My four favorite things: live music, waterfalls, tournament poker and good beer!

Is that....???

July 31, 2014 - I had a  Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale with dinner at The Red Pony Restaurant in Franklin, TN...no biggie...had it before, love it...oh, and then I went and met Kevin Bacon!

August 2 - We returned to the Inn at Fontanel for an overnight stay after a concert there and this time I made a  beer run to the Mt. Juliet Beer Company for some new-to-me brews to try while hanging out there.   In no particular order I had the Witty Twister witbier from RJ Rockers (SC), Liquid Bliss chocolate and peanut butter porter from Terrapin, Hop House Belgian pale ale from Ommegang (NY), a full bottle of Maggie's Peach Farmhouse Ale (had a taste of this while at Bonnaroo recemtly) from Terrapin, the Elder Betty fruit-flavored wheat beer from Magic Hat and finally the Rubaeus raspberry-flavored beer from Founders Brewing (MI).

Since I was attending a show at 3rd & Lindsley tonight, I figured it was the perfect time to check out Nashville's newest brewpub, Czann's.  The place was quiet for a weeknight and at one time it was just me and three ladies alone in the brewery (insert best porno ever joke here).  The beer was excellent.  I intended to only have one, the Old School IPA, but a heavy storm popped up and the rain was pouring down outside and the staff gave me free queso and chips, so I had to imbibe another pint and went for their Pale Ale.  I finished the visit with  the lighter Belgium Blonde.  I am definitely adding this place to my must-visit list when downtown.  Welcome to Music City, folks!

I am not going to say the weeknight crowd to see Scott Miller was small, but his best line was, "Thanks, everyone,  for being here....Uh, Did ya'll all come in one car?"  The show was excellent, as usual, despite the numbers.  I had a couple pints of Guinness during the show...just for the record.

August 9 - We journeyed over to the neighboring Dekalb County to the Evins Mill Resort tonight for a couple nights' stay and a beer tasting and pairing dinner with Calfkiller Brewing out of Sparta, TN.

We tried all four of the Calfkiller selections on-hand including the Wizard Sauce pale ale, the Smokey Treat fruit beer, Ye Old Calfkiller Quazi (an American pale wheat ale) and the Belle Meade Private Reserve Bourbon Barrel Smokey Treat.  All were tasty and the brewers, the  Sergio Brothers, were on-hand explaining their creative concoctions and pouring healthy samples of each throughout the night.  Dinner was excellent and abundant and ended with an amazing beer sundae (photo above) consisting of vanilla ice cream and the Smokey Treat fruit beer.

We took a swim below Carmac Falls the next day at Evins Mill Resort (video below).  It was a great weekend overall.

August 14 - Before seeing and old heavy-metal fave from my younger days, Queensryche, play live in downtown Nashville tonight, I did a quick three-stop pub crawl to some familiar downtown haunts.  The first stop was The Pour House where I had a delicious pint of the Hop Head Red Double IPA from Green Flash Brewing out in California.

Since I was wearing my favorite Stone Brewing work shirt it seemed only fitting at my next stop, Hops & Crafts, to have the Stone Go To IPA which was amazingly hoppy.

The always-impressive beer list at Hops & Crafts easily makes it my favorite beer bar in Nashville.

Despite being the lightest beer of the night, the beautiful lacing of the Picnic English-style pale ale at Blackstone Brewing reveals the true quality of the beer made here at my third and last stop of the night.

The band was sounding great tonight despite their age.  Original lead singer, Geoff Tate, that you hear in the short clip below has had a nasty falling out with the rest of the band and an ugly battle for the name "Queensryche" has ensued.   But that hasn't stopped this talented guy from assembling an amazing backing band that includes former touring members of Quiet Riot and AC/DC to put on one hell of a show.  This could be one of the last times Geoff sings this song live since after this tour, from what I understand, the courts have said he can only perform Operation: Mindcrime songs and not ones such as this one," Jet City Woman" from the Empire album. Strange, but true.

This should really have the word BEER underneath it, don't you think?

This isn't a great picture due to the graininess, but it shows the amazing "Super Moon" that was out tonight before the show in downtown Nashville.  That huge lighted ball on the left is a street light  about 20' away.  That huge lighted ball on the right is the moon about 240,000 miles away....  

August 16-17 - I took a quick trip to Memphis and Tunica this weekend to play a poker tournament, check out some history and maybe even find a little beer.  I placed 18th in the tournament out of 151 entrants and doubled my entry fee at least.

August 17 - The only craft beer I could find available on a Sunday in Memphis was at Boscos Squared where I had the Sticke Alt and the BBR, an American pale wheat beer, with brunch.  I love the Nashville location of Boscos and this one is just as cool and located in a neat little, eclectic area of downtown Memphis.

After brunch I cruised by the famous Sun Studios to see if the ghost of Elvis was hanging around.

I have been wanting to visit the National Civil Rights Museum at the infamous Lorraine Motel for a long time now.  I am glad I finally got to get here.  It's an amazing place and definitely worth a visit.

Since the beer is not flowing readily on Sundays in Memphis,  I cruised on back eastward and made a stop in Murfreesboro before heading home to check out O"Possum's Irish Pub.  I wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised at the cool little establishment that even does a small amount of craft brewing.  They are a one-batch operation and I had what was available:  the Chocolate Caramel Porter.  It was fantastic!  Well-done, little guys!  I wasn't hungry and didn't eat, but the place was busy with food patrons and the dishes looked good.  I will definitely be back here with the wifey in tow for some dinner sometime soon.  What a great find!

late summer beer update

AT THE LAKE:

We spent a weekend up on Center Hill Lake and I took with me a pint bottle of Hop Session Ale (more birthday presents) from White Birch Brewing (NH) and an Imperial Stout from Smuttynose Brewing

AROUND TOWN:

Note the business to the left.  Now that's all about location, location, location!

I had a day off and was over in western Nashville and stopped by the Cool Springs Brewery where I had a great Mango IPA and a delish Ginger Bombshell.  I was back at Cool Springs Brewery a week or so later and had a Dew Me Now, an English-style pale ale which actually tasted like Mountain Dew.  How the hell??  I am ready to proclaim Cool Springs Brewery as my favorite local brewery.  And that's up against a lot of stiff competition, but they are doing some really creative stuff there.  During dinner at our local Red Robin. I had a draught of the Country Roots stout from Nashville's own, Tennessee Brew Works. At a show by The Fray at The Woods Amphitheater at Fontanel I had a Long Hammer IPA from Red Hook Brewing.

Beer-flavored ice cream?  Add it to the Beer Bucket List...

AT BONNAROO:

It was that time of summer again and I toted in a 12-pack of cans (remember, no glass at The Roo) of Brooklyn Brewing's Summer Ale (which made a great shandy along with Diet Sprite).   I also bought a couple pint cans of Summer Shandy from Leinenkugel at the festival.  At the Broo'ers Tent I sampled the Pot Belly Porter from Ole Shed Brewing over in Tullahoma, TN (gonna have to make a visit there some time) and also their Southern Pale Ale.  I then moved on to the Dream Machine (an interesting India Pale Lager) from Magic Hat and the Maggie Peach Farmhouse Hale from Terrapin.

What happened next was a first for me.  I actually took a CIDER BREAK from beer.   It just so happened that some folks from Woodchuck were giving free tastings and a talk about their products at the Broo'ers Tent while we were visiting and we thought, "what the heck."  I tried the Amber Cider, the Summer Hard Cider, the Dry Hop Cider, the Private Reserve Barrel Select and the Smoke Apple.  I have to admit they were pretty darn good...but I ain't giving up my hops for apples just yet...

Back at camp I also had a  couple Recreation Ales from Terrapin that my friend, Mike had brought.  I also had a Take Two Pils(ner) from Sweetwater on our last day there during a show.

AT THE BEACH:

Clinking the Kaliks!  We had several different types of Kalik beer while in the Bahamas including the regular Kalik Lager,  the Kalik Gold,  the Kalik Lime and the Kalik Radler (their version of a shandy).  All were exceptional given the beach locale and the warm summer temps.

We took a quick cruise over the 4th of July holiday to the Bahamas.  We decided to drive down to Florida to catch the boat and on the way down my friend, Mike, and I grabbed some nasty domestic beer since it's all we could find while Ashlee drove.  I had a Steel Reserve 211 High Gravity (high gravity, LOL) Pint Can and the regular Steel Reserve.  They both sucked out loud, and I am embarrassed to report them here, but got us the buzz we were looking for at least.  Once the cruise ship, my first libation was a Boddington.

My baby bringing us a couple cold ones from Capt. Danny's sweet boat that we privately chartered for the afternoon.

We ran out of beer (as Capt. Danny predicted we would), but he came to the rescue by finding us another tour boat with more Kalik for sale.

Dead Bahamian soldiers.  A cool shot taken by my friend, Wayne, with his awesome GoPro camera.

ON A ROAD-TRIP:

We took a quick long weekend road trip up north stopping in Louisville for one night and then on to Cincinnati to catch our first Reds baseball game at Great American Park.

In the cool Louisville neighborhood of Clifton we stumbled upon the relatively new Apocalypse Brewing Company where I sampled their Apollo IPA.

In Cincinnati, right outside the ballpark I had a  Northern Liberties IPA from Moerlein Brewing at their very nice Lager House facility.

I am sad to report I did not partake in the Brewery District at Great American Ballpark (since our seats were attached to an an all you could eat and drink (soft stuff) suite, but I was happy to see the large variety of real beer available and I hope to belly up there the next time we come which we will because we had a blast!

A view from our sweet seat at Great American Ballpark.  Go Reds!!

AND HOME AGAIN:

Sunday, July 27 - I went and saw the mind-blowing film, Snowpiercer, at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville.  Beforehand, I stopped at a new beer bar nearby called Hurry Back.

 My first beer from the Hurry Back's impressive list was a Dragons Milk stout from New Haven Brewing.  The friendly bartender also offered me a taste of the pepper-infused Guano Loco from Terrapin which was wild.  I dodged a few storms as seen flickering the photo above on my way home.

Ireland - Belgium.....and even France = More Over the Big Pond Beer

My wife and I took an anniversary trip to Europe recently and I partook of some great beer along the way in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium and even found a decent one in France.

May 17 - before getting on the big plane in Chicago I had an Anti-Hero IPA with lunch at O'Hare Airport.  Might as well get some hops before entering the land of barley-heavy beer.

Classic beer history.

May 18 - As soon as we touched down on the Emerald Isle again I had a Beamish Irish Stout at The Long Hall, an awesome Victorian pub in Dublin.  Next up was the Rower Red Ale from Bo Bristle Brewing  in Ireland.  This is by far our favorite pub in Dublin now.

May 19 - We took a day-tour up into Northern Ireland and I had a Belfast Ale from Whitewater Brewing in Northern Ireland at The Nook, another great pub near The Giant's Causeway on the northern coast.  I also had my first official pint of Guinness for this trip here also as my honey, Ashlee, and I toasted our 12th wedding anniversary!  Cheers, baby!!

I had a draught of the Bee's Endeavour from Whitewater Brewing at The Crown Liquor Saloon, an exquisitely beautiful pub located in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Back in Dublin for dinner at the Davy Byrnes gastro-pub I had a Kinsale Pale Ale, a nice hoppy American-style IPA brewed in Cork, Ireland, by Blacks of Kinsale.

May 20 - before leaving Ireland we had a wonderful lunch at The Sussex Restaurant where I had a pint bottle of Black Rock Irish Stout made by Dungarvan (Ireland) Brewing.  Look out, Guinness, you've got serious competition here!!   This was a superb beer.  But don't worry about Guinness, they are still moving a good amount of product (photo below).

BEER-CHEIVEMENT!!!  I finally made it to BELGIUM!!

May 20 - My first beer in Belgium wasn't the best, but you couldn't beat the atmosphere. I had the cheap Campus Premium pale lager draught by Browerij Huyghe (it was actually OK) at the Delirium Cafe in downtown Brussels.

We moved next door to the Delirium Taphouse and things got serious.  I started with a draught pint of the excellent Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen (double) IPA Tripel by Brasserie (brewery) d'Achouffe.  Next was the Double Dry-Hopped Hommel pale ale by Perennial Artisan Ales.  It was OK and that's before I knew they were owned by InBev.  I finished up at the taphouse with a Lupulus Fructus (fruit beer) from Brasserie Les 3 Fourquets in Belgium.  On the walk back to the hotel I grabbed a can of Kriek (cherry) lambic from Brasserie Belle-Vus in Belgium at a little convenience store and sipped it until I feel asleep (or passed out).  What a night!

May 21 - BEER TOUR!!  We took a great walking beer tour today in Brussels.  Below are photos of the nine (yes, nine!) offerings we were given.  Several are fairly hard to find anywhere outside Belgium and all were superb.  The greatest thing about Belgium beer (besides the taste) is that each brewery (and beer) has its own distinctive glassware it is served in.  The Belgians are very serious about this!  No plastic cups here!

Besides the three pictured above, we also had the Orval Pale Ale, the Saison from Brassiere St. Feuillien, the Tripel Karmeliet, Westmalle Trappist Tripel and the Guldenberg Strong Pale Ale.

AND NOW ON TO THE FRENCH BEER.....(Insert Joke Here)

Granted, we moved on to Nice in the south of France for a lot of things, but not the beer.  I did manage to find one decent pint in a little store near our hotel that I kicked back on our balcony and enjoyed.  It was a decent amber ale called 3 Monts from the Brassiere Saint Sylvestre in France.  Just for the record I also choked down a can of Schoenberg lager that was pretty gross.

We landed back in Chicago and I had nice draught of Unshadowed Hefeweizen by Ale Asylum (Wisconsin) on a warm afternoon at The Southern restaurant down in Wicker Park during our layover.

Nashville + Florida + South Dakota + Kentucky + Mufreesboro + Chicago = lots or travel and beer

Several small trips over the past couple months led to a host of new beer encounters and a few home-grown brews as well:

NASHVILLE:

3/27/14 - I had the afternoon off today and did a little bar-hopping around Music City which has become one helluva a beer town:

at M.L. Rose Craft Beer and Burgers I had a late lunch that consisted of their delicious Smashy Melt, a huge double-paddy melt.  This was my first time at this establishment which has two locations in Nashville (I checked out the one on Franklin Pike near downtown). Their tap selection was as impressive as their food and I had 16 oz. draughts of the Gangway IPA from Red Hare Brewing down in Marietta, GA, and the Ten Year IPA from Yazoo here in Nashville that was outstanding!  Super hoppy with a nice citrus finish.

Next I moved on to the 12 South Taproom which always has a great beer selection.  I had the Old School IPA from Czann Brewing, a relatively new microbrewery here in Nashville.   Their IPA was solid in taste and body.  They are soon to have their own tasting room and will join the new "Nashville Brewery District" that I mentioned in the last blog entry.  I finished my visit here with a Rivertown Brewing Wit from Ohio with a fresh slice of orange in it.  Pretty good stuff.

great logo!

Then it was on back toward downtown in The Gulch for a quick stop at Hop and Crafts, a new (and one of my personal favorite) beer bars in Nashville.  I only had time (and tolerance since I was driving) for one here so I chose the New Holland Mad Hatter IPA from Michigan.  Good beer!  And I thought they only made tractors??

I ended the afternoon at Pub 5 down by Bridgestone Arena where I was meeting my friend, Danny, for a Nashville Predators game.  Here I had an Upstream, a California-style lager from yet another Nashville-based micro-brewer, Little Harpeth Brewing.  Look out Asheville, NC, we are gunning for you for best beer town in The South.  Lagers are not my favorite beer type but it was nice with a light finish to the day...until I had a Black Forest Black Kolsch from Blackstone Brewing which is located...well, just guess...what the heck, I would sitting for a few hours before I had drive and this kolsch wasn't too bad.

4-0 after 20 minutes.  Now that's one hell of a period of hockey! The Preds went on to cruise to a 6-1 victory over the (worse than us) Buffalo Sabers.  If you are gonna be out of the playoff hunt in late March, you might as well beat up on whoever you can I guess.  Thanks to my friend, Danny, for going with me to this enjoyable, yet fairly meaningless, game and for snapping this pic (since my phone was dead) which I promptly stole from him.

3/28/14:  In IMAX with my friend, Wayne.  Beforehand, I had a Shotgun Wedding Vanilla Brown Ale from Country Boy Brewing in Lexington, KY, plus a Dark Earth Stout from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta, TN, at The Village Pub and Beer Garden in East Nashville.  A week later Wayne and I took in Captain America: The Winter Soldier again at the IMAX Theater.

BIRTHDAY BEERS!!

From my friend, Wayne:  Truth IPA (Cincy, OH), Founders Brewing (Michigan) Imperial Stout (10%+  ABV!), Chillwave Double IPA from Great Lakes Brewing in Cleveland, OH

from my wife, Ashlee:  Snow Wit White IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing (CA)

Ladies against Prohibition (1932)

April 5 - Went to Boscos for a free birthday dinner before a concert.  Had the medal-winning Isle of Skye Scottish Ale and the KPA (Karen's Pale Ale).  Both were solid.

April 11 - back to M.L. Rose and back to Yazoo's 10 Year IPA, then a can of Caldera (Oregon) Lawnmower Lager.  Then over to 12 South Taproom again for Crossroads Cream Ale from The Black Abbey (Nashville) Brewing Company and the delicious 7 Hop IPA from Rogue (Oregon) Brewing.  Dinner at Urban Grub down the street with my friends, Danny and Brenda.  Had the last "taste" of the keg of Taste of Honey Belgian Dubbel from Starr Hill Brewing in Virginia, then the Cuvee La Boite from Brooklyn Brewery.

After dinner we three went over to The Belcourt Theater to catch the Nashville premier of "Finding Vivian Maier" with Skyped Q and A from director, Charlie Siskel (the nephew of the great film critic, Gene Siskel).  It was an excellent documentary and a fascinating story.

April 12 - Flew down to Panama City, Florida to meet the family for a bit of beach time - had a bottle of  the locally-brewed Grayton Beer Company's Pale Ale while waiting on my rental car (small airport problems).

Got a six-pack at "Florida's Largest Beer Cave" in Destin, Florida for the long weekend.

Summer Solstice - can - (Anderson Valley - California)  (photo)
Night Cat Witbier -can - (Two Brothers Brewing - Illinois)
Spring IPA (Abita Brewing - Louisiana)
Head Hunter IPA (Fat Head' Brewing - Ohio)
Hop Nosh IPA (Uinta Brewing - SLC, Utah)
Freckle Belly IPA (Back Forty Beer Co., Alabama)

The beach and weather were pretty close to perfect.

April 14 - Props Brewery - Ft. Walton, FL - lunch with the whole gang minus Mollie (Sam bought my beer and lunch - thanks, dude!) at this new brewpub.  Flying Coffin IPA (pint), half pint of Rye of the Tiger, taste of Ashlee's Brown, Sam's Blonde and Andy's Porter - all were good as was the food

It was off to South Dakota for my birthday weekend to check a few sites of my Bucket List including Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower and the Badlands.

April 18 - Firehouse Brewing - Rapid City, SD - Chukkar Ale, shared a huge sampler with Ashlee, good food as well.

Burning Skye Scottish Ale - Empyrean Brewing at the Wobbly Bobby (great name) English Pub in Rapid City.  Just a taste of Ashlee's Buffalo Sweat Oatmeal Cream Stout

April 19 - Crow Peak Brewing Company - Spearfish, SD - 11th hour IPA - Had a can in the car on the way to Devils Tower, also had a  sip of Ashlee's Pile O' Dirt Porter.

Stopped at actual the brewery later on for a 5.2 Decade Imperial IPA and a sip of Ashlee's bRYEdal Veil Brown

At dinner in the surprisingly boring town of Deadwood, SD, I had a draught of Red Water Irish Red Ale also from Crow Peak.

April 26:  Back at home I opened another birthday bottle from Ashlee of Blackberry Farm Brewery's Classic Saison in preparation for our upcoming trip to Belgium, next was the Le Freak bomber from Green Flash Brewing and concluded with a Lost and Found Abbey Ale from The Lost Abbey Brewing Company in California

April 29 - While in in Louisville on the Cincinnati Belle before a charity poker tournament during Derby Week I had a canned IPA from West Sixth Brewing from over in Lexington, KY.

May 3 - Finally got to visit nearby Mayday Brewing in nearby Murfreesboro, TN.  Ashlee and I had 4 free samplers (thanks to Groupon) including the Boro Blonde.

May 4 - Another birthday bomber from Ashlee: the Bracia English Strong Ale from Thornbridge Brewery in England and the Joey Pepper Beglian Blonde from Evil Twin Brewing in Denmark.

May 5 - I just had to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a Dos Equis Special Lager followed by an Amber.

May 10 - We took a quick trip up to Chicago for a concert and stopped back at Piece Brewery and Pizzeria where I had a draught of the Marketing Ploy, a pale ale collaboration with 3 Floyds Brewing just down the road.  It was fantastic!  I followed that up with their Dark-N-Curvy dunkelweizen (dark wheat).

May 11 - Had the Fixed Gear Ale, a kinda hoppy for a red ale by Lakefront Brewing in Milwaukee, WI, with lunch at Spritz Burger in Chicago where I had an awesome poutine burger.

After lunch, my friend Wayne and I stumbled upon the fact that when the Cubs aren't in town, the do insider tours of Wrigley Field that include visits inside the press-box, the locker rooms, the dugouts and even on the field!