My Beer Gut

Me in the gym 7.11.12

I have a beer gut.

Most of YOU have a beer gut. I know you do. Does your beer gut hurt your back? Mine does.

I’ve somewhat started a crusade to kill the gut, but I won’t STOP drinking beer. My choice. I think I’ll just have to be a little more moderate about my consumption/drinking/puggin’/guzzlin’. That’s my challenge. I’m currently weighing in at 217lbs at 5’10”.

Any suggestions?

Click the pictures below, if you like YOUR beer gut...or if your just interested in the products.
Thanks.

Me in the gym  7.16.12

Stone Brewery’s 16th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival

Happy 16th Stone!

My wife got us involved in this last year through a friend of hers who’s been doing it for quite some time. As volunteers, at least what we’ve experienced, we pour beers for the guests who are there to taste craft beers made by Stone Brewery and associate brewers of Stone. Some of the “guest brewers” were Oskar Blues ( where we worked), Ska Brewing, AleSmith,Manzanita, Ballast Point, Hess Brewing, San DiegoBrewing, Green Flash Brewing, Black Market Brewing, Avery, Victory Brewing, Julian Hard Cider, Iron Fist, SierraNevada, Pizza Port, Lost Abbey and about 31 others!

It’s a great event for a number of reasons:

1.   Drinking GREAT beers
2.   Meeting people
3.  Learning home brewing and the sciences of it
4.  Drinking GREAT beers
5.   Eating DAMN GOOD food
6.   Meeting interesting people
7.  Having fun overall
8.  Drinking GREAT beers
9.  It’s for charities
10.  Seeing people letting themselves go

This event is what got me to homebrew. Meeting people who take beers seriously is GREAT! Knowing that ANYONE can do this from home is what piqued my interest. Being in a place (California) where this is a big deal helps. Most brewers just want to get California on the map as far as Craft Beers go, so, they WILL help you to learn!

 At the booth I worked, I learned A LOT about the company and its products. There were people who came to the booth and told me about products we didn’t have in stock. My wife and I went right to BevMo after the event and picked up a four pack of Oskar Blues Deviant Dale’s India Pale Ale!

My mouth watered ALL DAY for beer. It was a hot day and to see these people cooling themselves off with a tasty beer didn’t help me enjoy my water (we weren’t allowed to drink the beers...there’s an appreciation dinner later in October where we will, though)!

This is one event I love to volunteer for. This year, though, has me struggling with next year’s decision. Should I volunteer, be a patron or a guest brewer? 

Time will tell.

Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale

Hello, Folks!
In this video I review a beer that I first tried here.
I noticed this brand of beer , as well as the type, is sold at my local "bodega". Seeing that, I scooped up the one I had at the show. Great beer! The video says what I want to say, but I have some information for you if you wanna look it up.

• This is the company's description of "Calico"

Here a few reviews as well:

• Rate Beer
• Beer Advocate
• Beer47
• Great Brewers
• Musings on Beer by Brian Masi

Bohemia Clasica

 Ooooweeee!

Yep! This is some good brew! I went digging in the $1 beer bucket at the store for this one!


I've tried Tecate and a few other Mexican beers, but this one hit the spot. I did a little research on this beer and found this. The link is mainly in Spanish, but I use Google Chrome and it gave me the option to translate into English.

What I found interesting was that this company/brewery deals with Heineken, Dos Equis, Tecate and Coors.





Anyway, without further ado...The video:






PS Is this an ale...damn... I should've researched more..


  

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale

I like this beer.Has a nice sweet taste to it.Not too bitter...Here's some Real info about it

• Merchant Duvin. Click here.
• Here's the Samuel Smith's Brewery info.Click here
• Here's their Facebook page.Click here.I'm doing that , right now!

I think the video says what I needed to say.Cheers!

PS Thanks Ironlung33 (YouTube) for the comments.

PSS Check this out.It's a Beer tracker bottle opener !! It counts your beers !

Left Coast Brewing Company Hop Juice

 Howdy, Folks!
I've tried a Left Coast Brewing Comapny Brew before and liked it, so, I figured I'd go with another one.This one is called Hop Juice! I found this at my local corner store.
It's a double India Pale Ale (IPA) so it has that bitter taste that's reserved for those with a distinct acquired taste.Not for the weak stomach.Or for the ones who only drink what I consider commercial beers.

I think the video pretty much speaks for itself in this one.

Enjoy..I know I did.

BJ’s Dark and Stormy

BJ’s Dark and Stormy



My Dad and Me



My father was in town for my youngest daughter’s high school graduation. The day after the ceremony, my father came and picked me up from work during lunch. My “boss” allowed me to leave for the day, so, we went and had lunch at a spot called BJ’s Brewhouse.

If you ever been there it’s practically an upscale sports bar. I don’t know if that is the look they’re going for, but I like it either way!

The reason for going there was for me to show my father the world of California “Craft beers”. We had a menu that was devoted to just beers, so, I had him look at it first. We had the Harvest Hefenweizen to start with our plate of Fried Calamari. I felt that was a good pairing (Good job, Daddy).This combination put the “spirit” in our spirits. We were feeling good.

When our entrees came, it was time for a refill. The drinks were on me, so, I wanted to show off. I was introduced to “Black and Tans” through my father to begin with. I figured let me order us a brew called Dark and Stormy.

Oh, damn. I try not to curse on this blog, so, I’ll maintain that…But, trust, there’s more expletives I could use to describe this brew. I’ll keep it G (rated).

The beer was a combination of their Hopstorm IPA ( Indian Pale Ale) and Tatonka Stout beer. It had a fruity taste to begin with and a bitter bite to it. I ordered a standard burger (which was big as hell!) and washed big bites down with the beer. I’m a simple man with simple tastes –sometimes. I would mo9st definitely recommend this beer to you the next time you are at your neighborhood  BJ’s Brewhouse.

Tell them the Inky Mann from Dummy Sauce sent ya.

Brewery Responses

Hey Gang!
I'd like to take to take this time to give props to a few breweries for their emails.Here we go:



Thanks for everything!

Swag with "Swag"

Samuel Smith : Oatmeal Stout

I remember eating "somewhere" and I saw this.Thanks to my Pop and his Black n Tan drinks, I've gotten into Stouts a long time ago. I like Guiness Stout. This is what got me to try this Stout.I figured, "Oatmeal? This ought to be interesting!". Yes, it was.


When you go to Samuel Smith's site regarding this beer, they have an ad that says: " Drink your Oatmeal".
I wouldn't go that far, but it is good as a bowl of oatmeal and just as filling.

I could do this at a barbecue, at least eating some good grilled fare. The site suggests pizza, pastas, breads and various cheeses ( Have you ever had Steak and Kidney pie?).

PS   Happy Mother's Day ...you Mothers.

Here's something you might like ( Affliate Link). Enjoy.

Beer Trading

Beer Trading

Manzanita Brewing's Gillespie Brown

So, I ran across an article on Beer Trading.

Apparently, there’s a subculture wherein beer enthusiasts trade rare and/ or limited edition beers. A brewery may put out a particular series of beers, for example, a Christmas batch, along with their usual run of products. This may happen annually or once in a lifetime. This, of course, creates a demand, similar to trading baseball cards, Yu Gi Oh, or even Pokémon cards.

Cool!

I ran across some unique names for these products, too. That was classic. I think some of the reasons some people trade is not only the taste, but the actual names of the beers.

Forums and sites exist where this happens online. Doing a little research, I saw this for myself.

Wow!

At first, I was going to put up a blog telling you readers how I’d love to be involved. I was going to put in requests, and fill requests, but screw that. Sending beers through the mail is illegal! I didn’t know that. Good thing, I kept reading the article.  From what I read, though, there’s ways around this. I, of course, will NOT going into how. Do your own research!

I’m going to continue looking into this trade, though, because I find it intriguing. If nothing else, I’m going to stay up on the latest rare beers  and limited editions I find.

Feel free to comment. I’d like to know your thoughts.

Franziskaner Weissbier

The Wife

So..my wife (pictured) decided to buy a beer for me to review and this is it.Franziskaner Weissbier.

It's been a minute since I had a hefeweizen. Similar to drinking a Budweiser.

Nice smooth taste.No bitterness. She bought this on a day where we all were just kicking back doing constructive things. A nice beer for a nice day.According to The German Beer Guide:

 "Hefe" means yeast, "Weizen" means wheat. Hefeweizen is a top fermented, unfiltered, bottle conditioned wheat beer with a noticeable yeast sediment and a cloudy appearance. Wheat beers are also referred to as Weissbiers (white beers) because before the invention of pale lagers and pale ales, most beers were dark. Wheat beers were the exception as the wheat content lightened the colour of the beer.

Hefeweizens are usually quite sweet and fruity, with a full body. The typical hefeweizen taste, which distinguishes it from its Belgian wheat beer cousins is produced by the types of yeast used in Bavaria. There are often medicinal or clove flavours, produced by chemicals called phenols engendered by the yeast. Other chemicals produced by the yeast, called esters, produce bubble gum, banana and vanilla flavours. Esters are also used in sweets like pear drops or fruit gums. Hefeweizens are very lightly hopped so have little bitterness and harshness. The ratio of wheat to barley malt used is commonly around 50:50 but the wheat portion may rise to as much as 70%. With the exception of Gose, German wheat beer brewers don't add coriander or other botanicals and spices to their beer as Belgian brewers do."

The Beer

Thanks German Beer Guide! I tell ya, beer blogging is great.I, of course, have some beer gut to lose, but I still love what I do with this. I'm thinking I might get into brewing a hefeweizen with my next brewed batch with Mr Beer (affliate link).Feel free to click on the banner for more details on Mr Beer.

Magic Hat Brewing Company not quite Pale Ale

So..I'm at my local corner store/bodega and I run across this beer-Magic Hat Brewing Company not quite Pale Ale. "Weird name," I thought.

Doesn't have the sting that Pale Ales hit you with.Reminds me of Budweiser. My Father drinks/drank Budweiser like a champ. Growing up, I thought Bud was the only beer that was good. My Pop used to keep Budweiser by the 6. I've since adopted that as a favorite beer, but I digress...

This beer has a smooth taste that I feel I can enjoy again-soon. I can see having this at a barbecue that has not only beef, but, seafood. Preferably shelled crab. 

I like the intricate design on the bottle.It's actually what got me to give it a try. Worth the money.

I actually went to the hot tub with the wife and finished drinking it. It played part to a great night...believe me.

I"ll be getting back to brewing again..so, stay tuned. Feel free to comment.

Thanks for your support.

Happy Cinco de Mayo