My mom was in town last weekend, for a house-hunting trip that got canceled at the last minute. But since she was around I tried to show her some of the cool places.

We had lunch at The Blue Door Pub, which at around noon on a Saturday wasn't nearly as busy as it was the first night I'd gone there. I had The Blucy (blue cheese and garlic) and she had a Frenchy, which was like a Juicy Lucy version of a French Dip.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that they still had Lift Bridge Biscotti, a really neat (and delicious) Belgian Dark Ale that I'm looking forward to trying again at Winterfest on the 6th. I'd made a special trip to the Pig with Barry a few Thursdays ago to see if they had it, only to have our server say he hadn't even heard of it.

After driving around looking at the exteriors of some of the candidate houses, I took my mom to the Gnome. She's much more of a wine person than a beer person, but she ended up liking the Wittekerke and stuck with it. I had a Rogue Menage a Frog tripel (which of course was good), then my first Hopslam of the season, and I finished up with Kwak so that my mom could try that against the Wittekerke.

(The Kwak didn't come in the fancy glassware, which is always fun to look at, but that's probably the last of those I'll get anyways. I can get beers that I like more for less than the cost of a Kwak.)

Labels: American Double IPA, Belgian Dark Ale, Belgian Strong Pale Ale, Bell's Brewing, Biscotti, Brouwerij Bosteels, Hopslam, Kwak, Lift Bridge Brewery, Menage a Frog, Rogue Ales Brewery, Tripel, Wittekerke

Let's see. So far this week I've had a Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, the roastiness of which was a great complement to the venison roast sandwiches I'll be eating lo unto the end of time, and on Monday I went out to Town Hall with Graham, Markie and special guest Barb.

Graham thoughtfully ordered me a pint of their delicious 1800 Old English IPA. Very cool to see that waiting for me when I showed up, late (as usual when I go to Minneapolis).

For my second and final drink... ooh, that would go well with a drumroll. Anyways, in hindsight I should have tried the new Solstice APA, but instead I got Mango Mama. Usually I'm a big fan of Mango Mama, but I just wasn't feeling it on Monday.

Probably because I've been stuffed up all week. I'm probably the first person to research neti pots just so beer will taste a tiny bit better.

I'm pretty excited for the new Fourth of July beers at Town Hall, by the way. I think I may actually like blueberry beer, which of course wouldn't have the disgusting appearance and texture of actual blueberries.

Yesterday I went to Senor Wong, where I downed cheap tasty Wonton Poppers and $3 pints of Kirin Ichiban until around 8:30 or so. Nora and Ben came over, joined eventually by Jenna.

Labels: 1800, American IPA, American Stout, Bell's Brewing, Japanese Rice Lager, Kalamazoo Stout, Kirin Brewery, Kirin Ichiban, Mango Mama, Senor Wong, Town Hall

My coworker Pete hosted a cookout yesterday, so I brought four beers: a Two Hearted, a Skinny Dip, and two Sierra Nevada Stouts.

I enjoyed the first two, as usual — I think the Skinny Dip may have been more subdued following the Two Hearted — and the Stouts weren't bad. Although as b/4, they weren't really interesting enough for me.

Several of his guests like good beer, and we had a brief conversation about the weirdness of Surly brews (if you don't like one, you can always plausibly claim that you just don't understand it), the upcoming Flying Dog mix-packs, and their fondness for the Flat Earth Black Helicopter, easily (because I hate coffee flavors) my least favorite local beer.

Later on I was offered a Stella Artois and I just couldn't refuse. It's not that Stella is better than the Two Hearted or the Skinny Dip, but on an intellectual level Stella is so interesting — with its references in Achewood, failed British ad campaign, and mysterious choice of green glass for the bottles — that I like it far more than I would an identical beer under a different brand name.

Labels: American Blonde Ale, American IPA, American Stout, Bell's Brewing, Euro Pale Lager, New Belgium Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Skinny Dip, Stella Artois, Two Hearted Ale

Had a Bell's Two Hearted Ale tonight with pizza. It's still one of my favorite IPA's: really hoppy but with plenty of other flavor besides.

If I could change one thing about it, it would be... to hyphenate Two Hearted. Compound modifiers, you know?

Labels: American IPA, Bell's Brewing, Two Hearted Ale