Total Wine!

I finally went to a Total Wine to check out their 1000+ beer selection. Oh sweet torture. I allowed myself three purchases. I went to a new friend's house to hang out and drink the beer. First up, was a Wexford Irish Cream Ale (Irish Red ALe, 5.0%).

The creamy head was encouraging, though this beer didn't end up being quite as good as I was hoping. It was pretty good though, silky down the throat. This was a little more malty and fruity than I'd like. B+.

Next I had a sip of Matt's Thomas Hardy Ale (Old Ale, 11.9% ABV).

This was really good. I forgot to take a picture until it was half drunk, but you're not missing much in this picture as there wasn't much head in the first place. I could taste brown sugar and raisins, prunes. It was thick with little carbonation. It's strange to me how much I enjoy the high alcohol taste in beers now, whereas I never really have with liquor. I liked how I could taste bread in the beer. A-.

My next beer was a Red Brick Double Chocolate Oatmeal Porter (American Porter, 7.7% ABV). I thought the color and head were promising, but the taste didn't meet my expectations or at least my hopes. I couldn't really taste much chocolate or oatmeal, it was more burnt malt with an astringent aftertaste. B-.

Finally, I had a jug of Mississippi Mud Black and Tan (Black & Tan, 5.0% ABV).

Not bad for a bottled Black & Tan. It was kind of sweet but didn't have much flavor. B-.

You know, I've gotten away from telling about my night. I'm going to get back to that, though this night I was just hanging out with Matt and Yasmin, so no shennanigans occurred. We did learn about Matt's stroke last year though, which was an awesome story. I wish I could have one without the threat of death or any long term consequences.

I had a beer at Hot Olives Saturday night after a nice neighborhood Christmas festival at which a friend of mine was singing in a quartet, impressing us all with her strong and solid soprano in many songs, including the freaking Hallelujah Chorus. You just don't get that on the street corner every night. Anyway, the beer I ordered was from the Czech Republic, a Krušovice Cerne (Schwarzbier, 3.8% ABV).

It was pretty good, a nice accompaniment to my meal. It was roasty and malty, with maybe a suggestion of coffee. Basically, if I want a stout or porter but don't need 10% ABV at the moment, this will do the trick.

Beer Festival!

On Friday I went to the Orlando Holiday Brewfest! It was fun! There was free food from restaurants around town, and I sampled probably 35 beers. There were many samples I'd already had before, and most of them were unremarkable. Unfortunately for the people giving the samples, my having tried them means they've been crossed off my list so I don't have to buy them in the future. There was this one interesting beer I may buy some time though, called Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale (Winter Warmer, 6.0% ABV). Now, this isn't a beer drinker's beer, but don't we all have some girlfriends who aren't beer drinkers at all but occasionally think seasonal beers are cute and think a beer and pizza night is quaint? This is the beer to buy for them - it tastes just like cream soda. It can be found at Publixes and Total Wine stores.

Afterwards, I met up with some friends and some new people at Red Light, Red Light for some scrumptious beer. The first beer I had was a Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout, AKA Wake and Bake (American Double/Imperial Stout, 8.1% ABV). Of course it was amazingly delicious. Another A from Red Light, Red Light. This was on tap, and most people aren't so lucky to have the occasion to try this beer on tap, thank you RL, RL! It was black, thick, and creamy. Mmm... Coffee is the predominant taste. Others compared it to black coffee, but I don't really like to drink straight black coffee (as much as I love coffee), and this was different, delicious to drink.

I had agreed to buy someone a beer, so I bought her a Smuttynose Strawberry Shortweisse (Berliner Weissbier, 3.0% ABV?) since that seemed interesting and I wanted to try some. It was okay, but not my cup of tea, if you will. You could definitely taste strawberries, and it was a bit sour. B.

Cami finally figured out the beer I'd had the other night that she really liked because it tasted of butterscotch to her. It's called a 3rd Coast Stout, but I can't find it elsewhere on the internet. Anyway, it was delicious, but I'll have to do more...research! A-.

On Sunday night we had some friends over for game night, and I had some more beers. First up was St. Peter's Cream Stout (Milk/Sweet Stout, 6.5% ABV).

Mmmm... Thick, creamy, and delicious. Cinnamon colored head, not as creamy as I'd like. Flavors are chocolate malt, coffee, and cream. A-.

Next up was the Samuel Adams Cream Stout (Milk/Sweet Stout, 4.69% ABV). Well as always Sam Adams beer is kind of plain. This beer tasted good, but not great.

That being said, this has been my favorite Sam Adams beer so far. The head was decently thick and creamy. Flavors: Roasted malt, some coffee, some chocolate, brown sugar, somewhat bitter. B+.

After that I had the Samuel Adams Winter Lager (Bock, 5.8% ABV). This one surprised me as I liked it better than I'd thought I would.

You can taste hops, some fruit flavors, and some wintery spices like cinnamon. I wouldn't seek any more out, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at 'em either. B.

After that I had a Yuengling and then called it a night.

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.