What's been going on....

Here's a few quick updates from my world of beer over the last couple months:

I finished "the wall" of beer at WOW Wingery in Mt. Juliet along with my friend, Nate. We each drank 45 different beers over a course of 3 or 4 months and are anxiously awaiting our pictures to go up on the wall of fame there. We are happy to report we never had to resort to drinking any domestic Bud or Miller swill thanks to WOW's decent rotation of good beer selections. Some "new to me" beers that I had on my way to 45 included Lion Stout from Sri Lanka, Magic Hat's Winter Howl (draught), Victory's Weizen Bock, Rogue's Mocha Porter, North Coast's Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, Abita Strawberry, and # 45 itself: Abita 's Abbey Ale (pint bottle - photo above).

I had a surprisingly good Indian lager recently at one of my wife's favorite ethnic restaurants, Bombay Palace, in Nashville. It was a pint bottle of Flying Horse and went great with the excellent spicy food.

My friend Nate who I mentioned above has gotten into home brewing himself and shared with with me one of his first creations, Nate's Black IPA. It's a bottled stout with extra hoppiness (which I love). It was very good with a nice finish and much better than many beers I have paid good money for. Thanks, Nate, for sharing and good luck with your future brewing because you are off to a great start!

As a belated Christmas present to myself, I got a variety six-pack from my local fav beer store, The Mount Juliet Beer Company, that included the following:

- O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye out of Missouri - very nice

- Blue Heron Pale Ale out of New York - excellent

- Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale from the Netherlands - smooth and clean

- Point Brewing's Burly Brown Ale - Wisconsin - two thumbs up

- Jackmans APA from Left Hand Brewing out of Colorado - decent

- Stoudt's Scarlet Lady Ale ESB out of Pennsylvania - not too shabby

Speaking of Christmas, I am halfway through four huge pints of beer that my lovely wife, Ashlee, got for me at a store in Louisville, KY, that we visited in November. I recently had the Punk IPA from Brew Dog Brewing out of Scotland at a dinner party which had excellent hoppy flavor and finish. I also had the Rye 75 IPA from Bluegrass Brewing in Louisville. It too was tremendously hoppy and I loved every drop of it. I have two more IPA styles from BBC to go. Thanks so much, honey!!

Other random beer encounters include:

A draught glass of Monk in A Trunk Belgian-Style Organic Amber Ale from Inlet Brewing in Jupiter, Florida, at Havana Hideout Restaurant in Lake Worth, Florida.

A draught glass of Bosco's Hopgod in celebration of National Hop Day on Feb. 26. It was pretty good but not near as hoppy as I was expecting.

I also bought a couple of new canned beers from Butternut Brewing in New York while shopping at Green Life Grocery in Chattanooga recently. I have had the Porkslap Pale Ale which was excellent. I have not opened the Moo Thunder Stout yet, but actually already had a sip of it when my wife unknowingly ordered a can of it at The Flying Saucer in Nashville recently. It's a great stout and I am glad to see it available in Nashville since Chattanooga and Music City have not always been on the same beer distribution list.

Finally, while on a long weekend trip to Miami recently to see my beloved Duke University Blue Devils play basketball vs. the Miami Hurricanes, my wife and I visited Titanic Brewing and Restaurant next to the U of M campus. We went for the beer (which was tasty) but also loved the food. Definitely a place to visit again if we get the opportunity. Beer-wise: I tried their White Star IPA (of course) which was decent albeit not super-hoppy. I enjoyed my second-choice even more which was a seasonal: the Dry Hopped Pale Ale. This was a crisp tasting beer with a nice hop flavor and finish. I had a sip of their Boiler Room Nut Brown Ale as well which my wife ordered and was pleased with. I thought it was decent as well.