The Suds of March

Wednesday, 3/1 - I went to see The Great Wall in IMAX tonight before it left the big screen.  It was decent, but I was expecting more from it overall.  Beforehand, I stopped by the new Vinyl Tap bar in East Nashville and had a solid Fennario IPA from Nashville's own, Jackalope Brewing.

After being under-impressed by Vinyl Tap's overall selection, I slipped across the road to my current favorite Nashville craft brewer, Southern Grist, and had a crisp and delicious Lemon Drop pale ale.

Friday, 3/3 - We had dinner before a Fitz and the Tantrums show tonight in Nashville at The Slider House which always has great craft canned beer.  I had a tasty Watermelon Dorado double IPA from Ballast Point Brewing (CA) and the crisp and light Sound Czech Pils(ner) from Terrapin Brewing in Athens, GA.

The amazing Will Hoge at The Basement East

Sunday, 3/5 - There was more great music and more great beer at The Basement East for "Four in the Floor" tonight with Will Hoge, Tyler Childers and a couple more folks playing acoustically in the round. The new-to-us venue had a surprisingly good draft beer list here and I had three new-to-me pints including an awesome Velvet Charmer Scotch ale from Yee Haw Brewing (Johnson City, TN), a tart but decent Cherry Berliner sour ale from Honky Tonk Brewing here in Nashville, and a fresh-tasting Grass Monkey pale wheat ale from Sweetwater Brewing (Atlanta).

Tuesday, 3/7 - It was once again Lebanon Poker Night and I got a great variety four-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits that included a hoppy bottle of Windows Up IPA from the Alpine Beer Company (CA); a bottle of very unique Frootwood [2017] a cherry ale aged in bourbon and maple syrup barrels from Founders Brewing (MI); a can of decent The Walking Dead red IPA from Terrapin Brewing in Athens, GA; and finally, a tasty canned Dankosaurus IPA from Cedar Creek Brewing (TX). The beers were a hit, but my third-place finish was a bit dissatisfying.

Wednesday, 3/8 - Wayne and I met up at The Hop Stop for dinner tonight before seeing Logan in IMAX.  It was a good film, but these comparisons to it being as good as The Dark Knight are total BS.  With dinner I had a couple of 4 oz. draft pours of the solid Wet Dream brown ale from Evil Twin Brewing (Brooklyn, NY) and the tangy Bourbon Peach American Wild Ale from Unity Vibration Brewing (MI).  

I haven't been to The Hop Stop in a while so I was impressed with their recent additions of huge murals not only on their own building, but this one next door as well.  

Friday, 3/10 - Ashlee and I went and saw the charming street cats of Istanbul documentary, Kedi, tonight at the newly remodeled Belcourt Theatre who now has a pretty good draft and bottle/can selection of craft beers.  I had a can of the tasty Peanut Butter Milk Stout by TailGate Beer from here in Nashville.

Tuesday, 3/14 - Wayne and I grabbed dinner at the Homegrown Taproom  before seeing the impressive Kong: Skull Island in IMAX and I had a couple small draft pours of the so-so G'Night red IPA from Oskar Blues Brewery (CO and NC) and the crisp and light Billy Beard maibock from Yee-Haw Brewing up in Johnson City, TN.  

Friday, 3/17 - I wasn't really planning on celebrating St. Patty's Day this year, but we got an invitation to our friends, Emily and Andrew's new house for some March Madness viewing and brewing.  I bought an awesome variety four-pack at Lebanon Wine and Spirits again.  I had the beautifully-hopped Bhang Bhang double IPA from Mantra Artisan Ales from over in Franklin, TN; the solid Red Handed double IPA from Nashville's own Bearded Iris Brewing; the mind-boggling Peanut Butter Jelly Time brown ale from Catawba Brewing (NC); and the tasty Ibex Cellar: Imperial Coffee Stout from Schlafly Brewing (St. Louis).

Saturday, 3/18 - Our friend, Patrick, was celebrating his 50th birthday (got one of those coming soon myself!) down in Chattanooga, so we ambled down that way tonight and since it was BYOB, we stopped at the always-great Riverside Wine and Spirits where I got a four-pack of delicious 5Beans porter from Sixpoint Brewery (Brooklyn) in their always-distinct slim cans.  A bit hard to read in the photo above, but I was pretty impressed with myself for scoring a 98% mark for singing Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated) by The Offspring on the Rock Band video game which I had never played before and, yes, it was on the EASY setting.    Thanks for the liquid-courage, Sixpoint! 

We saw the immortal Steve Martin (and the ultra-talented Steep Canyon Rangers) and the hilarious Martin Short (kinda stole the show in my opinion...that's him in drag in the photo above, of course) at the Grand Ole Opry tonight.  The show was outstanding as were the local craft beer choices.  I had a nice big draft pour of the refreshing Miro Miel blonde ale from East Nashville Beer Works.

Feb - BREW - wary

2/4/17 - We were in Chattanooga for the weekend and I found a fairly-new craft brewery to check out.  OddStory Brewing has a great set-up on MLK Boulevard very close to another fairly new brewery I have visited before called Hutton and Smith.  With 12 of their own beers on tap, there is a lot of selection.  I had three 10-ounce pours that included their heavily-hopped IPA, their tasty Coconut Milk Stout and their decent Belgain Dubbel.

Afterwards I ambled up the street to the Honest Pint to have some lunch and another pint, of course.  This was another new-to-me place to visit in Chattanooga and it's a beauty of an Irish pub.  Their food is good and they have a nice beer selection.  I chose a bottle of Dry Hopped Pale Ale from Blue Pants Brewing (AL).  To end the day I had a Hazelnut Brown Ale from Yazoo Brewing over in Nashville at The Big Chill and Grill with a tasty dinner there.

2/5/17 - Well the Super Bowl started great, but it sure didn't end like I wanted, but it was quite historic with the biggest comeback and the first over-time ever in the history of the game.  We were invited over to our friends, Tony and Lisa's, house for some tasty grub during the game, and I brought along a couple of of new bottled brews as well.   I had the decent Hopry IPA from Nashville's own, Yazoo Brewing, and also a HANGTIME pale ale from Blackstone Brewing which is also Nashville-based.

2/18 - 2/20:  Saturday, 2/18:  We flew up to Columbus, Ohio, for a long holiday weekend to catch a road game with the Nashville Predators and meet up with some friends who had moved north a couple years back.  Turns out C-Town is a helluva beer town also!

Since our friends, Chris and Tarryn, that we were meeting here were driving in from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Chris (a fellow craft beer lover) was able to bring a few regional brews with them for us to enjoy at the sweet two-bedroom apartment we rented in the Wonder Bread Lofts, a converted bakery/factory in downtown Columbus.  I had the Bonfire Brown ale from Saugatuck Brewing (MI) and the Imperial Hatter double IPA from New Holland Brewing (MI) as we sat around catching up. Thanks, Chris, for the great brews!

We headed out a short time later and grabbed an early dinner at the Arch City Tavern in Short North, a cool area of Columbus with tons of bars and restaurants along North High Street and within walking distance of the apartment.  With my tasty dinner I had a Mystic Mama IPA from Jackie O's Brewery in nearby Athens, Ohio, and a PSA (Proper Session Ale) from MadTree Brewing in Cincinnati.  Back at the apartment I had a bottle of Distorter, a porter from Greenbush Brewing (MI).  Thanks again, Chris!

Our Uber driver tonight told us are apartment was in walking distance of the "Who Farted Brewery."  After the laughter died down, we discovered he was right on both accounts:  the Hoof Hearted Brewery was just around the corner  from our apartment and the name is definitely intended to bring laughter.  And, their beer is top notch!  I had a flight consisting of the Unglaubich! double IPA, the outstanding I Must Look Like A Dork double IPA, a sip of Ashlee's Dodging Invisible Rays saison, some of Chris' Fitness Freak imperial stout and finally the Hoof Hearted Ews Equinox double IPA.
What a great way to end our first day in Columbus!

Sunday, 2/19 - We had the day to burn in Columbus since the Preds game wasn't until 6 PM.  So we toured around town and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather and sunny skies as much as we could.

A fun stop today was outside the impressive home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, The Horseshoe.

We got back to the apartment a few hours before game time and I had a Michigan Awesome Hatter IPA from New Holland (MI).  Once again, thank you so much, Chris, for the great brews!

With Preds gear on we pub-crawled down Short North toward the Nationwide Arena where the Columbus Bluejackets call home.  Our first stop was at the Short North Tavern where I had Bleeding Buckeye red ale from Elevator Brewing here in Columbus.  Like the team, I thought it was OK...at best.  SEC for life, baby!  Our next stop was for dinner at Barley's Brewing Company where the beer was pretty good and the food was outstanding.  I had the Blurry Bike IPA and the Tour De Hops double IPA.

Nationwide Arena and the entire Arena District of Columbus is a great place.  They had a great local craft beer stand near our sweet seats 10 rows off the glass behind the Preds shoot-twice goal (thanks again, Chris, for nabbing such awesome seats!)  I had the Stiff-Arm IPA and the Goon (seemed appropriate for hockey) strong ale from Land-Grant Brewing here in Columbus.  Both were excellent and tasted even better with the 4-3 victory for the Preds!!

After the game, we (mostly me) stumbled back to the apartment and Chris and I ambled back over to Hoof Hearted Brewing for a couple of 4-pack cans that we could bring back and enjoyed leisurely at the apartment.  I had a pint can of Plutonium Nyborg saison and another pint can of the Thudstaff imperial stout.    Whoa, Nelly, I was pretty blasted!    Sorry, everyone, for the snoring...

Monday, 2/20 -   Chris and Tarryn headed out early today to get back home, and Ashlee and I had another almost-full Presidents Day in Columbus before our flight back home at 5 PM, so we did some more exploring of this great city.

Columbus has a great history involving beer including an aptly named Brewery District where several large, mostly-German-based breweries operated before and after Prohibition.  One such establishment was the Gambrinus Brewery founded by August Wagner in 1906.  All that is left of the brewery today is it's large 12' tall iconic statue of King Gambrinus , a legendary Flemish king who is often given credit as the inventor of beer.

Well, we couldn't just leave The Brewery District without having some beer, now could we?  We stopped for an appetizer and two flights of beer at the Rockmill Tavern.  Their own Belgian-style beers from Rockmill Brewing in nearby, Lancaster, Ohio, are very impressive.  In no certain order, I had some of the following:  the Witbier, the Farmhouse IPA, the Petite Saison, the Saison, the Dubbel, the Cask Aged Noir saison, the Cask Aged Rugged Af stout  (my fave of the bunch) and the Cask Aged Tripel.  

Columbus is great in a lot of respects including being a great beer town.  It has definitely been put on my must-return-as-soon-as-possible list!

Decked out from neck...

Wednesday, 2/22- My friend, Wayne, invited me to the Tennessee Titans Tailgate and Tuxedos event tonight and the new Nashville City Center.  It was a pretty cool party for the team's season-tickets holders of which Wayne is one and has been from their start here in Nashville.  They had a stage program with players from the present and the past as well as some decent free food.  The beer available at the cash-bars was your typical swill-of-the-masses, so I passed on it.  Afterwards, however, I did stop on the way home for a quick night-cap at the Homegrown Tap Room where I had a couple half -pints including the Midnight Magic schwarzbier from Ghost River Brewing over in Memphis and the incredible Guru Gish sweet (Goo-Goo Cluster sweet, that is!) milk stout from Mantra Brewing over in nearby Franklin, TN.

to toe...check out my new BEER SHOES that Ashlee got me for Christmas.  This was their actual first trip outside since it was a fairly dry day.  

Sunday, 2/26 - We attended an Oscars Party at our friends, Danny and Brenda's, place tonight and our friend, Chris, was in town from up north and brought a couple of Indianapolis brews he found on the way down that we had before and during the show.  I had the Pogue's Run Porter and the Half Cycle IPA from Flat 12 Bierwork.  Both were very solid.  Thanks to Chris for bringing them down with him.  Salute!

Unless there's beer in those humps!!

Supporting the ladies, exercising my rights, quoting The Raven...and drinking some beer...

I was proud to join my wife, Ashlee, and two of her childhood friends, Dianna and Starling, as well as Startling's husband, John, along with several of their friends in the Women's March on Washington.  It's an awesome feeling to know we were part of this historic day in our nation's capital.

Friday, January 20 - We flew up to Washington D.C. today and met up with our friend, Dianna, who flew in from Austin.  We drove up to John and Starling's house in nearby Jefferson, Maryland to hang out and make some signs for tomorrow's march and get our game-plan worked out.  I grabbed a six-pick for the evening of The Truth double IPA (hoppy and delicious) from Maryland's own Flying Dog Brewery at a gas station on the way.

Saturday, January 21, 2017 - With expectations of 250,000 in attendance, the crowd swelled to well over a half-million and what was to be a march became an occupation of a large part of our nation's capital.  There was a distinguished list of speakers at the rally before the march including the lovely and eloquent, Scarlett Johannson, giving a very personal account of her life and its affect by Planned Parenthood.

After the long day at the rally, we rode the subway back toward Starling and John's home near Frederick, Maryland, and had dinner at a  BJ's Brewhouse  there where I had their very good session double IPA called Committed, along with their acceptable Tatonka imperial stout.  Back in our Hampton Inn hotel in Frederick I actually found good craft beer in their snack store (a true miracle) and was able to enjoy an excellent bottle of Bloodline Blood Orange Ale from the local Flying Dog Brewery while watching Duke beat up on Miami on the hardwood.

Sunday, January 22, 2017 - With the better part of day to kill before our flights home, Ashlee, Diana and myself, decided to do a quick tour of nearby Baltimore.  The Inner Harbor area is very nice and I especially enjoyed checking out the relocated Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse (even though upstairs access to it was closed today) which was built in 1855 and is the oldest screw-pile lighthouse in Maryland.

Our next stop was the very old and very beautiful Westminster Presbyterian Church Cemetery in downtown Baltimore whose most famous occupant is author/poet Edgar Allen Poe.  Such a quiet historic spot in the hustle and bustle of the city. 

Our next two stops had to do with beer....much thanks to Ashlee and Dianna for rewarding me for supporting their cause (which is really everyone's cause, isn't it?) by supporting me in my cause....('cause I wanna drink good beer).

Our next stop was the Snake Hill bar in the neat little Highlandtown neighborhood of downtown Baltimore.  They have a great beer selection and a cool bar covered in Scrabble pieces.  They also have unique sausages of which I had the rattlesnake/rabbit which was tasty.  As far as beer goes I had the excellent Creator/Destroyer brown ale from Oliver Brewing here in Baltimore.  I followed that up with a Blanche de Chambly witbier from Unibroue Brewing (Quebec).

We then moved on a short distance to quench a little seafood craving we were having since we were in a harbor-town to Lee's Pint and Shell.  This loud, hip joint had an excellent beer list (and some kick-ass fish tacos).  With my meal I had the tasty Union X Ocelot Black IPA  from another local producer, Union Craft Brewing.

We had a plane delay at BWI which allowed me to nurse a Peg Leg imperial stout from Heavy Seas Brewing (also in Baltimore) at the Silver Diner there in the airport.

Happy New Year (of Beer)!

Cheers, Mr. New Year.  This one's probably gonna be a weird one with our new goofy prez.  Let's just hope for the best and just press on!  

12/31/16 -  I began celebrating the new year back at the Homegrown Tap Room today with a few brews along with an early dinner including a decent Louisville Lager from Goodwood Brewing (KY), a tasty Young Hickory porter from nearby East Nashville Beer Works, and a pretty good Ginger Brau lager from Devils Backbone Brewing (VA).  

1/1/17 - Thanks to my pal, Wayne, I got to walk on the field with him today at Nissan Stadium pre-game between the Titans and Texans as we helped unfurl and hold the huge "TITAN UP" flag in south end-zone.  A very cool experience! Too bad the game didn't mean more for the season but we did get the W.  

1/5/17 - It was poker night in Lebanon again and as my newly-formed habit, I stopped by the new Lebanon Wine and Spirits to peruse their great beer selection and got a variety four-pack for the night including a pretty good Sidecar Orange Pale Ale from Sierra Nevada (CA), a nice Brown Shugga' strong ale from Lagunitas Brewing (CA),  my favorite of the night (and the best bottle art, see above) a Voodoo Ranger IPA from New Belgium Brewing (CO), and finally a tasty Special Double Cream Stout from Bell's Brewing (MI).   I am glad the beer was alive, because I was card-dead all night, and eeked out a 5th place finish.

1/7 - Ashlee and I spent this brutally cold Saturday at the Belcourt Theater  in Nashville seeing a double feature of Manchester by the Sea and Jackie, both of which were excellent films.  In between shows we slipped across the road to Cabana for a couple drinks and I had a tasty Mocha Porter from Rogue Ales and Spirits (OR) and the decent Easy Goer Session IPA from Falls City Beer (KY).

1/10 -  I had a bachelor night tonight as Ashlee was hosting her bunco group at our house so I headed down to Murfreesboro for another visit to the awesome Flashback Arcade who I am happy to report have finally added Ramage (the greatest video game ever IMO).  Before burning a few hours there I stopped for dinner and a couple of craft beers at The Green Dragon Public House, a small  Lord of the Rings-influenced pub with delicious food and an impressive beer list.  With my tasty pastrami on rye sandwich I had a great MECHA double IPA from NOLA Brewing (LA) and the strong but smooth Bomb! imperial stout from Prairie Artisan Ales (OK). 

1/13 - It was poker night at The Barn again for me, and I got a four-pack of new beers from the Mt. Juliet Beer Company to take with me including the tasty Death by Coconut porter from Oskar Blues Brewery (CO), the decent Backpacker Brown ale from Tallgrass Brewing (KS), the interesting Hazelnut Brown Nectar ale from Rogue Ales (OR) and my favorite of the night, the Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA from Uinta Brewing (UT).  I wish my AK had held up as good as these beers vs. JJ, but it was "Goodnight, Irene"  for me after three hours of solid, patient play.

1/15 - Ashlee and I stopped by yet another new Nashville craft brewery tonight on our way to a show downtown.  New Heights Brewing has a nice location and some great creations.  I had a dark and tasty Navel Gazer imperial stout and a taste of Ashlee's Nothing Fancy fruity cream ale.  At the show at City Winery I also had a decent DayTime Fractional IPA from Lagunitas Brewing (CA).

Finally, a new year's resolution I know I will keep!!

Be of good holiday BEER, I mean cheer..no, I still mean beer

Gonna try my best!!

Wednesday, 11/23 - I had an Art of Neurosis IPA from 2nd Shift Brewing (St. Louis) with dinner tonight at Butcher and Bee in East Nashville followed by a Moonstruck pale ale from nearby Bearded Iris Brewing.

Saturday, 11/26 - I happened to be in Cookeville yet again today and had time to stop by Red Silo Brewing yet again for another new brew.  I chose their delicious Wild Corgi Brown Ale aka #2.  

Sunday, 11/27 - I finally got Ashlee to Czann's Brewing in downtown Nashville tonight as we took advantage of their unofficial "free parking for a beer" deal for a show we were attending at the Bridgestone Arena.  We each had their new Pecan Porter which was outstanding.

November 30 - December 1, 2016:  I took an overnight trip up to Cherokee, North Carolina, to play some tournament poker at the Harrah's Casino for a WSOP Circuit stop.  While my poker efforts were dashed pretty quickly, I did find a nice little bevy of good craft beer in the area that will definitely have me coming back here again as soon as possible!

Salue to the beautiful Harrah's Cherokee Casino.  While this was only a Samuel Adams Winter Lager I had at a break during the poker tournament there was much better craft beer very close by and at least this one was cheap (by casino bar standards).

My first craft beer stop after busting out of the poker tournament was at Nantahala Brewing in nearby Bryson City, NC.  The little city was decked out in its Christmas best included the cool little brewery.  I had their great Noon Day IPA and their pretty good 8 Foot Drop Double IPA.

I skipped the night poker opportunities and headed over to nearby Sylva, NC, for a visit to Innovation Brewing.  I had their Santa's Sleigh Red IPA, their Gingerbread Brown (kinda disappointing) and their terrific Cucumber Mint Ale (my fav of the entire trip).

One of my favorite parts of the trip was listening to the Sirius XM Radio in my rental car plus a couple of good audio-books coming and going.  And as I tweeted while listening to this song, "Bruce Springsteen is goddamn national treasure!"

On the way home the weather had improved greatly from the rainy drive in the day before (although it was welcome due to the destructive wildfires that were ravaging nearby Gatlinburg).  It was rather eerie looking east at the tranquility of Maggie Valley from the Blue Ridge Parkway with all the devastation behind me to the west.

I stopped in Waynesville, NC, on the way home for lunch at the Boojum Brewing Company tap room in their lovely little downtown area.  My Cuban sandwich was delicious and I had their very good Dark Zone Milk Stout with it.  By the way, a Boojum is a mythical mountain creature that collects gemstones in the area (thanks Google).

Another quick stop in Knoxville on my way back found me at the Blackhorse Pub and Brewery where I had their solid Mild APA.  

I celebrated the 83rd Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition here in the good ol' USA at poker night in style with a variety four-pack that included the Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat stout from Tallgrass Brewing (KS), an Icelandic Doppelbock from Einstok Brewing (Iceland), a Dragon's Milk double imperial stout from New Holland Brewing (MI) and a Wrought Iron IPA from Abita Brewing (LA).

12/9 - Had a day off today and stopped by Smith and Lentz Brewing in East Nashville for a couple of cold ones including their Black Ale with Coffee dark beer and the Smith and Lentz Stout Nitro.  Both were excellent!

12/10 - The 2017 Beer Tree got Zippy approval and was much-appreciated at our Christmas Party this year.  I got a varied collection of beers for the party that included the (Ben and Jerry's) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale from New Belgium (CO), the Bourbon Barrel Stout from Goodwood Brewing (KY), the Peanut Butter Pinstripe Stout from Blue Pants Brewing (AL) - which was my favorite of the group - and a Shiner Holiday Cheer (2016) from Spoetzl Brewing (Shiner, TX).  

12/15 - It was time for some Rogue One opening night in IMAX at Opry Mills for me and seven friends.  Beforehand, my friend and co-worker, Casey, and I stopped for dinner and a beer at the Homegrown Taproom where I had a tasty Huginn Porter from the relatively new Asgard Brewing over in  nearby Columbia, TN.

12/21 - We had dinner at Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint in Nashville tonight and I had an Ode to Mercy imperial brown ale from Wild Heaven Beer (GA).   Then I had a Twice as Nice  double dopplebock from Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville, NC).  I also had a sip of my friend, Wayne's, Original Sin Pear Cider (NY).  

12/22 - I've made a huge mistake...it's Mexican clamato...yuck...but, yeah, I drank it all and the Predators still sucked and got shut out by the LA Kings.  Thanks for the ticket anyway, Quintin.

12/24 - You gotta love the Lutherans...so glad I went to church tonight!

12/28 - Went and saw Rogue One in IMAX again tonight.  I think it was even better than the first viewing!  My friend, John, and I had dinner beforehand at Homegrown Taproom where I had a pint of King Chestnut brown ale from Nashville's own Tennessee Brew Works and a half pint of the Christmas Bonus Belgian-style pale ale from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta, TN.