Bald, it isn't beautiful

I tend to think of my best blog topics when I am sitting in traffic, or bored at work, or at the strip club. By the time I sit down at the computer and check my email, look up my fantasy league stats, and read my facebook page, I either forgot what I was going to write about or i just don’t feel like it. Today, I made an amazing discovery. My phone. I have a full keyboard on my phone and can blog about all the things that I think of during any given day.

For example. I am standing here in line for a movie. There is a guy in front of me with a pony-tail. That alone is enough to laugh about. But this guy is bald. Yes, completely bald on the top and nearly all the way down to his ears. Somehow, he has managed to grow out the 37 strands he has left, and bundle them up into a pony-tail.

Is this really a good look for the guy? I don’t think so. I guess people might not notice he is bald if they are 3 foot tall and standing directly behind him. The other 95% of the people will notice.
This is just one of my thoughts of the day. I’m sure another situation will arise tomorrow. I am actually getting a little excited of the possibility of a great blog post. I need to head to a bar. O, that reminds me of last weekend. But I think I will save that one for tomorrow.

-Cheers!

Double D's. The good and the bad.

You gotta love Double D's. I know I do. I'm a big fan of them. In fact, they are my favorite. But this weekend, I was the DD, a.k.a The Designated Driver. I did the job with pride and dignity. But I will tell you this, it was the first and the last time.

Since I am who I am, friends expect me to be in the mood to drink, constantly. Sometimes when I really didn't want to. But this weekend, they wanted me drink up, and I was more than willing to participate. But I couldn't. By my own mistake, and lack of planning, I ended up driving 4 of us home.

It was a fun night. Out at a theme bar with a huge group of friends for a friends 40th. I love to get people drunk. There aren't many things funnier than dunk people (as long as they are happy drunks). I will buy you shots until you puke, or pass out. I make a great wing man. I helped all the husbands get "some" if you know what I mean. So overall, it was a good time.

On a night like this, a DD is a must. But it just isn't my thing, unless it is my car, which I love! Nobody gets to drive my car. The theme of the bar wasn't something that I would have ever chosen. After a few beers I might have found it tolerable. After 6 or 7, I might have even enjoyed myself. But after 3 plus hours or horrible songs screeched out by tone deaf high school band geeks who never "made it" and a group of inebriated women screaming in my ears, I wanted to vomit. In fact, I feel like I have a headache and I didn't drink.

Don't get me wrong. The DD is a vital part of a night out with alcohol. No matter what, driving even a little buzzed is something I will never do.

So to all my friends (who will never read this), I say "you suck" and "your welcome".

- Cheers.

As soon as I'm out, Beer drags me back in.

I know, it's been a while. It has been like 2 weeks since I last made a post. I have no excuses. Actually, I do. It is called "laziness". Pure Laziness. I caught a bad case of it. The good thing is, I am finally over it. And all it took was a good beer to get me back on the mood.

What was that beer?

Let me take you back a few weeks. Back then, I received a package in the mail. It was a couple bottles of home brew from a friend of mine. I promised him I would drink it, and talk about it.

Well, that day is today.

The beer is a Belgium Ale. Normally, I am not a huge fan of Belgium Ales. They are usually a little too sweet for my palate. But I am really enjoying this one (I am drinking it as I type).

My review:

The first thing I noticed is that it smells SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD! I love the smell of beer. I wish I could lather myself with Beer scented cologne, but the constant accusations of being an alcoholic would be unjustified. I have looked into making a beer scented air freshener for my car. Bit I'm not so sure the cops would understand.

Anyways, the smell from the bottle and then the glass made me happy deep down inside. I think the first sign of a good beer is the smell. Think of a Heineken. It smells. And the taste isn't much better, except to those guys who order one because they think it sets them apart from their Coors swilling counterparts. (News fellas, it doesn't!)

Next, the color. It was a nice cloudy shade of copper. All that sweet goodness floating around in there was so appealing. I'm not a fan of Heffes (you know, the sweetness), but this was different. I'm not calling the cloudyness "sedement" because it isn't. This beer has a quality characteristic which sets it apart from other mass produced beers.

Head. I love head! It was perfect. Enough said.

The best part of this beer is the taste. It is such a good flavor. It has a good hit of hops at the front, but finishes clean with no after taste. A slight tint of sweetness but not to the point wear I would not finish it. But that is the point of the Belgium Ale.

Dammit, I just finished it.

It is a very flavorful beer. With every sip, I expected to get that hit of alcohol. But the taste stayed true and constant. Instead, I was surprised by the smooth tastes of malt, hops, and citrus. It had a good mouth feel.

To brew with such accuracy is impressive. I know from past experience, to hit your goal is a difficult task. But it goes to show you that when you do, the end result is Nirvana.

It is gone. BUt the good news is that I have another one. (Right On!) I plan on letting this one age a while. 2 or 3 months I would guess. I'm sure it is only going to get better with the age.

Did I like it? Yes
Would I buy this beer? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Yes. But you can't get it. Sorry bout' your luck.

-SANTE'

Best Mail day EVER!

Normally, getting the mail is a uneventful ordeal. Bill, bill, magazine, bill, coupons, val-pack, another bill, and a neighbors Victoria Secret catalog (I'm keeping that). But today was special. Very special indeed. You see, I received a very special Christmas present from some friends on the east coast. What could be so special? What could it be that would make me grin from ear to ear, and write about it in my blog?

BEER!

Yes, Beer. A friend of mine is a home brewer, and a very good one at that. I was lucky enough to receive 2 bottles from him today. For free! Isn't that awesome. I think it is. And it showed up in my mailbox. I love this country.

I am planning to open a bottle this weekend. I will be doing a full evaluation and posting my results soon after. I will tell you now, I know it is going to be good.

I still can't believe it. Beer. For free. In the mail. Awesome.

So if there is anyone else out there who feels the need to send me beer for free, please do so. Or if you would like a non-biased evaluation of your home brew, I am your man.

-Cheers!

2009, off to a great start

The best part of going on vacation is trying new things. For me, that is a very meaningful action. While on such vacations, I tend to do things that I wouldn’t normally do, ever. Most of these things will remain a secret. And it isn't illegal if it happened in international waters. Anyway, one of the things I love to do is look for different beer. There is a wide world of beer out there, and I am constantly searching for it.

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This year, my vacation was a simple one to California. This wasn't my first time there, so I have tried most of the microbrews available in the “Golden State”. I like some more than others and go out of my way to drink a beer or three while I am there. But this year, was a little different. While I did get the chance to drive around and drink a few local brews, I didn't get to try anything new. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to add to my list.

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Then I had a brittiant idea. BevMo.

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Yes, there are BevMos in California. And I have a GPS. As luck would have it, there was a BevMo a mere 4.1 miles down the road. Why haven’t I ever thought of this before? Who cares, I thought of it now.

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I love the BevMo. It is so cool. I am in there at least once or twice a week. I am on a first name basis with the people who work at the one by my home. But I have been a little bored with the lack of variety available lately. I have tried most of the breweries. I look forward to the changing seasonal beers to add some spice into my beer life. But even that gets old after the 6th different Pumpkin Ale, or Spiced Christmas Ale.

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After the 6.4 mile drive to the BevMo (freaking GPS directions) I walked in to the BevMo. I knew this was going to be good. I noticed right away that the beer selection was much larger than I was used to. Then I noticed that the beer selection was much different. I started with a hand held carrier. But I could only carry four 6-packs with it. This was going to call for a cart. Before I knew it, I had 8 (eight) different six-packs in my cart and I was only in the second row of five. I was in big trouble.

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It was so hard to make up my mind. I must have pacing up and down each row five or six times. I came looking for Russian River (not available in my home state), but left empty handed. Instead, I was lucky enough to find some of the beers atop my wanted list.
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Fuller’s 2007 Vintage Ale.

The 10th Anniversary Limited Edition bottle conditioned ale. If you follow my blog, you know that Fullers’s is one of my favorites. I bought all 3 bottles they had. I’m not sure when I will drink any of them. But I do plan on keeping them around for a while.

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Hofbrau original
Everyone has a “Happy Place”. My Happy Place is a booth at the Hofbrauhaus beir hall, in Munich Germany. It wasn’t the best beer I had in Munich, but it sure was one of the most memorable. To this day, I find myself longing for the Hofbrauhaus nearly every time I have a beer. I dream of the Oom-pah band, the pretzen girl, and the litre of golden Pils. This was a huge score for me. You see, Hofbrauh beer is not available in my home state. So to find this beer was close to a religious experience for me. I would have bought more if my wife wasn’t there.

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Hofbrau Dunkel
How could I pass this up? My love runs deep.

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Hofbrau Hefe Weisse
I think you understand why after reading the previous selections.

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Fuller’s Porter
Are you noticing the trend yet? Fuller’s offers three different ales at home, but the Porter isn’t one of them. There is no way I could have left with out it. Now if I can only find a bottle of the Brewer’s Reserve. That would be sweet.

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There were so many more. I was like a kid in a candy store. It wasn’t possible for me to buy everything I wanted. But I am happy with my choices. I will go back, soon. And this time, I will bring more money.

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-Prost!

It's a Happy New Year.

Cheers!

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I'm back. After a much needed vacation, I am back indeed. I feel as if I have a renewed energy. I was able to get away from every day life and enjoy some great times with my family and friends.

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2008 was a big year for me. There were some bad times, and there was some good times. There was finally an end to a long journey, and the start to a better one. I didn't make it back to Europe as I hoped. But I know I will be going back soon. Not to mention that it was the year that I started my blog. I will look back upon this year someday and remember it as one of the most important years of my life.

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But today, it is 2009. What will this year hold for me? I really don't know. But I am excited about the future. I am excited about the possibilities. I am excited to blog.

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I want to thank all of you who stopped by and read what I had to say. It was my first taste of the Big Leagues. It was only my rookie season. I still have a lot of room to grow, and a lot of stories to tell. So get ready world, 2009 is going to be a fun year.

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-Cheers!