Gentlemen, start your engines! Pints for the IPA and Weizen glasses for the Weizen...
Dave and Kenn finally got the chance to come over and try out the IPA we made. Keep in mind, this was Dave's very first home brew, and he did a great job. I was beginning to feel a little guilty as I was sharing his first batch with folks from work, and enjoying a few on my own. (As a matter of fact, I'm sipping one on the back deck as I grill up a steak and type this blog post...)
Dave's Weizen, begged to be cooled and then enjoyed.
Dave enjoyed brewing so much that he brewed a second batch all on his own a few days after we made the IPA. His second batch (& first solo batch) was a Weizen, and he was kind enough to bring a small cooler full of those brews for us to sample as well. However, the cooler had no ice in it, and the beer was warm.
Warm beer sucks...
Myth Busters to the rescue! We decided to chill the Weizens using a method discussed on Myth Busters. Thought to be one of the most rapid methods of beer chilling, we decided to cool our brew with a bath of water and ice. It worked rather quickly, but while we waited we sampled the IPA.
Dave's first bottle of his first home brew... Success taste pretty good!
A bit of irony
We were discussing the pros and cons of flip top bottles versus traditional bottles and capping. I hate capping, but Dave was quick to point out he had almost no flat beers on this particular batch, which he bottled and capped the old fashioned way. As he made this statement I opened his cooler and saw a bottle half empty that had leaked a bit. So much for the all mighty capper! And for the record, he had at least one flat brew too.
Poor Kenn, he opened a quitter! I hate quitters!
Exhibit A! Note the leaking foam...
A leaky quitter of the worse sort...
They weren't all quitters! This one had some fight in it...
The Verdict? Carbonation mishaps aside, the Weizen wasn't too bad for Dave's first solo batch. Not bad at all... In retrospect, we should have sampled the Weizen before the IPA. It's difficult to enjoy a more subtle beer after having a hoppy selection like the IPA. That being said, I was very impressed with how quickly Dave has taken to the hobby, and I look forward to more brew swapping and joint brewing adventures in the near future. There was some talk of an Oktoberfest in our future.
Side note: All of the carbonation issues reminded me, I still hate capping. I think it's time to look into kegging!
Behold Dave's solo brew in all it's splendor and glory!
The gateway drug of IPAs...
What about the IPA? As for the IPA, Kenn hated it, but he hates IPAs... Dave liked it, but thought it needed more hops. I liked it over all. Not over the top, but hoppy enough to have character, a sort of IPA for beginners... My First IPA by Fisher Price? Bottom line, it's an IPA non IPA drinkers might like, a gate way drug of sorts...
Off to Eli's After we tried a little of each beer, we headed out to Eli Canon's in Middle Town to hit up the tasting, which was canceled. So, we ordered some extra crispy hot wings, a few burgers and couple of brews from the beer menu. If you happen to be in CT, around the middle of the state, give Eli Canon's a try, they have a pretty good beer selection and tastings on most Tuesdays.
That's it for now... Coming soon, my run through a Sam Adam's Summer Mix case...
So it's Thursday night, Independence Day eve if you will, and it also happens to be date night at my house. Typically Friday night is date night, but Independence Day trumps date night, so we shifted the schedule a bit...
To celebrate the start of a 4 day weekend, our nation's birthday, and our marriage, we went out for an expensive, yet tasty meal at Barcelona in West Hartford. A very pleasant spot, with a unique "al carte" sort of menu. We ordered a variety of Tapas, based on the recommendation from the other pregnant couple at the restaurant, that happened to also be sitting next to us. My wife thinks we were in 'the pregnant section'. I was tempted to ask the non-pregnant couple to leave, as their 'nasty habit' was offending me. But I digress...
I'm a big fan of eating obscure animals. I know that sounds strange, but it's true. Long story short, the menu had both elk and ostrich on the menu, and I couldn't resist trying at least one of them. So, ostrich it was... Oddly enough, those big goofy looking birds from Joust are pretty darn tasty, and more like cow than chicken... But what beer should I pair with ostrich, I thought...
While the food selection was diverse, the beer selection was just OK... I opted for a Dogfish Head... Not sure what style, the menu didn't say, and I never got around to asking. I believe it was a 60 Minute IPA.
Now Garrett Oliver recommends the following styles with ostrich; Biere de garde, tripel, Dortmunder, or hellesbock. But the beerselection was thin... And the ostrich had a slightly spicy paprika flavoring in the marinade, so it actually went pretty well with the IPA. Here's the thing, an upscale, trendy place like this has a wine list the length of a phone book, but the beer list was fairly short. They did have the Dogfish, and a local brew from Thomas Hooker, but those are the only two that really jumped out at me. I'm considering sending a note to the owner, recommending more craft beers...
Me and Garrett Oliver, no he didn't come out on date night... Can you identify who is who?
After the meal, we drove out to the park in our home town and caught the last half of the fireworks display. A nice night all in all. I think I'll try to eat some squirrel or platypus's tomorrow.
Have a happy 4th of July weekend, and remember the boys and girls fighting over seas...
I just flew home from a week out of town on business, and boy are my arms tired... (cue the snare drum...) No but seriously folks, I really did just get back from Little Rock Arkansas. While I was out there, after my long tedious days in training were over, I took a little time to enjoy the beer culture the area had to offer.
I didn't really take copious notes, do any formal beer reviews, or even take any photos on my little excursions, but here's what I can remember of my time in Little Rock...
Flying Saucer in the River Market area of Little Rock is a great if you're looking for a nice place with an awesome beer selection. It's located right on President Clinton Ave, and you gotta wonder if Slick Willie himself ever had a pint there... The place has a ton of space, and a wall of taps, not to mention a huge selection of bottled beers as well. I started the evening with a Chimay Grand Reserve and an outstanding club sandwich...
Chimay Grand Reserve -Deep amber brown with a full creamy head. Malty with citrus undertones, a nice well balanced beer. A tasty brew to say the least, but the young lady in the catholic school girl's outfit that served me warned me not to steal the Chimay glass it came in... After all, what would the monk's think?
We were there on a Monday night, which means the beers on tap were all $2.75 (all day and night) what a deal!
While I did not get the chance to visit Diamond Bear Brewery, I did get an ample opportunity to taste a few of their beers at various locations in the area, the hotel lobby not the least of them.
Their Honey Weiss was OK... A little light for me, but perhaps something suitable for cooling down on a hot summer afternoon. Their Pale Ale was an all around solid beer, but I think I've been hitting the IPAs a little too much as of late. I really needed something with a more robust flavor, and their Presidential IPA fit the bill nicely.
This was the last beer I had in Little Rock. I grabbed a pint on a whim at the air port last night while I waited for my flight home. That hoppy kick in the pants I was looking for was found in this full bodied, but well balanced beer, packed with flavor.
They really do have a thing for Bill Clinton down there... If I had the time, I would have elected to have another off the tap. FOUR MORE BEERS! FOUR MORE BEERS! (Just kidding, I liked the beer much better than the man... But I digress, it's all about the beer not the politics, right? Lighten up!)
I also enjoyed a tasty Bombay IPA and a Downtown Brown at Boscos, also in the River Market area of Little Rock. Both were very tasty and went down easy in the baking sun and humidity on the back deck overlooking the river front. Some of my co-workers decided to get the sampler, and luckily for me, a couple of them proved that they were not real beer lovers. More free samples for me... Pretty good beer overall, but the food was a little expensive. I think they're going for the more upscale thing with the food, hence the prices, but they do a nice job of pairing the food with the beer... Cool stuff...
Also during the week, I devoured a medium meatball, mushroom and Canadian bacon pizza over a few IPAs brewed and served at Vino's. This is a very unique place, think artsy college coffee shop vibe (complete with local art work for sale on the walls) mixed with a combination of a big city pizza dive and a small local brew pub.
The place was small and crowded, yet finding a table was not an issue. We sat next to the glassed in brewery section. And we were lucky enough to get there before the long line out the door formed up. You go straight to the counter when you walk in and order a slice, or a pizza and what ever beers you want. They do eventually send out a waiter to check if you need refills, and we were more than happy to take them up on that offer.
Their Pinnacle IPA was pretty good, but there Fire House Pale Ale was a little under carbonated for my taste. It may have been an issue with the keg they were serving from. But from what the locals were telling me, the IPA is such a big seller, that they can not keep up the production level required to meet the need. The pizza was OK, with a home made feel to it, but not great. Then again, I live in the North East, pizza mecca of sorts. I may have set the bar a little high for pizza...
And that pretty much sums it up... I encourage you to check out the local beer culture where ever you find yourself on your next business trip. It's fun and makes for a much less boring week... But please, bring a buddy and use the hotel shuttle, it's safer and will make for a more enjoyable evening...
This year I celebrated St Patrick's Day at the Old Dublin, in Wallingford, CT with a buddy. It was a low key night filled with corn beef, cabbage, Irish Stout, and friendly conversation. I decided to take this opportunity to sample the "Big Three" in Irish Stouts and do a simple comparison.
The bar was packed, so it was not conducive to do a full on run of beer reviews, so I simply enjoyed the beer and made some mental notes for later. Although I did snag a couple clips of bar tender (sorry can never remember her name) as she poured our first pints of the night.
It must have been meant to be, as the only two seats open in the place were right in front of the Beamish, Guinness or Murphy's taps... I'd say it was the luck of the Irish, but I'm actually Scottish. Serendipity none the less!
In a nut shell, Here's how I stacked them...
Beamish, my favorite of the three: Not as creamy as the other two, and finishes with a nice roasted coffee bean flavor. Oddly made me want chocolate.
Guinness: A St Patty's commercial classic, creamy with a much more mild taste. The roasted undertones were subtle.
Murphy's: The creamiest of the three, again a more subtle roasted malt taste, but in this case the hops were slightly more noticeable.
Overall, the three were quite similar, dark as night with an inviting creamy head, mild pleasant roasted flavor, and lighter than one would expect had they never enjoyed a good Irish Stout.
In any case, all three worked just fine with my traditional corn beef, cabbage and potato meal. Is this a cliche? Sure, but no more so then turkey, stuffing and a tastey brown ale on Thanksgiving. No, I prefer to think of it as a tradition, rather than a cliche, plus it could be worse, it could be Bud Light and green food coloring! EehGad!
New York is huge, and I think I may have bit off more than the three of us could chew when I put together our itinerary. We didn't even hit all the stops I was considering, and we didn't bother with the big beer festival that was going on that weekend. Note to self: Consider hitting that event next year, more beer to chose from and less walking... Less risk more return?
Even with the abbreviated list of locations, we didn't spend a great deal of time in one place. It felt like we were always on the move, and if the rough shape my shoes were in by the night's end was any indication, we certainly were very mobile throughout the night. Next time I'm wearing sneakers!
After we left McSorley's, we hoofed it over to the Hop Devil Grill for a few more beers. This place has a wide selection of quality beers on tap and in bottles. But I'll be honest, I was expecting more out of the place in the way of ambiance. Hey listen, I'm not saying the place isn't great, but the web site gave me slightly inflated expectations.
Kenn had a bottle of Three Philosophers, a delicious Quadrupel... The bottle was big enough for all three of us to have some. Thankfully Kenn is a generous man. I can't quite remember what Chris and I had... I really need to start taking better notes...
Part of the problem was that I sampled a number of beers, hence the small glass and the look of both deep thought in my eyes... I'll dig up my notes later and figure out what I finally settled on. But I will tell you now, I went through a few samples before I found something I really liked. (Either I developing a discriminating beer pallet, or I was just making up for the lack of freebies at Brooklyn Brewery... You make the call!)
Chris has that similar look of heavy consideration in his eyes... If my fuzzy memory serves me, I believe he tried a cider of sorts. Chris likes the ciders, ask him why my old college room mate nick named him "Wood Chuck" and "Sweet Chuck" some time...
Here's what I settled on, if only I could remember what it was. Looks beautiful though doesn't it?
I found my notes! I had an Ommegang, Rare Vos, which is a Belgian Dark Ale. According to my chicken scratch notes, I gave this tasty beer a big thumbs up for it's beautiful amber color, smooth flavor and nice head that clung to the side of the glass.
My sloppy notes indicated that Chris actually had an Ace Perry Cider, which he said was a good choice, offering a sweet pear flavor.
As stated previously, Kenn chose a bottle of Three Philosophers, which he said had a sweet yet complex flavor, at this point, my notes got very messy, and more or less unreadable. They do include something about the cherry flavor and something else that ends with the phrase, "but in a good way..." LOL! I really need to work on my note taking!
Kenn and I are looking a little worse for ware after a long debate with 3 Philosophers.
Random thought of the day: I wish I had a pet monkey to take with me on these adventures. I could equip him with a helmet cam and just let him run wild, I imagine the videos he'd produce would be similar to the one below...
And now for something different...
After we finished our round of beers, we made our way to the World Trade Center and took a quick look at the memorial that stands on the site at the opening of the subway station there.
Six years later this site is no less sobering. The sign in the photo above list those that we would be toasting in a matter of minutes.
Our next stop was the bar in the Millennium Hilton Hotel, over looking the site of the World Trade Center. Above is a very blurry shot, but it gives you an idea of how good the view of ground zero is from the bar.
This is a pretty cool shot of Kenn with 'Old Glory' in the background and the World Trade Center memorial/subway entrance all lit up in the far background. The three of us had a beer, made a toast, had some munchies, and then hit the road...
Our next stop? Starbucks...
We moved on to The Blind Tiger after a brief stop at Starbucks to get Kenn a caffeinated beverage along the way. Kenn had put on a brave face, but he was starting to crash, and we still had a good portion of the night ahead of us. As you can see Chris was still smiling.
No coffee or tea for this guy by golly! Although, from the looks of me, a coffee may have been exactly what I needed, we did a lot of walking that day and we were all tired. I can't recall what I ordered, but it was something local to NY and it was good. If you hold the pint glass up to your ear, you can hear the brewery... No really, try it some time...
The video clip above shows some great street performers doing what they do best somewhere out there near the Blind Tiger. These guys could really sing! You gotta love New York!
Long story short, we didn't spend a lot of time at the Blind Tiger... After pumping Caffeine and NYC pizza into Kenn to revive him, we made our way to a bar Chris and I always visit when in the city, Off The Wagon.
Why do we go there so often? Not because of it's great beer selection or historic significance (because it has neither!), but because we get to relive a small portion of our college days when we visit. This place is your basic college bar, full of college aged people, do what college people do. Not really my scene any more, but...
But they have a number of beer-pong tables set up and allows for informal tournaments. At one point, Chris and I were quite skilled at the beer pong. And if bowlers are athletes, well then darn it, so too were we!
We stood there and provided an audience for a couple of games waiting for our turn at the table. When we were about to throw down the gauntlet and challenge the reigning champs to an ass whooping, the bar staff kicked everyone out of that room, a private party had reserved the area, so no beer-pong for us. It was probably just as well, the night was getting late, and we needed to make our way back to Brooklyn. As the lyric goes, "NO SLEEP TIL BROOKLYN!"
Once we got back to Brooklyn, we made our way to Barcade one more round of local brews and a lot of 80s arcade goodness. Yes, that's me having a beer at Barcade in the photo. I was also using my herculean strength to ensure the bar didn't float off the ground and escape. What can I say folks, I'm a hero...
I'm not sure, but I think in this photo, Kenn is barely able to keep his eyes open and is giving me the international sign for, "Please kind sir, do not photograph me, I'm not in the mood, photograph that guy there instead!" That crankiness was nothing that couldn't be solved by a few rounds of Digdug and a nightcap.
And just like that, Kenn was back in the game, both literally and figuratively, with one hand on his beer and the other on the joystick...
Chris, having located the bar and it's vast array of quality beers on tap was once again smiling. Unbeknonwst to him, a strange localized version of the famed Northern Lights was now presenting itself behind him across the bar. A strange phenomenon believed to be cause by poor lighting and amateurish photography. Nature is amazing isn't it?
I really wanted to play the Star Wars game they had, but it was out of order that night. So, I thought a round of Tapper seemed more than appropriate... I know what you're thinking, "My god he has a beautiful head!" And I know what question you are dieing to ask... But no, I have not previously served as a professional head model... At least not yet. But I am available for photo shoots...
Nothing like playing Tapper while enjoying a delicious beer fresh from a real tap... This was how the game was meant to be played.
Chris schooled me with his Tapper prowess, the lad is a natural.
I call this one, "You look beautiful in the Galaga glow!"
We wrapped up the night with a little billiards, to make sure Chris was not affected by the beer... Then, it was a forced march, AKA 'The Brooklyn Death March', back to Chris' car and a long sleepy ride home for me.
And that is more or less it... We had a great time, but I think our scope was just too wide. Next time, less stops, less walking and more laughs...
In the future I want to do just a Brooklyn trip, which will of course include Barcade and Brooklyn Brewery. I'd love to get more suggestions from some of my fellow beer travelers out there. (hint hint) What else is good in Brooklyn? Does anyone know if Green Point (Kelso) gives tours? They wont return my calls or emails...
If you have any other suggestions please leave a comment on this post with your thoughts.
In case you missed the early parts of this tour check them out here!
I'll post the final part of my New York City trip tomorrow... In the mean time here's two short video clips I just found from our time at McSorley's.
The first clip is my view of Chris ordering us a round of beers, the second is a very shot clip of us drinking that round. Kenn thought the camera was in photo mode and accidentally captured some video...
After the long walk to Barcade, we found that it wasn't open for business yet. Not a big deal, we would need to find our way back to Brooklyn by the end of our adventure so we could get back to Chris's truck and make our way home. Barcade would be our final stop...
So, I whipped out my trusty GPS device and quickly located McSorley's Old Ale House, based on the recommendations of our new friends we met at Brooklyn Brewery's tasting room. Good thing Chris knows the subway system, because I don't... As you can see from the photo above, the place was established back in 1834, when the nation was only but a 58 year old pup in the big scary world. Needless to say, this place is full of history, oh and beer too...
It was nice of the chick in red to walk into our photo like that...
Speaking of walking into photos... I noticed Kenn managed to avoid the camera's all seeing eye for most of this adventure. So you're blessed with yet another shot of me and Chris enjoying some fine NYC beer. I can't explain what the heck is happening to my face in this image, but I can only assume it is symptomatic of my joy and excitement when I learned McSorley's give you two beers when you ask for one. Granted they're not that big, but I do so enjoy a good deal when I see one...
McSorley's beer, is good honest beer, and it only comes in two styles; dark and lite. (McSorley's Cream Stock Ale and McSorley's Famous Lager) Don't be fulled by the term lite, it merely refers to the color and flavor of the beer, this isn't some weenie diet beer that I often find myself drinking in the hopes of keeping old man obesity off my trail. This is real beer and a real bar...
The image above captured one of the more unique highlights of the day for me. Our friends over at Brooklyn Brewery told me about a chandelier covered in turkey wish bones and a thick layer of dust, hanging over the bar at McSorley's. Ordinarily, I would find this to be a pretty nasty bio hazard in place where I purchase fine food and beverages, but there's a pretty compelling back story here. (Take a tour)
Apparently a large group of regulars enjoyed a last beer together at McSorley's before shipping out to fight in one of the World Wars. I'm pretty sure it was WWII, but I can't confirm that. At any rate, the story goes like this...
The men enjoyed a few round together knowing full well that the last beer that night might very well be their last beer ever. So they all hung their wish bones on the light fixture, toasted each other, and vowed they would come back after the war and take down their bones together and perhaps make a wish for bright future. The bones that remain are from the boys that didn't make it back from the war and the bones remain as a monument of sorts, so we never forget the price they paid for our freedom. The dust is there because no one touches the bones out of respect.
As a military man myself, this hit home. We toasted those boys that left their bones behind, thanking them for what they did...
Chris reflects on the toast we made to those that never returned.
We didn't stay at McSorley's very long because the place was packed. Not a free table in the joint. But I was glad we got the chance to see the place and enjoy a couple of beers. I hope to return on a less busy day so I can take in all the history that covers nearly every inch of the place. The walls are covered with old photos, newspaper clippings, awards, etc. There's a lot to see here.
As stated previously, beer makes Chris happy. Apparently it makes me look up...
I wonder who's job it is to update the number every year...
A view of me and Chris talking it up... Kenn was not feeling so well at this point of the day, so he decided to sit the beer drinking out for a little bit and man the camera... Poor Kenn... Bah! More beer for us!
"We were here before you were born..." Very true...
Kenn finally gave up the camera...
And on that note, I'll end this lengthy post. Next time I'll wrap up this whole New York City beer tour with some additional locations, images and some final thoughts. Stay tuned!!!
In case you missed the early parts of this tour check them out here!
Check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven't already done so...
My original plan for the Boston Beer Tour included some stops at historic pubs along the way. A great way to sample some of Boston's bar scene, while learning a little about Boston's past. But, the best laid plans of mice and men...
After our Boston Brewery (Sam Adams) tour, we skipped Doyle's Cafe and high-tailed it across town to the Harpoon Brewery. Some of our fellow travelers were too anxious to wait for the next tour. I was a little annoyed at my master plan being altered, but that's par for the course when it comes to group activities and group dynamics.
The gang in the Harpoon tasting room.
Beer Tour Tip # 1 If you're really into beer, and the plan, beware who you take with you. And if your friends are single guys, keep in mind the single females that are with you will have more influence than you will. That maybe true if the genders are swapped, but I couldn't be sure. If anyone has any insight, feel free to chime in.
What did we miss? Not really sure... Doyle's Cafe has supposedly seen quite few famous people, including politicians, enjoying a good pint. It's also served as the backdrop for different TV shows and movies. My thought was it was near the brewery, it's recommended by the brewery, it's a well known cool place to grab a brew and some good bar chow, and it's historical. Why not stop in? I thought a bite to eat would slow the pace of the day down just enough so we could get Harpoon with out the fear of too much beer, too early in the day. But "they" wouldn't have it... So off to Harpoon we went, while I bit my tongue...
It was intended to look like we were holding the sign up, instead we look like Barker's Beauties from the Price is Right.
We got to Harpoon a little early for the next tour. Too early for the anxious females in our group, although they were in a hurry to get there and skip Doyle's Cafe. If we stuck to my plan, we would have had a good lunch and then made it to Harpoon for the slightly later tour at exactly the right time, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
When we last left our hero, he was battling the diabolical Lobster...
A brief interlude We were there early enough to walk down the street and grab a beer at a small deli, but not early enough to sit and eat. The funny thing was, they wouldn't serve us beer unless we ate something. So we ordered a small order of coleslaw and a handful of plastic forks.
May I have this dance?
We didn't eat the coleslaw, but after a few dances with the giant lobster in front of the place, we drank the beers over a brisk walk back to Harpoon. This was a little challenging as we had to avoid the attention of the nice Boston Police Officer in the next parking lot who would probably take issue with us drinking beer on our walk. We got back to Harpoon just in time for a quick pit stop and then we were ready for the tour.
Onto to the Harpoon tour! Now to be clear, Harpoon doesn't really do tours, not really. We could look at brewery floor from behind a red rope, and the folks that worked there gave us a run down of the company's history and current state of affairs. After that, they opened the tasting room and gave us nearly unlimited free samples of 12 different beers they had on tap. (Remember kids, drink in moderation, it's about quality and no quantity!!!)
Harpoon has this cool wall of beer set up. Beer cans from a tone of different companies, it was beautiful, I had to take a few photos.
Man! We look a little light in the loafers in this pic!
It was at this point that Dave, Erik and the ladies chipped in and purchased me a cool Harpoon tap handle as a thank you to me for planning the day. What a cool surprise! Frankly I was touched... I felt like Sally Field wining the Oscar, "You like me, you really like me!"
"You like me, you really like me!"
Just a cool photo I took of a ship just out side where we had lunch
The gang at lunch, and more or less the untimely end of my Boston Beer Tour...
When the party, I mean tour, was over, we went to a restaurant down the street, instead of the Bell in Hand, the next stop in my original plan. Apparently the girls were in a hurry to eat, and then move on. Much to the chagrin of my buddies, they had other plans for the evening. Plans that didn't include the rest of my beer tour, or any of us, but did include visiting an ex-boyfriend and crashing at his apartment after a night on the town with him. We discovered all of this as we ate our lunch. They were rushing us, so they could move onto phase 2 of their diabolical plan.
"Don't make me destroy you!"
Now don't get me wrong... Dave and Erik weren't trying to have a romantic interlude with our female friends. And the girls were a lot of fun, I'm exaggerating here for comic effect. (mostly) A little artistic license if you will. But they did kind of alter our plans significantly and they did end up more or less ditching us for the ex... But to be honest, we all had a hand in ruining the day. It all happened the night before...
Beer Tour Tip # 2 Don't go out really late the night before an all day beer tour. Because that's exactly what we all did the night before this tour. A friend's sister was leaving for her home country the next morning, so we treated her to an American night out on the town. Completely stupid. The lack of sleep, the heavy meal, it all kicked in, and it was time to take a nap.
The plan is all history now... I had planned on taking the lead from this guy, and finishing the day off with a historic walking beer tour. We weren't going to take his tour, but we were going to wing it and do it on our own. Instead, we ended up getting a couple hotel rooms, napping and then hitting a dueling piano bar near Fenway (LOL!). The next morning we drove home. Anti-climactic isn't it?
On our way to the hotel we drove by "Cheers"...
Looking to the future... I still think the over all plan is a solid one. And I will make another attempt at the historic beer tour starting with the Bell in Hand. But I think I'll hold off until next year. Now, I have my eyes focused on Connecticut and New York City.
Living so close to Boston is great thing for a beer lover. Boston has scores of great pubs, bars and two major breweries. Back in Feb, I set out to tour both breweries and then check out some of the local pubs. Unfortunately I was pressed time, and only hit the Sam Adam's brewery and have few more pints at one of the local bars. But I vowed to return and tour both breweries in one day.
A couple of months ago, I returned to Boston with a few friends in tow and with a 2 phase plan.
Phase 1: Tour both Sam Adam's Brewery and the Harpoon Brewery.
Phase 2: Initiate a mini pub crawl touring some of the more historically significant watering holes in the city.
Sneak peak, the gang at Harpoon's tasting room! From left to right. Erik, "Mo" & Nicole, Me in back and Dave on the right.
I'll be blogging about this trip as the week goes on, so stay tuned! In the mean time, check out this Google Map I made for my "Boston Beer Tour". The map is a work in progress. More to follow!
Earlier in the week, while my beer languished in it's glass carboy coffin in my basement, I ventured out to celebrate Oktoberfest with a few buddies. OK, maybe the term glass coffin is too strong, it's not dead yet, but I do fear for my beers life...
This place a lot of fun, they really go out of their way to create a unique atmosphere year round. They have real German food and beer, waitresses in the traditional garb, and even a roaming accordion player sometimes. (Sadly, not on that night...) They invite you to put on a wacky hat, order a big beer, and join in on the fun...
Check out these video clips! They look so much better on my camera, but once they get on the computer, they're dark. Oh well, enjoy none the less!
Gentlemen, start your engines! Pints for the IPA and Weizen glasses for the Weizen...
Warm beer sucks...
Behold Dave's solo brew in all it's splendor and glory!
Off to Eli's
