Well... darn!

I have mentioned the local beer store, 99 Bottles, a couple of times.
The Clue Meter: Breakfast of Champs
The Clue Meter: Kudos!

Plus, a lot of the beer I've mentioned was purchased there. They introduced me to the concept of buying a growler and taking it home.

I started wondering if they could last when you started being able to buy craft and micro brews at the local Safeway.

Then we voted to get the state out of the booze business (sort of: that thumb is still on the scale, covertly), and booze super store opened on town, and the writing was on the wall.

So the latest "Weekly Brews" email newsletter announced that they are closing the doors forever on  December 10th, and they are selling everything.

Damn it.

Off we go...

...into the wild beer yonder!

Tried the P51 Porter a week or so ago, liked it so much I bought a couple of six four packs, and when I went looking for an IPA today, I decided to take a chance on theirs.

Wingman Brewers

I'll have to stop by their taproom. Interestingly,

Though we don't serve food, you're more than welcome to bring your own. There are a variety of great restaurants nearby which offer take-out and delivery options. 

I like their porter. Since I continue to be cursed with a pallet that "knows what it likes, but can't describe it", I'll just quote them:

P-51 is a robust and clean-finishing porter. Rich malty flavors highlight hints of chocolate and coffee. At 8% ABV, this dark beer will warm even the coldest Puget Sound nights.

Assorted Geekery

I don't usually purchase beer, wine, or hard liquor based solely on the label.  But sometimes a clever name or image on the label will induce me to look closer, and I'll then purchase it.

What geek could resist this beer?

A closer look at the label art:

Beer for warriors:

The "Khukuri" is a product of the UK, by the way...

Also, gun show tomorrow, so I decided I'd see what the ammo supply is like at local stores, so I'd know if any gun show "deals" really are.

Now, I'm not superstitious, but I will confess that I am as ready to jump on someone for "jinxing us" as the next guy.  Part of this stems from my Army days when, sure as shooting, some jackass would comment on how nice the weather was, and it would instantly turn to shit.  Or, they would complain about the weather, and it would turn shittier.  (We got rained on at Ft. Irwin and 29 Palms.  You think rain in the desert is a Good Thing? Try it when you're sleeping on the ground and living out of your rucksack...)

Conversely, if one everyone was truly prepared for crappy weather, it seemed like it would not appear. (Coincidence that"m posting this on Friday the Thirteenth...)

Anyway.  Last week I noticed that my nice rag wool, thinsulate, and gore-tex watchcap that I've had longer than I've known Mrs. Drang was falling apart.

And today I discovered that Sportsman's Warehouse now stocks Stormy Kromer caps.  At the risk of jinxing us, I will say that, now that I have a wool cap designed by a railroad engineer, and made in Ironwood, MI, it will probably never get below freezing here again...

R-R-R-R-R-R-Rainier

Mrs/ Drang has a post up about the old Rainier Beer brewery in Seattle. (R-R-R-R-R-R-Rainier)

Now having grown up here, but having driven by the place on my way from Ft Lewis to see not-yet-Mrs. Drang, I was glad to see the sign back up.

Don't recall that I ever drank any Rainier.  But their commercials were a hoot and a half:



And my favorites:

and

"I felt a great disturbance in The Force...

...as though millions of Irishmen were crying out in anguish..."

Last Call: Crisis Closes Pubs, Mainstay of Irish Society - ABC News

Mmmm, Ginger!

I like ginger.  I really do.  I love ginger ale, and my favorite confection is chocolate covered ginger.  So when I saw this...

Kinda crappy cell phone pic...

Didn't try the "over ice with a twist" thing.  Maybe next time...

 

May have to stop on the way home and pick up a few more bottles.

Cerveza!

100 ounces of Pacifico.
At Dos Geckos Mexican restaurant, in the Silver Legacy, Reno, NV.

EDIT:  Turned beer "tube" upright.   Thought I told the phone to rotate it, obviously didn't happen.
I don't know if you can tell, but there's a standard beer tap at the bpottom edge.
It was supposed to be split 4 ways; the two of us tried, but we left almost 20 ounces...

Dinner, 05/25/2012

Bangers and mash, and mushy peas w/mint.

Deschuttes Brewing Inversion IPA.

Yes, I'm drinking the Deschuttes from a Samuel Adams beer glass.

The sausages are Johnsonville Beer Brats.

Mushy peas:  Cook the peas until they're done, add "a handful of mint", and smoosh. Rumor has it you could use a blender or food processor...

Mrs. Drang added a bit of onion, too.

She says next time she may try with fresh peas, I think I'll be working overtime that day...

I was at work...

...otherwise...
Well, OK, I'd've been at home, sipping a Black and Tan with Mrs. Drang....

Later:  Hmmph.  There was supposed to be a Guinness commercial in here somewhere...

Is this This is it.?

International Beer Day!

August 5^th is International Beer Day!

One of the, um, side-effects of my current schedule is that I get to be one of the first people observing it, as I get home from work a little after midnight. Except for those who start real early, of course.

Deschutes Inversion IPA, the first IPA I really enjoyed. Not sure whether it's my palate developing, or that American craft brewers are putting their own spin on the style.  Mrs. Drang and I discussed it a while back;  we both used to disdain the style, and now appreciate it.

How did I not know...?

August Fifth is International Beer Day!  (On Facespace.)

There aren't a lot of things the whole world agrees on, but enjoying beer is one of them, so let's all raise a pint this August 5th: to Beer, a drink that brings the world together.

h/t 99 Bottles.

Not so long ago, I'd've been horrified...

Beer cocktails put a new twist on summer refreshments (Seattle Times Newspaper)

FareStart

Re; Bearcat's post @ Bearcat's Spin: Yum, Yum! and for a Good Cause.
Here are some of the pics I took:

Seattle Waterfront.  The White Arches are QWest Field, with Safeco Field behind it them, and, of course, the Official Bird of the Port of Seattle, the Orange Crane.

Veracci Pizza had their mobile brick oven...  and a loooong line!

The waterfront from the edge of the Pier where the event was held.

Same, looking north-west-ish, towards the cruise terminals. (Actually, the hall the event is in is used for cruise ship disembarking, Customs and Immigration checks, etc.)

The famous Cherry and Irish Cake Bombs.

Just to prove we were in Seattle...

Out towards Puget Sound.  Seattle is actually on Elliot Bay.  FWIW.

How to be The Most Popular Guy at the picnic...

Show up wearing Pike Brewery's Backpack Keg dispensing Naughty Nellie...

Not pictured:  I dunno.   Lots of stuff.  Sampled wines from Fess Parker--yes, that Fess Parker, RIP--and Epiphany, owned by his son, Eli.   It was actually Fess Parker's wines which got us into wine as a hobby. We also sampled wines from  

• Chateau Ste. Michelle,  
• Columbia Winery,  
• Cypher Winery,  
• Zaca Mesa Winery ("Just up the hill from Fess, you should have stopped by...")

Urbane at Olive/8 had Lamb meatballs with a spicey yogurt, very tasty.  Brasserie Margeux had Red Wine Poached Summer Figs, ditto.  Bearcat's former employer, Charlie's Produce, had a very tasty (hmm, have to work on variety...)Watermelon and Feta salad. Salty's Seafood Grill, Oregon Bay Shrimp Louie.  Barking Frog at Willows Lodge had the Jivara Cremeux/Peanut Butter Powder/Caramel Mousse with Fleur de Sel--fancy pudding, to this midwest working class guy.  But, uh, yummy.  And Half Pint Homemade Ice Cream had Raspberry Sorbet and Lemon Sorbet.  We tasted others, but these made an impression.

Beer blogging

At the moment I know naught re: this beer other than the name suits my mood

The Verdict: A typical American Lager. Nothing against Northern Ales. I bought a couple of their others, look forward to trying them.

4 Thumbs Up!

Klamath Basin Brewery, The Creamery Brewpub & Grill.
Mrs. Drang is having Drop Dead Red, I'm having their seasonal Vanilla Porter.
We're sold, and lunch hasn't arrived...
UPDATE:
My fish and chips were OK, Mrs. Drang's bread bowl of clam chowder excellent--she took the leftover  bowl home!--and we picked up a growler of the Vanilla Porter.

Not sure when we'll come back for a refill, but... Consider it incentive.

The Glorious Inevitabliity of BACON! UPDATED

This may not be the first or only BEER brewed with BACON, but it's the only one I know of.

3 Skulls Ales (Seattle, WA) Buccaneer Bacon, a Lager brewed with BACON!

Tasting notes: Lager. With BACON.

Duh.

UPDATE:  Apparently it is not, in fact, the only bacon beer.  Whether it's the first is unknown.

Beer! Just what the doctor ordered!

Instapundit links to a wired article on ancient Nubian beer, which apparently had anti-biotic properties.

It never occurred to me that tetracycline could be synthesized using all-natural material and processes that were common in the stone age.  Not that I believe that the ancient Nubians knew that they were concocting antibiotics, of course, they just knew that beer is good for you...

Breakfast of Champs

A non-scientific survey of Sitemeter suggests that the most viewed page of The Cluemeter may be the archives page for November 2009.

Which post are they looking for?  Happy Thanksgiving?  Motivators?  "Haze Gray, and Under Way" (Updated)?

I'd kinda like to think it was the original Breakfast of Champs, in which the wonderful folks at 99 Bottles introduced me to pairing beer--specifically, beer brewed with coffee--with donuts.

Due to my work schedule at the time, I missed the "Beer and Cake" for the birthday/anniversary of 99 Bottles, and the "Beer and Easter Candy " they did...well, it's obvious when they did that.

This morning they did another Beer and Donuts, or, as they called it, "Beer and D'ohnuts", which I understand is a Simpsons reference.

Rather than the coffee beers--two stouts and a porter--tasted last year, this time there was more variety:

• Lost Coast Tanegrine Wheat  (Eureka California)
• Hitachino Espresso Stout  (Kiuchi Brewery,  Japan, and too rich for my blood under normal circumstances.)
• Baron Rauchbier  ("German style smoked beer that is most commonly found in Bamberg. 80% of the malt is smoked with Beechwood.")

So we had our orange juice, our coffee, and our cigarette I mean smoked bacon.

The Tangerine Wheat did, in fact, taste orange-y, if not orange juice-y.  Tasting notes mention wheat bread, which I could taste, and candied orange peel, which I didn't.  Maybe it was the apple fritter...

The Hitachino, well, I'd had it before, but it's like $5 a bottle, so not often.  It's an Imperial Stout, meaning it is hoppier than a standard stout.  Tastes of Imperial Stouts are all over the map; Old Rasputin is rather sweet.  This one is, well, made with espresso, so it's coffee. Maybe, the smell of percolating coffee, which is said to be the worst way to make coffee, but it smells so good...

Rauchbiers are definitely a specialized, if not an acquired, taste.  The tasting notes mention bacon; it reminded me of the English or Latakia blends of tobacco I favor when smoking my pipe; what that would do for drinking this and smoking that at the same time, I don't know.  One lady there when I was tasting commented that, as a vegetarian, she does not like "meat-flavored" things, so she didn't care for it at all.  Like I said, a matter of taste.  Tiffany (proprietor and blogger of 99 Bottles) called this "the wild card", as what it tasted like would vary so much with what donut we were eating; she said it matched best with a maple bar, but it was one donut to a taster, and I already had that apple fritter in my hand, so I guess I missed my chance...

Beer!  Not just for lunch anymore!

Gonna have to try some of these...

Others, not so much.

99 Bottles gives us Beer Mixers...

Great Moments in History

On this day in history, the Rheinheitsgebot was established.  (H/t Wired.)

It's been up and down since, but beer is certainly better today than it has been at any time in my life.