The Mad Elf

I cannot lie, I do enjoy Troegs Mad Elf. I can't sit around and drink a six pack of it, but to have one every couple days definitely helps to keep warm.  

The best part of having to buy a case (hopefully these laws change fast so we can get quality bottle shops) is that you have put a six pack in the cellar and save it for next year. Mad Elf is one of the best beers to hang onto. The flavors develop, alcohol settles and it becomes a great beer. 

If you haven't ever had Mad Elf, it is an 11%, Belgian style ale, brewed with cherries. One of my friends doesn't like it because he compares it to cough syrup. I don't see it that way, but to each their own. 

Did you get some Elf yet this year? 

On a Personal Note:

Hello again. I missed doing fun posts. I need to get back into it. I hope you can forgive my absence. It is a fun time when life gets into the way. 

That's Not Baseball...

Baseball. Some call it America's Pastime. All I think is a warm night, a hotdog and a cold beer. What is better than that. Sitting in centerfield at Camden Yards, drinking some Clipper City. Yelling to KoolAde (a vendor friend) to get a hotdog. That is baseball. Families come to the game. What do they buy? Hotdogs, cotton candy, fries and the dads drink beer (so they can put up with the kids).

But not in Canada. Beer was banned for the Detroit Tigers v. Toronto Blue Jays game last night. I cannot express how wrong that is. I hate that there are people who ruin it for others,

This is the reason:

The clubhouses were cleared of booze, too, after the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario suspended the liquor license at Rogers Centre for three dates because of past infractions. The stadium will also be dry April 21 when Toronto plays Texas and for a Canadian Football League game Aug. 1.

The Blue Jays' 12-5 win Monday was delayed nine minutes in the eighth
inning when fans threw two baseballs in the direction of Detroit left
fielder Josh Anderson and tossed a handful of paper planes and empty beer
cups onto the field.

I can't say I don't blame the Alcohol and Gaming Commission for it. I would be mad if I got there and couldn't grab a brew, but I would eventually understand. I have yelled at players/refs/coaches, but I would never throw something on the field.

Updated bracket

Games today are Racer 5 v Dead Guy (UCONN v Mizz) at 4:48. Then at 7:05, it is Guinness v Pilsner Urquell. (Pitt v Nova)

Who will prevail to get to the Final Four?

Max's

Started my Wednesday Happy Hour with a Weyerbacher Echo. Good beer, it is a rye beer and you can tell. Tons of rye, but a good balance on the hops and malt. Could go for one right now.

Next I had a Corsendonk Pale Ale. I wouldn't have minded not having this. I wasn't looking for a hoppy beer, but this was over spiced to me. I would have to be in the mood to try it again.

I gave the Acme IPA a shot. After tasting this, I thought it was fine. Nothing great, nothing bad, just an ok IPA. I don't mind it at all. Then I realized it was made by North Coast Brewing. Most of what I get from North Coast starts with Old and ends with Rasputin. It is hard to judge a brewery when you are comparing an IPA to a stout, but I guess it was a little more special.

Finally, I gave the Snake Dog on cask a whirl. This was one beer I knew I wouldn't be disappointed in. I wasn't. Try it, Drink it, enjoy it. It is totally worthwhile (especially on cask).

The Bracket, updated

The quest to find my beer for 2009, is down to the final 16. Playing along with the NCAA Basketball tournament, some early favorites have been beaten.

In the Domestic East, Victory's Hop Wallop lost early to Yuengling, proving even the old boys can still play. Selin's Grove Brewing (of The Brew Pub to me) also advanced over Snake Dog from Flying Dog, formerly of Colorado, now Frederick, Maryland. Also of note, the stouts faired well against the grain. Most would think the heavier beer would have sunk to the bottom, while 5 of the 9 advanced to the second round, and 2 are in the Sweet 16.

As for me, when the tournament starts back up on Wednesday, I think I will have a Racer 5, since its running mate (UCONN) has been as dominant as ever.

Madness

My madness started at the Pickled Parrot to watch the Villanova/American game with my former roommate. I chose to enjoy a 60 minute IPA from DogfishHead (in leau of the 90 minute who is representing Memphis my Beer Bracket. The IPA went down smooth (as normal).


I then traveled over to McGoverns for the normal Thursday night brews. Duvel and a couple of Red Stripes (hey, I hadn't had it in a while and it sounded good) quenched my thirst while watching the games.


Friday night, the girl and I ate at Jack's Bistro. Along with my steak frites, I had their 3-6oz pours for $8 deal. I felt it was a good deal. Along with the Brewer's Art Ozzy and the Saison Dupont, I tried the Smuttynose Sour Cherry. the Ozzy and Dupont were good (as normal), but the Sour Cherry left much to be desired. I guess I was hoping for something else (Rodenbach Grand Cru) and I set my goals way too high. Maybe I will try it again, with realistic goals. (The food was delicious, by the way.)



Afterwards, We stopped in McGoverns, sadly there wasn't many people in there and KoolAid was bored. We stayed for a drink and went home.



As for the Beer Bracket, two this year's first round upsets( Cleveland State and Arizona- 12 and 13 seeds) are represented by Yuengling Lager and Selins Grove Sheppards Ale. Both of my favorites early on in my drinking career. Western Kentucky, who upset Illinois in the first round is represented by Cooper's Sparkling Ale. Cooper's was an addition to the bracket due to my trying it at Outback. It was a surprise to have a delicious beer at a chain restaurant. Wisconsin is being represented by Hartp. Like Harp, Wisc is doing the same thing in a slow melodic way. What ever works for them. Like my surprises in the tourney, any beers been surprises to you in your local drinking?

So far, the brews that have broken through to the Sweet Sixteen are Pilsner Urquell (Villanova), Pauwell Kwak (Duke), Rodenbach Grand Cru (UNC- shouldn't they be in the Sour 16), Murphys Irish Stout (Gonzaga), Chimay Bleue (Oklahoma), Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Memphis, after beating 2 Oskar Blues brews, Gordan and Dale's), Avery Maharaja (Purdue, surprise to me, I didn't think that Maharaja would get past the Hercules IPA), and Bear Republic Racer 5 (UCONN).

Did you fill out your Beer Bracket?

With the NCAA men's (and women's) basketball tournament starting Thursday, I started thinking about beer (obviously!). What would my Final Four be? my Elite Eight? my Sweet Sixteen? my bracket? So I started to think about it.

I took a NCAA bracket and replaced the schools with some of my favorite beer. (And no I have not had all the beer in the world, so this list is from my small existence on the face of the earth.)

I will track the teams that should be in the spot, to see how each beer plays out. I am hoping it is an all #1 Final Four. I split the bracket up with Domestics on the left and Foreigns on the right. The Domestics are broken between the East (east of the Mississippi) and West (west of the ole miss). Some problems occured. For example, Abita is north of New Orleans. Does that place it on the east or west side? Anywho, it is on the east side, but I had a great #9 seed for it on the west side, so it is now west. The Foreigns are randomly placed, as I was trying to give the beer I liked better, a better seed.


My number 1 seeds are: Troeg's Nugget Nectar (East), Bear Republic Racer 5 (West), Rodenbach Grand Cru and Guinness. What would yours be?

Click on the about Bracket to see mine.

St. DogfishSierraRougeStone Day

Down at McGoverns last Thursday and Saturday, I choose the ever faithful Duvel (thursday) and Guinness (Saturday). Both days after getting my first beer, the Guinness tap ran dry as I was ordering one. As they were replacing it, I decided to not wait and have a Murphys. Oh how I always forget about Murphys. The lovely black beauty. Simple stout, most would compare with any other Irish stout, but for some reason I always get a little more taste out of it, compared to a Guinness. Delicious. And never forget, Tomorrow is irish beer day.

Who is the patron saint of IPA's? When is their day?
If there was a patron saint of IPA's, I would have to guess it would be Saint DogfishSierraRogueStoneTroegs Day. He sounds like a good guy. Maybe a little Racer 5 tangled in between. But you can't forget that midwest Bell's Two Hearted Ale (I would through Victory in there, but Victory Day, I believe, is already taken). Whne would this day take place?

Taps at the table?

The Baltimore Sun's Midnight Sun blog (by Sam Sessa) reported that Mother's in Federal Hill is getting taps placed in table, a self-serve style tap system. It charges by the ounce. Sounds like a good idea.

This has already been tried in Atlanta, GA. Last I heard, the system was working well.

"It turns out the law supports it. It's the same as putting a pitcher of beer at the table, and it actually increases monitoring," says Jeff Libby, the 26-year-old who patented the system.

BeerinBaltimore also blogged about it, stating the downfall as only having Miller Lite and Blue Moon as the beers available. I would agree that wouldn't be the best, but I feel there could be options.

If it was possible, I think the best idea would be for patrons to rent out, or reserve the table for the night. That way you would be able to get choice of beer on tap. If I was given 2 beers on tap for the night, with a group of my friends, I think it would be a hard choice. Some year round choices would be DogfishHead 90 minute, Victory Prima Pils, Troegs Hop Back, Ommegang Abbey and Guinness.

What would your choices be?

Last Thursday

Last Thursday, I stopped down at McGovern's for a pint. I enjoyed a Smithwicks to start. They have 6 taps and a good assortment of bottles. Harp, Smithwicks, and Guinness are always on tap, and Boddingtons is normally there as well. The other 2 are rotated. Currently Magic Hat's #9 is on, and Grolsch is on the way.

After the Smithwicks, I chose to go with a Duvel bottle. I feel this is a classic Belgium style strong ale. One of my favorites.

Nice beer on a nice night.

Yesterday, and every Wednesday

On most Wednesdays, I head to Max's on Broadway after work for the pint night. Many nights they have a good beer, and you keep their pint glass (I have over 60 pint glasses). Last night was a nice night.

The pint of the week was the Sam Adams White Ale. I am not a huge fan of Sam Adams, but I enjoyed the White Ale very much. Probably my favorite of all the beers that I have tried from them. (I have had the Utopias, I was not thrilled.) But the white ale came out good. Also, they gave us the "lager" glass that they spent money on developing. Happy to have it and not pay $10 for it.









While there I was able to sample a few other beers. First off, I was happy to see the Sierra Nevada Harvest (Chico, CA) on tap. I was looking forward to trying this "wet hop" beer. The hops were sent directly from harvesting to the brewery, ensuring the freshest hops were used. (Hence they were still wet.) Delicious fresh taste. Not over hopped. Definately came from the same recipe as their Pale Ale, the Harvest had more of a flowery taste to it. I will be having more.











Finally, I had an Aprilhop from the Dogfish Head Brewery (Dover, DE). It was hard to get past the nose, as the scent was not the most appealing for me, but the brew tasted delicious. If needed, I would drink more, but would rather a 60 or 90 minute IPA.

What has anyone else have?

What this is

I am going to post about the beer I try. I am not a beer geek, or a beer snob. I know what I like, and hope others can like some of the same beers. Most of the time, I am a IPA, or another super hopped up beer type of person, but I do enjoy most styles (other than the american light beers).If you do read this, please post your own favorite beer.Gracias.