I-P-A RIVER: A Busy JanBREWuary

1/11- Ashlee and I were at a Big Sam's Funky Nation show at the City Winery tonight and I was surprised to see the Milk Stout by Duck-Rabbit Brewery (NC) on the menu. I was even more surprised to see I had not checked it in on UNTAPPD. It was an early craft beer fave of mine, but evidently before I started using the app. It was as delicious as ever.

Ashlee had a ton of travel this month for work (and pleasure with a girl's cruise out of Miami) which gave this beer-drinkin' mouse time to play a lot while the cat was away...here's the damage:

1/14 - I went to a late showing of The Mule at Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet tonight. It was a decent movie, albeit a little predictable. This was the first movie ticket that I bought with my new Sinemia account (so long MoviePass) saving me about $10. Their app has a cool option of taking a picture with the movie you are watching as a frame so I snapped a reverse view (got figure out how to fix that) of the beer that I sneaked in: a tasty Death Before Disco porter from Left Hand Brewing (CO). This is the first of a variety six-pack I got from Lebanon Wine and Spirits to sneak in to movies over the next couple weeks.

1/15 - I am not much into animated movies, but since it just recently won the Golden Globe for best animated film and I saw a great trailer for it after an IMAX film a while back, I decided to give Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse a try at our local, all-recliners Roxy Theaters in Lebanon. Thanks $5 Tuesdays! I liked it and while I haven't seen all the other competition, I don't see how anything else could be as innovative and take the Oscar away from this one. My second sneaked-in beer was a very good Bayou Milk Stout from T.W. Pitchers' Brewing (CA). It said it was made with New Orleans coffee (hence the name), but I didn't really taste the chicory in it.

1/16 - I was back at Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet again tonight to catch a showing of Vice. Thanks again for the savings, Sinemia. The talented Christian Bale won the Golden Globe for his portrayal of VP, Dick Cheney, in this one, and he deserved it. Amazing transformation. I could see him take home the Oscar as well. My conservative friend, Casey, went with me and I don't think he liked the film as much as I did. LOL! My third sneaked-in beer was really good also. It was the Hop Bullet Double IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing (CA).

It qualifies for a badge even if you sneak them in I guess!

1/17 - I was back in my "old-new" seat tonight at Bridgestone Arena to see the Nashville Predators vs. the Winnipeg Jets as they vied for 1st place in the NHL Western Central Conference. That did not go well. In maybe the worst outing I have ever seen them play in live, the boys got drubbed 5-1 and were never even in the game. On the bright side, before the game, I went by M.L. Rose - Capitol View for a delicious meal, some good beer (and a free parking space) and then Ubered over to the game with my pal, Wayne. While at ML Rose I had an excellent BS IPA from Half Batch Brewing just up the road in Hendersonville. Next up was the boozy, and tasty, libation called The Baroness - Bourbon Barrel Stout (The Tempest Series) from Fat Bottom Brewing here in Nashville. At the game that is not to be mentioned again, I had a pint can of Honey Brown Lager from Dundee Ale and Lagers (NY). This one's been around a long time and I have seen it for sale in supermarkets, gas stations and such for years, so I was surprised Dundee is still considered a microbrewery by UNTAPPD. It was as decent as remember it being years ago when I had for the first time.

1/18 - I took a half day off today and after dropping Ashlee off at the airport for yet another trip, I headed north to Hendersonville for a quick stop at Half Batch Brewing. The place was quiet and I was the only one at the bar for a while where I had their outstanding Only at Night imperial stout. I followed that with a pint of their decent Queen Six red ale. I was in H-ville to check out the new flick, Glass, in IMAX with my pal, Wayne at the Streets of Indian Lake Theaters. Before the show we had dinner (and I had a few more beers, of course) at the always-great Growler USA. I started with a tremendous Stone Tropic of Thunder Lager. It had pepper, it had hops and it was a lager? Stone Brewing, you continue to amaze me and remain my favorite craft brewery of them all, you magnificent California bastards!! The Barrel-Aged Neapolitan Milk Stout from Saugatuck Brewing (MI) that I finished up with was excellent also. The movie was good, maybe a bit underwhelming in my opinion, but an interesting trilogy closer nonetheless.

1/19 - I had a busy (and fun) Saturday planned today, but weather wrecked some of those plans. Despite the driving rain, I had my first-ever visit to Asgard Brewing in Columbia, TN. This let's me check off another regional brewery from the list. There are very few around Nashville now that I have not visited. Asgard is relatively small, but pretty cool. It looks like they may be expanding to another building across the street (photo above). I really thought Columbia was a nice town from what I could see through the raindrops. I am not over this way a lot, but if I get another chance I sure will take it. The number of guest-taps they had was surprising and a little overwhelming, I had a ordered a Chili Coffee Amber ale from Scratch Brewing (IL) before I realized it was not theirs. I liked it and it was interesting combo of coffee up front with a pepper linger.

I gathered myself and actually ordered one of Asgard's beers next: the fantastically smooth and creamy Draugr stout (on nitro). I would have liked to have tried something else, but with the rain and a looming appointment for an oil change for our Subaru (the reason I was over this way), I had to run. I love their logo and Viking theme here at Asgard. Keep up the good work!

Only 10 Russian Imperials? I must be slippin'....

I finished the day with a viewing of Destroyer at the Belcourt Theaters in Nashville. I was excited and interested to see the glamorous Nicole Kidman roughened up as a gritty LA cop. I thought it might be an Oscar-worthy performance worth seeing before the nominations are announced next week. It was a strong performance, but nothing to write home about. (Editor's note: The Oscar voters agreed with no nomination for Kidman for this portrayal.)

1/20 - After a frustrating day of icy cold weather, bad NFL football playoffs watching TV where neither of my teams won, and unsuccessful online poker, I had to get out of the house and headed to Mt. Juliet for a late showing of the new Transformers yarn, Bumblebee. I thought it was pretty well done and sure beat the previous sequels that have sucked out loud. I was able to sneak in another beer from my variety pack and the Barrel-Aged 4Beans imperial porter from Sixpoint Brewing (NY), who are one of my favorite canned brewers, was a great BumbleBEER...yep, came up with that one on my on!

1/21 - I had the day off, (thank you for your efforts, Dr. King), and the weather was cold and crappy, so I decided to sandwich a visit to the gastro--pub Catch 22, in Mt. Juliet with a couple more movies. I started with a noon showing of the amazing documentary, Free Solo early at Opry Mills. This was my last of three Sinemia pre-paid movies for this month. No complaints so far with this service The rope-free solo climb of Alex Honnold up the 3,000' of El Captain's sheer granite face in Yosemite National Park has never been done before and is easily one of the greatest achievements this decade, yet nobody really knows about it, although I was happy to see I wasn't the only one in the theater for this early showing of a documentary that's been out for a while. (Editors note: The film has brought in over $5 million dollars at the box office which is a very strong for a documentary and I was thrilled to see it earn an Oscar nomination also.)

I dropped by the aforementioned Catch 22 Gastro-pub in Mt. Juliet for a late lunch (awesome jerk-rubbed shrimp street tacos) and a couple of brews. I started with The Grievance milk stout from East Nashville Beer Works which was light and sweet. I finished with a hoppy-as-hell (make that hoppy-as-heaven) DDH Mixed Greens XXXI (31) IPA from my favorite Nashville craft brewer, Southern Grist. I thought it was appropriate that the lacing in the glass (photo above) created a snowy mountain peak to remind me of the documentary I just saw. This one's for you, Alex. Cheers!!

Next up, I met my friend from work, Casey, to catch a special Fathom Events showing of another documentary called They Shall Not Grow Old at the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet. I have been trying to see this film for a while now. What is most unique about this film is that Peter Jackson (of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy fame) was given the daunting task of taking 100 hours of 100-year-old film footage from WWI and make it "interesting." Well, by God, he did it! He and his team not only cleaned up the film and colorized it, but they also added sound and voices to match the footage. Amazing! Just as interesting was after the film when Jackson talked about the process and the brain-storming they had to do to come up with the amazing result.

I had a few minutes to kill before meeting Casey for the movie, so I stopped by Beer World

in Mt. Juliet and grabbed a 3-beer variety pack, one of which I sneaked into the movie.

It was the Bluprint IPA from Birds Fly South Ale Project (SC). The can was beautiful

on the outside and the beer was excellent on the inside!

1/22 - I had a date tonight while Ashlee was away. Calm down, it wasn't that kind of date. In fact, it's what Ashlee called a "Nate-Date." My beer-loving pal, Nate, and I attended a 5-Course Beer Dinner hosted by the new restaurant in the basement of the fancy Noelle Hotel in downtown Nashville called Makeready Libations and Liberation featuring brews from East Nashville's own Smith and Lentz Brewing.

The evening started with appetizers that included some tasty house-made pimento cheese, and a special cocktail made with gin and Smith and Lentz's Golden Ale. Head chef Matt Clement and his talented team then rolled out five delicious courses along with accompanying Smith and Lentz brews that went as follows:

Course 1 - A tasty winter salad that included bourbon-marinated shallots paired with the Smith and Lentz German Pils (I have had this solid pilsner before)

Course 2 - An interesting and very flavorful combo of scallops and pistachios paired with S and L's Wow, Lou IPA (photo below, this was my favorite course).

Course 3 - A flavorful celery root pierogi paired with S and L's Vienna Lager (which I have had before)

Course 4 - Roasted squab (with talon still attached!) paired with S and L's RhineOverture imperial oatmeal stout (this was my favorite beer of the evening)

Course 5 - Banana brulee' with mascarpone ice cream surprisingly paired with S and L's Hefeweizen (this was my favorite pairing of the evening)

What a fun and flavorful evening! The place was packed thanks to a very reasonable price. An announcement that they would be doing these beer dinners once a month with other local breweries makes me think this won't be the last one of these I attend!

1/24 - I headed down to Murfressboro after work today to check out the new Hop Springs Beer Park, a large multi-use facility that is also a "super-brewery" featuring products from three locals: Steel Barrel Brewing, Mantra Ales and the Humulus Project. It's also tied to MTSU which recently began offering beer brewing as a major. Their taproom just recently opened, so I had to check it out since it's on the east side aka "my side" of busy Murfreesboro. Even though it was dark by the time I arrived, I could tell this place is going to be something special. With plans for a large amphitheater for music, a disc golf course and beer product crop-growing such as hops, barley and wheat, this place should become a national craft beer destination in the years to come. Since I had to drive afterwards, I limited my self to three 8-ounce pours: one from each of the three brewers. I started with a tasty stout from Steel Barrel Brewing called Derrick. Unfortunately, my next two weren't superb, but I have had good stuff from both of these brewers in the past. The HopSteiner IPA from the Humulus Project tasted a little soapy to me. The Edtima Honig Hafer brown ale was pretty lifeless in terms of any taste. Despite these two so-so tries, I feel good about this place and its future and I am sure I will return in the future.

There's probably not a more beautiful lady in Hollywood right now, IMO, but Margot Robbie can act too. To see her all powdered up as the pox-scarred Queen Elizabeth I in the new film, Mary, Queen of Scots (which got an Oscar nomination for make-up, and a SAG nomination for her) was a bit unnerving. I checked out this slow, but interesting, film on the other end of Murfreesboro at the AMC theaters after my visit to Hop Springs.

1/25 - I headed downtown after work today and stopped by City Tap for a couple brews and dinner. The Korean short rib tacos were excellent. I started with a really nice Nate's Coffee Stout from Country Boy Brewing (KY) and then just about a perfect IPA called Hop'Easter from Starr Hill Brewing (VA). It was a beautiful clear, but cold, night in Music City and Broadway was jumping as usual.

Next, I walked around the corner to the HQ Beercade (love their wall of old computer disks in the photo above) for another pint and some free vintage arcade games. I had another strong IPA called Luau Krunkles from Terrapin Brewing (GA), but I was disappointed that my favorite game, Galaga, was not there anymore. This fact will seriously affect my attendance here in the future! Get this fixed!

Finally I slipped around another corner to catch a free show from Guthrie Brown at Acme Feed and Seed. Haven't seen him live since way back in '14 as an opener with his band, The Family Tree. He didn't play any of his original songs that I know and like, but his cover game was incredibly strong.. For example ,"Midnight Rider" by the ABB was definitely given its due justice.

Level 2? This must be a new badge category because I haven't definitely darkened the door of more than 10 pubs!

1/26 - I headed to Cookeville today to get our Honda Accord serviced at the dealership there. They are the best! After the quick service, and since I was in the area, I went east another few miles to check out the amazing overlook at Bee Rock in Monterey. It is almost unbelievable that a view like this is just a mile off the interstate and a half-mile walk from a parking lot. Can't wait to come back here in the fall!

After my Bee Rock visit, I stopped back in Cookeville for a beer (of course) at Red Silo Brewing. The place was jumping despite it being early with two different organized groups meeting there. I had there decent Dad Bod IPA followed by a really good Strong Handyman imperial winter ale. I walked some of those beers of next over at the fairly new Window Cliffs State Natural Area. I haven't been here in about 25 years when my best friend, Craig, and I explored it when it was still private land. I didn't have the footwear to endure the nine creek crossings you have to take to see the cliffs, but I will be back to do so when I get the chance.

Before leaving Cookeville, I stopped by Jig Head Brewing, watched a little college basketball, and had a really good spiced beer called Anne Bonny's Loot. It still boggles my mind that such a small town as Cookeville could have three really strong breweries. I didn't make it to Hix Farm Brewing today, but I will on my next visit.

Speaking of college basketball, it's a strange time for me as my favorite team growing up, the Tennessee Vols, and my favorite adopted team from the mid-80's on (out of frustration of being a UT fan and the program going nowhere at the time), the Duke Blue Devils, being ranked 1st and 2nd in the Top 25. By the way, they both won today, handily, bringing their wins to 18 each. It would be a dream come true to see them square off for the National Championship in March!

Before getting home from Cookeville, I stopped by the small town of Carthage to check out Ebel's Tavern. I had heard this place had craft beer and good food for a while now and have been meaning to check it out when I got the chance. Today, I got that chance! With only 6 taps, I had actually had everything they offered, but gave some more love to Cookeville with a pint of the nice Jig Head Brewing porter called 48 Fathom. Their food was good. I had a tasty spicy Philly cheesesteak. It's always nice to see small towns in the Bible Belt embracing craft beer.

1/28 - Ashlee was FINALLY back today (only to be gone again tomorrow for work) and we met her old co-worker and friend, Michelle, and her fiancee', Adam, who were in Nashville for the weekend. They chose the rooftop bar called The Lookout in the new Blake Shelton-owned honky tonk, Ole Red. The food was decent and they even had a nice beer list. I had a pretty good Obsidian dark saison from Fat Bottom Brewing here in Nashville. I took this cool cloud reflection picture above from the rooftop overlook which shows what a beautiful day it was.

I got off the online poker snide also tonight with a solid 2nd place finish in a $3 buy-in with unlimited rebuys and an add-on vs. 120 other players for a $120+ profit on Global Poker.

1/29 - I slipped out of work early today to attend a taping of the radio/pod-cast, Hangin' and Sangin' with Kelly McCartney at Analog inside the Hutton Hotel in downtown Nashville. Today's podcast was featuring one of my favorite local artists, Will Hoge.

Will performed four acoustic songs after his half-hour interview that were fantastic. The venue located inside the swanky hotel was small but beautiful with great acoustics.

The bar was open at Analog so I was able to have a good craft beer during the show as well. I chose the Front Row golden ale from Starr Hill Brewing (VA) which I have checked in before on UNTAPPD at another music show here in Nashville last year. I liked the badge I got for checking it in (photo above) and was surprised I have checked in beers at 40 different hotels.

After the show I needed to kill some time and let rush hour peter out before heading home, so I walked a couple blocks over to the Midtown location of Broadway Brewhouse for a few beers and some dinner. I have actually never been to this locale despite it being around forever. They allow smoking inside (yuck) which just about made me leave, but the beer list is AMAZING, so I toughed it out. I started with an excellent Hawkbill IPA from Burial Beer Company (Asheville, NC). Next up was a delicious Chapel Hill Toffee Stout from Carolina Brewery (Pittsboro, NC) that I really enjoyed despite the name and me being a Duke fan. My chicken tacos were pretty good for dinner, and afterward I finished the evening with an OK Brown Bear brown ale from Catawba Island Brewing (OH). This was my first beer from this microbrewery and earned me another badge (shown above) checking in my 220th different brewer. Sounds impressive, but since there are over 6,300 in just the U.S., I've got a ways to go!!

1/30 - After some internal debate, I decided to go check out the much-ballyhooed film, The Favourite, since it's gotten a ton of nominations for the upcoming Oscars. Period pieces aren't my "favourite" kind of movie, but this one has a lot going for it including the fact that the beautiful and talented Rachel Weisz is in it, and I have always had a thing for her. I saw it at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) where I was able to sneak in a beer. I had a pint can of Retitiled Pils, a German-style pilsner from Against the Grain Brewing (KY) that wasn't too bad. I can't say the same for the movie. I honestly didn't like it much at all. I thought it was a snooze and the performances were a little over the top and trying too hard. Rachel was the best, of course. To each his own, I guess.