I-P-A RIVER: Wandering the Path of Beer Totality

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!!