Joy!!!

I apologize, I've been MIA for awhile, happy to let TeacherPatti take the wheel for a while. I'm in the throes of job hunting/ networking and just haven't been drinking a whole lot of beer. (Shocking, I know)

BUT.... over the weekend, M and I made quite a joyous discovery. While on an errand to an as yet unexplored part of town, we happened upon Bello Vino. How could we have lived here this long without making this discovery!! I mean, as if it weren't enough to have treasures like Morgan & York and Stadium Market within walking distance of our house, there's also this... this.... mecca. I'm not kidding. Wines from all over (and I mean ALL over) plus a walk in climate controlled wine room kept M occupied for an hour or so while I explored the beer department. I nearly fainted. Two walls of coolers. A wall of 22 oz. bottles of mainly Belgians takes up another wall. Down the middle, six- and 12-packs of a beers from everywhere. And on the small wall, my dream come true: a great selection of single bottles, most priced $1.69 or so. I could try 6 different beers for roughly the price of a 6 pack! JOY!!!

So tonight, I bring you beer #1 of the 6 I brought home: Breckenridge Brewery's 471 Double IPA, a small batch of yumminess. Unlike a lot of double IPAs, it doesn't smack you upside the head with hops. It combines five malts and 4 kinds of hops for a flavor and feel I can only describe as "happy". I will definitely be making a trip back out to Bello Vino for more of this before the small batch is gone!

Day Three--Awesome Beer Trippage

DAY THREE:

Jeff and I woke up and fumbled with the remote control until I found the ER reruns on TNT. Buddy and I watch this show sometimes, and watching them made me miss my dog. I wondered what he was doing, whether he was thinking about his parents, and if was pooping on my kitchen floor.

Since I was on vacation, I had a gas station doughnut for breakfast. This is a “food” that I would normally not eat. I also had to swallow my pride and drink the gas station “vanilla cappuccino”. Icky, but it was caffeine. The doughnut was good though.

Jeff drove us to Battle Creek, where Snap, Crackle, Pop, Tony and Toucan Sam live. We saw them painted on the side of a building and I thought it’d be cool if Kellogg’s employed actually people to dress up as these characters and welcome us. No? You don’t think that’d be cool? I do.

We found Arcadia and went in. Since it was lunchtime, it was fairly empty. The set up was cool…like an old English pub. We got a seat by the window that showed us the men who bottle the beer. I hope they are unionized. Either way, no one looked exploited and they all seemed pretty happy. We tried to get some pictures, but they didn’t come out too well. Trust me though—it was a sight to behold.

I was famished by this time, and ordered the wood fired margharita pizza. After Jeff and I said “hello” to Chris (see above), I realized that some internal organs were having a disagreement. It wasn’t a fair fight, and no one really won, but I had to deal with it. If anyone wants to hear the gory details, just email me. Despite my gastronomical problems, the food was awesome.

We also got the best sampler—10 beers for $7. Can’t beat that with a stick, friends. We started with their Whitsun, which I really enjoyed despite it being a wheat beer. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it didn’t have the “bite” that wheat beers tend to have. Consequently, I liked it! The Angler’s Ale was good…it had a nice, smooth finish. Loved the ESB, which was similar to the ale. The IPA was described as “pine like”, and it was—in a good way. The scotch ale wasn’t my thing, but it had a nice caramel touch to it. The London Porter was good, not the best porter I’ve had, but good. Ditto the nut brown ale—not the most fullbodied beer I’ve ever had, but still good. The stouts—trippel chocolate and starboard were both smooth and warm. The trippel chocolate wasn’t too chocolately, as I had feared. Lastly, the HopMouth was fab—it’s a double IPA so it was chock full of hops. That being said, I wouldn’t want to drink a lot of it, but a sample was just right.

The only downside was the smoking. I suppose I am getting spoiled, being in so many nonsmoking brewpubs, but the smoking jarred me. I am asthmatic, so I’m quite sensitive to cigarette smoke. Plus, it gets in your hair and on your clothes and ew! (I was having a better hair day though, so that was good.)

NEXT:

Jeff and I next headed to Marshall and checked into the Comfort Inn. Once again, I took a little nap while Jeff watched the judge shows and Sports Center.

For dinner we went to Schuler’s, which is a historic, family-owned restaurant in Marshall. The prime rib was awesome, and they got my “well done” order just right! We told our waitress why we were in town and she gave us some of the special beer that Bell’s brews just for Schuler’s. It was a nice, light lager and went well with the beef.

After, we headed to the Dark Horse brewery. We first stopped in the store, where the very nice man sold us a pint glass off the shelf. (We wanted a glass pint glass, not a ceramic pint glass, so he literally gave us his last one.) Then we headed into the bar, which was just cool. It was small, with the mug club mugs hanging jauntily from the ceiling, a small bar with about 8 stools, chairs/tables and a beer garden. It was one of those bars where regulars hang up pictures of themselves and write on the walls. It reminded me of the dive bar called Calico Jack’s, which is near my dad’s house in Englewood, Florida. So it was kind of like CJ’s, but with no smoking and good beer.

I started with the Porter and Jeff had the Crooked Tree IPA. The bartender came over to check on us, and we ended up telling him where we were from. We expressed interested in another Dark Corner collaboration, and he told us that they might be doing a joint stout next time. Cool. I ended up having two more beers—both IPAs—and Jeff had the Black Bier. At the risk of sounding like a homer, I have to say that everything was wonderful. (Although, I should point out that I sampled the Amber and was glad that I did. It had something very “Belgian-y” about it, so I am glad that I tried it before I bought it).

We came back to the hotel and ate the Schuler’s cookies. Oh yummy! Then we watched a lovely movie called TILF (figure it out kids! Hint: no teachers, me included, look like those!!). Finished up the night with My Name is Earl reruns and the Daily Show.

And that concludes our beer gauntlet. We still have many, many breweries to go to, so I’m sure we will do this again. Thanks for reading! J

Day Two--Awesome Beer Trippage

After my Sunday walking group, I packed us up and we headed out to Kalamazoo. (For those who are wondering, Buddy was taken care of by his Aunt Beth, who lives two doors down. She is mom of Oskar, who Buddy tolerates).

Those of you who know me well know that I tend to pee a lot. So it was no big surprise when I had to go on the way to Kalamazoo. Because of my decision to get off at a particular exit, a little vermin lost its life. The little guy was sitting in the off ramp and jumped right in front of the car. There was nothing Jeff could do. I had to go and sit in the bathroom for a little while to collect myself…I felt really bad. I hope that his family wasn’t in the meadow off the ramp, watching the whole thing. Anyway, you can’t recite Kaddish for a dead woodchuck or whatever it was, so I got back into the car and on we went.

Our first stop was Bell’s Eccentric Café. That place is exactly what I would want in a brewpub. I read somewhere that they specifically did not put in wireless so that people wouldn’t sit in there and just stare at laptops all day. This was a great idea, because people were actually conversing and interacting. Jeff and I sat at the bar and were immediately befriended by our new Kalamazoo friends (and cutest couple ever), Michelle and Thom. (Jeff said that Michelle is my Kalamazoo counterpart—that is, someone who welcomes you to the city and wants you to stay. I am thrilled about this! Now we just need someone up north…. J)

We got the beer sampler, which could be served in either the lower peninsula or the upper peninsula. We were treated to the amber ale, the lager, the mild ale, the porter, the dopplebock “Consecrator” and the “Pool Side” cherry wheat.

I think amber ales are a tough sell. To paraphrase our Supreme Court, I can’t define the perfect amber ale, but I know it when I taste it. I’ve had some really, really weak amber ales and some great ones. Bell’s amber was awesome! It struck a nice balance—caramelly, but not too sweet. Not too heavy, not too light.

The lager was nice and crisp and made me wish (not for the first time) that our usual bar had a lager on tap. Ditto the mild ale. The porter was perfect—light but dark, if you know what I mean.

Jeff enjoyed the Consecrator (our bartender’s favorite) and I liked the cherry wheat. I don’t know if I could really guzzle the cherry wheat at the pool side (it’s a little sweet, and I think I’d prefer a nice mild ale if I had a pool and could lay by it and drink), but it was nice in a sampler.

Since lunch had been a few hours ago, Jeff and I had cashews (my personal favorite nut) and an IPA each. We also learned that Bell’s has an Eccentric Day party in early December. Since this coincides with our anniversary (December 1^st), I’m trying to sell Jeff on the idea. Okay, he’s not a hard sell. J

Michelle showed us the AWESOME beer garden. Oh holy Moses…it was big and beautiful and had a little bar in it and a big stage and lots of hops…it would be a great place for an outdoor concert. I was jealous, to tell the truth.

As we left, Michelle and Thom asked us to say hi to their friend Chris at Arcadia.

Now of course, by this time, I had to somehow incorporate the Neo Con War into all this. So I thought that it would be kinda cool if the breweries were the links in the underground resistance. So, I thought of us as having to deliver a message further on down the line. Maybe we resistance people could each take a weekend and make the perilous, life threatening journey from brewpub to brewpub, delivering coded messages. We’d need a code and a secret handshake, of course, so if anyone has any ideas for this, please speak now or forever hold your peace. Anyway, this spiced it up a bit for me.

NEXT:

Onto Grand Rapids. I have never been to Grand Rapids, and it appears to be a nice city…way bigger than A2. When we checked into our hotel, the clerk asked what brought us to the Marriott in Grand Rapids. When we said what we were doing, he recommended Founders (which we said was our destination) and the BOB, which was right across the street. What the hell? More beer is always good.

We went upstairs and I took a nap (all the lunchtime beer was getting to me J). I was having a bad hair day and a “fat day”, so I changed my hair and my clothes. That helped a bit.

We walked over to the BOB. I saw the sign that said “brewery, downstairs” and started to head that way. Quickly, I was stopped by the hostess who said that the brewery was not open to the public. Oops. But the beer was served upstairs, she added. Cool.

The BOB building has a ton of stuff in it. There’s a fancy pants restaurant, the bar and a stage in the tiki bar that hosts comedians and bands. BOB has its own box office and we learned that none other than Pauly Shore is appearing in a few weeks. If I had walked up there and seen Pauly Shore performing, I would have eaten my hair.

The bar was what you would call “upscale” and at first, I felt uncomfortable. The other female customers are the kind of women who make me feel 3” taller and 30 pounds heavier. But the bartenders were way cool (Jeff wants me to mention that the dark-haired bartender was “hot”) and made us feel very comfortable. We explained what we were doing and they thought that was cool. After our first pints, the bartender gave us free samplers. Sweet!

For those of you who were at the Brewers’ Guild Festival in late July, BOB’s was the bar with the ladies on the taps. My girlfriend, Sarah, and I both eschewed the beer based on the taps. (Jeff and John, Sarah’s husband, flocked to it). I’m not a huge feminist, but I’m not sure how I feel about using the ladies to sell the beer. The bartender agreed saying, “I’m not so sure about that sales technique”.

Please note that there are no brunettes in the bunch (although they “may” use brunettes for the winter porter and stout). I mean, they wouldn’t use someone with chubby cheeks, a pumpkin-shaped head, dimples, funny teeth and freckles anyway, but still. (And fuck it—I’d rather be cute. Cute lasts forever while beauty often fades in middle age. So, there!)

I do regret not sampling the beer at the festival though, because it was really good. The IPA was awesome—about 2/3 of the way to HopSlam (from Bell’s). The pale ale was crisp and dry and another favorite of mine. I did try the Golden, not realizing it was a wheat, so Jeff finished that for me. There was also a tasty amber ale, a blonde and something called a Hopsun. The Hopsun is an “American pale wheat” with a hint of orange. Jeff enjoyed it, and finished my sample because I do not care for wheats.

NEXT:

Next…Founders! The last email that I read before I shut off my computer for 2 ½ days was from my friend who raved about Founders. Therefore, I was particularly looking forward to this bar. And oh Nellie—it was awesome! (I should mention that I got us lost on the way there. We were walking, we had been drinking, and I have no sense of direction. We figured it out though.)

The layout of the bar is fab. It has a big doorwall that opens up onto the porch. This alone made me happy. Founders also has the coolest juke box—much better than Leopolds, which was still pretty good. Some lame ass shit was playing, so I knew that I had to take matters into my own hands. (Remember, I was a DJ in college!). I got $5 from Jeff and programmed in some NIN, Nirvana, the Who, BB King, Bjork (that was for Jeff), Beastie Boys, Clapton, Bowie and Led Zep. I think the bartender approved, because he started singing. (I should also point out that the TV above the bar was showing “Jailhouse Rock” with Elvis, but with the sound turned down. I kept making up lines and saying them aloud. Most of the lines had words like “fuck”, “shit”, “suck the Colonel’s dick” and “die taking a dump” in them. It was quite humorous to watch Elvis rock out to the songs that I played.)

Jeff started the night with bourbon barrel aged Red’s Rye. Since I’m not a bourbon fan, I usually don’t care for the barrel aged stuff, but this was straight. Jeff loved it. I got the Centennial IPA, which was fresh and hoppy and yummy. Jeff got an IPA, and I got a Pale Ale. The pale was great but, I’m very embarrassed to admit, I couldn’t finish it. I was just beered out, I’m afraid. I slugged down half and then we called it a night.

New Chick Who Digs Beer

Greetings! My name is Patti and I am a chick who digs beer. That is probably all you need to know about me :) , but more can be found on my LiveJournal! Recently, my husband and I took a trip to the western part of Michigan. Our sole purpose was to drink beer.

Here is what happened on day one....

Before we even start, all y’all should know that I have some definite “tastes” in beer. For example, I do not generally like Belgians and I’m not always fond of wheats. Fortunately, Jeff loves both, and he was happy to offer his opinions. OTOH, I love hops, bitters, and most ales. Lately, I am trying to enjoy bears with fruit added, because I’ve been discriminating against them just because they have fruit in them and that’s not right.

(Note: I am considering Saturday as “day one” of the great beer gauntlet of the West, even though we didn’t venture far from our home.)

Jeff & I headed down to Milan to hit the OG Brewery. I think it’d be cool to say that OG stands for Original Gangsta (which Urban Dictionary properly defines as “someone who has been around, [an]old school gangster”), but it stands for Original Gravity.

The interior of the bar was very warm and inviting. Like our home base, the Corner Brewery, it had board games (but no “Role a Roll”, I’m sorry to say) and satellite radio. The walls had some cool stuff on them, like the propeller and the model plane. There was also firefighter gear in the corner near where we sat. While the ambiance was nice, we were there for the beer, Gs.

We got a sampler of the six beers that were available: Primordial Porter, Belgian Training Wheels, Mason Brewer Bitter, County Street Amber, Vanilla Java Porter and Orange Tic Tac Belgian. (The sign on the wall said that “small batches to come”, which is cool.)

The Primordial Porter was crisp, smooth and went down easy. The Belgian, per Jeff, “tastes like a trippel without the bite of the alcohol”. The bitter was the awesome—it was flowery, but not too flowery, if you know what I mean. It had a lovely, slightly floral aftertaste. The amber had two different kinds of hops (Amarillo and cascade), so I was happy (and hoppy! Hee hee. I is funny). It was dry, but not in a bad way. I really enjoyed the Tic Tac Belgian, despite my reservations during the Beer Festival. Of course beer almost always tastes better right off the tap, but I could really taste the Orange Tic Tacs. Since I normally don’t love Belgians, I liked the stronger Tic Tac flavor (also, I really, really like Tic Tacs and you can often find them in the bottom of my purse, albeit covered in the strange “fur” that is ubiquitous in my purse). At the festival, I could barely discern the “orange” taste, but it was stronger and fresher at the bar.

I saved my personal favorite for the last—the vanilla java porter. OMG—it was like alcoholic, liquid ice cream. The only thing that would have maybe made it better is if it was poured over real vanilla ice cream. It wasn’t too heavy, and had a lovely aftertaste of warm vanilla. I don’t know if I could drink a lot of it, but I enjoyed what I drank.

After the OG, we headed to our home base of the Corner Brewery. A wedding had taken place earlier that evening, so the wedding party was still there. In retrospect, Jeff and I should have gotten married there (except that a) the CB wasn’t around in 2000 and b) my mother would have had a heart attack). But I’m for sure getting married there next time around! (Just kidding, Jeffy!!!!! :) )

More to come....