So, OK. I've been burnt out on blogging in general lately (somehow I've become "busy" — but mostly I just feel like I have nothing to say) and that means that I've drank a lot of great stuff that I don't have the space to mention (and tag, and thereby remember, which is the whole point) here.

Standouts include Surly Darkness (at the Pig with Barry and Jess), New Glarus Spotted Cow (at Jonas' wedding, which also featured some Ben-on-Meghan-on-Dan drinking) and Fire, a doppelbock from Capital Brewery of all places. I have never before had a Capital Brewery beer that I liked (and their Munich Dark is one of my least favorite beers) but doppelbock is a fantastic beer style so there you go.

I substituted my last bottle of Fire for the port wine in this duck recipe, and while my duck was meh, the reduced doppelbock sauce was fantastic over rice. I'm going to play around with drunk rice, see if I can duplicate the sauce without marinating a duck in it for 24 hours beforehand.

Last night Jess, Barry and I went to Grumpy's, where we'd had terrible service (that is to say: no service) last time and gotten a gift certificate for our trouble.

I'm trying so hard to drink seasonally because I think it will really pay off in the long run... but I started off with a light, delicious Ommegang Hennepin and was a huge snob about the pronunciation for some reason. Kinda an ass thing to worry about.

I had a Maredsous 8 after that (mispronouncing "Maredsous" spectacularly, for those of you keeping score at home) and I don't quite know what I thought of it. It didn't seem as good as I remembered, but that may be just because it was following an Ommegang and a fistful of French fries. A server was walking around offering up Maredsous samples.

It was randomly "Keep the Glass" night, so each of us got a Ommegang Hennepin glass to take home, and when we found out that Duvel glasses were also available Barry bought a round so we could all have one. We migrated outside with our new treasure and stood around a burning barrel, which is why every single one of my coworkers has commented on the smoky smell in my cube today.

Barry left and back at my place for Girl's Night, I mixed Jess a Colaweizen and had a Flying Dog Golden Ale, which was pretty pointless after three beers. I definitely need to switch to cheap beer after three, and I probably should just stop there anyways, outside of drinking games. No sense buying fancy beer if I'm going to be drinking it when I can barely taste it.

Labels: Belgian Strong Pale Ale, Brewery Ommegang, Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, Dubbel, Duvel, Grumpy's, Hennepin, Maredsous 8, Saison

I had two beers at the Happy Gnome tonight; this was a somewhat dubious decision, since I seem to be coming down with something, but the Internet claims that if you're not getting intoxicated, then the immune system isn't noticeably affected.

Whatever. I had another Flat Earth Bermuda Triangle. Once again it wasn't as malty as I'm used to for a tripel, but I like it nonetheless. For my second beer I had the Ommegang Hennepin. An increasingly unseasonable standby.

Jess ordered an Avery Reverend. I've had this before at Town Hall and liked it, but she was put off by a metallic aftertaste that seemed wrong. Jess had me double-check that she wasn't crazy, and there was definitely a strong copper taste at the end. The waitress told the owner and he did something to fix the problem, but when the next glass still had a bit of that copper taste, Jess switched to the Maudite from Unibroue. I tried a sip and it was crazy flowery. I'll have to check that out later.

Labels: Bermuda Triangle, Brewery Ommegang, Flat Earth Brewing, Hennepin, Saison, The Happy Gnome, Tripel

Met up with Ben and his former roommate Matt for drinks yesterday at O'Gara's, a run-of-the-mill Irish bar near Ben's apartment.

Ambitious Brew has a very sympathetic take on American-style lager — which is refreshing after hearing so many beer snobs bash the various macrobrews — so I was in the mood for Premium.

Back at Ben's the three of us split a bottle of Ommegang Hennepin, a delicious Saison. After finishing my glass all-too-quickly, I opened up my last bottle of malty Kerberos. It's a fantastic beer to nurse in the wee hours, and the fruity hookah smoke added some interesting character.

This beer, maybe the entire Tripel style, is definitely something you want to end the night with: I felt like an old man savoring a glass of scotch.

Labels: American Macro Lager, August Schell Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Flying Dog Brewery, Grain Belt Premium, Hennepin, Kerberos, Saison, Tripel