A Whole Lot o' Travelin' and a Whole Lot of Good Beer! (Northern Indiana)

Saturday, 8/27/16 - I flew up to Chicago's Midway Airport this weekend while Ashlee was on a girl's trip to play some tournament poker and check out a few breweries in the Northern Indiana region.

Indiana has become quite the craft beer state and I have several of these already marked off the list and will continue to check them off on this trip.  

I played in my first Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) tournament today at the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, Indiana, and while I didn't make a deep run, I did enjoy myself and was impressed with the set-up and structure.  I will definitely be trying my luck with the HPT again.  I stayed at a nice Raddison in nearby Merrillville, Indiana, which had a decent Irish pub attached to it called T.J. Maloney's.  With dinner there that evening I had a Bad Elmer's Porter from Upland Brewing from over in Blommington, Indiana, and then the Gumballhead pale wheat ale from the legendary 3 Floyd's Brewing over in Munster, Indiana (more on them later).

After dinner, I drove just a couple miles from my hotel in Merrillville to The Devil's Trumpet Brewing Company.  These guys have solid beer, but weren't the most friendly folks I have run into in the craft beer world.  Plus the death metal they had playing in the background (ironically?) was kind of annoying.  I had a few half-pints including the Juice Farm double IPA, the My Ghetto IPA and the Space Caravan IPA.  

Sunday, 8/28/16 - Since I was out of the projected two-day poker tournament, my day-two back up plan included some sight-seeing and some beer, of course.  My first morning stop was in Michigan City out on the lake with a beautiful, fun walk out to their tiny harbor lighthouse.  My reason for visiting Michigan City was two-fold since they also have a couple craft breweries I wanted to visit.  My first stop was the tiny, but impressive, Burn Em Brewing (named after a take on one of the brewer's dad's first name who originally owned the building where their brewpub is now located).  I had their Troll Serum English pale ale which was cask-conditioned and really good.  I finished with the Cuke NUKEM IPA that is brewed with peeled cucumbers for a very unique (and refreshing) taste.  This was probably my favorite beer of the trip.

Also while in Michigan City, I stopped at the much-longer-established Shoreline Brewery for lunch and a couple more half-pints including the Shoddy Dock Session IPA and the Singing Sands oatmeal stout.

I spent the rest of the afternoon burning off some calories climbing the sand and exploring the beautiful Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

On my way back to the hotel I stopped at the small 18th Street Brewery in Hammond, Indiana, where I tried the super-hoppy Sex and Candy IPA and the equally hoppy and delightful Jade pale ale.

Monday, 8/29/19 - It was fly-home day for me, but I had a little time to kill before going to the airport, so I stopped by the legendary 3 Floyds Brewing in nearby Munster, Indiana, for lunch and a couple excellent pours.  Ashlee and I stopped by here 5 years ago on a road trip to Chicago and these guys were locally-loved then and starting to get a broader appeal, but now they are the big-boys in the region and are considered one of the best microbreweries in the country.  With my tasty lunch I had the War Mullet double IPA and the FloydDivision 3 IPA.  Both were excellent!

One last stop on the way to the airport was the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL.  This is the LARGEST arcade in the U.S. filled with classic video games and where a one-price fee lets you play all you want for as long as you want.  Remember this one from way back?  Yep, I still suck at it, but man is it fun to play!

What a fun little trip, but sometimes you gotta just get back home because your cat needs you...

A Wee Bit o' Travelin' and a Wee Bit o' Good Beer

We took a trip down to beautiful Blue Ridge, Georgia, for a weekend of tubing on the Toccoa River and relaxing at a beautiful riverside cabin we rented.  I had to have some good beer for such a trip, right?

Salute to the beautiful Toccoa River with a Landmark helles lager from Mill Creek Brewing in nearby Nolensville, TN.  Other brews I  brought and tried over the weekend  were the Briney Melon Gose from Anderson Valley Brewing (CA), the Blue Paw Wild Blueberry fruit beer from Sea Dog (ME) and the Silo farmhouse ale also from Mill Creek.

9/5/16 - At dinner this evening in Blue Ridge at Chester Brunnenmeyer's Bar and Grill (best wings on the planet!) I had a Freak of Nature double IPA from Wicked Weed Brewing over in Asheville, NC.

I tried a couple sips of the Campfire Pancakes cider from Woodchuck (VT)  that my friend, Wayne, was drinking down on the river in Blue Ridge.  I thought it was good and not too sweet, but this butterfly here thought differently I think.  Great pic, Wayne!  

Blue Ridge also has a great little beer store called The Bearding Bottle Shop and I procured a six-pack of the Finestkind IPA from Smuttynose Brewing (NH) which I enjoyed at home over the next week or so.

  Hillary at a craft brewery.  Wonder who I am voting for? - Photo courtesy of 3 Daughters Brewing Twitter Account

Friday, August 12, 2016 - I had the day off today and took a little solo road trip down to Chattanooga to pick up my mother-in-law and bring her back to our house for a visit and on the way I made a couple of stops to places I have been wanting to visit for a good while now:

I was surprised at how really rural the Calfkiller Brewing Company location is in nearby Sparta, TN.  They can only do samples here so I tried and bought a half-growler of the delicious Blueberry Harvest Trail Ale.

When I got to Chattanooga I decided to stop by McHale's Brewhouse for a couple of their made-in-house beers.  I had half-pints of the Mudslinger brown ale, a sip of their GABF gold-medal winning Scottish Pride ale, a sip of their impressive Imperial Scottish and finally The Apollo pale ale (my favorite of the bunch).  I love the beer here, but the place is a real turn-off IMO...it's a former "beer joint" and I guess to appeal to former clients, it remains that in look and vibe.  They allow smoking inside too which really sucks and doesn''t make me want to come back.  Their beer is served in other outlets, so I guess I will have to look for it off-site until they change their ways here.

8/16/16 - I returned the favor to my friend, Quentin, with a free movie pass to see Hell or High Water with amazing performances by Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster and Chris Pine.  It's easily my favorite film of 2016 so far.  Before the movie, I stopped by the 12 South Taproom  and had a couple half-pints that included Milchkaffee stout from Bell's Brewery (MI) and the really good Drew Curtis/Wil Wheaton/Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout (2016) imperial stout from Stone Brewing (CA)...yes, they are still my favorite brewery of them all.

8/20/16 - Back in Chattanooga, I ordered a Black Mocha Stout from Highland Brewing (NC) with lunch at Tony's Pasta with Ashlee.  Not a bad combo with pasta! 

Woody says we need to drink more beer...

A Dedication to the Love of My Life....no, it's not craft beer....

Yes, that's whiskey in her cup, but her heart's in the right place.  I love you, honey!

Back Home - Back to More Great Beer

Back Home - Back to More Great Beer

July 19 - It was poker night again at my local club here in Lebanon,  so I stopped by the Mt. Juliet Beer Company and got a few newbies to take with me to the table.  I had a Codachrome spiced beer from Singing River (AL) a Low Key session IPA from Magic Hat (VT) and a Space Fruit pale ale from Devil's Backbone (VA).  And my favorite hand (33) struck again as my set of three's served as a knock-out tonight.


July 21 - On our way to see the new Star Trek Beyond in IMAX at Opry Mills tonight we stopped at Homegrown Taproom for some dinner and a few brews.  I had the Heritage Helles lager from Little Harpeth here in Nashville and a Hilltop IPA from Core Brewing (AR).

July 22 - Before a Michael Franti concert tonight we had dinner at the Holland House in East Nashville where I had a Indian Brown Ale from Dogfish Head (MD)

July 26 - My friend, Quentin, invited me to a sneak-peek showing of Jason Bourne tonight.  It was a pretty darnn good flick especially the car chase through Las Vegas which was very timely given my recent trip there.  Afterwards, I stopped by the 12 South Taproom for a couple of draughts including the Alternate Takes # 1 double IPA from Dogfish Head (MD) and the Pranqster Belgian-style blonde ale from North Coast Brewing (CA).  

July 29 - Ashlee and I had a great dinner at a fairly new Indian place in Nashville called  The Chauhan Ale and Masala House where I had the Saffron Cardamom IPA which is made for exclusively for them by Cool Springs Brewing in nearby Brentwood.  It is my understanding that the brewer of this particular beer has moved on to open his own microbrewery, Mantra Ales, over in Franklin which has been producing some great stuff including the Amour Rouge Flemish-style red ale which I had next.

July 31 - Bought a variety six-pack from the Mt. Juliet Beer Company for a weekend home at the pool and the line-up went as follows:

Mango Wheat from Anchor Steam (CA)

Yee-Haw (Brewing) Eighty Scottish Ale (Johnson City, TN)

Yee-Haw Pilsner

Wheat with Peach from Blue Pants (AL)

Highland (Brewing) Pilsner (NC)

Grapefruit IPA from Tailgate Brewing here in Nashville

August 2 - We attended a show at The Ryman tonight to see LP open for Bryan Ferry.  Before the show we ate at the new Lula Cafe which is attached to the venue. I had a Saison from Turtle Anarchy Brewing here in Nashville.

August 4 - I attended an IMAX showing of Suicide Squad tonight at Opry Mills (and yes Margot Robbie was the best thing about it).  Beforehand at dinner at the Homegrown Taproom I had a Classic Stout by Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta, TN.

                                           

                                                  Here! Here!

Back to Vegas and the 2016 WSOP Main Event!

July 8, 2016:  I headed to Vegas today to compete in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event.  I couldn't go to Vegas without scoring some good beer, of course, and I really struck it rich (at least in terms of the beer):

To win the WSOP Main Event, you need to play poker for seven full days.  Good thing I had the attire ready to do so.  I might have a problem with beer shirts....?

Might as well start if off with a bang at the airport!  My wife, Ashlee, found a great little liquor store by the baggage claim (brilliant placement) and they even had quality craft beer so I had a Resinate IPA from Crafthaus Brewery over in Henderson, NV, while we waited on our bags to drop.  Cheers, Vegas!  

We headed straight to one my of favorite Vegas spots,  Burger Bar,  when we landed for a late-evening supper and I had a Chronic Amber Ale from Pizza Port Brewing (CA).

July 9:  We stayed at the beautiful Mandalay Bay Resort and rented a pool-side cabana for the day since I didn't start playing poker until tomorrow and they even had some good craft choices on their menu.  I started with a Peace Love and Hoppiness pale ale from Big Dog's Brewing here in Vegas (one of my local favorites).  I also had a Pivo Pils(ner) from Firestone Walker (CA) and a Hell or High Watermelon fruit beer from 21st Amendment (San Fran).  What a great, relaxing day!

One of my favorite UNTAPPD badges earned so far!

We went to dinner tonight at one of my favorite places, The Yard House, at their new location at the foot of the huge new High Roller Ferris Wheel which we also rode afterwards.  I had three "shorty" half-pints with dinner including the Dawn of the Red  amber ale from Ninkasi (OR), Sin-Tax Imperial Peanut Butter Stout from Mother Earth (CA) and the Great Lei American IPA from Belching Beaver (CA) - that was a great beer and that's one my favorite new brewery names for sure. It's right up there with Horny Goat Brewing out of Milwaukee!

July 10, 2016 - Focus time!!

I was able to maintain my starting stack plus a little after the end of Day 1 despite a couple of bad-luck scenarios that knocked my stack down a couple times.

July 11 - I had another day off from poker so we decided to head into the desert for the day (and night) and I found a Big Eye American IPA bomber from Ballast Point (CA) at a Wal-Green's (you gotta love Vegas) for the road!

I marked another national park off my list when visiting Vegas.  It was a long trip there and back, but really worth it.  What a beautiful, unique place!

July 12 - Well, I battled hard and had some highs (knocked a guy out of the tournament, doubled up through the nasty young Russian pro at my table)  and some lows (had KK slow-played on my 77 with a low board, and then had my QQ cracked by AK on the river to cripple me), but was knocked out of the tournament late into Day 2.  I got my money in good when I needed to and only made a couple of mistakes in my opinion, so I feel pretty good about it and I vow to be here again as soon as possible!!  What an awesome experience!

July 13 - Look, having some good  luck is all part of what makes Vegas great, and while I did get knocked out of the WSOP the night before with some bad luck, little did I know the next day I would stumble on some of the best luck I, personally, have ever had in Sin City.  I give you the PUB 365.  It's a place I literally stumbled across as I was walking to The Strip today from my secondary hotel for the week, an Embassy Suites on Paradise Road.    I had never heard of this place and made note of it to possibly check out later,  I promptly got knocked out of a little daily tournament at the Planet Hollywood casino and made my way back here for a look.  What I got was pure joy and amazement!

PUB 365 is located inside the Tuscany Casino which granted I had never even heard of or been to before now.  The casino is small but clean and rather quiet since it isn't on The Strip.  I ambled into the pub just after lunch time and plopped down at the bar with a video poker machine in front of me hoping that if I goofed around on it for a little change I would at least get a discount on the beers I ordered.  Their beer list is impressive (365 different ones, hence the name).  So I ordered a Cold Brew IPA from Rogue (OR) and then a City of the Dead stout from Modern Times (San Diego).  My barkeep was Mariah and this gal was cute, funny and really knows beer.  She even worked at Banger Brewing as well as here in Vegas.  I asked for my bill and she said it was ZERO POINT ZERO ZERO!!  I was knocked for a loop.  Thanks to some quarter video poker I had two quality beers for no cost.  Now this is possible in Vegas at a few other places - Ellis Island, Winchell's and Chicago Brewing all of which make their own decent brews - but we are talking high-quality craft beer here from some of the best craft breweries around.  It was quite a find to say the least.  And I, of course, would be back.

UPDATE - 10/11/16 - My awesome barkeep, Mariah, was honored for her beer prowess at Pub 365 recently, but she also moved on from working there...I will miss you, girl.

I had dinner on The Strip at the LVB Burgers and Bar in The Mirage and they had a decent draught beer selection and I had the DTB Brown Ale from Banger Brewing here in Las Vegas.

July 14 - And I did come back to PUB 365 the very next day when they opened at 11 AM and had a Jean Claude blonde ale from Crafthaus (NV), the El Heffe Jalapeno Wheat from Banger (Vegas) and the Ol' Dirty Barrel imperial stout from my new fav named brewery, Belching Beaver (CA).  All were great.  All were free!

Like a stupid man, I did stray from PUB 365 not knowing how good I had it.  An article I read said that one of the best beer bars in Vegas was in the new The Linq Casino at a sports bar called the TAG Lounge and Bar.  They had a decent selection and I had a 120 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head (DE) which cost me $15 even though I was sitting at the bar playing video poker.  No comp, no discount, no warning, nothing.  Plus the barkeeps knew nothing about the beer they were pouring.  Screw this place!  I moved on over to the Beer Park at the Parisian.  It's an outdoor venue with nice views (photo above, no pun intended) of the The Strip and a good beer selection.  Prices were better than at TAG but still no chance for comps or discounts.  I went ahead and had the Lemongrass Luau spiced beer from Kona (HI) and a Peach Ale from Four Peaks (AZ).  At least the servers were friendly and pretty hot, but I missed cute Mariah and the free beer! 

I went and saw the new Ghostbusters reboot at the IMAX theater at The Palms casino.  It was pretty funny, but not really IMAX-screen-worthy.

July 16 - Back to Pub 365, of course, and my little Mariah who even showed me the not-available-yet Unicorn Menu (photo above) of hard to find beers that they would soon have available to members.  Wow is all can say!  Off the regular menu I went big and a lot since it was my last day in Vegas:  I had the Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout from Epic Brewing (Salt Lake City),  the Gutshot Irish Stout from Bad Beat Brewing in nearby Henderson, Nevada, the Or Xata blonde ale from The Bruery (CA), the Cali' Creamin' ale from Mother Earth (CA), the Homework Series Batch # 7 session saison from Ballast Point (CA), the Gulden Draak 9000 quad Belgian  (Belgium), the Red Hydrant brown ale from Big Dog's here in Vegas, the Wookey Jack dark IPA from Firestone Walker (CA) and the Pilsner from Tenaya Creek also here in Vegas.

And then it happened.  I logged my 1,000th distinct beer into UNTAPPD!!!  (Crowd goes wild)

Here's the big 1K beer....the La Fin Du Monde Belgian tripel from Unibroue Brewing in Quebec.  Yep, 9% ABV...go big and then go home!    I can't think of a better place to log in my 1,000th distinct beer than the wondrous Pub 365!

I still wasn't done since I had returned to Pub 365 later that same day to meet my friend, Zack, who actually cashed in the same WSOP Main Event for about $25K....and you couldn't buy a brother some tacos??....Anyway, the comped beer continued late into the night with the Busker Brown ale from Joseph James Brewing over in Henderson, Nevada, and the Peanut Butter Milk Stout from Belching Beaver (CA)

July 17 - Time to go home...goodbye Mariah, Pub 365 and good ol' Sin City...you know I will be back!

Summ(BE)er Time

6/9 - I saw Warcraft  tonight in IMAX 3D with my pal, Wayne.  Not the best, not the worst.

6/11 - I went to Tunica for a poker tournament and didn't have much luck with the cards, but the beer luck was much better.  I went back to Wiseacre Brewing in Memphis tonight  and toasted the full moon with a Tarasque farmhouse ale

6/12 - With some time to kill before any beer was served on this Sunday in the South, I decided to drive an hour or so south to Oxford, MS, and check out the campus of Ole Miss which I had heard a lot about, but had never seen in person.  Nice campus overall.  The Grove was a little underwhelming IMO, but worth a look I guess.

 I made my first visit to Made In Memphis Brewing on the way home and had a RockBone IPA and a Greenswarden IPA, both of which were very solid.

6/13 - Had some great Thai food up on the square here in Lebanon at Bangkok Pad Thai and had a Chang Beer lager in a bottle from Thailand that wasn't too bad.

6/23 - Stopped by my favorite Nashville beer bar, The Homegrown Taproom, on the way to see Independence Day - Resurgence on the IMAX screen (it was OK) and had a Crack Rabbit Belgian-style pale ale from Calfkiller Brewing (Sparta, TN), a Daddy-O Pilsner from Yazoo Brewing here in Nashville and a Bitter Serenity session IPA from New Heights Brewing, yet another new microbrewery here in Nashville.  

I had a Viven Smoked Porter from Van Viven Brewery (Belgium) at Bob's Steak and Chop House in downtown Nashville along with an excellent dinner.  Later that evening I checked in a Sly Rye Porter from Yazoo Brewing at the newish Bakersfield Taco Bar which I had definitely had before but before I started using the UNTAPPD app.

7/1 - Poker night at The Barn (location undisclosed) and while I lasted a long time, but with no result$$$  I did have a few new brews including a pint can of Alloy American Pale Ale (photo above) from Tin Man Brewing (IN) and a pretty nasty (IMO) Half Pipe Tart Pale Ale from Tallgrass Brewing (KS).  I just can't get into these sour beers.  

We had a long July 4 weekend at the new pool so I grabbed a couple of variety six-packs from the Mt. Juliet Beer Company that included:

Poolside Ale (how appropriate!) - a pale wheat ale from Bell's Brewery (MI)
Trail Angel Weiss heff from Devil's Backbone Brewing (VA)
Jammer gose from the slim-canners, Six Point Brewing (NY)
The Crisp pilsner also from Six Point
Cardinal Pale Ale from Nebraska Brewing
White Blackbird saison farmhouse ale from Wild Heaven Craft Beers (GA)
 SPF50/50 radler (also appropriate and photo above) from Red Hare Brewing (Atlanta)
Brunette Nut Brown Ale also from Nebraska Brewing
Wayfarer IPA from Green Man Brewing (Asheville, NC)
Summer gose from Yazoo Brewing in Nashville
and the awesomely named Beerito Mexican/Vienna Lager from Oskar Blues Brewery (CO)

Here, hold my beer...