So, if you've come across this blog and noticed I haven't been on much... Well, I have been busy, but really don't have much of an excuse. However, that isn't because I have not been sampling beers when I could get the chance.
To summarize, most of my tastings are centered around certain events, so I can vaguely remember things:
Memorial Day; Leah and I camped up in the Manzano mountains at the Fourth of July campground. We were planning on doing some mountain biking, but because of the torrential downpour that the southwest had experienced this late spring/early summer. Well, to celebrate the warm weather, I decided to make it a "fruit beer weekend". The sampling:
Orange Blossom Kream Ale by Buffalo Bill's
We had had the Blue Paw at a local restaurant with a roasted artichoke, and I do say that that pairing was wonderful - something we will be trying at home at some point. I have mentioned Leah's fondness for the Orange Blossom, so a six-pack of that was the first to go that weekend. I was pretty surprised by the Wailua Wheat, which is infused with passion fruit. The Wild Blue was our favorite, mainly because it suited our desire for a syrupy sweet high alcohol beer to drown our sorrows with the rain. I loved the rain, it was just wet..... everywhere.
At the end of May, we took a rafting trip up to Canon City, Colorado. We camped with about 8 other people, and along with Marble's IPA, I brought a growler of their Double IPA. I do have to mention that it was not near as hoppy as I had expected, with a nice balance of malt characters, but an overall strong character. Needless to say, I drank most of it.
June we set out for San Francisco, and I would have loved to see more breweries while there, the highlights were the following:
An "Irish" pub in downtown San Francisco where we had a nip before a movie and some shopping. No matter what, Chimay tastes good anywhere!!!
Sipping Half Moon Bay Brewery's Brown in my stylish new HMBB knit cap. The beer left something to be desired, I got the impression that this place was more concerned about their sea food (and being located right on the coast, what's there to be concerned about) than their beer. Meh.....
Then we hit Triple Rock Brewing and Jupiter, both located in Berkeley. They are both small craft brewers that have their own enjoyable clientele.... the picture on the right was taken @ Jupiter, it was a Tuesday night, a two story place, and we could barely find a table. Try the Red....
Triple Rock had better beers, and was a more traditional bar but you really can't go wrong with a taster tray.
That's about it for now. Got some irish stout fermenting, and will bottle it next week. I've got some lofty idea of doing a Gingerbread porter for christmas, I'm currently looking for a recipe. Drop me a line with any suggestions.
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