I-P-A RIVER: August 2016

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July 19 - It was poker night again at my local club here in Lebanon, so I stopped by the Mt. Juliet Beer Company and got a few newbies to take with me to the table. I had a Codachrome spiced beer from Singing River (AL) a Low Key session IPA from Magic Hat (VT) and a Space Fruit pale ale from Devil's Backbone (VA). And my favorite hand (33) struck again as my set of three's served as a knock-out tonight.

July 21 - On our way to see the new Star Trek Beyond in IMAX at Opry Mills tonight we stopped at Homegrown Taproom for some dinner and a few brews. I had the Heritage Helles lager from Little Harpeth here in Nashville and a Hilltop IPA from Core Brewing (AR).

July 22 - Before a Michael Franti concert tonight we had dinner at the Holland House in East Nashville where I had a Indian Brown Ale from Dogfish Head (MD)

July 26 - My friend, Quentin, invited me to a sneak-peek showing of Jason Bourne tonight. It was a pretty darnn good flick especially the car chase through Las Vegas which was very timely given my recent trip there. Afterwards, I stopped by the 12 South Taproom for a couple of draughts including the Alternate Takes # 1 double IPA from Dogfish Head (MD) and the Pranqster Belgian-style blonde ale from North Coast Brewing (CA).

July 29 - Ashlee and I had a great dinner at a fairly new Indian place in Nashville called The Chauhan Ale and Masala House where I had the Saffron Cardamom IPA which is made for exclusively for them by Cool Springs Brewing in nearby Brentwood. It is my understanding that the brewer of this particular beer has moved on to open his own microbrewery, Mantra Ales, over in Franklin which has been producing some great stuff including the Amour Rouge Flemish-style red ale which I had next.

July 31 - Bought a variety six-pack from the Mt. Juliet Beer Company for a weekend home at the pool and the line-up went as follows:

Mango Wheat from Anchor Steam (CA)

Yee-Haw (Brewing) Eighty Scottish Ale (Johnson City, TN)

Yee-Haw Pilsner

Wheat with Peach from Blue Pants (AL)

Highland (Brewing) Pilsner (NC)

Grapefruit IPA from Tailgate Brewing here in Nashville

August 2 - We attended a show at The Ryman tonight to see LP open for Bryan Ferry. Before the show we ate at the new Lula Cafe which is attached to the venue. I had a Saison from Turtle Anarchy Brewing here in Nashville.

August 4 - I attended an IMAX showing of Suicide Squad tonight at Opry Mills (and yes Margot Robbie was the best thing about it). Beforehand at dinner at the Homegrown Taproom I had a Classic Stout by Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta, TN.

Here! Here!

July 8, 2016: I headed to Vegas today to compete in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event. I couldn't go to Vegas without scoring some good beer, of course, and I really struck it rich (at least in terms of the beer):

To win the WSOP Main Event, you need to play poker for seven full days. Good thing I had the attire ready to do so. I might have a problem with beer shirts....?

Might as well start if off with a bang at the airport! My wife, Ashlee, found a great little liquor store by the baggage claim (brilliant placement) and they even had quality craft beer so I had a Resinate IPA from Crafthaus Brewery over in Henderson, NV, while we waited on our bags to drop. Cheers, Vegas!

We headed straight to one my of favorite Vegas spots, Burger Bar, when we landed for a late-evening supper and I had a Chronic Amber Ale from Pizza Port Brewing (CA).

July 9: We stayed at the beautiful Mandalay Bay Resort and rented a pool-side cabana for the day since I didn't start playing poker until tomorrow and they even had some good craft choices on their menu. I started with a Peace Love and Hoppiness pale ale from Big Dog's Brewing here in Vegas (one of my local favorites). I also had a Pivo Pils(ner) from Firestone Walker (CA) and a Hell or High Watermelon fruit beer from 21st Amendment (San Fran). What a great, relaxing day!

One of my favorite UNTAPPD badges earned so far!

We went to dinner tonight at one of my favorite places, The Yard House, at their new location at the foot of the huge new High Roller Ferris Wheel which we also rode afterwards. I had three "shorty" half-pints with dinner including the Dawn of the Red amber ale from Ninkasi (OR), Sin-Tax Imperial Peanut Butter Stout from Mother Earth (CA) and the Great Lei American IPA from Belching Beaver (CA) - that was a great beer and that's one my favorite new brewery names for sure. It's right up there with Horny Goat Brewing out of Milwaukee!

July 10, 2016 - Focus time!!

I was able to maintain my starting stack plus a little after the end of Day 1 despite a couple of bad-luck scenarios that knocked my stack down a couple times.

July 11 - I had another day off from poker so we decided to head into the desert for the day (and night) and I found a Big Eye American IPA bomber from Ballast Point (CA) at a Wal-Green's (you gotta love Vegas) for the road!

I marked another national park off my list when visiting Vegas. It was a long trip there and back, but really worth it. What a beautiful, unique place!

July 12 - Well, I battled hard and had some highs (knocked a guy out of the tournament, doubled up through the nasty young Russian pro at my table) and some lows (had KK slow-played on my 77 with a low board, and then had my QQ cracked by AK on the river to cripple me), but was knocked out of the tournament late into Day 2. I got my money in good when I needed to and only made a couple of mistakes in my opinion, so I feel pretty good about it and I vow to be here again as soon as possible!! What an awesome experience!

July 13 - Look, having some good luck is all part of what makes Vegas great, and while I did get knocked out of the WSOP the night before with some bad luck, little did I know the next day I would stumble on some of the best luck I, personally, have ever had in Sin City. I give you the PUB 365. It's a place I literally stumbled across as I was walking to The Strip today from my secondary hotel for the week, an Embassy Suites on Paradise Road. I had never heard of this place and made note of it to possibly check out later, I promptly got knocked out of a little daily tournament at the Planet Hollywood casino and made my way back here for a look. What I got was pure joy and amazement!

PUB 365 is located inside the Tuscany Casino which granted I had never even heard of or been to before now. The casino is small but clean and rather quiet since it isn't on The Strip. I ambled into the pub just after lunch time and plopped down at the bar with a video poker machine in front of me hoping that if I goofed around on it for a little change I would at least get a discount on the beers I ordered. Their beer list is impressive (365 different ones, hence the name). So I ordered a Cold Brew IPA from Rogue (OR) and then a City of the Dead stout from Modern Times (San Diego). My barkeep was Mariah and this gal was cute, funny and really knows beer. She even worked at Banger Brewing as well as here in Vegas. I asked for my bill and she said it was ZERO POINT ZERO ZERO!! I was knocked for a loop. Thanks to some quarter video poker I had two quality beers for no cost. Now this is possible in Vegas at a few other places - Ellis Island, Winchell's and Chicago Brewing all of which make their own decent brews - but we are talking high-quality craft beer here from some of the best craft breweries around. It was quite a find to say the least. And I, of course, would be back.

UPDATE - 10/11/16 - My awesome barkeep, Mariah, was honored for her beer prowess at Pub 365 recently, but she also moved on from working there...I will miss you, girl.

I had dinner on The Strip at the LVB Burgers and Bar in The Mirage and they had a decent draught beer selection and I had the DTB Brown Ale from Banger Brewing here in Las Vegas.

July 14 - And I did come back to PUB 365 the very next day when they opened at 11 AM and had a Jean Claude blonde ale from Crafthaus (NV), the El Heffe Jalapeno Wheat from Banger (Vegas) and the Ol' Dirty Barrel imperial stout from my new fav named brewery, Belching Beaver (CA). All were great. All were free!

Like a stupid man, I did stray from PUB 365 not knowing how good I had it. An article I read said that one of the best beer bars in Vegas was in the new The Linq Casino at a sports bar called the TAG Lounge and Bar. They had a decent selection and I had a 120 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head (DE) which cost me $15 even though I was sitting at the bar playing video poker. No comp, no discount, no warning, nothing. Plus the barkeeps knew nothing about the beer they were pouring. Screw this place! I moved on over to the Beer Park at the Parisian. It's an outdoor venue with nice views (photo above, no pun intended) of the The Strip and a good beer selection. Prices were better than at TAG but still no chance for comps or discounts. I went ahead and had the Lemongrass Luau spiced beer from Kona (HI) and a Peach Ale from Four Peaks (AZ). At least the servers were friendly and pretty hot, but I missed cute Mariah and the free beer!

I went and saw the new Ghostbusters reboot at the IMAX theater at The Palms casino. It was pretty funny, but not really IMAX-screen-worthy.

July 16 - Back to Pub 365, of course, and my little Mariah who even showed me the not-available-yet Unicorn Menu (photo above) of hard to find beers that they would soon have available to members. Wow is all can say! Off the regular menu I went big and a lot since it was my last day in Vegas: I had the Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout from Epic Brewing (Salt Lake City), the Gutshot Irish Stout from Bad Beat Brewing in nearby Henderson, Nevada, the Or Xata blonde ale from The Bruery (CA), the Cali' Creamin' ale from Mother Earth (CA), the Homework Series Batch # 7 session saison from Ballast Point (CA), the Gulden Draak 9000 quad Belgian (Belgium), the Red Hydrant brown ale from Big Dog's here in Vegas, the Wookey Jack dark IPA from Firestone Walker (CA) and the Pilsner from Tenaya Creek also here in Vegas.

And then it happened. I logged my 1,000th distinct beer into UNTAPPD!!! (Crowd goes wild)

Here's the big 1K beer....the La Fin Du Monde Belgian tripel from Unibroue Brewing in Quebec. Yep, 9% ABV...go big and then go home! I can't think of a better place to log in my 1,000th distinct beer than the wondrous Pub 365!

I still wasn't done since I had returned to Pub 365 later that same day to meet my friend, Zack, who actually cashed in the same WSOP Main Event for about $25K....and you couldn't buy a brother some tacos??....Anyway, the comped beer continued late into the night with the Busker Brown ale from Joseph James Brewing over in Henderson, Nevada, and the Peanut Butter Milk Stout from Belching Beaver (CA)