Beer 146 - Arrogant Bastard Ale

Back to Pearland to feed Murphy the cat and this beer is waiting for me in the refrigerator. How nice! The beer was brewed and bottled by Stone Brewing Co. in San Diego County, CA and bought at Randall's Grocery in the Galleria then drunk at home in Pearland, TX.
The bottle says "Arrogant Bastard Ale: This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory - maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it's made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multimillion dollar add campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you're mouthing your words as you read this.
The brewery: located in North County, San Diego, we are a small, honest, brewery with unrealistically high, yet cantankerously unwavering, standards. We concentrate on creating the most satisfying, big character Les imaginable, by using only the finest natural ingredients. And lots of 'em! It's an approach that leaves many bewildered, but it works for us Arrogant Bastards, and we're the only ones that are worth satisfying.

Ingredients: nothing but the finest Barley, most aggressive Hops, clearest Water, our proprietary Yeast strain, and abandoned Arrogance.
Web site: www.arrogantbastard.com

A delightful beer, beautiful dark brown color in the glass, lots of body and a strong, but well balanced flavor. Very nice. One to come back to time and again. I drank it with pizza, but Arrogant Bastard Ale would be delightful with blue cheese and crackers after dinner.

2,592 people have rated this beer on BeerAdvocate.com (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/92 ) and the average score is 4.2 which gives it an A- = Excellent

The 2,777 people who rated the beer at RateBeer.com agree. (http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/arrogant-bastard-ale/1315/ )  they gave the beer an average score of 3.91 which puts it in the 99^th percentile of all beers and in the 98^th percentile for its style of American Strong Ale.

Beer 145 - Balboa

Balboa is brewed by by Grupo Cerveceria Nacional in Panama City, Panama. The company is owned by Bavaria Brewing in Colombia, whi in turn are owned by SABMiller.  Bought the beer to drink wit a club sandwich for lunch at the Tierra Firme cafe in Panama City, Airport - where they still haven't built any more restaurants, though they have added a Subway, two hot dog stands and an extra bar to serve customers stuck in the transit lounge.

the beer had a strange taste to start a little bit sulfurish, but that soon dissipated and the beer tasted just like any one a a thousand other lagers brewed just like.  Bland but not offensive.

Beer 144 - Panama Lager

We are on our way home after a hectic and very enjoyable ten days in Colombia and the first stop is a five hour layover in Panama City, Panama. Fortunately my membership at the Presidents Club is still active so we are sitting in this haven of peace and tranquility, whiling away the hours until the flight to Houston departs.

This beer is brewed in Panama by Cervecerias Baru-Panama, a subsidiary of Heineken International.

Panamanian pride, world quality.  For the third time in a row Cerveza Panama obtained the maximum recognition of beer quality, the great gold medal - The Grand Gold Quality Award - with Palm tree leaves - by Monde Selection.  With this award Panama beer is the first Panamanian beer to be recognised with such a prize for high quality internationally.  Ingredients are water, barley malt, hops and yeast.

Nothing really interesting about this beer and conversely nothing bad about it either.  easy to drink, light in body and flavor. Takes after it's paret company.

Beer 143 - Amsterdam Premium Lager

On our next to last night in Colombia I decided to try f the imported beers available here.  There are a few imports available, From a completely unscientic series of observations, Peroni appears to be the most widely available in Cali and Heineken in Bogota, but I also found a group of beers called "Amsterdam" brewed and bottle by a  brewery called Dutch Export Breweries in Enschede Holland.  On the proviso 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' I bought this bottle of Amsterdam Premim Lager from La Catorce in Cali, then carried it all the way to Bogota, where I am drinkig it in our apartment hotel while relaxing after a great day visiting Cerro de Monserrate (Hill of Monserrate and sanctuary) and La Catedral De Sal (The Salt cathedral)

The color of the is the standard gold color of lager and it produces a nice head in this tiny glass. This is a pleasant and easy to drink beer but without any great outstanding merits to recommend it above any of a thousand other lagers available arund the world.

Beer 142 - Aguila Light

This is another of Bavaria S,A,`s brews from Bogota, Colombia.  It is one of the beers bought by Aunt Maria and left at Mama Leny`s for me to drink.  I bought it to Lucero`s house to dtink with lunch as we were getting ready to leave to the airport to fly to Bogota this afternoon.

The beer is in the front of the picture that shows a typical lunch in Cali, whether served at home or in a restaurant.  The reason why most people can eat a soup and a main course for lunch is that Cali people do a lot of walking during their normal day and lunch is the main meal.  Dinner is usually a snack or hot chocolate with cheese.

The beer tasted like fizzy water.  There was no beer taste.  It was not bad if what you wanted was fizzy water, it was not good if what you want is beer with your meal.

Beer 141 - San Tomas San Tomas

This appears to be the flagship beer from Inducerv S.A in Antioquia province, Colombia.  It was bought from La Catorce in Cali and drunk at Mama Leny’s house while relaxing after returning from our excursion up the mountain.

web site in Spanish: http://www.santomas.com.co/

The notes on the bottle, translated from the Spanish say San Tomas premium beer, type San Tomas Lager is made in the houses style,  golden with flavor and with a smell of smoke, using a specific type of malt, easy to drink and refreshing.  The ingredients are water, barley malt from Germany and hops and yeast from Europe.

The beer is a golden lager type, with a little more body and flavor than similar offerings from their main competitor Bavaria.    It drank well and refreshed the taste buds but did not provide enough enjoyment that I would search it out again.

Beer 140 - Club Colombia

Another beer brewed by Bavaria SA and the less well-endowed sister to Club Colombia Rojo.  Bought and drunk this beer at La Cabana, a restaurant in the mist 2,000 meters higher than Cali in the Occidental Cordillera.  The restaurant, and several others on the roadside leading to the high mountain pass on the road that crosses the mountains to Buena Ventura, were built to attract Cali people on weekend who want to escape the heat for a few hours while enjoying lunch or Chocolate con Queso.  The temperature is noticeably colder, perhaps by 12 deg C, the difference between slightly sweating in the valley, to requiring a sweater on the mountain.

The beer is a lightly golden colored lager, with a somewhat weak body and only a slight taste.  It had difficulty combating and in the end was completely overwhelmed by the empanadas and couldn’t hold a candle to the Chocolate con Queso.

Beer 139 - Redd`s Premium Cold

Another of Bavaria S.A.’s brews from Bogota, Colombia.  This is one of the beers bought by Aunt Maria and left at Mama Leny’s in anticipation of our visit.  It was drunk at Mama Leny’s while relaxing after a day trip to Buga to visit Humberto’s (Patricia’s sister’s husband) parents. 

The neck label says “the flavor that wakes your senses up.”  The bottle says “The fusion between intelligence and sensuality is expressed in each details of Redd’s flavor.  It’s softness, easiness to swallow and balance between sweet and sour make this beer an authentic pleasure to be discovered.”

The color of the beer was a very light gold and the beer produced a nice small head in the glass.  The bottle says serve between 0-4 deg C, so I made sure it was poured straight from the refrigerator which is set for 3 deg.  The smell was pleasant enough, nothing strong or overpowering and not much smell of beer, but the taste delved deep into my subconscious and brought back the past.  It took me back a few years when we used to sit on the grass outside the Highwayman’s pub on Hampstead Heath and while away Sunday afternoon talking, laughing and drinking lager and lime. Guys and Girls without a care in the world and with still the world to conquer.  Lorne and Maurice and Liz and Ann and others whose names I forget.  Where are they now and what stories do they have to tell? I wonder.

This is not a serious beer drinkers beer.  It is a refreshing drink for a summer afternoon where the “balance between sweet and sour” make this a great match for dips and salsa and salty chips – or even a fitting accompaniment for a ploughman’s lunch from the pub.

Beer 138 - San Tomas Marzen

It appears that Bavaria Brewing does not have the monopoly originally postulated.  San Tomas beer is brewed and bottled by Inducerv S.A. in Sabaneta, Antioquia, Colombia. Sabaneta is part of the Medellin metropolitan area, north west of Bogota It was bought at La Catorce hypermarket and drunk at Mama Leny’s while waiting for Aunt Maria and her husband and children to arrive. 

The label says the beer is a lager type, produced in the style that originated in Bavaria, Germany, with an amber color, complex, balanced and elegant.  Traditionally drunk during the Oktoberfest celebration. The ingredients are water, 100% malt from Germany, hops from Germany and yeast from Europe. Serve cold.  http://www.inducerv.com/ and http://www.santomas.com.co/.

This was a nice beer with a pleasant flavor.  It is a good example of the Marzen/Oktoberfest style. There is a pleasant full bodied feeling in the mouth and a slight bitterness in the aftertaste that is quite pleasant. 

Beer 137 - Poker

We spent the day exploring the Sugar Cane Museum about 60 km east of Cali on the road to Buga.  (see http://www.srhx15.blogspot.com/ for more details) After The Sugar Cane museum we went looking for a restaurant in the town of Ginebra which has become famous in the last 15 years for a dish called Sancocho.  Sancocho is a broth made from potatoes, herbs (the most important of which is Cimarron) and a mature hen that has roamed the hen coop.  Battery bred chicken do not give the same flavor.  The dish must be cooked over a wooden fire because the smoke adds to the flavor.

Most of the restaurants in Ginebra were closed on Monday.  We spied 10 or 12 restaurants that each had seating for a large number of people in country garden settings.  Apparently, all of the customers for these restaurants come from Cali on Saturdays and Sundays for a family day out to eat Sancocho.  Fortunately we found the Restaurant El Jordan on the outskirts of town - on the Costa Rica road - open on Monday and they offered Sancocho on their menu. Perhaps because of the time of day as well as because it was Monday we (Patricia, Mama Leny, Lucero, Manuel Jose and I) were the only customers in the restaurant that would comfortably seat 100 people.

As before the beer is brewed by Bavaria S.A. in Bogota, Colombia

There was no additional information on the bottle other than an advertisement for a Poker beer draw in which you must submit four bottle caps to enter and a suggestion that the beer be drunk at 4 deg C.  After tasting the beer I will not be collecting four bottle caps.

This beer had a little more taste that Poker Ligera, but not much.  Even though the taste of Sancocho is a subtle mix of light flavors, the food completely overwhelmed the beer.   There was lots of fizz and little taste.  This beer joins Poker Ligera at the bottom of the list of my favorite Colombian beers.

Beer 136 - Poker Ligera (Light)

This is another of the beers bought by Aunt Maria (Patricia’s aunt) and left at Mama Leny’s (Patricia’s mother) for me to drink.  The beer is brewed in Bogota by Bavaria S.A. I drank it at Mama Leny’s apartment with crackers and Colombian camembert after returning home from the supermarket.  Lucero (Patricia’s sister) and Manuel Jose (Lucero’s six year old son) were also there catching up on news and family events.

The bottle says (translated from the Spanish) “Poker Ligera (light) is a light beer with which you can spice up your day.  For that reason, drink it whenever you want because it’s light and it tastes like beer.”

There was indeed some taste of beer, though it is so light it can hardly be tasted.  Poker Light is only 3.1% alc/volume which means it is mainly flavored water and that was about all there was to the taste.  Definitely at the bottom of my list of Colombian beers so far.   

Beer 135 - Club Colombia Edicion Limitada - Rojo

Brewed and bottled in Bogota, Colombia by Bavaria Brewing (since Bavaria has a monopoly in Colombia.) Bought and drunk at the Zyrope Bar in Bogota airport waiting for our flight to Cali, Colombia.

This beer appears to be a new offering from Bavaria as it does not appear on the Bavaria Brewing web site http://www.bavaria.com.co/ingles/home.php

The beer is a dark nut brown in color and is well balanced with a pleasant taste.  There is a suggestion of hops in the flavor and the beer has a nice body.  It provided a pleasant way to help us while away a couple of hours at the Avianca terminal in Bogota as we waited before boarding our plane.

Beer 134 - Costena

It is a cold rainy night in Bogota, Colombia but we wanted to eat Ajiaco, one of Bogota's culinary delights, so we took a taxi to Casa Vieja Restaurant after Patricia had searched Google and found this restaurant who claimed they were famous for Ajiaco. More on that in a moment.

Costena is a Colombian beer brewed by Bavaria Brewery, a subsidiary of SAB Miller, in Bogota.  The web site says "Costena is a lager, pilsen type beer brewed with the finest ingredients and with our brewery expertise. The balance of malt and hop make it full boded and slightly sweet with a bitter taste and very mild hop aroma. its alcohol content is 4% in volume with  dry flavor and mean body thus making it the perfect beverage to extend those oarties with your group of friends."

The description is slightly exagerated but even so the beer is pleasant to drink and washed the ajiaco down perfectly.  Ajiaco is an enhanced soup, made with chicken, a herb called guasca, three types of potatoes and corn and a tablespoon of cream added at the end.  It is served with capers, avocado, rice and two types of arepas (a type of Colombian corn bread) and provides a hearty, tasty meal on a cold, wet evening.

Beer 133 - Bass Ale

Brewed in Luton, England by Inbev and probably bottled in the US or Canada. Bought and drunk at Ruby's diner in terminal E at George Bush Intercontinental airport, Houston, TX while Patricia ate her lunch. We are waiting for our flight to Bogota and I already ate a fast lunch at the Shell Car Care Thanksgiving pot lunch.

Yippee, we are on our way to Colombia for vacation and to visit Patricia's family.

The bottle says "Bass Ale's unique combination of refreshment and legendary taste ensured that Bass became a favorite of not just the drinking classes, but of the great and the good. Napoleon, Manet, Shackleton, and Buffalo Bill are just some of the characters who shared a great love for Bass." and "This fine imported pale ale has been brewed in the Great British tradition using the finest two-row barley and malted hops."

The waitress was kind enough to find me a glass that was not chilled, though the beer came out of the cooler. A pleasant everyday beer that has taste and body, it is well balanced so the flavors meld together to create a nice beer to drink.

Beer 132 - Ridgeway Brewing Criminally Bad Elf

The third of the Ridgeway Christmas Beers, this one was drunk at home in Katy while fixing open faced sandwiches of smoked sausage, tomato, cheese (and spinach for Patricia) for our dinner while we packed for the trip to Colombia.

This is strong stuff.  A barleywine-style ale with 10.5% alc/vol.  The bottle has a picture of an elf behind bars on the front and says (with tongue in cheek) " It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity of course, wrong place at the wrong time ... but Claus was soon back on the street with the polite apologies of the authorities-no questions asked. All's well that ends well, surely, but still, the reporters wanted to know... it takes its toll doesn't it? "indeed," sighed Claus "my elf is going crazy and I fear I shall soon go crazy as well."  And with that he hoisted a great flagon of his barleywine-style ale, silently contemplating the future and straining to remember why he got into this particular line of work in the first place."

An interesting taste, that might have been better warm, rather than straight from the 'fridge.  the taste is very distinctive, with the an unmistakable flavor of toffee in the background, lots of fruit flavor and some hops.  Interesting beer.

Beer 131 - Stella Artois

Brewed in Leuven, Belgium and bought and drunk at T.G.I.Fridays in Pearland on our way to the Pearland house for the night so Murphy could be fed and watered and left enough food while we were away. Stella Artois is owned and distributed in the US by Anheuser Busch InBev. 

The Stella web site is interesting http://www.stellaartois.com/ but not for the information it gives about the beer.

The beer was very pale orange-yellow in color, quite pretty and the taste belied the color.  The flavor was subdued but still in evidence.  I liked this beer as a drink to wash down the fried food I had for dinner (Patricia ate a chicken cob salad and drank water).

On a side note, the service we received at Fridays was excellent.  Justin the waiter went out of his way to be pleasant and accomodating without being intrusive.  It made the brief stop for dinner a pleasant interlude in our busy schedule.

Beer 130 - Ridgeway Bad Elf

The second beer of the four pack brewed and bottled by Ridgeway Brewing in Oxfordshire, UK and bought to the US by Shelton Brothers in Belchertown, MA.  I bought the four pack at Spec's Liquor downtown and drunk this one at home while enhancing a deGiorno pizza with extra mushrooms, fresh spinach and cheese for dinner with Patricia.

The cute notes on the label read "Tis a heavy hand what adds the hops to this festive golden ale. Truth be told, there's near to three pounds of fresh hops goes in every barrel of this treasured brew.  And it's conditioned ready for winter supping from your best flagon."

The web site - http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/ - describes the beer "A little malt, a little hops, and lots of holiday trouble-making; this Elf is so bad, it’s way good.
Olde England meets the New World in this strong, warming golden ale. A generous amount of famous English malt is masterfully balanced with an astounding 45 ounces of fresh hops – including English Cascade – per barrel. Bad Elf is brewed by Peter Scholey, master brewer for the late and much-lamented Brakspear Brewery of Henley-on-Thames, England. Peter has bought up the entire crop from the single row of Cascades grown in the U.K.
ELF WARNING: Consumption of too much Winter's Ale may be bad for your elf and may impair your ability to drive a sleigh or operate toy-making machinery."

The hype is a little overdone, but, even so, the beer is quite good.  A pleasant golden color with a small head that quickly dissipates.  The taste is a little bland, but the beer is easy to drink and pleasant enough to wash down the multi-flavored pizza.

Beer 129 - Ridgeway Brewing Reindeer's Revolt

The first of four Christmas Ales bought in a special four pack put together and marketed in the US by Shelton Brothers from (the appropriately named) Belchertown, MA and bought from Specs Liquor in Houston.

http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/

The beers are produced in the UK by Ridgeway Brewing, a small craft brewery near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.  I drank this first beer from the pack on a cold and wet fall Sunday afternoon, while watching the peniltimate NASCAR race from Phoenix on TV. The notes on the bottle made me smile: "Overheard at the bar.  'Bartender, if anyone calls, I'm not here, right? Every year, its the same nightmare, hauling that over-sized red-suited endomorph all over kingdom come, up to my shivering haunches in snow and muck! You call him a saint? Slave driver more like.  Going down in history is all well and good, but what about the here and now?  My therapist says I have to start doing things for me for a change.  It's about time I had a merry Christmas myself, don't you think?"

The web site says "A golden-amber, hop-accented, English "winter warmer" brewed without spices. It's lighter on the palate than the other Ridgeway holiday beers.  If you're looking for something to drink to escape the drudgery of the holiday season, this would be the beer for you. Perfect for, say, relaxing on the beach with a coconut in one hoof, and a beer in the other."

:-D
This was indeed a nice beer that was pleasant to drink, nicely flavored but with no sharp edges to the taste.  Light brown color in the glass with a head that dissipated quickly.  Light body and pleasant aftertaste, a nice beer to drink in the afternoon or as an aperitif before dinner, as it will not fill you up and ruin your appetite.

Beer 002 - Mendocino White Hawk IPA

Drunk on July 20, 2010

Brewed in Ukiah, CA, bought at Trader Joes, Camarillo, CA drunk at home in Katy, TX after the gym.

The bottle says "This award winning brew is handcrafted to perfection. A premium American Classic from a Pioneer Brewing Legend."  The web site says they blended American West Coast Cascade Hops with a very generous dose of English Fuggle Hops. This combination makes for a very aromatic character, as well as a truly authentic English flavor which you must taste to believe. “Hopheads” will love this brew!

http://www.mendobrew.com/

My own taste suggests this is a strong flavor but well balanced. The slight biterness on top of the tongue is countered by the smoothness of the beer as it slakes my thirst. A nice example of an India Pale Ale. Flavorful and easy to drink.

Beer 001 - Josephbrau Black Toad

Drunk on July 19, 2010

Josephsbrau Black Toad distinctive dark ale brewed in San Jose, CA, bought at Trader Joes, Camariillo, CA drunk at home in Katy, TX while preparing dinner. Josephbrau is one of Trader Joe's private label beers, there is no advertising or promotion associated with these beers so they can be sold inexpensively.  Trader Joe's is an amazing wine and food store located mainly in the western states, but expanding fast.

There is an interesting and very informative guide to beer on Trader Joe’s web site: http://www.traderjoes.com/guides/beer-styles.asp

The bottle says "We begin with a custom mixture of dark and roasted barley malts, then we add the choicest hops. The resulting ale has a dark chestnut color and a deep nutty flavor." 5.3% alc by vol.

The head and the fizz dissipated quickly. The flavors are a little indistinct, a slight flavor of walnuts, perhaps a hint of caramel, and a blend that is a little bland.

Josephsbrau is a private label brand of Trader Joe's, an amazing wine and food store located mainly in the western states, but expanding fast.

 

Beer 128 - Negra Modelo

Sofia came home from UT for the weekend with her newish boyfriend Rigo. We spent the whole day shopping for gifts and items on various lists from Patricia's relatives in Colombia. Sofia wanted Colombian food for lunch so we went to Mi Pueblita restaurant for authentic Colombian food. I could easily feel a little out of place at Mi Pueblito as the only blue eyed blonde (ok grey) hair gringo in the busy restaurant but no one but me seems to notice.

Negra Modelo is brewed and bottled by Cerveceria Modelo in Mexico. It was bought and drunk at Mi Pueblita where I drank it with empanadas and arroz con pollo with fried plantains. Quite delicious.

http://www.negramodelo.com/w/  (the web site is not yet complete)

The beer is a medium brown color in the glass and doesn't have much of a head when poured from the bottle.  It is dark brown in color and nicely, if rather delicately flavored.  It went well with the spicy green sauce that accopanied the empanadas.  The arroz con pollo was not spicy at all and the beer was light enough in flavor that it did not overwhelm the food and complimented it very well. 

Beer 127 - Newcastle Brown Draft

Brewed in the UK at the Heineken owned, John Smiths brewery in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, UK. The beer was first brewed at the Tyne Brewery In Newcastle in 1920 but consolidation of the beer industry, first when Scottish Breweries and Newcastle Breweries merged to form Scottish and Newcastle Breweries in 1960 and then when Heineken and Carslberg bought S&N in 2008 culminated in production of the beer in Tadcaster.

http://newcastlebrown.com/ (interesting web site with lots of flash videos)

Bought and drunk at the Hard Rock cafe in the theater district, Houston, TX where Patricia and I ate at light dinner before going to watch a performance at TUTS of Dolly Parton's musical 9 to 5.

The beer did not have the body or the bold taste I was expecting, in fact I was rather disappointed by the taste. It was pleasant enough compared to some of the other options available at the Hard Rock but I was expecting more. In one sense the beer performed it's job in that it very adequately washed down the many flavors that came with the appetizer sampler.

A little bit of trivia. I ate and drank at the very first Hard Rock cafe in London in the early 1970's. They had the best hamburgers in town. Then they started to get popular and well known and there was always a line to get in so I stopped going. I don't queue for food, there is always somewhere else to eat, usually just as good but without the line.

Oh, yes. The musical was fun. Not much of a story and a little slow at the beginning, but still a lot of fun and plenty to laugh at.

Beer 126 - St. Pauli Girl Special Dark

Brewed at the St Pauli Brauerei in Bremen, Germany, bought at HEB Grocery and drunk at home after a trying, and long, day at work.

But now it is time to relax and I am thinking about last night at the PMI dinner when I was talking to a man about the IPhone and how it was difficult to live without one once you had experienced the variety of things the phone could do.  He asked if Shell allowed email on the IPhone and I said they did and he made a comment that at least one company was forward looking.  What I didn't tell him and wished that I had, was that I do not have work email on my IPhone.  If I have to work at home I bring my computer home, but I really have no interest in receiving work emails at nights and weekends.  My (small) team knows how to get hold of me by phone or text if they want to tell me something outside working hours, but I have too many other things I am interested in to be worried about work after my day at the office. OK, off my soap box and back to interesting stuff like beer.

The web site - http://www.stpauligirl.com/  says "St. Pauli Girl Special Dark is a remarkably smooth beer with a light hop character and rich malty taste... the malt in St. Pauli Girl Special Dark is slow roasted using a centuries-old recipe. This gives St. Pauli Girl Special Dark unparalleled taste and a uniquely vibrant color. 4.8% alc/vol."  I found it to be a rather bland dark lager.  There is not much to distinguish the taste from many other acceptable beers.  Pleasant enough to drink, but not really worth writing home about.

 

Beer 124 - Pyramid Juggernaut Red Ale

Pyramid Brewing is an interesting company. It is a group of four alehouses and a brewery in Seattle, WA. Originally a small public company with a wide range of beers, Pyramid was bought out by Independent Brewers United York in 2008 and the by North American Breweries in 2010. Wikepedia says "North American Breweries is a new parent corporation established by New York City investment firm KPS Capital Partners to manage its brewery acquisitions: Genesee Brewing Company, Dundee Brewing Company, Pyramid, Magic Hat, and MacTarnahan's." The original company - Hart Brewing, formed in 1984 - claims Pyramid Pale Ale produced in 1984 was one of the first American micro brews.

North American Breweries: http://nabreweries.com/
Pyramid Brewing: http://www.pyramidbrew.com/

This beer is a seasonal beer brewed by Pyramid, probably in Seattle.  It was Bought at HEB Grocery and drunk at home in Katy, TX after a grocery shopping trip to Walmart.

An interesting and pleasant taste.  I guess there is a hint of red in the light brown color.  The beer has a malty caramel hint in the taste that makes it pleasant to drink and easy to enjoy with the cheese and biscuits I pulled out of the fridge.

Beer 125 - Leinenkugels Creamy Dark

Brewed by Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co in either Chippewa Falla, WI or Milwaukee, WI. Bought at HEB Grocery, Pearland and drunk at home in Pearland while relaxing after the Project Management Institute meeting and dinner.

The bottle says "Carefully brewed by the Leinenkugel family for five generations." and "the pride of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin since 1967" and "Lager with a unique blend of four barley malts, cluster cascade and Mt Hood hops" www.leinie.com

A nicely balanced drink, lots of flavor and pleasant taste. I enjoyed this beer and the very slight bitterness in the aftertaste.

Beer 123 - Miller Lite

Probably brewed at the Miller brewery in Fort Worth.

Bought and drunk at the Lake Somerville Marina where we stopped on the way back to Katy from the NASCAR race in Fort Worth. It is a beautiful day, there are a few puffy white clouds in the blue sky. The temperature is 77 degrees with a pleasant breeze blowing from west. Ducks are landing on the lake and two cranes are having a spat over their young. The Marina is quiet, but the store is open to sell fishing lures and tackle and emergency groceries and beer to the boat owners and year-round campers in the park. It's a beautiful day to be alive. Pictures from Lake Somerville are in the blog http://www.srhx15.blogspot.com/.

There is not a wide selection of beers in the marina store so it's down to drinking Miller Lite if I wanted to say something about the marina. So here I  am drinking from a 16 oz plastic bottle so Miller Lite can be added to the list of drunk beers. And now that I've done it, I can cross this one off the list. Thankfully I don't have to drink this tasteless yellow fizzy stuff ever again.

Beers 120 and 121 - Dogfish Head 60 min and 90 min IPA

Brewed in Delaware, these beers were bought and drunk at Cricket's Grill and Draft House, Waco, TX where we stopped for lunch on our way to Fort Worth for the NASCAR Sprint cup race tomorrow.

This is a big, very big, sports bar that looks like a converted warehouse. There are around 120 beers available on the beer list many of which (most) are on tap. The menu is typical sports bar with hamburgers, sandwiches and a few token salads, fish and chips and fried chicken dishes. We both ate cheese burgers, Patricia's was beef with fried onions and mushrooms mine was buffalo with spicy sauce and blue cheese. We both cleared our plates - and ate all the fries.

The beers were both excellent. Strong taste with the hops coming through. The 90 min was 9% alc/vol the 60 min was 6% alc/vol, The Dogfish Head web site - http://www.dogfish.com/ - says "Our 60 Minute IPA is continuously hopped - more than 60 hop additions over a 60 minute boil (getting a vibe yet of where the name came from?). 60 Minute is a session India Pale Ale brewed with a slew of great North West hops. A powerful, but balanced East Coast I.P.A. with a lot of citrusy hop character. The session beer for hardcore beer enthusiasts!" and "Esquire Magazine calls our 90 Minute IPA., "perhaps the best I.P.A. in America." An Imperial I.P.A. brewed to be savored from a snifter. A big beer with a great malt backbone that stands up to the extreme hopping rate.  90 Minute IPA was our first continually-hopped beer, which is a method of hopping that allows for a pungent, but not crushing hop flavor."

Both beers were very nice, flavorful and easy to drink, well balanced but not for the faint hearted.

This is the 60 Min IPA

This is the 90 minute IPA (I remembered the photograph after almost finishing the beer)