China Beer

August 28 - September 7, 2013:

My wife and I recently took an amazing 10-day trip to China.  It is a fascinating place and culture that I highly recommend seeing in person.  And yes, there was beer in China, lots of it actually.  You could buy it on the street in most areas and walk around with it.  Unfortunately, most of it was of the watery lager variety and sat at about 3% to 5% alcohol, but, hey, it was cheaper than bottled water most of the time so when in the Far East why not do as the Far Easterners do!!



We set it up to have an overnight layover in Seattle before heading to Beijing and while we were in "The Emerald City" we stopped at Emerald City Brewing for a discounted 4-beer sampler (thanks Groupon.com).  I had the Dottie Seattle Lager, the Ivana Pale Lager, their Pilsner (a harbinger of what was about to come I think) and on a guest tap, the Lucille IPA from Georgetown Brewing (also Seattle).   The ECB beer is decent but they focus on the lighter styles of beer which aren't my particular favorites.   But I forgive them since their pin-up girl logo artwork including Dottie herself (photo above) are definitely worth a look and a toast.

 My first beer in China was in Beijing.  This is Yanjing 10 Degree Beer, a pale lager rice-based beer from one of the largest breweries in Asia.  It's nothing special and pretty much the common-style of beer found here.

"I got the Green Bottle Blues."
Same Yanjing Beer as above, different bottle (and brewing process?)....not that I could tell.



What makes The Great Wall a little greater?  Why a cheap, cold beer, of course.  A little old man was selling this can of Tsingtao Lager (which is common even in the U.S.)and a few other beverages right on the famous wall.  His display of wares, as well as the other couple ones I saw, were fairly small and unobtrusive to the overall power and beauty of this unbelievable structure.



No idea what this version of Tsingtao is called.  But, hey, it's another green bottle of watery lager/pilsner...

This is a Tsingtao "Draft" with a shot of good ol' American-made Jack Daniels for it to chase after.

We took an overnight sleeper train to the city of Xi'an from Beijing and they were selling beer on it as well.   I didn't even have to get out of beer as the guy was selling it from a cart in the hallway.  This is a Kingway, another popular pale lager made in Shenzhen, China.

Tsingtao 9 Degrees, this time for dinner with one of our G Adventures traveling companions in the background, the lovely, Natalie, from London.  The 9 degrees didn't help the taste or quality, by the way.



According to our guide this is actually a craft/local beer made near the famous West Lake and translates to "West Lake Beer" as it's name.  I bought it at a street-side stand near the lake.  I didn't see a whole of difference in it, but it did seem perhaps a bit fresher than a few of the others I had.



Hoo-ray! It's clear bottle time, but still the same style and taste as the green bottles, so don't get too excited.  This is the amusingly-named Cheerday Beer.  I thought their website was kind of a hoot.  Check it out:
http://www.qdhbeer.com/index1.php

The beer wasn't great but we had a good time with it.  Here's my wife, Ashlee, making the best of low-alcohol spirits at a street-side table next to a barbecue grill where they just cooked us a large squid on a stick.  Yep, you heard me.

And there was LOTS of consumption by our group.  I hadn't seen this many "dead soldiers" since we left the Terra Cotta Warriors back in Xi'an!!



Another clear bottle.  Good luck with the name of it?  Does it matter really?  It's all the same!!

Another can of Tsingtao from our hotel room fridge in Shanghai with a view of The Pearl Tower in the background.  Shanghai's an amazing city and I would jump at the chance to visit there again.  Cheers!

Suntory Premium....yet, it tastes the same as "non-premium" Chinese beer...but it's from Japan...threw you a curve there, didn't I...that's about the most interesting thing about it unfortunately.

Holy crap!! Is that a dark beer?? Yep, it's a German-style Fest Beer (dark ale) from a microbrewery in Shanghai just around the corner from our hotel (a lucky happenstance that I stumbled  upon) called The Bund Brewing Company.  Granted the place only had 3 styles of beer they made and this was the only dark one, but it's a start.  With the embrace of modern technology and style in this city, I could see the rise of  good craft beer booming here quickly

Another Suntory Premium bought and drank while street shopping in Shanghai (bargains galore by the way)

One last complimentary can of Tsingtao on the plane home from Shanghai along with the sweet entertainment set-up  in the background offered by China Eastern Airlines (even in economy class).

Great trip. hum-ho beer but an unforgettable experience.

More litte trips: Nashville Beer, Blue Ridge Beer, St. Augustine Beer

NASHVILLE, TN

August 9, 2013:

I went to see Elysium on the IMAX and a midnight showing of Aliens at The Belcourt Theatre with my nephew, Matt.  In between shows we stopped at a new beer bar in The Gulch in downtown Nashville called Hops and Crafts.  There I had a draught of Thunder Ann Pale Ale by Nashville's own Jackalope Brewing which operates just around the corner from this place.  We stopped at Belcourt Taps just across from the theater next, and I had the latest Hops Project from Yazoo Brewing here in Nashville on draught, as well as a Mayday Brewing (in nearby Murfreesboro, TN) Evil Octopus Stout.

August 21 - I got a growler of Turtle Anarchy Portly Stout out of nearby Franklin, TN, from MJBC for our annual fantasy football draft.  My friend, Nate, brought over a six-pack of Lagunitas Brewing's (CA) Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale (nice and hoppy) in bottles and I had one of those also.

I had several Schlafly (St. Louis) APA (American Pale Ale) draughts which came with our VIP seating at Live on the Green in Nashville on August 22.

BLUE RIDGE, GEORGIA

We took a road trip down to Blue Ridge, Georgia, for a helicopter ride via Groupon.com and while in the quaint little town we stopped by the fairly new Blue Ridge Brewery and tasted their sampler which included their Hiwassee Golden Ale, Blue Ridge Blood (red ale), IPA, Sandy Bottom Ale and Dark Hollow Stout.  All were pretty good and their food was outstanding.  A return visit to this neat area and nice brewery is a must!



Buzzing the runway in Blue Ridge Georgia in a helicopter.  Awesome ride!

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

September 13, 2013:  My wife, Ashlee, and I and a couple friends drove down to St. Augustine, Florida, to catch a stop of "The Gentlemen of the Road" Tour by Mumford and Sons.  While in town, we had a tasty dinner and some pretty good beer at A1A Ale Works In true fashion I had the Porpoise Point IPA which was better than average..

 ADDENDUM:  Chattanooga, TN - on our way down to St. Augustine, we stopped in Chattanooga for a birthday dinner for Ashlee and her twin sister, Paige, at The Brewhaus where I had the Stone 17th Anniversary Gotterdammerung IPA (California) and the Bell Ringer American Strong Ale (RJ Rockers Brewing - Spartanburg, SC).

A few little trips and some other updates: May - July 2013

On a recent trip to New Orleans I was able to grab a few new-to-me brews including:

I started my visit to The Big Easy with a NOLA Brewing's Roasty IPA (not pictured above) and then the Perfect Tin Amber from Tin Roof Brewing over in Baton Rouge at Cajun Mike's Pub-n-Grub on the outskirts of The French Quarter.

The old Jax Beer Brewery building sitting on the Mississippi River near Jackson Square was the home to Jackson Brewing before it went bankrupt in the 70's.   The 1891structure has been turned into a shopping mall, but at least they have keep some memory of it including a small museum inside which I didn't get a chance to visit on this trip. 

I also revisited one of the first microbreweries I ever stepped foot into at the Crescent City Brewhouse down by Jackson Square in The French Quarter.  My wife, Ashlee, and I stopped in and grabbed a seat at their oyster bar to get out of the steamy temps for a while and have a couple cold ones. I had their Maibock and the Black Forest while we sat there and watched them shuck huge fresh oysters taken from the muddy waters nearby.


This was my lunch at The Stage Door Canteen at the new World War II National Museum in New Orleans.  The beer was the Hopitoulas IPA by NOLA Brewing and it was pretty good, but the bigger treat were the fried chicken gizzards (the original and naturally-made chicken nugget!!).  I haven't had these since I was a kid and never seen them available on a menu before (probably in high demand by the old vets who visit I guess).  They were as delicious as I remember and the dipping sauce to the left was primo! 

The open-container tolerance in New Orleans is another reason I love this dirty old city.  Over my weekend visit I walked the streets with a can of  Blackout Stout Ale from Indian Wells Brewing (California) and a bottle (poured into a plastic cup, of course) of Grimbergen 1128 Amber, a Belgian abbey ale.  Cheers, Big Easy!  See you again real soon I hope.

BACK AT HOME

My amazing wife went to Chicago on business recently and brought me back a ton of new-to-me beers.   Damn, she's awesome!  Here's a quick rundown:

Mad Hatter IPA - bottle from New Holland Brewing in Michigan
Columbia Common - bottle from Widmer Brothers in Portland, Oregon (seasonal spring ale)
Lucky U IPA - bottle from Breckenridge (CO) Brewing
Oktofest Ale - another great seasonal beer from Oregon's Widmer Brothers
Burning River Ale - Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, OH - extremely good and best of the bunch - I found out why... it's been a gold medal winner at the WBC
Midwestern Pale Ale - bottle from Bells Brewing in Michigan

We went and had a fancy 10-course dinner at The Catbird Seat in Nashville recently and I had a hoppy wheat concoction from Schlassberg (Germany) in conjunction with Brooklyn Brewing (according to the waiter) as one of the pairings.  I can't find a lot of info about such a beer on the Internet, but it was pretty good.

It's that time of year again!



No glass at Bonnaroo, so quality canned beer is the way to go out in the camping area.  This Bombshell Blonde pint can from Southern Star Brewing in Texas was deeee-lish!

Inside Bonnaroo at the Broo'ers Festival I had several draught samples of some great microbrews including:

Mountain Livin' Pale Ale - Crazy Mountain Brewing, Colorado
Space Dust IPA - Elysian Brewing, Seattle - more like space "bust" - where's the hops, dude??
Harpoon IPA - Happy 20th Anniversary!! - one of my original IPA loves
Henry Weinhard's Woodland Pass IPA - Blitz-Weinhard Brewing, Oregon
Sweetwater Blue - best malt liqouor on the planet!  The pride of Atlanta!
Narragansettt (Rhode Island) Lager
Hello My Name is Amber - just a sip from my wife's cup - Flat 12 Bierworks, Indianapolis, IN
Upside Down Blonde - also from Flat 12 Bierworks in Indy


I also returned to Vegas again recently and back to some good beer as well.

Great neon sign in the NYNY Casino where I was staying  Never heard of Bronx Cheer Beer and can't find any record of it online.  Would it be raspberry flavored since that's what a Bronx Cheer is???.

At  the Pour 24 Bar at NYNY I had a 4 beer draught sampler:

John Henry 3 Lick Spiker Ale - Minnesota
Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter - California (I visited this brewery a couple years back)
Red Hook Audible - New Hampshire - this summer ale was developed per a request from sportscaster, Dan Patrick. (I visited this brewery a few years back also)
Batch 19 Lager - Colorado - Coors (bleck!  they tricked with me this cleverly-named albeit mass-produced swill.)

Then over at my beloved Yard House I had:

Frog's Breath IPA - a half pint shorty draught - Coronado (CA) Brewing
Hop Notch IPA - a half pint shorty draught - Uinta Brewing, Salt Lake City, UT

My last Vegas beer stop was a new one.  Winchells Bar & Grill on the way to the airport where I had their  IPA and their Wheat - both were surprisingly excellent - barkeep said they were brewed by Lagunitas Brewing out of California which explains it.  Too bad the quad jacks I hit (photo above) were only a bet-one credit play, but the beer was free with play and the place was quiet and relaxing.  I see me coming here again on the way out of Sin City.

This has nothing to do with beer.  It's just a really cool sunset shot.



It's a shandy in a can!!  Yes ma'am!!  Made by the folks at Leinenkugel up in Wisconsin, the Summer Shandy is refreshing.   I enjoyed this one at an outdoor concert at Nashville's Tin Roof.  I recently discovered shandies (light beer and seven-up or fruit juice or ginger ale) on a trip to the Caribbean and I am happy to finally have a decent use for light beer!!  By the way, that's the band, John & Jacob, on stage and they are pretty darn good!

Last, but not least on the summer travel agenda was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

A great day (albeit a bit warm) for a game at PNC Park in downtown Pittsburgh.  The Pirates lost to their across-state rivals, the Phillies, but my wife and I didn't care.  We just enjoyed the scenery and the event itself.

Eating and drinking beer are BIG in The Steel City.

Bucket List Brewery Achieved!!  Check another one off the list!  I have wanted to visit Church Brew Works for many years now ever since I learned about the microbrewery's existence inside a (deconsecrated) Catholic church building.

My wife and I each had the eight, yes eight-, beer sampler (photo above) that included their Coffee Pale Ale, Bell Tower Brown Ale, Thunderhop (IPA), Heavenly Heff, Celestial Gold (pilsner), Pipe Organ Pale Ale, Pious Monk Dunkel and Coconut Stout.  I also had a bottle of the Celestial Gold at the aforementioned Pirates game.

There's a great, free Iphone app  for beer drinkers that my friend, Nate, turned me on to called: UNTAPPD.  It records what beers you have had, where you had them and what you thought of them.  Thanks to it I can report the following beers:

While still in Pittsburgh and having dinner at the famous Primanti Bros. (where they cram your French fries into your sandwich) I had a Curious Traveler Shandy from The Traveler Beer Company in Vermont.  Who can really mess up a shandy?  I also had an Orange Blossom Cream Ale which was really, really good.  It's produced by Buffalo Bill's Brewery in Hayward, CA.

On 7/18/13  back in Tennessee I had a Finch's (Chicago) Cut-throat Pale Ale pint can at Whole Foods in Chattanooga with my dinner.

Finally, I got to take a quick trip up to Louisville, KY, for a business conference recently.  The conference was OK, but the real fun came in the evenings when I got to slip across the river into Indiana to one of my favorite microbreweries, New Albanian Brewing, and have two new-to-me half pints of theirs including the Pickman's Pale Ale and the Bat out of Helles (cask).  Thanks again to UNTAPPD for "remembering" their excellent beers for me.

While in Louisville I got to play in three tournaments in the DennyCrum Poker Open, placing 4th in one and winning enough to cover my entry into all three tournaments.  But the real thrill was getting to sit at the same table as the NCAA legend himself for several hours during the second tournament.   He couldn't have been nicer.

Racers, Pacers and Beer

May 25 - 27: 

I returned to the Indy 500 this year with my friend, Mike, who hadn't been before. 

We had a great time and found some good beer along the way. 



Our first stop Saturday, May 25, on the drive up to Indianapolis was for lunch (and beer) in New Albany, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, KY. One of my favorite regional microbreweries is located there, New Albanian Brewing, and their food is outstanding as well. I tried a half-pint of their new Naughty Girl Blonde IPA and it was great. I followed that with my favorite of theirs, a half-pint of the Hoptimus Imperial IPA. As you can see from the label above, NABC continues with their stunning artwork on their products as well. Get some T-shirts already, folks!!!

Once we got to Indy and settled in to our hotel in the northeast suburb of Carmel, we found a new, small microbrewery nearby called Union Brewing.  These guys have only been open since December 2012, but they know what they are doing.  They only serve cask-conditioned beer and I tried a half-pint of their Sassy Pants Porter which was infused with sassafras.  Interesting and tasty.  Next I got a half-pint of one of their guest taps, the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale from Lexington Brewing, which is one of my regional favorites.


  Sunday, May 26 - RACE DAY and GAME DAY!!



We opted for infield general admission tickets for the race, and they were fine.  We saw plenty of racing action from several different aspects.  The weather held out perfectly for us.



Yep, that's him! The one and only Mario Andretti who nearly ran over my foot in his golf cart, but was kind enough to let us take a few pictures as he waited for traffic to clear after the race.

What a great sporting day it was in Indy today!  First the Indy 500 won by Tony Kanann (under caution..boo!!) and then Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals as the Pacers took on the Heat.  It turned into a blow-out for the Heat, but our last-minute StubHub.com seats were nice and it was a great experience.



Hey, it's Stephen A. Smith!  It was cool that the security folks let us mingle around near the hardwood before the game.



I am not his biggest fan, but there is no denying he's one of the best to ever play the game and to see "King James" in person was a treat.



Great seats!  And not overly priced.

NBA on TNT filmed live after the game out in the lobby of Bankers Life Fieldhouse.  It was another treat to see legends like Shaq, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley up close and personal.

Monday, May 26:  The drive home on Memorial Day was easy and smooth and we made good enough time to stop in Nashville for a late lunch at Drifter's BBQ where I had a Fat Bottom IPA with my meal.  The beer is from a new East Nashville brewery just around the corner from this eatery.



More updates and a shocking discovery in terms of light beer...

Here's a few more updates including a trip down to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where an actual use for light beer was discovered by me and my wife, Ashlee. 

By the way, can you take me to the airport?


Never mind...I got a ride.

3/2/13: Before a Pink concert in downtown Nashville tonight, I had a draught of Turtle Anarchy (love the name) Stout from nearby Franklin, TN, with dinner at Puckett's Grocery.   I have been wanting to try it for some time and it's been sold out at two other places I asked for it.  It was pretty darn good. 
I would like to give them a visit someone soon at their taproom over in Williamson County.

3/5/13:  On another jaunt into downtown Nashville I had a bottle of Barrel Trolley Nut Brown Ale (World Brews out of California) with dinner at Music City Flats in Nashville.  Not too bad, but nothing to crow about.  This World Brews place sounds kind of like a mass-producer/faux micro-brewer.



3/16/13:  I started St. Patty's Day off right with this lovely pint of Malacai Irish Red Ale  (beautiful color!) from The Terminal Brewhouse in Chattanooga out on their patio with a bad case of spring fever.

3/16/13: Tradition was not forgotten on St. Patty's Day as I made sure to have a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey and a Guinness before lunch at the fancy burger shop called Urban Stack in Chattanooga.

3/16/13:  We finished up St. Patrick's Day in Chattanooga with a show at The Tivoli to see our favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, who we also met backstage.  After the show we headed back to The Terminal and I had a Dead Sexy Scottish Ale.  While we were there, who should show up?  None other than Jim Gaffigan (per our suggestion by the way!)



3/17/13: It was hair-of-the-dog time the day after St. Patty's Day with a lovely draught of Highland Brewing's (Asheville, NC) Devil's Britches IPA draught at The Brewhaus in Chattanooga.

Some other newbies (to me) over the past couple months include:

-  New Albion Ale (special from Sam Adams) bottle, this was the last one from the Mt. Juliet Beer Company (MJBC) variety four-pack I mentioned in the previous blog entry.

- Blackheart IPA at Bosco's in Hillsboro Village in Nashville, their seasonal special draught.  Lovely.

- A couple Third-Shift Amber Lager bottles.  They were complimentary with our VIP tickets to the  Better Than Ezra show at The Cannery in Nashville.  It was pretty good beer, but the band was better!  After a little research I found out that this beer is a faux-micro produced by Coors.  Figures.

- Got a half a liter (half a growler) of Calfkiller Brewing's (Sparta, TN) Scorched Hooker (Black IPA) draught from MJBC to watch Duke play in the Sweet 16 on  3/29/13.  While I was at MJBC, I picked up another variety 4-pack to take to a new monthly poker game here in Lebanon that I started attending in April.  All of these were good.

Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout in a bottle
Southern Tier (Lakewood, NY) Eurotrash Pils(ner) in a bottle
Harpoon (Boston) Chocolate Stout
Rogue (Oregon) Dry-Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale

At the second poker game in May I had:

Good People (Huntsville, AL) IPA in a can
Good People Pale Ale in a can
Red Hook (Washington and NH) Audible Ale in a bottle
Kona (Hawaii) KoKo Brown in a bottle

Again, all were worth drinking.

4/20/13: I had a Jai Alai IPA draught from the local Cigar City Brewing during a layover in Tampa, Florida, on my birthday on the way to Puerto Rico.  Also had a Goose Island (Chicago) IPA draught.

OK, and now for the big news regarding LIGHT BEER.....I have actually found a decent use for it!!!

It can actually be used in a cocktail called "The Shandy" that I discovered while in Puerto Rico at our hotel restaurant...on the breakfast menu nonetheless.  Basically, it's a "redneck mimosa."  The simple recipe is light beer, citrus soda, ice and a lemon wedge.  Since the only Puerto Rican beer I could find was Medalla Light, a local pilsner, I ordered The Shandy with low expectations.  It was actually pleasantly refreshing.  For more on The Shandy see the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy



My wife and I made our own Shandies to take to the beach in Puerto Rico thanks to a Wal-Greens right around the corner that sold everything we needed including a 12-pack of Medalla Light in cans. The perfect beach drink.