Wandering the Path of Beer Totality - Solar Eclipse 2017

8/1 - It was Poker Night in Lebanon again tonight and I had a very special beer given to me by one of my poker pals, Quintin.  It was a pint bottle of Pliny the Elder  double IPA from Russian River Brewing in California. This beer is considered by many as the "best beer in the world."

Now don't get me wrong, it was very, very good and had great hoppiness, but I am not ready to say it was the best I have ever had.   But I greatly appreciate Q getting a hard-to-acquire bottle for me.  

I had  two other new-to-me beers from Lebanon Wine and Spirits tonight also.  They were the not-hoppy-enough Lupu-Luau IPA from Dogfish Head Brewing (DE), and the decent Shiner Strawberry Blonde ale from Spoetzl Brewery (TX).   It would have been three new beers, but I didn't last that long in the tournament.  Blah.  So I had the Urban Farmer saison from Good People Brewing (AL) the next day at the pool.

8/4 - 8/6 -  We took a great long weekend trip up to one of our favorite regional areas:  Brevard, North Carolina, to cool off in the mountains with some friends.

OK, that's clever, but don't be dissing the name IPA, people!

We rented a great house near town and I cracked open a tasty Pernicious IPA from Wicked Weed Brewing in nearby Asheville as soon as we got there and enjoyed it out on the roomy deck.  We went to dinner the first night there at the Magpie Meat and Three in Brevard that has great food and an impressive craft beer list.  I started wtih the DIPA from Mikkeller in Denmark.  Next up was the dark and sweet Coffee Pecan Porter from Ecusta Brewing here in Brevard.   I also had a taste of Wayne's Peach cider from Bold Rock Cidery  (VA) which wasn't bad.

Back at the house I closed the evening out with an impressive Hopness Monster IPA (great can logo below) and a really good King Winterbolt Winter Ale.  Both were from Catawba Brewing  in nearby Morganton, NC.

After a great day of mountain water fun at Sliding Rock Falls and underneath Looking Glass Falls, I spent the evening back at the house doing some tasty grilling and consuming a few more great craft beers including a terrific King of the Mountain double IPA from Boojum Brewing over in Waynesville, NC.  Then a solid Wolf Among Weeds with Whole Cone Citra from Golden Road Brewing (CA) and finally a tasty Trickster IPA from Green Man Brewing over in Asheville.

On our way home Sunday after checking out even more waterfalls (including Sunburst Creek below), Ashlee and I stopped in beautiful Waynesville, NC, and had a great lunch at the Boojum Brewing Taproom downtown.  With my meal I had their strong Triclops Tripel and their excellent Hop Fiend IPA.  

Our friend, Charly, who was with us in North Carolina for the weekend gave me a couple Canoe Paddler kolsch beers from Leinenkugal Brewing (WI) to take home which I enjoyed at the pool the following week.

8/10 - We attended the first of four consecutive weeks of Live on the Green concert series in downtown Nashville tonight.  The headliners were two of our favorites:  Michael Franti and Spearhead, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones.  We opted for the backstage VIP tickets which gave us great stage-viewing access and unlimited free food and adult beverages including some decent craft beer.

I started backstage at Live on the Green with a pint can of the solid W.A.C. pale ale from Fat Bottom Brewing here in Nashville.  I followed that up with Fat Bottom's Ida Golden Ale which was decent.

8/13 - I went on another Nashville brewery crawl today with my friends Craig and Barry before the Roger Waters' Us + Them show at the Bridgestone Arena

Our first stop was at one of my local favorites, Southern Grist Brewing, where I had very hoppy Loud Whispers pale ale and then their very good Underbite cream ale.

Next stop was also in East Nashville at Smith and Lentz Brewing where I started with the German Cologne kolsch which had a great apple finish.  I moved on to splitting a hoppy flight of samplers with Barry who shares my love of the wicked weed.  We had the Honkypox Dry Hopped Session Ale which turned out to be one of my favorites of the crawl, then the California Orange IPA which was way too smooth for its 7.5 ABV.  Then we had the OK El Curato IPA and finished with the Sock Tan Pale Ale that was decent.  I do like that Smith and Lentz are foraying into the IPA zone but I sure think they need to hop up the hops if they are going to stay there.  They do German-style beers the best.  Maybe they should stick to them? 

We continued the crawl at Bearded Iris Brewing where I had the Chief of Chiefs IPA that was solid.  Then it was on to Little Harpeth Brewing where I had the Mosaic IPK kolsch that I really liked.  We did a quick stop at The Picnic Tap in the Farmer's Market where I had the good Kolsch by Turtle Anarchy Brewing also here in Nashville.  Dinner was next at Tennessee Brew Works where I had their City Winery Collab 2017 Belgian strong dark ale with my gator tail (interesting combo!).  Before the show we stopped in the HQ Beercade for some classic video games...and beer, of course and I had a Vivid Sauvage Belgian tripel from Green Flash Brewing (CA).

The show was great (ableit I was a little drunk during it thanks to the long brewery crawl we did), but I still managed to hear the music, see the great visuals and have a Zombie Monkie porter from Tallgrass Brewing (KS). 

8/16 - I took a day of from work today to check out the Titans preseason practice with the Carolina Panthers out at Baptist Sports Park.  It was a lot of fun despite the humid temps.  Afterwards I  saw the stark, historic film, Detroit, over at the Green Hills theaters (with new recliners seats!).  No beer, but a fun day.

Marcus is back!!!

Cam Newton looking more like a DE than a QB.  He's a monster, ya'll!

8/19 - We had tickets to see Dan Layus open for Will Hoge tonight at a sold-out show at 3rd and Lindsley and I had a terrific Session Player IPA from Blackstone Brewing here in Nashville with my dinner.

8/20 - Since I am not a big bourbon drinker, I volunteered to be the designated driver today to take Ashlee, and our friends, Jeremy (who is a big bourbon fan) and Amy up to check out some of the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky.  We had a fine day with stops at the beautiful Maker's Mark Distillery campus, the relatively new Limestone Branch Distillery and the historic Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown where I did manage to find a Cougar Bait Blonde ale from Country Boy Brewing over in Lexington.

With lunch at Maker's Mark Distillery's new cafe, Starr Hill Provisions, I had my first-ever Ale81 which evidently was once made by distillers  here in Kentucky who got shut down by Prohibition, switched to soft drinks and never came back due to the success of this drink.  It's tropical ginger taste is unique and tasty, but I am not sure about the name...who you tryin' to trick?

8/21 - The  2017 Solar Eclipse finally happened today and we were in "The Path of Totality" with almost two minutes of darkness in the middle of the day.  It was an amazing event to witness.  We threw a pool party to celebrate and I got myself a unique-to-me four-pack of craft beer for the occasion at Lebanon Wine and Spirits.

I started the day with a Stone Mocha IPA which was very interesting.  This California brewery continues to be my favorite of all time.  Next up was a tasty Pumking pumpkin beer (fall is coming!) from Southern Tier Brewing (TX).  I donned my eclipse glasses as the event started and gazed in wonder from our pool with a can of Screaming Cock Pale Ale from Blackberry Farm Brewing  (Walland, TN). Photo above by my good friend, Wayne Hutton.  Last up was another Stone Brewing creation, the Enjoy By 09.04.17 Unfiltered IPA which was dynamite.  

How could I enjoy an eclipse without a bottle of Sol cerveza lager?  This was actually a leftover birthday present from Robtoberfest from my friends, Patrick and Michelle, but it definitely seemed fitting.

Cheers to the weird and wonderful world we live in!!  

Summer Lovin'...havin' a beer...or two...or three...oh, just stop counting!

6/15 - Ashlee and I checked out the new location for Fat Bottom Brewing on the west side of Nashville tonight before a Third Eye Blind concert downtown.  The food was great and the beer was decent.  I had the 2 Hop Shakur West Coast IPA and a sip of Ashlee's Two Piece ginger pale wheat ale,

 I finished at Fat Bottom with the oddly bright-colored Wallflower Spring Saison that was sour but full of power.

6/23 - Why can't this be my work truck?  We stopped by Lebanon Wine and Spirits tonight and Grayton Beer Company (Santa Rosa Beach, FL) was there giving out free samples.  I tried the decent 30A Beach Blonde Ale , the Salt of the Gulf sour gose which was an interesting sour/saline mix, and the ho-hum Fish Whistle IPA...way too malty for an IPA in my opinion.

6/23 - I finally got to check out the awesome new HQ Beercade in downtown Nashville tonight where you can play classic arcade games for free while sipping a good selection of craft beer.  I have actually never played the beer-inspired Tapper  video game before tonight, but it was kind of fun and challenging.  I had a King Buffalo stout from Tallgrass Brewing (KS) while there.

6/26 - Great soundtrack.  Decent movie, but I was expecting a bit more.

We celebrated the 4th in Chattanooga and I had a ChickBock maibock from Chattanooga Brewing after a fun day on the Chickamauga Lake...see below

Just for the record, no beer was consumed before this occurred...

7/6 -  Stopped by Homegrown Taproom on my way to the movies tonight and had the honor of  grabbing a glass of the George Dickel Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter from Nashville's own Tennessee Brew Works.  This was only my second original check-in on UnTapped and it was a dandy with its beautiful chocolate linger

I finished up with a Wise Blood IPA from Wild Heaven Beer (GA) before meeting my friend, Wayne, to see the new
Spider-man: Homecoming in IMAX at Opry Mills.  Glad to see Marvel Studios finally get this franchise done right!

7/8 -  I had an Acme-Rooster Brew pale wheat ale from Fat Bottom Brewing  made especially for Acme Feed and Seed with a sushi lunch on our way to see the USMNT take on Panama in the opening round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer tournament at Nissan Stadium here in Nashville.  We kissed our sister with a tie today, but went on to win the 2017 Gold Cup!!

7/13 - Excellent acting by Andy Serkis again.  Story line was a little sloppy, but an entertaining film and trilogy overall.

7/14 - Cheers, Nashville!!  I had a terrific Fugli IPA - Oskar Blues Brewery (NC division) as we boarded the brand-new Pontoon Saloon boat tour on the Cumberland River tonight with several of our friends.  It's a BYOB activity and I did just that with a nice variety four-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits.  Next up was  a solid Nebraska Brewing IPA (Oct 2016 - ).  What a perfect night for a cruise!

The best of the night was the Puff imperial IPA from one of my favorite craft breweries,  Sixpoint out of Brooklyn, NY. 

 OK, I did NOT know there was a lighthouse in Tennessee.  What a little beauty!  I finished the evening with a refreshing Lime Pilsner from Uinta Brewing (UT) 

7/16 - We had a small pool party for our Kiwi visitor, Mel, today, but I seemed to have got all the good presents.  My friend, Nate, brought some small-batch recently-tapped brews from New Heights Brewing here in Nashville.  First up was the excellent White Oak Wood-Chip Aged Navel Gazer imperial stout.  Then the above-pictured Dark American Oak imperial stout which was also amazing.  I also had a can of  Home Rule pale lager from Atlas Brewing (Washington, DC) that Nate brought as well as a Lost Souls IPA from Evil Twin Brewing (Brooklyn, NY). and finally an UNSTOUTTD stout also from Evil Twin Brewing.  Did I mention I really love my friend, Nate?  

7/18 - I had an Embrace the Funk Foeder # 2 American wild ale from local Yazoo Brewing with dinner at Party Fowl in Nashville tonight.  It was very sour and that made me very dour.

7/20 - Amazing film and a must-see in IMAX! I will put it in my Top 5  Favorite War Films but it's still behind Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down....and probably Platoon.

7/21 - My long-time friend, Chris, came up from Chattanooga today and we did a short Nashville brewery crawl before a Steve Earle and the Dukes' first-ever-headlining show at The Ryman.  Our first stop was New Heights Brewing where I had a Beerded Recluse strong ale.  We moved on to Czann's Brewing where there was no new beer for me, but some valuable free downtown parking. Plus, Chris had never been here.  My friend Nate joined us while at Czann's and then we all Uber-ed over to Jackalope Brewing next where I had the interesting Peach Tea Pale Ale.  Next, we walked next door to dinner at Party Fowl.   With dinner I had a beautifully cloudy and hoppy 1927 IPA from Tennessee Brew Works also here in Nashville. Nate didn't go to the show with us, but my old childhood friend, Jeff, and his date, joined us for the excellent show.  The openers were Lucero who were also pretty good.  Lead singer, Ben Nichols' gravelly voice is definitely more intoxicating than the weak Music City Light lager I had at the show from the Music City Beer Company (in Nashville?...sounds mass-produced and sketchy).   Back home after the show, we took a late night dip in the pool with a couple of Two-Hearted Ales from Bell's Brewing (MI) that Chris brought up.  What a good, good day of beer, music and camaraderie! 

7/27 - It was poker night in Lebanon tonight and I got another great variety four-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits to get me through the long periods of being card-dead.  I started with the good Special Regular IPA from Wiseacre Brewing (Memphis), then the Cedar Creek Brew Company IPA from Indiana that had an unpleasant aftertaste.  Batting third was the excellent Belgian-style Bourbon Barrel Quad from Boulevard Brewing (KC).  The finale was the almost-perfect Duck-Rabbator Dopplebock from Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (NC).   

I described this movie as "The Fifth Element on steroids."  Really enjoyable sci-fi flick.  Before the movie at Opry Mills, I had dinner at Homegrown Taproom and three half-pints including the fairly weak Hipster Dance Party double IPA from East Nashville Beer Works,  the nice Bousiller Belgian pale ale from Mantra Artisan Ales over in Franklin, TN, and finally the best of the stop:  the tasty Tropjack IPA from Blackstone Brewing here in Nashville. 

ROBtoberfest

June 3, 2017 -  I have the best wife in the world, people!

(and possibly the best friend in Chris -freaking- DeGroff!!)

Despite me spending my 50th birthday in lovely and amazing Japan, my awesome wife, Ashlee, decided I needed an actual birthday party as well, and so a few months later with the weather right for using the pool she put together "Robtoberfest" for me.  It was a pool party complete with, tasty German food, an amazing blow-up Irish pub, 50 different kinds of canned craft beer (8 new ones for me), and lots of pool-oriented fun including watching our beloved Preds on a big-screen outside from the pool in the Stanley Cup Finals.  We had about 40 people show up and I got a ton of cool and thoughtful gifts.  One of the best was from my good friend, Chris, who surprised me with an amazing gift of 50 more different craft beers from in and around Indiana where he lives now.  With his collection I added 43 new-to-me beers to my ever-growing consumption-collection.

The blow-up Irish pub fit nicely in our backyard behind the pool.  It was large and roomy inside with chairs and tables and a large bar area.

One of the new pool floats given to me by Ashlee for Robtoberfest was this cool beer float complete with attached cooler.

Another Ashlee gift was this hilarious children's book knock-off for beer lovers.

My favorite character from Goodnight Brew is, of course, the hops wildebeest.  

Since our 50 different party canned beers were from Lebanon Wine and Spirits, I naturally had already had a lot of them.  But the eight of them that I not had were:  T-Time, a sour Berliner Weisse from Terrapin Brewing (Athens, GA); the above-pictured Creekbank Blonde ale from BriarScratch Brewing in nearby Gallatin, TN;  the Roundhouse IPA from Bell's Brewery (MI), the Passion Fruit Pinner IPA from Oskar Blues Brewery (CO): Raspberry Jam, another sour Berliner Weisse from Tallgrass Brewing (KS); the Dayblazer blonde ale from New Belgium (CO); and the best of the bunch, the Resin and Hi-Res IPAs from the always-great Sixpoint Brewery (Brooklyn, NY).    I also got to have some Suttungabrygden mead from Mjodhamnen Meadery in Sweden that my friend, Nate, brought to the party.  It's the first mead I've had that I actually liked.

Another great Ashlee-gift  in tune with the party theme was the Can Stein that holds your canned beer in fine German style including a lid to keep the bugs out when you are hanging out at the pool!  

6/5 - 7/  - As I mentioned above, my amazing friend, Chris, brought me 50 different beers for my birthday from around his new home region of Indiana, and a whopping 43 of them were new to me.  It took me about a month to finish them all off mostly at home around the pool. Here's a quick (yet long) run-down of every one of the new ones:

Cascade Express IPA - 18th St. Brewery - IN - been to this brewery actually!
Pale Alement pale ale - Burn 'Em Brewing - IN
Special Ale - River Horse Brewing - NJ - took this one and the next two to Poker Night in Lebanon
IPA - River Horse Brewing - NJ
Deadeye Stout - Triton Brewing - IN - my fav of the night, a smoked beauty
Tripel Horse - River Horse Brewing - NJ
Golden Hop IPA - Yards Brewing - PA
Love Stout - Yards Brewing - PA
What the Butler Saw witbier - Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing - NJ
MCA IPA - Burn 'Em Brewing - IN

Lift Off IPA - Daredevil Brewing - IN

Indiana Amber red ale - Oaken Barrel Brewing - IN - been to this one too!
Night Tripper stout - New Holland Brewing - MI
Alpha King pale ale - 3 Floyds Brewing - IN - been there and love it!  More poker night beer.
Mr. Hyde stout - Greenbush Brewing - MI
Gnaw Bone Pale Ale - Oaken Barrel Brewing - IN
Hopsquatch - Mad Anthony Brewing - IN
Closure pale ale - Greenbush - MI
Loch Down Scotch Ale - Arcadia Brewing - MI

Candi Crushable IPA - 18th Street Brewery - IN

Mango Gose - The Sour Note Brewing - IN
Ivory Stout - Brew Link Brewing - IN
10-Speed Hoppy Wheat ale - Bloomington (IN) Brewing Company
Hop Loco double IPA - Mad Anthony Brewing - IN
Yum Yum pale ale - 3 Floyds - IN
Dunegras IPA - Greenbush - MI

Hop'solutely IPA - Fegley's Brew Works - PA - online poker night.  Yes, it's back!!  Global Poker has somehow made it legal again to play online poker. in the U.S  Above is one of my small-entry tournament wins on the site for a nice payday.

Money Maker - Danny Boy Beer Works - IN - poker brew...naturally
Rail Splitter IPA - Triton - IN
Naught Neighbour pale ale - Nickel Brook Brewing - Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Old Leghumper porter - Thirsty Dog Brewing - OH
Exit 16 - Wild Rice Double IPA - Flying Fish Brewing - NJ
Siberian Night stout - Thirsty Dog Brewing - OH
Hunter milk stout - 18th Street - IN
Wrath of Pele brown ale - Burn 'Em Brewing - IN
Training Day pale ale - Danny Boy - IN
Lager of the Lakes - Bell's Brewery - MI
Six Foot Blonde ale - Quaff ON! Brewing -  Nashville....IN!
Farmhouse Summer Ale - Flying Fish Brewing  - NJ
Double Cannon Imperial IPA - Heavy Seas Beer Co. - MD
Grand Cru Winter Reserve Belgian ale - Flying Fish Brewing - NJ
Star Chicken Shotgun IPA - Greenbush Brewing - MI

And the final new one from Chris - the General George Patton Pilsner from Evil Czech Brewery - IN
or so I thought...
a week later Ashlee fished out a delicious Thai P.A. IPA from Bare Hands Brewery (IN) from the back of the fridge.  BONUS!

Man, what a birthday and what a great bunch of presents!!  

I am a lucky man with a nice big beer gut to prove it!!