MARCHing for BEER (and movies and a little travel)

2/28 - Headed back up to Gallatin today to catch a showing of the Annihilation movie starring the always-lovely, Natalie Portman.  It was a weird, but interesting, flick.  Beforehand, I stopped by Prince Street Pizza and Pub and had a pint draught of the tart Witchadidja witbier from the nearby BriarScratch Brewing.

Did I mention my awesome wife, Ashlee, knows me very well and gets me great presents?   This soap has a pleasant smell, but I don't pick up the hops aroma too much.  

3/5 - I saw Red Sparrow tonight with my work pal, Casey, at the Roxy Theaters here in Lebanon.  It was a little slow, but wrapped up well and will probably be a solid trilogy series for the fun and beautiful, Jennifer Lawrence.

3/6 - I slipped over to the Belcourt Theatre tonight to catch the 2018 Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films.  I was kind of in shock that Dear Basketball won over the other contenders which all seemed better in my opinion, but, or course, none of them had Kobe Bryant's named attached to them.  I enjoyed a draft pour of  Snowman Mocha Stout from Jackalope Brewing here in Nashville during the screening.

3/7 - I went back to the Belcourt Theatre tonight to watch the 2018 Oscar-Nominated Live Action Short Films.  All five were very well done and, unlike the animated ones from last night, I had no problem with the winner, The Silent Child.   Before the show, I stopped by the new second location in Nashville of Tailgate Brewing over on Music Row.  It's a nice place and the beer selections were numerous.  I had a pint of their creamy and smooth Almond Bliss to start off.  I finished with a half-pint of the citrusy Crazy Eye P.A. 

3/9 - DAY OFF - PAY OFF!!  I had today off from work and took advantage of it, by heading into Nashville for some fun and suds...

I started the day with an early matinee at Green Hills Theaters (all recliners).  Usually when I go see a movie, I add the movie poster to my post about it.  However, while scrolling through the pictures on Facebook for the new comedy, Gringos, I ran across this photo of the incredibly hot, Charlize Theron, who is in the movie and was promoting it at the Daytona 500.  Mmmm, mmmm, there's just something about hot chicks in baseball hats!  The movie was decent, by the way.

My next stop was the fairly new 51 North Taphouse over in the West Nashville neighborhood, The Nations.  I am not over this way a whole lot, but it was only a few miles drive from Green Hills, so I thought I would check it out.  Great beer list! They had a lot of unique pours I have not seen in this area before.  I started with the solid Ground Score IPA (photo above) from Sweetwater Brewing (Atlanta).   I finished with an interesting sour beer/wild ale, the Dogpatch Currant from Almanac Brewing (CA).   I am not a big sour beer fan, but this one was drinkable since it had a nice finish and good aftertaste despite the tart beginning.   High prices!  8 bucks a pint  was a bit of a surprise, but you gotta pay to play sometimes.  On the other hand, I don't see me making a special trip back out here based on these prices.

My next stop was over in Germantown right next to the new Nashville Sounds baseball park.  I have been wanting to visit Von Elrod's Beer Garden and Sausage House for a while now and it was worth the wait!  It's a very cool place with a great beer list.  I only had time for one giant pint of the Denim Downhiller winter ale from Good People Brewing (AL).  I also had a delicious sausage plate.  By the way, the bill here for food and a huge beer was the same as two 12 oz. beers at the 51 North Tap Room.  I will DEFINITELY be back back here as soon as possible.

I moved on to The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium next and had a tasty Dance of Days pale ale from Atlas Brewing (DC).  From there I walked over to Party Fowl to meet my friends, Danny, Brenda and Hem for dinner before we all attended  LP's  SOLD OUT show at The Cannery nearby.  Hem was my date since Ashlee couldn't make it due to family obligations and traded his ticket for my dinner and a beer, a Tiny Bomb pilsner from Wiseacre Brewing (Memphis).  Thanks, Hem!

 This was the second to last stop of LP's recent North American tour and she put on a whale of a show as usual.  It was so good, in fact, I figured I might as well go see her again in Atlanta tomorrow night with Ashlee!

3/10 - As I mentioned, I drove down to Chattanooga today in my sweet VW Passat rental car and picked up Ashlee, her mom, Evelyn, whose Ashlee's been staying with during the week recently as she rehabs back at home from a minor stroke, and our niece, Ella.  Ashlee and I had tickets to see LP again in Atlanta along with our friend, Rex.

Before the show, we took a short walk from our hotel to check out the museum at the Center for Puppetry Arts and they had a great Jim Henson exhibit including this original Fozzy Bear from The Muppets.  Fozzy was always my favorite Muppet with his corny jokes as the editor of the Big Yucks Department.

We met Rex for dinner before the show at DaVinci's Pizza Midtown near our hotel and I had a decent Fu Manbrew witbier from Atlanta's own Monday Night Brewing with my Thai pizza.

It was the amazing LP again at Center Stage for her last show of this North American tour.  The show was as good as the Nashville one if not better since we had great seats in this dated but solid venue.  During the show I had a couple very good Basement IPAs  from Scofflaw Brewing here in Atlanta.

We closed out the night with a drink back at our Artmore Hotel bar where I had a Laughing Skull Amber Ale from Red Brick Brewing here in Atlanta.  I have had this beer before.  I even have a cool pint glass with their trippy logo on it.  But I have never checked it in on UNTAPPD.

3/11 - Before heading home, we visited the World of Coca-Cola in downtown Atlanta and had a fun time touring this very cool facility.  One of our favorite activities was tasting Coca-Cola products from around the world.  This Stoney Ginger Beer from Tanzania was one of my favorites and I even tried to check it in on UNTAPPD but it didn't register since it's technically considered a soft drink.  

3/13 - Got my first online poker tournament win of the month tonight and while it was only against 25 other people, it was quite a grind since it my first limit hold 'em win ever that turned $11 into $117.  

3/14 - It was Lebanon Poker Night again tonight and I got a 3-count variety pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits.  Unfortunately, I only lasted long enough in the tournament to have two of them:  the excellent Lo-Res IPA from Sixpoint Brewing (Brooklyn, NY) which is one of my current favorite producers of quality craft beer in cans; and the almost equally good Hazy Little Thing IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing (CA).  I saved the third one, the solid Muchacho Mexican-style lager from Good People Brewing (AL) for the next evening (3/15) for a perfect pairing with my taco-truck burrito dinner at home.

3/16 - We headed up to Chicago tonight for a whirlwind long St. Patrick's Day Weekend and I was able to grab a few more new-to-me beers in the Windy City.

One of our first stops  in Chicago was the Kaiser Tiger Bar which boasts actual curling lanes  where you can try the odd little Olympic sport yourself.  We came for the curling, but the outstanding food and great beer list were a nice addition as well.   While there I had the excellent Vera cream ale from Around the Bend Brewing here in Chicago; the Tiger Tears, a good pilsner made special for this bar by 4 Hands Brewing (St. Louis);  and the tasty Peace'd Out Pale Ale also made special for this bar by 2nd Shift Brewing (St. Louis).  By the way, despite my one and only bulls-eye pictured above, curling is VERY HARD TO DO...even while drinking!  

At dinner later that night at the excellent Friends Sushi, I had a decent  bottle of Green Line Pale Ale from Chicago craft beer veteran (and sellout?), Goose Island Beer Company.

We found a sport more our style after dinner at the Spin Chicago ping-pong bar.  While chasing the little orange balls around,  I sipped on an excellent Daisy Cutter Pale Ale from my favorite Chicago craft brewery, Half Acre.  In fact, I have had a Daisy Cutter or two before, but never checked it in on UNTAPPD.

I picked up a couple more craft brews at  a Trader Joe's market around the corner from our swanky Conrad Hotel and enjoyed one of them, the solid Free Bird pale ale from Begyle Brewing  here in Chicago. while watching the historic March Madness 16-seed over a #1-seed upset of  tiny UMBC over mighty Virginia, with our friends, Chris and Tarryn, who had drove in tonight to spend the rest of the weekend with us.

3/17 - St. Patty's Day in Chicago!  We been wanting to experience this for a long time and it did not disappoint.  What a fun, fun day in a fun, fun city!  

The morning had to start with some cheap tasteless green beer, of course, at The Kerryman Irish Bar where we also had access to unlimited Guinness pints and I did my part by downing three or four.

The famous dyeing of the Chicago River to a bright green is not to be missed.  It was a great experience with reasonable crowds, not a lot of over-the-top drinking (at least where we were) and beautiful weather which we were lucky enough to receive today.  I found a tasty Anti-Hero IPA (which I have had before) from Chicago's own, Revolution Brewing, to enjoy riverside.  

Back at the room at the Conrad, I had a couple more new-to-me brews including a solid Oat Stout from Bare Hands Brewing (IN) which Chris brought me from his state.  Thanks, bud!  My second beer from Trader Joe's, the Belt and Suspenders IPA from BuckleDown Brewing in Lyon, IL, which I found to be a little soapy tasting; and a much better Pale Ale (APA) from BrickStone Brewing in nearby Bourbonnais, IL, at the beautiful Conrad hotel bar, Baptiste and Bottle.

At dinner  tonight at Side Door before going to see the amazing musical, Hamilton, I had a pretty good golden ale from Pollyanna Brewing in Lemont, IL, called The Full Lemonty.

3/18 -  On our last day in Chicago, I was a little beered-out, but did have a so-so Billy Goat IPA made for the Billy Goat Taverns in Chicago (we were at the one at Navy Pier) by the Pabst Brewing Company.

3/19 - I won another good-sized tournament online tonight with 188 other participants and rebuys.  I did one rebuy and one add-on for a $9 investment with a $200+ return

3/20 - I checked out the historic true-story film 7 Days in Entebbe tonight and it was pretty good although the daring raid by the Israelis to rescue the hostages was a little watered down in my opinion.  Before the movie, I stopped by Homegrown Tap Room for two-fer Tuesday and had a couple half-pints including the Uncle Dunkel from Red Silo Brewing up in Cookeville, TN, and the Half Batch Dry Stout from Half Batch Brewing over in Hendersonville, TN.  Both were decent.

3/22 - Headed down to Murfreesboro after work today to catch the new Tomb Raider reboot at the dated, but clean and quiet, Premiere 6 Theaters.  Before the movie (which was surprisingly decent) I had dinner (delish pastrami!) and a couple beers at The Green Dragon Pub and Brewery.  I started with the solid Black Blood of the Earth imperial stout from Goodwood Brewing (Louisville, KY) and then a so-so Reilly's Red ale from Devil's Backbone Brewing (VA).

3/23 - I was able to get back to the Poker Barn in Mt. Juliet tonight for a fun shootout tournament.  I decided to give the nearby Beer World another try to pick up a 3-pack of new-to-me beers and was pleasantly surprised with the selection they had.  I went in there right after they opened  a while back and was not impressed.  They seem to have gotten their shit together now.  I got pint cans of the excellent Nebuchadnezzar double IPA (photo above of its cool can) from Omnipollo Brewery (Sweden); the tasty GFB blonde ale from Green Flash Brewing (CA); and finally, the solid Pile of Face IPA from Against the Grain Brewery  (Louisville, KY).  

3/24 - I had to make an unscheduled trip to Cookeville this morning and decided to visit an old friend (Waterloo Falls) and a new friend (Red Silo Brewery) while I was there.  I haven't been to Waterloo Falls in nearly 30 years and she is just a pretty as ever.  It would be great to see the State of Tennessee acquire this beautiful area like they have the nearby Cummins Falls and Window Cliffs areas.  I had a couple of half-pints at Red Silo before heading back home.  I had the solid 7th Century IPA and the decent OPA Oatmeal Pale Ale.  Thanks to Red Silo for being open at 11 AM for us early-risers and early-sippers! 

3/28 - I had the day off today and after  enjoying sleeping in, I headed over to Opry Mills to catch the sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising, in IMAX.  The movie was OK, but not as good as the first one which is common with sequels.  Before the show I had a tasty lunch and a couple beers a few doors down at the relatively new Bavarian Bierhaus.  I started with the beer pictured above, the Edelstoff (Munich) lager followed by a draft pint of the Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Naturtrub (Munich) hefeweizen.  Both were decent, but despite my heritage, I remain not the biggest fan of most German beer.

After the movie I stopped by Homegrown Taproom on my way back home and had a couple better (sorry, it's the truth) American beers:  the excellent PsycHOPathy IPA from Mad Tree Brewing (Cincinnati), and the interesting Irish Honey Ale from Benford Brewing (SC).    I have actually been to Mad Tree Brewing in Cincy last year and really loved their products, so I am very excited to see them distributing in Nashville now.  Benford Brewing is a new-to-me brewery out of Lancaster,South Carolina, in the northern part of the state near the NC border and just south of Charlotte.

3/30 - I went right back to the Bavarian Bierhaus at Opry Mills again tonight as Ashlee and I had dinner with some friends of ours, the Reimerts.  I started with a tasty  pint of Nashville Original Lager Beer from Nashville Brewing Company (photo above), the only local beer they have.   It's actually a revival of a historic large brewery founded here in Nashville  back in 1859.   I finished dinner with another draught pint of  the decent Hofbrau Dunkel lager from Staatliches Brewery in Munich, Germany.