Devilish…

I love supporting local beer brewers… and they’ve really been popping up everywhere here in Virginia lately!

Okay… so I realize that Devil’s Backbone has been around for a few years, but I swear it seems like they just came out of nowhere!  I see a Virginia Beer display in almost every grocery store these days, and Devil’s Backbone always has a couple of different styles to choose from.

I tried their “Belgian Congo Pale Ale” and found it rather tasty!  No only do I love Pale Ales, I adore Belgian Yeast – as it makes things a little more “fruity” and “bubbly”.  The combination of hops along with the distinctive Belgian taste makes this a yummy brew – put it on your “must try” list.

Make sure to keep supporting your local beer brewers; They make some amazing stuff!
Cheers!

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Barrel Trolley – eh…

 

There was this beer, on the shelf, that I hadn’t tried – so I tried it.  Anything that says “Nut Brown Ale” gets my attention, as I am a “Brown Ale Girl”.

This beer was a little malty, but more for the amateur drinker and a little watered down for my taste.  When I’m drinking a Brown Ale, I want it to be bold and have a malty kick in the pants – much like my beloved Legend Brown Ale.  I didn’t get the nuttiness either… just some malt with some water.   Did I dump it out??  No, of course not – I’m not that harsh… I just think my expectations were a little high for this one.

Sure, this is a good beer for the average drinker, but if you love your Brown Ales – you may want to look elsewhere; Just saying.

 

Holy Sorghum

Do you have a gluten allergy and can’t drink regular beer?? Never fear – sorghum beer is here! New Grist, by Lakefront Brewery, is made with out barley!! I’m sure the thought makes you shutter, as it did me – until I actually tasted this concoction!

When it was poured into my glass, I thought… Who is this watered down beer supposed to satisfy?? It actually has lots of flavor though! It starts out a little grainy and it had a wonderful fruity finish- impressive.

I love that breweries are embracing different types of ingredients and brewing styles, as the traditional beer doesn’t always work for everyone.

So give something different a try, you just might like it! Cheers!!

Palo Santo 2008

Dogfish Head is one of my favorite breweries ever! Tonight my sampler included a 2008 Palo Santo Marron. If you haven’t had this beer, it’s fabulous! It’s brewed and aged in a Palo Santo Wood barrel. I love the fresh version, but the 2008 aged version is like drinking maple syrup! I can handle a small sampler but I can’t imagine drinking a whole glass!
If you haven’t been to Dogfish, or tried their beers, you should – awesome stuff!!

The road to success is paved with good beer!

I feel like I’ve posted less and less because I’m not really a “beer review” person. Yes, I love to drink good beer, but I’m bad at describing it to everyone else – besides saying it’s “nutty” or it’s “fruity” or “hoppy”. I thought this year I’d focus more on the beer/beer cap pictures, because that’s the part I really love. So… cheers to beers! 🙂

Irene Preparedness

We stocked up on delicious beer for our beach trip this week… but it’s turned out to be great hurricane supplies as well!  Last night we had a Palo Santo from Dogfish Head… yum!  Here you can see some Ovila, the Sierra collaboration – second addition, which we’re going to try to hold out on opening!  The first Ovila that I tried was the dubbel; it was malty and delicious!  This second Ovila is a Saison and I’m eager to try it.  I just hope this Saison  isn’t too funky.  The third bottle in the series (which I don’t think has been released yet) is a Quad – I have to get one of those!

I hope everyone else prepared well for this storm; I feel bad for anyone housebound without beer!

Cheers!

Must Have Flip-Flops!

My Brother-in-law has the best Reef Flip-flops ever!  Yes, that is a bottle opener on the bottom of them.  How impressive is that??!!  Imagine being at your beach hotel and you’ve just purchased a great six pack of delicious brew… and… you have no opener!!  Never fear, put that bottle to the bottom of your Reef Flip-flops and pop that top – Flip-flop to the rescue!  Ingenious!  I totally need a pair of these!

AHA Top 50 Beers

A special thanks to my friend, Robin, for making me aware of this article listing the top 50 beers as judged by the American Homebrewers Association.  I’m impressed that one of my top beers, Bell’s Two Hearted, is listed as #2!  How do your favorite beers rank??

Here’s the article from the Huffington Post:

 

American Homebrewers Association Names Top 50 Beers In America; Russian River Wins Again

Zymurgy magazine, the official publication of the American Homebrewers Association, has released its ninth-annual list of the 50 best beers in America. To assemble the list, its editors ask readers to submit lists of their top 20 favorite beers.

Russian River‘s acclaimed Pliny the Elder beer won the top slot for the third year in a row. But if you want to try it yourself, you might have a hard time. Russian River is fairly widely distributed in California, but the only state in the East Coast where you can get Pliny the Elder is Pennsylvania. (And it’s scarce even there.) At least many of the others on the list (like Sierra Nevada) have strong national distribution. The top-ranked brewery, as measured by total votes for its beers, was Delaware’s Dogfish Head. The brewery’s highest-ranking entrant was the hop-heavy Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, which tied for third.

Here’s this year’s full list:

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder
2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
3 (tie). Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
3 (tie). Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout
5. Bell’s Hopslam
6. Stone Arrogant Bastard
7. Sierra Nevada Celebration
8 (tie). Sierra Nevada Torpedo
8 (tie). Stone Ruination
10. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
11. Stone Sublimely Self Righteous
12. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine
13. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
14 (tie). Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
14 (tie). Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale
16 (tie). Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
16 (tie). New Glarus Belgian Red
18. North Coast Old Rasputin
19. Bell’s Expedition Stout
20 (tie). Deschutes The Abyss
20 (tie). Left Hand Milk Stout
20 (tie). Odell IPA
20 (tie). Samuel Adams Noble Pils
20 (tie). Surly Furious
20 (tie). Troegs Nugget Nectar
26 (tie). Rogue Dead Guy Ale
26 (tie). Samuel Adams Boston Lager
28. Anchor Steam
29 (tie). Bear Republic Racer 5
29 (tie). Ommegang Three Philosophers
29 (tie). Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
29 (tie). Three Floyds Alpha King
29 (tie). Three Floyds Dark Lord
34 (tie). Avery Maharaja
34 (tie). Dogfish Head Indian Brown
34 (tie). Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
34 (tie). Three Floyds Gumballhead
38 (tie). Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
38 (tie). Lost Abbey Angel’s Share
38 (tie). New Belgium La Folie
38 (tie). New Belgium Ranger
38 (tie). Oskar Blues Old Chub
43 (tie). Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
43 (tie). Great Divide Yeti
43 (tie). New Belgium 1554
43 (tie). Russian River Blind Pig
43 (tie). Ska Modus Hoperandi
48 (tie). Alesmith Speedway Stout
48 (tie). Dark Horse Crooked Tree
48 (tie). Green Flash West Coast IPA
48 (tie). Summit EPA
48 (tie). Victory Prima Pils

 

 

The Road to Here

Tonight, I dumped out my caps that I’ve already photographed and took this picture.  Wow, that’s a lot of caps!

I started thinking that I run across a lot of the same caps in my day to day drinking and could use some inspiration.  If you (yes you – whoever you are, reading this) run across an awesome cap I should photograph – or even a beer I should try, send it to me (don’t send me the actual beer, but send me a message with a beer I should post about)!!

Here’s my mailing address – PO Box 1992, Midlothian, VA  23113.

I’d love to take a shot of your cap!!  Cheers!!

Fullers ESB should stand for “Extra Special Beer”

Okay, okay – before you call me on it – yes, I realize I’ve already used one of these ESB caps before.  I didn’t actually realize that until after I’d taken the picture and settled in for the evening though, so I’m totally using it – don’t shoot me!  😉

You can check out my other post about Fullers ESB if you want – it’s a fabulous beer.  England certainly has special water that puts a tell-tale taste in its beers; it’s a taste that I love!  “ESB” actually stands for “Extra Special Bitter”, and this beer does have a little bitterness at the end, but it’s maltiness is what really draws me in.  If you haven’t tried Fullers ESB or their London Pride, you should.  Both of those beers are well brewed and tasty!