NovemBEER

11/3 - With a day off I stopped by a couple watering holes this afternoon on the way to meet some friends to see Doctor Strange in IMAX. I am not into the more mystical Marvel Comics story lines, but this one was well done and Cumberbatch was superb, as usual.  I had a  Sparkler Australian sparkling ale by Yazoo here in Nashville at The Beer Pale and the Strongman Coffee Milk Stout by Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville, NC) to celebrate International Stout Day.  Salute!  

At Southern Grist Brewing in East Nashville I had half-pints of their lovely Tangerine BroCoNut IPA and the solid Kettle Thump double stout...International Stout Day! Salute again!!

At Homegrown Taproom with dinner I had the Appalachian Trail Extra (ATX) Pale Ale from Nantahala Brewing (Bryson City, NC), the Soccer Mom session IPA from Fat Bottom Brewing here in Nashville and the 6th Anniversary-Wet Hop Amber dark ale from Blue Pants Brewing (Madison, AL).

11/4 - It was Movie Night again for me with my friend Danny to see Hacksaw Ridge which was pretty darn good.  Beforehand, we stopped by Black Abbey Brewing and I had their Crusader Ipa which was also pretty darn good.

11/10 - I had a Prime Time Pale from Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville, NC) at Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint before a show by the talented (and smokin' hot) Ingrid Michaelson at The Ryman

11/12 - On a road trip up to Kentucky today I had Barnstormer Red Ale from Blackhorse Brewery (Knoxville) and an excellent Maple Rye Stout from nearby Calfkiller Brewing (Sparta, TN) at Father Tom's Pub (photo above) in Cookeville with lunch.

11/13 - I had a decent Orion Premium Draft lager(Okinawa, Japan) at Suzy Wong's House of Yum in Nashville with dinner before seeing Jurassic Park at the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall where the Nashville Symphony played the awesome score live during the film.  The theme carried on outside with a replica of the iconic park vehicle parked next to the venue.

11/4 - It was a local poker night win for me tonight!  Before the game I stopped to check out the great beer selection at Lebanon Wine and Spirits (an off-shoot of The Mt. Juliet Beer Company) where I got a nice variety four-pack.  I had a Starless dark German beer from Wiseacre Brewing over in Memphis, and a Flesh and Blood IPA from Dogfish Head Brewing (DE) during the game.

11/16 - Went and saw the new sci-fi film, The Arrival, in Murfreesboro with my co-worker/friend, Casey.  It was a pretty good flick I thought.  Before the movie we stopped by for a visit to the retro Flashback Arcade where for ten bucks you play a bunch of old classic arcade games and pinball machines as long as you desire.  Very cool place!  

I finished my variety four-pack with a Phantasmagoria double IPA from Prairie Artisan Ales (Tulsa, OK) and a Crowd Control IPA from Southern Prohibition Brewing (MS).

Friday, 11/18 -  Took the day off today and met my long-time friend, and  fellow craft-beer lover, Craig, in Murfreesboro for lunch and another visit to the Flashback Arcade.  With lunch at the always-tasty O'Possum's Irish Pub I had a Jack the Sipper ESB from Southern Prohibition Brewing (MS).  I've had this one before but never on tap.   After lunch and the arcade, we headed to Nashville to catch a show by Blue Rodeo at the City Winery downtown.  Before and after the excellent show, I gave Craig an impromptu beer-tour of around Nashville with our first stop being Black Abbey Brewing where I had their new collaboration with Blackstone Brewing, the Schwartz Side of the Moon (Black N Black Collaboration) dark lager which was tasty.  From there we moved on to the East Nashville Beer Works where I had their refreshing Cumberland Punch pale wheat ale during an excellent game of corn-hole that went to sudden-death OT (congrats, Craig).    At the show I had a Priscilla witbier from Oskar Blues Brewery (CO and NC).  After the show we closed down Bearded Iris Brewing over in Germantown where I had their very good Homestyle IPA w/ Blueberry and Honey.  

A rare (for the Southern U.S.) and a not-rare SOLD OUT show by these Canadian Music Hall-of-Famers and my favorite band of all time.  Thanks for coming to Music City again guys!!

Saturday, 11/19 -  Craig and I headed to Cookeville today to take in a Tennessee Tech football game along with Craig's son, Ryan.  Craig and I met here, so it's got a special place in both of our hearts.

The Golden Eagles beat the living stew out of Murray State by a score of 55-19.  Before the game, we had lunch at Father Tom's Pub (been here three times in the last month!) where I had a so-so Scorched Gourd pumpkin beer from Cookeville's own Red Silo Brewing with my tasty lunch.

We got free entry into the Tech girls' basketball game this evening for going to the football game, so we decided to stick around town for a couple more hours which gave us a chance to visit the very cool tap room for Red Silo Brewing.    I had a flight of four very good beers that included the Hot Pepper Porter,  Shannon's Screaming Banshee rye beer (also with pepper infusion and hotter than the porter), the P-Nit-Butter Porter and the Engine 509 Nitro stout.  The girls didn't fare too well against MTSU, but it was fun to be back in the nicely-update Hooper-Eblen Center where Craig and I had a lot of good times while we were students here (and seeing our then-crush basketball queen, Shawn Monday, again in person for Tech Legends Night was a real bonus since she's still a fox!)

Yeah, seriously...

OctoBEER

Screw you, Matthew!!

10/6 - We had to cancel our annual guys-trip to see the Titans play on the road this year.  We were all set to go to Miami, but our plans were squashed thanks to Hurricane Matthew moving in on the day we were supposed to arrive.  Thanks a lot, a-hole...

10/9 - The gathering this year was reduced to two as my friend, Danny, and I met at Smokin' Thighs in Nashville today to eat some great wings and see the Titans win (of course) in Miami on one of the TVs there.  With lunch I had a Honey Juniper farmhouse ale from Cold Fusion Brewing, a new (to me at least) craft brewery out of Knoxville.  After the game I stopped  by 12 South Taproom for a pint of the amazing cask-conditioned Alloy Poblano Cucumber Lime ale from Tin Man Brewing up in Evansville, IN.  This was my first five-star rated beer on the UNTAPPD app in a very long time.  Absolutely outstanding!  On the way home I stopped and saw the fairly-well-done flick, War Dogs, at the 2-buck cheap theater in Antioch.

I was a bachelor this week with Ashlee gone with her mom and niece on a cruise.  One of my duties was to take our tiny 16-year-old cat, Mabel, to the vet.  You can see by the look on her face on the way home, she was not amused.  This has nothing to do with beer...it's just hilarious.

10/10 - I saw another really good film tonight called The Accountant  with my friend, Quentin, thanks to a free sneak-peek offer at the theaters at Green Hills Mall.   Beforehand, I stopped by Craft Brewed in Nashville for a few half-pints including the Rowdy rye beer from Atlas Brewing (Washington, DC), the Extra Dry saison from Stillwater Artisanal Ales in Baltimore and the so-so Hoppy Birthday session IPA also from Atlas.  

While at Craft Brewed yesterday, I also picked up a six-pack of District Common lager from Atlas Brewing in D.C. which I had with some delicious brats out on the patio at our house today as my official kick off autumn!

10/11 - It was another movie-night as my friend, Wayne, and I saw Deepwater Horizon in IMAX.  Before the show, I stopped by Southern Grist Brewing in East Nashville (photo above - one of my favorite local beer logos) where I had their [Insert Juicy Pun] IPA and the Deep Dive saison (seemed appropriate with tonight's film).  Both were excellent and these guys continue to be one of my favorite local breweries.  Then, I met Wayne for dinner before the show at The Hop Stop where I also had a couple half-pints including  the Stone Enjoy By 10.31.16 Tangerine IPA and the Princess Wanda dark ale by Nashville's own Jackalope Brewing.

10/14 - I took the afternoon off today to meet up with Wayne for Opening Night for the Nashville Predators 2016/2017 Season.  Before heading to the arena I stopped by Craft Brewed again and had a pint of Bulldog Red Irish Ale (photo below) from Cranker's Brewery (MI) and a Woodland Street Mosaic session IPA from the fairly new East Nashville Beer Works.

I moved on to The Picnic Tap at the Nashville Farmer's Market to kill a little more time (and a few more brain cells?) with a quite refreshing Lemon Lime Basil Kolsch from Garr's Beer Company and a terrific Munich Pale ale from New Heights Brewing from here in Nashville.

We gathered in the rain to watch our team enter the arena on the Gold Carpet and I got some great up-close shots of many of the team and even a high-five from our  awesome goal-tender, Pekka Rinne!

Our center-ice seats were fantastic and the the 3-2 win over the hated Chicago Blackhawks was even better!!

10/15 - I continued my "Weekend with Wayne" today as we decided to take a road-trip northeast and check out Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Kentucky and since it was a full moon hopefully see the famous moon-bow it can create, a natural phenomenon that only happens here in the entire northern hemisphere of the planet.  

On the way up we stopped in Cookeville at Father Tom's Pub for an excellent lunch and I was able to have a couple of pints as well including the Weizen-Up Hefeweizen from one of Tennesee's newest craft breweries (and Cookeville's first), Red Silo Brewing. I followed that up with a great Clawhammer Oktoberfest from Highland Brewing over in Asheville, NC.

With the fall colors just starting to turn Cumberland Falls is stunning in the daylight as well.

Success!!  Not only did we get to see the famous moon-bow, Wayne was even able to capture in on film.   Nice job, bud! 

10/16 - I completed my Wayne's World Weekend by attending the Titans-Browns game with him and our boys hung on for their second consecutive win, a .500 record, and a much-needed home win as well.  Baby steps, Titans fans, baby steps.

After the game I stopped by M.L. Rose Craft Beer and Burger Bar for some early dinner and a pint of the Yee-Haw Dunkel lager from Yee-Haw Brewing up in Johnson City, TN.

10/22 - My fave local beer store, The Mt. Juliet Beer Company, has expanded eastward over here to Lebanon in the new Lebanon Wine and Spirits store which will have high-gravity beer and growler fills.  I christened the new store with a 1/2 growler purchase of the Fall Lager (2016) from Yazoo Brewing.

10/29 - Come on, Cubbies!!  While in Chattanooga visiting my mother-in-law, I enjoyed a couple of cans of Even Keel Session IPA from Ballast Point Brewing (San Diego) while watching Game 4 of the 2016 World Series between Chicago and Cleveland, which didn't go well for the Cubs, unfortunately.  The impressive Cleveland starting pitching rotation looks like it's just too much for the young Chicago team...but we shall see....

The season is changing but good beer continues at a steady pace

Fall is upon us and we regrettably began closing the pool and looking for other ways to entertain ourselves and I, of course, took any opportunity I could to try more new craft beer:

9/9/16 - Another part of Ashlee's birthday extravaganza included renting an awesome cabin overlooking Nickajack Lake where we went kayaking and finally got to see the bats emerge by the thousands out of Nickajack Cave.  I bought a six-pack of Oskar Blues IPA  to enjoy with this tremendous view.  This was my first product by Oskar Blues that was brewed and canned in their new Brevard, North Carolina, facility.

Nighttime at the cabin was amazing too with a beautiful cloudless sky that was perfect for some star-gazing.  And with my new IPhone app, Sky Guide, it made for an interesting and informative evening of peaceful solitude.

9/12/16 - On Ashlee's ACTUAL BIRTHDAY we had dinner at one of our her (and mine) favorite new Nashville restaurants, The Chauhan Ale and Masala House where I had a Bengali IPA from Sixpoint Brewing in Brooklyn, NY, with their distinctive slim cans.  I also had a sip of Wayne's Apple Knocker Hard Cider (the Bad One) which was pretty good while he was playing Pokemon Go.  I think I will just continue playing Craft Beerkemon (Gotta Drink 'em All!). 

9/14/16 - I saw the excellent film, Sully in IMAX  tonight with my good friend, Wayne.  Beforehand we hand dinner and I got a couple of half-pints at the Homegrown Taproom including the Zombie Monkie porter from Tallgrass (KS) and the Honey Biscuit Blonde ale from Honky Tonk Brewing here in Nashville.

9/22/16 - Today was possibly my last day-off to spend at the pool this year.  I was also celebrating the fact that our favorite affordable grocery store, Aldi, now has has beer!!  I bought a six-pack of the IPA from Wild Range Brewing (mass-produced inferior product) in bottles.  It wasn't hoppy in the least bit, so I guess it was more of an English-style IPA, but without the usual after-bite of most of those, so actually not bad, especially on a hot day.  I will continue to sort thru the weird brands that Aldi carries and report my findings as usual...somebody's got to do it!

9/22 - Next up  film-wise was the not-so-excellent remake of The Magnificent Seven with my friends Wayne, Danny and Brenda.  The cast was great and it had its good moments early-on, but flat-lined in the third act into ho-humness and a some WTF? moments...oh well.  Beforehand, Wayne and I had dinner again at the Homegrown Taproom again where I had a couple of half-pints including the zesty Sun Splash IPA from Mill Creek Brewing over in nearby Nolensville and the super-hoppy Tryestar pale ale rye from one of Nashville's newest microbreweries, New Heights.

9/24  - Ashlee and I attended Wayne's college graduation today (congrats, bud!!) and afterwards had a delicious lunch in Germantown at Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint where I had a Hardcore Chimera double IPA in a pint can from Finch Beer Company (Chicago).

It was a beautiful BIG ORANGE sunset in Tennessee today as the Vols finally got the Florida Gatormonkey off their backs with an amazing second-half comeback and resounding win!!

I toasted the big UT win at one of the newest Nashville craft breweries, East Nashville Beer Works, which has a beautiful facility and some top-notch creations.  I had half-pints of the Swing Bridge IPA, the Roaming Dog ASB and the Woodland Street Galaxy session IPA.  I will be back here for sure!

Ashlee had a girls-night planned, so I went solo to see James Bay tonight at The Ryman.  I had to get a ticket off of Stub Hub because his two shows here were sold out.  I just discovered him a short while back.  He was pretty impressive, albeit a little too reminiscent of  John Mayer in my opinion with all the young ladies swooning in the crowd over him...but, hey, I still like "Gravity" by Mayer despite his jack-assery off the stage.

9/25/16 - Wayne invited me to see the Titans take on the Oakland Raiders today with him.  It was another frustrating loss for our boys, but it was a beautiful day for a game and Wayne's new IPhone 7 takes a pretty good depth-of-field portrait.

After the loss, I decided to stop by Black Abbey Brewing and drown my sorrows a bit.  I think it would take at least this much beer pictured above to right all the wrongs of the Titans over the past decade!  I had half pints of the Stout of Touch dry Irish stout, The Champion with Hot Peppers cask pale ale  (my fav of the bunch) and the Hops and Oats bock.   The Black Abbey folks are obsessed with Hall and Oates for some reason lately and their beer creation names are hilariously reflecting that fact.  Keep up the good work, you crazy Man-eaters! 

Hey, I stole this, but it makes me laugh and it's oh so true as a Titans fan.  Cheers!  

A Whole Lot o' Travelin' and a Whole Lot of Good Beer! (Northern California)

Ashlee and I took a great trip to the San Jose/Northern California area for a pre-birthday trip for her and a chance for us to see Coldplay in concert.  The area is awesome, the weather was awesome and Coldplay were...well, awesome...and the beer I found was right up there in the awesome-sauce as well, starting with a Joe IPA from 10 Barrel Brewing (OR) that I had with lunch at a layover at LAX.

9/2/16 - Once we got to San Jose I was able to check out my first meadery ever.  Rabbit's Foot Meadery in Sunnyvale, CA, just outside San Jose was a hopping little place and I tried their Sweet Mead which I can't say I was a big fan of honestly.  I am just not much of a sweets fan in any form.  I also had a few sips of Ashlee's order, the Sucker Punch! cider from Red Branch Cider and Brewing which is an off-shoot of Rabbit's Foot.  The sour intro and smooth finish of it was interesting.  At dinner later, also in Sunnyvale, at Roberto's Cantina I had the Bohemia Clasica (Mexico) cerveza lager which was pretty good especially with out delicious Mexican fare.

9/3/16 -  We headed toward the coast today but stopped on our way at the awesome Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California's oldest state park, and took a great loop trail around some of the gigantic redwood monsters including this 250'+ one called The Father of the Forest.  Even cooler was the fact that after we got done with our walk, we were able to buy craft beer at the park store and enjoy it there (take that, Tennessee!!).  What a great idea.  I had the Apocalypse IPA from 10 Barrel (OR) and it was perfect!  

Once we were out on the coast we stopped for lunch at the quirky Highway 1 Brewing Company.  This is kind of a weird area anyway in it's loneliness and lack of development and the unique people around here seem to fit it to a tee.  I had their solid Slow Coast Session IPA and a few sips of Ashlee's good Syzygy Synergy (New Zealand Saison).  

9/4/16 - We were COASTING again today and our first stop was the beautiful Rockaway Beach in Pacifica, CA.

We stopped in at Hop Dogma Brewing just outside Half Moon Bay in El Granada, CA, and each had a tasty flight of their beers.  I had the following:  the A-Frame IPA, the Pyro's Post rye beer, the We All Grin for Lupulin: Batch 5.0 IPA, the Coast Tribe IPA, the Polydactyl Pilsner, the Yellow Mellow kolsch, the Baby-Dankopottamus pale ale, and the Fides In Fermento Imperial Stout w/ Coffee.  All were impressive and appreciated.

Back in San Jose we made a last-second , last-of-the-night beer stop at Alpha Acid Brewing and it turned out to be my favorite beer stop of the entire trip.  The little place is doing some outstanding brewing.  I had the Cocomo IPA (this was my favorite beer of the trip with its super-smooth coconut infusion) and the Final Final triple IPA (Lord, have mercy!).

We closed out the evening back at the hotel with a pint bottle of  Naughty Ninja - Hard Ginger from Red Branch that we bought on our first night here.  It is a cyser (fermented apple and honey mix) that was really very good.

9/5/16 - We spent our last full day in Cali back out on the coast, of course, heading south and then swinging back north where even little gems like Point Pinos Lighthouse above which was closed was still worth seeing.

The view of The Wharf at Santa Cruz from our hotel room tonight was better than the wharf itself.  I took a sunset walk on it and wasn't really impressed with the views, the restaurants...or the beer available there.  I did have a Shimmer Pils pilsner from Discretion Brewing in nearby Soquel, CA, that was decent at one of the bars there.

A Whole Lot o' Travelin' and a Whole Lot of Good Beer! (Northern Indiana)

Saturday, 8/27/16 - I flew up to Chicago's Midway Airport this weekend while Ashlee was on a girl's trip to play some tournament poker and check out a few breweries in the Northern Indiana region.

Indiana has become quite the craft beer state and I have several of these already marked off the list and will continue to check them off on this trip.  

I played in my first Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) tournament today at the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, Indiana, and while I didn't make a deep run, I did enjoy myself and was impressed with the set-up and structure.  I will definitely be trying my luck with the HPT again.  I stayed at a nice Raddison in nearby Merrillville, Indiana, which had a decent Irish pub attached to it called T.J. Maloney's.  With dinner there that evening I had a Bad Elmer's Porter from Upland Brewing from over in Blommington, Indiana, and then the Gumballhead pale wheat ale from the legendary 3 Floyd's Brewing over in Munster, Indiana (more on them later).

After dinner, I drove just a couple miles from my hotel in Merrillville to The Devil's Trumpet Brewing Company.  These guys have solid beer, but weren't the most friendly folks I have run into in the craft beer world.  Plus the death metal they had playing in the background (ironically?) was kind of annoying.  I had a few half-pints including the Juice Farm double IPA, the My Ghetto IPA and the Space Caravan IPA.  

Sunday, 8/28/16 - Since I was out of the projected two-day poker tournament, my day-two back up plan included some sight-seeing and some beer, of course.  My first morning stop was in Michigan City out on the lake with a beautiful, fun walk out to their tiny harbor lighthouse.  My reason for visiting Michigan City was two-fold since they also have a couple craft breweries I wanted to visit.  My first stop was the tiny, but impressive, Burn Em Brewing (named after a take on one of the brewer's dad's first name who originally owned the building where their brewpub is now located).  I had their Troll Serum English pale ale which was cask-conditioned and really good.  I finished with the Cuke NUKEM IPA that is brewed with peeled cucumbers for a very unique (and refreshing) taste.  This was probably my favorite beer of the trip.

Also while in Michigan City, I stopped at the much-longer-established Shoreline Brewery for lunch and a couple more half-pints including the Shoddy Dock Session IPA and the Singing Sands oatmeal stout.

I spent the rest of the afternoon burning off some calories climbing the sand and exploring the beautiful Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

On my way back to the hotel I stopped at the small 18th Street Brewery in Hammond, Indiana, where I tried the super-hoppy Sex and Candy IPA and the equally hoppy and delightful Jade pale ale.

Monday, 8/29/19 - It was fly-home day for me, but I had a little time to kill before going to the airport, so I stopped by the legendary 3 Floyds Brewing in nearby Munster, Indiana, for lunch and a couple excellent pours.  Ashlee and I stopped by here 5 years ago on a road trip to Chicago and these guys were locally-loved then and starting to get a broader appeal, but now they are the big-boys in the region and are considered one of the best microbreweries in the country.  With my tasty lunch I had the War Mullet double IPA and the FloydDivision 3 IPA.  Both were excellent!

One last stop on the way to the airport was the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL.  This is the LARGEST arcade in the U.S. filled with classic video games and where a one-price fee lets you play all you want for as long as you want.  Remember this one from way back?  Yep, I still suck at it, but man is it fun to play!

What a fun little trip, but sometimes you gotta just get back home because your cat needs you...