Day 90, March 31 / Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

Day 90 / March 31, 2011

Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

New Belgium Brewing Company  /  Fort Collins, CO

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Thanks to Jerry at the office for bringing me this beer from New Belgium Brewing Company.  And thanks to Jerry’s wife for bringing the beer to him back from North Carolina.

Mighty Arrow is a spring seasonal and pours a nice golden color with a very frothy head.  The taste is malty and hoppy.  Personally, I prefer the Fat Tire.

Hey - check this out!  Blogger's a few cool new ways to check out my blog.  Click the picture below, and then click the blue drop down menu to see the other views

That’s all I got tonight.  Later.

Day 89, March 30 / Great American Restaurants Pale Ale

Day 89 / March 30, 2011

Great American Restaurants Pale Ale

Sweetwater Tavern  /  Falls Church, VA

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Schweet!  (Water)

I tell you, these Great American Restaurants are just printing money.  Wednesday night, 7:30 pm – was quoted a 25 minute wait, was more like a 40 minute wait.

But I’ve got to say, the food is always great, the service outstanding and the beer is delicious!  Plus it’s only a 5 minute drive from my house!

Tonight I had a Great American Restaurants Pale Ale – just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?  Well, it was a Gold Medal Winner at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival (in the Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter category).  Nice golden color, great combination of hops and malt tastes.  I almost gave it an “Outstanding”, but I’m holding back on that.

I also had an Outlaw Ale, dark colored with a toasty, malt taste – also quite good, but it doesn’t count for today.  I figure by the time I’m done with the year, I will have actually had over 400 different beers… but who’s counting?

What else is on tap at Sweetwater?  Check it out!

Day 88, March 29 / Founder’s Double Trouble Imperial IPA

Day 88 / March 29, 2011

Founder’s Double Trouble Imperial IPA

Founders Brewing Company  /  Grand Rapids, MI

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Missed it by THAT much!

July 2009.  Rock & Roll Road Trip with my brother Steve.  (Rock = Old 97's at The Intersection Club in Grand Rapids and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Roll = Roller Coasters at Cedar Point and the Cleveland Roller Derby Championships.)

In Grand Rapids, we had beers and dinner at Hopcat, and caught the Old 97's at The Intersection.  I didn't know that just 2 blocks down was Founder's Brewery and Taproom, an award winning craft brewery.  We passed it on the way out of town the next morning - clearly an "Oh Shit" moment.

 Fortunately, some Founder's beers have now found (pun intended) their way to Virginia.  My pal HHH brought me one the other day and I'm sipping on it now.  Founder's Double Trouble is a Spring seasonal, a strong (9.4%) Imperial IPA.  It pours a hazy orangish-gold color with a thin head.  The taste is very hoppy, slightly bitter.  Hopheads will love it, but get it quick before it's off the shelf.  A little strong and bitter for my tastes, but still quite good.

 

Flip your monitor over to see the other man in the picture.

HHH – anything to add?

 

Day 87, March 28 / Boddington’s Pub Ale

Day 87 / March 28, 2011

Boddington’s Pub Ale

Inbev UK Ltd  /  Luten, England

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“A pint of Boddington’s is a thing of beauty.”  Now, who said that?  Oh yeah, I did.  The best way to experience a Boddington’s is to get a pint on draft, while sitting at the bar.  That way, you can witness the entire cycle, from the milky pour into the glass, to the tumultuous churning of the bubbles, to the eventual settling of the thick foamy head on top of the golden ale.

Boddington’s has a storied history, originally brewed at the Strangeways Brewery in Manchester (which was demolished in 2007).  The brand is now owned, like every other beer, by InBev.

Boddington’s has a creamy, slightly malty taste and I find it quite enjoyable.

Day 86 , March 27 / Newcastle Brown Ale

Can anybody tell me what that
logo on the menu is supposed to be?

Day 86 / March 27, 2011

Newcastle Brown Ale

Scottish and Newcastle (Heinken) / Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, UK

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Linda and I caught the end of the Kentucky / UNC basketball game at Chics and Wings, a sports bar in Tyson’s Corner, VA.  I enjoyed some mahi tacos and a Newcastle Brown Ale.

Newcastle’s history dates back to 1927.  It is a dark colored, but not heavy tasting English Brown Ale.  It had a smooth, frothy head, and a slightly smoky malty taste.

Chics and Wings must have 20 TV screens circling the room.  On one of the screens that wasn’t showing the basketball game, there was a race that I had never seen before.  At night, on a downhill ramp constructed through the streets of a city (which we later learned was Quebec), four guys in hockey gear skating extremely fast down the iced course, which included turns and jumps.  And of course, there were spills and crashes!

It turns out that this is the Red Bull Crashed Ice competition – and it’s exactly what I described.  Check out the website and the video below.

Day 85, March 26 / Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Day 85 / March 26, 2011

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Inc.  /  Milton, DE

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Oh no, they di-int!

So, I’m running a few errands yesterday, and I stop in the Fairfax Wegman’s grocery store.  For those of you not from the Mid-Atlantic area, Wegman’s is a grocery store chain started in Rochester NY in 1916, which expanded into my hometown of Syracuse in the 1970’s.  In the 2000’s, they expanded into my current location of Northern Virginia.  Their stores now are a shopping mecca, with expansive meat, seafood, bakery sections, as well as an impressive selection of prepared foods.

At this location and others, they also have a small sit-down bar and restaurant counter, where you can get freshly prepared seafood, lamb lollipops and a glass of wine or beer to go with it.  In fact, my friends Kevin and Amy have made the Fairfax Wegman’s their Cheers.  I’m sure their kids wonder why they look forward to going to the grocery store so much.

So I wasn’t too surprised to run into them … and their neighbor Chris… and Chris’s sister Cindy… and Cindy’s husband Robert… sitting in their reserved stools at Wegman’s.  But they were shocked and saddened to learn yesterday that come Monday, their beloved bar was going to be converted into a frozen seafood case or something like that.  So they are heading back today (they’re probably there right now) for one last drink with Ted the bartender / fishmonger.

So I had a beer with them at the counter (which was only $3, by the way).  They had Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and Dominion Ale on tap.  The 60 Minute IPA is continuously hopped - more than 60 hop additions over a 60 minute boil, thus the name.  Dogfish describes it as a session India Pale Ale, light enough to have several in one sitting.  And then finish your grocery shopping.  Quite good, a light hop taste.  I actually followed it up with a Dumb Dog – Ted’s own creation of a 50/50 blend of 60 Minute and Dominion Ale.

Rest in peace, Wegman’s bar and restaurant counter, rest in peace.

Day 84, March 25 / Shiner Bock

Day 84 / March 25, 2011

Shiner Bock

Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner TX

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Bock to the future!

Didn’t we already do bock beers?  Yeah, but it’s not like I drank every bock there was.  Shiner Bock was not included in the February Bock Beer Run, but it’s one that I’ve been drinking for several years.  I used to travel to Houston on business a lot and I would always order up a Shiner Bock.

Shiner was on tap at my local Hard Times Chili Café, and was a good accompaniment to my Texas chili mac (yeah, I know, the diet).

This Shiner was a bit disappointing, someplace between a Passable and a Good, actually slightly flat, but decent nonetheless.  I would say, compared to the beers in the Bock Beer Run, this would have ranked just above the Michelob Amber Bock (which is not that good).

BTW, the Biggest Loser contest at work is over after 8 weeks.  Out of 10 teams, our team came in 5^th.  The winning team went all out, with guys dropping up to 20% of their weight in just 8 weeks.  Now I need to keep (or rejunevnate) my focus to keep going on the weight loss goal.