The Legend

The Legend

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Beer Me

I've been gone most of the evening so I didn't really have access to my cards to complete a post.  In the meantime I threw this together during my lunch today. Beer porn!

The funny thing as I glanced and it looks like several of us had beer on our mind tonight.

The only bad thing about Bell's Hopslam is the price. It is a double ipa that has a very smooth honey taste. Super drinkable for 10%

Most people know Bell's because they have a pretty big distribution, but if you don't they are out of Michigan. For whatever reason Michigan is home to a lot of great breweries. Must be that cold weather.

This was my beer of choice for the WVU/Kansas Big 12 Championship game. Kind of hard to see but this is a sour beer from Almanac called Simcoe Sour.  It may have been the best sour beer I've ever had.

Almanac is out of California

This Brewery is called The Bruery.  All their beers come in the bomber format so they are great for splitting. Mischief is a Belgian style that pours with a big head and packs some great flavor. 

The Bruery is out of California. 



 Ballast Point is another well known brewery that is well known for IPAs. Sculpin is the flagship beer and has spawned several variants. Pineapple is the newest of these flavors. At least to me the smell was more pineapple than the taste.  Still a great ipa, but the original is still the winner in my book.

Ballast Point is California.



Deschutes is another craft brewer who has been in the game way before it got cool. This was a very special tasting that involved several of my friends. The Abyss is an imperial stout that is as dark as the night. My buddy who is the biggest beer nerd I know was able to get us a 2011, 2014 and 2015 bottle to compare. In case you are wondering beer nerdom has matched wine snobs with the aging. 

It was pretty cool to taste the difference in the three. My pallet is not as refined as some of my friends, but you can definitely tell a difference. The 2011 was much smoother.  

Deschutes is out of Oregon. 


I've been trying to branch out and try more ipas. I'm more of a stout/porter guy.

With that being said this is probably the best ipa I have ever had. The brewery is Fat Heads and the beer is called Hop Juju. Everything about is just perfect. Of all the beer listed this is probably one of the harder ones to find as Fat Heads is more of a regional brewery. I don't think they distribute anywhere out west. The cool thing about Fat Heads is that they have a couple of restaurant/tap houses and one of them happens to be in Pittsburgh.  The place is a diet killer, but it is nice to indulge every once in awhile.

Fat Heads is out of suburbs of Cleveland OH.

Cheers my friends.


16 comments:

  1. I can almost taste them. Cheers!

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    1. You live in a pretty good area for beer. All the Surly you can drink!

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  2. Oh man o man, beer and cards-not a natural-given one is wet, but I love to have a few when I messing with my stacks. We are getting a little Bell's in Cali-Almanac interesting brews from a place up the road a little. I have got to try some Fatheads-heard great things about their brew. Cheers!

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    1. Almanac beers are fantastic, but man oh man do you have to pay for them.

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  3. I should add I loved going to Penn Brewing to sit outside and have a few-and Church Brew Works-love to drink and stare at the stain glass.

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    1. They sell Church Brew Works in PNC Park now! They are very good.

      I live in a beer wasteland that is West Virginia. Fortunately I'm only about 10 miles from Pa border and about 25 miles from Maryland.

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  4. A co-worker, originally from Michigan, was just telling me about how Bell's hardly ever distributes out here on the west coast, but a local shop has some of their IPA in stock. He was on me to get down there and pick some up ASAP, but I haven't had a chance yet. But yeah, he loves their beer.

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    1. My favorite beer from Bells is probably Expedition Stout. Almost perfect imperial stout. Two Hearted Ale is the flagship beer and the one that is most distributed. Hopslam is awesome but only comes out one month every year.

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  5. If you like IPAs you should try Modus Hoperandi from Ska (Colorado). I am not a huge IPA fan but I really like that one.

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    1. That is cool! That brewery isn't distributed near me but I'll have friends look out for it.

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  6. You're right, Matt. There was something in the air tonight to make us post about beer.

    I love the stuff coming out of the Bruery. You can't go wrong with their brews.

    I tried that pineapple beer just last week. Our review is the same. I wanted more pineapple flavor.

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    1. I just picked "So It Happens on Tuesday" from The Bruery. It is some crazy ass stout that is 14%. Might break that one out for opening day.

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  7. Bruery one sounds good, if your new to IPAs try New Belgium's newest Citradelic, so good.
    http://beerstreetjournal.com/new-belgium

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    1. Had that one on tap at a local restaurant for the first time about two weeks back. It was pretty tasty.

      I like New Belgium's sour beers, the Lips of Faith series. They are probably some of the most affordable sours out there.

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  8. Ballast Point makes some decent beers. They also do spirits as well, including my least favorite gin ever.

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    1. Ha. I haven't had their spirits. My favorite Ballast Point beer is Victory at Sea.

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