I-P-A RIVER: January 2020

Drink all. Love all.

1/4 - I went and saw the new film, Bombshell, over at the Green Hills Theaters (recliners!) today and thought it was great. Thanks, Regal Unlimited! Two of my favorite Hollywood ladies (lookers and great actresses to boot) Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie were excellent in their roles as Fox News employees that were sexually harassed by that pig, Roger Ailes. On the way home, I stopped by Various Artists Brewing and had a tasty pint of their The Brothers Brown ale.

I got home in time to watch my beloved Tennessee Titans travel to Foxborough to take on the defending Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots led by the GOAT, Tom Brady, in the first Wildcard Round of the NFL Playoffs. The Titans came to play and shut down the depleted Patriots by the score of 20-13. What a huge win! A special win deserves a special beer so I cracked open one of my three anniversary bombers from New Heights Brewing. I chose the Four Roses 3 Year Barrel Aged Navel Gazer stout that was incredible. It's on to Baltimore for the Titans with a much harder match-up with the # 1 seed Ravens and their dynamic video-game-like quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Good luck, boys!

1/5 - I settled in to watch the Golden Globes tonight and really enjoyed the show. My favorite movie of the year, 1917, won a best drama award. Joaquin Phoenix and Tara Edgerton were my picks for best actors and each both won. Tom Hanks got a lifetime achievement award and gave an awesome speech. And Ricky Gervais was scandalous and hilarious as the host. What's not to love? I enjoyed a pint can from the Andy Christmas Collection during the show. The very good S'Mores double IPA from Decadent Ales (NY) went down smooth and easy.

I also banged out my first good online poker cash of 2020 tonight with a second-place finish in a Crazy Pineapple Tournament on Global Poker vs. 52 other players for almost $50 in profit.

1/6- I headed over to Providence Theaters tonight to catch a showing of the new Adam Sandler drama that's getting a lot of buzz called Uncut Gems. Sandler does a great job I admit playing a character of pretty much zero redeeming value and I did forget it was him sometimes, but I really disliked the movie overall. At least my sneak-in beer was good. I had a pint can of the Breakfast Hero milk stout from TrimTab Brewing (Birmingham, AL) from my Andy Christmas Collection.

1/8 - It was Lebanon Poker Night again and I got a quite fortunate third place finish to keep my partner, Chip, and I squarely in the points lead by over 20 points with only four games to go. I had a 3-beer variety pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits.to help me through it. I started with solid Necron 99 IPA from Three Floyds Brewing (IN). Next up was the very good Kentucky Winter Golden Stout from Lexington Brewing. My favorite of the night in taste and hilarious name and bottle label was the Space Station Middle Finger pale ale also from Three Floyds.

1/9 - Man, what a night. I somehow scraped in to second place in our WSOP online league and won a $2K package to Las Vegas this summer! How it came about is a very strange tale: it started with me flaming out in 10th place of this last tournament in the series with a bad-beat of a flopped set of fours that got flushed on the river. I had a slim points-lead going in and the two players behind me were still alive when I got knocked out. One player passed me (slightly) in points getting knocked out a few positions later. It came down to the third-place player who is very aggressive and a very good player. The league administrator, my friend, Brian, texted me and told me the third-place guy needed to go out before second place. Well, he should have been out about 5th, but miraculously doubled-up with 98 over AK. It got down to three players, and that's when I learned the tournament chip leader was the third-place player's brother! Oh boy! Then in an amazing Cain-and-Able moment, the chip leader knocked his brother out of the tournament in third place and I slid by into second place in points by the slimmest lead Brian says has ever happened in this league. I was astonished and am still in shock as I type this. I will never bitch about bad-beats again. I swear!

Oh,and Pekka Rinne got the 12th ever goal by a goalie in the NHL tonight vs. the hated Chicago Blackhawks in a nice 5-2 win in The Windy City. What a magical night!!
I toasted my fortunate success with a pint can of the very appropriately named Stranger Than Fiction porter from Collective Arts Brewing (Canada) from my Andy Christmas Collection.

1/10- I took in my second viewing of the WWI masterpiece film, 1917, only this time in IMAX at the Streets of Indian Lake Theaters in Hendersonville with my pal, Wayne. Before the show I stopped by Blossom Thai and Cellar Door Craft Cavern for a light dinner and a pre-show libation. I had the very good Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale (nitro) from North Coast Brewing (CA - been there!).

1/11 - I anxiously tuned in to the Titans v. Ravens - 2nd Round of the AFC Divisional Playoffs - tonight. Man, what a history there has been with these two teams! And what a dominating (and surprising) 28-12 win for the Titans!! Wow!! It's on to the AFC Championship for this surprising 6-seed who will now face the 2-seed Kansas City Chiefs. During the game I cracked open another third-anniversary bomber from New Heights Brewing here in Nashville. It was the Jefferson's Ocean Barrel Aged Navel Gazer and it was tremendous. TITAN UP!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF??

1/12 - Since it won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film and is getting a ton of buzz, I decided to use my Regal Unlimited to see Parasite today at the Opry Mills Theaters. Man, I really hated it. Sorry, I want to give foreign films a chance, but this one started out interestingly enough, but then just became completely dumb. I improved the evening by stopping by Homegrown Taproom for a snoot and got a couple of good half-pints. First up was a session IPA from Cigar City Brewing (FL) called the Gridiron Glory Citrus Session Ale. Next up was the Alpha Klaus porter from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN).

(Editor's note: Well, I am definitely in the minority on this one as it went on to also win The Oscars for not only best Foreign Film, but also Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Wow, didn't see that coming??)

1/15 - I headed over to the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet (thanks Regal Unlimited) tonight to catch a showing of the new true-story courtroom drama, Just Mercy. It was great, and, yes, Jamie Foxx, definitely got overlooked for a major acting award nomination. I had a coat-pocket beer that was very good from my "Andy Christmas Collection." It was a pint can of a Vienna-style lager called Never Say Never from 3 Stars Brewing (Washington, DC).

1/17 - I got my first out-right win of the year in online poker tonight with a first-place finish in my regular Crazy Pineapple Tournament on Global Poker vs. 39 other players that netted me nearly $70 in profit.

1/18 - I was off to Memphis today for a long weekend in "Bluff City." I stopped on the way in "Hub City" aka Jackson, Tennessee to check out what else: Hub City Brewing. It's a great place and I really enjoyed the beer I had there. This was my first time in downtown Jackson and it seemed a little dead, so a microbrewery might be what this town needs. My friends, Craig and Alison, met me for dinner there also bringing a great pizza pie from Rock'n Dough Pizza and Brew Company just down the street. I started at HCB with their wee heavy Scotch ale called Bonfire that was terrific. I also got a bomber bottle of this to share later with friends back home sometime soon. I finished with their fantastic black IPA called Johnny Hash. I will definitely be back here the next time I get chance while heading west.

I had a great Hotwire deal on a hotel room in Olive Branch, MS, just outside Memphis tonight and near my hotel was the Mississippi Ale House. Might as well take a look. Well, their beer selection was impressive, but it was a weird little place with no bar stools?!?! Just a few crowded tables. Looks like it's more of an outdoor patio kinda place, but that was out tonight as it was bone-chilling cold. I started with the double IPA called KT Boundary from Lazy Magnolia Brewing (Kiln, MS). It was OK, but I was really missing the hops since it was listed as an imperial IPA. I finished with the much-better 1817/MS Ale house Delta Grind coffee stout made by the 1817 Brewery in Okolona, MS.

1/19 - I got up early and headed on over to Tunica, MS, to enter my second Seniors Poker Tournament at a World Series of Poker Circuit Event at the Horseshoe Casino. I wanted to improve my results from my first seniors tourney over in Cherokee, NC, last year.

It turned out to be a much bigger tournament field than my first one with 403 entrants (this included unlimited rebuys). I finished a very respectable 68th with no rebuys. The painful part was that they started paying out in 61st place. I maybe could have squeezed out and cashed, but I was well-below 10 big blinds and re-raised all in a guy who had been pushing the table around some. He had a legit 1010 and I had KJ and caught a king on the river...unfortunately, the guy next to me also woke up with pocket aces to take down the 3-way pot and eliminate me. Next time...next time....I was happy with my live play overall. My overall game had improved greatly. I pulled off a nice huge bluff, captured several orphan pots, and made a few solid folds of good hands that I knew were clearly beat. I got good cards too including AA and a flopped set of fours, but got no action at those times.

The other painful part of the tournament was watching those "Nashville Road Warriors" at it again today as my beloved Tennessee Titans continued their amazing (and unexpected) push through the NFL Playoffs with a date in Kansas City with the # 2 seed Chiefs for the AFC Championship. Unfortunately, after jumping out to an early lead, they could not stop the offensive juggernaut that is reigning MVP, QB Patrick Mahomes and his speedy and talented offense. It was a great run and I think we found a real coach in Mike Vrabel and it gives a fan hope for the future. TITAN UP!!

I got to Memphis about sunset and checked in to the downtown Doubletree Hotel just around the corner from Beale Street. I had a great view from my room with the Redbirds baseball park just below.

The view inside my room was pretty too!! I opted for a bucket of "Memphis beers" as an upgrade at my downtown Doubletree Hotel. Even though I have had all these beers before, I was still impressed at the selection and the option which I haven't seen before. I wish more hotels would do this with local craft beer. In no particular order, my bucket contained: Ghost River Gold golden ale from Ghost River Brewing; a couple Ananda IPAs, a Tiny Bomb pilsner and a Gotta Get Up to Get Down milk stout from WISEACRE Brewing.

Dinner was my next priority and I met up with my pal, Charly, and his cousin, Scott, and we headed over to Central BBQ for some beautiful brisket! This was my first time here and not only was the food fantastic, their craft beer choices were plentiful! I chose a can of the very good Junt cream ale from Memphis Made Brewing. I should have went with a draft evidently, since after eating I spied their cool tap station pictured above.

Since we were close by, I talked the fellas into checking out the historic and well-known Memphis dive bar, Ernestine and Hazel's for a post-dinner libation. I had a draft pint of the WISEACRE schwarzbier called Starless and it was excellent.

It was time for some Beale-Street-Boogie next. The famous street of outdoor drinking was pretty quiet tonight, however, since the temps were below freezing. We ducked inside the hilarious King Jerry Lawler's Hall of Fame Bar and Grille where they had a pretty darn good band belting out some Prince and other soul favorites. They had and IPA on tap called 201 Hoplar that was pretty good. It's made by Meddlesome Brewing over in Cordova, TN, just east of Memphis.

We found more good live music at the Blues City Band Box and some pretty good eats and a hilarious waiter named Kevin who looked like if Sam Kinison and Danny Devito had a baby! Yikes!! They were out of the IPA I wanted to try...dammit, Kevin!! So I settled for a tasty repeat, the Scottish Ale from High Cotton Brewing here in Memphis. I did earn a cool badge on UNTAPPD for this check-in hitting a milestone of beers checked in at 50 different music venues!

1/20 - I ventured back out in the brutal cold this morning to check out The Brewery - Memphis: a beautiful new restoration project that saved the historic and amazing Tennessee Brewery Building built in 1890 from abandonment and proposed demolition, and giving it rebirth as apartments and commercial retail space starting in 2017.

The Tennessee Brewery's hey-days started in the early 1900's when it was the biggest brewery in The South employing 1,500 people and cranking out a quarter-million barrels of beer per year. Goldcrest 51 debuted in 1938 commemorating 51 years in business.

Another great bonus for The Brewery - Memphis is that it sits on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. This pretty shot from Butler Park next door doesn't show how darn cold it was!!

I got back in time to meet Charly and Scott at The Peabody Hotel to watch the always-fun Duck March to the beautiful fountain in the lobby. Something I learned this time while watching the Duck March is that the exquisite fountain is carved for one single block of travertine marble.

I graced Charly and Scott with their first to Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken for lunch. Nothing much has changed here since my last visit including the food which is outstanding.

It was an honor to visit the Lorraine Motel/Civil Rights Museum on MLK Day. There were lots of festivities in and around the museum including free entry which made the lines long despite the bitter cold.

1/20 - Charly and I bought tickets a good while ago to see the Memphis Grizzlies host the New Orleans Pelicans so we could see rookie phenom (and former Duke one-and-doner) Zion Williamson play in person. Unfortunately, a preseason injury has kept Big Z on the bench the entire season so far. so maybe he returns from injury in Memphis? Nope!! Missed it by one game. He is scheduled to make his NBA regular-season debut on Wednesday (1/22) back in New Orleans. But at least he was there and I got to see him in person, plus there are a half dozen other former Dukies spread out between the two teams to watch play in his stead. For the victorious Pelicans JJ Redick had 10 points and Brandon Ingram had 25. For the Grizzlies Tyus Jones had 9 points and Grayson Allen while only having two points, they came from a beautiful dunk. The Grizzlies cut a 20-point deficit late in the game in half losing 126-116 to the hot-shooting Pelicans.

(Editor's note: Zion did play on Wednesday night 1/22 and after a quiet 3 quarters vs. the San Antonio Spurs with only 5 or 6 minutes of play each quarter, he exploded for 17 points in a span of 3 minutes. The greatness has started!!)

I forget what a nice venue the Fedex Forum is. Charly got us great seats about half-way up almost center court. I need to try and make a few more NBA games when possible in the future.

One of the cool pre-game ceremonies since it was MLK Day was presenting four National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Awards to well-deserving former athletes that included UTK and WNBA superstar, Sheryl Swoopes, NBA legend, Robert Parish, longtime NBA player, Caron Butler, and Super Bowl winning Redskins quarterback, Doug Williams.

A halftime musical performance by Leslie Odom, Jr., who I saw recently in the film, Harriet, was pretty good also.

1/22 - I headed over to the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet after work to catch an early-evening showing of the "creatively named" flick, Underwater, the new sci-fi jump-scare thriller. It was OK, but an obvious rip-off of Alien. I took a coat-pocket beer in with me, of course. It was a pint can from the Andy Christmas Collection called Oatsplosion, a decent IPA from Central State Brewing (Indianapolis)

1/23 - I took the afternoon off with some sick time (which was at risk to lose and I did have a cold), and headed to Mt. Juliet to the Providence Theaters to see the new action film, Bad Boys For Life. Thanks, Regal Unlimited! It was pretty good with lots of action and laughs, and a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. Afterwards I stopped by the Catch 22 Gastropub for a couple of libations. I started with a very good Tropical Smoothie IPA from Hi-Wire Brewing over in Asheville, NC. The most interesting thing about this beer is that it was a collaboration with Crafty Bastard Brewing in Knoxville. Gotta put that one on the "must-visit" list! I finished with a decent 40th Hoppy Anniversary Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing (CA). It's hard to believe those folks have been cranking out hop-infused goodness since 1980! Salute!!

I got home in time to play some online poker on Global and while I didn't do much worth noting, I did catch my first QUAD THREES hand on there. This has been my "signature hand" in the past catching it several times online and three times in live play, plus a plethora of sets. But it has been a while for quads, so I was glad to see them again. I did finish 6th in this tournament for a small cash.

1/24 - I headed north this morning in the same rental car I took to Memphis, a brand-new sweet little Subaru Cross Trek. My final destination was going to be Indianapolis to see some college hoops with Marquette at # 13 Butler at Indiana's historic basketball cathedral, Hinkle Field House.

My first stop was the very cool and very historic (173 years old) Octagon Hall antebellum home about an hour north of our house in Franklin, KY. I didn't have time to go in, but will definitely return for a look inside. It's also supposed to be haunted, so a ghost hunt might be fun sometime!

I stopped in Louisville for lunch at Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse. Their cool little brewpub is nestled inside the minor league ballpark there. I had some great spicy BBQ stew and a brew at the bar. I chose their decent Frosty Goat vanilla bock

I got to Indianapolis with no trouble and checked into my very nice Renaissance Hotel room (thanks Hotwire!) north of downtown. I had time before the game to get dinner (and a beer or two, duh). I had a little trouble tracking down the microbreweries I had researched and settled for the Mashcraft Brewing on Delaware location per my UNTAPPD app. I started with their Ginger Snap spiced beer (photo above) since I was ordering an Asian flatbread for dinner. The flatbread was tasty. The beer was not. Kinda disappointing. If I order a ginger beer, which isn't often, I want to taste ginger and I just did not with this one. My second order was disappointing as well. Their Golden Fiddle Belgian blonde was bland also. Come on, guys! I guess I know who I am avoiding on my next visit to Indy...

Hinkle Fieldhouse is awesome! Wow! What a beautifully historic venue and what a game!! The home team came from behind to send the game to overtime and then got the victory 89-85. Yes, I was sort of for Marquette since my boy, Wojo, is the coach, but I also like the Butler program, and the SOLD OUT building of 9,204 on a Friday night were rocking the place.

Thanks to my fantasy-football pal, Jared, and his, Jackson, for joining me at the game since Ashlee couldn't make it due to work. We had a great time and even got to hang out on the beautiful hardwood after the game as Jackson shot hoops with some other kids. There was some fun before the game with the introduction of the new Butler mascot in training, the young bulldog pup, Blue # 4; and at half-time with a great and amazing show by Christian and his little dog, Scooby.

I enjoyed this beautiful (and new, evidently) 42' flower sculpture in the roundabout near my hotel called "Grace, Love and Joy" on my back from the game. Indy's a pretty nice town!

1/25 - I headed south this morning with snow coming down and my great audio-book, "Underground Airlines" continuing. It really helped the miles go by and was kinda cool that the story took place mostly in Indianapolis.

I stopped just before Louisville to check out the $90-million renovation at Caesar's Southern Indiana Casino. Wow! Very impressive! It's like you are in Vegas once you step inside! I decided to play in their Saturday deep-stack poker tournament that had a pretty good structure. I finished again just out of the money with a solid 17th place finish out of 81 players, but they were only paying 8. They even had good craft beer at the bar next to the poker room and I had a Zombie Dust pale ale from 3 Floyds Brewing up in Munster, IN. I have definitely had this great brew before, but, surprisingly, never checked it in on UNTAPPD.

We had a fun trip to Dallas and Ft. Worth over New Year's and I found some pretty good craft beer as well. But, sadly, we lost our dear oldest cat, Ms. Bea, while we were gone, and it's broken our hearts. I dedicate my next 16 beers that I drink to Ms. Bea to represent every one of the wonderful years that she was a part of our lives. Cheers, sweet girl!

12/30 - Since we flew in on a Monday, a lot of the craft breweries in and around Ft. Worth where we were staying were not open. That was not the case for Martin House Brewing which was jumping (because no others were open maybe?), but I was lucky to find a seat open up at the bar just a couple minutes after I walked in. I commandeered that stool for a good while and made my way through two 4-choice flights of their large inventory of libations. In no certain order I had the following:
Cookies stout - excellent
Friday IPA - very, very good
Best Maid Sour Pickle Beer - a surprisingly good gose if you like pickles
Cream - an amazing cream ale that was the best of the night
Azathoth - described as an "other" beer by UNTAPPD, this weird concoction of an imperial ale with squid ink and menthol was a big swing...and a bigger miss...yech!
Black Forest Cake -strong ale that was a bit underwhelming
Puppy Chow - bow wow! that's a great stout!
Bacon Burnt Ends smoked stout that I was disappointed with

Ashlee joined me a bit later and I continued with:Denim Vest - just a sip of Ashlee's flight choice of a Belgian dubbel with a disappointing aftertaste
another sip of Ashlee's flight choice, the Jay Riemenschneider farmhouse ale that was ho-hum at best. These folks don't do Belgian-style beer very well.
I finished on a winner with a pint of their Escape Plan New England-style IPA

New UNTAPPD badge!! Woot! Woot! I love me some stouts!!

Ashlee was nice enough to take my now rather-snockered self to a great beer bar nearby called Lone Star Taps and Caps where I had this awesome double IPA with the great name: Sit Down or I'll Sit You Down from Peticolas Brewing over in Dallas.

You know a place is great when they have their own UNTAPPD badges. I wish I had more time to visit here again and again...and again!

Did I ever mention I have the best wife ever?? She then drove my happy (i.e. drunk) ass to a nearby In-n-Out Burger so I could get a double-double animal-style. Nom! Nom! Nom!

12/31 - One of mine and Ashlee's favorite canned craft beer brewers is Rahr and Sons Brewing. Guess who calls their home Fort Worth, Texas!! We stopped by "the mother-ship" today and had a fun time sampling and buying some libations to take with us. At the brewery, I started with a pint of the outstanding Graham Mie's Apple Pie Brown Ale. I had some of Ashlee's equally tasty Angry Santa spiced beer. We also split a pint of our favorite beer over the summer at the pool, the appropriately-named Adios Pantalones light lager. It was even better as a draft!! Prost ya'll!!

We had a great New Year's Eve dinner at a place in Fort Worth called Lucile's. They had a few local craft beers on tap and I had a very solid Ranch Style Pils from Wild Acre Brewing here in Ft. Worth.

We spent New Year's Eve and rang in the new year at the world's largest honky tonk called Billy Bob's where bro-country and Nashville-based, Cole Swindell, performed. It was a pretty good show, but the beer selections at BB's was mighty poor. At least they've got Shiner Bock....

Blech! I should have stuck with Shiner Bock. We made a mistake of ordering a bucket of Lone Star Beer lagers that were not very good. Made by Pabst Brewing out of LA, this mass-produced swill is awful. Not even worth the check-in on UNTAPPD.

1/1 /20 - Game Day!! Ashlee drove us into Dallas for The Winter Classic pitting our Nashville Predators against the home-team Dallas Stars. My friend, Charly, and I downed this outstanding crowler that I picked up at Rahr and Sons yesterday on the way to the The Cotton Bowl. Their Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Warmer was the perfect beer to kick off an outdoor hockey game...even if it was only about 50 degrees outside.

We had an awesome time and it was an incredible event, if only the score had been better for the game itself as the Preds blew and early 2-0 lead to fall to the Stars by a final score of 4-2. To add insult to injury, there was ZERO craft beer available at the stadium. They took all this time to pump up Texas and the surrounding area and yet forgot to invite any local craft breweries to sell their wares??

One-half of the recent G.A.M.E. Weekend "Carolina 6" made it to Dallas for The Winter Classic. Thanks to Wayne and Charly for coming along for the adventure!

After a long day at the game and surrounding activities at the Texas State Fairgrounds, we headed back to Fort Worth to relax for the evening. We made another stop by Rahr and Sons and picked up a couple more libations for the night and days ahead.

Since we were all tired, we decided to stay in the hotel for dinner instead of going out. We ordered take-out, had it delivered to the lobby and commandeered a large table to nosh on. I cracked open a Rahr and Sons's crowler of Drunken Santa, a rum-barrel aged winter warmer that was excellent, and shared it with anyone who wanted some. Charly had bought a crowler of their Bourbon Barrel Regulator, a German-style doppelbock aged in bourbon barrels that was equally tasty. Thanks for sharing, bud!

I certainly earned this badge this trip with three great crowlers of Rahr and Sons beer checked in.

1/2 - Ever been to a Buc-ee's? It's these giant (Texas-sized gas stations/convenience stores) scattered around the Lone Star State and they are amazing! All kinds of shopping; huge, clean bathrooms,;a deli-style fresh jerky counter (photo above) and tons of other food choices. Surprisingly, I thought their craft beer selection wasn't that great.

I mean REAL fresh deli-wrapped beef jerky! Yes, it was delicious.

We had a great late lunch/early dinner at a regional craft burger chain called Rodeo Goat that also had an impressive craft beer tap selection. I opted for a nice Velvet Hammer imperial red ale from Peticolas Brewing here in Dallas.

We finished the night with hotel chill at the Sheraton at DFW Airport where I watched the UT bowl game come-from-behind win over Indiana, played an important online poker tournament in my WSOP league with a final table finish to keep a slim lead going into the last game next week, and had a couple cans of the just OK Dallas Blonde ale from Deep Ellum Brewing here in Dallas that I bought at a local Aldi. Again, not a great beer, but it was nice to see local craft beer on an Aldi grocery store shelf which is not the case at home.

A better can beer that I also had tonight was most of the six-pack of Rahr's Original Beer, a history-based lager that I bought at Rahr and Sons Brewing the other night.