Moving on into 2023

I am so easy to buy for! 

I joined the inaugural Cedar City Brewing Mug Club and also reupped my Mug Club membership at The Cedar Tap for year two.    Here's to discounts on craft beer within walking distance of my house!! 2023 is gonna be a good year!! 

Well, it only took 22 years, but I finally won the Burgess Falls Fantasy Football League which I have been commissioner of all these years.  I have only been to the finals twice and should have won the first one but didn't in harrowing bad luck.  Well, the luck was with me this year as I limped into the playoffs as the 8th and final seed and proceeded to pull three upsets in a row to the championship!  Cheers to all those players on the other teams falling flat of their projected points!  

1/4 - The weather was nice enough this afternoon to take a walk up to The Cedar Tap for happy hour where I found my friend, Curtis, now working behind the bar part-time.  He sat me up first with a very nice NEPA from Hutton and Smith Brewing down in Chattanooga called Fool's Pyrite.  While alone at the bar while Curtis and Courtney were in the back working on something, an interesting thing happened: these two strolling musicians walked in and proceeded to serenade me with an Irish ballad.  Seems they are trying to raise enough money to move to Arizona to continue their musical careers away from the one-on-every-corner cutthroat Nashville scene.  They sounded pretty good, and their story was random enough to probably be true, so I Venmoed them twenty bucks and bought them each a beer.  The guy on guitar is named Michael Roche.  Let's see if he ever gets anywhere!  Good luck, fellas.  I followed the serenade up with a decent slightly-smoked brown ale from Marrowbone Brewing over in Ashland City called De Montbrun.   

I moved on over to Cedar City Brewing for Wednesday Wings and a Beer Night next.   As I had hoped, the wings are the same as the ones at Town Square Social which the brewery is associated with and which I love.  The dry rub is the bomb!!  This will become a regular Wednesday night stop for me whenever possible!  My beer selection was their new smooth and easy-drinking Italian-style pilsner called Feels Like '98, a shout-out to last year's stellar football season by The Big Orange of Tennessee and their national championship way back in 1998.   That label's gonna look good on a can when they start production next year hopefully. 

1/6 - I headed out to The Poker Barn tonight for a tournament and took three beers with me.  First up was the very light and easy-drinking low-calorie Locale (Batch 2) blonde ale from Yazoo Brewing up in Madison.  I bought a six-pack of these which I don't usually do but wanted to continue to support the craft beer sales at the Three Forks Market in tiny Watertown where I picked it up after my haircut today.  The next one was from my last Beer Box order, the solid pale ale called Logic Bomb from Surly Brewing (MN).  As for the poker, I finished 7th out of 27, but they only paid the top five, womp-womp...but was satisfied with my play since I didn't get very many good starting hands dealt to me throughout the night but made a few good bluffs and even cracked AK with my AJ to stay alive a bit longer. 

My last one of the night was the very good (Sunset Ridge aka Sunny IPA) from Temperance Beer Company (IL) which I drank in honor of that other puddin-head Sunny pictured below...

The real SUNNY (I Pee Alot) 

1/7 - Hey, look what came super-fast without me paying for expediated shipping!
All hail, The Herring Impaired!! 

I slipped by The Cedar Tap tonight to see my pals, Curtis and Kate, and to join what I am calling the Horny Boys Mug Club that Curtis and I have unofficially started there.  Mine's the bigger, black one!!   While there I had about a half pint (the keg kicked during my pour) of the very nice German-style pilsner called Burg from Living Waters Brewing here in Nashville.  And I finished with a full pour of the classic from Calfkiller Brewing, their J. Henry Original Mild ale.  

1/8 - The Horny Boys were back at it again today at The Cedar Tap (except Curtis was behind the bar today working).  We ordered wings from Cedar City Brewing (just a little light cheating) while I had the interesting fruited gose from Southern Grist Brewing called Hawaiian Thanksgiving that was reasonably tart and had a nice sea salt finish to it.   I finished with the rather disappointing imperial stout called Multiple Origin - The Cedar Tap from Marrowbone Brewing over in Ashland City.  Way too thin and therefore way too boozy

1/9 - I attended the Cedar City Brewing Mug Club Intro Party tonight with my friends, Curtis and Kate.  I was given mug slot # 90 along with a new T-shirt.  Unlike The Cedar Tap, these guys seem to have their Mug Club shit together.  I enjoyed a pint of their very nice Hazy NEIPA with my first Mug Club mug pour.  Cheers to another great new craft beer adventure in Wilson Conty.

1/11 - I've had a little bit of success with online poker this past week including a couple small tournament wins which I did not save the details of for some reason.  So, I gave about 10% of my winnings ($15) to Healing Hands International.   This was a donation in lieu of flowers for my long-time coworker, Dave Smith, who passed away recently from cancer.  Dave was always super nice to me during my years at MTEMC, and he even shared an interest in watching professional poker on TV which we would talk about sometimes.  He was a class guy.  RIP, good sir.  

1/12 - I continue to be running pretty good on Global Poker this past week (while fighting off a nasty chest cold).  I scored my third small tournament victory in the last week or so tonight vs. 43 other players in a $5 bounty crazy pineapple game that netted me $68 in profit. (This win's for you, Dave. RIP) I've already cashed out a $100 in winnings and I am pushing for another hundo soon hopefully.  No really big scores yet, but I am picking up a fair share of satellite entries into larger buy-in tournies also.  Two of which I did cash in to help build the recent $100 cash out. 

1/14 - Well, the "micro-success" continues.  I won another small bounty tournament today on Global vs. just 18 other players, but with 1st place and 7 knockouts, I turned my $3 investment into just over $24 for an 800% profit.  Now, if I could just get this to work on the bigger buy-ins! 

I cashed in this one afterwards, but not for much.  Still, at least I got there with this hand since this kind of BS usually happens to me, not for me.   Yep, I cracked AA and QQ(Q) with a runner, runner flush. Just for the record I raised big before the others called and then I was pot-committed. 

I also made the final table in a $100 hyper-turbo freeroll vs. 788 crazies, finishing 2nd for $11.75!  Yes, I did the quarter add-on.  I am on fire!! lol 

1/15 - We took our dog, Sunny, today to one of the few breweries in the area that allow dogs inside (since they don't have a kitchen inside) since the weather is a bit chilly for hanging outside.  Along with our friends, Bethany and Emily, we hit up Cedar Glade Brews in Murfreesboro for a few pints and some darn good wings and BBQ from the Single Tree BBQ food truck outside.  I started with their excellent 615 Common, their take on a California common beer.  Next up was their Christmas red ale which I checked in as Rosecran's Red, but I think that is wrong now.  Oh well, it was a tasty, spiced brew that was on sale anyway.   I finished with their schwarzbier called Reformed which was also on the sales rack list, but it was worth full price, very rich and malty.   

1/18 - I stopped by Cedar City Brewing this evening to see my CCBC Mug Club # 90 cubby-hole and partake in Wing Wednesday where I had the dry-rubs (of course) and a pint of their brand-new Bubba Bock which was smooth and tasty.  

1/21 - We went on a fun little road-trip eastward to Crossville today to visit our closest Buc-ee's (yes, it's worth the drive!).  I got a new hat that Sunny looks pretty good in too!  We stopped in Cookeville on the way back and had a beer at Hix Farm Brewing as well.  I had their excellent black IPA called TN Wood Wizard.  I also finished Ashlee's choice:   their OK but a bit bland table beer called The Cupboard. 

1/22 - I am trying to get into the new "The Last of Us" TV series on HBO Max. While video game adaptations seem to rarely work, this one has promise with one of my favorite actors right now (Pedro Pascal) and a good story line (fungi are not fun guys!).  We shall see, but so far, I am not blown away, but it's only been two episodes.  Earlier today, I stopped by The Cedar Tap where my pal, Curtis, was tending bar.  I started with the very good IPL (India Pale Lager) from Bearded Iris Brewing here in Nashville called Where You From.  I finished with the spiced and delightful Cruxmas (2022) winter warmer from Hutton and Smith Brewing down in Chattanooga. 

1/26 - I had a Bachelor Day with Ashlee in Chicago for work today.  So, I decided to go catch a matinee showing of the new action film, Plane, at the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet.  The movie was, of course, a bit over the top in believability, but still a fun ride.   Afterwards. I stopped by M.L. Rose Burgers and Beer for an early dinner and to finish my workday.   With my tasty meal of ANM.L. Fries, I enjoyed a pint of the reasonably tart fruited sour by Rhinegeist Brewing in Cincy called Night Glow.  I finished up with a BOGO half-pint of the excellent Double Hi-Pitch IPA from Hi-Wire Brewing over in Asheville, NC.  

1/28 - I took a very early Southwest flight to Atlanta this morning so I could see my woefully unranked Duke Blue Devils take on Georgia Tech. 
Yeah, Coach K, we miss you a lot! 
But "Go Duke" always and forever. 

It's the ATL from the AIR!  Just a 37-minute flight down here from Nashville.  The weather was pretty mild and clear all weekend.   You can even see McCamish Pavilion where the game will be played on the left side of the interstate just north of Bobby Dodd Stadium. 

It was going to be an Uber-weekend with no rental car, so my first stop was the historic (1946) Chik-Fil-A Dwarf House near the airport for breakfast.  This original location for the popular franchise has been updated and added on to for more people because it's a pretty popular place to visit.  

I headed north to Wild Heaven Brewing (West End) next which was not serving beer yet despite being "open" since 7 AM (just coffee).  It's still a pretty cool place and I took a look around since I was here.  Their wall of cans was my favorite thing.    

Thank you, Fire Maker Brewing, for being open at 9 AM AND SERVING BEER (and coffee too).  The place was quiet since it was kind of early, but Tracy, the great barkeep, took care of me very nicely.  I started with their excellent Irish-style dry stout called Up to Code!.  Next, was their very interesting tea-infused IPA called Chattahooch-Tea.  You could really taste the black tea up front on this one. A keg of their winter NEIPA called Yukon Cornelius kicked and Tracy gave me a half-pint on the house.  Thank you!  It was very tasty.  I closed out with their impressive rye IPA called DD214.  This place made up for the disappointment at Wild Heaven and has easily become one of my favorite ATL craft breweries.  

It was off next to the highly touted (from Tracy at FMBC) Bold Monk Brewing where my friend, Rex, who lives here joined me for a couple brews and some brunch.   I started with their top-notch Resurrector Dopplebock and finished with their own solid rye IPA called Father of the Four Winds.

Thanks to Rex for a couple of free rides.  First to my nice AirBnb room near the GT campus to drop my backpack, and then a ride to the game in "The Thrillerdome."   Duke squashed any chance of a "thriller" of a game with an epic 86-43 beat down of the rather bad Yellow Jackets.  The real "thrill" was my unexpected courtside seat!!  Wow!!! I really had no idea it was this great a seat when I bought it off StubHub.  I could almost reach out and touch Duke point guard, Jeremy Roach (more on that dream coming true later!) 

The other great thrill in the "Thrillerdome" were my awesome seatmates, Earl and Armond.  We became fast friends at the sharing of our love of Duke, our great seats, and craft beer!!   They offered to buy me a beer and to my surprise they actually had great local craft beer at the game (listen up, UT!!).  I started with a can of the very nice Helluvienna Lager (thanks, Earl and Armond) from New Realm Brewing here in Atlanta.  I also had a draft pour pint of NRBC's Hazy Like a Fox NEIPA which was solid as well.    
The guys agreed to go with me to meet Rex after the game at another brewery and offered me a lift.  Such nice dudes!  On our way out, we saw Duke fans milling about a bus that just had to be for the Blue Devils.  So, we hung out a bit and thanks to Armond's lucky "Duke boots!!" we scored big time, meeting several players and coaches!! 

Duke point guard and captain, Jeremy Roach, was nice enough to give me a picture with him. Thanks for the photo, Earl! 

I told first-year Coach Scheyer that I liked what he was doing (although honestly, I am still needing a little convincing), but he was very nice to hang out for pictures and autographs after the game along with his players and staff.

Look, it was either Armond's boots or the top of 7' Duke freshman phenom's Kyle Filipowski's head?  One had to go! Please stay another year, Kyle!!! 

It was on to Torched Hop Brewing for dinner with Rex, Armond and Earl.  Thanks to Earl and his sweet ride again for the free lift there.  We enjoyed a tasty dinner in this cool old building that used to be a Spaghetti Factory.  I loved this string artwork of the state of Georgia they had on the wall.  While there I had their NEIPA called Hops-de-Leon NE which was very good. 

We said goodbye to Earl and Armond, and Rex and I continued on over to Sceptre Brewing Arts where it was pretty quiet for a Saturday night.  I enjoyed their rich and tasty Barrel Aged Barbelith imperial stout aged 14 months in single-malt whiskey barrels from a local distillery here in Atlanta called ASW.

Thanks again for the free lifts to Sceptre and then to here, Rex: the historic (1939) Plaza Theatre where they were showing Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) in 35mm.  While not one of my favorite films, I still wanted to check this place out since I love old movie theaters, and I could check it off my AtlasObscura.com list. The place was busier than I was expecting, but I got a GA ticket to the show (and a can of A Night on Ponce IPA from Three Taverns Brewing over in Decatur, GA) and when I went in the theater...IT WAS PACKED.  Wow, these folks in Atlanta love their old movies!  It wasn't until after the show (which I nodded off in a few times to be honest and even though about leaving before it was over - I forgot what a weird damn movie it is), that the curator of the theatre got up on stage and brought up visual effects coordinator, Roman Coppola, the son of the famous director, Francis Ford Coppola.  OK, that's cool.  It was an interesting Q and A session, so I thought OK, this is why there's a good turnout tonight...and then Roman introduced his dad sitting in the audience not 20' from me!!  Wow!!! I had no idea any of this was going to happen!  

Francis (freakin') Ford Coppola!! I stalked him for a good while after the film.  He was very chatty and seemed happy to be there at such a late hour (yeah, he's 83!).   Looks like it was lucky that he and his crew are filming a new movie here in the Atlanta area right now.  I must be living right!! 
It even made the news:
Francis Ford Coppola | The Plaza Theatre | Atlanta | 11alive.com

1/29 - I had most of the day in town before my flight home from Atlanta.  So, I slept in a little, grabbed some early lunch (really good sushi) at a Whole Foods near New Realm Brewery as I waited for it to open.  When it did, I enjoyed their rich and tasty Gram Gram's Oatmeal Cookie Porter.  This is a really beautiful facility right on the walking path through this area of town.  

I ought to earn something with well over $100 in Lyft rides here in Atlanta this weekend.  Many of them shared rides for extra savings.  My next ride was a bust, however, as I found out the hard way that Arches Brewing isn't open on Sundays in the winter.  Thanks for posting that just on your door and not online, dickheads.  Bummer, but actually I was OK to be done with beer for the weekend - did I mention I really tied one on yesterday??  No hangover but moving a little slow for sure! 

My last stop before the airport was the nearby Delta Flight Museum (thanks AtlasObscura.com) which was pretty interesting and a good way to kill an hour or so before my flight.  My favorite part was being able to walk out on the wing of one of their giant decommissioned 747s. 

The flight home was smooth and quick.  Another great little trip with my beloved Dukies. Thanks to Rex, Armond, Earl, Francis Ford Coppola and the ATL for a fun time once again. 

Winter Blues, Boos and Booze - eff this, let's go to South America!

 Fake Nelly Beer Ads with Brad Pitt - 

very funny, very wrong and very not-PC!! But worth keeping a link to them...

https://youtu.be/rNiV6lcOd9k

11/29 - While watching the USMNT get a must win over Iran 1 to nil to move on in the World Cup today, I enjoyed Advent Calendar Beer # 6 - the solid Furst Carl Pils from Schloss Brewing in Ellingen, Germany.  

11/28 - Yesterday's Advent Calendar Beer # 5 was the decent Helles lager from Schnitzbaumer Brewery in Traunstein, Germany. 

I had a good chip lead going into heads up tonight, but just couldn't put the other guy away and wound up chopping first and second vs. only 5 more other players on a Poker Stars home game deep-stack tournament for a profit of around $40.  Not much, but I will take it since I've been running kind of bad on Global lately.  

11/30 - I tuned into the new "Willow" series on Disney+ tonight while enjoying my Advent Calendar Beer # 7 - the sweet and delightful Graminger Deife marzen from Graminger Weissbrau in Altotting, Germay.  The show was a bit slow to start with, but I loved seeing original cast members from the great movie in it,  and even the character, Mad Mardigen, being mentioned who was played by the amazing Val Kilmer...could he make a cameo appearance like he did in Top Gun Maverick?  Here's hoping he's well enough to do so!!

Beforehand, I dropped by The Cedar Tap for BOGO Wednesday to meet up with my friends, Curtis and Kate.  My "only having a couple" plan turned into four pints that included:  
the light and airy Pittwater Pils from Barrique Brewing here in Nashville
the decent Red Lager from Yazoo Brewing up in Madison, TN 
the Hopslam Ale (2023) double IPA from Bell's Brewery (MI) - 2023?  What is this a new car?  It was awesome, but no new car smell unfortunately
and finally, the not-so-bad fruited sour called 'Mosa from Southern Grist Brewing here in Nashville

12/1- I l kicked off December tonight with Advent Calendar Beer #8 which was the malty and sweet Zwonitzer Steinbier which is labelled a "historical beer" meaning I guess it was made from an old recipe by the Zwonitz (Germany) Brewpub.  
I am absolutely loving the beautiful artwork on these pint cans.  This is by far the best beer advent calendar I have ever had.  Thanks again, Costco!  I have already put a note on next year's calendar to check and see if they have another one next year. 

12/2 - Advent Calendar Beer # 9 was the very nice Weizenbock Hell from Ladenburger Brewery in Nueler, Germany. 

12/3 - The World Cup game between the USMNT vs. The Netherlands gave no reason to open Advent Calendar beer # 10 this morning with a deflating 3-1 loss, but we also had a Christmas Party tonight which gave me a chance to crack it open plus some of the latest arrivals from this month's Beer Box order.   Here's how they rolled out: 
the excellent Schwarze Tinte Collab Stout from the KALEA GmbH bar in Austria 
the extremely good session IPA called Wizard Staff from Two Brothers Brewing (IL)
the awesome Nitro S'mores imperial stout from Southern Tier Brewing (NY) - it went perfect with our Solo Stove fire out on the patio! (photo above) 
the solid Mycenary Double IPA from Odell Brewing (CO) 
the nice NEIPA called Set List from Eagle Park Brewing (Milwaukee) 
and finally, a gift from my pal, Curtis, the immensely good Cold Mountain (2022) winter ale from Highland Brewing (Asheville) 

12/4 - Advent Calendar Beer # 11 - the solid Kurpfatbrau Kellerbier from Welde Braumanufraktur in Plankstadt, Germany 

12/5 - After a looooong snide on Global Poker, I finally won a tournament again on there today.  Even though it was only a dollar progressive bounty tournament, I did get 16 knockouts, bested 84 other players, and made 2600%+ in profit!   I toasted that success a little later on with Advent Calendar Beer # 12 - the decent Teisnacher 1543 Festmarzen from Etti Brau in Teisnach, Germany. 

12/6 - I enjoyed Advent Calendar Beer # 13 while watching last week's ACC Rookie of the Week, the amazing Kyle Filipkowski, of my beloved Duke Blue Devils take on Iowa in the Jimmy V Classic in NYC on ESPN tonight.  It was the very nice Kauzle Helles Lager from Kauzen Brau in Ochsenfurt, Germany.   As was the Blue Devils win over a talented Hawkeye team. 

12/7 - We headed out tonight to do some Christmas-themed barhopping, so I took Advent Calendar Beer # 14 with me in the car as a pre-festivities libation.  It was the nice Erlkonig Hell (2022) lager from Landbrauerei Ludwig Erl in Geiselhoring, Germany.  Places were busier than we were expecting on a Wednesday night, so we only got into the one we had a reservation at:  The Miracle on Gallatin Avenue Christmas pop-up at Pearl Diver in East Nashville.  The food and cocktails were great as usual, and they also had a Christmas beer on the menu:  the slightly tart but  quaffable Holiday Now cranberry sour from TrimTab Brewing in Birmingham, AL. 

12/8 - I "worked remote" this afternoon with stops at Yazoo Brewing up in Madison where I had their decadent Goo Goo Ale, their English brown ale collaborated with the folks who make Goo Goo Clusters here in Nashville.   My next stop was over in Hendersonville at Blossom Thai and Cellar Door Craft Cavern (I've missed this place!) where I had their awesome beef jerky appetizer and a frosty pint of the excellent double IPA from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN) called Permanent Funeral.  After work was done, I headed to the nearby Regal Theaters at the Streets of Indian Lake to catch the new Steven Spielberg semi-autobiography called The Fabelmans.  I liked it.  I wouldn't say I loved it.   When I got home, I snapped open Advent Calendar Beer #15: the decent Tannen Hell lager from Hohenthanner Schlossbrauerei in Hohenthann, Germany. 

12/9 - Well look who's been checking in their craft beer for a decade now!!  For the record, I am averaging 471 beers a year, or 1.3 beers a day!  Salute!!  To continue the adventure, I enjoyed Advent Calendar Beer # 16 tonight:  the 

I also got another $1 Progressive Bounty Tournament win today on Global.  This time it was vs. 66 other players with 8 knockouts and an 1800%+ profit. 
And then backed that up with a 2nd place finish vs. 81 others in another $1 PBT for 1100%+ in profit a little later.   These are really helping the ol' dwindling poker bankroll.  

12/10 - We were on the road to Cincy today for a wedding.  We were one a short timeclock with our big South America trip coming up, so I didn't even have a chance to check out a local brewery unfortunately.  I was able to take Advent Calendar Beer # 17 with me while Ashlee drove.  Cheers, Ohio!  It was was a HELL of a good beer.  No, that's the name, HELL. and it was pretty damn good.  It was the Helles lager from Flotzinger Brau in Rosenheim, Germany. 

12/11 - I don't understand UNTAPPD's counting system cuz I have had way more than 50 German beers in the now 4,400 unique beers checked in on their app.  Anywho, we were back on the road coming back from Cincy today and thanks to the fridge in our room I was able to keep Advent Calendar Beer # 18 cold for the drive home.  It was the solid Dortmunder lager called Alpenstoff from the Burgerbrau in Bad Reichenhall, Germany. 

I banged out another tournament win on Global tonight when we got home defeating 47 others in a $5 Crazy Pineapple Bounty Tournament giving me $68+ in profit along with seven knockouts. 

12/12 - Advent Calendar Beer # 19 tonight was the outstanding Hoamat Weissbier hefeweizen from Privatbrauerei M.C. Wienlinger in Teisendorf, Germany.
I only had a small $1 Crazy Poker Tournament win on Global to toast with it, but 900% profit is 900% profit, baby.  Cheers! 

12/13 - Advent Calendar Beer # 20 is the coolest can art of the group so far (see photo above).  It was the very nice Turmweisse Hefeweizen from Weissbierbrauer Kuchlbauer in Abensberg, Germany.

12/14 - My December Beer Box arrived today, and it looks like a good mix of new-to-me beers.  There are a couple repeats, but ones I either haven't had in a while or not in a can.  These babies will have to wait to be consumed until after the first of the year.  More on those later.

Well, the advertised Cedar Tap Mug Club Christmas Party was either a huge bust tonight or more likely never came to fruition, but I did enjoy my time with my beer pal, Curtis, and I notched three more new-to-me brews in my UNTAPPD belt.  First up was the excellent double IPA from Living Waters Brewing here in Nashville called Onsen.  I followed that with the interesting (sweet hay) tasting pilsner also from Living Waters called Wainui.  I finished with the quite Belgian-tasting American Ale from Gratis Brewing, a new Nashville microbrewery started by Vandy and Chicago Bears QB, Jay Cutler. (photo above courtesy of Facebook).  Hopefully they won't get "sacked" too soon.  

I got home and cracked open Advent Calender Beer # 21 - the decent Marie Hausbrendal Helles lager from Schwarzbrau in  Zusmarshausen, Germany.  

12/15 - I was there tonight for opening night of the long-awaited Avatar sequel The Way of Water in IMAX 3D with my pal, Toney, tonight at the Regal Theaters at Opry Mills.  The film was outstanding.!  Even better than the original!  When I got home, I cracked open Advent Calendar Beer # 22 - the very nice Tradition festbier from Herrnbrau Microbrewery in Ingolstadt, Germany.

Earlier today, I enjoyed a Celebration Fresh Hop IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing (CA) over at the ML Rose Beer and Burger Bar location in Mt. Juliet while doing a little work in the afternoon from my mobile office. 

12/16 - I won a small $1 NLCP tournament tonight vs just 14 other players, but a 500% profit ain't too shabby. To celebrate I cracked open Advent Calendar Beer # 23 - the excellent Perfenzauber pale ale from Privatbrauerei H. Egerer in Grosskollnbach, Germany. 

12/17 - Salute to the fallen solider.  You were an awesome early Advent Calendar.   As I was packing for South America tonight, I finished off the Advent Calendar with Beer # 24 - the crisp, clean and delightful Bambule Pils (Export Version) from UberQuell Brauwerkstatten in Hamburg, Germany. 
Well done, Costco!  I hope to see another one there next year! 

12/8 - It's bad enough we had to fly north to Toronto today to board a connecting flight to go south to Buenos Aires for a cruise around the bottom of South America over the next couple weeks, but when we got there, we were met with delay after delay and finally a flight cancellation at about two in the morning.  Not weather-related, not mechanical issues, just a bone-head airline called Air Canada.  You guys suck!! I did at least have a few decent (yet vastly overpriced) regional craft beers during the long hours of waiting there in the International Terminal.  First up was very good IPA called Mad Tom (more like MAD ROB) from Muskoka Brewing over in Bainbridge, Ontario.  Next was the decent session IPA called Detour (that name seems appropriate for these circumstances we find ourselves in) also from Muskoka Brewing.  

We had dinner at a nice little Asian place in the International Terminal called Lee's Kitchen where I had a Pearson Express IPA from Henderson Brewing here in Toronto with my meal.  But based on the glass it was served in, just what is a UPA?   Evidently, this flagship beer of theirs used to be called the Union Pearson Ale, but they got tired of being asked what style of beer a UPA was.  Ah, nothing more annoying than beer nerds.  

I closed out this horrible night out on a poor beer note as well with an order of the fairly vile Rickard's Red Irish red ale from Molson Coors Canada.  What mass-produced dreck.

12/19 - OK, let's try this shit again.  We were back at the airport again tonight trying to make the same overnight flight to Sao Paolo that was cancelled last night with a connection to Buenos Aires.  With our unexpected nearly 48 hours in Toronto, I was able to earn this badge on UNTAPPD with a check-in of the decent Mill Street Brewery IPA, a macro-brewery here in Toronto.  I got it a bar in the International Terminal called the Rock Squeeze to go and drained it as we finally boarded a flight headed for South America!! 

Air Dumbada's flight to Sao Paolo was delayed (of course) so we missed our original connection and had to hitch a ride on Ethiopia Airlines - who knew Ethiopia had an airline...much less one that would be operating in South America??  During the layover in Sao Paolo, I was able to have a Brazilian microbrew, the Cervejaria Eisenbahn Pilsen pilsner.  The brewery is located in Santa Catarina, Brazil, and the beer was decent. 

And I give a lot of credit to Ethiopian Airlines - the plane was nice, the food was good, there were a ton of happy Argentina fans on board heading home from Qatar after their national soccer team just won The World Cup and they even had a complimentary Ethiopian beer available!  The Cold Gold lager from the Habesha Macrobrewery in Bole, Ethiopia, was actually pretty good. Thanks for getting us to where we needed to be Ethiopian Air...cheers!! 

2/20 - Well, we finally got to Buenos Aires only to hear we missed a helluva party the night before with Argentina's World Cup win and the national team arriving in town via a parade.    At least we had own little party on the plane ride in! 

2/21 - Well, as usual, the cruise ship was pretty void of any good craft beer, so I settled in with my drink of choice when we have a booze package aboard - the always great White Russian!  We were happy to get on out of Buenos Aires and its brown harbor water...yuck!  And despite the fact that our luggage is still lost...we really hate you Air Canada! 

2/22 - Welcome to Uruguay!  Our shore excursion today included a microbrewery stop which I was excited about but before that we stopped at a cool little open market in downtown Montevideo where I found this canned craft beer in a little supermarket there called Ta-Ta (I kid you not) and you could drink it while walking around the market.  The Zillertal IPA from FNC S.A. macrobrewery here in Montevideo and under the InBev umbrella was decent and I enjoyed the freedom of drinking it on the go.  

Besides the beer, my best find at the open market was these awesome crystallized sulfur rock specimens.   Uruguay is teeming with minerals and semi-precious stones evidently.  I was really drawn to the bright yellow color and bought the triangular-shaped one, and it looks great in our den along with our other couple of cool rock specimens.  

On to the microbrewery!!!  How is this not the best cruise ship shore excursion ever!!  And it really was.  We had a great guide who was funny and informative and saved the best for last.  Welcome to Mist/Matute Brewing.  Yeah, it's confusing.  They have a sign and stickers that say "Matute" but the glasses and shirts read "Mist."  Beats me, but their beer was very good!  We were given four tasters in a flight series, and I added a pint as well, and they went as follows: 
a flight taster of their very nice Lager 
a flight taster of their solid Scottish ale
a flight taster of their excellent Hoppy Mosaic pale ale - my favorite of the taster bunch
a flight taster of their rather mild NEIPA called Eko
and finished with a pint of their very good IPA C4 

New badge time!  Thanks Mist/Matute Brewing! 

After the tour, we were dropped off a mile or so from the ship so we could walk back through the city and do some shopping and sightseeing.  In one clothing store where we actually found some stuff that fit us, they also had a small market (huh? well, ok?) where I found a beer that I could walk the streets with since our guide said it was perfectly OK to do so in Montevideo.  You gotta like this little country!!  The Hofjager Schwarbier from Denninghoff's, a microbrewery in Heidelberg, Germany, was tasty and smooth.  

12/24 - I am such an idiot.  After swearing I would NEVER fall for another poker tournament on a cruise ship with their shitty structures, I went and did it twice today to the tune of $180 down the toilet.  They barely gave you over ten big blinds, so it was just a shove-fest from the start and my luck sucks so bad at that bullshit.  Ugggh!! I might as well work for Air Canada!  Stupid!! 
Merry Christmas, moron!  

12/25 - Hey, hey, a Christmas Day beer!  Yep, we actually had a port stop today in Puerto Madryn, Argentina.  It was a pretty long drive out to and back from the Valdes Peninsula to see wild llamas called guanacos, Magellanic penguins, elephant seals and sea lions in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Before heading back, we had a chance to grab a brew at a little store out that way and I found a pint can of the decent brut-style Andes Origen IPA Andina from Quilmes, an Argentina macro-brewery.   Merry Christmas from Argentina!  Cheers! 

12/26 - Well, most of my clothes are still missing, but my hats made it in fine order! 

12/27 - Some days are pretty awesome even without beer.  We got so fortunate with the weather as we approached Cape Horn at the very bottom of South America today.  The weather broke just in time for us to sail fairly smoothly all the way around it, and we even caught a glimpse of a rainbow!  What a magical, magical place!! 

12/28 - Ushuaia, Argentina is an incredibly beautiful place at the end of the world (and the beginning of everything!).  And they have beer!! 

I enjoyed a bottle of the pleasing Pilsen during a catamaran cruise out to see Tern Island in the Beagle Channel.  It's made by Cape Horn Brewing here in Ushuaia.  

The Cape Horn Pale Ale was my second choice (but the better of the two) as we also checked out the incredible southernmost lighthouse in the world (photo below) also in the Beagle Channel.  Cheers to this amazing place and some pretty darn good beer!! And, yes, they claim to be the southernmost craft brewery in the world!! 

This area was made for black and white photography!! 

I also learned how to do to time-release long exposures with waterfalls on my iPhone on this trip!  Yeah, this is just your random unnamed waterfall pouring hundreds of feet out of the Romanche Glacier.  Just an everyday thing here on the amazing Beagle Channel.  

12/29- I took stiff 45-minute walk in the wind today on the walking track of the ship with the coast of Chile far in the distance.  Just me and U2's "Joshua Tree" on the Airpods!

Nothing much else to report today.  Just another day at sea.  So, let's jump back to another great shot from The Beagle Channel yesterday! 

12/30 - Yet another ho-hum sea day, but, hey, I found a $20 beer on the ship today!!  And even with my friend Brenda's advanced booze package, it still cost a brother five bucks!! Good thing it was tasty!  The Orval (2022) Belgian-style Trappist pale ale from Orval Brewing in tiny Luxembourg was excellent, but a picture of the bottle isn't as pretty as another Beagle Channel pic above.  Did I mention there were dozens of huge, cascading waterfalls?? 

12/31 - We celebrated New Year's Eve on the ship with yet another sea day.  And I was able to find yet another new-to-me beer at one of the bars on the ships.  It was the tasty 90 Minute Imperial IPA (2022) from Dogfish Head Brewery (DE).  It looked pretty in the glass, but not compared to this shot above from... guess where.... the Beagle Channel!!  

1/1 - Happy New Year from, well, the ship again!  I found one more new-to-me beer in one of the ship's bars to toast the new year in with.  It was the quite nice Leffe Blonde/Blond (2022) Abbaye de Leffe, a Belgium macro-brewery.  No way I am putting a picture of a mass-produced beer on here above yet another amazing shot from the Beagle Channel!  By the way, that's no filter enhancement on that glacier color either. 

1/2 - Our flight home went pretty smooth (albeit much smoother than getting down here) and I even found a Chilean beer at the Santiago Airport called Royal Guard.   Now this mass-produced pale lager from Unidas Brewing was OK, but you know a picture of it's not going to supersede one last shot of the Beagle Channel!! 

The Year in Beer for 2022 from UNTAPPD looks like I was trending up in my consumption (and my weight...gotta do something about that), but it was a memorable year, nonetheless.  
See ya in 2023!!