Ooooh. La. La.

YUMMY. That is the only word I can use to describe Arbor Brewing's Larry Hoppe Imperial IPA. Brewed in honor of Mr. Hoppe, a huge fan of and seller of ABC's beer, this one hits it out of the park: FIVE different hops in the boil and THEN they dry hop with one pound per barrel. Heaven! This is the first beer that has moved us to bring home a growler- and at 9% ABV, we're taking bets as to whether we'll be able to ration it out so as not to waste it on drunken tastebuds. Get thee to ABC, as this is a limited edition!!

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...

The pain continues...

I just got my monthly Devil's Canyon newsletter which delivered some bad news: they are forced to raise the cost of a pint at Beer Friday to $4 due to the ever rising cost of materials to make the beer. Read the newsletter here.

Even worse, they mention some legislation currently pending in the California assembly that will cause even more pain for the craft brewer's of Cali. Anheuser Busch is pushing a bill that will increase the limit on how much "tchotchke" a brewer can give away to retailers and consumers by 1600%. Think about how many small breweries can afford to give away t-shirts, pint glasses, etc. vs. the budget the big breweries have for such giveaways. Until now there was a pretty low limit, which helped level the playing field, but if big "beer" has their way, that limit will effectively disappear. If you live in California, contact your assemblyperson, especially if they are on the Appropriations Committee (next stop for the bill).

On another note, we finally popped open the bottle of Arbor Brewing's Sour Blonde. Suffice it to say, it does NOT go well with pizza. M and I both thought it tasted too much like hard cider for our tastebuds. Neither of us could finish even a small glass. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

Welcome to Michigan

OK, so I'm sort of living in Michigan now... if living in a Holiday Inn Express counts. Which it should, since I have no other home at the moment! We've had an offer on a house accepted, so cross your fingers!

While I'm here with little to do other than look at houses, find my way around, and sample the various area eateries, I'm also trying to test a few beers. This being the midwest, though, not all restaurants have a big selection of brews, unless you count Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, Miller, Miller Light, etc. And I don't.

Last night, however, we made a pilgrimage back to Arbor Brewing Company in downtown Ann Arbor. In honor of their 1600th (I think) batch of Red Snapper Special Bitter, they made a Red Snapper on steroids: the HXL Best Bitter, with extra barley and extra Huxell hops. With an 8.1% ABV, they limit each person to only 3 of the 12 ounce steins. M and I found it quite tasty, though I realized later that I should have had another beer first, the HXL second, as after tasting the HXL, everything else just paled. While there we also picked up a 750 ml bottle of their Sour Blonde, which I look forward to trying!

Back in our hotel fridge, we have a 6-pack of Founder's Centennial IPA, which I picked up at the local grocery. For an IPA, it is the opposite of full bodied... I don't want to say weak, because it isn't, but it certainly isn't as full bodied as I would expect from an IPA.

Last but certainly not least, mark your calendars for the Michigan Brewer's Festival, July 25-26 in Ypsilanti. Tickets are $5 cheaper purchased in advance, and we bought our Saturday tickets at Arbor Brewing. Cheers!