Saturday 11.28.09

Cami and I went and used up the chips we had for free drinks at a random lame bar called Suspenders Saloon. The only interesting part was when, in a bar full of nothing but white people, three black people walked in, and everyone cheered - literally and loudly. We felt that now that we'd had a fun and inexplicable moment it was time to move on to somewhere more fun, so we went to Red Light, Red Light so I could have some delicious beer.

First up was a Ten Fidy (Russian Imperial Stout, 10.0% ABV). Oh my "god" it was delicious.

I couldn't get the picture in time to get the bit of head in there, but it was thin and dark and dissipated quickly. What flavors didn't it have, so thick and creamy. I need to have another when I'm not already tipsy.

Next I had one of Brewmaster's delicious beers, but now I'm not sure what it was, a stout, a porter... this was one of those situations in which I really thought I was going to remember a lot more than I did. Well, I'll just have to go back.

Well one thing I do know is that it had, in addition to being creamy and delicious, it had a high ABV.

Cami couldn't finish her framboise, so I helped out with that. A nice guy bought me another beer, probably a 6.0 or so. Fuck only knows if I had more after that (besides sips from the beers of every single person there I'm sure) because I lost consciousness. Arielle did the things she tends to do in such a state, and I woke up very dehydrated the next day.

Random Party 11.21.09

I went with a new friend to a house party with 20-25 people I'd never met before. I'm really loving walking into new groups of people and shaking things up. Before leaving for that party, I had a pre-beer. I tried this expensive gluten free beer I'd acquired from a Whole Foods, Toleration (English Pale Ale, 4.4% ABV).

I think the people who named it were laughing at the people who were going to drink it. The best you could do is tolerate this wretched tragedy of a beer. Thank the merciful heavens I don't have a gluten allergy. It was the most sour beer I've ever had, with what tasted like spoiled brown sugar. Avoid! Your gluten allergy is all in your mind anyway! F. I thought it deserved a second picture.

At the party I had this Oktoberfest beer. I don't know the company, so I'm not sure much about it. It was very so so, muted spices, just plain stuff. I give it a B-.

Next up was a Left Hand Milk Stout (Milk/Sweet Stout, 5.2% ABV).
Unfortunately, the Toleration beer had left such a sour taste in my mouth about sour beers, that this wasn't a very pleasant experience. And maybe I'm just not a huge fan of milky stouts in general. B- again.

Before switching to generic beer for the evening, I had one last interesting one that night, the Post Road Pumpkin Ale (Pumpkin Ale, 5.0% ABV).

This was better than the Oktoberfest, more flavor, still with all the usual spices you'd expect of course. Not going to be numbered among my favorite pumpkin ales, but not bad, a B.

I was also invited to participate in a threesome, hit on by the guy friend I came with who totally knows I'm a lesbian, and had two different kinds of fast food on the way home.

Monday night I decided to fit a beer into my 1800 calories, so I had a Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale (American Amber/Red Ale, 5.5% ABV, 177 calories). This was a great beer!

Really one of my top 10 beers so far. Sorry about the bad pouring job. I think this beer had a good malty thing going on, I'm really still trying to figure out all these flavors, and I was focusing more on the conversation I was having than on all the flavors and qualities of this, but I enjoyed it immensely. If you want a sure thing, this is one. A-.

Solid Beer Weekend 11.13.09 through 11.15.09

I went to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse for a couple beers on Friday night. I had the BJ'S P.M. PORTER (American Porter, 5.7% ABV) first. It was yummy yummy. For some reason I felt like it'd be lame of me to take a picture of it at the time :[ Anyway it was black and had a creamy head that lasted a good bit of a while, with good lacing. The chocolate, malty, and molasses flavors were distinct and delicious. It was thick too and had nice creamy mouthfeel. I'd say it's time for me to start a rating system. I'll give this one an A-. I'm surprised to learn it was only 5.7% ABV 'cause a pint of it really got me as far as I needed to go.

After a couple drinks with some girlfriends, I had another beer. It was a Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing Co. (American Pale Ale, 6.0%). I really liked it! I knew it was going to be distinctly hoppy, and it was nice to be able to isolate that I found the hops refreshing! I give it an A!

It was nice and foggy and had the normal banana, clove, spice flavors, not bitter, medium thickness. It was easy to drink for sure, but not particularly memorable.

Oh the glass on the right was my porter glass, so you can still see a bit of the lacing. I sneaked my camera out while the other two people I was with were away for a minute. I just didn't want to get into an explanation to the middle aged man we were with that I blog about the beers I drink.

Anyway, as always the service at BJ's was ridiculously slow, but at least they didn't mess anything up. Also, the man we were with picked up the bill, so yay!

Saturday night Cami, Yasmin, and a newly(ish) married Mormon couple Jack and Michelle, and I went to our Mellow Mushroom for yummy food and beer. It was dollar off drafts, so we forewent the samplers in favor the special. Cami got the tasty Sleepy Hollow again, and I got the Cigar City Cuban Espresso Beer (American Brown Ale, 5.5% ABV). This may be the Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale-Espresso Aged because the descriptions sound like the beer I had. It was black and had a small creamy head that dissipated quickly. The espresso aroma was distinct, delightful and lasted all the way through. Unlike most coffee beers, the coffee/espresso taste just kept coming. At the very end it had that coffee astringency thing going on, but by that time I was pigging out on a mushroom laden hoagie and cared little. Oh, I almost forgot, the Espresso beer gets an A!

I may have a beer tonight, hard to say, I now have 4 beers in the cupboard. Mmm, :]

Lotsa drinkin', not much beer

This weekend did not see a lot of beer consumption for me since the wedding I attended featured only two beers in it's primarily wine and liquor oriented open bar: Heinekin, and Coors Light. I plan to make up for lost time next weekend. I want to go to Whole Foods to get some good imports...mm...

Halloween Party

Well ABC Liquor was just closing up for the night when I pulled up, so I had to resort to the dismal selection at RaceTrak. I wound up with Stella Artois (Euro Pale Lager; 5.0% ABV). Well I had to get it out of the way sometime. It tasted like a Euro Pale Lager in the most generic way possible.