Big drinking ahead...

Well there is now a deadline set to when the twins are going to show up at the latest. April 30th. I guess I have to get some good drinking in before then. Plan on having the Hopnog kegged up middle of next week and ready for consumption for the opening rounds of the NCAA tourney. I also have to help plan our neighborhood H.O.R.S.E poker tourney (I'm a co-founder of the tournament). This will be the 2nd year we have had this be one of the 4 majors in the Lockridge Forrest Sport Fishing and Gaming Association poker tour. The 4 majors include the aforementioned HORSE tourney, the Stud Poker Championship, the Gran Poupon Tourney (dealer calls) and the Tournament of Champions. You have to have won one of the other majors to be able to enter the tourney of champions. Luckily I am now eligible to play in the TOC due to my win in the Gran Poupon tourney this past January.

I am also kicking around the idea of buying either a really good bottle of port or of Champagne for when the kids are born. Figure I will try to keep it until they are 21 and then share it with them.

Not much real beer news right now. I should have the rearranged kegerator set-up this weekend. I'll review the Hopnog as soon as I give it a try.

Happy Drinking!

Mantuary of the Month, January 2009!

Don't know if any of my readers make it over to The Mantuary. It is a pretty good site about all things manly. Anyway, my basement bar was voted Mantuary of the Month for January 2009! Check out the article.

Off to the land of Bourbon....

Heading up to Lexington, KY for a low key bachelor party this weekend. Basically it is just myself and a few buddies from college going. Why Lexington? Well it is pretty central for everyone that is going and one of our friends lives in Lexington so the lodging is free, always a plus. We will be hitting the bourbon trail tomorrow. Plan on visiting at least Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, Makers Mark and Heaven Hill. Should be a good day. I am sure Friday night will involve some beer in one way or another. I'm looking forward to it because I'm hoping to find Bells on tap. Saturday will involve some recovery in the morning followed by the Kentucky v. LSU basketball game in the afternoon and then more beer and liquor that night. Just hope we can all make it to Sunday in one piece. Anyways that is about it for now...

Happy Drinking!

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Review

Just a quick hit on this review. Gave this beer a shoot a few nights ago after a grueling tennis match. A buddy left me one as a "victory" beer. It has been documented that I am not a big fan of Sierra Nevada. Not sure what it is but their beers and I just don't get along for some reason. This one was ok. Didn't really stack up to my standards as far as a barleywine. It had a decent hop note in the middle and was a tad sweet but nothing really stood out. I want a barleywine to stand up and announce what it is. This one really tasted much closer to just a strong dark ale. I'll happily drink it if handed to me for free but I don't really think I will go out of my way to buy or order this one anytime soon (unless I need it for my Taco Mac passport card). Anyway, maybe it is a good introduction to barleywines if you have never had one and want to wade in to the pool instead of jumping right in with a big one (Rouge Old Crustacean come on down!). I'll give this one a 2.5 pints out of 5.

Happy Drinking!

Miller Lite has hops is in it?

Don't know if anyone has seen one of the newer Miller Lite ads on tv yet, I couldn't find it posted anywhere on the net. The ad celebrates the fact that Miller ads hops not once, not twice, but three tims during the brewing process of Miller Lite, and that ads to the great pilsner taste of Miller Lite. Huh? There are hops in Miller Lite? Could have fooled me. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Miller Lite (see my Cheap Beer Manifesto here) but trying to sell Miller Lite on the amount of hops in it is like trying to sell O'Doul's because it has some alcohol in it. The regular lite beer drinker don't know what hops smell or taste like. They figure, hey its got hops, it has to be better than brand X. Ok, but don't go trying to sell your beer off the success of the craft movements use of liberal amounts of hops. Rant over....

Happy Drinking!

More Guinness Please.....

A nice gallery of pictures from the Perfect Pour Competition from the local fish wrapper.

Introduced my mom of all people to Guinness this past weekend. We hit up Ted's Montana Grill on Saturday (mmmmm, bison burger....). I ordered up a Guinness and order her up a Sweetwater 420. She asked if Guinness was any good, I responded by not believing she had never had a Guinness. I knew she would like it since she drinks her coffee black. Let her have a sip and she was sold, asked if I wanted to trade beers. I kindly refused but told her to make my dad buy 6 pack of Guinness so they could properly celebrate St. Patrick's day in Savannah.

That is all for now. Happy Drinking!

Weekend Brewing

Ended up doing a little brewing Sunday morning. What a nice way to start the morning, hovering over a boiling pot with the wondrous smell of hops wafting throughout the house. The brew in question is Hopnog. A nice uber-hopped homebrew kit. I think the IBUs should come in around 75+ and the ABV is supposed to be right at 7%, very nice. Took a quick taste when cooling the wort and the concentrated bitterness puckered my lips....yum! Anyway, it is resting quite nicely in the fermentor, the yeast eating away at the sugars and producing lovely alcohol. Really looking forward to this one. My first big hoppy IPA and the first new tap on the new kegerator set up. Should be a nice way to spend the first weekend of March Madness, watching basketball and trying to finish a keg of homebrew!