Magnolia Brewing in San Francisco

I was recently in San Francisco and since we were there to visit my sister in law and not for me to go around drinking everywhere, I didn't get a chance to get to too many places. A shame I know, blame my wife. However, I did get her to agree that we'd have lunch at Magnolia, a brewpub I've been meaning to visit for a while now but never had the chance. Lucky for me, February is also strong beer month for them so they had a whole lineup of unique stuff for me to try! I mean, look at this list, very cool right?

Beers with Friends

My friends and I had been trying to get together for this bottle share for quite a few months, but one of them has a job that makes it a bit tough to schedule. However, he finally had a Monday off and so messaged us that it was time. As it happened I was walking home from Sabrina's, kind of drunk already, so of course I said totally! I was originally planning on not even drinking the Monday before Thanksgiving but oh well, sacrifices must be made right?

We started off with one of the better beers of the night, Goose Island Bourbon County Rare. This is a special version of Bourbon County, aged in barrels for two years instead of the eight months or so. It did sell for quite a bit more per bottle (about $40 vs $12 for two regular bourbon county).

Bear Republic Heritage Ale

Stopped by Kite & Key earlier this week and ordered a Bear Republic Heritage Ale, a scotch ale.

Nice malty, bready nose. Sweet and inviting. Started with a burst of caramel sweetness which was followed by malt and toffee. The sweetness never became cloying which was good. This was just a really flavorful scotch ale and really hit the spot. Glad I chose it.

Nodding Head Ice Capades

Every second Saturday, Nodding Head holds a special event following some sort of theme. This month their event was Ice Capades where they took a few of their beers and ice distilled them. In doing so the beers get stronger because they have a higher concentration of alcohol and the flavors can change or intensify as a result. The process mostly involves filling a keg about three quarters full, putting it on its side in a freezer for a couple days, then draining the unfrozen beer. The reason it gets frozen on its side is so when the keg gets flipped back upright, the tap isn't blocked so the beer will actually come out since the ice won't be blocking it. Pretty smart really.

The Meddlesome Moth

I'm in Dallas, Texas right now for work and had one day off to do what I wanted. Of course, I unsurprisingly looked for an awesome beer bar to go hang at for a couple hours. Luckily there is a bar named The Meddlesome Moth about a mile and a half from the hotel which was an easy enough walk. I'd read really good things about it on BeerAdvocate and boy did it live up to its reputation.

The first beer I ordered was the (512) Pecan Porter. The brewery is actually named (512) Brewing Co. which is the area code for Austin where it's located. I don't know why, but I think it's funny that there are parenthesis in the name.

Blue Dog Wealth of Riches

Sometimes I think I may have issues with my obsession getting the better of me, but then I just shrug and get over it. This past Saturday was definitely one of those times when I decided to head out to Chalfont, PA to go to the Blue Dog tavern. First, if Google maps is telling you it's going to take two hours by public transportation, it's probably right. Second, if you are going to the suburbs and Google maps says you need to walk a mile from the train station, there probably aren't going to be sidewalks and so people are going to look at you like you're a psycho when you're walking down the side of a road on the shoulder. Oh and some of the sidewalks do this.

Innis & Gun Rum Cask Oak Aged Beer

Besides having the longest name ever, the Innis & Gunn Rum cask is apparently a scotch ale aged in oak barrels, then all of it is moved to used rum barrels, and then it's blended for bottling.

First thing to note is the clear bottle. I got a case of this so didn't need to worry about light, but if buying single bottles beware clear bottles are awful about protecting beer. Smelled of vanilla and a hint of rum. Very sweet nose. Starts with mild rum, vanilla, and some caramel. Continues that way throughout the whole glass with the rum flavors growing. My first thought was how little it tasted like beer. I mostly just got vanilla and rum from the barrels.

Honestly not sure how I felt about this one. I didn't hate it but I also didn't really like it that much. Guess I'll go with ambivalent. Not something I'd buy again but I wouldn't refuse to drink it if someone offered it to me. High praise I know.

Weyerbacher Papa at the Kite & Key

In what I hope becomes a weekly tradition, I stopped by the Kite & Key for a quick beer. For this Tuesday, I chose Papa, one of Weyerbacher Brewer's Select beers, a scotch ale.

Lovely caramel nose with some hints of bread notes. First sip had caramel, toffee, a little breadiness, and finished with a some dark fruit flavors. The caramel and toffee continued through every sip and were really enjoyable. I love a good scotch ale and this one was pretty great. Great way to start my weekly visits.

Chris, Mad Fox and some locals

My friend Chris visited this past weekend and he brought two growlers from Mad Fox Brewing, a brew pub in Falls Church, Virginia.  He also brought me a six pack which I'll be drinking over the next two weeks or so.  Thanks Chris!

We started with the Mad Fox Slobberknocker, an American Barleywine.

San Francisco - Moylan's Brewpub

While I may have said our trip to San Fran wasn't all about beer, as Stina pointed out in the comments, there was definitely still a lot of it for me to enjoy.  Our first stop of the trip was Moylan's Brewpub in Novato, California straight up highway 101 from San Francisco.  I'm glad this was our first stop as it was the most generic of the three places but since it was first it didn't affect my experience much.  Honestly though it was still pretty good with decent food and good beer.  It basically reminded me of an Irish pub restaurant that brews its own beer.

Absolutely Awesome Stout Tasting

Before attending the Troegs Splinter Black release, I was sent a message on BeerAdvocate asking if I'd be up for trading a bottle to a local in Philly.  I said if I got some extra bottles, we could work something out.  However, after seeing what he had to offer we both decided that instead of trading for more bottles to sit on our shelves, lonely and undrunk, it would be a lot more fun to get together and do a tasting where I'd bring a bottle of Splinter Black and he'd bring some stuff.  It may seem odd meeting up with a total stranger, but I'm an odd guy so it evens out.  We met up at The Belgian Cafe just before Christmas to ensure that neither of us was a crazy murderer and, after realizing we were both relatively normal (well, almost normal), decided to do the tasting some time in January.

We talked a bit more after Christmas and came up with the date of January 15th.  He invited a friend of his who also lived nearby and after a few more messages we decided to make it a stout tasting.  For this one, we were doing it at my apartment.  They arrived around 3:15 and, lo and behold, his friend Josh turned out to be one of the random guys we met on the way to the POPE during the Craft Beer Express.  I honestly couldn't believe the coincidence.  Just really random.  We quickly set out the six bottles on the table and couldn't wait to get started.

From left to right, we had: Olde Hickory The Event Horizon, Olde Hickory Hickory Stick Stout, Big Sky Ivan the Terrible, Surly Darkness (finally!), Troegs Splinter Black, and Dock Street Prince Myshkin.

A Couple of Beers on a Friday

Last Friday I had a couple of interesting beers but haven't been able to talk about them quite yet.  Between the Three Floyds stuff, catching up on some other posts and Stina's birthday I've just had other things to talk about than these two.  Now's the time though.  I know, you're very excited.  I'm glad.

The first one I opened was a Great Lakes Christmas Ale.  My brother Dan gave me this for Hanukkah and I was excited because I had heard it was quite good.  I hadn't seen it anywhere around me so it was nice to get a few bottles.

Capone's!

To prepare our livers for our six brewery tour over New Years, Jo and I decided to head to Capone's for some lunch and drinks.  We haven't been there in a while and missed their delicious wings.  I also got a tasty cheese steak hoagie.

Once again, I started with a sampler of four great beers.