What Beer Are You Drinking Now? #4503

Thanks Eric!! That picture was from the Oliver House in Middleboro MA. Supposedly very haunted although I did not experience anything unusual during an overnight stay.





https://bostonghosts.com/the-haunted-oliver-house/

 

I'm fortunate to have a sister in law that lives about 15 minutes away. If you ever get close, go check it out, great place.

 

Dood, I've had four beers, you can't do that to me. Terrifying.

 

Watching the recorded Westminster Kennel Club while my son and I try Burial's End of Plagues, their Hazy IPA. Good for a Hazy.

 

LOL - I keep wondering why I didn't call it 666 -

 

Sorry, my posts are such a mess, and this one is going to be the biggest mess of them all. IDK if this even the right place to post such a thing. But any opportunity to talk about beer is a good one. Went to the annual stout fest here yesterday (FINALLY, first time). I don't have any pictures, though; it's enough trying to juggle all the things you're supposed to carry during these things.

But first, I never posted these flights from a couple of weekends ago now.



So these were from Masthead's anniversary party on the first. Yeah, I drank the last one first by accident. I can't even say I have much to say about these - even if it wasn't a couple of weekends later, the format makes it hard to come up with coherent thoughts. They're all good, and I meant to buy all of these to take home... was only able to get the Tree and PB one from this group to give a full review at some point. It's fun to go on these sorts of events, but it's so crowded and loud you can't even hear yourself think. I find it really hard to judge tasters especially in those sorts of conditions. I do remember the PB one being really good.



Same thing as above and definitely too much beer in one go. Think #2 was BBA 2-Year Where's My Birthday Cake but was never told. Anyway, the Blood Orange Juggerhop stood out. The blood orange flavor was quite a tasty contrast to the strong bitterness of the base brew.

And for the stout fest downtown yesterday: no pictures or anything, and, even with two of us sharing samples, it was impossible to taste everything. They give you such big pours for these big beers! I had intended on bringing a pen to take notes (that's how you know you have gone full nerd), but planning around someone else always means things go out the window. Anyway, that meant missing out on a few cool things from some of my favorite local brewers and I am definitely sad about what I couldn't get to. Anyway, it is really hard to compare these, particularly the straight BA stouts. It's the crazier options that stand out in this sort of format... it's cool that they have a fan vote and give out a trophy and everything, but I find it difficult to compare such a wide variety of things in such a short time.

Prisionero del Ritual by Brick and Barrel - Mexican hot chocolate stout with chilis, cocoa nibs, rum oak chips, and coffee beans. One of the first things I had and one of the wackiest, but this was fun. Pretty serious kick of chili but wasn't overwhelming (for me at least).

Jalapeno Popper Night Walker by Ghost Tree - Chipotle peppers and blackberries, Rittenhouse Rye oak chips. Never been out to this brewery, since it's way on the other side of the planet here, but their stuff always looks good on social media and this was perhaps the most unique thing present, to the point I'm not even sure how to feel about it. It's one of those that has a bit of everything but somehow works.

Coconut Block Party by Eleventhree - Candied coconut and Ecuadorian vanilla beans. Not sure I have ever had anything like this! It was certainly different from anything else there. Very sweet, less on the malty, stouty side, but very heavy on the coconut.

Black Cyclone by JAFB - BBA 11 months in Heaven Hills, notes of dark cherries, fudge brownies, and bourbon. One I was most looking forward to trying since it sounded awesome and this is one of those breweries that is both known for quality but also small and way out in the boonies to be well-known. Those tasting notes really came through. Wish I had a bottle of this to savor at home.

Abuela's Mexican Hot Chocolate by Lorain (formerly Avon) - another Mexican hot chocolate theme, and this was very enjoyable. Don't have the tasting notes.

Better Together by Lorain - peanut butter, chocolate, coffee, lactose. Also very enjoyable.

Golden Mocha Latte by Lorain - coffee, white chocolate, lactose. Probably the one that stood out the least, but my tastebuds might have been blown out at that point.

Hill Of Witches by Jolly Scholar./Terrestrial - advertised as a no-frills Baltic porter (!). First thing I had, so tough to recall other than having liked it.

We Love Noble Beast by Terrestrial - cask-conditioned porter with espresso, very tasty, fun name.

BA Copy & Pastry by Schnitz - layers of chocolate cake and cheesecake flavor, definitely came through in the small taste I got.

And the more straightforward ones - BBA Derailed (Green Valley), Cookies & Milk (Noble Beast), BBA State Rt 2 (Forest City hazlenut praline), Anxiety Tears (Collision Bend), Narwhal (Sierra Nevada), Steel Dawn 2023 (Columbus).

And the ones I didn't get to - Butcher and the Brewer, Market Garden, Masthead, Fat Heads, Rhinegeist, Bookhouse, Brew Kettle, Immigrant Son, Hofbrauhaus, Unhitched, Double Wing, Crooked Pecker, Saucy.

Yeah, everyone tuned out a zillion words ago, but an event like this is a great reminder of what beer is. Everyone says these days beer is expensive and sure, you pay a bit for something like this, but it's a great excuse to get out of the house after a long week, right before the Ohio winter comes back with a vengeance. Then you go and see what a community craft beer still is in these trying times. There aren't often such spaces where you are around so many other people just enjoying one thing. A lot of the brewers show up and it's great to hear from them about that one thing they worked so hard to create. You know it's also a community thing for them. It's really cool to get to talk to the guy from Ghost Tree, for instance, about this weird special brew he brought, or see the couple from Eleventhree. That's the place by my work that I reference but never actually name. The brewery is only a year old, small place, but one of the few that happens to be super accessible to me. Another reason for posting is to be more of an active booster of the local scene, although it's cool to see some of the more known state breweries and even SN for some reason show up alongside the rest trying to make a name for themselves. While being a part of the industry does not seem to be in the cards, I wish it was possible to feel more a part of the community in some way. I'm rather envious of that interlocking network you sometimes get a glimpse of. To have the opportunity to do more and experience more.

FWIW, Noble Beast won the judge's vote (more shocking they didn't win before) and Lorain won the people's choice. Next up is going to be Winter Warmer Fest March 1st, and that's always a blast. From having a one-off cake batter frappucino to the first draft of a GABF gold medal winner... beer gets to be so much fun sometimes. It will be sad to see more breweries missing this year, and yet there are still more set to open in the next several months. Somehow.

 

Paired with the Daytona 500, Lap 79/200. Cheers!

 

The BirdZ Session was a collaborative project between me and my friend Rich. He wrote most of the lyrics and I wrote most of the music. We would bring in a lot of local musicians to play on the tunes with us - most were friends that we've known over the years. We did produce a CD which I'm pretty happy with. For example - here's one where our friend Mark played sax - he's a sax player in the Air Force jazz band. He came in and said play the tune - he listened to it once and played along with it and then cut the track on the first take Pretty tasty solo I thought. The song is actually about in the olden days, they would take criminals and leave them out in the desert with nothing and if they could make it back alive then they were forgiven.

 

My neighbor gave it to me for free when he upgraded to a tracked unit a couple years ago.

It was in rough shape, but I hit every item in the service manual and she's been a beast since.

It didn't have 1st gear (lots of reasons).
It bounced all over the place in other gears (friction wheel was chopped up).

Of course I keep maintenance records...

• Fill / Change Auger Gearbox Oil
• Check Shear Bolts (Both slightly bent)
• Lubricate Auger Shaft (4 grease fittings)
• Replace Auger Drive Belt (Tiny cracks, good shape)
• Adjust Auger Drive Belt Tension (Tightened)
• Replace Traction Drive Belt (Big crack, doomed)
• Lubricate Internal Drive (Pivots, pinion shaft, hex shaft, drive chains)
• Reduction Shaft (Grease fitting)
• Pinion Shaft (Grease fitting)
• Drive Axel (Grease fitting)
• Replace Friction Wheel (It's pretty bad!)
• Adjust Traction Drive Clutch (Fix 1st gear - Tightened)
• Adjust Shift Linkage (Fix 1st gear)
• Adjust Drive Chain (Tightened)
• Replace Skid Shoes
• Replace Spark Plug
• Change Engine Oil
• Set Tire Pressure @20psi
• Lubricate Discharge Chute
• WD-40 All Painted / Rusted Surfaces
• Clean Cab Windows

 

Lowercase - Miner's Delight export lager.

I like it.

 

Only one place to go.
Beast Coast DIPA.

H E A D Y

TABS UP. That is the rule....

Cheers!!!

 

You bought a new grill?

 

You are officially the James Joyce of this Sunday's WBAYDN. Nice work!

 

I'm tired of close games. Too much stress. Is a nice 20 point win too much to ask!?!?
Dusty said he doesn't have time to think about that nonsense. He's to busy winning games.

 

Cheers!

 

Oakflower Brewing's Eternal Recurrence. Cheers!

 

Seems like a great stout night. Chewed a few gummies and having the last of this dynamite 4pk. Going to be a nice slow sipper for the SNL 50th Anniversary show.