I really like this stuff.

6/16/2011 1:16:39 PM

^
oberon is da bomb!

6/16/2011 1:18:18 PM

Visiting a couple breweries the next 5 days:

Dogfish Head Brewery
Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats
Evolution Craft
Capitol City Brewing
Mad Fox Brewing
Shenandoah Brewing Co.
Victory Brewing
Yuengling

Also going to Catoctin Creek Distillery and hitting up Birch & Barley (ChurchKey DC)

6/21/2011 9:53:03 AM

Dogfish Head
Brewery in Milton, DE


Sam getting interviewed (got a picture with him as well):




Sam's original 10gal setup:


At the brewpub in Rehoboth Beach:




Mad Fox
Got a private tour and got to meet the brewmaster/owner Bill Madden (used to be the exec brewmaster at CapCity):












Port City
Another private tour, got to meet the brewmaster Jonathan Reeves:









Capitol City








Yuengling














Victory

6/27/2011 10:18:08 PM

Just downed 5 sweet water 420s. Yummy

6/27/2011 10:22:44 PM

The new Mother Earth beers in cans are both pretty tasty:


I also picked up a bottle of this:

6/27/2011 10:27:23 PM

^^^ GREAT pics!!!!!!! thanks for sharing!!!

[Edited on June 28, 2011 at 10:51 AM. Reason : ,]

6/28/2011 10:51:49 AM

I've been on a huge Southern Tier Mokah kick as well. It's great, even in the hot summer heat

6/28/2011 10:57:25 AM

Went over to the LoneRider last week and tried their limited edition Deadeye Jacks that they had on tap. They were quite delicious!

6/28/2011 12:29:25 PM

http://brewtopialife.blogspot.com/

I have been instructed to promote this blog

done and done

[Edited on July 11, 2011 at 2:56 PM. Reason : blog]

7/11/2011 2:56:29 PM

there are a couple new beer stores opening in Raleigh in the near future:
http://www.tastybeverageco.com/ which is downtown

and

http://www.bottlerevolution.com/ which is on Lake Boone

Hopefully one or both of these places will rival Sam's Quik Shop in terms of selection and pricing...Raleigh needs a better beer store than Peace Street Market.

7/11/2011 3:03:54 PM

^^ thank you sir. yes, i'd love for any and all to follow the blog and engage with me on it. i drink a lot of beer from all over the place and i always take pictures of what i drink so that i can remember it...t

this is a better way for me to remember the beers, and also document them & hopefully get some discussions on different beers & styles!

i have 1 post from this past weekend, but i aim to get more in depth with reviews and also make it more interactive as I go.


cheers!



[Edited on July 11, 2011 at 3:19 PM. Reason : .]

7/11/2011 3:19:06 PM

I haven't posted in awhile (I need to update it with all the brewery tours I've done recently and I typically review/take notes on new beers about twice a week or more), but anyhow here's mine:
http://www.brewrevue.com/

7/11/2011 5:14:00 PM

I picked up some Shiner Ruby Redbird this weekend. It's a pretty dang good summer beer. Grapefruit + Ginger.

7/11/2011 7:29:27 PM

dude its july. devil dancer is out. (or whatever its called. founders' triple ipa. im a little toasted right now)

7/11/2011 9:39:00 PM

^^^sweet site! i bookmarked it. i'm trying to start mine up and get as much interaction with friends & beer lovers as i can.

i'll be doing a full review of the 2011 Avery Maharaja tomorrow, most likely.

[Edited on July 12, 2011 at 2:09 PM. Reason : .]

7/12/2011 2:08:29 PM

new review on the Avery Maharaja

http://www.brewtopialife.blogspot.com

7/13/2011 7:25:00 PM

you may want to note the Batch# if you're reviewing Maharaja, it's like Pliny in that every batch is a slightly bit different (and freshness can matter)

and wow, 97 is pretty high. i have too many other DIPA's that I think are a tad better and only 3 pts to spare... it's a really good beer though, well noted!

[Edited on July 13, 2011 at 8:23 PM. Reason : .]

7/13/2011 8:22:09 PM

Finally tried the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale tonight. Great summer beer and very drinkable.

7/16/2011 2:38:00 AM

awesome pictures Prospero! i would totally love to be your drinking buddy!

had one of these last night


a quadrupel, pretty delicious, but i couldn't finish the 750ml bottle because i'm a lightweight, and it's 10.5%

i do think i prefer avery's "the reverend" though. i do love my avery beers. i need to try the maharaja. i think a trip to boulder is in order for the weekend

7/16/2011 2:51:00 AM

Bringing some Kentucky Breakfast I've been saving for a few months and Blushing Monk to my bachelor's party.

7/16/2011 8:24:41 AM

^nice! i have some still cellared, i'm not sure i can hold out much longer.

Had the "My Antonio" Imperial Pils from DFH tonight along with some Funkwerks "White" (one of my all-time favorite beers)

Quote :

"i think a trip to boulder is in order for the weekend"

LuckezCharm you're in the Springs right? i have yet to hit up the breweries down south there... have you found a fav?

oh yea, almost forgot, got my tickets for GABF this year for the Friday night session. all four sessions (50,000 tickets) sold out in like 10 days.

[Edited on July 17, 2011 at 1:01 AM. Reason : .]

7/17/2011 12:52:03 AM

crap! i totally forgot about GABF! i wonder if i can still get some tickets somehow?

yup i am in the springs. i have tried a few places here, bristol, trinity, and phantom canyon. i haven't really had anything spectacular at any of them though. not from the springs, but i do enjoy the o'dell IPA



i think i might take a week off work this fall and just do a colorado brewery tour

7/17/2011 6:00:14 AM

if you ever hit up Denver, let me know. we've added 2-3 new breweries recently... Renegade I've heard is pretty good for just opening last month... also Denver Beer Co. is opening soon.

i try to hit one or two every couple weekends since they aren't too much of a drive from here.

Odell IPA is top-notch, one of the 'fly-under-the-radar' beers in Colorado... pretty darn good. I really really like the St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale, awesome beer, seasonal so if you see it you may try it. It's very drinkable.

[Edited on July 18, 2011 at 12:20 AM. Reason : .]

7/18/2011 12:19:52 AM

Firestone Walker finally distributing to CO as of today! Bout time.

Launch parties!!!!
http://www.denveroffthewagon.com/2011/07/19/firestone-walker-coming-to-colorado-for-real/

7/22/2011 11:47:55 AM

Sweetwater spotted at the New Bern HT!

420, Blue and IPA. Also, as it that was not enough; New Belgium Trippel as well! Hitting that bitch up after work fo sho.

8/1/2011 5:17:08 PM

^ has it not always been there?

8/1/2011 5:19:00 PM

picked up a bottle of Parabola & Double Jack

8/2/2011 11:20:39 AM

^ where and how much is a bottle?

8/2/2011 12:19:23 PM

The Duck Rabbit Dopplebock is out and it is delicious.

8/2/2011 1:02:36 PM

^^You in Colorado? I got some at Argonaut, but it might have been the last bottle. I was over at Mile High Wine & Spirits and they had some too, probably 5-6 bottles left as of Saturday I believe. I think I paid like $16/bottle.

8/2/2011 1:35:09 PM

Quote :

"^ has it not always been there?"

For whatever reason, I could never find Sweetwater east of Raleigh. I even tried ordering it from a couple of beer houses. They claimed distribution wasn't here. Never dug deep enough to find out who's trucks came this way and why it couldn't make its way on one.

As for Trippel, I probably could have ordered that, but Ranger was the only New Belgium brew I found other than the main 4 (Fat Tire, 1554, Mothership Wit and Seasonal) and an occasional Lips of Faith selection or two. To just see it stocked in a grocery store was new to me.

8/3/2011 2:55:35 AM

hey Prospero! i will be in denver sunday for the rockies game, and plan on hitting up the cheeky monk either before or after. any recommendations? also, does your job involve working with beer (if so, awesome!). i noticed you said "we've added 2-3 new breweries recently" so just wondering what you meant by that, or if by "we" you mean "denver" haha.

i will most likely be stopping by falling rock also (who am i kidding, i'm definitely going there). any other bars i should check out while i'm in town?

8/3/2011 3:18:06 AM

If you've been to Falling Rock before, may I suggest a new place? There are two REALLY awesome bars nearby, both are just a couple blocks away:

FreshCraft (incredible rotating beer list & small plates)
http://freshcraft.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Freshcraft/304022631602 (they post all the latest tapings on FB)

Euclid Hall
http://euclidhall.com/

And yea, I meant Denver about breweries. I'm an architect/homebrewer

Denver Beer Co. (Opens August 12th)
http://www.denverbeerco.com/

Renegade (Open now)
http://www.renegadebrewing.com/

Wit's End (August 2011, should be soon)
http://www.witsendbrewing.com/

I'd recommend these at Cheeky Monk:
Maredsous 8 Dubbel
Tripel Karmeliet
(although really just ask the bartender waiter, they know they're stuff, typically have special beers on tap as well and have always recommended great beers.)


***I got selected to volunteer at GABF this year, so excited!!!

[Edited on August 3, 2011 at 11:26 AM. Reason : .]

8/3/2011 11:16:17 AM

it's apparently international ipa day according to an email i got from ballast point this morning

http://www.ballastpoint.com/international-ipa-day/

yay hops

8/4/2011 10:17:41 AM

yea, we have a bunch of stuff going on in Denver for IPA day:
http://www.denveroffthewagon.com/2011/08/02/ipaday-denver-events/

8/4/2011 10:35:54 AM

cheers to everyone on international IPA day!

8/4/2011 5:45:33 PM

8/11/2011 6:20:42 PM

i picked up some ruination and a sublimely self-righteous from bruisin' ales in asheville today

hoppy san diego ipas for my last night before moving to lager-filled austria

8/11/2011 6:52:43 PM

we did end up going to falling rock because we had a few too many @ the rockies game and knew where it was.

my friend had the triple karmeliat and st. martin brune, while i had the avery maharaja and gouden carolus cuvee van de kaiser blue. i had the van de kaiser first, which was good because it was awesome! maybe my new favorite beer. but i couldn't make it through the maharaja. too much sun plus high alcohol plus being a lightweight isn't the best combo.

next time i will skip drinking at the game and just wait til afterwards... and thanks for the suggestions prospero i will definitely be checking those places out when i'm back in denver at the end of this month!

8/11/2011 7:19:12 PM

^^ I just picked up some Ruination tonight at Total. I love Stone IPA, but have never gotten around to trying this. Definitely enjoying it.

8/11/2011 8:56:22 PM

Founders CBS to be Bottled

http://beernews.org/2011/08/foudners-canadian-breakfast-stout-to-be-bottled/#more-22230

8/12/2011 5:36:45 PM

120-Minute finally made it to Colorado today.... I may have acquired some

[Edited on August 18, 2011 at 11:10 AM. Reason : .]

8/18/2011 11:10:31 AM

8/18/2011 3:38:34 PM

Anybody else check out the opening of Tasty Beverage Co. tonight? They have a great selection, easily the best in Raleigh though not quite as good as Sam's. I got some cool swag and they were giving $5 gift certificates for the Raleigh Times to everyone who bought something.

8/22/2011 8:09:43 PM

^^Where where where?

nevermind, just saw it was CO....

8/22/2011 11:01:01 PM

^^ do want

8/23/2011 12:36:20 AM

^^i had only had 60 minute up until a month or so ago when i found a bar with 90 minute

i then perused Dogfish's site for stores that sold 120 minute...closest one i found was in Virginia

8/23/2011 12:49:07 AM

Had a bottle of the Deschutes Black Butte XXIII tonight; it was delightful! Smelled glorious, better than it tasted, but it still tasted good too.

8/23/2011 1:11:15 AM

Quote :

"i then perused Dogfish's site for stores that sold 120 minute...closest one i found was in Virginia"

that's because NC didn't get any of the first batch:
http://www.dogfish.com/community/blogfish/members/mariah/share-and-share-alike.htm

if anyone wants to trade, I have a bottle of 120-Minute I'd be willing to part with

[Edited on August 23, 2011 at 11:03 AM. Reason : .]

8/23/2011 10:55:42 AM