and Tan, 4.7% ABV) I had in the fridge.

This was somewhat tastier than the regular Yuengling lager, probably due to it's being half not a lager, but I'd prefer the dark half of the equation to be thicker. The head dissipated too quickly, it was somewhat smokey and crisp, kind of boring. Too bad I still have 4-5 more of these in the fridge.

After that I wound up having some wine at a Jamaican restaurant and then wound up at The Stardust Cafe, where I had the Lion Stout (Export Stout, 8.0% ABV) they had on tap.



The first sip was the best, nice and creamy, and it subsequently got a bit more bitter. I think my bartender didn't know or care enough to leave me with much head on this, but I got over it.

Unfortunately, from this point on, we went to the club where the situation dictates I must drink Bud Lights as I'd be a douche to try to order any better beers, which probably weren't available anyway, and if I'd had liquor I probably would've had an even worse hangover than the one I ended up having anyway,

Ate too much to have much beer 10/3/09

I had a Staropramen beer the other night. The picture matches the Staropramen light (3.5% ABV) beer on Beeradovate.com, but I'm pretty certain it was actually the regular Staropramen lager (Czech Pilsener, 5.0% ABV) as I have a memory of it saying 5.0% ABV. I wouldn't have knowingly picked up the light version anyway...

It was boring but not horrible, so it must have been the regular.

A couple random beers

At a pub last weekend I decided to get Harp Lager (Euro Pale Lager, 5.0% ABV) out of the way, off my checklist. I'm not a big fan of lagers anyway, and this one is plain and boring. It's not complex at all, just a little cereal, and it's a little too carbonated. Done.






The other night I had one beer (before delving into the liquor fiasco alluded too on my Bad Day Blog). It was a Hacker Pschorr Weisse Bock (Weizenbock, 5.5% ABV).
I like these unfiltered wheat beers. This wasn't my favorite ever, but it was good. Pretty decent sized, fairly thick and creamy head. You get the cloves and banana flavors, but there's not much depth to it, no real aftertaste. This beer is great if you want refreshing rather than complex.