Throwback Thursday!

October 2011 with Sam at GABF
April 2014 with Sam at Star Bar during Craft Brewers Conference week

Spring Break

  Thursday started March Madness so the plan was to watch March Madness!! That evening we planned on meeting Shawn, Bri, and Lina in Tempe to watch the ASU game. Megan and I would return the truck too. We went down and hit some Tempe spots beforehand. Started at Cartel Coffee and hipster, coffee shop that now brews their own beers. A pretty cool spot! Megan and I split a taster tray of their 4 beers. Really liked their Coffee Brown and their other beers were good too. Of course, had coffee too.
  Next we went to the newer Four Peaks. Really large, production facility with a very nice modern tasting room. Cool place. Yucca Tap Room was next and we always love this dive bar, with amazing beer!! Always seems to be sort of a rough crowd, in a rougher area. But we've never had problems, in fact get along with the people! They had Bell's  Hopslam bottles and Ballast Victory At Sea on tap! We could have stayed here all night, but would have ended up bad. Next we met everyone at Four Peaks on Eighth St. Another favorite of ours and fun once again. Some good basketball games on the good number of TV's!

  Friday, we relaxed ran and watched more March Madness! We kept Friday short, so that we could relax on our last day, get some rest for another early flight and at this point we were tired. Had late lunch with Aunt and Cousin at In N Out. Then we used my Aunt's awesome truck to visit our favorite, AZ Wilderness one more time (3 x's in 4 days!!) and stopped at Whole Foods in Chandler. This place is a few miles from my Aunt's and we love it! If I lived here, I would be here often. They have like 30 taps of great beer and you can fill growlers of most of them. I had a few Ballast Sculpin, one of my favorite IPAs! Didn't want to leave here, but had no choice. So overall, fantastic trip we were able to do a little bit of everything: eat, sleep, run, beer, baseball, sun, family and friends!

Spring Break!!!

  First post in almost a year and a half!! Megan and I took a much needed, very relaxing and fun trip AZ!! We were able to visit some great new spots, and see family and friends. We arrived very early on Tuesday morning, had a 5:45 flight so the alarms were set for 3:00 am.
  We relaxed a bit then decided to take the bikes, both women's of course, and not the lightest of bikes! AZ Wilderness Brewery was about 5.5 miles away and we rode the canal the entire way, just about. It was Taco Tuesday at AZ Wilderness!! So we had tacos and great beer!! Then as we were leaving to head to a brewery in Tempe, maybe another 5-6 miles away, Megan gets a flat tire. Not even 50 yards from AZ Wilderness. It was frustrating but we got through the situation thanks to family!!
  Eventually we made it to another recent opening, Huss Brewery. We fairly tired at this time from the events of the day and they had just opened. We were driving here so just decided to share some tasters. The beer was good, nothing more. The owners and I had very much in common, close to the same age and from Springfield!! Small world! The bartender was cool and so it was a good time. They also had many guest beers on tap.
  Later that evening, Shawn Monk picked us up and we returned to AZ Wilderness!!

 

  Wednesday we had tickets for a Spring training baseball game between the Cubs and Rockies and the new stadium in Scottsdale. We took it easy in the morning, of course both going for our early morning runs! Great weather the whole week!! We took it easy in the morning and Shawn was kind enough to borrow us his truck. Which was a very kind gesture because we had to figure out how to get to the game in North Scottsdale from South Tempe.

  We started at O.H.S.O. nano brewery for happy hour. This place was really cool and was next to the canal and encouraged people walking, riding bikes, with dogs, etc. They even had bike locks and water bowls for dogs to borrow. They had some of their own beers, which are often brewed with locals and some other guest beers. I could hang out at this place!! But we had the game that night.

  Next we stopped at Fate Brewing in Scottsdale to meet some friends before the game. It was also happy hour, they had $5 flat bread pizzas and need to eat so got one. Didn't really think it was all that but needed food! Tried some tasters and they had a couple of good beers and some average beers.

  The game was awesome, the stadium they share with the DBacks was 'big time'! They had Four Peaks beer on tap and Megan spilled her $9 beer as soon as we sat in the grass, instead concentrating more on here $5 peanuts! We left the game and decided to stop by Papago Brewery since we would be passing it. Always a solid choice, but we didn't stay long because it was getting late, but they had a delicious Coconut Coffee Porter!! Well that is Tuesday/Wednesday. Possibly Thursday/Friday later if I get some motivation.

 



Been a long time....

Wow, 6 months since I've posted! Lot's of good times along the way, don't know where to begin. I'll include pics for now!

Almost Summer Hauls

 Trade with StPaulSuds: 4 pack of Furious and a 4 pack of Plead the 5th. Sent Bitches Brew and BBQ, nice simple trade for some of my favorite beers!!!

 In person trade with new friend and fellow BA Kevin (ftsgibson) who just moved back from Austin.

 Second trade with Shane (injuredreserve) from Covington, LA. I sent The Count plus Odell brew for '12 Dark Lord, 3x Southern Pecan Porter, Saint Arnold Endeavor, plus an extra Red Eye Coffee Porter from Two Brothers!

 Sent 2x Uncle Jacobs Stout for 2x BB Plead the 5th and 1x KBS. Then we agreed on $20 worth of extras. Nice mixed package of goodies. Trade with Jake (katje111) from Shrewsbury, PA.

Megan and I spent a nice weekend in 'The Valley' This was the haul we shipped back and a few made it in our luggage! Love me some Alesmith and Ballast and picked up some wants: Numbskull, Speedway Stout and Horny Devil, etc...

KBS Vertical and Tasting Party

 Impromptu tasting following the Avery Uncle Jacobs Stout release in Boulder, sometimes better to just get home!! Highlights include Uncle Jacobs Stout, Founders Better Half, Olde Hickory Imperial Stout, HOD Adam. We had some solid IPAs: FatHead, White Rajah, Hoptimum, Deviant Dales, Alpine Nelson, and Marble IPA.

 Dave, Megan and I decided to a KBS vertical, we blindly tasted a '10, '11, and '12. Solid beer no matter how you cut it!! Ages well and is awesome fresh too. Personally (although again great across the board and the ratings we're very close) #1- '11 #2- '12 #3- '10

Spring is here!!!

 Trade #1 with Tom (Duffmanohyeah02) of Lake St. Louis which was suppose to be a simple trade!! I sent a Bligh's (my last one) and The Count; in return I received 2x KBS and tasty Box Of Chocolate which is a very unique chocolate quad brewed at a small winery/brewery in of all places, SE Missouri! Well anyways had MY first damaged package sent in something like 80 boxes so the package never made it. Made up for it and sent The Count plus '10 and '11 Abyss :(

 Trade #2 with Shoo65 from Indy. Big trade I sent some Eclipse 50/50, Sucaba, can't remember the rest but did include some nice extras as well. He sent 3x KBS, Founders Better Half, Zhukov (which I don't see in the picture so I better check my cellar!!), Sun King beers- Isis x2 (leaked everywhere but drank it that night and it was okay), Wee Muckle x2 ***, 2x Founders Kalamazoo Stout, Expedition and FIS.

 Bottle for bottle with eyebereej from Danville, CA; sent a Bligh's for an Midnight Sun Arctic Devil Barleywine.

Trade #3 Alex (OSUBeerStudent) from Durham, NC. Traded Eclipse 50/50 plus locals and he killed it with 2x KBS, BB Plead the 5th (love this stuff!!!), Foothills Barrel Aged People's Porter, plus great extras: Double Trouble, Nugget Nectar, 2x Double Crooked Tree, Dortmunder Gold, Duck Rabbit Rabid Duck and Baltic Porter!!!! Great trader.

Trade #4 my second trade with ex CSU alum now living in San Diego, Kevin (rawfish). Sent him Shenanigans, La Folie and a mix of great Odell beers for Alpine Duet, Nelson and Pure Hoppiness (this tiny brewery kills it with fresh hopped Cali IPAs!), Karl Strauss 23rd Anniversary BB Aged Old Ale, Alesmith Decadence 2011 Maple Smoked Barleywine and Ballast Point Indra Kunindra a export stout brewed with cayenne spice, cocunut and curry among other things. Man, San Diego has some great beer!!!