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!!!



Tasting #7

Great tasting with Dave, Sam, both Aaron's and Shawn (Jeff came late from what I remember. Great stuff: BA Yeti ***1/2, Box of Chocolate ***1/2, Event Horizon ***1/2, Iron Hill RIS***, 50/50 Eclipse Grand Cru, Imperial Stout Trooper, Teddy Bear Kisses, Boulevard BBQ, a disappointing Ivan 2010, Farmhouse Black Metal and plenty more!

Nice haul from Abe (Agold) in Chicago. Double Daisy Cutter!! Double Crooked Tree, Zombie Dust, Metropolitan Kolsch, FBS, Bigfoot Barleywine, C. Waters BBS and Tyranena Down and Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. I sent BBQ plus locals.

Southern Colorado Race and Brewery Visits

Haul #1 from InebriatedJoker (Mike) out of Columbus, OH. Sent out a couple bottle of Grimm The Count plus some local extras in return received 2x BA Plead the 5th, Great Lakes BA Blackout Stout and extras FIS x2, Sofie and 2x Columbus IPA. Haul #2 from derkfromwi (Deric) out of Appleton, WI I got a 4 pack of Central Waters BB Barleywine and of Peruvian Morning and he killed it with some of my favorite extras: Zombie Dust, Hopslam, Nugget Nectar and a Founders Imperial Stout!! 

This is the 4th year in a row Steve Cathcart and I traveled down to Pueblo to run the Chieftain Spring Runoff. I ran the 10 miler 3 years in a row (winning it twice) and this year focusing on speed decided to compete in the 10K and finished first! But also have to feed that other passion/hunger of microbrew. We usually end up here at the Shamrock for brunch and a few before hitting the road. Okay brewery with very good food(not suggested for healthy eaters) and lots of history.

They had a good Black IPA, and I got the last of it. Enjoyed the porter and red as well.

Next stop was Pikes Peak Brewery in Monument which has been opened since last summer. Conveniently located right off the I25 had absolutely amazing views and it was a beautiful 60 degree day. That alone made it hard to leave, but had to keep moving.

I probably enjoyed the Devil's Head Red the most. The stout was decent, mostly European type styles though, so okay to me but everyone else enjoyed it. (first year women were allowed on the trip, so Megan and Betsy came along as well)

Lone Tree brewery was our 3rd and final brewery of the day, had just opened 3 months ago!! I was impressed with this brewery and would like to go back again. Very roomy, clean, smells good (new), solid beer and great service.

My favorite beer was easily Hoptree DIPA! They were out of the Puddle Jumper Pale Ale which sounded good and is their most popular beer. But all their offerings were good even the styles I don't normally get into. Fun day, and somehow the four of us ended up at the Mayor of Old Town!!

Latest Hauls

 Trade with Kevin (rawfish) of San Diego. He is a CSU grad and simply missed the excellent local stuff, so sent him a box of mostly Odell. In return he sent 2x 2010 Abyss, Alpine Nelson, Ballast Victory At Sea and 2x Sculpin!!! Great box!!!

Trade #4 with Vince (G311), he sent 6 pack of Nugget Nectar, 2x Heady Topper, Alesmith Wee Heavy, Insanity, Stoudts DIPA and Oatmeal Stout, Flying Mouflan. Sent him The Count, Footprints, Saboteur, plus many other locals.

Blind Barleywine Tasting

Last minute gathering for a Barleywine tasting. Dave, Sam, Megan and I did the judging. While Candice, Sam's girlfriend, was kind enough to do the pouring! I have really wanted to try alot of these beers so last night was great opportunity to do so. I set it up sort of a bracket style, and we sampled 4 barleywines at a time. We sampled 11 barleywines, probably a few bottles to many, as most of us were beat up a little at the end of the night and the next morning! Goose Island King Henry won by a landslide and in the final 4 got #1 votes by all 4 judges!! #2 and #3 were very close with Dry Dock Bligh's Barleywine and Pelican MOAS taking those spots; #4 2011 Firestone Walker Abacus; #5 and #6 were 2012 FW Sucaba and Troegs Flying Mouflan. Other barleywines in the mix: Three Floyd's Behemoth (which is a blonde barleywine, lower in alcohol and more hops; very good but not really a fair comparison to the others in this category), Hebrew 15:15 (good, maybe a little hot/sweet; needs some age), Schlafly Reserve 2010, Duck Rabbit and a 2007 Stone Old Guardian which was a bit of a disappointment. Good times, would love to do another blind tasting sometime but good on barleywines for awhile unless there is half the amount of bottles. Nice hair Megan!!

2012 New Year hauls!!!

Haul #1 from John (johnsaulrubio) in Austin: 4 pack of Buried Hatchet Stout (good stuff back for seconds! and in a can!), then a nice Jester King Brewery Black Metal, Farmhouse Black Metal, Das Wunderkind and Farmhous Wytchmaker. Typically not my styles but have heard good things and interested in trying. Extras: BCS and Real Ale Sisyphus Barleywine out of Blanco, TX.
Haul #2 from Greg a second trade from Birmingham, MI. a trusty 6er of Hopslam, in return I sent FiftyFifty Eclipse Grand Cru and Dry Dock Wee Heavy!!!

Haul #3 with Dan (CaptCleveland/ 2nd trade with) I recieved 4x BA Blackout Stout, 2x Hopslam, 2 Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Brew Kettle White Rajah and extras: FIS and Flower Power. I sent FiftyFifty Eclipse 18year, Class V Stout and Ghost face Killah.
Haul #4 from Rob (robtobfest) from Connecticut (x3) received a 2011 NE Imperial Stout Trooper, Sebago Barleywine, Mainer Beer Co. Peeper Ale, City Steam Blonde on Blonde and S.Tier Eurotrash Pilz for Eclipse 4 Roses, Odell Red, Mountain Standard and 2x Myrcenary.
Haul #5 from Eric (EricCioe) who now resides in Missoula sent 2x Hebrew Gensis 15:15, Bitter Root Nut Brown Ale and Single Hop Ale, Sweetwater IPA, Casco Bay Brown Ale, Sanders Chocolate Stot , and D.Carnegie $ Co. Porter, a Swedish beer in return I sent a big package of Colorado and Michigan beers.