Salutations everyone!
Been working a catering job this week, I have to say, very amazing work those people do. Standing on their feet all the time and providing service with a smile, even if it tends to get insanely crazy. So that's again why this blog is so late. I'm working 7 DAYS, 55 hours (they keep increasing them, not that I mind, I enjoy money quite a bit, more money = more beer!) so--forgive me if I'm not "on top of it".
However, I did pick up a pack of Pyramid Brewing Co's selection. 4 bottles, 3 of each. We got a Heffe, an Apricot ale, an Imperial IPA, and another IPA. Right now my after-work beer of choice is a Sam Adam's Irish Red (left over from last week). Now, the Heffe is good--but not nearly as Heffe-y as it should be. Yes the color is right and yes it tastes like a Heffe but--it's not quite there. It's not as full bodied as I'd prefer, frankly, Spaten makes a much better Heffe and personally my favorite is the Old World Heffe. But, the Pyramid heffe is really not that amazing to be honest.
The Imperial IPA is super crazy hoppy. I'd say it would be a big hit for all of you TrIPA lovers. It's a lot like S.N's Torpedo. To the point where, you could pretty much relabel it and call it Torpedo. Not my favorite IPA but not half bad. Admittedly, it could be a little more unique like Pliny The Elder, which is an IPA I absolutely love.
The regular IPA, eh. Pretty much the same thing as a regular S.N. Only different label. Really nothing special, to be perfectly frank.
Now the Apricot beer is actually really really REALLY GOOD. It's a little cloudy, sort of like a Heffe should be. But it's not overly sweet or "Apricot-y". Admittedly, I have NO idea what Apricot should taste like--because I'm a carnivore and I don't mess around with that "vegetable" and "fruit" business unless it's in a smoothie or some shit. Admittedly, probably not the best diet, but whatever. It smells kinda peachy at first and yes, there's the dreaded "debris" at the bottom of the bottle. So if you're all freaked out over a little debris, then stay away from the beer. Personally, the fruity tasting beers that I like the best would have to be the Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat. I would totally buy a six pack of that over the Apricot whatever the hell I'm drinking.
Now, I randomly decided to get a Twitter Account, if you feel like following me--look for 38rakia. I may update about beer or some random goings on with my sad existence in catering. Tony's Darts Away has a twitter, Stone, etc etc. And we like beer. We like it a lot.
Next week I have 0 idea what I'm going to surprise you with, BUT, if YOU have a suggestion...Twitter my ass or comment.
If I'm not dead by Sunday, I'll see you all next week.
Beer
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Why Sports bars are sometimes better than beer tastings/events...
So, I meant to go to Tony's big colLAboration but...apparently...the line was 1, too big and 2, the chick running the "get in booth" really didn't give me a good reason to wait around in line anyway. Something about not having enough glasses and too many people inside. When buckets of people were streaming out. Note to self--buy the glass before you go, it'll save you time and it's the same price anyway. If Tony's does something like this again next year, or soon, I'll have to buy the glass before hand. Being impatient the way I am, I decided standing in line wasn't for me, especially when it was going like Noah's Ark. In 2's, and extremely slow.
So, I ended up going to Champs, my "Uncle's" bar instead. First pint was a Sam Adam's Noble Pils, which from the last blog you can tell I'm already a huge fan of Sam's stuff. It's a light crisp easy to drink beer with an amazing aftertaste. Now, the bar was crowded, and full of "older people" but hey, you meet some pretty awesome people at Sport's Bars like Champs. Sure there's the obvious...Sports, element to the whole thing but if you can get past not being a huge sports fan (if you are, then this "seedy lookin" joint is right up your ally) and just want to enjoy a pint or shoot some pool, then go. Now it's not nearly as crowded as Tony's was this weekend, bright side, they've just got a liquor license that allows them to sell harder stuff, so if you're into White Russians while watching Hockey--it's again, for your benefit. Now, the second and third beers, pints--were basically free. However one has to remember I've known the owners since I was just two gametes, and we're more or less family, even if a drunken cyclist or two would dispute that. Now, on tap they have a pretty good selection of stuff. I had the Noble Pils (which I added green dye to on St. Patricks Day), a Bass Ale, and a Widemer bro's Heffe. They got the usual suspects too; Budwiser, Coors, Stella, New Castle, Guinness, Blue Moon, and so on and so forth. And beer's are generally inexpensive at Champs.
Bright side about the whole day, running into the guys who were ahead of us in line for the ColLAb at Champs just as we came wandering out of the bar. Who called to me from their car, "remember us?", and eventually names were exchanged and I even showed off my fancy "Champs" t-shirt. Gotta sport my loyalty, no pun intended. Nice thing about Champs is now they're bringing back "Trivia Night", which I believe is Sports related (that would be a definitive "duh" but don't quote me on it). So, if you're super crazy into Sports or you plan on watching Comedy Central's Norm MacDonald Sports--erm...whatever or you're just an average joe who knows a bit, go on Wednesday night next week.
So the only new beer I tried this week was Bass Ale, which has a bit of a spicy finish, but I have to say--I do like it, a lot. It's different. And the Heffe, which you all should know by now, I would never turn down a good Heffe. And with it heating up, I urge you all to stock a Heffeweizen or two, it's a great little summer beer.
Until next week beer fans!
So, I ended up going to Champs, my "Uncle's" bar instead. First pint was a Sam Adam's Noble Pils, which from the last blog you can tell I'm already a huge fan of Sam's stuff. It's a light crisp easy to drink beer with an amazing aftertaste. Now, the bar was crowded, and full of "older people" but hey, you meet some pretty awesome people at Sport's Bars like Champs. Sure there's the obvious...Sports, element to the whole thing but if you can get past not being a huge sports fan (if you are, then this "seedy lookin" joint is right up your ally) and just want to enjoy a pint or shoot some pool, then go. Now it's not nearly as crowded as Tony's was this weekend, bright side, they've just got a liquor license that allows them to sell harder stuff, so if you're into White Russians while watching Hockey--it's again, for your benefit. Now, the second and third beers, pints--were basically free. However one has to remember I've known the owners since I was just two gametes, and we're more or less family, even if a drunken cyclist or two would dispute that. Now, on tap they have a pretty good selection of stuff. I had the Noble Pils (which I added green dye to on St. Patricks Day), a Bass Ale, and a Widemer bro's Heffe. They got the usual suspects too; Budwiser, Coors, Stella, New Castle, Guinness, Blue Moon, and so on and so forth. And beer's are generally inexpensive at Champs.
Bright side about the whole day, running into the guys who were ahead of us in line for the ColLAb at Champs just as we came wandering out of the bar. Who called to me from their car, "remember us?", and eventually names were exchanged and I even showed off my fancy "Champs" t-shirt. Gotta sport my loyalty, no pun intended. Nice thing about Champs is now they're bringing back "Trivia Night", which I believe is Sports related (that would be a definitive "duh" but don't quote me on it). So, if you're super crazy into Sports or you plan on watching Comedy Central's Norm MacDonald Sports--erm...whatever or you're just an average joe who knows a bit, go on Wednesday night next week.
So the only new beer I tried this week was Bass Ale, which has a bit of a spicy finish, but I have to say--I do like it, a lot. It's different. And the Heffe, which you all should know by now, I would never turn down a good Heffe. And with it heating up, I urge you all to stock a Heffeweizen or two, it's a great little summer beer.
Until next week beer fans!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Sam Adams; I promise you it's good
I've been lagging it lately and I have to apologize, normally I'm pretty good about posting every week but this last week was a little ridiculous. I got really lazy this week and even broke down and bought...I know, Sam Adams.
You'd think a mass produced beer that touts itself as "keeping to quality standards" would basically lie and give you the same mass produced water flavored beer as the rest of the massive American companies, right? Surprisingly, this bigger beer company has actually managed to put out very good beer in a very big way. You see the big boxes of the variety pack or the Boston Lager, and I've been bought the Cherry Wheat (seriously good), and you think, "Giant box = probably not good". But you'd be incredibly wrong.
I got my hands on a variety pack, which cost about the same as your regular box pack, except with a nice selection. It came with White Ale, Scotch ale, Irish Red, Boston Lager, Rye Beer, and the Noble Pils. Like I said in the previous blog, I really don't like Scotch Ale's but the rest of their selection is fantastic. The White Ale is crafted in the similar and familiar style of Belgian White Ale, think Blue Moon only with a spicier finish. Easy to go down, a perfect warm weather beer, and exceeding expectations as far as mass produced beers go. I'd drink Sam's White Ale over a Blue Moon. The Lager is incredible, I know they are very proud of it themselves but it is absolutely marvelous. Best Lager any big corporation produces in the US currently. I can't find any faults among their other beers either.
For a large scale American Beer company, it's certainly won my respect and admiration. In the event you go to a bar, they usually have Boston Lager on tap, or the Noble Pils. Which, if you're sick and tired of drinking the same old Miller or same old Bud, you need to switch, you'll thank me. As a matter of fact, you'll thank Sam Adams. Now, under the cap they put that they won an award in 2006 for best taste. I can say, unlike Baltika no. 9's bullshit "International Taste Award" that Sam Adams earned the right to put that on their bottle. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go pick one up. Your mind will be blown!
Now I can't say for sure what next weeks beers will be, it'll have to be a hunt and peck type of situation. I did see a bottle of "Fosters Special Ale" at Albertsons the other day that looked decent, and it is from Australia. Anyways folks, next week will have to be a surprise!
BEFORE I FORGET!
Next week! If you live in Southern California or will be visiting, Tony's Darts Away and friends is having a big beer garden shindig at the park. Your ticket is your glass, which is 10 bucks and you get to keep it to remember all the amazing beer you had.
ALL OF THE INFO, including directions is here...
Pop Up Beer Garden for Tony's
I will be attending! I can almost guarantee you it's going to be amazing. See you all next week.
You'd think a mass produced beer that touts itself as "keeping to quality standards" would basically lie and give you the same mass produced water flavored beer as the rest of the massive American companies, right? Surprisingly, this bigger beer company has actually managed to put out very good beer in a very big way. You see the big boxes of the variety pack or the Boston Lager, and I've been bought the Cherry Wheat (seriously good), and you think, "Giant box = probably not good". But you'd be incredibly wrong.
I got my hands on a variety pack, which cost about the same as your regular box pack, except with a nice selection. It came with White Ale, Scotch ale, Irish Red, Boston Lager, Rye Beer, and the Noble Pils. Like I said in the previous blog, I really don't like Scotch Ale's but the rest of their selection is fantastic. The White Ale is crafted in the similar and familiar style of Belgian White Ale, think Blue Moon only with a spicier finish. Easy to go down, a perfect warm weather beer, and exceeding expectations as far as mass produced beers go. I'd drink Sam's White Ale over a Blue Moon. The Lager is incredible, I know they are very proud of it themselves but it is absolutely marvelous. Best Lager any big corporation produces in the US currently. I can't find any faults among their other beers either.
For a large scale American Beer company, it's certainly won my respect and admiration. In the event you go to a bar, they usually have Boston Lager on tap, or the Noble Pils. Which, if you're sick and tired of drinking the same old Miller or same old Bud, you need to switch, you'll thank me. As a matter of fact, you'll thank Sam Adams. Now, under the cap they put that they won an award in 2006 for best taste. I can say, unlike Baltika no. 9's bullshit "International Taste Award" that Sam Adams earned the right to put that on their bottle. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go pick one up. Your mind will be blown!
Now I can't say for sure what next weeks beers will be, it'll have to be a hunt and peck type of situation. I did see a bottle of "Fosters Special Ale" at Albertsons the other day that looked decent, and it is from Australia. Anyways folks, next week will have to be a surprise!
BEFORE I FORGET!
Next week! If you live in Southern California or will be visiting, Tony's Darts Away and friends is having a big beer garden shindig at the park. Your ticket is your glass, which is 10 bucks and you get to keep it to remember all the amazing beer you had.
ALL OF THE INFO, including directions is here...
Pop Up Beer Garden for Tony's
I will be attending! I can almost guarantee you it's going to be amazing. See you all next week.
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