Whooooooa.

Imagine the dry cleaning bill for coats on that one.

I just tried to swing by and grab a bottle of what was left- 2 hr wait, line was a half mile long.

Half a fucking mile.

A store about 6-7 miles away from me had posted that they had BCS on Black Friday. I was too fatigued from hunting down whiskey to really want to make a run for BCS when I had no other reason to leave the house. Another bottle shop had both the regular and coffee BCS one day last week and a keg of BCS on tap. I had plans that night though so I couldn't make it. It turned out that they had it for longer than I thought they would but it was gone by the time I made it there a few days later (not surprisingly).

I had a nice consolation prize last weekend though when I found Bells Two Hearted AND Founders Breakfast Stout in a store in East LA. Still not sure what it was doing there. As far as I know, they don't have CA distribution. At least I've never seen them here other than a keg of Two Hearted that a bar owner drove back himself from Michigan.

I haven't been drinking much beer lately but have had a couple things new to me.

The Aberrant - a farmhouse Golden Ale from Logsdon brewer Chuck Porter.

Not bad but not great either. I was hoping for a lot more but I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that its not that special. While I love their Seizon Bretta, I don't really think their regular Seizon or Kili Wit are that special either.

Prairie Ales Funky Galaxy

It's a black farmhouse ale hopped with galaxy hops conditioned with two Brett strains and wine yeast. Really nice - everything they do is at least very good.

Strand Brewing Harvest Ball

It's an orange wit beer. Pretty enjoyable. Would drink again.

That Funky Galaxy sounds like The Shit.

yeah it does.

I picked up a bottle of these about a month ago and just got around to playing around with them last night:



They are small batch bitters made with fresh Chinook and Cascade hops exclusively from Door Peninsula Hops.

Wasn't really sure what to do with them so I figured I'd try to take other IPA type flavor components and try to make a cocktail version of an IPA

so what I came up with was

2 oz of St George's Terroir Mt Tam Gin
1 oz Zirzbenz Stone Pine Liquor
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz orange juice
3/4 oz grapefruit shrub
1 barspoon Kummel
2 dashes Door County Hop Bitters
1 dash Bittermen's Burlesque Bitters

St. George is a SF Bay area distiller and the Mt. Tam Terroir Gin is made with botanicals foraged from nearby Mt. Tam. It has earthy woodsy notes that come from Douglas Fir Pine, coastal sage and California Bay Laurel. Zirzbenz is an Austrian liquor made from fruit picked from the Arolla Stone Pine grown in the Austrian Alps. Kummel is a German liquor made with carraway seed, cumin and fennel. Burlesque Bitters are made with hibiscus flowers, sour berries and peppery spices.

So the end result was a decent drink and it definitely captured some of the key flavors of an IPA but it was a little light and maybe a little too citrus dominant. I think if I'd try to get closer to an IPA, I'd leave out the orange juice, cut the gin down to 1/2 oz, and add 1 1/2 oz of rye or a wheater bourbon to give it a little more depth/backbone. If I lost too much of the botanicals from the gin, I could always add more bitters.

Door County as in Wisconsin, by any chance? Surely not.

Yep...they get their hops from Door Peninsula Hops, a small farm in Jacksonport, WI.

Picking up two cans of Heady that my friend shipped back from VT. Maybe he'll bring some Lawson's too...

Any of you guys try Victory's DirtWorf DIPA? I hear it's great. Have some on order at the local shop I'm hoping they'll hold for me for a few days.

That's awesome. Every city besides Chicago seems normal. God, how I miss it.

I wouldn't sit on those coffee's too long. They get pretty bland after about 4 months... so, much better consumed fresh.

I have not. Is it getting good distribution? We usually get most everything by them. I'll keep an eye out.

I've had the DirtWolf, it was pretty good. I'm drinking less and less IPA's nowadays though.

Holy shit. I assumed there was a Door County somewhere near LA. Well I'll be damned. Door Co is a beautiful place. Honestly looks like mini-new england.

Tomorrow night is going to be pretty special. My friend is throwing an extravagant bottle party to raise some money for my brother's transplant fund and to celebrate my birthday. Here's the menu:
The Bruery: Acer Quercus
The Bruery: Barrel-Aged Cuir
The Bruery: Batch 300 Tripel
The Bruery: Grand Funk Ale Road
The Bruery: Marron Acidifie
The Bruery: '11 Melange #1
The Bruery: '10 Oude Tart (Batch 1)
The Bruery: Trois Poules Francais
Cantillon: '08 Kriek 100% Lambic
Cigar City: Marshal Zhukov's'10
Deschutes: '09 Abyss
Deschutes: '10 Abyss
Deschutes: '09 Mirror Mirror
Eggenberg: '09 Samichlaus
Great Lakes: '11 Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout
Ithica: Ten
Jolly Pumpkin: La Parcela
Meantime: '11 The Historic Malt Expression Export Ale
Midnight Sun: TREAT
Odell: '10 Saboteur
Pelican: '10 Mother of All Storms
Port Brewing: '09 Santa's Little Helper
Prairie Artisan: Prairie Puncheon
Sante Adairius Rustic Ales: Adjunct Professor (Boysenberries)
Mikkeller / Anchorage Brewing Company: AK Alive!

Another friend of ours who is getting ready to open a craft brewery here in Lincoln is going to do a cheese pairing with the beers. He is the only master cicerone in the state of Nebraska and used to make artisanal cheeses for a living.

Wow, that's a pretty great lineup and awesome of those guys to do that. Hope its a big success.

'09 Abyss is infected and so is that Mirror Mirror most likely. Ithaca Ten is waaaaaay past it's prime and was almost undrinkable two years ago. Don't waste any liver/bladder space! Drink as much of the MOAS as possible. 2010 was a fantastic vintage. Same goes for the BA Blackout. That's always terrific. Nice lineup and hope it's a grand success for your brothers fund!

I picked up a small growler of Wild Heaven's Ode To Mercy "Winter" version tonight. It's their Imperial Brown but aged in Oak barrels. The Oak completely mellows out an already drinkable high ABV brown to the point of dangerous. Sorry though, only available locally.

For my other ATL people, I tried Red Brick's "Sacred Cow". I've found just about all their stuff mediocre to poor but this might be one of the better things they've put out. It's a spiced winter stout. The guy at the store said they've had a new master brewer for a few months and they're seeing better stuff. Hope this a sign of things to come.

Pretty interesting article:

http://www.businessinsider.com/alchemis ... ok-2013-12

yeah, very. Thanks as always for posting it.

Also, Derris's care package came from GA, so I have some deliciousness from down south in the fridge. Already had a Jai Alai and shit that was good, somewhere between Two Hearted and Pliny, closer to Pliny. Stinky and funky like simcoe hops or amarillo, less clean and citrusy than somethign with just cascades or centennial. Dangerous in a can.

I am developing a dangerous addiction to Jai Alai. Seriously good shit.

That's pretty much all I drank when I was down there a few weeks ago. Brought back a sixer but that didn't last long.

jai alai is tasty but i find them a bit on the sweet side 3/4 of the way in. almost syrupy. murder 3 of them however and you got yourself a party.

"Biked" home last night in a snowstorm, pushing and sweating most of the way but really enjoying myself,



Admired the scenery (here the Charles river, viewed from the JFK bridge crossing to Harvard Square),



Loaded up the wood burning stove,



And finally treated myself to half the Highland from Derris's shipment.




It's not an "experience" beer, but it's also really unique and tailor-made for the situation last night. Strong notes of caramel and vanilla, and a clean but strong amber body, light noble hops, clean finish, and warms up well. Most importantly, it doesn't taste like anything else. Closest thing I could think of was some of the Innis & Gunn beers. Can't wait to have the other half tonight.