MAY beer be a part of your May

5/1 - Now, this is the way to start off a new month!  I got my biggest score to date (by far) on Global Poker tonight as I got second out of a huge field of 637 other players in their Rattlesnake Open Tournament Series Event # 2-L.  With a buy in, two re-buys and an add-on, I turned a $22 investment into just under a thousand bucks!!  I had the player who won it, all but knocked out early on at the Final Table as a small stack, but he caught an ace on the river to stay alive and then proceeded to impressively battle his way back to the top.  

5/2 - I attended the Music City "CANarchy" Beer Fest tonight in downtown Nashville at the Walk of Fame Park.  It was part of the international Craft Brewers Conference that has been going on all week here.   I chose this particular night to attend for several reasons:

 1. It was a free event.  Only paid $5 to park across the river.

2. The weather was absolutely perfect.

3.  Lukas Nelson (Willie's boy) and his band were playing (and they were great).

4.THERE WAS CRAFT BEER EVERYWHERE!

I met up with my craft-beer-loving pal, Nate, and proceeded to have four cans of new-to-me beers throughout the evening including a great 98 Problems IPA from Perrin Brewing (MI), a good Ghostrider White IPA from Wasatch Brewery (UT), a decent Hop Rising double IPA, and a light but tasty Chasing Tail Golden Ale, both of which were from Squatters Craft Beers (UT).

5/3 - I was able to swing by The Green Dragon Pub in Murfreesboro today for lunch where I had bowl of their awesome soup of the day, a white bean turkey chili, and a half a pastrami sandwich along with a citrusy and flavorful pint of  Gangster Frog I.P.A. from Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron, Ohio.

I ain't saying I'm running good...but I am running REALLY good!!  Scored the win tonight on Global Poker in a smaller tournament with a larger buy-in than the previous night, but turned my $40 investment into a very nice pay-day!  

5/4 - We had a terrific dinner in East Nashville tonight at Butcher and Bee where I had a draft pint of Upstream San Fran Lager from nearby Little Harpeth Brewing with my excellent steak.

5/5 -  It was a Saturday of events around the house, so I went over to Lebanon Wine and Spirits and got a variety 4-pack to toast each one:

1.  I toasted the fact it was Cinco de Mayo with an excellent bottle of LazerSnake (2018) IPA from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN)

TV show?  Look, UNTAPPD," there can be only one"...and it's the original movie, Highlander...but cool badge nonetheless.

2.  I toasted the running of the Kentucky Derby with a solid Well Played IPA from Left Hand Brewing (CO).  The nag I picked, "Audible," came in third to show at least.

3.  I toasted the 2-1 win of Atlanta United over the Chicago Fire that I watched on TV with a juicy Tropic Plunder IPA from T.W. Pitchers' Brewing (CA).

4.  My last one was supposed to toast the Predators win at home...but that didn't work out...so....

5/6 - ...I waited til the next day and toasted my first official dip in the pool for 2018 with a terrific Elvis Juice IPA from Brewdog Brewing (Scotland and Ohio).  I also had another surprise new beer to add to UNTAPPD, the Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA from New Belgium Brewing (CA) that my friends, Danny and Brenda, had given me for my birthday late last month.  I thought it was an original Voodoo Ranger which I have had before, but this more-citrusy version was very good and tasted great out in the hot sun by the pool.  Our new pool sign from our friend, Roman, definitely has a craft-beer lover in mind with its message!

5/8 - Lebanon Poker Night - another solid win for me with a nice pay day and a quick first place ranking in points for the new season!   I am splitting my seat this year with a guy named, Derek, so hopefully this will be a good year for us.   I had a couple of new-to-me beers along the way from a variety pack I picked up at Lebanon Wine and Spirits.  First up was the excellently hoppy Lieutenant Dank IPA from Wicked Weed Brewing (Asheville, NC) and the pretty good Hugh hefeweizen from Rhinegeist Brewing (Cincinnati).  I goofed and picked up another product from Rhinegeist that turned out to be a cider called Cidergeist Bubbles that I didn't care for after a couple sips and gave to my friend, John, who did like it.

5/9 - A decent third place finish on Global Poker tonight for a smallish payout (10 x what I paid in), but most importantly, the poker roll keeps on rollin'!

5/12 - I toasted a long Saturday of work around the house with an afternoon beer in the pool.  The pint can of Kinetic IPA from Nashville's own Bearded Iris Brewing went down really good.

5//13 - We had a Mother's Day cookout at our place around the pool with Ashlee's family and mom, Evelyn, today.  I got a variety four-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits for the occasion and toasted my late mother, Eleonore, who I miss greatly.  I started with a terrific can of Tarahumara pale ale from Wiseacre Brewing over in Memphis. Next up was a tasty bottle of Wee Heavy Scotch Style Ale from The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (NC).  Next in line was a pretty good bottle of Samuel Adams Fresh As Helles lager.  For this macro-brewery out of Boston, I have to give it to them for a pretty cool label (photo above).  I completed the day with a decent  Hop Bullet (coulda used more hops in my opinion) double IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing (CA).  

5/16 - Huh, who knew?  Well, I do now since I checked in my Hipster Dance Party double IPA from nearby East Nashville Beer Works that I had with dinner at Brothers Burger Joint in Berry Hill.  I thought that this was a new-to-me brew, but this was actually my second check-in of it on UNTAPPD (July 27, 2017).  This time around I tasted more hops which I like!

5/19 - "Happy Anniversary, baby!  Got you on my mind!" - Littler River Band
It was mine and Ashlee's 17th wedding anniversary today and it was a rare one where we weren't traveling somewhere.  We stayed home and took advantage of warm weather and our pool for most of the day, but we started in Nashville with some yoga for Ashlee on a downtown rooftop and me at City Tap for a breakfast beer..and what better choice than the excellent Maple Breakfast Stout (photo above) from 14th Star Brewing (VT).  I followed that up with a so-so Brenner's Olde Delicious stout from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta, TN.   I had a cute little barkeep who was really nice (and maybe bored since I was the only person at the bar at 10 in the morning).  We talked local beer, and she even gave me a taste of the rare Batch 5000 rauchbier from Bell's Brewery (MI) that was kegged several years ago and  is out of production now.

5/20 - Another solid win on Global Poker!!  This is the same tourney I got third in the other night.

5/21 - Saw Deadpool 2 tonight with my work pal, Casey, here at Roxy Theaters (recliners!).  I think it was as funny if not funnier than the original and definitely very enjoyable.

5/22 -  I headed into Nashville after work tonight to  check out the new Blackstone Brewing Taproom.  This was my first visit to their new location since the closing of their brewery/restaurant on Broadway a year or so ago.   When the original place opened, they were one of the grandfathers of craft brewing here in Nashville, but I honestly wasn't a huge fan of their beers there.  However, since their move and possible re-focus on just brewing craft beer, I have noticed a great improvement in quality when I have bought their products around town lately.  Their new place is a bit west of downtown, but a nice facility nonetheless.  It was quiet when I got there around 7 PM  since they close at 8 PM on weeknights.  I started with a Blackstone Cinna Swirl Coffee Stout which was excellent and I got the privilege of entering this (new?) beer into the UNTAPPD app.   I also got a taste of their solid Chocolate Milk Stout from the friendly barkeep.  I finished with a 3 oz.-only sacred pour of the Black Belle Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2017) which is now out of production according to UNTAPPD.  It was excellent.  I am glad to see these guys still alive and improving on their products under the Blackstone name.   Afterwards, I headed over to the Belcourt Theater for a late showing of the haunting and raw film,  The Rider.  I had a few minutes to kill before the movie, so I walked around the corner to the Hopdoddy Burger Bar and stuck with my Blackstone-themed evening with a HopJack IPA which I have had before, but never checked in on UNTAPPD for some reason.

After the storm, a pot of gold that is downtown Nashville is at one end of a rainbow.  I didn't see the other end, so maybe I was standing in it with my rare 3 oz. pour of Black Belle Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2017) at Blackstone Brewery.

5/23 - I had an enjoyable day off  from work in the middle of the week today and took advantage of it with another visit to Nashville and more beer tastings.  

My first stop for lunch was the brand-new Sedona Taphouse in Germantown.  It was a very nice place, the food was good (steak tacos) and the beer list was very impressive.  I started with a really good Mississippi Fire Ant Imperial Red ale from Southern Prohibition Brewing (MS). I finished with an excellent Colorado Wild Sage saison from Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project (CO).  

My next stop was Cool Springs Brewery over in Brentwood.  Man, this used to be one of my favorite local breweries.  They used to have such inventive and unique products.  I still remember the Dew Me Now pale ale that tasted amazingly like Mountain Dew back in 2014.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen...not sure what happened here...lost their brewer?  lost their focus? (the big banner outside proclaiming a lunch buffet might be a hint).  Just not sure, but it's a far cry from what it used to be and I don't see myself making any special effort to get out here anymore.  I did have their decent flagship Pecker Wrecker IPA which I have had before, but never checked into UNTAPPD.  I followed that with an unfinished pint of their boringly bland Chocolate Porter.  It was time to move on today and maybe forever...

I still had an hour to kill before catching a movie I wanted to see nearby, so I headed into Franklin and visited Mantra Artisan Ales for only the second time ever.  Now these guys HAVE GOT IT GOING ON!  They have several inventive  beers available in a variety of styles, but I stuck with their New England IPA Humulus Project first with the citrusy delight known as Survey (photo above) and followed that up with a darker version known as Prodigious which was also very good.  So there's still one place worth visiting in west Nashville at least!  Afterward I caught a showing of the cleverly funny and oddly entertaining film, Tully, that had quite the twisted ending..."paging Tyler Durden"...

Big news today for Music City!!  Birthday 2019 plans SET!  

5/24 - I went with my pal, Wayne, to see the new Star Wars story film, Solo, in IMAX tonight.  We changed venues this time and went to the theaters at Streets of Indian Lake in Hendersonville.  Great IMAX experience with roomy aisles and comfy seats.  The movie was solid and fun also.  Before the show, I had dinner and a couple brews a few doors down from the theater at Growler USA (my new fav beer bar lately).  I started with an impressive rye IPA called Revenant from  Windsor and Eton (England) and with my excellent Cobb salad dinner I finished with a delectable Tenniskey porter aged in whiskey barrels from Ole Shed Brewing down in Tullahoma, TN.

5/26 - Ashlee dropped me off at Homegrown Taproom today and she went and got her hair did nearby.  I was joined by my friend, Charly, and then my friends, Nate and Ginny, for a few pints and conversation.  I started with an excellent Hopsolution Ale double IPA from Bell's Brewing (MI).  Next I had a solid C.S.B.English bitter from Calf Killer Brewing over in Sparta.  Next was a so-so Copperline Amber Ale from Carolina Brewery (NC).  I finished on a high note with a tasty Leroy brown ale from Mile Wide Beer Company (KY).  I also had a sip of Ashlee's  nice Strawberry Harvest Lager from Abita Brewing (LA) when she got back to pick me up.

As we headed to Clarksville next to hear some music among the vines at Beach Haven Winery I had a can of Torpedo Extra IPA from Sierra Nevada (CA) that I bought at a gas station.

It was a sad weekend for us as we had to put our beautiful oldest cat, Mabel, down due to oral cancer.  I loved this cat more than I ever thought I did once she was gone.   She was the pet I have had the longest (17 years), my first cat as a pet, and the first  real decision Ashlee and I made as a married couple by adopting her as a kitten from the humane center in Chattanooga. This is one of my favorite pictures of her coming back from a routine check-up at the vet a couple years ago with such a mad look on her face.  It actuality she was one of the most loving creatures I have ever encountered and I will miss her every day from now on.  5/29 - I had Mabel on my mind heavily as I drove back from Chattanooga today and stopped at Monkey Town Brewing for a couple beers and dinner.  I toasted her with my first pour: their Brown n' Out brown ale which was very good.  I finished with there excellent Evolution IPA: Batch # 22.  

5/31 - I headed back up to Hendersonville tonight to The Streets at Indian Lake complex to catch the opening night of the new true-story film Adrift, which was very well done.  Beforehand, I stopped by Growler USA again and had a few belts.  I started with a solid Grindhouse Cream Ale from Ghost River Brewing in Memphis.  Next up was an OK Roaddog Red ale from nearby BriarScratch Brewing.  I closed with just a 5-oz. taster pour of The Crimson Mask amber lager from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN).