It’s Officially Fall!!

I don’t know about you, but to me – one of the signs of Fall is Paulaner Oktoberfest!  I know I’ve posted about this beer before  – but it’s such a classic, it deserves many posts and many cap pictures!

A malty smoothness that many have tried to duplicate, but few (if any) have cloned, Paulner is the Oktoberfest to top all Oktoberfests.  I mean, the Germans had to be doing something right when they created a beer with flavor that you can actually stand drinking liters of!

Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi!

The Caps Know All…

 

Playing cards the other night, I found this cap from someone else’s beer.  Somehow it knew that I didn’t have a good hand.  😉
I love it when brewers have a sense of humor and add fun things to the insides of the caps.  I’m not positive, but I believe this was a Magic Hat Cap – as they’re notorious for doing this.

 

 

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.

 

Gingerbread love

I’ve been horrible about keeping up with posting my beer pics… But I have been drinking and shooting over the holidays- so I will post more soon!

This Gingerbread Stout was brewed by Richmond’s newest brewery- Hardywood! I haven’t had the pleasure to visit them yet, but our friends shared this bottle with us recently.

The thought of gingerbread flavor in a stout was exciting to me, and with the first sip, I knew this new brewery hadn’t let me down. This stout is full of rich chocolate flavor with the spicy ginger bite at the end. I had my glass for desert and was completely satisfied!

I’m looking forward to visiting this brewery soon to sample more, as I was really impressed!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!

Random Caps

I’m totally not a beer blogger that knows all the certain different nuances in certain types of beers, or knows exactly how a certain style of beer needs to taste to be true to style – but I do love to take pictures of caps.  My love for photography and my love for beer made me want to start taking pictures of caps – so I’m getting back to my roots tonight with a “no logo” type of picture.

This picture makes me think about all the beers that I enjoyed before I really knew what I was drinking – and before I really kept track.  I’m sure there are so many “nameless” beers I really enjoyed that I haven’t blogged about – that maybe aren’t even still brewed today.

So here’s a tribute to those beers – the nameless, the ones we enjoyed before we knew what real beer was all about!

 

Wind Powered Brewery? Good Beer and Environmentally Conscience!

What’s better than an environmentally conscience brewery?  One with delicious beer and great bands!
We visit the Outer Banks and always go to The Outer Banks Brewing Station!  This brewery crafts delicious beer, currently I’m enjoying the Coco Brown Ale… mellow, chocolatly and yummy!  And the food is delicious… their hush puppies are the best I’ve ever had!

If you have little ones, there is a playground out back of the brewery.  You can have a brew and they can have a homemade rootbeer while running off the sugar!

The brewery is also soley powered by the windmill out back, which I think is one of the most awesome things ever!  They host lots of great bands with a wonderfully set stage as well!

If your ever vacationing in OBX, you must visit this stellar brewery!  You can even get a grolsch bottle of beer to go!  Cheer!

This post is for you…

I took advantage of April Fools Day, and didn’t use a cap for my post today – “April Fools!!!”.

For all of you fellow beer drinkers who are running the Monument Avenue 10K tomorrow – I salute you!!

If I survive the race, I’ll be having a beer at The Capital Ale House afterward!  Cheers and Congratulations to all of you – it’s really a run for a great cause!!

Trader Jose – cheaper alternative to Negra?

I stumbled across “Trader Jose” when I was shopping at Trader Joe’s one day (get it… Trader Jose, because it’s their Mexican style beer?? Ha, ha!).  It was too cheap not to try, so I bought a sixer.  To my pleasant surprise, this cleverly named supermarket generic tasted similar to Negra Modelo.  I love Negra Modelo; it’s malty goodness just warms my heart!  I don’t go shop at Trader Joe’s just for the beer, but when I’m there, I certainly pick up a six-pack, since I know it’s enjoyable (and again, did I mention cheap??).

While “Trader Jose” can’t replace Negra (in my heart at least), it does have a nice comparable flavor with a slightly cheaper price tag.

Victory!!

 

After VCU’s win tonight, which secures a place for them in the final four (woo hoo), I thought it was appropriate to use a Victory Brewing cap!

 

Victory has lots of tasty brews, but there is one that I enjoy oh so much – The Golden Monkey!  This Belgian Style Tripel is very crisp, clean and so yummy.  Don’t let it’s crisp, light mouth feel fool you though – this tasty brew packs a wallop at 9.5% ABV.  Make sure if you have one of these awesome Golden Monkeys, that you get it served in the correct glass, as it certainly deserves to be treated like the fancy beer it is.

Cheers – and congratulations to VCU in Richmond, VA for their win this evening!

No Sleep ‘Till…. Brooklyn!

Brooklyn Brewery makes one of my favorite brown ales (only second to Legend Brewing from Richmond, Va – of course).  The Brooklyn Brown is a little chocolaty without being overly sweet.  It’s a good staple to have in your beer fridge, especially if you’re a fellow brown ale lover!  This particular brewery does make some other beers I like; they have a great Oktoberfest and a yummy Black Chocolate Stout.

I have to say, even though I love Pale Ales, theirs isn’t my favorite.  I think it may be their use of Willamette Hops, which are a little too “grapefruitty” for my taste.

Give Brooklyn Brewery a try though, they have a great variety!