Winter beer clunker

On the recommendation of a coworker I recently purchased some Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale. This coworker proclaims himself to be a beer fan, so I took his advice...even after hearing him say, "It's a product of Anheuser-Busch."

Should've stopped myself there. This stuff pedestrian at best. It's semi-flavorless with a hint of beer taste and some spices. Nothing stands out about it. At all.

So, big thumbs down to Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale. Your money is much better spent on Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale.

Your money is much better spent on Blatz, for that matter...

Porters and Stouts

I'm a pale ale, IPA, gimme-all-the-hops-you-got kind of guy. But it's winter, and Todd reminded me today it's time to get into porter and stout mode. So, following Brendan's hockey practice tonight, he and I swung into the nirvana that is the Giant Eagle beer cooler.

As any young padwan would do, Brendan immediately asked, "Dad, are we getting some Dead Guy tonight?" His learnings at such a young age warmed my heart...guessing it wouldn't warm his mother's heart the same way. Just a guess on my part...

Since I was on a mission for porters and/or stouts, I had to fore go my son's excellent suggestion. I roamed the beer cooler for a while and settled on some Young's Double Chocolate Stout and a selection from the Rogue brewery, their Mocha Porter. The Rogue brew didn't disappoint, and though I'm not a huge fan of porters, this one is quite tasty. The Young's, though, oh my. I had forgotten how good this beer was. The first sip was all chocolate, and it only got better from there.

Not to be missed in tonight's rundown is there was already some Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout in the fridge. Barley's in downtown Columbus made me a fan of Russian Imperial Stout, and I rate theirs better than the bottles from the good folks at the North Coast Brewery. After the first one from Barley's I was convinced they measured the alcohol content in it by proof rather than by volume. However, short of bringing my next growler home from Barley's, Old Rasputin fits the bill.

So far, the shift into porter and stout mode is going well. I'm sure some Christmas brews, such as some Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, will be in order as well.

Giant Eagle's a little slice of beer heavan

That's right, it's a regular blog-o-rama here today at the Truckster. We go in spurts...doesn't make me a bad person...

If you're a beer snob and haven't discovered Giant Eagle's beer section yet, you're missing the best beer selection I've ever seen in a chain grocery store. I discovered this a few years back when Giant Eagle landed in Columbus. Any store that builds a walk-in beer cooler in the middle of the store is going to get my business, and I've bought plenty of non-pale American pilsner beers there.

Today, however, it seemingly got better. My local Giant Eagle expanded beyond the cathedral like cooler. Today I noticed the following available in The Beer Section:

• Chimay - If you've never tried this Trappist Ale, you're missing out. I bought a bottle of the Grand Reserve (blue label) to enjoy during the opening of the NFL season. No Bud Light in this house for football games.
• Inside the cooler was a nice selection of Sam Smith's beers. The Oatmeal Stout gets most of the accolades, but I've had four or five from Sam Smith, and none of them are disappointing.
  
• Next up was one I'd already purchased, but my purchase was in 6 pack form previously. Giant Eagle went above and beyond in providing a full 2 liter growler of Rogue Dead Guy ale. Dead Guy on tap is one of my favorites, but the bottles aren't quite the same. In the growler though, should be closer to draft than bottled. That purchase will have to wait, becuase...
• Arrogant Bastard is available!! That's right, one of the greatest brews ever is on sale now at Giant Eagle. I found this one a couple of years ago when Garnett served me one, but didn't stumble across it again for a while. Then during Blankensoft's going away party we found that BJ's on Polaris had it on tap. And now to find bottles of it available at a local grocery? I reigned myself in and only bought 3 bottles.

Thankfully the Chimay and Arrogant Bastard I purchased have a high alcohol content...helps dull the pain of the Bears 4 turnovers. Add in their up-the-gut failers on 2nd and 2, 3rd and 3, and 4th and 2, and it's time for more beer...

Off to meeeeeshigan...

I'm in Plymouth, MI at the moment watching Men in Black and listening to the Sabres and Rangers (currently tied at 1 in the first OT). Originally I was to come up tonight with three of my co-workers to go to Day of .Net in Ann Arbor tomorrow. However, my company has been doing some consulting with the MAIS department at the University of Michigan, so I came up to bill U of M for 8 hours of consulting today prior to the code camp tomorrow.

As a drop-out of THE Ohio State University, the irony of consulting at the University of Michigan is not lost on me. I got a chuckle out of it...especially when adding in my cohort from Quick is a Purdue grad, and one of the lead developers on the dev team graduated from Michigan State. I mean, come on Michigan, produce some IT talent already...

Now comes the part that will make Buckeye Fan shudder...I love Ann Arbor. This is one of the coolest little towns I've been to in a long time. It's basically the U of M surrounded by a few houses, restaurants, and banks, but it's a great little town.

Highlights of the visit will revolve around the food and beer consumed. For food, we'll start at the top. On the direction of Billy - U of M alum - I headed straight to Blimpy Burger for the best burger in Ann Arbor. That wasn't a stretch, it was a great burger. Kind of like the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld, you order in a very structured manner (number of patties, bun type, any grilled add-ons, and lastly cheese), but the cook coaches you through it. Don't mumble, though, he'll throw something at you. Actually Brian mentioned the Soup Nazi thing, and the cook shot back with, "No, more like a burger Pinochet. Come to Blimpy, get a burger and a dictator." The cook was also sporting a mohawk, and making it work...not something everybody can do. But, I digress...the burger, which was more grease than meat, was outstanding. The steak fries that were included, also solid. All in all, it made for a great stomach ache for the afternoon.

[Hockey Update: Sabres just put away the Rags for the evening...Slugs now up 3-2 in the series.]

Beyond the burgers, we took in two brew pubs, the Grizzly Peak Brewing Company and the Arbor Brewing Company. They're located about two blocks apart on opposite sides of Main St. The folks at Grizzly get the nod in the food department, the brewers at Arbor do a better job with the beer. Grizzly has a great pulled pork appetizer and I followed it up with a great steak. The steak had some kind of red pepper glaze that was great. The beer at the Arbor Brewing Co...mmmmm, Mai Bock. End of story.

Tomorrow is all day code camp...hotel breakfast, Dominos pizza for lunch, and hopefully something slightly better than those two combined for dinner...