Damn right

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

reading CAN be fun

ever supportive of my beer addiction, angela got me this book. it's a great way of keeping a journal of all of the beers that i try. it's pocket sized, and has pre-printed sections, where you just fill in the info, stats, thoughts on each beer.

but my favorite thing about it, is the FLAVOR WHEEL. this is a neat little invention that allows you to basically draw a picture of how a beer tastes. the wheel has several different flavor categories on it, such as sweet, sour, burnt, toffee, hoppy, spicy, malty, etc. the more a beer encompasses that flavor, the further out on the wheel you put a dot. for lower values of flavor, the closer to the wheel's center you draw a dot. then you just connect the dots. i thought this was a pretty cool innovation, and perfect for a beer nerd like me.

here is a sample of my book:

i'm a dork

my book is already almost full (i blame San Francisco), so it's time to order more from the website.
3 for $10 ain't bad. i hope they get here soon, i'm thirsty.

i wish rain had a head so that i could punch it in the face

well, the Filthy Landlubber bike ride that i mentioned before is officially cancelled due to rain.

no! it's worse than cancelled, it's rescheduled for March 5th... when I will be out of state.
crap. i was really looking forward to it.

on the bright side. angela and i had already booked our timeshare for the weekend, so we are going to head down to the heart of beer country, and have a fun weekend anyway.

also, the Lost Abbey's Carnevale Masquerade is tomorrow night! so we are going to dress up and hit that. free food and amazing beer, can't beat it. also, Tomme Arthur head brewer at Lost Abbey, and one of the best brewers on planet earth, will most likely be there. i want to shake his hand i hope some of the magic rubs off on me.

Carnevale 2011!

so no ride, but look forward to plenty of beer pics and posts from fabulous San Diego beer country.

a Brewtal bike ride

yesterday i decided to take the Black Stallion over to Ladyface Ale Companie. Ladyface is a brewpub/restaurant in Agoura Hills, CA that the gf and i discovered about a year ago. we are regulars there, and it's pretty much our favorite thing about living in the Valley.
the ride is about 15 miles one way, and has a couple of decent hills along the way. the weather was partly cloudy and cool, perfect for a somewhat challenging bike ride.

the route


the Stallion


Ladyface (aka the best pit stop after 15 miles ever)


my preferred parking spot

nothing cures a sore butt better than a beer....or three. i started off with Avery's Dugana Double IPA. i love Dugana and lately it's really been climbing up my ladder of top 20 DIPA's. i had a bomber of it last week, awesomeness, but it was even better on tap at LF.
i love my West Coast IPA hopbombs, but Dugana achieves a balance between the hops and the malt, that frankly, some West Coast DIPA's just don't have. Dugana is a very solid brew, and tasted PHENOMENAL after 2 hours on the bike.

Dugana, so tasty

next i went with the LadyFace 1st Anniversary Ale. Dave, the head brewer at LF brewed this one to, as the name suggests, commemorate the one year anniversary since Ladyface opened it's doors. and apparently it was a successful first year, because they have already expanded the brewery, installed new brewing tanks, and doubled their capacity from 600 barrels, to 1,200 barrels. which is awesome because that allows them to keep Chesebro, (my hands-down favorite of their beers) available year round. wooo woooo!

the 1st Anniv. Ale is a Belgian-Styled Quadruple. it pours bright ruby red, and fairly cloudy. there is almost no head to speak of, and that's due to the alcohol content, this one clocks in at 11.2%. they did a really nice job with this beer. it has a great spice/banana aroma like all good quads should. the alcohol in the taste is hidden pretty well. yeasty, but not overpowering, nice sour finish, and great carbonation. thumbs up on this one.

the 1st Anniversary Ale, congrats Ladyface!

next i had to try LF's new Imperial Russian Stout, Russian Lullaby. this one is also a beast at 9.9%. it poured almost jet-black, some dark brown hints along the rim of the glass. not much of a nose, some coffee, caramel, etc.
upon the first sip, i was very underwhelmed, it just tasted like coffee and the body felt way too thin for an IRS. this was surprising as the bartender and some other folks at the bar had spoken highly of it.
then i figured out the problem. this thing was served WAY too cold. it was almost as ice cold as the my first beer, the Dugana, had been. so i decided to let it sit for about 20 minutes, while i played backgammon on my phone and avoided the gaze of the drunk older woman sitting next to me. taking breaks to put both hands around the glass occasionally, and give it some heat.

after awhile i gave it another shot. completely different beer! the nose had opened up. now i was getting chocolate and cocoa, roasted malt, and even some hops. the taste was way more complex as well. lots of coffee and chocolate, some bitterness, vanilla, and a slight bourbon burn finish. what was once very one note, had opened up to be a pretty complex, yet highly drinkable IRS. gotta let this one warm up.

Russian Lullaby, redeemed itself nicely

the LadyFace Big Board

after a few glasses of water and some time to get rid of the buzz, i headed home. and proceeded to freeze my butt off for the next hour and twenty minutes.

but still, pretty great day.

ps- i stopped at Susie Cakes to get Angela a slice of their FANTASTIC Celebration cake (and also to warm up). and the girl behind the counter threw in a free cupcake. high-five, universe!

quote of the day...

"Drinking beer doesn't make you fat, It makes you lean....against bars, tables, chairs, and poles.” -Anonymous

A Brewtal Yeti Beer Review

Mongo

brewer:

Port Brewing
San Marcos, Ca

style:
Double IPA

ABV:
8.5%

the gf brought this home the other night as a surprise, (did i mention that i have a really, really great girlfriend?:) ). i had never had it out of the bottle before, as it was just released bottled year-round, (replacing one of my all-time favs, Hop-15, a seasonal release now). but Mongo seems like a very worthy replacement. love it on tap, let's see how the bottle does....


appearance: pours golden honey colored. one-finger white head fades quickly. nice and cloudy. looks great in the glass. so far so good. plus, any beer that has a label of a cat surfing a giant tsunami wave gets points in my book.

smell: HOPS! crazy hops. citrus fruit (grapefruit, maybe even some tangerine), with a hint of some resiny pine, but mostly fruit sweetness. the aroma makes me feel like i'm sitting in a beer bar in San Diego county with a sunburn and sand between my toes.

taste: hops upfront, an awesome sweet grapefruit, resiny middle , and a crisp-dry finish. medium bodied. HIGHLY drinkable. big bold flavor, hides alcohol well.

the verdict: this is a quintessential West Coast/San Diego IPA. aggressively hopped, dialed back malt, high drinkabilty, huge flavor. everything you come to expect from a great West Coast DIPA. i don't really notice a difference between the tap and the bottle on this one, Mongo tastes great either way.
overall, a very solid addition to the Port line-up, a worthy successor to Hop-15, and a really nice tribute to Mongo the cat. R.I.P.

i give Mongo: 4 1/2 Yeti's