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.

Two Birthday Parties in one Night - 9/19/09

After getting my hair cut to an acceptable length again, I headed off to the birthday party of one of my sister's recently married, Mormon, ex-boyfriends. We went to a sports bar/restaurant. In the middle of the table sat we ex-Mormons, my sister and her friend Yasmin sipping their adorable little Bud Light Limes. I sat next to the Brit who had just cut my hair down at her salon, neither of us drinking in favor of stuffing our faces with fries, fried green beans, fried mushrooms, wings of various flavors, a muffalata, and about a dozen dipping sauces. Oh and then the birthday cake of course. I taught Yasmin how to make a good whistling sound with her straw, so that occupied us the hour or so we were there.

Then I picked up my 6 beers from ABC and headed off to party numero dos. I had actually had a beer on Thursday and Friday, and was feeling strangely hungoverish (well, the way I feel after drinking anyway), so I ended up not drinking much. Oh, the beers I had the previous two nights were draft beers, one at The Uptown Bar and one at Lazy Moon. I can't remember what the beer at Uptown was because I couldn't really read it. At Lazy moon I had a Beamish Irish Stout (Irish Dry Stout, 4.1% ABV) on tap. Oh how I love Irish stouts. So creamy...mmm... This was creamy, smooth, and malty, and it felt so good going down my throat.

Moving on to the party at which I drank beer. First up was Samuel Adam's Imperial Stout (Russian Imperial Stout, 9.2% ABV)Oh Sammy, you never fail to deliver that perfectly mediocre beer, do you? Sadly, I didn't have the most appropriate glass available to me, but I doubt the head would have improved much anyway. Really, for 9.2% ABV, I should consider this beer delicious. The first few sips tasted the best, but then the dark chocolate and coffee faded out in favor of the anise.

My second beer was a Black Dog Ale (American Amber/Red Ale, 5.2% ABV). The thing about this beer was that it had this coppery, metallic aftertaste as if I had been drinking it straight from the bottle. Other than that it was fine but not remarkable.








My final beer was a Warsteiner Premium Verum (German Pilsener, 4.8% ABV). I thought this one was delicious and gained an appreciation of the German Purity Law of 1516. It tasted like a biscuit in some ways. Mostly, my thought was that it smacks of Smacks.

Well by this point a straight girl had announced her crush on me, so my work was done, and it was time to head to bed.

Housewarming Party on 9/11/09

I went to ABC Fine Wine and Spirits to pick up some beer on the way to the party. I now have a frequent shopper's card, and I will definitely be using it. You get 10% off if you get 6 random beers, so of course I had to get 6. First up was Rogue's Mocha Porter (American Porter, 5.3% ABV). Pretty good sized head, but not as thick and creamy as I'd prefer. It was roasty, malty, and somewhat bitter. For something with "mocha" in the name I was hoping for a bit more coffee, whereas there was really only a hint here. Ah well, you can't win 'em all.

Next I had a Spaten Optimator (Doppelbock, 7.2 ABV).



The head here was pretty good, fairly thick. This was very drinkable for a 7.2%, probably due to the molasses and brown sugar one can relatively easily taste. This pushed me into nice and tipsy, prompting me to slow down on my drinking, further prompting someone to ask me if I needed latex gloves and a stethoscope. "What?" I asked. "You know, to help you nurse that thing." Well excuse me, miss rum and coke.

Haha, moving along... Samuel Smith's Organic Cider. Good stuff I'm sure, but I guess I'm just not a big cider fan. I'll stick to Sammy's ales and stouts. The next beer I hardly remember - I was at that point. Too bad I don't remember because I've been meaning to start exploring ginger beers. Left Hand Brewing Company's Juju Ginger beer (Herbed/Spiced beer, 4.0% ABV).

I went back to the fridge to decide which was next of the two remaining beers. There was only one. I walked around the party until I found the culprit, Capt. Douche: I was forgiving after letting him know he had stolen one of my beers. He wasn't exactly contrite, explaining that he had analyzed the contents of the fridge and determined this would be the beer to take. Let's take a moment: If there are a couple of unique beers alone in the back of the fridge as well as a couple of twelve packs of Yuengling, take the Yuengling, or YOU'RE a DOUCHE. He's pretty much a douche no matter what though as I've learned he spends an hour minimum every day to get his hair like that. Sexy, no?

Well after that I was offered someone else's random beer: Rocky Mountain IPA (American IPA; ABV?). I really have no memory of this beer, nor do I have any of the last of my purchased beers, Slim Chance Light Ale (American Blonde Ale, 3.9% ABV). I vaguely remember thinking it didn't taste bad.

Then we went to Steak and Shake to continue our conversation on eugenics since Pita Pit was closed.

My First Night out in Orlando: 9.5.09

I started the night at out with the two Guinness Draught Extra Colds (Irish Dry Stout; 4.2% ABV) my sister had in her fridge. While this beer is generic and relatively cheap, it's been awhile since I've had a stout (my favorite) so color me happy. Mmm, just look at the thick, creamy head, mmm... want more beer.

After those Cami and I headed out to go to dinner before heading out for a piano bar to meet some of her friends. The place to which we went first (because we were going to get Delta Sky Miles) looked shady, so Cami insisted we go somewhere else. I put up a bit of a fight (though I gave in) because, while the menu looked uninspired, I knew that leaving that place with no other definite plan would only lead to what it did indeed lead: getting lost for an hour and a half. We finally ended up at Cafe Tu Tu Tango as it was on the way to the piano bar.

Finally we got to the bar where I could drink again, my buzz having almost wholly disappeared. I had another Guinness first, though this time from the bottle, which was not nearly as good.

Then I realized they had Yuengling Traditional Lager (American Amber/Red Lager; 4.4% ABV) there, which is my ex girlfriend's favorite, so I had two of those. I asked about glasses, and they didn't have any. I should have taken the bartender up on his offer to at least give me a plastic glass though, and I will from now on. I already knew it to some extent, but this solidified my lesson that beer should always be drunk from a glass. It was too hard to taste anything other that metallic taste through that tiny hole.

From there, I got more concerned about enjoying my sister's friends' company, so I had a Corona Light with a lime and then two Bud Light limes, which I figured would be cheaper. Well actually, a girl bought me the last one. She and Cami's other friends wanted me to go to the gay club now that we were leaving the bar. I thought we were heading out for the club, but then Cami ended up telling me that it was too late and rather time to be getting home and into bed (11:10 when we left).

We did stop at this delightful place called Pom Pom's Teahouse & Sandwicheria. I ordered a Thanksgiving sandwich that included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and cream cheese (possible more) and was served with brown gravy. Dear god, mmm...