Rainy weekend- try more beer!

Last Saturday, the hubby and I had a chance to join TeacherPatti and a crew from CBiM on a bit of a pub crawl! We joined late so only got to drink a couple of beers, and only one that we hadn't tried before: Arbor Brewing's Duggie Style Rye. They don't usually have this one on tap so it was a nice surprise! I REALLY liked it- easy to drink with an opaque kind of golden brown color, it's a big, strong brew. With 35% rye, it's rich and sweet and remarkably 7.5% ABV (it certainly doesn't taste like it!).

Blue Tractor Brewery opened it's doors in Ann Arbor recently with a big grand opening on Thursday night. Their sign says they are a brewery, yet when we walked by (it was too busy to even attempt going in), we didn't see (or smell) anything that made us think "brewery". What's the scoop? Has anyone been?

I picked up a big bottle of Rogue's Chipotle Ale this week. I imagine we'll be popping it open tonight during the Notre Dame v. BC game. I'll let you know how it was...

Two Great Things that Go Great Together

For many of us, this is a big weekend. Notre Dame is playing their home opener as we speak (vs. San Diego State- I'm giving M grief since he has degrees from both), and my beloved Colts open tomorrow night against my other favorite team, da Bears.

On top of all THAT, today is our first "game day" in Ann Arbor. We can hear the PA announcer from our house and many of our neighbors have lawns covered with parked cars. Driving to the Kerrytown Farmer's Market this morning, we got to observe UM students at their finest. If by finest you mean jaywalking, playing beer pong, and funneling beer down from the roofs of their porches. :-)

It also means an excuse for us to break out the beer a bit earlier in the day than usual, so we're trying beer #2 of our Bello Vino haul: Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale, from Southern Tier Brewing Company. It's an American Pale Ale, and while it smells nice, it's missing something. I'm wondering if it's the artesian water, as to me it tastes almost "too pure". M thinks it's like a bunny rabbit with one leg: no hop. Don't get me wrong, I'll finish my beer, but I don't think we'll be buying this one again. Sorry, guys.

Now that was fun!

Yippee! Buddha has reappeared! Turns out the little scamp had jumped off the fence into a neighbor's yard and couldn't get back over the fence. Since they have a similar looking cat, they didn't really notice they had two long haired black cats until Wednesday.

To celebrate his homecoming, there was one hell of a bash at our house last night. Well, it was really our 'going away' party, but it was a multi-purpose event: Buddha's homecoming, Michael's birthday and Karen's birthday were celebrated as well. This photo doesn't really show the full effect, but let's just say that we have twice as much recycling this week as will fit in our bin. LOL

Anyway, I promised the scoop on Ashley's in Ann Arbor: this place was amazing. They have a beer menu much like that at the Maiden at Big Sur (see previous post) but they have taken it a step further. Using a scale of 0 to 10, they attach a "flavor rating" to every beer they pour so that you can look up a beer that you like and find others with a similar flavor. A zero has "little to no flavor or body", a 4 "some hop, medium flavor and body, a 7 is "robust with lots of body", and a 10 is "full flavored and full bodied". For example, Anchor Steam gets a rating of 4. Other beers they offer that are also rated a 4 include Cooper's Pale Ale from Australia, Lagunitas Pils (Petaluma, CA), Hoegaarden (Belgium), and Avery 14er ESB (Boulder, CO). It's a nice way to try new things without worrying about whether or not you'll like it. The menu also offers a "Beer 101" index.

Ashley's offers 70 beers on draught, 70 in bottles, and 60 single malt scotches. They have "rotating taps" that offer a variety of beers they might not normally carry. When we visited, they had beers from Darkhorse Brewing, Jolly Pumpkin Ales, Kalamazoo Brewing, Short's Brewing and Rogue Ales. They don't allow beers to be returned based on flavor or personal preference, but any beer on draught can be sampled for free. Draft flights of 4 beers are also an option; we tried the Michigan Micro flight on our visit.

I have a feeling I'm going to be spending a ridiculous amount of time at Ashley's...

Welcome to Ann Arbor

The great house hunt has begun, and I'm learning my way around Washtenaw County. Ann Arbor isn't as big as I thought it would be, but seems to be a really nice town. A couple of definite selling points: The Beer Depot and Arbor Brewing Company, both located downtown, and Ashley's on State St.. Beer Depot has quite a good beer selection- not as many choices as say, Bevmo, but a lot of unique and international brews. They also carry brewing supplies for those who prefer to brew their own.

Arbor Brewing has not just a tasty variety of beers, but each month they host a beer tasting event! Yay! Their cask conditioned ESB is one of the tastiest I've encountered, and the food was quite yummy as well.

We haven't visited Ashley's yet, but our server at another establishment (a sports bar with a truly disappointing beer selection) suggested we give it a try. I'll write a review once we've given it a shot!