First, the good beer stuff:

For my littlest brother's 21st b-day this weekend I made him a beer enthusiast's mix-pack, with a Kostritzer Schwarzbier, Guinness Irish Dry Stout, Paulaner Hefeweizen, Victory Hopdevil IPA, De Troch Chapeau Framboise Lambic, and a New Belgium Mothership Wit. Hopefully he likes at least a few of those, but I think that's a decent 6-beer tour of the flavor possibilities.

For myself, I stopped at Spirits of Nisswa, which has more and cheaper beer than any of my liquor stores down here. Beers acquired:

Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier Dunkel
Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
Rogue Chocolate Stout
Big Sky Trout Slayer Ale

For Josh's party, we went to the Pickle Factory in Nisswa. I started with a Honey Weiss, then ordered a bottle of Schlitz — new recipe! I don't know why I thought an old lager recipe would be especially interesting; the beer was decent, a bit like MGD with a bit more grain maybe, but that doesn't justify spending $4 to get it. Finally I had Red Hook Sunrye, which tasted like orange and cream to me?

When Josh's girlfriend let me try her vodka gimlet, I wished I'd ordered one of those. Or stuck with the Honey Weiss. Or bought Kettle One last time I was at the liquor store. I also tried a sip of the Pickle's so-called "Sex on the Beach," which had melon, coconut, and pineapple flavors. It was like a tropical drink parody.

Josh had a bunch of mixed drinks in addition to the "Sex on the Beach" and was no worse for the wear. He liked the rum and coke, and disliked the whiskey coke. There was other stuff I don't remember.

The Pickle was really weird if you liked beer, e.g. they had flyers for Fat Tire all over the place but didn't actually have any available. And they gave me the Schlitz in a bottle instead of pouring it out into a glass. (Even if you're not a beer snob, you have to admit that a glass is classier.) That sort of thing.

Labels: Honey Weiss, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing, JOS. Schlitz Brewing, Redhook Ale Brewery, Schlitz, Spirits of Nisswa, Sunrye, The Pickle Factory