Classy Beer and I can't focus my camera in low light

 Last week I took a little adventure out to western MA to see a friend, make some popovers, do a little indoor rock climbing, and drink beer in some place other than my parents basement.
As the classy people we are my friend and i from the blog http://beerwhiskyfood.blogspot.com/, picked up some fancy beer in a really well stocked beer shop. I think we spent a good half hour wandering around the store looking at everything. I was honestly overwhelmed and couldn't decide what to drink so i settled on my old favorite from CO, Old Chub from the Osckar Blues brewing company. I've already done my review on this beer back over the summer.
My friend picked up Chimay, better known to me as "that beer brewed by those old monks, right?" A statement which is somehow pretty close to accurate. This fruity and wayyyyy overpriced beer is best left to the snobs and the officionados at about 24 bucks a 4 pack. No thanks. This doesn't even rate on my scale. While i'll admit that this is a really good beer, i honestly am not at this point in my life a light fruity wheat beer drinker. I'll stick to my maltier, darker beers. Cheers to those that do like it, though, and are willing to spend the big bucks to keep this great beer in production. Well, off to other things, hopefully i find some gems in Vermont this weekend!

Two tried from Trader Joe's

Since moving back home to look for jobs (don't judge me, i'm pretty sure this is par for the course as of late) I've been going to tj's with my dad once a week to pick up essentials. Well wine and junk food. Last week I picked up a bottle of 3.99 La Finca Tempranillo for which i had high hopes. 

Some of the blogs i've seen have said great things... others, not so much. 

Tempranillo refers to the type of spanish grape that the wine is made out of. Normally it produces a fruity red wine. I would say this was fairly flavorful for a cheap, however, after having a glass, i broke out in the first wine related reaction i've had. Tiny red spots crawled across my stomach arms and neck. Let me rephrase. Tiny, itchy red spots. Boooooooo. That was the last i'll be having of this wine. 0/5 for yumminess since i'm apparently allergic, and 1/5 for value. If only it were good. And I wasn't allergic to it.

The next try from tj's was a little more successful. I picked up a bottle of Epicuro Salice Salentino (refering to the region in Italy) Riserva 2009. Its a blended red wine, with a hearty flavor. Not particularly overwhelming, but for 6 bucks, i'm ok with it. I'm more excited that i didn't break out like last time. I'd give it a 3/5 for yumminess and a 3/5 for value. Its a decent bottle and i wouldn't hesitate to bring it with me to a dinner. 

 Cheers!

Don't Judge me, but i'm an East Coast Girl

Fresh out of hopes to crush, I'm back from my west coast adventures. Although there was a whole lot of awesome going on (Zion! Vegas! Beaches! Friends!) beer wasn't really one of those things (among other disappointing happenings). 

Unfortunately, Utah has some interesting beer laws. 3.5 percent is all they can do. I got a taste of Polygamy Porter made by Wasatch beers that somehow manages a 4 percent (Isn't that against the law?). I 'll admit, it wasn't my beer, i was the driver on this adventure, so i only got one sip. But I have to say, from that one sip, I was not impressed. It didn't have much flavor on the front end, and admittedly smooth and tasty middle, but with a slightly metalic aftertaste. At least it has a sense of humor about its origins. 

I couldn't find a single microbrew in Vegas! To be honest, I wasn't looking that hard, there were too many shiny lights distracting me. What I did find though, was lots of Mike's hard lemonade, beer in tall boys (i played hipster all weekend) and margaritas in very tall plastic cups to make it look like there is more in the container. Next time, I swear, I'll make a better effort.  

In LA my first stop was my beloved Trader Joe's. Keith and I picked up some Paulaner octoberfest wheat beer. MMMMmmMMmMm. And it comes in a liter can! I wish they had these near where I live. So sad. I checked today. Its nothing super fancy, but its just darned good. And since its from TJs its plenty cheap enough for me.

. 

A few nights later it was on to some local brews. At the Lazy Ox near Little Tokyo in downtown LA, I got a Telegraph Winter Ale. This 5% APV beer from Santa Barbara. It was brown in color. Very pretty really. That's about all i've got. I thought it was Meh. And for 8 bucks, it wasn't worth it. I switched to the happy hour on sale for 3 bucks Mama's Little Yella Pils from Colorado. Next time i'm there, i think i will have to head over to this brewery. I've had a few of their's before. And while this wasn't my favorite all time beer, it was a yummy well rounded pilsner  with a nice hoppy bite in the aftertaste, at a steal for 3 bucks. 

 

More happy times later, kiddies! Cheers!

East Coast Brews

After about 13 hours in the car by myself I made it from Indianapolis to a friend's place in Connecticut. What is there to do in CT on a Friday night? I'm not exactly sure. I've heard there is a casino and stuff, but what I did was relax and drink some really good local beer (that was hiding in the back of my friend's fridge behind the coconut rum and Mike's Hard Lemonade). It was Olde Burnside Brewing company's flagship brew, commonly sold in growlers: the Ten Penny Ale. Since my friend is not a big fan of IPAs he leans more to the brown ales and milder beers. The beer was malty, but not overly so. A fairly mild, balanced and easily consumed beer. It was about 10 dollars for a growler, which contains about 4 or 5 glasses depending on how you pour, so overall, not too bad of a deal. I'd give it a 3.5/5 for value, and a 4/5 for flavor. It was good for what it was, which is an unpretentious drinkable ale. Yum. Its also fairly strong at 5.5 percent so it warmed us up nicely to hit the coconut rum and sprite just in time for some Kung-fu.
Now off to Vegas! I should have some good stories for you from there to start the year off right!

Cheers!