A2's loss, BeerChick's gain

Got the sad news over the weekend that Bello Vino, an outstanding purveyor of beer and wine in Ann Arbor, is closing on January 15. They are liquidating (pun intended) their inventory, so as soon as M and I returned to A2 from the Christmas holiday, we had to go pay our respects. And how. We managed to spend a completely ridiculous amount of money on beer, 6 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of champagne, some cheese, chorizo, chocolate, and yogurt. I definitely have enough beer for a month of posts!

Before we break into that stash however, I have a few beers to share!

First, my hometown has a drive thru convenience store. (welcome to Indiana) They recently expanded to include a small cafe and pub, and my friend Scott suggested we check it out as they claim to have 10 beers on tap (believe me- in a small town, that is a big deal). We stopped in for lunch and tried the Bell's Christmas Ale (sadly, I didn't see it listed on the Bell's website!), which the menu said was a "classic Scotch ale". While it was a crisp, easy drinking beer, it wasn't nearly "heavy" enough to meet that definition. The "Christmas baked goods" finish was nice, but I wish it would have had a longer finish.

Rogue Chipotle Ale

It's gotten cold around here, and for some reason, wine has been tasting better to me lately. Maybe it's because red wine warms my tummy? Or because we have so much wine in our basement that it's soon going to consume us?

We finally got around to opening the Rogue Chipotle Ale tonight, since we had some leftover "southwestern" food to eat. While it's an interesting concept and was really nice with the food, I can't say I'm a fan of it on its' own. The chipotle is just a little bit much for me, and as anyone can tell you, I don't do fruit (or chiles) in my beer.

Hopefully I will be trying some Indiana beers this weekend, so I'll be sure to issue a report!