February 28, 2014

Well, this is the last day. Hard to believe its been a full year.

SURLY BREWING COMPANY - 2013 DARKNESS  The Darkness series from Surly is ranked as one of the best beers of the year every year its been released. Each year it seems it scores perfect on most beer ranking websites. This year i was lucky enough to score 6 bottles. After tonight, 3 left.
I'll be honest, well it is near perfect in most rankings, and it is very good, it is not my favorite in the style. Its probably as good as some of the others i prefer, but i probably rank it a little lower as i am just sick of all the Surly hype here in Minnesota. Dont get me wrong, they are one of the better all around brewers out there, but unless you have some connections or happen to be in the metro the day most of their beers are released, they are near impossible to get and that drives me crazy. Good for them, bad for the consumer.
Aroma is heavy with roasted malts, a little vanilla, dark chocolate, coffee and some dark fruits. Alot going on. Huge flavor. Lots of chocolate, roasted malts, coffee , vanilla, and a little alcohol warmess. Excellent, a great balance of flavors. Full, smooth, and pleasantly easy drinking. What you should expect from a Russian Imperial Stout. One of the best, now if it wasnt such a battle to obtain.

BEASTIE BOYS - PAULS BOUTIQUE  Perhaps my favorite hip hop/rap album of all time. Everytime i listen to it, it feels like i discover something new. Just incredible.

1 mile on treadmill

February 27, 2014

ODELL BREWING COMPANY - CELASTRINA Very light aroma to me. Floral with a little bit of spiciness and some fruit notes. A little funky like a good saison should be. Same nice fruit and floral notes from the aroma in the flavor, but a little stronger. A little banana, pear, apple, and some pepper in the finish. Nice, fairly smooth. Overall, not bad, not my favorite from Odell, but a nice sweet easy drinking saison. If i found it again, i would probably buy another bottle.

BRANDI CARLILE - BEAR CREEK  Brandi is probably one of my favorite female vocalists, she has such a unique voice. This is her newest release and is as good as anything else she has done. Puts on a great live show, i have seen her multiple times and would highly reccomend. Favorites: Hard Way Home, Raise Hell, Keep Your Heart Young, and 100.

1 mile on treadmill

February 26, 2014

BLUE MOON BREWING COMPANY - PROXIMITY  "Wheat ale brewed with the juice of sauvignon blanc grapes."  Smells alot like a mild white wine, a little fruity, and a bit of wheat malt. Not bad. Taste is sweet, with a little wheat, small hints of hops, but not much. Pretty faint overall. Actually crisp, clean, smooth and easy drinking. A fair attempt at pairing wine and beer, but just not something i would buy again. I will stick with the regular Blue Moon offerings.

G LOVE AND SPECIAL SAUCE - G LOVE AND SPECIAL SAUCE  G Love has an interesting style, a white guy mixing hip hop, blues, rap, and rock. Very eclectic. I always find his albums kind of middle of the road, but he really shines live. This one isnt bad though, still fresh. Favorites: Cold Beverage, Babys Got Sauce, Rhyme For The Summertime, and Shooting Hoops.

1 mile on treadmill

February 25, 2014

INDEED BREWING COMPANY - LSD HONEY ALE  Wow, this has a huge floral aroma, very perfumey (if thats a word). Huge amounts of lavender and some light fruitiness. Not much honey as the name suggests, but as it warmed it was more noticeable. Very aromatic, interesting. Taste is no different. Lavender sticks out the most, some dark fruits. Again, they honey is hardly noticeable for most of the drink, but gives it a little sweetness in the finish. Very interesting, but the lavender is just a little too overpowering to me. Worth the try, and if they dialed down the lavender some it could be very good.

PEARL JAM - BACKSPACER  Decent effort from PJ, but not my favorite album of theirs. Love the song The End, so that is why i pulled this one out today, as i just had a craving to hear that one. You can never go wrong with a little Pearl Jam though.

1 mile on treadmill

February 24, 2017

BROOKLYN BREWERY -  BROOKLYN,SILVER ANNIVERSARY LAGER  Wound up with a couple of bottles of this one. They had different labels, so i thought they were different beers, turns out they had 4 different labels for this beer. For a big annivesary beer, i was expecting more, but not bad. Lots of malt in the aroma with floral and caramel hops and a little grapefruit. Taste follows the nose. Pretty underwhelming overall. Not quite what i would expect from a lager, but was not bad to drink. More maltiness than anything. Not bad, but was expecting more, worth a taste but nothing special. I maybe should have saved the 2nd bottle and let it age a little bit. Oh well.

SAMMY HAGAR - RED VOODOO  Sammys voice is incredible, love this album. Was a fan of his earlier solo work, then a fan when he was in Van Halen, but i think his solo work after that was even better. This was his first album with the Waboritas after his Van Halen stint.  Great band, Vic Johnson is one of the best underappreciated guitar players out there. Fun album and Sammys voice still dominates. Favorites: Mas Tequila and High And Dry Again. Just a straight up fun rock album.

3 miles on treadmill

February 23, 2014

LUCID BREWING -  GOSLAR  "Traditional gose style brewed with coriander and sea salt."  The aroma is pretty bland to me, mostly wheat. The coriander is very faint. Flavor is all wheat, what coriander is there is barely noticeable. Some sweet malt and mildy sour with a malty finish. Not real familiar with the style, but it was refreshing and easy to drink. Not sure i would look for it again though.

WEIRD AL YANKOVIC - OFF THE DEEP END  Smells Like Nirvana is awesome.  Might be his funniest album. For me, you can never go wrong with a little Weird Al.

3.5 miles on treadmill, 30 minutes on bike

February 22, 2014 bonus

I went out for lunch today and had a Blue Moon, which is one of my go to beers depending on the selection at the bar. I picked up all their mixed 12 packs in the last year so i could sample all of them. The Blue Moon Brewing Co line of beers is actually brewed by Coors, so, like Shock Top who is made by Anhueser Busch, they seem to discounted by many of the craft beer snobs. As i stated before, I dont care who makes it, a good beer is a good beer. Some of these are decent and some are not real good, but that is the same with most breweries. I think this is most of their offerings, maybe missing 1-2 as some of their seasonals are hard to find here. Tonight seems like a good night to throw these up here, as there is only a couple weeks to go. I lost my notes i took on these as i drank them, so i am just going by memory.

BLUE MOON BELGIAN WHITE - excellant, a go to beer for me

BLUE MOON BELGIAN STYLE PALE ALE - average at best

BLUE MOON HARVEST PUMPKIN ALE - nice take on a pumpkin style, not overdone, better than alot out there

BLUE MOON AGAVE NECTAR ALE - wheat with agave, nice summer beer, but nothing special

BLUE MOON GINGERBREAD SPICED ALE - nice mix of holiday spices. Cinnamon, gingerbread, and caramel; nice winter beer

BLUE MOON VALENCIA GROVE AMBER - sweet, with an odd artificial orange flavor, could be better

BLUE MOON BLACKBERRY TART ALE  - happy i found this one, was really looking forward to it, but it didnt pan out. Blackberry and raspberry flavors were too muted for me, decent but could be alot better

BLUE MOON CARAMEL APPLE SPICED ALE - nice flavor, but just a little too sweet for me, nice dessert beer

BLUE MOON IMPRESSIONIST COLLECTION ROUNDER BELGIAN STYLE PALE - nice representation of the style, nothing exciting though

BLUE MOON IMPRESSIONIST COLLECTION SHORT STRAW FARMHOUSE RED ALE - seeing this one around alot lately. A little fruitier than a standard red ale, but i think thats its appeal. I see alot of women drinking this one. Really nice summer beer with a decent kick to it.

Overall i think Blue Moon does a good job on most of their beers.