Travel Archives – A Night With The Hops

Coming to an End

Aug 232010

Unfortunately our trip to Seattle last month eventually had to come to an end, so today will be the last Fat Monday post recapping that excursion. It was not exactly beer heavy, but I was able to try a few new ones on our way out of town. In case you missed the rest of the days, there was . . .

Day 1 – Epic Ales and the Seattle International Beer Festival
Day 2 – Leavenworth and Woodinville
Day 3 – Snoqualmie Falls wedding
Day 4 – Vancouver, BC
Day 5 – Pike Place and Piroshky Piroshky goodness

The main thing on the schedule for our final day was to do a tour of a chocolate factory with much of The Wife’s family. On top of that being an interesting activity, we were able to get a few bicycles from our hosts to get ourselves to where we needed to be. It was much more fun than driving and we were able to stop by Gas Works Park before meeting up with everyone.

Quite the view

Not a common sight in a park

Now I am generally not a big chocolate person, but getting to see how it is made and sampling really, really good quality chocolate is something not to be missed. We made our way to Theo Chocolate and settled in for some chocolate education and quite a few samples. Theo Chocolate is unique in that (as their website indicates) they are “the first and only organic and Fair Trade chocolate factory in the country.” How all of that works is pretty interesting and you should read more about them if you are interested.

Doing it the right way

When the tour guide asked if anyone knew why they chose the name Theo for the company, I immediately responded Theobroma, not because I know much about chocolate but because I knew the story behind the Dogfish Head beer with that name. See how beer knowledge can help you in other circumstances?

One of many samples

It probably goes without saying that the aroma while walking around the factory floor was pretty awesome for anyone regardless of their level of chocolate adoration. I was fascinated by the process of making chocolate and definitely the various machines they use to do so.

Some of the production floor

Adding some flavoring

After saying our farewells to everyone we hopped back on our two wheel transportation to head off in search of lunch. Per recommendation of Seattle Jeff we pointed ourselves in the direction of Lunchbox Laboratory which meant pedaling up a very, very long hill. It was a good way to build up an appetite for some of these . . .

So many good options

Surely our long ride up the hill might have made us appreciate our meal even more, but these are some damn good (and big) burgers. I would not hesitate to crawl up that hill if that is what I had to do to get another one on our next trip out there. It seems that all of the best burgers The Wife and I have ever had have been in Portland or Seattle.

Before

After

Later that evening after packing up our bags we headed off to a final meal with our hosts, which meant some really good . . .

Yet another great meal

One last taste of Seattle's seafood

At this meal I was able to get my first taste of some Manny’s Pale Ale from the local Georgetown Brewing Company. Not only did it pair well with my meal, it was a really tasty American Pale Ale and every bit as good as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, for example. I was quite glad to have tried that before leaving town.

The last craft beer experience of the trip was as we sat at the airport waiting for our late night flight. My gut told me to order an Alaskan Amber (which I have enjoyed before), but having not tried their Summer Ale before I went with that. It was crisp with a little bitterness and sweetness, but pretty light in flavor as a lot of summer seasonals tend to be. It was not bad, but it left me wanting something with a lot more flavor. Still I was glad to have crossed it off the list.

Though not as enjoyable as actually being there, it was fun reliving our time in Seattle via these posts and only makes me want the next trip out there to come even sooner.

Cheers!

A Good Chance

Food, Travel No Responses »

Aug 162010

Since this FAT Monday post will be a recap of day 5 of our recent trip to Seattle (and the surrounding area), there is a good chance you missed one of the first 4 days. In case you need to catch up . . .

Day 1 – Epic Ales and the Seattle International Beer Festival
Day 2 – Leavenworth and Woodinville
Day 3 – Snoqualmie Falls wedding
Day 4 – Vancouver, BC

The summary of the fifth day is essentially just another homage to one of the foods that I would want to have with me if stranded on a desert island. Though we spent the morning out in Snoqualmie Falls with much of The Wife’s family, there was only one must do thing on the list that day. First we had to find parking within walking distance of . . .

Hard to miss

We have been to Pike Place Market quite a few times now and though we still enjoy it, we do focus in on our favorites now rather than wandering around as much. Really if you do not get there early in the morning (which we did not this time), the crowds make it pretty uncomfortable to maneuver. After a long morning and in pretty warm weather we had no patience to fight through crowds just for the sake of walking the entire market. We did get through some of it before finding our way out to the street.

To warm (and hungry) for us to deal with the crowds.

Being across the street from the main building meant heading straight for what we came for. Truthfully, it is what I came for and The Wife facilitated because she knew that it would put me in a good mood for the remainder of the day. I know there is no way that I can duplicate the Piroshky Piroshky experience, but maybe I could make my own version at home?

Also hard to miss

Not a hard choice for me.

I need to apprentice here.

A smoked salmon pate piroshky plus a fresh rhubarb piroshsky plus The Wife plus a great view equals complete contentment.

The long awaited first bite.

A perfect day of weather

After that the rest of the day was a blur of happiness as we walked around Seattle, cooked for our hosts, and enjoyed some more local beer in their company.

Until the final day . . .

The Fourth Day

Breweries, Travel No Responses »

Aug 092010

Not wanting to do something crazy like recap a trip out of order, today will be the fourth day of our recent visit to Seattle. This is the first vacation that I have recapped day by day, but each one on this trip had a craft beer or interesting food happening that makes it tough to leave any part out. Be sure to check out the first day, the second day, and the third day if you need to catch up with what went on.

As always, with FAT Monday posts there are pictures and plenty of them. Now on we go . . .

Ignoring our late return time the night before and the many beers enjoyed at the wedding, we were up quite early the following morning to get ourselves up to Vancouver, BC for the day. Before doing so, coffee was a must and where there is coffee there should be donuts. In our case that meant a dozen from Mighty-O Donuts for the road. There was going to be a lot of walking once we reached our destination, so we needed to prepare ourselves properly during the drive.

A nice sampler platter.

First border crossing went smoothly

The only plans made for the day were actually to get to Vancouver in the morning and return home at a decent time. What happened in between was to be figured out along the way as a sort of choose your own adventure scenario. Once we parked our car under the library in the center of downtown (and used the facilities there) we simply started walking (downhill at first).

Pretty easy to notice this building

In search of bathrooms.

Then we walked some more, found a place for lunch, and then walked some more. After raining most of the drive up, the weather broke perfectly for us. We walked from one side of the city to the other and meandered through the areas between.

The Wife and me.

Great views are abundant.

Water and mountains everywhere.

We left time at the end of the day to stop by Granville Island on our way back to Seattle to check out a little of this . . .

We always stop at the market

No idea what these are

And we could not leave town without having some of this . . .

It was good to be there.

A comfortable space

After taking a seat in the tasting room at Granville Island Brewing we order samples of everything that they had, not wanting to miss out on anything. Though the beer certainly went down quite easily after walking around all day, I did not leave the place craving another sample of anything. Everything was good, with the Gastown Amber tasting the best to me that afternoon, but none really stood out to me as better than average. If I ever get back to Vancouver I will stop by again to see if my opinions remain the same.

Why choose only four?

When yo ucan try them all.

We enjoyed the remaining donuts on the return drive to Seattle and eagerly opened a few brews upon our arrival after enduring close to an hour at the border crossing. Ending a day with good beer and good friends is never a bad thing in my book.

The lawn is well kept at the border

Until the next day . . .

The Same Logic

Breweries, Travel No Responses »

Aug 022010

So using the same logic as before I would say that if it made sense to start recapping our recent trip to Seattle with the first day and then follow with the second day of that vacation, then today should (and does) bring the third day of the trip as the FAT Monday post of the week. That day was actually the real purpose of the trip as it was the day The Wife’s cousin Grace was to be married.

For the purposes of this site though, where there are weddings there is beer and in this case some beer that I had thoughts of searching for on my own before finding it at the reception. As is typical with these trips, the pictures will do much of the story telling for me, but I will try to fill in the gaps as much as my memory allow me to.

Once again we were up fairly early for the day, but slightly unusual for us was the fact that we passed on the breakfast and the coffee as we wanted to enjoy both (especially coffee) with her family upon our arrival. With little traffic on Sunday morning it was a pretty quick drive to Snoqualmie Falls.

Our view coming up the driveway

My friends, the ladders

With the weather being as beautiful as it was, I spent the latter part of the morning and the better part of the afternoon making myself useful by helping to set up the grounds for the wedding and subsequent reception/party. The Wife also kept busy with wedding prep and at some point conquered her uncomfortable relationship with birds by stepping in with . . .

Just need a few eggs

Part of my duties included moving the kegs from their storage area and getting them on ice. It was a pleasant surprise to find that I would be able to sample some beer from Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company without actually having to find time in our schedule to visit them.

Some heavy lifting

There was both their Summer Beer (my favorite of the two) and PGA Amber for the occasion. Now I did not exactly take notes on either, but I did do my fair share of sampling and thought both were pretty good. Neither beer was spectacular, but both were very drinkable and good for the long haul of a wedding celebration. To put it another way, I did not feel it necessary to switch to another beverage at any point during the celebration.

By the time the wedding ceremony was to start the weather decided to turn starting with a steady drizzle to a pretty good downpour. Fortunately with a few tweaks to the seating, the ceremony was able to be moved under the tent without too much delay.

The tent was needed earlier than expected.

The rain could not stop everything.

Though the whole day did not go exactly as they might have planned, I do think that the weather gave the wedding had a very unique and special quality (in a good way). As a result of that and because of the enjoyment that was the whole day, I don’t think anyone will forget Grace and Kristopher’s wedding anytime soon.

Cheers to them!

The Second Day

Breweries, Food, Travel 2 Responses »

Jul 262010

If it made sense to start recapping our recent trip to Seattle with the first day, it surely makes sense to continue on at some point with the second day of that vacation. Of course that some point is the FAT Monday post for today. The pictures will do much of the story telling for me, but I will try to fill in the points between and introduce them properly along the way.

We dragged ourselves out of bed fairly early, downed some coffee, inhaled some oatmeal with various personalized additions, and then headed toward the sun (which was mostly behind clouds) and two hours through the mountains to our first destination of the day.

Drving through the mountains

My entire life leading up to that day I had only associated Leavenworth with a prison, but by late morning I found a much more pleasant and bizarre image to link to that name.

Quite a beatiful day.

Coming down out of the mountains to this town is a really, really strange site though I have to imaging that it is even more so during the winter when some snow is accumulated on the buildings. The place is authentic looking but theme park-ish at the same time and we certainly had quite a lot of fun during our time there.

Could not help myself

Touching the metal was quite hot

Restraining the beast

After the terrifying site of a cat on a leash we fled the town and headed back through the mountains to our afternoon destination. We even found coffee along the way (what a surprise in the Seattle area) to help wake us all up a bit.

Much needed caffeine

It was my day to drive (after The Wife volunteered for the first day) so I was given the responsibility of the keys and the camera as we pulled into our first Woodinville destination. Since the building was not open during our last visit, I wanted to be sure to stop by Januik/Novelty Hill to get a better look at the place this time.

Some of the outdoor area

Enjoying the first taste

Would not mind having a room like this at home.

Trying to utilize what time we had left in the afternoon, the next stop was at the Redhook Brewery since our arrival would mean only a few moments wait until the next tour started. It is not so much a tour as it is (mostly) standing in a room listening to someone talk between beer samples, but for one dollar and a free glass at the end you will not get a better bang for your buck. On this day we even got pint glasses instead of the typical small tasting glasses since they were waiting on a shipment of those.

See what fun you can have for a dollar . . .

Some of the building

Hanging out in the back

The extent of the tour

We had time to get to one more winery before the tasting hours passed, so we headed across the road to Chateau Ste. Michelle to make it our last stop of the afternoon. The grounds and the building alone make this one worth a stop, though the good wine certainly is a great bonus.

Part of the approach

Another room I would not mind having

Since I was without wine and with a camera, Seattle Jeff and I wandered around a bit to pass the time while the wives finished their wine flights and before we headed the car back to Seattle.

Off the path a bit

The stage behind the tasting room

A little further off the path

It was a great day of fun and the weather was pretty much fantastic for all of the time we spent outside. Upon our return to enjoy some dinner, the driver took the opportunity to rehydrate a bit.

Tasted so good

Appropriate considering our day

When everyone had full stomachs, we took advantage of the remaining daylight to head down to the beach as a proper way to end our day. Who knew that our Seattle hosts were closer to the beach than we are in Florida?

Not a bad way to end a day

Seattle Jeff sampled these without getting sick

Until day three . . .

A Good Time To Start

Breweries, Food, Travel No Responses »

Jul 192010

It is probably a good time to start recapping our most recent trip to the Seattle area before I forget any of the details of our time there. Today makes perfect sense as a FAT (Food and Travel for those of you not in the know) Monday post, but there will be a handful of others from the trip peppered around in the next few weeks as well. Looking back, there was at least one occasion of beer enjoyment on each day of our time there (maybe save for one) so the whole trip relates well to the site.

Why not start with the first day of the trip? I think it was also the most beer intensive (and sleep deprived) by far.

Getting up incredibly early for the first flight out of town to the west coast makes for a long day for us east coasters. So we were sure to grab a snack and some (local) coffee during our layover time in Salt Lake City.

Love me a good cup of coffee!

I will go ahead and skip over the details of our incredibly long wait at a rental car counter that we had no patience for once arriving at SeaTac. Besides being sick of airports and traveling, we had a schedule to keep. We needed to meet Seattle Jeff for a little of this . . .

Just a fantastic sight after a long day of travel.

Actually our intent was to pick Seattle Jeff up so he would not have to walk the two miles or so from work to the brewery, but he beat us there on foot after our rental car delay. However, after tasting the beers (and sampling the cheese paired with them) I don’t think he minded the walk that much. I will save further mention of our time with Cody at Epic Ales for future posts since I have much more of the day to get to and the post will be quite long enough without that content. That and I liked the beer (and the person) enough to dedicate entire posts to them sometime relatively soon.

After Maureen (Seattle Jeff’s wife and currently without nickname) met us at Epic Ales and after having a few more beer samples, we decided to head up to the Seattle International Beerfest. That was not before buying a case (or whatever you want to call 12-22oz bottles) of beer and a few souvenirs (which you will likely see some other time) from Cody on our way out the door.

Some of our friends for the afternoon.

Having so many beers to choose from was a bit overwhelming as we tried to decide where to start (or technically continue) our sampling at the festival. Having a few before arriving probably worked to our advantage as the rain that started to fall did not seem to affect our focus at all. Though I will let the pictures do most of the story telling for me, I should mention some of the beers that we tried during our time there.

Deep in thought or possibly staring at the Space Needle.

We split our efforts by enjoying some beers from breweries that we (or I) never see much of and also some new beers (at least to us) from some of our favorite breweries. That meant jumping around (in no exact order) from Firestone Walker (Velvet Merkin) to Nøgne Ø (#100) to Ninkasi (Maiden the Shade & Kraken) to Deschutes (Mirror Mirror) to New Belgium (La Folie) to Stone (Sublimely Self Righteous & Cali Belgique) to Great Divide (Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti & 16^th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA) to, well you get the idea. There are some that I surely forgot, but that is a pretty good rundown of our draft heavy (very few from bottles for us) sampling for the day.

One way to remember what was sampled.

Decisions, decsions.

We did not do much in the way of reviewing what we drank, but there are a few check marks next to the Great Divide and Stone and New Belgium offerings indicating our particular enjoyment of them. That and we actually remembered to make a mark about them as we sampled!

By that time The Wife and I realized that we had not really eaten a decent meal all day. Fortunately we were all due for something good to help settle our stomachs, so there was no resistance to finding some dinner.

Making sure we were good to walk to the car.

So instead of settling our stomachs, we went for some good burn by going to one of our favorite spots in town. Actually this was the first visit for The Wife (after a failed attempt at going years ago), but it is now one of her favorites as well. If I ever remember to do so, I have video from one of my previous visits that shows the crazy speed at which the chef works to keep the constant line at the door moving along. Someday I will get to that.

The line speaks volumes.

Burns so good!

After leaving dinner we headed to Seattle Jeff’s place to finally settle into a seated position for the remainder of the evening. The only appropriate way to deal with our still burning mouths (from dinner) and to also continue abusing our bodies for the day was to enjoy a few brews from Deschutes and Full Sail that were waiting in the fridge. That is just what we did and after being our designated driver for the day, The Wife was even able to join us for those.

Our after dinner snack

I would say that was a great first day in Seattle for us and an appropriate end to the work week for our hosts. Though probably the most beer intense day of the trip (it would have taken a lot to top it), there was more fun with beer to come.

Until day two . . .

Over Thinking and Obsessing

Travel No Responses »

Jun 142010

Over thinking and obsessing on what should be pretty simple decisions are things that I fall into quite often. Sometimes that works to my advantage, but there are also times where it drives me (and The Wife) insane. Now within my constant obsession with the world of beer, I have an enjoyable event to fixate my mind on for the next few weeks.

The beer festivals that I am used to going to here in Florida are typically involve an entry fee and a (relatively) short window of time (4 hours or so) in which to get your beer sampling in. A few weeks from now I will be attending a festival that involves a fee that will equate to a number of tickets which you trade in for samples of beer. Those tasters range from 1 ticket to 6 and you can buy additional tickets if you choose to do so. I understand this approach since the drinking windows are about 10 hours per day over a three day festival and without tickets there would be many (more) people passed out on the grass.

4534142653 294379fbc5 Over Thinking and Obsessing

Expecting a much busier scene than this.

Now to explain what I will obsess over for the next three weeks. Since the tickets will be involved, I feel the need to have a plan of attack rather than sample randomly as I often do without such parameters. The festival’s website has the list of what will be roughly 150 beers to choose from, though not how many tickets each will run you. So that helps and gives me much to think about, though not having the cost of each hurts me in developing a specific plan of attack.

There are a handful of bullet points that I am going into this evaluation process with:

Though there are some familiar favorites on the list, focus on beers that you have never had and have heard good things about. This is a focus going into most any beer festival for me.
Since this is an international beer festival and there will be many brews that I have never even seen, maybe it makes sense to pick a country or two to focus on. I do purposely lean towards American breweries not because I do not enjoy beers from other places, but because there is so much out there in the US and I have much work to do just to put a dent in it. So though I might mix in a few beers from other places, I will likely focus on the US beers that I have yet to try.
Maximizing the number of tickets I have is important. I plan on having the number of tickets that comes with the entry and (maybe) buying a few extra as soon as we get there. When those are gone we are out. Do I focus on just a few of those 5-6 ticket samples, do I go for a bunch of the 1-2 tickets brews, or a balance somewhere in the middle?
A good friend of mine is likely to join us at the festival. Perhaps we can combine forces (tickets) to sample a wider range of the beers available? That could be a good tactic.
Be efficient with our time there. We are going to this festival because we need to be in the area for another reason, so I have no intention (or desire) to spend very much of one of the 10 hour windows there. I would like to move on to other things even though it would be interesting to see what condition the crowd is in toward the end of the 10 hours.

4414829931 b251d26465 Over Thinking and Obsessing

Probably even more busy than this.

Using those thoughts I already have a bit of a short list that I would be happy to sample a few from since I expect that I have expensive taste and the tickets costs will be high for each.

Breweries I get products from here, but beers I (think I) have not tried yet.
- Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale
- Dogfish 120 Minute IPA
- Great Divide 16^th Anniversary Wood-Aged Double IPA and Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti
Breweries I don’t see here much or at all.
- Firestone Walker Parabola
- Ninkasi Kraken
- Deschutes Black Butte XXII
- Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale and #100 (Imperial IPA)

Now you can see that I have already put too much thought into it just days after I found out that we would be going! The short list will continue to grow into quite a long one and hopefully my obsessing will turn into and enjoyable and successful time at the festival.

Stay tuned for the recap.

Some Quality Dog Exercise

Travel No Responses »

May 312010

The objective going into most weekends is to get some quality exercise in with the dogs. Not only does doing that get The Wife and me out of the house, it also helps to ensure that the boys are not bouncing off the walls all weekend. Our productivity for the rest of those days off is much higher when they take a lot more naps. It is just a good scenario for all involved and works out to also be a good topic for this FAT (Food and Travel) Monday post.

On this particular Saturday that goal meant taking a bit of a longer drive to the Ocala National Forest and more specifically the Alexander Springs Recreation Area. Since the drive was about an hour and a half in each direction we could have every easily just done the drive and the dogs would have been exhausted. They get extremely worked up for rides in the car.

4655848521 62a8deff01 Some Quality Dog Exercise

Junior would be happy to just ride in the car.

So upon our arrival after driving all that way, the conversation with the woman working at the office was something like this:

Me – “We are just here to take a walk on the trails with our boys.” (As they are barking loudly)

Her – “Dogs cannot be here.”

Me – “Dogs are allowed to walk on trails on leashes in any National Park.”

Her – “The trails start across the road.”

Me – “Is there parking over there.”

Her – “No.”

Me – (Looking at the sign in front of me) “What about that sign that says trail parking to the right?”

Her – “Parking is $5.50.”

That is when I handed her cash and drove to the parking spot wondering what exactly her issue was on this morning. Maybe we were the first people ever to bring dogs there for a walk? I will pass on the opportunity to say thank you to her since that would be complete sarcasm on my part.

4656470398 58c383f59a Some Quality Dog Exercise

A good time had by all.

With that ordeal behind us we headed out for what turned out to be a really nice trail walk. After the car ride the dogs seemed to be tired almost before we started but they set the pace nonetheless. Though it was only mid morning the sun was still out and the heat was building quickly. After a few miles enough was enough. We all hydrated with the backpack full of water, piled into the car, and headed for home.

4655850665 d449e18c3c Some Quality Dog Exercise

It was easy to find out way back.

As (somewhat of) a side note I should mention that we did spend much of the remainder of the day on tick patrol for both ourselves and the dogs. My question is what purpose does a tick serve in the universe? If anyone knows, please educate me so I do not continue to find them unjustly unnecessary.

With all that, the mission was accomplished. We had incredibly tired dogs and we also got to see somewhere that we had never been before. I would recommend the same trip to anyone, but just know what you are and are not allowed to do before going just in case the person you meet there is not all that helpful.

4656470470 d43e32881d Some Quality Dog Exercise

Almost everyone cooperated with the photo.

Bowling and Beer

Miscellaneous, Travel No Responses »

May 242010

Since it often comes up in conversation when discussing favorite beers with friends, I am finding myself paying more attention to the impact my environment has on what I choose to drink. The Wife and I attended Lebowski Fest Orlando over the weekend with some friends (thank you Jim and Jackie) and that meant being in a bowling alley and seeing what impact that had on my choice of beverages.

As I stray from the topic at hand for a moment, have you ever heard anyone say “Hey, nice marmot!” to a two year old? Now the two year old was actually carrying a stuffed/toy marmot, but still. Even as odd as that was to hear upon entering the building, it made perfect sense in the context of the surreal costumed world that we were walking into.

In case you didn't believe me.

A few of our bowling neighbors.

Normally when I bowl (though it has been a long, long time) beer is certainly what I would be drinking. However, on this night before getting to what I would normally have I needed to pay homage to The Dude and start the evening off with . . .

It had to be done.

Now we can shift back to what I typically drink while bowling and more specifically at this bowling alley. Drum roll please . . .

It certainly can't hurt my bowling.

That’s right; the beer of choice is Pabst Blue Ribbon. I would like to be able to explain why, but I don’t really have a reason. Maybe at a different bowling alley I would drink something else, but I suspect I would at least ask for a PBR first. The only other place I can remember drinking PBR was in a little bar in Rockland, Maine but there was a bit of video bowling played that evening. It just seems to be the appropriate beer for me to drink while bowling (and apparently while playing video bowling at certain bars in Maine).

This may very well turn into a bit of a running series as I identify certain places that always lead me to the same choice of beer. I may be surprised with what I find.

So, what do you drink while bowling?

Drinking Professionally

Miscellaneous, Travel 4 Responses »

May 192010

Sure any of us can (and do) drink socially, but how many of us out there can say that we drink professionally? I cannot consider myself a professional drinker, so I was very excited when The Wife recently surprised me with tickets to Zane Lamprey’s Drinking Made Easy show here in Orlando last night so I could see a professional imbiber in person.

Now we planned on getting there early just because, but we left to get there early for the 8:00 show time that was indicated on our ticket, not for the actual 9:00 starting time. So you might ask what you do to kill some time for an extra hour? Well you start by . . .

4621088043 26637d4ace Drinking Professionally

Making friends with Pleepleus.

4621694870 53f7fd48cd Drinking Professionally

High fives for everyone!

Then fortunately there were also other ways to distract myself . . .

4621695154 ca4be98f5e Drinking Professionally

Decisions, decisions . . .

Having a few Northern Lights IPAs from Starr Hill Brewing Company made the time go by quite nicely. I was not the only one passing the time with a few drinks though . . .

4621087977 b29a5c6672 Drinking Professionally

The lobby was filling up quickly.

The show was good fun, especially for someone like me who has seen all of the episodes of Three Sheets at least a few times each. With that said, the show was not as enjoyable for us as it could have been.

The main distraction from it being a great comedy show was mostly due to the collection of winners (read sarcasm) that were in the crowd that apparently could not hold their Bud Lights that they were continuously running to the back of the showroom to purchase. Comedy shows are a lot about the flow of what is happening on stage and with an increasing level of intoxication among many on this Tuesday evening, the interruptions (both physical and verbal) were very frequent. As Zane tried to explain on a few occasions, he had already written jokes and did not need the help.

4621695068 5dc2d668f5 Drinking Professionally

Kind of like the bat signal.

Did I mention that the gentleman sitting in front of me exhibited what seemed to be full body heaving and seizure-like movements each time there was something mildly amusing? Combine that with old(er) seats with a lot of give and my knee caps were bashed numerous times as a bonus to the constant commentary from the crowd.

Hecklers happen at comedy performances (I understand that) and can be good fun when those on stage attack the attacker. However, when the interruptions are essentially after every joke, you eventually find yourself just waiting for the show to be over so you can run away. I loved Zane and Marc and Steve, but I wish that I could have seen a more uninhibited show from them.

4621695274 208ea82837 Drinking Professionally

Comedy in motion.

Maybe I should have expected all of this at a show (mostly) about drinking, though based on the case study of the crowd last night there was no question that the only professional drinkers in the room were the guys on stage.

When Traveling Alone

Food, Travel 2 Responses »

May 102010

Anytime we travel at least one camera is on the list of things to pack and double check that we have before leaving. However, when I travel alone I tend to forget that I have the camera with me until I am leaving or am already back home and realize that I didn’t take any pictures. A recent business trip that involved some time in the town(s) where I grew up was one of those trips where the camera basically stayed in the case it traveled in. There are a few pictures (of beverages mostly) that spurred some thought though.

As hinted at yesterday, I like to maintain a well-balanced diet when traveling. In this case the balance came in the form of a beer that I have never tried before and was helped by being able to drink it while sitting at my departure gate. If only airports were always this user friendly.

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What a balanced diet in an airport includes.

That was pretty much the extent of the pictures taken during the trip, but I did take a few of the goods that I brought back to Florida with me. It is nice when your grocery needs align with trips to see your family. The Wife and I were completely out of maple syrup and passing up the stuff at the grocery store was an easy choice when I had a chance at the good stuff from NNY (via my father).

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Don't think for a moment that I won't drink this from the jar.

Perhaps my home brewing is hereditary as my Uncle Mark got into it years ago, though recently has turned his focus to making his own wine. After enjoying his so much it makes me wonder if I should give it a shot. Then again, I think if I stick with the beer and make some good stuff we can work out a consistent trade of goods!

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A reisling that is now one of The Wife's favorites.

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And one of my new favorites.

So what to make next? I am a short click away from setting up my home cheese making empire, but I think I will fine tune my brewing before bringing an additional mess maker into the house. The itch is there to continue taking control over some of our grocery demand. We do have a garden, though very tiny when compared to those of many of my relatives in NNY. Though I don’t think I can take on having chickens for eggs as my Aunt Lorri (or soon my father), the idea is very intriguing. Knowing where your food and drink comes from is a good habit to develop and is just one of the checks in the plus column for where I grew up.

All You Can Eat Whatever

Food, Travel 1 Response »

Apr 262010

So if you were at all curious about the “all you can eat whatever” that I was referring to yesterday, this FAT Monday (food and travel) post will make the picture more clear.

On Saturday The Wife and I headed down to Celebration to make use of the free passes that she won for the never ending pie buffet at the American Pie Council / Crisco National Pie Championships. I did not read the link in the previous sentence before attending so I was not really sure what to expect, though I did have it in my head that homemade pies would be served at some level. However as the article says, slices of pie were “provided by the nation’s leading commercial pie makers.”

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A great day to be outside.

That was not bad, but it just is not the same as grandma’s homemade goodness. To make up for the slight pie letdown, we had gorgeous (though slightly too hot) weather and the company of Jim, Jackie, and Little E. Minus the stomach discomfort afterward from eating too much it was a great time. Enough talk . . . now some pictures.

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This crowds were bigger and bigger as you neared to pie.

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Strawberry-rhubarb . . . I think.

As my first official good deed of the day, we smuggled a few pieces of blackberry/raspberry pie out of the event to bring to a friend at Celebration Town Tavern. I think he was happy about the surprise delivery.

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Pie makes people happy . . . just ask Rich.

On our way back home we parked the car in downtown Orlando and took a walk through the Central Florida Earth Day 2010 event that was set up around Lake Eola. We did the same last year with The Mother-in-law and enjoyed it enough to put it on the schedule again this year. As you will see, The Wife even made a new friend.

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There was beer available . . .

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. . . and oxygen for those looking to sample.

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We have too many pets already!

All in all a great day and without me having even one beer while we were out! To cap it all off we even made it home in time to catch the end of the NFL Draft (which consumes me this time of year) and put our feet up a bit after walking so much. Did I mention that we spent a total of two dollars (parking) for the afternoon of fun?

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We all get into the draft at my house!

Until the next FAT post . . .

The Great Orlando Beer Festival

Breweries, Travel 2 Responses »

Apr 192010

Though I really enjoy attending beer festivals as part of the crowd who will be sampling the beers, I think I enjoy volunteering and especially pouring at festivals even more. So when given the option of the two for The Great Orlando Beer Festival over the weekend, The Wife I jumped at the opportunity to help out with the event and hang out with our friends from The Brew Crew.

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The vegan bratwurst caught The Wife's eye.

When we showed up a little more than two hours before the event started there were only a few people wandering around the tents that were lined up and waiting. Within the next half hour the action picked up quickly as the beer arrived and set up began. We helped unload the beer from pallets and get them to the tents before distributing the bins that would hold the beer and ice. All of this was helped by Andy and the boys at the Southampton booth starting to ready the bacon that would accompany their beers that evening.

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Southampton in the set up lead early on.

Then the beer was unpacked and put on ice as the appropriate signs were put up at each station. The ice flying around is a pretty crazy thing to watch as people run bags of it from the truck to each end of the venue. As all of this was happening I noticed another familiar face in the distance and took an opportunity to go say hello to Tom the Beer Guy as he was readying the OB product for the afternoon.

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Unpacking the goods for the day.

Many times as a volunteer you will be assigned to a task or a booth, but on this day we were able to pick a station after the initial set up was taken care of. The Wife and I were fortunate (and I was very excited) to end up behind the table where we would pour Avery and The Bruery products. With The Bruery being a fairly recent arrival to the Orlando area, our tent became busy very quickly and stayed that way for most of the day.

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My better half modelling some of the product.

Much of the enjoyment that I get from pouring at these events come from meeting people who are really interested in the beers and want to discuss it. That of course includes the beer industry folks that I meet along the way. Early on (just before the event started) I was able to meet Luke from Swamp Head Brewery as he stopped by for a sample. As the day went on I also met Craig from Swamp Head, Mike from Florida Micro Beverage, many of the guys from the Central Florida Home Brewers, and also ran into the familiar faces of Tom the Beer Guy (again), Jeremy (previously met at CTT), Josh from Big C, and our good friends Emily and Ian (who were our neighbors for the day). Surely I am forgetting a few people, but that is a good part of the list. I guess sometimes if you stay in one place the interesting people come to you!

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Things starting to pick up.

The Wife stayed at the booth for the entire day, but I finally took an opportunity toward the end to leave for a few minutes to visit one booth that I was particularly interested in. My short time away gave me an opportunity to visit Craig and Luke and sample the beers from Swamp Head Brewery. I had my first ever taste of their Cottonmouth (Wheat), Wild Night (Cream Ale), and Big Nose IPA. My style preferences drew me to the Wild Night and Big Nose the most, but I really enjoyed all three. Usually at the end of a beer festival your taste buds are beat from constant sampling, but having not done that I trust my palate in this case. As I was leaving, I asked for a refill of the Wild Night to go back with and not only got that, but got it in Swamp Head souvenir via the generosity of Craig.

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A new contender for favorite beer vessel.

Since I fly the orange and blue of another school I have not had much reason to visit Gainesville in the past, but I now really would like to get up there to see exactly what Craig and Luke are up to. I now know that I can sample their beers at a few places nearby, but it is always good to go to the source when you can.

The whole afternoon was very much fun as expected and I am already looking forward to the event next year and to seeing some of my new friends at future beer gatherings!

1000 Bottles of Beer

Breweries, Travel 2 Responses »

Apr 052010

Sometimes it makes sense for me to ramble on as I recap a travel experiences and other times I have pictures that will do a much better job. Also since this is a post holiday Monday, I suspect that most people could do without excessive reading today.

On the second day of our visit to Baltimore, The Wife and I took the train down to Washington D.C. to stroll around a bit and meet up with my good friend, Mr. Wilson. The day after that, Mr. Wilson took a train up to Baltimore to keep me company (a.k.a. bar hop with me) while The Wife was in her conference all day. That pretty much explains the string of pictures below.

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Union Station has some beautiful spaces

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A different view of The Capitol

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Not bad for behind thick glass

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Stopped for a moment to smell the flowers

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Finally some shade for a moment

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Head just inside the door and go to your right . . .

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and bring your reading glasses for the beer list!

I must pause to make a more prominent mention of The Brickskeller, where we stopped in D.C. for lunch (and beer). Having a list of 1000 bottles of beer to choose from can be a very difficult situation. Usually I gravitate towards the draft list, which will narrow my selection down a bit before I really put any effort into a decision. I did not have that option, so that day I focused on American breweries. I do enjoy beer from many other places, but there is so much good craft beer in the United States to choose from that I have much work to do just to try half of it. So after that, I looked for breweries that I don’t see here in Florida. It just so happened that I landed at what was actually the first beer on the list and a 21^st Amendment Brew Free or Die. It was a pretty IPA heavy weekend all in all.

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21st Amendment - Brew Free or Die

How would you tackle such a big list of beer options?

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Mr. Wilson come to Baltimore via Penn Station

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Keeping me company at Koopers

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I do love me some good beer in a can.

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How sad . . . no really.

There are so many more pictures to get to. Maybe I will give Baltimore and D.C. another feature sometime soon.

Until then . . .

Max's Taphouse

Beer Reviews, Travel 2 Responses »

Mar 292010

So when I decided to tag along on a trip to Baltimore that The Wife was taking to attend a conference, my immediate efforts were to see what my beer options would be. Now that was not only because I love my beer, but also since it was the first weekend of the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament and I don’t miss that for any reason. Any sort of vacation or long weekend should not deprive me of two of my favorite things!

The pink elephant will always draw you in.

So after doing a brief internet search, I came up with what I thought would be a few good options and Max’s Taphouse was on that short list. At that point it was just one of a handful of choices. Then I was reading through December’s issue of Beeradvocate Magazine and saw Max’s was on their list of the 25 “Top Places to Have a Pint.” OK, so that narrowed the list a bit further. Then I decided to ask who ever could hear me out in the world of Twitter where I could get some good beer and watch college basketball in Baltimore. When the immediate answer of Max’s came back it sealed the deal for my beer drinking location of choice for that trip.

That was all before I looked on the map to see that Max’s Taphouse was only a short walk away from the hotel we would be staying at! Sometimes things just work out in your favor.

Some of the view from my seat.

The Wife and I quickly pulled up a barstool directly in front of the tap handles for the cask beer offerings on our initial visit. The first choice for me was a (cask) Troegs Nugget Nectar and The Wife went with a Silly Pink Killer (Brasserie de Silly). Bob was fantastic behind the bar and we felt at home even more when a patron asked if the free Miller Lite that was being offered “came with a straw like the rest of the water.” Somewhere in my laughter at that question I briefly felt sorry for the Miller Lite girl that was pushing the freebies that afternoon. Not the best crowd for that product, but just the type of beer drinking people I wanted to be around.

Thus began my obsession with the environment and selection at my fingertips (80 or so draft offerings and hundreds of bottled option) as I would visit Max’s each of the first three days of our stay in Baltimore. I would say that is a bad thing, but I enjoyed every moment of it!

A peek at the draft list.

To save my computer from the potential drool that would come with a beer-by-beer recap (from Gubna to Dugana to Gemeni and on), I will go with mostly pictures from here on out. Enjoy . . .

OB Gubna in front, then Avery Dugana, and Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot in back

Emelisse Winter and Olivers Bishop Breakfast

Just part of the set up that I would like at home.

Avery Collaboration (I think)

Part of what the bar sees (and I think a Dogfish Head Aprihop)

Do yourself a favor and visit Max’s Taphouse if are in Baltimore. Sit yourself at the bar, introduce yourself to Bob, and get yourself a good draft beer. All will be well from there!

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