Are you OK? Yes. Then have a beer! Are you OK? No. Then have a beer!

Hey, it's a legit question!  

7/6 - I was in downtown Nashville to meet Ashlee and some friends tonight and stopped by City Tap for a couple of brews.  I started with an excellent smoked rauchbier called  the Blackstrap Ale (Flynn on Fire Smoked Beer Initiative) from Switchback Brewing (VT).  Next up was the deceiving looking but great tasting Coffee and Cream ale from New Heights Brewing here in Nashville that looks like a pale ale, but tastes like a coffee stout (photo above).  I finished strong with a solid Good N' You IPA from Springdale Beer (MA). 

Ashlee coerced me (and bought me a ticket) later that night for an Off the Wagon tractor tour of downtown Nashville with our out-of-town friends which I have to admit turned out to be a lot of fun.  Best thing was it was BYOB, so I stopped by Frugal MacDoogal earlier in the day and got a pint can of the tasty Remix IPA from Green Flash Brewing (CA).  It was pretty cool to be able to sip good beer in the traffic on Broadway being tugged around by a John Deere.  

7/7- We threw a pool party today and the theme was Mermaid/Merman and the  mermen contingent was small, but strong, with my friends Charlie on the left and Nate on the right.  (It's about time my beer buddy, Nate, got a picture in this blog!).  I got a variety six-pack for the day from Lebanon Wine and Spirits that included the tasty Hitchhiker IPA from Good People Brewing (AL), the equally good Hop-On IPA from Abita Brewing (LA), the decent Linkin' Up IPA from Boulevard Brewing (KC) and the excellent Double Trouble imperial IPA from Founders Brewing (MI). 

Speaking of Nate, he, of course, came through with some tasty libations as well.  He gave me a can of the surprisingly good There Gose Rita sour beer from New Heights Brewing in Nashville that had a great lime kick to it.  He also gave me a couple swigs of the very dry but flavorful Bilberry Mead from Grimfrost Meadery in Sweden.  He also gave me a good sampling of the outstanding and  very limited Tennessee Whiskey Barrel Aged Navel Gazer imperial stout from New Heights Brewing.  Nate's a great guy...have I mentioned that before?  

My fifth beer from the variety back was a repeat on UNTAPPD but still delicious, the Oatmeal Porter from Highland Brewing (Asheville).  Last, but  certainly not least was the interesting and unforgettable Original C Cave Creek Chili Beer - Cerveza Con Chili from Tecate Brewing in Mexico.  

No, seriously, there was a CHILI IN THE BEER!  

 I enjoyed this great World Cup badge from UNTAPPD that I earned today even though none of my teams (Germany, Mexico, Iceland and Belgium) made it to the final.  It has been an exciting tournament despite the USA not being in it.

7/8 - We had a Sunday Funday back in Nashville today with our friends from out of town.  One of our first stops was The Filling Station on 12th Avenue South where I had a pint of the solid Channel Orange IPA from Gravely Brewing (Louisville).  Next up was a stop at the ultra-cool Marathon Village (photo above) where we stopped in to the Corsair Brewing Beer Lab and I had a half pint of the Smoked Pecan Altbier that wasn't too bad.  

We headed to west Nashville to the neighborhood known at The Nations where this cool 150' mural on the side of an old abandoned concrete silo depicts local legend and resident, 91-year-old Lee (LD) Estes.  Nearby I noticed that my favorite Nashville brewery, Southern Grist, has opened their new location here.  I have got to get back by here and check that out ASAP! 

We ended the day with dinner at the Frothy Monkey in The Nations.  Dinner was great and their beer list, as always, was interesting.  I had the beautifully colored beer with bright can art it came in, the Basil and Cranberry Gose from Collective Arts Brewing (Ontario, Canada) hat was more tart than sour and wasn't too bad.

7/12 - Back in the First Place Saddle again!  I got first place again in the same small 4-handed online poker tourney that I won the other night.  This time it was against 58 other folks for a nice $90 profit.

7/15 - I made a kind of last minute trip to Chattanooga today to help out my friend, Tim, and his trivia team fill out a five-person roster for the Chattanooga Trivia League Summer Finals.  We did OK, but not high enough to score the win.  I helped as much as I could with movies and sports which they were weak on.  Before the trivia which was at The Honest Pint, I stopped around the corner at Hutton and Smith Brewing for a couple of warm-up libations.  I have forgotten what a great little brewery this is!  I started with their solid Bowline Brown ale.  I finished with their fantastic Pro-Am Ginger Saison which was so good I got a crowler of it for Ashlee who loves saisons and ginger.

I made a long round-trip back home and stopped for dinner and a couple more beers at the always-good Monkey Town Brewing in Dayton.  I started with their tasty Watch, This 360 Dunkel Be Insane and ended with their cirtrusy New England style IPA, the H'oat'el M'oat'el Hopiday Inn.  I cruised on back home with beautiful weather and good tunes on the stereo thru Crossville and on  I-40 I caught the fog rising off the Caney Fork River after sunset.  Sunday, Funday!!  

7/18 - Winner! Winner!  Thanks to our local independent radio station, Lightning 100, for hooking me up with a couple tickets to see the British singer/songwriter known as Passenger, tonight at The New Era Ballroom at Woolworth's on Fifth which I have also wanted to check out.  Unfortunately, Ashlee was out of town, so I took this one solo.

Passenger creator and singer-songwriter, Michael  Rosenberg, put on a great show with his hauntingly beautiful voice and deeply personal and moving songs.  This new music venue, the New Era Ballroom, is great as well with good acoustics and sight lines throughout.  Before the show I stopped at HQ Beercade for a couple pre-show brews (and some free Galaga play. of course) including the tasty and fittingly-named Go Play IPA from Avery Brewing (CO), followed by a solid  Foggy Geezer IPA from War Pigs Brewing (Denmark).  During the show I had a Portly Stout from Turtle Anarchy Brewing here in Nashville which I noticed I last checked in on UNTAPPD almost 5 years ago.  Happy Anniversary!  

Since I was walking by the new restaurant/bar, The George Jones,  on my back to the car after the show, I decided to stop in.  This is where we had dinner the other night with some friends, but missed going up and checking out their roof-top dining and bar.  It was worth the stop with an incredible view of Nissan Stadium and the General Jackson making a turn on the Cumberland River at sunset.

I parked across the river from downtown for free and not only did that save me money and give me some exercise, but it allowed me some great twilight views of Music City on the way back after the show.  This town sure knows how to pretty itself up sometimes.

7/21 - It's not every day you see a disco ball hanging in a cave!  Ashlee and I saw Scott Miller and his band at the new, swanky venue for PBS's Bluegrass Underground, The Caverns, in Pelham, TN today.  On the way down, we stopped at the Murfreesboro location of Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint for a delicious lunch and I had a short draft (dieting...ho hum) of the Stone///Fear.Movie.Lions Double IPA (CA) that was very good.
722 - We saw the moving and well-done documentary early today on Fred Rogers of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" called Won't You Be My Neighbor? up in Hendersonville.  After the show, we had salad lunches (dieting, ho-hum) at Growler USA where I also had a pint of Grand Design Belgian Tripel from Black Abbey Brewing in Nashville.  It was decent.

7/24 - I drove back up to Hendersonville this evening to catch a showing of "Denzzzzelll" in Equalizer 2 at The Streets of Indian Lake Theaters (recliners!) .  Before the show, I stopped by Growler USA again for dinner and a couple beers.  I started with the Juicy Bunny Version 2.0 New England style IPA from Straight to Ale Brewing (AL).  It had an interesting and pleasing creamy texture that I wasn't expecting in an IPA.    I finished with a terrifically good Brown Sugar Brown Cow ale from D9 Brewing (NC).  The movie was surprisingly good for a sequel.  Denzel delivers again.

7/25 - I had a enjoyable mid-week day off today that started with an early matinee of Skyscraper at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in Lebanon.  It was a little far-fetched as expected, but overall a pretty enjoyable flick and better than some of the reviews I've heard about it.

I headed to East Nashville next for a late lunch at the Riverside Grill Shack.  Their namesake burger and fries combo was good albeit a bit pricey considering their modest digs.  Note the "luxurious dining area" in the background of the picture above.  I began a mini East Nashville beer crawl after that to take care of the rest of the afternoon.  My first stop was Southern Grist Brewing that is just around the corner from the burger joint.  I am so glad to see that this original east-side taproom is still open since they have a larger, newer taproom (and all of their brewing facilities) now out on the west side of town.  I had their hazy and delicious Turn Radius double New England-style IPA.

My next stop was to check out the pretty cool Cornelia Fort Airport section of Shelby Bottoms Park.  They have turned this small now-defunct airport into a walking/biking park including the old runway. I thought the the cloud that looked like a boot was kinda cool too.  My next beer stop  was a new-to-me visit to the Village Pub and Beer Garden, a super-friendly place, but their draft beer list was a little limited to call themselves a "beer garden"  in my opinion. My only new-to-me choice on their list was the Disco Lemonade shandy/radler from Smith and Lentz Brewing also here in East Nasty.   It wasn't bad and made sense on a hot summer day.  I moved on to the great facility that is the East Nashville Beer Works next, and had a half pint of their Coconut Creme Pie cream ale.  Glad I only had a half pint.  I was not impressed with the ho-hum flavor and was expecting a lot more.  I closed the afternoon out on a higher note at Homegrown Taproom with a tropical Mai Tainda IPA also from Smith and Lentz that was very tasty.  I chose Homegrown last because it's near the airport where I picked up Ashlee from a business trip and we headed immediately downtown for an O/A/R show at The Ryman.  Not a bad hump-day Wednesday at all! 

7/28 - Ashlee and I and a couple of our friends, Wayne and Danny, checked out Titans practice today and afterwards headed over to the nearby Old School Farm to Table Restaurant for brunch.  With my delicious omelet of the day made mostly of products from the adjoining farm, I also had a Travelin' Light kolsch (well actually I had two since they made a mistake at the bar and poured two instead of the one I ordered and I got the second one free...score!) from Left Hand Brewing (CO).  They were ice cold and refreshing.

Sometimes the right answer is easy...

Brewdogs and Five Stripes

Some choices in life are easy....

6/27 - I took a kind of last minute day off from work today to take a day trip to Atlanta to catch a TV show taping of "Brew Dogs" at Scofflaw Brewing with my friend, Nate.  My friend, Rex, who lives in Atlanta also met us there to check it out.

After three successful seasons on the now-defunct Esquire Network, the BrewDog folks have created their own network to continue their popular series into its fourth season.  They were in Nashville for season three, but Nate and I missed that one, so when they announced Atlanta was on the slate next, we decided to make the mini-pilgrimage.

We arrived with plenty of time  to spare, so we might as well drink!  I started with their Drop Kick IPA which was excellent.  Next up I had a pint of their Interrogation Stout which was pretty good.  I ended my bought-beer night at the brewery with a nice half-pint of Haole Hoppy Pilsner which UNTAPPD actually lists as an IPA.

The stars of the show, Martin Dickie (left) and James Watt, and the founders of the ultra-successful Brew Dog Brewing in Scotland, took to the stage with a beautiful sunset backdrop after some icky afternoon storms.  They handed out the beer they created here in Atlanta in cooperation with Scofflaw Brewing.  Like an illegal rolling casino, they brewed the beer in the back of truck going down I-285 (also technically illegal,evidently) and then destroyed the evidence by taking the truck immediately to the demo yard and having us consume all the beer they produced in about an hour tonight.  It was a rather tasty bourbon-infused peaches IPA that was much lighter than I expected.  We all got a couple free samples to try and voted as a group that we would "Drink It!!"  Nate and I took turns driving the long trek home and he took the first shift, so I could sip on a can of Scofflaw's Double Basement imperial IPA that was a tasty way to cap off a long, but very fun day.

6/29 - I had the day off  today and met my long-time best friend, Craig, at Homegrown Taproom this afternoon for lunch and the start of a Nashville beer crawl before attending the Predators Future Stars Game tonight at the Bridgstone Arena.  I started with a tasty pint of Hurricane Saison from NOLA Brewing (LA) and even got a free glass with the purchase.  Like I need another beer glass, but, hey, thanks Homegrown and NOLA Brewing!  I finished with a decent Hop Bursted IPA from Blue Pants Brewery (AL) that I thought could have been bursting with a few more hops.  The most interesting beer I had was just a sip of Craig's half-pint of Plum Sour ale from New Heights Brewing here in Nashville.  The color (photo above) was stunning and it was actually more tart than sour, so not too bad on my palette.  

We Ubered downtown next with our first stop being Alley Taps in famous Printer's Alley.  I haven't been here before and wanted to check it out.  The place was a little dead when we got there, but packed by the time we left.  They have a decent line-up of craft beers on tap albeit a little pricey.  The 2-for-1 special going on helped out.  My friend, Nate, joined us here also and was going to the game with us tonight using Ashlee's ticket who decided to skip in lieu of hanging out at home. I ordered a Mixed Media ale from Dogfish Head Brewery (DE) first and was not impressed with how close it tasted to a wine spritzer.  Craig and I traded beers since he got a SMASH - Mosaic IPA from Good People Brewing (AL) that was over-hoppy to him and perfect for me!  We both chose the tasty Hollow Pointe Dunkel as our BOGO pints from Hollow Pointe Brewing here in Nashville.  We walked to our next destination which was the rooftop bar of City Tap.  It had some great views (photo above) but the hot temps kept us inside to drink.  Their beer menu was a little limited upstairs, so I chose a Sculpin IPA which I know I have had before, but never checked into UNTAPPD for some reason.

We moved on to Bridgestone for the game next which was fast-paced and enjoyable.  Craig and I held off from any more beer  during the game since we had to both drive to my house afterwards.

With general admission seating and not a huge crowd in attendance, we were able to get choice seats for the inter-squad game where the Gold Team outlasted the Blue Team 5-2.  Keep an eye out for center Zach Magwood, the 20-year-old who had a hat trick for the Gold Team.

After the game and back at the house we cracked open a couple of  Bourbon Barrel Stouts (awesome custom label in photo above) from Craig's hometown brewery, Perrylodgic, in Paris, TN.  It was boozy and excellent and made a great night-cap.  Thanks for the tasty brew, Craig!  

6/30 - We continued our weekend of sports with another trip (for me) back to The ATL for an Atlanta United MLS game vs. the Orlando City FC.  We were also going to do an Atlanta beer crawl before and after the game as well which started at STATS Brewpub where I had the (what else?) Atlanta Brewnited Pale Ale which is made here and was pretty good.  My friend, Rex, joined us for our second round where I had an OK Shooter McGavin Wit also made here.   This lively sports bar and brew pub was just a short walk from our very nice Hotel Indigo and the new Mercedes-Benz Dome where the ATL UTD play.

Our next stop was just a couple doors down at Der Biergarten which sits atop a Waffle House (can you say Nirvana!).   We would be visiting downstairs after the game.   

I had a nice "small" glass of Warsteiner Premium Dunkel (Munich, Germany) which was ice cold and very smooth.

It was on to the game next.  Wow, what a scene!  Awesome new domed stadium, 70K-plus fans streaming in, pep squads going loud and raucous, hot but beautiful weather, and a hot first-place team.  What else can you ask for??

Man, what a night!  My first ATL UTD game in person with two good friends.  Great seats and a RESOUNDING 4-0 win with my favorite player, Miguel Almiron, scoring two of them right in front of us.  And they also had a great beer right near our seats with a Wicked Weed Brewing (Asheville, NC) stand.  I had their smooth and new-to-me Lunatic Blonde ale and another of their always-great Pernicious IPAs during the match.
(Editor's Note:  I am proud to say we saw the eventual 2018 MLS Cup Champs tonight as The Five Stripes took it all on December 8, 2018!) 

We got a bite at the aforementioned Waffle House after the game and then strolled back to the hotel  to turn in after a long day.  A lot of people give Atlanta shit, but in reality it's a real "peach" of a city in my opinion.  I can't wait to come back for another ATL adventure!!  

So proud to be a part of this historic night!!  

7/1 - We had a lazy morning watching some World Cup from our beds in the hotel, but before heading back from Atlanta.  We got one more chance for some good beer before leaving with a noon brunch on the rooftop at 9 Mile Station.  Rex met us again and we were all impressed with the amazing view, the delicious food and top-notch beer list.

There were so many unique beers on the 9 Mile Station beer menu, that I opted for a flight that formed quite the pretty pattern.  I drank the lightest two first starting with the second from the bottom brew, The Keeper's Veil Honey Saison from Burial Beer Company in Asheville, NC, that was terrific.   Next was the light and super-citrusy Tiki Time IPA from Creature Comforts Brewing here in Atlanta.  My first dark beer was the excellent jet-black bottom brew, the Ulfberht Baltic Porter also from Burial Brewing.  I thought it tasted more like a lager which is what the 9 Mile Station menu called it, but UNTAPPD does not.  I finished with a delectable nitro Pog Mo Thoin dry Irish stout from Hourglass Brewing  (FL).   I also had a taste of Rex's interesting Bug Zapper sour ale from Avery Brewing (CO) which I thought was pretty good because it was actually more minty to my palette than sour.  Again, the 9 Mile Station folks know their beer because they did not list it as a "sour" on their  menu which would drive some people (like me) away from it without trying it.
After lunch we also stopped downstairs at a great beer tap (try 150 of them!) store where I got something to take home and share with the wife.  More on that later in this post.

Thank you Atlanta for some great times, some great beer and a desire to return as soon as possible!  

7/2 - I went and saw the Sicario, Day of the Soldaro, tonight at the Roxy Theaters here in town.  It was pretty decent for a sequel.   Hey, Upgrade marketing team, now THIS is how you do a good movie poster!

Since the 4th of July fell in the middle of the week this year, we had a pretty quiet day at home...but that doesn't mean I didn't crack a couple new-to-me beers!  

First up was a crowler of  the excellent Allagash Tripel from Allagash Brewing (ME) that I shared with my wife, Ashlee.   I got this on my recent trip to Atlanta at The Tap on Ponce which has about 150 taps for beer on the go.  Next up was a bomber bottle of Moo-tella 2017 stout from Terrapin Brewing (GA).  This was a  2017 Reserve made with Olive and Sinclair chocolate from here in Nashville.  Thanks to Ashlee for this great Christmas present that we finally found occasion to consume it and it was the worth the wait...delicious!  I also had a couple sips of Ashlee's Framboise Rose Gose from Anderson Valley Brewing (CA).  It was a little tart, but not overly sour as I was fearing.  

After a fairly long drought, I got another online poker win tonight on a small $5 tournament  with 54 other players in it for a tidy $90+ profit.